snow and looking back on 2009

Yesterday was thrown off a little because of the snow storm, but I had a much easier time due to a new addition to our family. No, we don't have Wesley out shoveling yet, but we do have a pretty sweet snow blower - it feels like a family member. I was able to do our driveway, sidewalks, a neighbor's drive way, and a long stretch of side walk in less time than it would have taken me to shovel just our snow. It's also much more fun. I'm still learning the fine points of snow blowing, but I am very glad to have one. Thanks mom!
Due to the snow church was cancelled yesterday, which was a bummer, but we still had our community groups and prayer meeting last night. At our prayer meeting we spent time looking back over 2009 and remembering all that God has done. Here are a few of the things that we have seen God do through prayer:
-provide a new worship location and office space (this has been huge!)
-continue bringing new people to church and working in their lives
-raise up leaders in the church
-heal one of our missionaries of a potential tumour
-provide a location and workers for our work in the inner city of Hartford
-grow and deepen our presence at the University of Hartford
-lead us in shifting the format for our youth meetings
-lead us to serving an Iraqi family in the area
It is exciting to look back at the past year and see all that has happened. It is good to celebrate what God has done, yet we continue to long for more.

finishing off a monster...

...book, that is. I've been reading through this book on the resurrection since the spring and I only have 20 pages left! One of my goals for 2009 was to develop a reading list so that I work through a variety of books focusing on different aspects of Christianity. Within this plan, I decided that I should read one academically oriented book that will challenge me intellectually and make me think in new ways. Well, 730 pages later I can definitely say that I've learned a lot, enjoyed the journey, but that it took a lot longer than I expected. Here's a sentence that I thought captures the purpose and main thrust of the book: "Historical argument alone cannot force anyone to believe that Jesus was raised from the dead; but historical argument is remarkably good at clearing away the undergrowth behind which scepticisms of various sorts have been hiding. The proposal that Jesus was bodily raised from the dead possesses unrivalled power to explain the historical data at the heart of early Christianity." Reading through this book has strengthened my faith in the reality of the resurrection and helped me better understand it's meaning and implications.
Something else that I've been seeing in different ways is that many people don't believe in Christianity because they don't want to. While this sounds obvious here's what I mean. When someone says, I don't buy Christianity because _______, there is usually an equally valid, or sometimes better, explanation of their difficulty which the person does not want to accept. For example, someone may say that he or she does not believe in a good God because of all the pain and suffering within this world. This person's interpretation of the pain and suffering in this world is leading him to a certain conclusion, while in fact there are many other conclusions that could be drawn from the pain and suffering in this world. We all want to hold onto our interpretations of reality and the obstacles to faith are more complex than the needing evidence or the right argument. I think dialogue, and persuasive reasoning have their part but there's more going on under the surface that needs to be dealt with as well.
As I think about my job and all the neat stuff I get to do - like reading great books, thinking about God, and helping people connect to him - I am deeply grateful for the place God has me in life.

recuperating, shots, and a long awesome day

Sometimes I don't feel up to writing. Normally I push through, but last week was one of those times when I didn't. Needless to say, we got back from Thanksgiving and had a generally fine holiday. Hillary was sick a good portion of the time and at points I missed being with my family, but it was good to be up in NY.

So here are a few different things going on with us:

Hillary is about 90% healthy while Wesley and I are feeling good. Getting extra sleep and having less demands on our schedule has been helpful. Our December calendar is pretty low key, since we don't have many church traditions or holiday parties, so we've been able to keep life at a moderate pace.

Last week I received four out of my five shots for going to Africa. My arms were a little sore, but it is much better than the alternative.

Last week I also had a long but wonderful day. It started with a prayer meeting earlier in the morning and ended with youth group in the night. I meet with other area youth leaders to plan for our annual mission called the Hartford Project, brainstormed in our staff meeting about the vision and direction of our church, counseled a college student about some decisions before him and helped a teen connect the bible to circumstances in this family. It was great.

Finally, Hillary and I are reading through the book you see pictured to the left. It is a series of reflections on Advent from Christian writers across the centuries. There are guys like St. Augustine, Martin Luther, and Johnathan Edwards mixed up with contemporary authors. It has been good to go through this different readings and talk about them together. Here's an amazing quote from John Donne, "The whole of Christ's life was a continual passion; others die martyrs, but Christ was born a martyr. He found a Golgotha, where he was crucified even in Bethlehem, where he was born; for his tenderness then the straws were almost as sharp as the thorns after, and the manger as uneasy at first as the cross at last. His birth and his death were but one continual act, and his Christmas Day and his Good Friday are but the evening and the morning of the same day. From the creche to the cross is an inseparable line. Christmas only points forward to Good Friday and Easter. It can have no meaning apart from that, where the Son of God displayed his glory by his death."

the door keeps hitting us on the way out

Our offices are generally put together - yeah! I don't think I would have made it through the past month working at home. Well, I would have made it, but it would not have been pretty.

