Theoretical turned Actual

Last week at 3 AM in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), I found myself praying that God would be Glorified in the life of my newborn son, however short it may be.

It was odd that I was praying for God’s glory more than Jonathan’s healing. But it showed me how God has worked in my life. Isn’t not my greatest desire that I would be able to have a healthy son who will grow up to love Jesus. I do desire that, more than I desire to eat or sleep. But it was my greatest desire that Jesus would be glorified in Jonathan’s life.

Last January we had a miscarriage. It was incredibly hard. We mourned for a long time. And when I talk about it today, I get a lump in my throat and sometimes my eyes start to feel watery. But I know that God was glorified in the short life of that tiny, unborn baby. I can only hope for the same with Jonathan, that God would be glorified in his life.

It’s not that losing a child, born or unborn, is easy. It’s not that it doesn’t hurt or that you don’t cry and mourn the loss of that life. And it’s not that you aren’t supposed to love your children. Of course you are. Those things are still hard. You are still supposed to mourn. You are still supposed to hurt. That is why you hurt when they are hurt and well up with joy when you just look at them. But that love for your child should be overshadowed by your love for Jesus.

Today we’re still mourning the loss of our unborn and celebrating the life of our first born.

But the mourning and hurting is temporary. This life is temporary. And while we’re here, our main goal should be to Glorify our creator, the God of the universe, who loved us so much that he sent his son to save us from our sinful selves, to reconcile us to Himself. We don’t come to Jesus for a “better way” or for “wisdom” or even to be forgiven from our sin. We come to Jesus to glorify his name, to praise our creator, and to worship the one and only God who has blessed us with the life of his Son, while we’re still sinners who don’t deserve it. We glorify His name because He is the only one worthy of receiving glory.

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3:20-21)

An Update on Jonathan

Today we moved into a room where Jonathan can stay with us. Praise God!

Though we’re not home yet, it’s a huge improvement. The room is a little larger than our closet, but with all three of us in there at the same time, it’s just right.

Jonathan gets to come out of the NICU and stay with us in this room. He still has to go back to the NICU nurses for his antibiotics, tests, and regular vitals. But other than that, he gets to stay with us, in our room! (like naps being wasted on the young, babysitting is wasted on us, the new parents)

With Jonathan in our own room, I was able to video chat with some family in Florida and spend the day relaxed with Jonathan napping on my chest.

Tonight, around 4 AM, they will run another batch of tests on Jonathan. If his CRP isn’t at 5 or below, we’ll be staying another night. If it is at 5 or below, we’ll talk with the doctor on duty about circumcision and see how quickly we can get home.

One last phenomenon to mention. Before Jonathan I had never changed a diaper. It’s not like I was avoiding the experience. I never really get offers to change diapers and I have never been in the situation where the child needed a diaper change and their parent wasn’t there to change it. So yesterday was my first diaper change. Since then, I’ve changed a few. I don’t get the hysteria that surrounds changing a diaper. It’s not like it’s hard or disgusting.

From what I’m told… that will change once he starts on baby food.

Here’s how to pray for us:

• Pray that God would be glorified in Jonathan’s life.
• Pray that he would grow up to be a man who honors God with his life.
• Pray that his CRP falls from 11 to 5 tonight, before the tests and we would be able to come home quickly.
• Pray for Stephanie, that she can get some sleep on the pullout chair/bed we’re sleeping in tonight.

Lastly, here’s a picture from today. It’s still in the NICU, but we had so much fun sitting together. We talked about the Bible, Jesus, friendships, relationships, how much I love Stephanie, politics, foreign oil, how the internet works, and life in general. He’s a great listener.

I’ve also included a video. Sorry for the 3 minutes of his face and little movement, but that’s what happens with 2-day-old babies…

It’s the little things

We love our house. I moved in during the Spring of 2005. We got married and Stephanie moved up that October. Since then, it’s been our home. It’s decorated the way we like it. We have enjoyed having friends over and throwing parties. Stephanie and I both have a passion for hospitality. We love making people feel comfortable and at home with us. It brings us joy to have people in our home.

We’re very thankful that God has blessed us with this home.

Growing up, my parents encouraged us (all 4 children) to always invite friends over. It was important to our family that we kept the house clean so at the drop of a hat we could invite friends over and not have to worry about cleaning up first. So there were always groups of kids hanging out at my parents’ house. It was a beautiful thing.

