Husband to one, father of two

Sometimes it seems that life is way too complicated. There are days that everyone needs your attention and you don't even know who needs it first! And that's not counting work! I know everyone feels this pressure, no matter what they do for a living. I was recently thinking about having a hobby, but I really don't have time, at this stage in life anyway. I used to ride mountain bikes and do some camping/hiking, but lately it's too hard to pull away. So here is where I am at right now...I have to focus on my family. It's not like that's not fun. I love being at home. It's the best place to be. I love Becky, and our children are always up to something. It's good stuff.

But how do we do it? Everything is pulling at you in such a way that the most important things seem to be the easiest to neglect. Recently, I rode with a friend of mine and his daughter called, they talked like normal and then at the end she said, "I love you, thanks for the birthday present." It really touched me, not because my daughter is two and we haven't bought her a birthday present yet (the grandparents do way better than us anyway! Next year we will, I promise!), but because she is 18 and really meant it when she said that she loved her dad. That is one of my goals, for AG to be 18 and still really, really love her dad. It will happen, I promise. Not to mention that Becky and I will still be happily married in 16 years. We just crossed 7 years of marriage last week!

Anyway, just thinking of family stuff,

Do we ever really totally let go...

I really want to let God have every part of me. I don't want to depend on myself, to allow decisions to be made because of selfish ambition, or manipulate others for my gain. Do you ever have those moments when your eyes are opened and you see yourself as you are. I have been really spending time with the Lord and thought that I had finally established a pattern and a need for God that would make me spend time with Him more. I need to meet with God. I say that with my head, but then I can go days without spending time with Him and it shows me who I really am. That has recently happened. Last week I went from Wed. to Sunday without even looking at my Bible!!
Anyway, I just don't want it to be like that. I want to be consistent.

How are we doing...

Really Good. Just talked to Becky and she said that they had a great morning. Thomas is sleeping about 4-5 hrs at a time at night. It's a beautiful thing! And he is pretty content during the day- Eat, poop, sleep, what a life!
There are times during the day, just about every day, that I am just overwhelmed by how blessed I am. Usually it's when Anna Grace just does something SO sweet. Like kissing me on the forehead, or when she just comes and leans on me, or says something so cute. Yesterday the first thing she said after nap was that she wanted to, " Wub Thomas and give kisses." God has been so good to me. Life is good.

Baby Photos #2

Baby Photos #1

It's been a couple crazy days
Thomas was born wed.-- 7 lbs 13 oz, 21 in long
everyone is doing well, thought I would post a picture or two.

Just came across a neat verse that I would like to share...
1 Thess. 5.4
But friends, you're not in the dark, so how could you be taken off guard by any of this? You're sons of Light, daughters of Day. We live under wide open skies and know where we stand. So let's not sleepwalk through life like those others. Let's keep our eyes open and be smart.

Sons of Light, Daughters of Day. That spoke to me this morning. We aren't just people. We are children of the king. Let's live like it, in victory!

Went to the zoo today with the family, it was great. But I couldn't stop thinking about something. Here we are just 30 feet away from a tiger that would rip you to shreds in the wild. We would be lunch. But he was kept in his cage and he couldn't hurt anyone. Here is a powerful hunter, the lion, the bear, the tiger, even the snakes behind the glass, with tons of kids watching them. Just like they were harmless. Their eyes were hollow, they just laid around or walked in circles. They weren't doing what they were meant to do, hunt, roam, live outside of bars.
But isn't this a great picture of what most Christians are like? We are penned up by our sin that so easily entangles. Even though we are made to do mighty things, here we are walking in circles or sleeping all day in our cage.

Less of myself

I am tired of me. Here's what I mean. I have done ministry before in my own power. The truth is that I have done more ministry in my own power than I have done in the Spirit. Well I don't know, God does. the point is, I am tired of my own strength. I want to operate in a realm of power that I don't have. I want God to make things happen and then He gets the glory.
I have felt the fatigue and hopelessness of ministry in my own power. And I know what it feels like for God to move and work through me. That's where I want to be!

God, You have it all...do what You will.

trying something different

This summer we are going to scrap the old way of doing youth group and try something different. I don't really know what it's going to look like yet, but here are my thoughts.

• I want God to speak to each student, not just to me
• I want each student to seek the Lord and see what happens
• I want each student to tell other students that God is doing something in their lives
• I want to empower them to go after God with everything they have.

So what will happen? I don't have a clue. But I do know that this is bigger than me. God has to show up if it is going to work. We might even lose some kids, I don't know. But I do know that God wants them to seek after Him and He wants them to be an active part of the body.

What will it look like? At this point, here's what I am thinking. circle, multiple people sharing about their time with the Lord or a song, anything. Then let the body of Christ encourage each other.

Will it work? I don't know, but I do know this...It's bigger than me. The only way it will work is if God shows up. Join with me as I pray for God to change us radically

Desperation

I think the times that I experience God the most is when I am the most desperate. During those times I come to the Lord and I don't have anywhere else to turn. When things are good I have this false sense that I don't really need God. I wouldn't say that, but that's what my actions say. The Israelites were the same way, maybe it's human nature? God would do amazing things, like delivering them from Egypt, splitting the Red Sea, opening up the ground and swallowing people who disobeyed. Ans they would follow for a season. Until everything was going right. Then they would start to worship the gods of the surrounding countries. Then something bad would happen and they would cry out to God and He would deliver.

I used to read about the Israelites and think that they are so stupid. If God did those things for me I would never turn away. But God has done amazing things for me and I still forget and turn away.

So desperation, are we really desperate for God and what he has for our lives?