We are headed up to New York tommorow morning to be with Hillary's family over Thanksgiving and it is quite a challenge. With all sorts of baby stuff, lingering colds, and a "few" things to complete for work it seems kinda surreal that we'll be on the road tommorow. We are all a little out of it and looking for some rest. If you pray, ask God for health, peace, and a time of restoration as we look to recharge our bateries in the next few days. Also, Wesley continues to be really cute despite being sick!!

Don't take Wesley's doped out expression too seriously. We have not laced his teething biscuts with controlling substances.

Conference Thoughts

We enjoyed our time in Philadelphia last week, despite some sickness and Wesley's first time being afraid of new surroundings. We think that up until now he hasn't been aware of the spaces around him and, now that he is, he was a little freaked out to be in a totally unknown location. In addition his teeth were bothering him, so it was difficult for him to sleep well.

I wasn't sure what the conference (2009 Christian Counseling and Education Foundation) would be like, but ended up getting a lot out of it. For a conference on Sex the plenary sessions talked about sex less than I expected, but were thought provoking. The main thing that I got out of the conference is that whatever is happening with you sexually is often a picture of what is happening in your relational world and your relaionship with God. As a general theme, this is harder to get but when you talk about the particulars it really comes out. Say, you are having all these lustful thoughts and it is this constant flow of images in the back of your mind. As you go about your day, it will be easier to objectify people - responding to them solely on whether they please or displease you. Lust is about using someone as an object for your please and that sort of thinking is hard to segment into one area of life. Similarly if we see all the people around us as means to our own ends, it is easy to relate to God in the same way. Another example from the opposite of the spectrum is someone grossed out by sex and completely disinterested. This person is ignoring a part of who he or she is and will tend to do the same in others. It will be easy for this person to distance himself or herself from his or her own body and to do the same with others. Ultimately this person will also disregard what God has to say about the body. I'm still trying to wrap my mind around this larger concept but it was helpful and challenges me to think about my life.

retreats, sickness, and travel

This past weekend we had the guys and girls overnight retreats. They both went well, except for two difficulties. First, Hillary forgot her suitcase and had to come back from the hotel to our home and pick it up. The hotel was only about 20 minutes away, but it was rather exciting figuring it all out and keeping track of Wesley. The excitement for the guys retreat was the cold night. It got down to ~19 degrees and we were a little chilly sleeping outside. Around 5:30 in the morning one of the adult volunteers got up, started his car, turned on the heat and warmed up in there. Once a few other guys realized what he was up to they joined him in the car.
The guys and girls had a great time on their respecitve retreats. The ladies talked about beauty and the theme for the teaching was, "You are uglier than you feared, but more beautiful in Christ than you dreamed." The guys talked about masculinity.
Coming off an action packed weekend, both Hillary and I have been feeling under the weather and it is likely that we have strep throat, or something similar. She went to the doctor's today and I'm headed in tommorow. Fortunately, Wesley hasn't seemed to catch it so that is great.
Finally, we're headed to the Philadelphia area tommorow night so I can attend a counseling conference. We'll stay with my parents, who are close to the conference location and are both looking forward to time with family and a few days away. Another bonus is that a close friend is also attending the conference. I just found out yesterday and am psyched to spend time together and interact about the neat stuff we'll learn.

leaves and longings

Wesley continues to be super cute and if you want to see more pictures, check out Hillary's facebook page.
The Fall is always a special time for me and it takes on greater significance here in CT, than anywhere else I've lived. Here the trees are practically exploding with color. On the way to work there is a tree that looks as if it will burst into flames any moment. You look at these brilliant red leaves and wonder if they will hold that shade and hue any more than the moment. The red is so intense that you think, "If I look away, this shade and hue will be gone. It can't last more than a moment." Winter is also looming, as we had our first frost last night and I had to scrape the ice off the car this morning.
Fall always fills me with a sense of longing. Some of that longing is to be outside and enjoy the beautiful world (ie. go climbing and camping), but I think there is more to it. I want to hold onto this one moment when we stand on the precipice, plunging from summer to winter. I don't know if it is even about the shift from summer to winter because I feel the same in spring. I think this verse from Ecclesiastes describes what I'm experiencing: "He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end."

