Our Summer Vacation

(vā-ˈkā-shən) A general leave of absence from a regular occupation for rest or recreation.

Well, it was definitely a leave of absence from our regular occupation, but I'm not so sure about the rest! Immediately after Vacation Bible School our family packed our gear (which takes an entire day for a family of five!) and headed out. It's a trip we make every June, and by the next June I've always forgotten what it's like!


First we make our way to Flat Rock, North Carolina, where our denomination has it's annual Synod (our general assembly of all available ARP pastors and elders). It lasts 4 days, but the schedule for Stephen as well as the kids and I is about 6 a.m. until at least 11 p.m. We have a wonderful time fellowshipping and catching up with old seminary friends and fellow pastors and their wives, but it is EXHAUSTING!!!






From there we head up to Woodbridge, VA to stay with Stephen's parents for a week. Since we don't have cable or satellite TV, and they do, we pretty much spent the first half (if not the entirety) of the week recuperating and watching television. We did make sure to fit in some family time, see some old college friends, and take in some culture. Being so close to D.C. we choose somewhere different to visit every year. This time it was the National Zoo and the Air and Space Museum.

After this we headed to Williamsburg with the ENTIRE family (the five of us, Stephen's parents, his older brother and wife and 3 kids, and his younger brother and wife and baby)!!! We spent the weekend walking around Williamsburg and Jamestown, thankful for the difficult task that our founding fathers took on with faith and commitment.

We were also able to see some old friends from Charlottesville, and then visit my dad and his wife in Covington.

Then we were able to actually take our second family vacation ever in our 11 years of marriage. We spent 3 days in Gatlinburg, TN (where we honeymooned). We showed the kids almost everything we did 11 years ago - miniature golf, go cart racing, driving in Smoky Mountain National Park, visiting the Christmas Store, and the Dixie Stampede! It was an expensive 3 days, but totally worth the "recreation" (back to the definition of vacation). One of our favorite memories of this minivacation was the day we were driving through the Smoky Mountains. The drive was free. We had picked up lunchables for all of us for a cheap lunch. Then we stopped at this beautiful river filled with rocks and boulders, camped out on a big boulder to eat our lunchables, and then took our shoes off and wandered up and down the stream looking for salamanders and cool little rocks.



Two and a half weeks later we arrived back home. And NOW I need a REST!!!

Elizabeth's Birthday

Ellie had a My Little Pony themed birthday party. Now, at this age, "themed" means that there were two ponies stuck on top of her cake, and a couple presents wrapped in My Little Pony wrapping paper. But, at this age, that's all it takes to make her day! Elizabeth is 3 years old now, and she had a wonderful day surrounded by all our friends from church and some family who were able to come into town for the occasion.

Elizabeth is growing into a very sweet little girl. We're very proud of her. She is definitely a girly girl - she loves to play dress up and take care of her myriad of stuffed animals and baby dolls (and, of course, her ever growing collection of My Little Ponies!). She also loves to play legos and cars with her brothers, and can certainly hold her own with them!

We love our Ellie - Happy Birthday!

Miss Christy

This is Miss Christy - the one surrounded by children. And that's exactly where she belongs.
I thought I'd take a blog to share our family's love of one of God's biggest blessings in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. We started out hiring her to watch our kids (when we arrived at this church, ours were the only children) on Thursday evenings at church during Bible study. We thought we had hired a babysitter. The person who came through that door, however, was Miss Christy. She came with her own Bible lessons complete with flannel graph and crafts!!! After a few weeks we asked her if she was interested in a change of venue (she was at the time involved in children's ministry at a large church next door). While we do not like to "steel sheep" from other churches, she considered that her vacancy could be easily filled by many other volunteers at the church next door; however, there was no one with a passion to teach the children in our little church. She said, "YES!"
At first I was shocked that she accepted. After all, what could we offer her that would be better than what she already had? But it didn't take long to see that she didn't just see a job opportunity. She is one of those rare finds who doesn't just fill a need because no one else will. She has a deep passion for teaching God's Word, and she has a true joy and love of children. Her excitement at seeing my kids walk in the door every Sunday and Wednesday is genuine, and my kids know it. She has such patience with them, and is so gracious. It is such a blessing knowing that when I drop my kids off at Children's Church or Kid's Praise, they are not only getting good solid doctrine and theology (like every good little Presbyterian child needs), much more than that - they are seeing Jesus in action through the adoring eyes and constant praise and encouragement from such a devoted teacher!
I know what Paul means when he writes to the Ephesians: that God is "able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine" (Eph. 3:20), for He surely gave us more than we asked for and more than I imagined my family needed in this sweet friend of mine...Miss Christy!

