Did I Pray For That?

Have you ever wished for or desired something without actually praying for it, and then, in some weird way receive that very thing?

A couple of weeks ago, the thought ran through my mind that it would have been nice if I could have been able to take the kids (at least the older ones) to an NFL game while we were here in St. Louis.  It was a fleeting thought, because the cost was simply too prohibitive.

Fast forward to this past week.  I get the kids on the bus for school and a few minutes later the phone rings and it is the school nurse.  My first thought is that one of the kids fell getting off the bus, but then the first words out of her mouth are, "I have good news for you."  So I quickly shift gears and think to myself, perhaps they have found Thomas' winter jacket that we haven't been able to locate in recent days.  No, it wasn't that either.

As it turns out, my son has been a very, very busy boy.  His school was participating in the NFL Play 60 campaign and he has been, completely on his own, keeping diligent track of everything he has been eating and all of the exercise and play he has been doing.  And several times a day, he enters this information on a website.  His diligence made him the top participant in his entire elementary school.  So the nurse informs me of my son's outstanding achievement and says that the school wants to name him their Ambassador for the Play 60 program.  This means, among other things, that he receives free tickets to an upcoming game between the Rams and the Cardinals.

So, instead of being able to take my son to an NFL game - he's going to take me and his sister. 

So I'm left with concluding that this is an answer to a prayer that I didn't pray, but should have.

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Post-game update:

We had a great time at the game.  Both kids got to be on the Jumbo-tron and we walked out with an autographed mini-helmet and an online gift certificate.  It's not easy to go to a professional sporting event and leave with more than you end up spending, but somehow that's how it turned out.  God is good to my family!  Here are some pictures of the event:

Getting Close to the End

My time at school is quickly drawing to a close.  This week is Fall Break - a time to get caught up and hopefully work ahead a little as well.  With only five or six more weeks in this semester, the time will truly seem to fly.

A lot has happened since my last update (on Memorial Day - Yikes!), so let me give you the highlights.  Our struggling church has ceased having morning worship services due to financial constraints.  The property has been gifted back to our "mother church" and we will be allowed to stay here in the house until I graduate next year.  However, this does mean I'm also out of a job.  While this does make our financial situation a bit more tight, it has offered me some opportunities I may not have otherwise been able to pursue.

A couple of weekends ago I was able to take a trip to Nashville, TN for a class on church planting.  We heard presentations from five different church planters ... all of whom have successful planted churches using different styles and methods.  It was a very encouraging, yet eye-opening time.  I was able to stay with a family from the host church and had a great time getting to know them.  The highlight of the trip came on Saturday night when I was able to go out for dinner with two of my friends from school - both of whom had previously spent some time in Nashville.  One of them contacted an old friend who lives there and he joined us for dinner.  He is an atheist, and after about 45 minutes of pleasantries, he began asking the three of us questions about our faith, science, the Bible, etc.  We were able to spend the next 2 hours sharing the gospel with this man, and while his views haven't changed, we were able to give him some new perspectives to think about.  I believe he is a few steps closer to the Kingdom now.

In addition, our family has now been able to attend church together.  It's been nice being able to worship as a family with no extra responsibilities on my part ... I know this likely won't last, so I'm enjoying every moment of it while I can!

A few weeks ago, my third child, a.k.a. the comic in the family, turned 2!  All that day she screamed, "Happy Day!"  And pretty much every day since then she will come up to me at least once ask, "Happy Day?"  Everyday is a happy day in our household now! :)  Yesterday, she was eating her breakfast at the table and I walked by her and tickled her behind the ear.  She giggled, then turned to me and said, "More, please!"  Yes, I know - she's very cute!

The older two children have been sick more this year than in years past it seems.  Both have recently had battles with pneumonia.  My son missed the better part of the first two weeks of school this year because of it.  Thankfully, everyone is healthy ... for now.

The baby is now 10 months old!  She is cutting multiple teeth at the same time and can get a tad cranky, but most of the time she's as happy and playful as the rest of them have been.  What's amazing is the amount of hair she has.  Even at ten months, she has as much hair as the 2 year old does now.  This one is definitely going to look like her momma!