Autum Fun

Last week we went apple picking and it was a blast. We picked about 20 pounds and Hillary has already made two pies. The apple orchard was part of a big farm wich had all sorts of produce and a mini-grocery store and bakery where we bought fresh apple cider donoughts - wow! Last week was also our 4th wedding anniversary, so we celebrated by going out for coffee one night and dinner another. It was great to have two nights out together in one week. Wesley is doing well, though his teeth are hurting him as they are just about to break through. We have been enjoying the last few warmer days before winter comes to get us. Wesley, is not sitting up well enough that we can bathe him in the kitchen sink. It is easier and makes less of a mess in our bathroom!

arts and anniversary

This Saturday we took some teens to the New Britian Museum of American Art, which is about 15 minutes from our house. A guy at our church is an art teacher and he helped us think about art and aesthetics from a Christian world view. He had a lot of neat things to say, and began our discussion by talking about the distiction of "I like it" vs. "It is good." We all subjectively like different pieces of art, but to say whether art is good, we need some sort of standard. He had us look at a few pieces and say which one was best when compared to a certain standard and it was really interesting. I started to like "fine" Art - painting and that kinda stuff - when I lived in St. Louis and the Art Museum there was free. I remember just, going there and wandering around the museum by myself and really enjoying it. I can still picture the flow of certain rooms and remember paintings that I would sit in front of and stare at.
This coming Thursday is our 4th Wedding Anniversary. Yeah!

heat, light, and people (soon)

It has been just over two weeks that we've been in our new church offices and it is pretty exciting. It is great to have a dedicated space where I can spread out and work without being in the way or being distracted by various things happening around the house. Yesterday we finally had the heat turned on, and new light bulbs installed and now we're sorta ready for people. There's still a bunch of organizing to be done, some rooms need painting, and we'll have to go on a shopping for furniture, but we are off to a start. The offices are about a block from where we worship and a 5-10 minute walk from the town center. I've already met people at the office and walked to get coffee, which was really cool. Outside of getting adjusted to the office, I took two teens climbing outside yesterday (Columbus day) andI'm working on various teaching stuff for this week. The preparation is going well, but it is always a challenge when I spend more of the day by myself writing because I miss interacting with people.

chubby baby

Wesley has started eating solid food and we're seeing the effects. You'll notice in this first picture, how his sweater isn't exactly covering his belly. As the day went on it continued to in higher and higher as his belly kept expanding. He's got chubby cheeks, a few chins, and fat little legs. It is a lot of fun to see him grow. He's basically sitting up on his own, though he's not completely stable as of yet. This picture is from his baptism last week. This was a wonderful time of celebration with many family members attending. Other than a growing baby, life is going well, with ministry continuing in October and the pace of life adjusting to a more normal rhythm.

baptism

This past Sunday I baptized Wesley and it was an awesome occasion. The pastor asked Hillary and I to acknowledge his need of a savior, to claim Chrsit on his behalf, and to dedcate him to God. It was deeply meaningful to answer yes to all of these questions. Overall, it was a great time of worship at church and we felt very loved by our family as many came to celebrate us. I'll post pictures soon, but haven't downloaded them from our camera yet. Otherwise, life is flowing in a usual sort of pattern. We had our first week of a bible study at the University of Hartford this past Wednesday. It was great to have an mix of guys and girls there, but sadly there weren't any guys from the University of Hartford. The impetus for this effort has been a women's bible study on this campus and now we are looking to reach men on this campus. Presently there isn't anything happening to reach guys on campus and we were hoping this might be effective. It has been good to teach and prepare for this study, but we hope that God will work through it to do something on campus.

Newark, teaching, and a baby on the move

While Newark, NJ might not have the hottest reputation around I had a great time there. We stayed at an old school built in the 20's which is now owned by World Impact - a Christian ministry to the urban poor. I was there to be part of the Newark School of Prayer and Evangelism which ran Saturday through Friday. I was only there three days, during which there was prayer and teaching in the morning, and then in the afternoon or evening to talk with people about Jesus. One of the highlights was spending time with some older guys in their late 70's who walk very closely with God. Just being around men like that is always exciting and challenging.
After getting back from Newark, it has been a full week as I've had a lot of teaching opportunities before me. In the course of two weeks I'll have taught a teen bible study, led two family worship seminars, taught at college outreach event, spoken at two chapel services at a local Christian school and baptized our first child. This is the sort of stuff I love to do, so it isn't overwhelming - yet. Finally, Wesley is on his way to crawling. We put him on one side of a blanket the other night and he made his way to toys on the other side. This was exciting and a little scary because I'm not ready for a mobile child yet.

Full Throttle

As we posted last, September is full throttle. We returned from Jarrett's parents house Saturday night, Jarrett led worship on Sunday with a church picnic following (celebrating the six years Christ Community has been existence). Monday Jarrett left to attend an evangelism and prayer seminar in Newark, NJ and will be back Wednesday so he can lead the first youth group bible study of the fall semester. I'm sure you will hear about what it was like next week on the blog. So I am trying to get the household back in order and do a few odds and ends for Jarrett so he can focus on these other good things. Hence me blogging instead of Jarrett. Although life is full and can be overwhelming when you look at the calendar we know that God is in control. What I am realizing is the importance of relying on Him to do what he desires through these things otherwise it is in vain. So despite my tendency to do things in my own strength I am trying to trust Christ that His grace is sufficient. As an aside, Wesley is such a joy, he has been so content despite the crazy schedule. We are so thankful for God's kindness to us as parents.

