vacation blog 2012

For my two followers, I'm sorry; I'm a terrible blogger. Here are some of my highlights from our recent vacation:
• The Amazing Spiderman- pretty good, liked how it dealt more with Peter Parker trying to find out what happened to his parents. Andrew Garfield was good, just reminded me of Hayden Christensen (Anakin from Star Wars Episodes II and III) too much. Got to go see this with my brother-in-law Joel in an old non-stadium seating theater, pretty cool.
• Great Weather- It hasn't rained at all; that's nice for a beach trip. We've been able to swim in the pool or hang at the beach every day. Going out on the boat today was nice, and I didn't vomit from motion sickness!
• Bible Reading- I've stayed more consistent in my personal Bible reading, even on vacation. I can't get enough of it. What has helped me make this a more regular thing, was that I started using the Bible app (YouVersion) on the iPad. I read (or listened to) the entire Bible in 90 days (okay, it really was more like 125 days; but 25 chapters a day can be a beast if you miss a day).
• Regular reading- I started and finished "Pilgrim's Progress" by John Bunyan on this trip. I've never done that before. It's a little under 200 pages, but it was written basically in King James English; so it was a little tough to keep up with sometimes.
• Connecting with my family- I've actually been able to disconnect mentally from ministry stuff and really connect with my family. It's really difficult to disconnect for me; I'm constantly thinking of whatever the last conversation I had with a student, or remembering their difficult circumstances, or thinking of and praying for our students who haven't accepted the Lord yet. To be honest, it really weighs me down. And living on church property makes it that much harder to unplug. Being able to get out of town like this with my family is a gift.

That's enough for now. Long drive home tomorrow.

ADOPTion +

Just realized that I haven't blogged in almost a year. Certainly thought I had...anyway. Have thought about it several times, had a lot of good ideas, but just haven't.
Kristy, the kids and I are in the middle of adopting two sisters from Ethiopia. Never thought we would, but we really feel like that is what God is leading us to do. Through the generosity of friends, family and complete strangers, we seem to have what we need to complete the process. Which is exciting, except for the waiting. Seeing pictures of them, praying for them, kinda feels like they're already part of the family. Maybe that's how it should be. Kristy and I have a blog about that whole process over on 2lessorphans.wordpress.com.

I also wanted to type out the three things I tell my kids every night before they go to bed:
1- I'm proud to be your dad.
2- I believe you have it in you to do great things, that's why God made you!
3- I will always love you very much, no matter matter what; and so does God.

I don't remember what show I heard that from, and I tweaked it a little to my own liking, but it's become a nightly tradition for us. Sometimes if I forget, Emily will say, "Dad! Aren't you forgetting something? You know, the saying...?" I love that. I hope that hearing that will not only build into her a sense of knowing that I love her, but that God loves her as well.

Ok that's it for now. Excited about the days ahead!