Preggo and Loving It

So if you didn't know, we are pregnant with an already beautiful baby girl (insert biggest daddy smile ever).  Our due date is May 18 and that may seem like a decent amount of time away, but when you're the expecting parents...it's coming up waaaay too fast!  We have been loving the pregnancy through thick and thin and feel so blessed by God to experience this.  As of today we are 30 weeks....whoa, whoa....that sounds totally crazy in my head as I write this.  God is so amazing and awesome and beyond description.  I feel so loved and am so proud to be called a son of God.  We are so excited to hold our little baby girl in our arms.  The anticipation is slightly overwhelming at times, but I know that there will be plenty of time for us to hold her.  I for one will probably be very stingy with her...I can imagine me just sitting at home every night holding her till I'm too tired to hold her any more and then continue to hold her.  Heather is going to have to pretty much pry her away from me. :)  She's already too spoiled by me, but I don't care. :)

Anyway, before I get too deep into a post about how much I already love our little baby girl (that's another whole post in itself), I wanted to post a pic of Heather's preggo belly.  She's so beautiful!

30 Weeks

I'm Still Here

Just wanted to post a little note for everyone.

I'm still here!

Just been a little busy/preoccupied with other things.  I have lots that I want to post, just need to take the time and do it.

Now, back to your regularly scheduled day.

No Shave November 2011: Recap

So November has been over for a while now...I've been slack on blogging...sorry.  I've been so busy with lots of things, but my lovely wife hasn't let the world down with telling our news. :)

So here are a few pictures of my awesome beard in November.

 November 1

November 15

 November 30

 Side-view on November 30

Fun shots while I was shaving it off. :)

 Definitely my favorite

No Shave November 2011: It Begins

Today marks the beginning of No Shave November or "Noshember" as a few charities have dubbed it.  As you may remember, I participated last year with a solo no shave November.  This year, however, Merge is participating as a whole so we should have lots of laughs at the guys who can't grow a solid beard and gasps at the ones who turn into Grizzly Adams or the guy on a buffalo.  We are raising money and spreading the word about prostate cancer awareness and there will be voting through out the month to see who has the best beard.  I'll make sure you have a chance to vote.  :)

Day 1

I'll keep you posted with all the great jokes and the cash we raise through out the month.

My Poor, Poor Blog

So after many, many hosting issues and going back and forth on other various issues, I have moved back to Blogger.  There are many things I am upset about...mainly most (hopefully not all) my posts that I've posted since the move have been lost to my hosting company.  I'm tired of dealing with them and do not want to deal with any others.

This doesn't really bode well for me talking up how great Wordpress is, but this has nothing to do with Wordpress.  Just my hosting company.  I will probably have more posts on them once I work through a few more things with them.

Anyway, I just wanted to let everyone know what's going on since the design of this blog is...well...bland and frankly that's the mood I'm in at the moment.  Technology has not been good to me this week.

My Favorite Bible Verses

I thought I would share a few of my favorite verses/passages from the Bible.  I love many more verses, but I keep these few verses pretty close to my heart.

Psalms 103: 11-12

 

For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

This passage reminds me that no matter what I do or don’t do, God still loves and will take my sins away as long as I submit to Him in fear and reverence.  This is my favorite of my favorites.

Genesis 25:21

 

Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was childless. The LORD answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant.

You may or may not know that my wife and I are struggling with infertility.  I know a lot of people who battle with it too.  It is a tough road; a road I wish no one would need to travel down, but while I was traveling this road I found comfort in this Old Testament verse.  Isaac and Rebekah were struggling with infertility just as many people do today.  Issac knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that God would give him what he and Rebekah wanted.  All he had to do was ask.  This verse continually encourages me.  I pray just as Issac prayed, but I know that God will answer my prayer in His time, not mine.

Isaiah 40:31

 

but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

This verse truly embodies my feeling when I am out in the mission field.  Either in another country or right in my backyard.  I know that whoever believes in the LORD and puts their faith in his power, they will not grow weary; they will not be tired; they will have the strength of the LORD in them.

Matthew 22:37-39

 

Jesus replied: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Love is a choice.  Jesus commands us to Love.  Love God.  Love people.  Simple, yet not.  This verse constantly challenges me to choose love over any other response.  I hope it challenges you and makes you think.