beginnings and endings

For those of you on the East Coast, this is a time of transition and schedules changing as school starts and vacation mode officially comes to an end. We are experiencing the shift in a lot of ways, as August was really low key, while September has begun full throttle. Kids are back in school, youth stuff is kicking off, and we are traveling to see family for weddings and other such occasions which we can't skip out on. This past weekend we were with Hillary's family which was good, but tiring. There was a wedding, and gatherings with family and friends, but we spent the majority of the time cleaning out Hillary's dad's house. Since Hillary's mom passed away we've been working through her stuff, trying to declutter and organize the place. With Hillary's dad getting remarried there is now a more urgent push to finish this work and how we spent our weekend is a picture of life right now: celebrating the new, cleaning out and categorizing the old, being on the move from one place to another, and trying to care for the family in the midst of it. Tomorrow night we head down to my parents for a few days and I'm looking forward to it, but trying to figure out what needs to happen between now and then is a little daunting.

recippe round up, missing technology

About three weeks ago Hillary and I started to go through all the recipees that she had cut out and saved from various magazines, friends, family, and other sources. We threw out 2/3 of what we started with because we already had a good recippee for that dish, seemed too complicated, expensive, or just weren't interesting. Weeding through the recipees has left us with a manageable stack of recipees that we are working our way through. It has been fun to try a new recippe or two each week. A favorite was double corn polenta with tortialla encrusted chicken.

This is my mp3 player, which I had been missing since our trip to the White Mountains in mid-July. I carry my mp3 player and blue tooth with me, almost wherever I go and thus put them in differnt bags, pants, cars, old shoes and various other places. This means that about every other month I am missing on of these for a few days. I try my best to put them back in the same place each time, and it works 90% of the time. The other 10% is when I am wondering if I lost it and asking God that it would turn up. So far, God keeps bringing my technology back to me as I find it in interesting locations. These locations make sense when I put the device there, but are very difficult to find after a few days, weeks, or sometimes only hours, pass by. One of the favorite things about my mp3 player is listening to lectures and sermons. I spend a good ammount of time in the car and one of radio's works sporadically so drives can get tedious when the mp3 player is missing. Fortunately it has found its way home and we are one big happy family again.

moving highways

Two Sunday's ago, the 16th, I had the privilege of preaching in Providence, RI at a sister church. Providence is a neat city and the church, Trinity, is workg to further God's kingdom in the city. As I was getting ready to go there I was told that the directions might be off since they are working on one of the highways. I didn't realize the magnitude of the highway work until I was lost, and eventually made it there and was told that the highway is actually being moved. The reason that the highway is being moved is that it presently cuts the city in half. Harford suffers from the same problem, where the highway criscrosses through the city breaking it up into little chunks. What is especially neat about the highway removal is that the church, which is more on the outskirts of down town, will be more at the center of things once the redevlopment begins. This highway relocation is exciting in how it benefit the church and for the city. I think about moving highways pretty often as I pass through Hartford on 84 (our major interstate), and as I drive through the city and see how it is disected by the freeway.

beach and baby

These are two great pictures! Wesley was really smiling and having a great time the other day and we were able to get a shot of it. He keeps growing and his legs are getting chunky now. The past month has been lots more fun since we are sleeping more and he is more interactive. The next picture is one of our teens buried in the sand at Misquamicut Beach in RI. The Connecticut beaches aren't that great so we took a trip to RI, which is only about 1.5 hours away. It was sorta cloudy, but we had a great time playing in the ocean, burying people in the sand, playing cards, eating humongous cheese fries, and enjoying each other's company. I got a little burnt since I didn't follow my own advice to the teens about "how easy it is to get burnt on a cloudy day." The water was a little chilly - probably the upper 60's but we swam a bunch anyway and laughed a lot as we tried to use the skimmer board and ended up crashing a bunch. If you have tried to use a skimmer board you know what I am talking about.

this is the day...

Probably my favorite part of being a dad, right now is the mornings. Usually I'm up before Hillary (since I sleep while she nurses during the night) so I'll try to grab Wesley when he first wakes up. Lately he's been on his belly - he rolls over now - and I'll flip him over and say hello as I take him out of the crib. He's usually a little groggy but once I talk to him a little bit he'll start to smile. Then as I'm chaning his diaper I'll sing his morning songs. The first morning song is "This is the day," which has a fun echo and goes like this: This is the day [this is the day], that the Lord has made [that the Lord has made]. We will rejoice [we will rejoice] and be glad in it [and be glad in it]. This is the day that the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. And then you repeat it. When I start singing this song Wesley really starts to smile and gets all fired up. Singing this song and watching Wesley's response helps me internalize the words and remember that God has given me this day and that because of what Christ has done, I can rejoice regardless of the circumstances.

good books

I'm trying to catch up on my "reading plan" for 2008 and am enjoying time with books. The primary challenge has been rainy afternoons and late nights. Both of these sabotage my reading by inducing sleep. Here are two neat quotations that I've come across recently.

