Being a Father

Well, it has been a little over 10 weeks into my journey as a father. Josiah is amazing. He really is a good baby. I think God knew we wouldn't be able to handle a crazy baby. He is beautiful. He looks like his Momma, thank goodness.

The reality of him being here is starting to set in. One of the biggest things that God has been teaching me is about the Father's love. I would do anything for Josiah. He has done nothing to earn my love except come into this earth. In fact, I KNOW that there will be many times in the future that he will disobey me, disrespect me, talk back to me and even call me names. But...I still love him. I still will do anything for him. That doesn't matter. He could wish that he was born to different parents, but I still love him.

So, if my imperfect love can do that, how much more does God our Father love us.

Matthew 7:11

Josiah is Here!

Well, like most expectations, ours have been shattered. Our baby, Josiah, came about 3 weeks early. He weighed 5 lbs 11oz. He was 18 1/2 inches.

He is absolutely beautiful.

We spent 6 days and 5 nights in the hospital. Two of those days were before his birth. Aimee was having some issues.

Parenthood is strange. It is still surreal. Reality has not set in. I am holding him right now and it is way too early for a youth pastor to be awake. Still, the reality has not set in.

Well, here he is:

A New House!

Well Summer is coming to a close today. School starts tomorrow and life will slow down a little bit until the end of October when Mr. Josiah gets here. Last week, we moved into our new house in Summerlin. We love it. We are so thankful to God for what He has given us. It doesn't quite feel like home yet, but it will get there.

We had a good Summer over all. From all the camps and events over the Summer, God has been good. For the next few weeks and months, we will see how people allow God to work in their lives even when school is in.

Hopefully, I will be able to post on here a little more now that life is slowing down a little bit.

It's All in the Family

So I am in Kansas City, Missouri. I am here with about 85 people who claim me as family. There are 42 kids and 43 adults. The weather has been pretty good. Saturday has been a little cooler than expected. It has been a great time to relax and even meet family that I don't remember or I haven't seen in years. There are also kids here that were not even alive the last time I saw their family.

One of my cousins works for Christ In Youth (CIY). We had a great discussion today about leaders and small groups. He is writing a book to help train volunteer leaders. It was a good time. It's cool to see how people are similar even though they live hundred of miles away. We work for different denominations but we serve the same God.

The one thing I love about my family, even though we don't see them often, is our love for God and family dynamics. Most families these days have some issues:

1. They don't even want to meet together for a family reunion.

2. God is not the center of most of their lives, so they are missing a common bond.

3. Our families are willing to help each other out no matter what the situation.

Even though we don't keep up with most of our family during the year (except through Facebook), our love for family and our Savior makes coming together a great time.

It's been a while...

Sorry that I haven't posted here in awhile. Things have been really busy and somethings are getting ready to change. If your only connection to me is this blog, you might want to know that Aimee and I are expecting a little boy in November. His name is Josiah. We don't have a middle name yet, still working on that.
Hopefully this weekend, we will have a contract on our house. We are looking at building our next house. We have a really good deal in the process.
Things have been pretty busy at church. We leave for Impact in a week. Another team in going to Belize two weeks after that. Then, we have our normal youth camp in July. In the middle of all that, we have a family reunion to attend.
Today, Jeff and I started a new thing where we take 1 day a month and turn our cell phones off and just spend time with God and his Word. It didn't really go as planned. I ended up in a meeting that I forgot was already planned. I was able to spend most of the afternoon in quiet and reading.
I read through the book of Nehemiah. It is the book we are using at Impact. I really just wanted God to speak through it without the curriculum. The character and integrity that Nehemiah has was astounding. He would not let anyone or anything stray him from doing God's work. There was power, position and wealth all at his finger tips, yet he chose to do the right thing. I hope to continue to become that kind of man. God-willing.