Maxwells vote for Ted Cruz

[enigmata]

3 hours ago, AreteJo said:

I feel like smacking myself for forgetting the High Church Protestants.

 

I'm Methodist and definitely not high Church but we celebrate Palm Sunday and Holy Week.  Probably not as liturgical as some higher Churches but we all got palm crosses on Sunday and the sermon was about Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem.

[OnceUponATime]

I grew up in Pentecostal-ish churches and we always had some mention of palm Sunday. Usually in the way of a skit where the kids had to reenact Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem. Complete with the aisle being covered in palm leaves... Just going to add that being the donkey wasn't fun.

 

[littlehouse]

Has it ever been said what was wrong with Susannah?

[Jana814]

1 minute ago, jiggleromp said:

Has it ever been said what was wrong with Susannah?

I don't think they ever said. They may not know. But I could be wrong. 

[Black Aliss]

On 3/19/2016 at 9:16 PM, SPHASH said:

On 3/19/2016 at 11:53 AM, Handmaiden of Dog said:

We put a lot of effort into socializing our puppy which meant exposing her to all sorts of people and situations.  She likes mingling with strangers  but we mostly take her to "dog friendly" places like the pet supply stores and animal fairs. 

Home Depot stores (at least the ones in our area) welcome dogs and even keep treats behind the counter. And feed stores and garden supply stores are usually welcoming. It's always a treat to find a coffee house or brewpub that is dog-friendly. At a lot of small retail stores if they see me secure my dog to a bike rack or a post an employee will tell me it's okay to bring her into the store.

I got scared away from Cabela's the first time I went into one and they had a metal detector and a guard making sure the guns that just about everyone but me seemed to be carrying weren't loaded. So, yeah, after visually inspecting each gun the guard fired it into a big box filled with sandbags to clear the chamber. I asked him how many guns he saw that had a round in the chamber and he said, "Lately? About half." That wasn't the scary part, though, because he wasn't letting anyone into the store if they set off the detector. It was the people shopping at the gun counter who were taking aim at customers on the lower level, I guess to check the scope. But there didn't seem to be anyone making sure there wasn't anything in the chamber of the guns being sold. And I don't much care for people pointing guns at me, period.

 

[Arete]

2 hours ago, jiggleromp said:

Has it ever been said what was wrong with Susannah?

They have never revealed her official diagnosis on the blog.  They were aware from previous ultrasounds before she was born that she had structural problems with her heart.  From what they describe, it sounds as if something was also catastrophically wrong with her brain.  She never opened her eyes.

[mango_fandango]

26 minutes ago, AreteJo said:

They have never revealed her official diagnosis on the blog.  They were aware from previous ultrasounds before she was born that she had structural problems with her heart.  From what they describe, it sounds as if something was also catastrophically wrong with her brain.  She never opened her eyes.

I think they did mention the doctors had found something on the brain stem. I found this from January 2007:

 First, and most importantly, we praise God that the possible cyst on the child’s brain stem is gone. The ultra-sound found nothing to indicate problems around the brain stem, skull, or brain area. This was both a huge blessing to us and an answer to prayer. Baby seemed happy with this news as (s)he was doing flips and a lot of moving during the ultrasound.

Then I think there was also some kind of intestinal blockage, or something:

 It is related to the child’s stomach, duodenal atresia specifically. This condition causes material to not be able to flow through the digestive tract due to a blockage, whether partial or complete is unknown, in one of the GI tubes. Surgery will be needed very shortly after birth to resolve this. There are other possible complications and challenges. We are now officially a “high risk pregnancy.â€

 

I think then when she was born there were blood pressure issues and just no kind of activity at all, no responsiveness, from what I've read. 

[Jana814]

Thanks for find this. I seems to remember reading it when I was going through their blog.  Didn't with either her or Abby they didn't want a lot of ultra sounds for whatever reason. 

[WonderingInWA]

I have always suspected a trisomy of some kind -- there are a couple of them that are incompatible with life.  I'm sure the doctors told them their suspicions based on the ultrasounds and then her condition after birth, but they probably never did an amnio to find out for sure. I don't blame them.  Very personal choice.

[blessalessi]

All of the blog posts around Susannah Joy are together on a special blog to remember her.  She was born not breathing and without any reflexes or any signs of brain stem activity.  It looks like everything was done to give her a chance of life, but over a few days after her birth they had to come to terms with the fact that she was only being kept alive artificially. In the end, I think they were relieved that she passed away naturally and so they didn't have to make a decision that would have been horrendous for any parents, regardless of belief. The posts that Nathan makes around Melanie's pregnancies show a very different side to him, much more humble and real. He even asked for prayers because Melanie was struggling emotionally at one time. I don't think he quite used the term depressed, but he seemed to understand she needed more than a bible verse memory system to help her recover.