We have the same philosophy in our home today. We always try to keep it clean so at the drop of a hat, we could invite over anyone and not worry about the cleanliness of our home. And let’s be honest, no one likes going over to someone else’s house when it’s messy. Especially if you’re a neat-freak yourself.

One of the only limitations we’ve found in our home is the size. It’s more than enough for just Stephanie and myself, but we always want to invite friends over. Our living room can only hold so many. Rather than accepting that fact, we set out to see if we can change it.

We tackled our living room to see if we could fit more people in it. Here’s a before picture:

Truth be told, I stayed up late one night after Stephanie went to bed and moved this furniture around until I landed on this arrangement. The main thing that frustrated me before this was that the couches were in an “L” shape and both facing the TV. I wanted to be able to face friends when they come over, not my own TV. We really don’t watch that much TV, so I didn’t want it to be the focal point of the room either.

But with this arrangement, once we move in extra chairs, it maxes out at 10 people. The space fills up quickly.

So, Stephanie helped me out and we mixed it up, moved it around and came up with this:

Voila. Now, we can fit 2 more people!  We can still only seat 12, but that’s a lot better than 10. That means 2 more people can be invited to the party.

What about the TV? It still works over there. Just the other night we watched the Sugar Bowl and it was just fine. When we invite people over, we actually talk or play games instead of watch a movie. I’m not against movies, I would just rather hear what you have to say than sit next to you and watch a movie.

This project costs us $0. We had to get creative and try out different arrangements. Often we didn’t think it would look good before we put the furniture there, but after trying it out, we actually liked it. Sometimes you just have to try it out.

A Whole New Lawn

I’ve been struggling with my lawncare. I have enjoyed gardening with Stephanie, but for some reason, I’ve been drawn to the turf. We have a lawn service that cuts the lawns of our entire subdivision. I’ve very thankful that they cut all of my neighbor’s yards, because I don’t think the majority of them would care that much. 

Over the 4 years we’ve lived here, I’ve reseeded 2 times and over-seeded at the end of every season. I’ve also taken special precautionary measures to make sure I’m watering the lawn the right way. 

This year, I’ve taken the next step. I invested in a good lawn mower. The lawn service comes and cuts the lawn at regular intervals. They don’t, however, come all that often. Sometimes the lawn is overgrown and in need of some serious maintenance. We love having parties outside, so I really want more control over my own lawn. And because we have a thin, soft turf, I can cut it with a reel mower, which is much easier to maintain, use, and all-around better for the environment.

Two weeks ago, I was able to cut my own lawn for the first time. It was a proud moment. So proud, in fact, that I took a picture. 

Then, to top that off, my friend had an extra weed wacker that he gave to me. So, I am able to take complete control of my yard and really make it look good. 

For those of you who are interested, I’ve got a mix of Tall Fescue, Kentucky 31, and Kentucky Blue Grass. If I were to do it all over again (which I won’t because it was a lot of work and I have a great lawn now), I would only use Scott’s Premium Turf, which is a Kentucky Bluegrass and Tall Fescue mix. Kentucky 31 is a broader blade that is more course. I really prefer the softer turf… it fills in better and is really nice to walk on with bare feet. Here’s a picture of the Premium turf:

 

It also does a great job of repairing spots. Here’s a place in our front that has always been bare and rocky. A few weeks ago I dug out the rocks and filled it in with my own patch kit of Scott’s Premium Turf, Scott’s Starter Fertilizer, and our own rich compost instead of potting soil. Here’s a good before and after for you:

 

Before

 

After

 

 

 So there you have it. My whole new lawn… and lawn maintenance. 

As a side note, in the first 4 days I owned the mower, I used it on 3 different occasions. I really enjoy mowing the lawn! 

The Snow Beast

If you haven’t heard, I purchased a Jeep Wranger in September. I was, and still am, a HUGE fan of this jeep. It’s been a childhood dream of mine to own a jeep. Last year I purchased an ’84 Jeep CJ-7 to fix up.  Here’s a picture.

Maybe I was overly-ambitious. I’ll let you decide.

After trying to work on that jeep and coming to the painful realization that I neither have the time, nor tools, nor knowledge to restore this jeep, I decided to sell it.

