...............The Hellwig Family

Saturday, March 14, 2015

The Pi Pie

by Mama H.

Happy Pi Day !

2015 Pi Pie.... by Christianna
 Christianna came home from our Women's retreat this afternoon and baked us this lovely pie!
        While the Pi was not as distinct on this year's pie as on last year's,
2014
        it was delicious nonetheless!

Thank you, Christianna, for helping us enjoy a little more of God's glorious fingerprints.... in our Pi-pie.  I suppose you could say God's got His fingers in our pies!  His blessings are indeed everywhere.  May you enjoy our inscrutable Creator, His salvation, and His innumerable gifts.

(More on the Women's retreat in another post....)





Happy Pi Day!

by Mama H.

Around our home, pie is certainly appreciated: apple, blueberry, pumpkin, coconut, strawberry-rhubarb, chocolate-hazelnut, pecan, peach.... well, it goes on for a while. 




But, a little known fact about our family is that Pi is also greatly valued: 3.1415926..... well, it seems that this Pi goes on for a while as well.  In fact, Pi goes on forever, as far as we know.  I do not believe any computer has been able to find the "end" of pi.  (Just as no one in our family could ever find the end to his enjoyment of pie!)




Today just happens to be 3/14/15.... and at 9:26, we'll have the first seven decimal places of Pi: 3.1415926 ! 
Don't worry: if you miss 9:26 a.m., you get another chance at 9:26 p.m.!  (Such worries!)
 
The nature of pi and of God who created it are very much alike.  
Did you know:

  • Pi cannot be expressed as a common fraction.  It can only be approximated.  Can we ever come anywhere near to "defining" God?  We can only approximate Him (and poorly, at that).
  • Pi's decimal representation never ends.  God is infinite. 
  • In fact, that decimal part of Pi never even settles into any permanent repeating pattern. While God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow, we cannot know what He will do or when.  We cannot understand Him, or predict His thoughts.
  • Yet, Pi is a wonderful number:  it is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter.  Any circle, large, small, or in-between.  God is Wonderful, having stamped his image on the human race, and left his fingerprints all over creation. (Try looking up the wonders of the Fibonacci numbers in pine cones and sunflowers!)From the smallest atomic particle to the vastness of the universe, God's signature is readily apparent.

Here in the Hellwig family, we love Pi.  In fact, years ago, it was a fun family challenge to memorize Pi to 7 digits.  I can remember the older ones, when they were little, coming to the dinner table with their recitations of Pi, proudly rattling off 3.1415926 as fast as their tongues could go!

Here in the Hellwig family, we also love pie!  In sure Hellwig tradition, Christianna will be making us a Pi-pie today.  View a  post about our past Pi-day celebration  here.

Of course, hugs are always appropriate for celebrations, but, what better way to celebrate the love, the glory and majesty, the masterful genius of the Creator of  Pi by giving someone you love a big, circular hug?  So, give a hug.  And have some pie with your Pi!  And praise the Lord of the Universe for His unspeakable gifts.

(Did you know that the word "Universe" comes from the Latin words for "one" and "word"?  With One Word  He spoke, and it was all created!  The Word is Jesus! I love how God has embedded His presence in our very languages and semantics!  I do believe I could write a whole other post about this...)

Stay tuned for a picture of Christianna's Apple Pi!


Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Oliver and Jedidiah run the Rolesville 5K

by Mama H.

On November 8, Oliver and Jeddie were up bright and early to run the Road to Rolesville 5K race.

Oliver had run it a couple of times before, once with Arianne.  This year, he thought he'd take a relaxing run (after the trail marathon) and see if he could improve his 5K time.

And they're off!









Oliver flies in....
  He ended up winning 1st place in his age category and 4th place over all.  Methinks the trail marathon training helped quite a bit.

Here comes Jeddie!





 Jedidiah finished, though there were so many boys in his age group he did not place.  Not bad though, considering he didn't train for it much, and was just recovering from a sprained ankle.



                                                                  Good job, men!

Marathon!


by Mama H.

On October 18th, Oliver ran a marathon!  And it wasn't just a normal marathon.  Oh no!  Combining his love of running and his love of hiking, he decided to try a trail marathon:  the Medoc Mountain Trail marathon.

It was only about an hour from home, an easy drive.

It was a lovely day, sunny, and just a bit cool, to keep everything very comfortable.



Overall, Oliver did well.  While he didn't place in his age category, he still finished ahead of men much younger than he!

Good job, Honey!

Praying for my Children....

by Mama H.


I came across this today in a book I have owned for some time, but have not spent very much time in (Praying the Bible for Your Children" by David and Heather Kopp :

 " Father, I know that sometimes your blessings are disguised as a challenge or a disappointment.  As I listen for your voice about my children, show me what I may have overlooked or undervalued."

May we look beyond the ugly to see the image of God stamped in each one, and to celebrate (while we gently correct) the life He has blessed us with.

(Hmmm, I'll have to work a bit harder on not ending my sentences with prepositions!... there, I did it again!)