Speaking of which, I saw a great T-shirt the other day.  On the back it said, "DADD - Dad's Against Daughters Dating ... Shoot the first one and the word will spread."  PERFECT!

Have I mentioned recently that I'm married to an AMAZING WOMAN?

I'm now in full job hunting mode.  Given our housing situation, decisions will have to be made by next June.  So, I'm planning on taking a job hunting trip back east in January (weather permitting).  Unfortunately, with all the school the kids have missed, the family will not be joining me.  But if you'd like to get together with me while I'm out that way, send me a note and I'll be sure to get with you while I'm in the area ... PLUS - if you know of any churches looking to hire, please let me know that as well.  As we've said all along, we are keeping all options open during our search!

Thanks again to all of you who have been praying for us and encouraging us during this grand and glorious VENTURE.  God has blessed us in so many ways during this time and all of you have had a part in that!  Your support is greatly appreciated!  Blessings!

Time Is Flying

It seems like yesterday our youngest was born and now she's just over five months!  When I brought her home, I was so concerned about her because she was so thin and frail.  Now she's growing like a weed with chubby cheeks and all.  She's starting to roll over and we'll begin giving her solid food soon.  Baby #3 is just starting to sleep in her big girl bed so we can move her  younger sister in the crib.  We were most fortunate to come across a young woman in the next town who was getting married and wanted to give away her bedroom furniture (twin bed, 3 and 5 drawer dressers, and a desk) for free.  The Lord's timing is amazing.

The older two have finished school and are doing remarkable well.  Next fall they will be entering first and fourth grades.  It doesn't seem possible that time is moving this fast, but the Lord has blessed me with some amazing children.  I just went upstairs to tuck these two into bed.  One was sitting on the bed reading a book and listening to the local Christian radio station, the other was lying in bed listening to the Jesus Storybook Bible on CD.  What's a father to do with such rebellious children?!?!? :)  (I know.  Many of you are thinking, "Just wait.")

I've completed another semester at school, which means just another a year and I'll be done.  My bride and I have begun having conversations about where we'd like to go after this, but we realize that much will likely change in the next 6-12 months.  So we will wait and see; pursue every angle and opportunity and watch the Lord work as He has so very many times in the past.  Have I mentioned lately, that I'm married to an AMAZING woman?  To embrace this Venture as she has with all the uncertainty and knowing the extreme lack of earthly rewards to come is just one indication of the great faith she has in our God.  I'm glad we're in this together.

I've been looking to do some clean-up of the church grounds here where we live.  Especially the playground that is in desperate need of attention.  During one of the severe storms that came through here a few months ago, a tree to fell on part of the fence of the playground.  There are also several dead trees around the playground that need to come down.  So, earlier this week I went out and bought a chainsaw.  I know this will cause concern for some, but please know that I spent many, MANY hours of my youth cutting, splitting and stacking wood.  So far I've taken down two of the smaller dead trees and I've cleared back to the tree that fell on the fence and cut enough to get it off the fence.  There's still a lot of clean-up left to do in and around the playground, but I'm happy to report progress is being made.  With all the wood that I'm cutting up, I'm planning on getting some large stones and building a fire pit so we can have church picnics with campfires for making s'mores and such.  I think it's going to look pretty nice once we have everything done!

