The Countdown Continues

We are on a two week countdown to the arrival of baby #3. The plan now is that my wife will call on Monday to schedule an induction for October 1. Now of course, she could go into labor any day now, but based on our history it is likely that we'll have our new addition on either October 1 or 2. According to the doctor, all is going well with the baby. We are all excited and are eagerly awaiting delivery.

The family watched the movie "The Sandlot" tonight. For the first 2/3 of the movie you would have thought it was the scariest movie the kids have ever experienced. I'll admit, the beast is pretty intimidating. During the movie, I had to keep telling my daughter that the doggie just had a bad tummy ache, but there were still several times when both kids would pull their blankets up over their eyes. But in the end, both of the kids proclaimed the movie a huge favorite and they love recounting the exciting scenes.

As you may recall, I have been working as the Worship Director for a local church here in the St. Louis area. Since our arrival the church has been going through some struggles. This past Sunday the members were faced with a vote to either dissolve the church or commit to a revitalization effort. The vote was to pursue a revitalization effort. To that end, I will be stepping up my efforts and duties to ministries beyond worship. This will be an exciting time, but one requiring extra effort and every one's part. Having a baby in the midst of all of this will really make for some interesting times ... but we knew this when we decided to make the move out here.

Last week we started Covenant groups at the seminary. These groups meet for an hour each week where small groups of students and faculty get together to talk about our stresses and joys, and then spend some time praying for each other. It has been a real joy to get to know some other men that I do not share classes with. A couple of the men are actually older than I am, which is a nice change to be able to talk with men who have a little more life experience under their belts. But my group is a great blend of men who are readily willing to share and be transparent. It has really become one of the highlights of my week.