A Christmas Blessing

From Tony Jones' blog:

A Franciscan Benediction:

May God bless you with discomfort,
at easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships,
so that you may live deep within your heart.

May God bless you with anger,
at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people,
so that you may work for justice, freedom, and peace.

My God bless you with tears,
to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, and war,
so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and turn their
pain to joy.

And may God bless you with enough foolishness,
to believe that you can make a difference in this world,
so that you can do what others claim cannot be done.

Amen.

I love my wife...

She's an awesome Mommy.

She loves the boy.

She's funny.

She's a hottie ;)

She's brilliant.

She got me this for Christmas:



Merry Christmas, baby...

...I love you...

Merry Christmas!

Just some fun decorating cookies at home...

Boy are we looking forward to the holiday!

It's 4:45am...

and I should be asleep...

but, I can't...sleep that is...

This time it's not because my face is on fire with wisdom teeth that need pulled. It seems that my most recent sleep schedule has put me awake during these hours lately anyway, but tonight it's for a different reason.

There are times in a person's life, seasons of life where, despite all the stress and confusion, one is moved to be eternally grateful. Frankly, seeing the face of a new life will put one into an attitude of thanks and gain--in all honesty--some greatly needed perspective.

Which makes me think about something...

As I was laying in bed (before waking up at 4), my thoughts drifted to words of praise. I couldn't stop saying thanks for what we have been provided with, and not words of supplication for the things we don't.

Which is a strange thing...

Too often we treat God like some divine butler that we call on with our needs. We can treat God like some divine shrink that we get some therapy from without any real commitment. We find ourselves at the foot of the throne face down...begging instead of worshiping. We see God only as fixer rather than the lover of our soul.

So,

In the face of lots of stress--yes, the medical bills are starting to roll in and sometimes (most times) we're not sure what's going to happen...

Tonight, I trust in God's provision for me and my family...

...and I am most grateful...

I am moved to praise in the face of so many things that make me want to call the butler, or get the shrink on the phone...

After all, in the end, if one has a butler, who's really in control?

If I call for therapy only when I perceive it necessary, who's really in control?

But if I trust in the provision of the One who loves completely, who's really in control?

So, I echo Joshua, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!"

Not the other way around...

NO GUYS UNTIL YOU'RE 30!!

So, the miracle that is a little baby appeared on screen today. Our little bambino is clearly a girl. We couldn't be more excited...

There's so much to say. We are blessed and are amazed once again at God's design for humans and love His promise that He already intimately knows her and loves her.

And, no, we've not settled on a name yet...

Here she is:



If you look closely you can see her face in this one:



Couldn't be happier...the boy will be pumped as well...

He's been asking for a sister the whole time :)

My favorite commerical right now...

LOVE to watch the Dad get into it by the end...

I Will Survive

I'm so sorry for all the videos lately. As life permits, I'll post more..well, words, actually. But, this I thought was cool.

How about that chick beat-box-er??



...thanks Kez...

Thanks, Tyler...

for posting another DS piece...

Here's one of my all time favorites:

I know, I know- it's a scholarship competition...

...and she still was the third runner up in the pageant...

Seriously?

This is why I HATE clowns..

Scare tactics is a funny show, but, dude, I hate clowns...

December CD of the Month

Here's the latest installment of the CD of the Month. I'd say that while this is a mood CD, as in, it's not great for ALL the time just when you've got a hankering for a certain flavor of music, it's pretty fantastic.

Think Nickelback meets the The Fabulous Thunderbirds...

It's got a nice modern rock vibe with several splashes of southern rock.

I think you'll enjoy it...I've been enjoying it!

Honorable Mention: (it'll make it sooner or later) David Crowder Band- Remedy