Alpena Vacation: Day 2

From Alpena Trip

Alpena Vacation: Day 1

From Alpena Trip

Quotes: Talk to me

This evening I had to give the boys a spanking. Matthew laid on the bed, then rolling over he said, "I just want you to talk to me."

The kids' Christmas wish list

Here's a picture of what the kids want for Christmas.

PSALM 127:3-5
Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,
the fruit of the womb a reward.
4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior
are the children of one's youth.
5 Blessed is the man
who fills his quiver with them!
He shall not be put to shame
when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.

JAMES 1:16-18
16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. 18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

God has once again blessed us with the gift of a child. Amanda is pregnant. We stand amazed at how, even as we fail and prove faithless, God "with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change" shows himself faithful.

We went to Amanda's first appointment on Monday. She had some bleeding over the weekend so we went to an ultrasound yesterday. Everything looks good. The baby is a little over 12 weeks. The baby is 6 centimeters long, but already we could see it's complete form, head, spine, arms and legs. It had it's hands in front of it's face. Already sucking it's hands?

JOB 10:11-12
You clothed me with skin and flesh,
and knit me together with bones and sinews.
12 You have granted me life and steadfast love,
and your care has preserved my spirit.

PSALM 139:13-16
For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.

The estimated due date is 01/01/10. We think that it will probably be before the new year though because of the cesarean. Thanks for reading and thanks for loving us and celebrating with us. We love you all.

2ABC2M+

Quotes: Over weight

After we told the kids that Amanda was pregnant, Benjamin asked the following question.

"Mom, when will you start to get overweight?"

No offense to those of you who are already "showing".

It's our anniversary!

Nine years ago I married Amanda in my mom's backyard. Since then God has used her to draw me closer to him and to bring me much joy. I am so thankful to Him for Amanda. I look forward to the coming years and all that God will bring our way.

Enjoy the song below. Amanda sings the chorus to me at least once each anniversary. (We sang it today at lunch.)

What do I believe and why?

I have been having some interesting conversations lately with a friend about my faith. He asks challenging and penetrating questions with a level of respect that I appreciate. As I have thought about his questions, it has led me to rethink and refine some of my answers.

Providentially, this weekend I listened to a White Horse Inn podcast entitled "Why is Christianity True?" The program focused on apologetics. They asked some Christians the question, "Why do you believe in the Gospel?" The answers they got back were almost all something like, "Because it has changed my life." This is not good enough. As they said, this could be the answer for any faith that a person held, Islam, Hinduism, Oprah, etc. The only reason to believe something is because it is based on true things. They pointed to I Corinthians 15, where Paul defends the faith that he holds.

Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.

Paul here is appealing to things that are provable by eyewitness accounts.  Of course the interpretation of those accounts could be different.  Someone could say that they all lied or that they were all deranged, but that is an interpretation of the accounts.  The above is a great definition of the Gospel.  It's a great definition of what I believe.  I believe it because it is true and because it really happened.  You could argue that it didn't really happen, but if it did, then its true and it should be believed.

I read this chapter over again last night and was once again struck by the gift of faith that God has given me that allows me to believe this.  I have prayed for many people in my life that God would give them a similar gift.