This is from the chapter on Apologetics: "Corresponding to human blindness is God's hiddeness. God hides himself from those who would know him without loving him. Pascal glories in the obscurity of Christianity, its "folly" as Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 1. This obscurity is what we should expect from a God who hides himself from those who have no desire to love him. The revelation of God in Christ is ambiguous. Only through the gift of faith do we discern the presence of God in the same of the cross. ... The cross is the revelation of God to those disposed to love God, but it hides God from those disposed to reject his reign." This is a thought provoking book and as the authors here speak of the hiddenness of God they are arguing for the necessity of a faithful church community to show God's goodness. The chapter concludes "We need to make people want Christianity to be true. Then we might be able to persuade them that it is true."

This has also been a thought provoking book and still is. (I haven't finished either of these books yet.) N.T. Wright is a very smart and hard working guy who has done a lot of thinking about the resurrection. His primary thesis is that the early church's belief in the resurrection is only explainable by the fact that there was a resurrection. This may sound simple but after reading 250 pages there is a lot to his argument. A major theme that I've seen is how belief in a resurrection challenges power structures in this world. "The future resurrection and glorification of Jesus' followers will vindicate them as the true people of the one true God, despite their present suffering and humiliation, and herald the victory of the gospel of the powers of the world through the final act of new creation. ... Resurrection challenges the powers of the world, as no other theology or spirituality can do, with the news of the kingdom of the creator and covenant God."

family wedding

This weekend Hillary's dad got remarried and we were up in NY for a 4.5 days. In many ways this was a good time, but there was some sadness as it ties into the loss of Hillary's mom. Outside of the wedding some highlights included:

6 days of vacation - Wow!

Time with Hillary's sister and her family (3 cute kids).

Me going kayaking with Hillary's cousin and his girlfriend.

Swimming in the Battenkill, a river running alongside the family farm.

Reading under the apple tree in the afternoon shade.

Hillary's highschool reunion.

Seeing Hillary's cousins, one of who has a six month old we met for the first time.

Coming home and Wesley returning to a normal sleep schedule.

White Mountains

This past Thursday through Saturday I took 6 teens and one other adult hinking in the White Mountains of NH and it was a great time. We had awesome weather, which is super rare up there, and all made it back safely from our hike. I read this book about mountaineering and the author was saying that the trip is always a success if everyone makes it back safe and sound. This has become my motto and though some of us made it to the summit, the best part was all strolling into the parking lot together. It was a neat time to strengthen relationships among the teens, expose some of the teens to aspects of God's creation they had never seen, and for all of us to experience a serious challenge. My favorite part of the hike was emerging from the forest to hike above the tree line. There were stunning views, sunny skies, and a refreshing breeze as made our way along ridges, across boulder fileds, and finally across the saddle between a minor summit and Mt. Washington. Another highlight of the weekend was seeing the personalities of the different teens emerge, some more than I had seen before.

pictures and a week at home

Here are a few pictures of my time in Seattle and a recent photo of Wesley.

The city from a Water Taxi heading to West Seattle.

In the center of the picture you'll see a guy behind the counter catching a silvery blur. That is a huge salmon filet that another worker at this fish shop threw to him. This fish market is located in Pike's Place Market.

This is a shot of a neat exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum. Cars flipping through the air with fiber-optic cables shooting out light.

This is me atop Granite Mt. which is east of Seattle and is an amazing hike. At the base it was almost a temperate rain forest, while at the top there is still a lot of snow. It was an exciting hike.


And finally, this is Wesley about two weeks ago at nine weeks old. He continues to grow and change and it is hard to keep the pictures up to date with the baby. He is smiling more and sleeping in his crib which is pretty awesome. This past week we've just been around home and that has been great.

a breather

This is the first somewhat normal Monday in three weeks, except for the electrician restoring power to half of our home. Between traveling to Seattle, ImpaCT 09 at our church, the Hartford Project with our teens, and visiting family for 4th of July we have been somewhat scattered. What I'll do is give you a quick summary of each and then I'll put some pictures up later.


Seattle: a great city with a totally different feel than cities on the East Coast. Lots of water, trees, and modern architecture. There aren't older buildings like there are here and there is this spread out feel to it all. I stayed at a great Hostel, walked around down town, explored via public transport, visited a neat museum, and spent time reading at a neat tea and crumpet shop. It was great to spend time with friends at the rehersal dinner and wedding and I was excited to hear about God working through his church in Seattle. In many ways the spiritual needs reminded me of the New England area, but it was interesting to see how the same issues of sin and brokenness played out in different ways. The same root issues lead people in New England to work themselves to death, while in Seattle people take vacation and rest very seriously. Here people tend to be blunt and cold while in Seattle they are warmer but very passive aggressive. Anyway, you get the idea - same underlying disease with different manifestatoins.


