Handsome Sam Python (this is the on-line name that his cousins gave him)

Today our boy turned 7!  I can't believe it on two levels: 1. That I am old enough to have a 7 year-old, and 2. That Sam is 7.  I know that it is cliche to say that it seems like yesterday we were bringing home a scrawny little baby.  As you can see, he really was scrawny.  At the time of his birth I really thought the birth of a premature child was the worst experience that I would ever go through.  In hind sight, I know that the Lord was just using the birth of our son to prepare me for a bigger battle.  The Lord also knew that Sam would be the reason for us to get out of bed in the morning.  That when nothing seemed right,  he would be our purpose to continue, to move forward. 

There are so many amazing qualities about Sam.  He is really funny and smart.   The other day when he got home from school, he looked at me and said, "Today was a great day!" I said, "Why?" Sam replied, "We had 2 and half hours of MATH!"  I was a bit lost.  I am more on the language side of learning, like poetry and not concrete answers don't really feel right to me.  So, I mustered up the courage to say, "That IS awesome, bud!"   Sam then walked forward and said to the world, "I love numbers!"  This, I am sure, is directly related to the genenic influence of his father, he too is a number nerd.  

Sam also loves being around people.  One of my favorite interactions to watch is between Sam and our friend Asher.  Asher isn't really a touchy, snugly person and Sam is.  Sam will sit next to Asher at lunch touching, picking,rubbing, and hugging on Asher and Asher, is really nice and kind, he just keeps inching down the booth until he is pinned between Sam and the wall.  I am sure that Asher is counting down the lunches until he is off serving the world.  Asher, Sam loves you. 

The best quality about Sam is his  ability to speak the truth about things.  He talks about Georgia going to heaven in a way that speaks truth and brings comfort.  Shortly after Georgia died, he said to me, "Sissy likes heaven."  He was only 2 and a half, and we didn't really explain heaven at that point.  He just knew.  At the time that we lost her, I prayed that the Lord would explain to Sam everything that we fell short on, and He did.   I am not a mystic, but the things that Sam knew, or saw, were right on.  Sam still speaks truth to people, he does it in away that is sweet and not judgemental. I pray that he will always be this way.  

I am so excited to watch Sam grow up into the man that he was created to be.  He is pretty awesome. 

The Joner Family

Please pray for a family in our ET program. They just got news today that their little baby girl died. They have never met her, or held her, or kissed her. I know that their hearts are broken. There has been a bad respitory infection that has been traveling around the orphange that the children are in. Please pray for the health of everybody there.

Many Long Days

Amy and I went to Maine this past weekend for a wedding and some quality alone time. Maine is a gorgeous place, but even more remarkable for me was how incapable I was of feeling stress. Just removing myself from my daily life was awesome. It was eye-opening really. I have often considered the level of stress that I have on a daily basis as expected, but this weekend reminded me that it does not have to be that way. I had so much fun with Amy and really enjoyed the lack of responsibility, even if only for three days.

So, where does this leave me? Living for vacation and the dream of a stressless week? I hope that is not my only hope and it is not. The 'trick' is to find that stressless state in the middle of my everyday life, I believe this is the concept the bible likes to refer to as 'peace'. I am not really that good at finding this 'peace' and I know that it is something that God wants for me and for you.

I have concluded that to gain 'peace', I must either rid myself of every responsibility or cast my worry and stress on some other thing. Sounds like exactly the role that Jesus wants to play in our lives. Now, I just need to let Him carry my burdens and stop picking them back up for myself.

As far as the adoption goes, Amy and I figure we are about half way through our wait. We have waited about four months and it should be another four or five. It really does not seem that bad so far, but I am getting really excited about meeting the one God has given to us.

Be the Center

So, we sang this song in church on Sunday. That's it. Nothing else to say except may it be so.

A Good Man Has Gone Home.

Last week I had the honor of speaking at my grandfathers funeral. My Aunt told me that I was the only one that could do it, so I didn't have a choice. I wanted to speak. I wanted people to see the fullness of my grandfathers love for his family, friends, and God. He was a good man. The last few weeks of his life were full of suffering. Pa couldn't walk, hear and at the very end he was completely blind. Here is what I wrote for the eulogy. Please remember that I spoke this, it wasn't written to be reading material.



Malachi 4:2
“But for you who fear My name the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall.”

How can I sum up in a few minutes a man who lived for 88 years? It would be a lot easier if he hadn’t been so extraordinary. You couldn’t be in the same room with my Pa and not know that he was a man of great character and a man of deep faith. He didn’t do something because it was easy he did it because it was right. Pa did what was right not out of his own choosing, but because he followed Christ example.