John 14:6

 

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

This is just a simple reminder that Jesus is the only way to Heaven.  A lot of people think there are other ways to get there, either through works or being a good person, but this verse explains everything in black and red.

Bonus:

1 Timothy 4:12

 

Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.

I find this verse to have multiple meanings.  The first meaning is to not let older people look down on you or dismiss your opinions just because you are young in age, but the second meaning is a thinker.  I think it also means that Christians who are young in their faith should not let “mature” Christians dismiss them or look down upon them just because they aren’t as mature as them.  There is no true “mature” Christian.  Every Christian is being changed and refined to become more like Christ.  The only time we will truly be “mature” is when we are in Heaven worshiping the one true God.

Now you know some of my favorite verses and passages, but what are yours?  Let me know what your favorite is in the comments.

New Blog - Update Your Feeds

So I made the jump from Blogger to Wordpress.  You may not even have enough time to read all of this (because I've inserted a auto-redirect function to safely and easily forward people on to my new blog), but I needed to let you know that I've moved my blog from Blogger to Wordpress.  All my posts and comments have been moved over so I still have all my content.

The only thing that may mess you up is if you're following everythingmatterstoday.blogspot.com instead of everythingmatterstoday.com.  Make sure you update your blog reader or any other RSS reader to follow www.everythingmatterstoday.com.

Stay Tuned!

Scripture - Psalms 23:4

 

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

-- Psalms 23:4

FYI

Just letting you know about my wife's latest post...

http://reachinoutup.blogspot.com/2011/05/when-rules-are-broken.html

We Built a House

Here's a video of the men's trip to Costa Rica that I went on this past February.  I put this together for our church's 'missions night'.

Every time I travel to Costa Rica, I leave a piece of my heart there.  I leave it with the people that I meet and serve.  I truly believe that one day Heather and I will live in Central America.

No-Shave November Slideshow

So it's been a few months since November and I'm just now getting around to putting together a little slideshow of all the pictures I took.  I wanted to have 1:1 with days and pictures, but I'm human and forgot to take a few days worth.  Anyway, check it out below.  Enjoy the awesomeness of the 30 day beard!

Renewed Interest

Now that I have a new job in Greenville, I have a solid hour drive to and from work.  Some people groan when I tell them that, but I definitely think it is a good thing for me.  It's time in the morning to prepare for my day.  I pray on my way there.  I listen to the radio and hear some news.  I have time to make a mental to-do list for that day.  I get to have a giant cup of coffee that really gets my day started off right.  It's quite refreshing actually.

On the drive home I have time to jam to some tunes, listen to an audiobook, or just chill and wind down from a hard days work.  Lately though, I have found a renewed interest.  I have a copy of the Bible on my iPhone.  It's the NIV Dramatized Audio Bible and it's actually really interesting to listen to.  I know some people think "you can't learn from the Bible just by listening to it, you have to read it and study it".  I find this to be only partially true for myself.  I feel like I am partly an auditory learner.  Listening helps me focus on what is being said and I can focus on the context instead of having to focus my mind on actually reading the words.  I've amazed myself in the past couple of weeks.  I decided to start listening to the Bible where it was most logical...in the beginning...Genesis.  I've been listening everyday on my drive home and (at the time of writing this) I am almost through Leviticus.  What?!?!  Technically I've listened to 7 hours of the Bible and I've almost blown through the first three chapters.  By "blown through" I don't mean I've just let it play and not paid attention.  I've listened to every word and it's definitely sparked a few things in my mind.

I'm enthralled with the history and genealogy of the Bible right now.  Not the actually reading of "so and so beget so and so", but bigger questions like...how old is the Earth?  what does the biblical "family tree" look like?  how many people were there when the flood came?  what did the ark really look like?  why did God seemingly repeat himself over and over in Exodus and Leviticus?  if there were 600,000 men when Moses lead them out of Egypt, how many people were really there?  how in the world did Moses tell 600,000 men what God told him?

My mind is full of questions that makes me want to study the Bible more.  Now if that's not what reading the Bible is supposed to do, then I don't know what it's supposed to do.  I'll make sure to post about some of the more interesting questions that come up.

I hope this little blurt inspires you to dig deeper into the Bible and maybe you can help me out with some of my questions.  Let me know in the comments!

I'm Famous!