It is the saddest story, and my heart always goes out especially to the younger daughter who mentions Susannah nearly every Thanksgiving or Memorial Day, whenever they each write little personal bit for the blog. 

[CyborgKin]

16 hours ago, RoseWilder said:

I'm kind of surprised (pleasantly so) by the part of the latest blog entry where Sarah says "your pain is not unnatural" and that it's "so hard."

50 Shades of Fundie

[Antimony]

5 hours ago, Black Aliss said:

But there didn't seem to be anyone making sure there wasn't anything in the chamber of the guns being sold. And I don't much care for people pointing guns at me, period.

The people selling the guns are the one making sure the chambers are clear in that case. Any responsible store is keeping unsold firearms and ammo far, far, far, far, far apart.

I, however, believe, that if a customer uses a scope on another customer they should immediately refuse to sell because the would-be buyer clearly doesn't know the first thing about being a responsible human bean.

[Arete]

I bow to no one in my contempt for the Maxwells theology, but it is quite obvious how much they loved Susanah and how much they still treasure her memory 9 years and 8 more grandchildren latter.

[Anonymousguest]

It's been a long time since I read Susannah's story, but I also thought it sounded like a chromosomal issue, some kind of trisomy. They may not have a definitive diagnosis if they didn't do an amnio or autopsy. 

[Jana814]

12 minutes ago, Anonymousguest said:

It's been a long time since I read Susannah's story, but I also thought it sounded like a chromosomal issue, some kind of trisomy. They may not have a definitive diagnosis if they didn't do an amnio or autopsy. 

I wonder if they know but never said it on the blog. 

[WonderingInWA]

1 hour ago, Jana814 said:

I wonder if they know but never said it on the blog. 

I doubt Nathan and Melanie would have agreed to an amnio.  The way Nathan wrote his updates as Susannah's birth approached, they really didn't seem to know what to expect.  I think Susannah probably had Trisomy 18, and their doctors probably told them they suspected that but it couldn't be confirmed without an amnio or autopsy.  If you look at her ears, for example, you can see they are low and she had other symptoms consistent with 18 which they wrote about prior to her birth.  

[blessalessi]

I think the blog was written at a time that the family spent a lot of time on tour, and there would have been a large audience of people who felt invested in seeing the first grandchild born.  I don't doubt there are more details that are known and very reasonably kept private within the family but, as a whole, the Susannah blog is probably one of the more honest and raw family stories that they have shared.

[hollyandivy]

The Susannah story shows a whole different side of this family.  When you look at the pictures even Steve seems severely shaken and sad, all the high and mighty attitude is completely gone. Maybe there still is hope (who am I trying to kid?) for them.

 

My heart goes out to Nathan and Melanie, nobody should have to go through this

[mango_fandango]

On 3/23/2016 at 5:24 AM, WonderingInWA said:

I doubt Nathan and Melanie would have agreed to an amnio.  The way Nathan wrote his updates as Susannah's birth approached, they really didn't seem to know what to expect.  I think Susannah probably had Trisomy 18, and their doctors probably told them they suspected that but it couldn't be confirmed without an amnio or autopsy.  If you look at her ears, for example, you can see they are low and she had other symptoms consistent with 18 which they wrote about prior to her birth.  

Could be. I just googled it and it does mostly affect girls.

I agree with @hollyandivy. The Maxwells are horrible people, but this sort of thing is awful for anyone. Nathan and Melanie had had four years of trying with no success (miscarriages etc) and then to have this pregnancy actually be sustained but end in heartbreak is just terrible. They haven't had easy pregnancies with their surviving kids, either. Abby was early and spent time in NICU, and I think was born by C-section. Bethany and Christina weren't so bad (Tina actually was born on her due date). Drew was also a preemie, well, 5 weeks early which still counts as preemie IIRC (37 weeks is considered term, but early term). I think Melanie had difficult deliveries with all of them too. 

[Jana814]

I think it must be so hard for Melanie to see her sisters-in-law have easy complication free pregnancies. 

[blessalessi]

I hold the two things apart in my mind.  They are human and vulnerable and no more deserving of tragedy than anyone else. There is no snark from me at all there. I hope for Melanie's sake that she spends a good amount of contact with her side of the family, and that she is supported by her sisters to have whatever feelings she has about her fertility and childbearing issues.  Hopefully, Melanie also has compassion for Sarah, who must also feel very pained watching her younger SIL's reproduce so quickly, while she waits for Prince Charming.