The weather this spring so far has been crazy to say the least.  I knew back at the beginning of April when the local weatherman said to expect the weather to be "schizophrenic" that we'd be in for some weird stuff.  So far we've been safe through it all.  We had the power go out here for about 26 hours last week, but that was the worst that we've experienced in all of this.  On Good Friday, I decided to go into work early based on the weather forecast.  This proved to be a great decision because I was able to get my truck and get to the main hospital before a tornado touched down along the route I had just traveled.  Recently a tornado dropped on Joplin, MO and completely devastated the town as well as one of our hospitals there.  This is unfortunately not an isolated incident as several areas have seen heavy weather related damage.  While there is no silver lining to these storms, I am encouraged to see the generosity of people who will step up to help people they've never met.  One local radio talk show host wanted to have a donation drive for the people of Joplin.  So they contacted a local grocery store and made arrangements to do a remote broadcast from their parking lot and asked people to bring donations of water, diapers, etc.  They thought that they might fill a small moving van.  Instead they filled 3 semi trailers.  They had to ask people on their radio show to stop bringing donations because they had to get the trucks on the road.  One might think with the bad economy, high unemployment and high gas prices that people would scale back their giving, but it turns out that generosity has increased!

Today is Memorial Day.  I want to give a sincere "Thank You" to all of our service personnel.  You're sacrifice is amazing and selfless.  I pray God's blessing and safety for all of you.  For those who are remembering fallen loved ones, I pray for God's peace and comfort to surround you.  "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends."  (John 15:13)

The Questions Children Ask

It's always a joy putting the kids to bed because they tend to be the most honest and philosophical at that time.  You never know what they are going to ask or say.  The other night, my son asked me, "Dad, if there was a world-wide earthquake ... who would come to help us?"

My response really caused him to think.  I told him that he was looking at this upside-down and the question he should be asking is "Who would we be able to help?"  I told him that Daddy would make sure that our family was safe, but then we would do whatever we could to help those around us.  I went on to review with him what Jesus taught as the two great commandments.  To love the Lord your God and to love your neighbor as yourself.

The times when we're most tempted to look inwards is when we should be most eager to move outwards.  Who is your neighbor?

And Then There Were Four

The documentation says to expect a call from the hospital beginning at 6:00 am to come in for a labor induction.  The idea is the delivery rooms go to women in active labor first and then they fill the remainder with those scheduled for an induction.  The theory is nice, but the documentation is just wrong.  In October 2009, we got a call at 5:30 am for baby #3, this year the call came at 5:20 am.  Now, I don't mind getting up that early, but if you're going to call me that earlier, please be nice enough to let me know in advance.  Needless to say, when the call came, we got up and went in.  This being our fourth go at delivery, we pretty much knew what to expect and everything went pretty much according to plan and at 1:17 in the afternoon we had ANOTHER baby girl.  She weighed in at 7 lbs 4 oz and was about 20 inches long.  Yes, if you're counting I now have 3 girls under the age of 6 ... do some math and you'll find that all 3 will be teenagers at the same time.  The day is coming that I will be a full fledged member of the NRA.  Enough said.

Baby #4 arrived with a couple of surprises.  First, she was born "face up."  This normally isn't a problem, but it's not ideal.  Being face up, when she took her first breath she ended up taking a big gulp of fluid which got in her lungs.  This caused a small tear in one of her lungs and her breathing became labored and noisy.  The nurses call it "grunting."  Needless to say, this grunting was enough to have her admitted to the NICU.  There is nothing more scary and emotionally draining than having to walk your baby to the NICU.  Thankfully, ten minutes after we got her admitted to the NICU the grunting stopped.  Since then, she's been doing remarkably well, although by Vagabond standards, she is tiny.  She feels so fragile when I hold her.

The second surprise is this baby was born with hair - dark hair.  Our other three children were born with practically no hair and didn't have any hair to speak of until around the age of two and all were fair-haired.  This little girl looks nothing like her siblings did at birth, hopefully she'll still have the good natured disposition that the others have had.  So far she is eating well and sleeping for good stretches of time - sometimes as long as 6 hours.

So now we have a Vagabond six-pack.  The adjustments have begun.  The older two understand that their responsibilities have increased; the younger one, well let's just say she loves to kiss her little sister.  So far she hasn't shown any jealousy that her little sister has more hair than she does.  My bride is adjusting too.  She doesn't get as much rest as I think she should, but somehow she manages.  I'm adjusting too, but I don't think that the idea of one day having 3 teenage girls is going to be something that I'll ever get used to.  Feel free to pray for me ... often.