The love that Pa had for Granny was tangible. A few years ago, probably close to 10, there was a snowstorm Pa was outside shoveling the snow and he knocked on the window to get Granny’s attention, when she looked outside she saw a message he had written to her in the snow it said, “I Heart You.” Our family is so proud of their marriage. They just celebrated their 66th wedding anniversary. What a victory! Their marriage is a shining example of how God intended a marriage to be.

My grandfather was the father to two children, Richard and Judy. The love he had for them was an amazing gift. He watched his son, my dad, go to war and thankfully come home. I know that he was praying fervently for my dad’s safety. Pa also stood by my Aunt as she battled her own war over cancer. I am certain that at times it was his prayers that helped her to fight and win. He instilled in his children a faith that will last for generations to come.
Pa wasn’t the typical father-in-law either. He quickly became a dad to my mom, Alice, and to my Uncle Howard. He knew that these two people made his family complete.

Pa was a friend to everybody. He had friendships that lasted the test of time. He corresponded regularly with his war-time friends and kept in touch with old church friends. The friendships he had became more evident this week as people from his work called the house and old neighbors sent cards. It didn’t matter who you were Pa was interested in you. I learned this week that every trash day he got up early in the morning and greeted the trash men. They in turn would bring the trashcan back to house. He touched all of our lives in so many ways.

Pa served the church faithfully. He was a Sunday school teacher, an Elder and finally keeper of the church. I am astounded at the number of Sunday school students that Pa taught. If you haven’t had Pa as a Sunday school teacher you are probably in a minority. I have heard on several occasions that Granny and Pa call their faith a “quiet” faith. They did a poor job of keeping it quiet. While they didn’t talk loudly about the Lord, they loved people like Jesus loves people. Pa passed his faith on to many, many generations.

As the four grandchildren talked we all agreed that Pa was the best grandfather. We all have fond memories of him coming to ALL of our events, tee-ball, soccer, baseball, plays, concerts. The four of us remember being chased with foo-foo and then going to church smelling of Old Spice. Pa taught us a number of things, how to turn on a light switch, how to march, how to run the trains, how to hit crab apples with a bat, how to garden, how to jump in the waves, and how to patiently let the waves bury your feet in the sand, sometimes we weren’t so patient. He didn’t just play with us as children he remained interested in us as teenagers and then adults. We all have received mailings of newspaper clippings and other things that he knew would interest us. We will miss seeing his scratchy handwriting looking out at us from the mailbox. As teenagers, without prompting from our parents, we would drop by to see Granny and Pa, the boys usually came for food, but we all came for the company. We gladly shared our lives with Granny and Pa. After getting engaged I stopped to tell them before telling my parents. I always knew that no matter what I did that Granny and Pa were faithful and I knew that they were praying for me. This above all else is the best gift that they could have given us.

Pa was also a great-grand father, he was affectionately named Ol’ Pa by Sam, a name that Pa gratefully accepted. Just a few weeks ago he was on the floor playing trains with Sam. Sam, your job is to tell the other great grand children about their Ol’ Pa.

For all of the things that were good about Pa, there were a few things that were, well, as we say “Just Pa.” I am sorry if you were ever his pastor, because I know that he gave you a really hard time each week about the hymns that you chose for the Sunday service. If it wasn’t that than it was why your sermon wasn’t really that great. We were joking that he really did lack a filter between his brain and his mouth, because if he thought it then he said it. I remember that after having a baby Pa told me that I was getting “solid.” Aunt Judy told us how he once said that she was looking, “mature.” He had a habit of “telling it like it is” and if you didn’t want to hear it. . . well, then, you didn’t have a choice.

I couldn’t sleep on Thursday night I was awake well into Friday morning. I knew that my grandfather, after 88 years, was going Home soon. I didn’t know that he was already there. It was really odd for me, I was sad that he was going to die and that I would miss him but, I was excited for him too. I was excited that he was going to start the next journey of his life. I kept thinking about what his face would look like as he took his last breath here and took his next breath in Heaven. I thought about who would greet him first, probably his mother. I saw his friends and family rejoicing at his arrival. I thought about how he would know everything all at once. How he would see all of the seeds of faith that he help to plant. I saw my Pa walking on strong legs, his eyes clearly fixed on the Lord, and how Jesus looked on him and said, “Well done, good and faithful servant, well done” and my Pa heard Him.