ImpaCT 09 - This was a time of focused gospel ministry where we had teams from AL, and MA, as well as individuals coming in from various other places. The two teams primarily focused on a children's program which we ran in an impoverished area of the city. The other individuals went through West Hartford and Waterbury (a city about 30min away) and sought to have conversatoins with people about God. God blessed these endeavors by providing opportunities to speak with a variety of people about the gospel. We are currently following up with the many people who either expressed interest in further conversation or committed themselves to Christ.


The Hartford Project - About 200 teenagers and youth leaders from fourteen area churches came into Hartford for a four day missions trip. We partnered with churches and orginizations in the city to show the love of God to Hartford. This was an amazing time of service as we God powerfully at work in all sorts of ways. We saw him controlling the weather so we could continue with our plans for outdoor festivals at two churches. We saw his life changing power as we heard about his work in saving people that come from places of influence and power, and people who have been brought to nothing by addiction. We also had wonderful times of worship as we praised God for all that we saw him doing that week. This was my second year participating and both times it has been an incredible experience.

Visiting Family - Right after the Hartford Project ended I hopped on the road to meet family in the Pocono Mountains of PA for a few days rest. Hillary had been staying with my parents for a few days and came up with my dad to meet us there. The unsung heroes of all that I have been telling you about are Hillary, my family, and some friends who have helped Hillary care for Wesley as I have been generally out of the picture the past few weeks.

back and between

Monday morning I took my first ever "red eye" flight from Seattle to Cleavland, to Hartford and it wasn't as unpleasant as it could have been. At first there were two infants echoing each other's screams. One would cry then the other would screech back from some undisclosed location further up in the plane. But they settled down pretty quickly and I was able to catch a few hours. I'll post some pictures and tell some stories, but I am pretty spent right now. We're in the midst of IMpaCT 2009 and the Hartford Project starts this weekend, so I am a little overwhelmed. It definitely feel scattered - I better sleep. Goodnight

out...

Wednesday morning I'm on my first trip to the West coast. I'm attending a friend's wedding and am very excited. A few days with no responsibilities is pretty awesome and I don't feel too bad because Hillary has some help coming. There is a lot to do between now and 5am Weds. morning so I won't say much, but will write about the trip when I return.

smiles

It is pretty sweet when you see faces like these. Sometimes there is lots done to incite the smiling and other times it just kinda happens. Wesley is definitely putting on the weight and is on his way to being a chunky baby. He is just getting those rolls on his neck and it is pretty fun. Sleeping is coming along. Two times now he has slept for 6+ hours and we feel amazing when that happens. Other nights though aren't so good and we need to remember not to get discouraged. The next few weeks will definitely be a challenge for Hillary as I'll be away on and off, and she'll be on her own for some of it. I'm going to Seattle next week and am very excited to explore a new city and be on the West Coast for the first time.

growing - gardens and babies

Wesley is certainly growing and we think our garden is too. Wesley had his one month check up and weighed in 1lb heaveir than last time (8lbs 8oz) and you can see the difference in his chubby cheeks and chunkier thighs.

Our garden, unlike Wesley, is not so easily measured. I spent all of labor day weeding and trimming the various trees which efectively shadded our garden. We've got cucumbers, peppers (green and red), zuchunni, tomatoes, green beans and lettuce this year. In addition we've got a few herbs going by the deck. There is this neat sense of accomplishment in weeding and planting and I really enjoyed it. I think part of the enjoyment stems from the fact that elsewhere in life the results of what I do aren't immediate. I love working with people, but it is nice to spend a day in the garden and tear all this stuff out and put all this stuff in, but I guess it will still be a while to see if it grows.

If you are wondering about our sleep, Wesley isn't on a schedule yet. He has some nights where we only sleep four or five hours, but there are others, like last night, where we got about eight hours of sleep. Eight hours is amazing.

moving on up

The exciting news for this week is that Wesley has jumped up in diaper size to #1. It is interesting that until a few weeks ago I did not know there were various sizes of diapers. It defineitely makes sense, but there are all sorts of things you learn when you have a kid. Hillary brought Wesely to church yesterday and that was the first try of attempting to get to a certain place at a specific time. It was challenging. We don't keep much of a schedule since our plans plans are easily foiled by a hungry or sleepy or cranky baby.