Not really...but I was on the home page of UpstateBizSC.com with a press release about me joining Merge.  Oh yeah, if you didn't know already, I got a new job!  I'll tell you more about it in another post.  Go check out the press release and Merge's site.

Excuses

Man...I feel like such a slacker.  I haven't posted anything since Nov. 17.  I didn't realize it has been that long.  I guess I can throw out some excuses why I haven't posted that may or may not be true.  I think I will let you decide which to believe.

• I've started a secret blog that I post to on a regular basis...
• I've been swamped with fan mail...
• I had to participate in a great and wonderful holiday...
• I was the unfortunate victim of a plumbing disaster this past weekend...
• I've been on tour with the Rolling Stones as their backup guitarist...
• I got lost on the internet and just now found my way back to Blogger...
• My No-Shave-November beard took control of my body and carried out it's own agenda...
• A pack of wild beavers stole our laptop and held it hostage until I shaved...
• I've been swamped at work because of the wonderful consumerism of the "holiday season"...
• Lately I've been reading a whole lot more than I thought I could...
• Time has been flying by and I'm not sure how to slow it down...
• I've been out shopping for all of your Christmas gifts...

No-Shave November - 1/2 Way There

A little update on how no-shave November is going for me...

Day 1:

Day 15:

I have to say that I'm really doing a modified version of no-shave November because I'm keeping my neck shaved for work.  I don't need to be looking all shaggy and gross going into meetings with the company's CEO and President.

Anyway, let me know what you think.  I feel like I've got a pretty sweet beard going...Heather's not a big fan of it, but she is letting me do it so that's pretty cool of her.  :)

Will I...

...ever be able to hold a child of my own?

Can I...

go back to Grano de Oro?

Mmmm, Pinto

Heather made Pinto tonight for dinner. I've been craving it ever since we left Costa Rica. I never thought I would crave it, but it's so good.

What Happens In CR Doesn't Stay In CR

Oh how I miss being in Costa Rica...

I'm not sure why I feel this way, but I do. I have spent less than a month there in a year, but when we arrived there this year I felt like I was home. Last year I felt a little out of place, but as the trip went on, I grew more and more comfortable with my surroundings. This year however, I felt like I had been on a long term vacation in The States. I'm not really sure I can explain the feeling of being there in the mountains surrounded by all of God's beauty. It just feels right being there.

God showed me tons while I was there. He affirmed that I was at the right job and that we, Heather and I, were on the right path with the adoption. I hadn't really been doubting that God wanted us to adopt, it was just that I was harboring feelings of disappointment. Disappointment in God not answering my prayers with the answers I wanted...how selfish of me! I wanted God to provide us a child of our own so we could experience the joy of the months leading up to having a baby. I wanted to enjoy going to the doctor and seeing Heather's face during an ultrasound. I wanted to see Heather's belly grow as the baby grew... I wanted a lot... I wanted what God didn't have in store for myself and for Heather. As I sat on top of the mountain over looking Grano de Oro, I prayed to God for clarity and confirmation. He gave it to me in the form of Vacation Bible School.

Our team had the wonderful opportunity to minister to the children of Grano de Oro for three afternoons. We played games with them, we sang songs with them, we performed skits for them, we taught them about the Bible with stories, puppets, and activities, and we gave them candy and trinkets. While we were with them, it was amazing to see them grow closer to us. At first they were stand off-ish, but after the second day they were happy to see us and wanted to be there with us. Seeing all those kids wanting to be loved reopened my eyes to the fact that there are children in this world/country/state/city that don't have a family and they don't have someone to tell them they did a good job or even give them a hug. I can't wait to complete everything on our To-Do list for the adoption. I know God is helping us through this process and I know He will walk hand in hand with us...through the good and the bad.

God can do miraculous things even when you don't realize you need them. Please be in prayer for Heather and I as we continue down the road of adoption.

Costa Rica 2010

I am so ready to go back to Costa Rica this year. I can't truly express how excited and happy I am to be going back. I am really excited to see how God will use our team to bless the Jones' and the villagers in Grano de Oro. Heather and I have been truly blessed financially this year and I am in awe of that. I was concerned at the beginning of the year about coming up with the money to go, but I knew God wanted us to go and He would provide everything we needed.

Truly amazed. God is good.

Stay tuned for many posts about our experiences in Costa Rica.