I guess I would say that only the gospel frees us from the kind of racism and injustice that exists. There is no division in the gospel, no critical race theory (where there is only atonement and no forgiveness), no power over another because of the color of their skin...only God's justice through Christ can unify us. Adding anything to Christ's work on the cross as necessary for repentance or forgiveness is a big no, but His work encompasses justice, mercy, and equality at the foot of the cross and IS all we need to see those things accomplished.

When my 12yo was a baby they told me to avoid feeding common allergens until a certain age...like 9mos for dairy/yogurt, a year for peanuts, etc. Now with my current baby the advice is to expose them with small amounts early and often.

How would one have damaged lungs ro the level of opacity on imaging and not feel it? Sorry if that's a dumb question.

What does this phrase mean, "significant subclinical lung abnormalities"?

I keep seeing ads for vuori joggers in my social media. The look nice, but they are $$$ for sweat pants.

My first thought is that China was either not sure what they were dealing with or covering this up for a long time before they couldn't any longer. Or a combination of those two things.

Should I cross Tulsa off our future places to live list?? 😂 Sorry, don't mean to be flippant, but this is kind of not the news I want while dh is job hunting and we're looking at a move.

The Tulsa County website was working for me about an hour ago.

Just heard on the news that California is now mandating masks in public.

1)Churches surely can, within certain parameters. But a manager or owner of a store is very different than a pastor or elder board. That is how a local running store can much more easily institute a storewide policy than an elder board or pastor. Pastors and church leadership aren't owners or bosses. 2) tangent, but a good jumping off point: in case there is a thought that I'm asking these questions in an effort to minimize what's going on wrt covid, that is not the case. I want numbers in context to be meaningful and not just, "hospital beds are full to 80%". Surely people realize that statistic be itself means nothing. I've been in a position in pre-covid times waiting hours for a bed to be freed up for an ER admit. The larger point is that statistics can be used in isolation to try to paint a picture that isn't accurate. I don't buy the conspiracy theories around fudging reporting numbers simply because it's an extremely complicated process to begin with. I have found it very difficult for these reasons to know how bad or good things are, and it seems there are always various interests at play to make things look worse or better than they are. Like, if contact tracing is good, you get a lot of asymptomatic positives that you wouldn't otherwise discover. So we want that to be happening. If hospitals open up for procedures and remain at 90-95% beds utilized (what I understand to be "normal"), then that is a good thing. But these are things that can sound bad minus any context. So if I ask clarifying questions, it is not in an interest to argue or be dismissive.

Pastors don't enforce no smoking laws in buildings...that is civil law in most any place I've been, enforced by police or city officials. An elder or a deacon may ask someone who is smoking to leave the building but they don't hold any special power of enforcement in that regard over any other member of the congregation. Certainly pastors can influence congregants towards civil disobedience in any sphere, from mask wearing to protesting. But pastors or church leadership do not and cannot institute or enforce civil law themselves. They certainly make decisions about the well being of the flock, as you point out with how to administer communion, but they don't force anyone to partake. They don't force women to wear head coverings, even if some choose to. They could not, in my church, force anyone to wear a mask because, for starters, they have no authority to ask about disabilities that would prohibit mask wearing. I'm not saying they don't have influence. But this idea that they should prohibit people from coming to worship (cancelling services or kicking them out as if they are smokers) seems to misunderstand the actual role and responsibility they have in the church. Also wanted to ask...When people talk about hospital beds being filled are they talking about general capacity that is going up now that hospitals are opening up again for other procedures or hospitalized covid patients? And are these rates in context of what normal bed usage would be?

We go to a friends' house and they let us use their pool for a few hours and the adults sit spaced out and talk. They clean and disinfect everything inside before we come over so that a kid can use the bathroom when needed, and they clean and disinfect after we leave. I'm not really worried about biking and jogging and being behind or near someone. The dispersal of droplets in the open air in even a slight breeze makes something like this not an issue for me unless I'm right up in someone's face, which on a bike, I wouldn't be.

In our church the pastor cannot mandate anything. He is one elder on a board of elders. He is a servant of the body of Christ who happens to also be trained and examined to be qualified to teach the Word at services. He isn't able to mandate mask wearing. He can speak to the importance of it, and if he disagrees with the other elders and feels very strongly about it he can certainly leave the church, but he is not a dictator over the physical bodies of the members of the church. The elder board as a whole makes these decisions. I'm not against mask wearing, but your idea of what pastors should be allowed to dictate to their congregation is a little bit off, I think. Leadership, in any case, in church, isn't reflected by taking the bull by the horns and forcing everyone to go along, with mask wearing or anything else. At least, that's not how any healthy church I've ever attended has operated. Again, just for the record, I'm pro-mask wearing, especially in church.

Baby-sitting, but first on the books job was Taco Bell.

Yes. I mean I tried the grocery thing one time and there was just no end to the washing of things that touched the things that touched things.

So many variables: location being the biggest, actual number of people and bedrooms needed, waterfront or within 1 or 2 blocks of the ocean? I've seen some houses for 20-30 people go for 20k for a week in peak season, but you can obviously find cheaper.

https://dash.harvard.edu/handle/1/42669767 I think that's it.

I can't decide if my online life and real life intersecting is a pro or a con, honestly! 😂🤪

Does anyone else get the NYT morning briefing in their email? I found the "where reopening is working" article kind of interesting. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/11/briefing/coronavirus-national-guard-nascar-your-thursday-briefing.html

I'm sorry. That sounds so traumatic!

Well, who knows what will actually happen, but we seem to have narrowed our job search down to Tulsa and Dayton. Tulsa has fewer actual jobs that fit but is slightly cheaper and has appeal for reasons related to proximity to extended family. Dayton has way more jobs in my DH's career field at way better salaries that would give us a higher standard of living and more flexibility, but no family close by. Thanks to all who gave me some ideas!!

Going to Costco on a hunch in late February. I have an image in my mind of a bunch of people standing around waiting for the guy to bring another pallet of bottled water out because all that was left was those tiny bottles. Then at Safeway in early March seeing the lady in front of me with a cary full of canned goods and liquor. 😂

If someone would decline treatment or prophylactic removal of reproductive organs or breasts, they may feel that they could have better mental health not knowing. IOW, knowing or not knowing wouldn't change what they would do, so not knowing is easier.

I skimmed the articles so please forgive me, but does anyone know what % capacity ICUs normally operate at when there's no pandemic on? I admit that 83% seems low to me after having a loved one in an ICU and seeing almost all beds full (this was several years ago). I'm trying to put some of the numbers in seeing in context and am reading conflicting info about short staffing, beds available, equipment like ECMO and vents, how NYC utilized surge capacity and field hospitals, etc.

I am not an expert, but I had a slow gainer. I would go for fat content in what he will eat...full fat yogurt, butter or olive oil in/on everything that can take it, etc. Also look at his intake over the course of a week instead of day by day. Even toddlers without food issues will sometimes survive on air for a few days and then have a day where they eat more. I'm sure it feels like he can't afford not to eat, but he's probably not got great hunger cues in his own body if he's used to not being full and that will take time and just repeatedly offering stuff to get over. Some peds will recommend pediasure or instant breakfast shakes. My ped thinks they are horrible junk that will just exacerbate the sugar/junk food issue.