Outside of baby stuff a highlight from my week was attending a graduation party for one of our students. It was unique in that only guys were invited (no girls except immediate family). We hung out and ate for a bit and then took time to encourage this student. Different men from his life talked about what they had seen and hope to see in him and many gave great advice for the next stage. It was interesting to be at this graduation party and think that I would be doing something like that as a Dad one day.

a little fussy

Wesley is clearly a cute baby, but he is following the path of most infants - not sleeping when he is supposed to. He is all swadled, being rocked, comforted, and all that good stuff and then he just looks up at you with these wide open eyes. Sometimes it is really funny, but when it gets to be the early hours of the morning my sense of humour seems to run out. Overall it hasn't been that bad - I can't imagine having a baby who just cries. I just think we were a little spoiled early on when he would eat and then go right to sleep. We are figuring him out a little bit more each day, but he continues to grow and change so sometimes it is hard to know what to expect. It is really interesting at moments to think, "Wow, I was a squirmy little baby just liket this and one day Wesley will hopefully be grown up with kids of his own." Those are my thoughts as I change diapers at odd hours of the morning.

first night home

We brought Wesley home from the hospital yesterday and are getting used to life together at home. It is great to have Wesley here and for some reason the adjective "fun" keeps coming to mind. Even though he basically eats, sleeps, and dirties his diapers it is a lot of fun to have him around. It is such a strange and wonderful thing that the mere presence of this person, even though you barely know him and he contributes little, can add so much to life. Now that he is here though, we are trying to get into a rhythm and figure out who does what and when we sleep. I'll try to get some more pictures up this week.

Wesley Anderson Allebach

the waiting game

Right now we're just waiting. The crib is together, the bags are packed and there's this lull. Hillary has been on top of various tasks, getting things done around the house and finishing up various projects. Last week we were talking and she was saying, "If the baby doesn't come soon, I won't know what to do with myself since I've tried to clear everything off my plate." It is a little strange for me also, since I'm trying not to make major plans and keep my schedule open. I'm not exactly sure how to stay focused and keep up with everything while also being ready to drop it all in an instant.

lots of time and an awkward moment

This past week many of our teenagers had spring break, so I was able to have lunches, hang out, go to an art museum, attend a track meet and a few other things because kids were around during the day. It was good to be with the teens and connect to what is going on with them. One of the things I have been thinking about is what my job would look like if we had 50 teenagers at our church instead of 17. I wouldn't be able to spend as much individual time with kids and would need to invest more in leaders and groups of kids. With each set of circumstances there are benefits and difficulties. As I think about how I spend my time and even how ministry is structured here I need to be open to doing things differently. I want to broaden our connection with kids in the community, and need to regularly reevaluate whether I am using my time and energy effectively. An area which continues to come to mind is multiplying leaders. Helping others grow and develop so they can serve is so important and I need to keep that in the forefront of my mind. I know this is more of a philosophic sounding post, but it is incredibly practical when I think about what I will do each day. Oh yeah, the awkward moment. When I took a few teens to a local Art Museum we were on our way out and there was a shelf of post cards and advertisements for different openings. We were pulling ones out and a teenage guy said, "I wonder what this one is as he pulled it out." All you could see was a woman's face, while the card was in the rack but pulling the post card out, it was an unclad women. He and I looked at each other and the the two girls with us (one of them being his sister) let out an awkward laugh. We all laughed a little and made various jokes on the way to the parking lot.

coming together like

Probably from this week until mid-summer every blog entry will have something to do with Baby A. It is getting pretty close, right around 3 weeks. This past week we were able to finish a few more projects and everyting is getting ready. Saturday we put together the crib, with the help of our neighbor Max. It only took about 30 mintues which was great. This this week we'll put some finishing touches on the room. Otherwise, there are three exciting things happening this week. First, a bunch of our teenagers are on Spring Break, so I'm getting to hang out with people a bunch. Second, there is a theological conference that I'm going to this weekend. It's hosted by a few local churches, but is brining in some great speakers to talk about the life and legacy of John Calvin. Finally, I'm probably going climbing outside this Friday. I got a guide book to CT Climbing for Christmas and if the plans work out I should be able to take one our teens to Pinacle Rock in Plainville, CT and do some climbing.

When commentators conflict, or Why I went to seminary

I get to preach this week for Palm Sunday and I generally enjoy the thinking and reading that goes into sermon preparation. The difficult thing is when I'm working on the sermon and there is a portion of the passage which doesn't make sense and I can't find clear answers as to what it means. I've been working on the passage for this Sunday (from Zechariah) and the two parts I have questions on are addressed in various commentaries, but the various scholars don't agree. They translate the verses differently and have somewhat different interpretations as well. It is kinda intimidating when there are these various intelligent people who come down on different sides of the issue and I need decide what I think best represents the intention of the author. So, pray that God would lead me to understand his word and communicate what he desires. Preaching is always somewhat of a an adventure there are just times when you feel it more and I am definitely feeling it this week.