At the same time, I don't hold out much hope of change for the family's noxious beliefs toward others. Nathan at least, has a very selfish view of other people, and should be ashamed of himself for the way he trash-talked lesser mortals who don't deserve health care according to the Scamaritan scheme that bankrolled Mel's maternity care. But yeah, he deserves scorn and a metaphorical kick up the arse for his beliefs, but only compassion for his losses.

[mango_fandango]

13 minutes ago, blessalessi said:

I hold the two things apart in my mind.  They are human and vulnerable and no more deserving of tragedy than anyone else. There is no snark from me at all there. I hope for Melanie's sake that she spends a good amount of contact with her side of the family, and that she is supported by her sisters to have whatever feelings she has about her fertility and childbearing issues.  Hopefully, Melanie also has compassion for Sarah, who must also feel very pained watching her younger SIL's reproduce so quickly, while she waits for Prince Charming.

At the same time, I don't hold out much hope of change for the family's noxious beliefs toward others. Nathan at least, has a very selfish view of other people, and should be ashamed of himself for the way he trash-talked lesser mortals who don't deserve health care according to the Scamaritan scheme that bankrolled Mel's maternity care. But yeah, he deserves scorn and a metaphorical kick up the arse for his beliefs, but only compassion for his losses.

Yeah. He mentioned once on the blog about being critical of people who were watching TV (he could tell by looking through their windows), saying they obviously weren't spending much/any time in the Lord. Judgy twat. 

They also mentioned during Abby's stay in hospital about them wanting to be a light, i.e. share Jeebus. Personally that would be the last thing I would want- there's me worrying about my preemie baby, NICU is stressful, you don't know what could happen etc, and then there's some annoying eejits talking about Jesus and telling me to have faith in God that he'd watch over everything. Going after vulnerable people like that is irritating and obnoxious to me. 

[blessalessi]

He was probably peeping through all the windows in the neighbourhood, desperate to find a house with the sports channel on. 

Nathan is probably the Maxchild with closest links to the "outside". I  hope he is just playing along with Sarah in having his kids feature so much on the blog.

 

12 minutes ago, mango_fandango said:

They also mentioned during Abby's stay in hospital about them wanting to be a light, i.e. share Jeebus. Personally that would be the last thing I would want

I wonder how equipped they would be to share Jesus in a non-Maxwell controlled setting.  I suspect they might have just "been light" in a smug, serene, praying in public way. Their bible study samples in the books I have read have been pretty much "fill the gaps in the sentences" stuff. They only preach to captive audiences in a nursing home. They evangelise to kids at the fair using death tracts.  Nothing very deep.

Can you imagine if Mel wound up in a hospital cubicle next to @formergothardite and tried "being light" to her, or anyone like her who knows the bible and the belief system inside out?  I don't think they would know what to do, and you can't exactly proclaim people to be unteachable and move along, if you are bed-ridden.  I bet they just wear "Jesus is alive" t-shirts and paste a holy expression on their faces and call it good.

 

[sparkles]

15 minutes ago, blessalessi said:

He was probably peeping through all the windows in the neighbourhood, desperate to find a house with the sports channel on. 

Nathan is probably the Maxchild with closest links to the "outside". I  hope he is just playing along with Sarah in having his kids feature so much on the blog.

 

I wonder how equipped they would be to share Jesus in a non-Maxwell controlled setting.  I suspect they might have just "been light" in a smug, serene, praying in public way. Their bible study samples in the books I have read have been pretty much "fill the gaps in the sentences" stuff. They only preach to captive audiences in a nursing home. They evangelise to kids at the fair using death tracts.  Nothing very deep.

Can you imagine if Mel wound up in a hospital cubicle next to @formergothardite and tried "being light" to her, or anyone like her who knows the bible and the belief system inside out?  I don't think they would know what to do, and you can't exactly proclaim people to be unteachable and move along, if you are bed-ridden.  I bet they just wear "Jesus is alive" t-shirts and paste a holy expression on their faces and call it good.

 

Nathan posted during one of Melanie's hospitalizations and made a specific point of mentioning how they managed to get through the ordeal without having to resort to watching THE BEAST, unlike those other poor, unsaved patients. It was a heaping helping of smug, sprinkled with a generous topping of holier-than-thou.

[mango_fandango]

6 minutes ago, sparkles said:

Nathan posted during one of Melanie's hospitalizations and made a specific point of mentioning how they managed to get through the ordeal without having to resort to watching THE BEAST, unlike those other poor, unsaved patients. It was a heaping helping of smug, sprinkled with a generous topping of holier-than-thou.

Not to mention that in his photos he often always looks quite creepy and terrifying.