A new birth!

I am now a Dad three times over. I love the experiance, though mine is very different from my wifes'. She is doing fantastic and I am constantly being reminded of why she is my number one hero. Nothing about this pregnancy was the same as the others, and nothing about the birth was even close. The peace of the Lord that we felt during this pregnancy and the asurance of God and experiance made it much more enjoyable. It was the longest of the three with Christina going a long 38.5 weeks. Because of some issues with the way that little Adeline was deciding to say hello to the world, Christina had to havea C-Section. It was not the first choice, but the safest for everyone involved. Adeline was born at 7:11 on December 22, just one day past my birthday, and one the same as my mother-n-laws'.

In all of this,I can't help but to be riminded of Isaiah 43:18-19
"Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?" (ESV)

Its not that things will be done in a new, but rather, they are being done in a new way, and my responsibility is to precieve them and go with it.

As my wife was birthing, and in a new way, we both have felt God birthing something new in us.
Is it a little scary? Yes , but it is another new adventure!

Christina and I are praying for a fresh infilling of the Holy Spirit, we want to precieve what is springing forth.

God Bless,
We sure are...

Best Friends

Even when you are as outgoing as I am, there are few that make it into the best friend category. I am blessed to have several best friends, but for just a few I want to talk about just one of them. If I could get them too, my girls, would call him and his wife uncle and aunt,but as it is I am doing well to have them calling me Daddy. He has been there for the births those two little girls, and through many harder things. Hot wings, being mac fanboys, weezer, alt country, and british pop are just a few things that we share, but honesty, grace, sincerity, and humility are the things that make Kenny Innes a best friend. In what seems like two very short weeks Kenny will be leaving to plant a church in Glasgow. I know with all of my heart that this is the call of God on his life and I am excited for what is to come. I look foward to visiting someday, I hope to walk a few hills, visit a few pubs, and cathing up. Untill then,
I will miss him.

Great Blog

I have been a little quite on here the last two weeks. I am gearing up for the fall and I have been spending a lot more time reading than writing.
The title of this entry does not refer to what you are reading here, but the link that you will click on and read here.
The Art Of Manliness is a blog that I have been following for a month or so now. I find it very funny at times, and I admire the call for some "ole fashioned" manhood.
The link will take you to a post called Why Being Indie is a Bunch of Bunk. Very funny, and very true.
Thanks for reading

Google Reader

Thanks to a friend of mine I have discovered the Google Reader. This is just about as cool as sliced bread but better because there are no carbs.
Hop on over to Google and look it up (hopefully I don’t have to hyperlink that one).

Music

Those that know me, know how much I love music. I love finding new music and new artist, and I especially love it when I find good music that glorifies God. I have known about the artist Lacrae for a while now but my respect for him has just greatly increased. Watch this video posted by the guys over at The Resurgence


Pastor Tim Interviews Lecrae from Mars Hill Church on Vimeo.

Summer Camp 2

Today’s post will be more summer camp unpacking and other miscellaneous stuff.

Another loose quote of Ron Luce, “Parents of teens always say, well we did all that we knew to do and (fill in the blank) happened still, but maybe it is time for parents and youth workers to begin to learn some new things.”

I had a unique experience at camp this year, one that required me to grow in grace, and by the time I got around to the pastor’s session with Ron I was tired but he really fired me up with his address. There is a funny thing about Ron Luce, the guy is contagious, and right about the time that he delivered that line I wanted to get up and give the guy a big high five, or chest bump or something. Granted it does not take much to get me fired up, especially when talking about God, Youth Knowing God, or how awesome my wife is, but man I really begin to think about this as I drove home on Friday.

Why would we say things like that? I know it is said because I have seen the news clips and read the papers, but I am curious as to why we do this. We are God’s marvelous creation made in his image, we have created complex machines that go to the moon and further, but we can not learn new ways to parent our kids. This friends does not make sense.

This creates more questions than solutions in my head, mostly questions about why it happens, about what it is that makes parents give up on their mission. Is it a misunderstanding of their mission? Do they not remember the bit about train up a child in the way that they should go? I am not sure.

Ron Luce has written a book that promises to address some of these issues. It is not out yet but it will be soon. I will be ordering my copy here.

In other news I have just gotten a new book, I feel silly about posting about these things but I love new books. Well it’s new in form but ancient in release. I will be taking my first shot at reading Augustine’s Confessions. Also stoked about a new journal that I got, its purty and wrapped with the skin of a baby cow. So somehow it will make what I write in it a little more meaningful, at least that’s how I justified buying it.

Also today I embarked on a new read the bible in a year reading plan. I have always shied away from these as it reminded me of my ultra conservative upbringing, but Phil Joel (of Newsboys fame) spoke at camp and I was really encouraged by what he said to pick it up. I have been on a discipline kick for the last few months and so this really fits in to what God is doing in my life. This will bring a little more order to my normal way of choosing scripture (closing my eyes and pointing to a page).

Thanks for reading

Summer Camp 1

Summer camp is over and now I can begin to relax and plan for next years. This year I heard some of the best youth speakers in the nation and I was blown away by a few things that were said. I thought that this would be a good place for me to reflect on a few of these things so here goes.

This is a loose quote but Ron Luce said, “is the culture in your home stronger than that of the culture outside of it?”
This really made me think about my own home. My three year old is just that, an innocent three year old, but I know already that she is very vulnerable to the things that come across the TV or radio. It challenged me to really look at the culture of my house. I want what God says to be what counts in her life, not what Hanna Montana has to say.

Going a step further I began to think about the culture of my youth group. It really hit me then, because I am not so sure that my youth group has a culture that is not defined by the world. Fortunate for them that will begin to change. I am tired of the “cool” ones infecting the kids who have a tender heart for God. I wont let it happen any more. It is time for this generation to learn what mine did not, being cool last a short 12 years and then life happens, and when it does it is Jesus who will matter.

As I unpack more of last week’s thoughts I will post more.
Thanks for reading