So Much to be Thankful For!

As Thanksgiving Day continues its approach, I can't stop recounting all the ways God has blessed me.  To list them all here would take more space and probably be too long for you to read.  Suffice it to say that I am truly blessed by God in two major areas of my life - my family life, and my personal heart and soul.

How many people out there have a stable family life like ours shares?  So many people will be torn as they have to choose which home to celebrate Thanksgiving with, Mom's or Dad's.  Fortunately for us, our decision is only difficult because we can't decide where we should all get together at the same time.  In my estimation, that is a good problem.  My wife would be a great image of love and blessing in my life.  Her tender, steadfast love has been an anchor for me for the past 7 years of my life.  Her grace and forgiveness is crazy!  Why would she/should she remain with me after all I put her through???  Nothing but her unending love for me.  That's incredible!

My kids bless me daily with laughs, frustrations, and wonder as we attempt to lead them through these early years of their lives.  They truly are a blessing, and this new baby will be no exception for sure.

And as I sit here right now, I have a clean and clear conscience before my God.  That's a great and peaceful spot to be.  Believe me, I've tried hiding and running from the truth, but that ends in ruin and demise.  To sit in my home and know that I am forgiven and freed from the sins that so easily entangle me is nothing short of overwhelming.

I am content.  I need nothing more.  Everything else is just icing on the cake.

Is it Busy-ness or Business?

How do you write that anyway?  Is it even a word?  Well, whatever you call it...we're busy.  We have a sort of list of things we'd like to have in place prior to baby's arrival.  (I feel like we are awaiting a special guest or something.  I guess we are!)  Ashley calls it nesting.  I call it good common sense.  Amidst all of that Ashley was able to put in some time at work to help us out a little. Yes, I did say that.  Ashley, who is 3 cm dilated at this point, is working this week.  Now, she does get paid to sit most of the day as she works up new patients, but still, she has been so incredibly un-selfish!  She really ministers to me by her incredible example!

I've been spending time with the kids and have continued to explore the new territory of publishing web articles.  It seems to be a slow-going process.  It certainly is not a get-rich quick type of work.  See my most recent articles on Helium.com.  Not sure yet how to get a link to my list of articles, but here is one of the articles.  http://www.helium.com/items/2010615-child-driveway-safety-tips

If you look at the titles I wrote for, you may think it is kind of random.  Helium gives cash prizes for contests and all the articles I've written so far are for the contest.  They supply the titles, writers write the articles, and the best one wins.

Still trying to figure it all out.

An Emerging Freelancer?

So I've decided to try my hand at freelance writing.  I've joined a couple of reputable websites that pay you for writing articles.  It's not a ton of money, but every bit helps, right?  I've already posted a couple of articles on helium.com.  I've also applied for a paid writer's position on factoidz.com.  We'll see what happens.  I've enjoyed it so far.  The best part about the sites is you write whatever you like about practically anything.  I love that freedom!  They can suggest a title, or you can choose one.  It's great!  I've always enjoyed writing and would love to use it to encourage others and would love to consider it as a part time job.  Check out those websites and see if you can find me out there!  I've already posted two articles on Helium. I haven't been published yet on Factoidz.  Yet!

How Do Clouds Stay in the Sky?

Nathaniel asked me this question today.  Classic childhood question, wasn't it.  Not sure exactly what spawned the idea in his head since it was a clear and cloudless day today.  He was still in his pj's playing in the living room.  Without looking up at me or skipping a beat, he nonchalantly asked, "Dad, how do clouds stay in the sky?"

I've heard of these moments, but I think this is the first I've experienced as a Dad.  I'm sure there will be many good questions in the years ahead, but this one is classic.  Right up there with "where do babies come from?"

I know at this point you want to know how I responded.  I honestly wasn't quite sure, so I said basically there are two answers to that question.  One answer was simply, God keeps them in the sky.  This would have sufficed, but I wanted to take advantage of this "creation" moment.  Basically a moment to describe something really neat about the world God created.  So the other answer I gave was that clouds are basically teeny tiny drops of water that are so small they float in the air.  And when you get a bunch of those drops of water together they form clouds.  Sometimes the water drops get bigger and get real heavy, though, and the cloud begins to fall.  We call that rain.  And sometimes the drops of water are kind of heavy, but don't fall like rain, we call that fog.  I think he got it.  He must have because there was no follow-up question.  Either that or he decided Daddy's answer was way over his head and not to ask questions if he didn't want a science lesson.

It was humbling to hear him ask me that question.  Being a Dad is a big responsibility - kids think you have all the answers, and that you can fix anything.  I only hope and pray that I can shepherd their hearts by being humble enough to admit when I do not have the answer, or cannot fix something.  Admitting that might be hard for my Daddy pride, but will go a long way in the kids' hearts for sure.

"Daddy may not be superman, but that's okay...he's my Dad!"

(above image courtesy of Fir0002/Flagstaffotos)

He could be here any day now!

Ashley went to the doctor yesterday, and we got some very very exciting news!  I'll spare you the details, but let me just say that baby is on the way and could be here very soon!  She is not in labor.  Yet.  But that won't be long now.  There has been a lot of progress and activity in the pre-labor department, so we are quickly knocking out all the last minute stuff we want to get done before he comes.  We have a name picked out already, but we'll have to save that for the big day.  We'll let that one stay a surprise.  We've gone back and forth, but we've finally found one that we both really like and the meaning is incredible!  Ashley is still having a lot of activity and is quite miserable at this point, so it probably won't be long now.

One of the items on our to-do list was to get our 2010 family pictures done.  We had our pictures taken yesterday evening on the seminary campus.  It was beautiful.  Can't wait to see the pictures!

And, of course, we would need to do some car repairs while baby is about to come.  The power steering is having some issues in our van, so it is down until further notice.  Fortunately we still have the truck.  Ashley says she feels weird driving that big thing, but I think secretly she really gets a kick out of it.  (BTW - a little known fact about my wife is that while in high school she wanted to have a motorcycle when she was married and out of the house.  Yes, the same Ashley!  So we're probably just going to wait until we're old and get some of those old-people motorcycles, and cruise the highways in style!)

We'll keep you all posted on the new baby once the big day comes!

Life with Her is so Wonderful!

  "She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs with no fear of the future.   When she speaks, her words are wise, and kindness is the rule when she gives instructions.  She carefully watches all that goes on in her household and does not have to bear the consequences of laziness.  Her children stand and bless her. Her husband praises her: There are many virtuous and capable women in the world, but you surpass them all!  Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last; but a woman who fears the LORD will be greatly praised.  Reward her for all she has done. Let her deeds publicly declare her praise." 

Proverbs 31:25-31

Watching Airplanes

I'll never get tired of going to one of my favorite parks in Raleigh - the RDU Observation Park.  This is one of the best kept secrets of Raleigh. The Observation Park is a park that is located right next to the general aviation terminal, and you can see planes of all sizes take off and land on the runway.  There's a big sand box with a climbing thing for kids, some picnic tables, and restrooms.  The observation deck has a couple of speakers under it for visitors to hear communication between air traffic control and pilots.  We love hanging out there!

I don't know who's fascinated more, me or Micah!  I absolutely cherish moments like these with my kids.  All of them love to watch the planes.  It's really cool!  I love my family!

Abigail Quote of the Day

Abigail was talking with my Mom a while back about our daily routine around the house, and she was asked if she could watch a movie, to which she replied,

"Oh yeah, Daddy lets us do whatever we want."

Classic.

Some Halloween Fun!

Check out the pictures, they speak for themselves!