Marriage

this is all over Facebook. Incredible story. Marriage is the most important thing we do for our kids. God is most glorified in us, when we are most satisfied in him. This is blowing up on the internet (primarily facebook), but i wanted to post it here as well.

Easter 2012

Well we had a great Easter weekend.
We had an egg hunt with some friends on Saturday morning, an egg hunt at the my parents on Saturday evening and a great Easter Lunch with everyone at Kathy and Larry Fendleys on Sunday. Just a few pics.

In Step Part III

I must admit, I've thought a lot today about how to finish this post.
Honestly my first thoughts on finishing the subject, as I thought about it, weren't theologically true. It's amazing how subtle little twists in the Gospel can make it no gospel/good news at all.

My initial thought was this…Lets say Davis is now 16 and comes in complaining of the heat. At this point most of us think he now deserves a good "man up" talk, and probably rightly so. But that is where the analogy with our Heavenly Father majorly breaks down.

Many people believe that for a while we follow Christ and see how he acts and then at some point it is up to US to perform. We think we are out sweating away in the yard while he is sipping on lemonade watching soaps inside on the big screen. And if we dare stick our head in the door to complain about the heat, He once again scoffs at us, rolls His eyes and thinks of all His other wonderful children around the world.
And THAT is where the Gospel is lost. We will NEVER do good works apart from Christ. We can't. Anything good that comes from us IS Christ within us.
(Again, I fully admit this analogy is being taken too far) But the truth is in the Gospel, we will NEVER mow the yard alone. God never takes His hands off of the mower and asks us to step in for a round. God never takes a break and tells us its our turn. Instead God is ALWAYS before us, our job in sanctification (becoming more like Christ) is to follow closer. The Gospel of John calls it "abiding".
Our roll in sanctification is to pay so much attention to the Father that our footsteps start to fall in line with His. Then He is gracious to correct us in our sins and loving to discipline us when we purposefully go our own way.

The gospel is NOT that we are free to "mow the yard our own way," the Gospel is that we are free to follow the One who is the Way.

He is an Excellent Father.
Praying my steps would fall in step with His.

In Step Part II

So it happened again.
I promise I am not making this stuff up.

I went to mow the yard and Davis asked if he could go again. I even tried to convince him he didn't have to, but he said he wanted to mow the yard with me. If I'm honest I think there is a part of him that believes he only gets to use the blower at the end if he mows the yard, but thats besides the point. (But could make another great post later)





So off we go. Every strip. Every turn. Katie even stepped out on the front porch for a while to watch.
And then it happened… about 90% of the way thru the front yard I noticed he was pulling on my shorts. Davis asked if I would turn off the mower, so I obliged. And here was our conversation:
Dad: What's up buddy?
Davis: How much longer will this take?
Dad: Well you can see how many more strips we have to make, just a few more and then the back. Why, are you tired?
Davis: No, but i'm starting to sweat. Can i go in and meet you in the backyard?
Dad: Sure bud. Thanks for helping.

Please forgive me if I am taking the analogy too far, i've been known to do that, but as Davis walked back into the house I couldn't help but once again think about our Heavenly Father. You know what I didn't do?
...
Davis: No, but I'm starting to sweat. Can I go in and meet you in the backyard?
Dad: Sweat!! Well welcome to the real world buddy! It ain't always roses. Sometimes you sweat! Now man up and finish the yard with your dad.

I could have said that but I would be a terrible father. But i think this is how we feel God looks and reacts to us. We think God scowls at us with a grimacing face and thinks, "what kind of child are you?"
But it simply isn't true.

Why didn't I get mad at Davis? Because he is still growing and expecting him to mow the yard with me every time is unrealistic.
He's growing.
Just like we are.
And that is why there is grace.

I'll finish this post tomorrow…

But today I'm resting in knowing His grace is sufficient. His strength is made perfect in my weakness.

"The mark of a true believer is that when you sin, you don't run from God but rather to Him. Knowing that Christ is the only true place of love and forgiveness."