a spectacular weekend

This is a picture of our teens garbed in super hero costumes and posing on the rocky beach just North of Cape Cod, MA. We arrived Friday and returned Sunday from a wonderful youth retreat. God honored the prayers and preparations and blessed us with his presence on the weekend. We had a blast living in this amazing 3 story house with 10 bedrooms and 6.5 baths. There was a wood burning stove in the living room and fireplace in the dinning room, both of which helped keep the house nice and cozy. We spent time playing games, hanging out, cooking meals, swimming (yes, I know it was crazy) and enjoying each other's company. The speaker for the wekend was a good friend of mine from seminary and he did an excellent job. We met for worship and teaching 4 times through the weekend, concluding our time together with a worship service Sunday morning. If you happen to be on facebook you'll see all sorts of pictures connected to this retreat. Hillary was a huge help as she worked hard in a variety of ways despite being 32 weeks pregnant - Wow - she is a trooper! In this final picture you can see some of those gathered together for Sunday morning worship.

Francis of Asissi

While this painting doesn't look to cheery, Francis of Assisi seems like an interesting guy. I read a short biography a few years ago and as I was working on my sermon for church this Sunday I remembered a quote of his. It goes like this
"While I was in sin it seemed too bitter a thing for me to see lepers. But the Lord himself led me among them, and I showed compassion to them. And when I left them, what at first seemed so bitter to me was changed into sweetness of body and soul."
This is a wonderful picture of what God can do in and through us. God has definitely provided for us as we're in the final stretch of three very busy weeks. We've completed two baby showers and head to Cape Cod for a Youth Retreat this weekend. I was able to get my sermon for this Sunday generally done before Hillary' sister came into town, so I was able to play with her girls and help get ready for the shower. It is great when it works out that way.

the embarassment begins

From what I hear your child tends to embarrass you. Maybe it is through throwing a tantrum at the grocery store or repeating something you regret saying, but our first born is off to a quick start. This Saturday we had our first baby shower in NJ with my side of the family. We got to hang out with my sister and her family for Thursday afternoon and Friday, then everyone came over on Saturday. We got lots of great stuff (Hillary could give you more details), but as presents were unwrapped my aunt took all the bows and ribbons and attached them to a paper plate to make a hat. I think this is some sort of tradition at bridal or baby showers, but my understanding is that Hillary should have ended up with the hat. My family thought it would be more appropriate, however, if I wore the hat and Hillary readily agreed. Thus, many pictures and silly comments, especially from my sister, as I don a hat of bows and ribbons. In the background I still hear my sister, "Do it for the baby - hahahahahaha." I know that this is only the beginning...

two good looking guys

Two Christmases ago Hillary's Dad gave me an extra Saab jacket that he had. This year was the first time we were caught wearing them together and who could resist such a photo opportunity. Hillary joked that we are two peas in a pod, but I prefer to think of us as two fashionable men. The next two weeks we're going to spend time with both sides of our family as we have a baby shower in NJ this weekend and NY next weekend. I think I'm going to be making room for all sorts of new stuff in our home - yikes. I'll let you know how it all goes.

fun in shushan

This Wednesday through Saturday we were in Shushan, NY spending time with her dad and the rest of her family. We had an engagement party for one of her cousins. When we were up for Christmas I started making home made meatballs and continued the trend making 63 for the party. In addition to seeing family we did some decluttering of the house. The best part for me was bringing along my .22 (same gun as the one pictured) and getting to shoot at cans. While I'm not going to be recruited by special forces any time soon, I was able to hit a few cans, which is very rewarding. I got to shoot a little with Hillary's uncle who said we could shoot skeet sometime when I'm up over the summer. It's been a while and I really enjoy skeet shooting, so that was an exciting proposition. While it was good to be up in NY it was a little hectic leaving town, as well as coming back. March is going to be an exciting month of baby showers and seeing family, but we're both a little bit wary of the busyness which will likely ensue. Cheers

rethinking Noah and learning to roll

In youth group we are going through a series on the covenants in the bible. Basically, at key points God formalizes his relationship with his people and these are called covenants. These were the contracts of the Ancient Near East and used between business partners, kings and their vassals, friends, spouses, and in similar settings. This week we looked at God's covenant with Noah and in my preparation I had a slight paradigm shift. When you are a little kid, most of your interaction with Noah comes from cute pictures where this old guy with a beard loads animals onto an ark. As I was thinking about the account of the flood God's rescue of Noah in the ark images from the various hurricanes and the tsunami in SE Asia came to mind. The idea of a world-wide flood is hard to imagine and puts God's promise to Noah to never again flood the earth in a totally different context. Another thing which surprised me is the Bible's later use of the flood to describe cleansing. While the flood brought destruction, it also brought cleansing and New Testament authors take up this theme at different places and speak of God's coming cleansing of this world. This has given me a new way to look back at the account of Noah to look forward to what God will do. And though this is only related by the theme of water, I'm going to attend an instructional session put on by the Appalachian Mountain Club of CT, this Saturday and learn how to Eskimo Roll in my kayak. I'm pretty excited.