Keal Family Letter, April 2006

Hello Friends and Family. Spring has arrived in Lenhartsville! We
have been greatly enjoying the beautiful warm weather here. It has
done wonders for our health, both physical and mental. The flowers are
blooming in our yard, and we've been able to go on walks again. We all
have a tiny bit of sunburn, but it's a good kind of pain, like after a
good exercise, or helping somebody move into a new house.

Speaking of a new house, we did some Spring cleaning in our living room
lately, and while doing so, we decided to try rearranging the living
room. There's now much more space, and it's much more functional. If
a Feng Shui expert were to walk through our living room, he might even
nod quietly to himself. I even built a new worship center in the
corner.

Well, after 55 straight days of sickness in our family, we feel that we
can safely say that we are well again! (This month it was the flu.)
The only big stress in our lives at this point is the stress of medical
bills. But even in that, I'm trusting that the Lord will take care of
us. We will deal with it as best we can. Several of our friends and
family have recently blessed us with a monetary gift to help us
through. Many of those friends were anonymous, so if any of them were
you, please know that we are extraordinarily grateful to you!

One of the good things to come from all of this sickness, is that we've
finally gotten on the ball about finding a Homeopathic doctor, and
getting professional Homeopathic care. Mitchel Shapiro actually lives
in Delaware, so it's a bit of a hike, but Tirah and Cirdan have already
seen him, and Thea and I will be seeing him this month. The initial
consultations are somewhat pricey, but phone consultations are very
reasonable. We are very excited about having that become a big part of
our health care.

Cirdan has become quite the little talker lately. He knows so many
words at this point that I can't keep track of them all. He said
"Cucumber" the other day... a perfect pronunciation too!

Cirdan seems to be moving towards the Terrible Twos just as fast as
Thea is moving out of them. It used to be that for evening worship,
Thea would be a basket case, while Cirdan would be happily listening to
the story and singing the songs. Now it's just the opposite. Cirdan
refuses to sit still, while Thea participates wonderfully. I think
part of it is that we've gotten her more involved in worship too. Both
kids now take turns opening and closing the Word, and saying the little
sayings that go with it. Thea loves it! She very gently unwraps the
cloth and opens the Word while saying "Make a joyful noise to the Lord,
all you lands!" It's very cute and wonderful to see. Thea is also
capable of saying the entire Lord's Prayer. Cirdan, in a good mood,
can say some of it. It usually comes out sounding like this:
"Odder....a...a
Vens...a...a...Name....a...a...Come.....a...a....Done....a....a....Urt..
...a....Day...a...Bed...a....a....Detts....a....a.....Dettess.....a....a
....Shun....a....a....Vul.....a....Dum....a....Tower....a...a...Ver....A
MEN!" It is wonderfully cute!

Tirah is still working as a manger at Jo-Ann Fabrics, as well as being
Carl Smith's bookkeeper. She works long and hard. She is amazingly
devoted to our cause. She's the wonderful bread-winner in our house.
I'm sure many of you have seen the wonderful movie: "March of the
Penguins," narrated by Morgan Freeman. For those that haven't seen it,
it describes and portrays the amazing seasonal lifestyles of the
Emperor Penguins in Antarctica. They all come out of the sea and begin
an incredibly long march towards a spot that they all know, where they
mate and raise their baby penguins. They are seasonly monogamous, and
make for very cute little families. The amazing thing being that after
the egg is produced, the mother penguin gives it to the father penguin,
and then she goes back to the sea to eat, while the father penguin
takes care of the egg until it hatches. Throughout the early life of
the chick, the father and mother take turns being the "bread-winner"
and the "stay-at-home parent."

We can very much relate to this sort of lifestyle... we are in it right
now. I used to be the bread-winner. Now it's Tirah's turn, while I
watch the baby penguins. At some point, hopefully when my music
business takes off, I will go back to being the bread-winner, and Tirah
will take a turn being the stay-at-home parent. The wonderful thing
being that it's all part of the incredible journey we're on as a
family; a journey to raise children, improve a marriage, and pursue the
dreams and goals of a useful, purposeful, and passionate life. As
Morgan Freeman said: "In the harshest place on earth, love finds a way.
This is the incredible true story of a family's journey to bring life
into the world."

I've lately been reading a wonderful book called "No More Christian
Nice Guy: when being nice, instead of good, hurts men, women, and
children." by Paul Coughlin. This book was written for me. The idea
behind it is that through various causes, many men in our culture today
have become Christian Nice Guys, or CNG's. A CNG is someone who aims
to please others at the expense of himself. A CNG fears conflict, and
seeks appeasement. A CNG is not a leader, but a follower. A CNG will
never disagree with his wife. A CNG is passive (or even aggressive)
but never assertive. A CNG is humble and self sacrificing because he
is told to be. A CNG will rarely show anger, or love, but he will
make subtle confusing attempts at both. A CNG rarely stands up for
what he believes in. You get the idea. The goal is for men who are
like this to become Christian Good Guys. A CGG is just the opposite
of all these things; he is passionate, fearless, assertive, a leader,
loving, someone who goes on the offensive, while also defending the
things and people he cares about. The book uses the imagery of Jesus
as an example. Jesus was not a Christian Nice Guy. He threw the money
changers out of the temple, He called his disciples "Fools!" Jesus was
a radical Who didn't conform to society or peer pressure or what He
knew to be wrong. Jesus was bold, while at the same time merciful.
When Jesus was slapped by one of the Temple guards, He didn't turn the
other cheek, but rather confronted this guard verbally, and basically
exposed him for being merely a bully. We have a wonderful role model
in Jesus Christ, and yet His rugged side is often not proclaimed on the
rooftop. This book has been very useful for me. It is wonderfully
applicable to marriage, parenting, life in the workplace, and life in a
church society and the world at large. I highly recommend it,
especially if any of you men think you can identify in any way with the
Christian Nice Guy mind-set. I know I can. I am currently on the
path to becoming a Christian Good Guy instead.

Some exciting news on the music business front: This month I am a
featured artist on Whisperings Solo Piano Radio
(http://www.solopianoradio.com)! Throughout the month of April, every
Tuesday night at 10:00 PM EST (7:00 PM PST), tune into Whisperings and
you can hear a half hour show of all my music! Pretty cool! Also,
check out my website (http://www.solomonkeal.com); I've given it a bit
of a face-lift.

Well that's about all for now. We hope you are all doing well, and
enjoying the Season of life that you are in.
You are all in our thoughts and prayers. God bless!

Much love from,

The Emperor Penguins:

Solomon - The current adult penguin watching the baby penguins
Tirah - The current adult penguin commuting to the sea to fish and get
food
Solomon and Tirah's marriage - Baby penguin number 1
Thea - Baby penguin number 2
Cirdan - Baby penguin number 3
Solomon's Music Business - Baby penguin number 4