Back

Sorry for the couple of weeks off.
I went on a trip with our college ministry to Tijuana, Mexico over Spring break and Katie took the kids with her family over to Hilton Head.
Both were great trip and obviously very different.

In step

A few things: Katie and I both went to the doctor a couple of weeks ago for the initial doctors visit and saw the first ultrasound of the little baby. At first glance the baby was measuring "big", imagine that for one of our kids! Yesterday Katie went back for another visit and was able to hear the heartbeat for the first time. Incredible. I don't care how many kids you have, a beating heart is amazing. New life. A gift from God. Everyone of them.


Today I mowed our yard and Davis asked if he could go with me. I wasn't in a big hurry and knew I was leaving tomorrow for a week and some good father/son time would be fun. Plus, it was a beautiful day.
At first he had his little lawnmower and was a few steps behind me, but the thickness of the yard (I wish i could say this is my green thumb, come mid july it won't be thick at all) made it difficult to push. So he ditched the mower and asked if he could just walk with me.
My initial thought was, "This will last about 2 laps." But he lasted, the whole yard. Every strip. Every turn. Sometimes he would run ahead of the mower and shoot it with his webs (spiderman phase) and other times he would be behind just looking and talking to himself. But the whole yard he stayed with me.

I hope its not too much of a stretch to ask, Whens the last time i just walked with my Heavenly Father? No agenda. Not trying to get something, not trying to convince Him to give me something or change a circumstance. Just following in step. Just delighting to be around Him.
Delight is a word i've thought about alot this year. It started with Psalm 1 and how David "delighted in the law of the Lord". In my world its easy to do the Christian thing, go through the motions, etc.. But is there delight?

Will Davis ever walk the whole yard with me again? I don't know, I hope so.
Will I walk in step with my Heavenly Father? By His grace, I hope so.



*The picture is what Davis did when I asked him how much he helped in the yard today.

DisneyWorld 2012

In January we had a great trip to Disney World.
It was all of our family and it couldn't have gone better. The kids were great, weather was perfect, saw tons of character and had an all around great time.

Its hard to capture a 5 day trip in a 5 minute video, but this will help us remember in years to come. I wish i had more photos from all the other family members, but as you will see this is primarily our kids.

"Dreams come true." - Walt Disney

Self Sacrifice Part 1

Katie has been sick.
Real sick.
It's not related to the pregnancy, but her pregnancy has had a big impact on her sickness. She has the flu and and a respiratory infection, neither of which are fun, and together has been rough.
Well because of her pregnancy she can't take any strong meds, particularly for the flu part of her sickness. So she is told to take REGULAR strength tylenol and wait it out.

So this has made me think.
There is very powerful medication that would make her feel better in a very short amount of time, but she can't.
I told her yesterday, every time you begin to think about flu meds or your stupid sugar pills (what she is calling tylenol) think about the child growing inside of you. Does it make her feel better? No. Does it resize her sickness, a little. Does this point to a deeper problem we all have? Yes.
(Now let me say, when your wife is pregnant and VERY sick, that is not the time to devotionalize!!)

We all want quick fixes. We all want what works for US. We seek our own safety and desires first and not those around us. I think of myself first and how it affects others second. As I watch Katie having to deny herself meds for the sake of a child, its pointed out in ME how much I don't willfully deny myself for the sake of others. Self sacrifice is difficult. It normally must be forced on us to make us see how selfish we are.
I'm praying the Spirit within would grow and continue to show me the things I need to deny so that it can thrive.

We're Going Zone

Well it's official. We are switching from man to man, to zone.
We are expecting our third child!!
Katie is due the first week of October.

In an effort to record the pregnancy and the beginning of our third child, i'll be starting back up BabyNeely.
Please forgive me if i'm rough around the edges, I only posted once last year.

Bring it on.

I've always* said, "Who wants to settle for holding two things in your hands when you can juggle three."


*(by always i mean, just now)