Enter the TJ. In 1997 they switched the suspension in Jeep Wranglers to coil springs, giving you a smoother ride. Here’s a picture of my TJ.

Yeah, it’s pretty awesome.

Recently, we have had a series of snow and ice storms that have left most of Louisville without any way to get around town… not me. The big All-Terrain tires and 4×4 capabilities of my jeep have let me motor around town with a big smile on my face. It’s my Snow Beast!

You know you’re jealous!

I would offer you a ride, but it’s temporairly out of commission. I think I had a little too much fun in it.

(I would like to take this opportunity to attiribute all of my “skillful” snow driving to my friend Alex Acevedo, who taught me how to go “wheelin” in my CJ. Alex, we will ride again!)

Do What You Love To Do

I’ve learned recently that I have to spend time wisely. Part of this is learning what I am good at, what I can do, and what I can’t do. There are certain things that would be fun to do but would be a waste of my time because I am not tallented or gifted in those areas. For example, I should not attempt to pursue these careers:

• Jockey
• Track Athlete
• Professional Baseball Player
• Astronaut

There are other professions that take skill and practice as well as some natural gifting. Because I don’t enjoy these things and I am not passionate about them, I should pursue these careers either:

• Professional Artist
• Snake Handler
• Gator Wrangler
• Bass Fisherman

However, I do need to acknowledge my skills and focus my time there.

That’s how I decided I wanted to be a church administrator. I grew up with a very specialized training from a mom who put color coded threads in the toe of my socks to tell them apart form my siblings. She had masking tape labels on everything. All of the towels were folded the same way. My dad also has a folder on his computer for everything! There isn’t a single file on his computer that you can get to without going through at least 43 folders that narrow down the content of that file. For example, things that are purely recreational, like family photos, are in a folder tree that looks like this: C->Recreation->Creativity->Canon->Pictures->Family. They are also future broken down by family member, then event. For example, you could probably find this kind of folder tree on there: Family -> Daniel -> Daniel & Stephanie -> Birthday -> 2007 -> Cakes -> singing -> action shots -> blowing out candles -> smoke -> lighting effects. It’s truly amazing.

I picked up on the extreme organization and methodology that my parents used in our everyday life. I’ve also connected that with my love for people. The result is a passion for organizing people. I’ve used this to move toward systems designed to help people connect  and be shepherded by other people who have things in common with them. The more people, the more complicated the system, but that is what I am passionate about. I know, probably sounds a little weird.

The only problem is I don’t get to spend the majority of my time working with those systems. Right now I work for a church plant, which means I do MANY other things during the week. This week I did everything from stuff envelopes to purchase books for the staff’s training. 

But focus is the key. I focus on the systems. I spend time thinking about them as I am driving to and from work. I ask all sorts of questions in my head while I work out or go for a run. And I am always looking for another way to get people to connect and grow and then find out how to make it easier for that to happen. 

When I am in the store purchasing coffee cream and cups for the church, I am able to take that time to step away from the distraction of my computer and task list and think about the people that I get to work with and wonder how I can better serve them through connecting them to others for genuine community. 

I get to do what I love to do. And I have acknowledged what I am not good at doing. It seems like that list grows bigger every day…

Here we go…

This morning my church started the ball rolling with moving me to full-time staff. For the past 9 months I have been doing part-time administration. My position has been largely focused on the finances and overall organization of a church plant. Now, with a full-time position, I will be focusing more on our community groups, pastoral care, and the overall organization.

I’m really excited about it.

Nothing to do… and LOVING it!

Today was my first official day of realizing I am not currently in school. No tests to study for, no papers to proofread one last time. Just relaxation.

I did use my day to do several productive things. I met with a friend at 6:30 at Quills and had an amazing Caramel Latte. The latte art there never ceases to amaze me. Then, after spending some time talking, I returned home to work on my bike (yeah, mountain biking is our new “thing.” It’s a lot of fun and lets me tinker without being expensive). I also replaced the track on our laundry room closet. The original one was a piece of junk and this new one makes the doors glide beautifully.

The best part of the day, I caught up on 9 episodes of LOST. Stephanie doesn’t like the show because it’s “too scary,” so I’m left watching it by myself. That’s ok with me.

I’m trying to live up the days of no school work and a part time job. There are things I could be doing, but I don’t have to do them today. So, I relaxed.

It was a good day.