p.s...Christy, you're right where you belong!!! =)

Happy "Bearthday", Elijah!

A couple months ago, Elijah's preschool had a "Teddy Bear Day" during which the kids could, just as it sounds, bring their own teddy bears to school for the day. It was at that point that we all realized that big brother Noah had his own teddy bear (Frankie), and little sister Elizabeth had her own teddy bear (Lovey B), but Elijah had no bear to call his own.

We thought that a fun way to remedy this possibly critical situation was to have Elijah's birthday party at Build-A-Bear Workshop in Huntsville. We invited a couple of other close friends and their children to make the one hour trek to the mall in Huntsville and experience this extravaganza with us. It was a whirlwind of a glorious time! It was very fun watching each of the kids pick out their own animal. Noah picked out a white and blue bear and named him Nosey (I have "nosey" idea where that came from!), Ellie picked an adorable puppy with pink and red hearts and named her Jo Jo. Elijah, after looking at all his options, decided he wanted, of all things, a puppy dog! So he picked out a cute brown puppy and named him Spiderdog. There were two other little boys there picking out their own stuffed animals. Then came the time to pick out the outfits. All four little boys stood, mouth agape with awe and wonder, when they spotted the Build A Bear Spiderman costume! And all four boys ended up leaving the store with their brand new animals donning said Spiderman costume.

We thought it humorous that Elijah came home with a dog, when the sole purpose of going to Build A Bear was just that: to build a bear! But the nice thing about having a party at the workshop is that the birthday boy gets a special gift from the store - a teddy bear of his very own with a special pen for all his birthday guests to sign their names on his new bear! Happy "Bearthday", Elijah!

An Ox in the Ditch

After reading several of the Faircloth's witty blogs (see link), I thought surely there are funny things that happen to us that would bring a chuckle to others. Then I remembered a few months ago when our washing machine broke down. It was one of those machines that we bought used about 5 years ago for 50 bucks, and it's amazing it's lasted this long. But it was definitely time for us to invest in a new machine. With a family of five, you can't wait long without a washing machine, so we went out looking the day after it broke. Well, it happened to break down on a Saturday evening, which meant we'd have to go looking on Sunday afternoon.

To all you good Presbyterians out there, you know that's kind of "frowned upon". To the rest of you, we try to make Sunday not only our Sabbath rest, but also our family day/relaxing day/ do nothing day. Any way you look at it, it was not an exciting venture. But focusing in on the whole we're supposed to keep the Sabbath idea... On the way home from church that day, I explained to the kids we had to go out shopping after nap time. Noah, our oldest, made a comment on the fact that it was Sunday and we were supposed to stay home. I explained to the kids the story in the New Testament where the farmer has to rescue his ox if it falls in the ditch on the Sabbath, that he can't wait until the next day to do it. It's a real need. And the washing machine was a real need for us.

Feeling good about my brief theological study, I ended the lesson by asking Elijah (the 4 year old) if he understood. He responded with a quizzical look on his face as he said "So, we have to go buy an ox to wash our clothes?"

Evidently, I need a little work on my exposition!

All Noah Wanted For Christmas...

Well Christmas has rushed upon us. But this Christmas has a much different feel than other years. This year has brought some great trials in our lives, and trials brother-in-law blessings. The award for greatest trial of the year has to go to our oldest, Noah, for busting out his two front adult teeth. On September 10, 2007 (four days before his birthday), Noah was at scouts being led in the "Feats of Skill" qualifications. It was his turn to do the "frog stand". This feet requires you to put your hands on the ground and lift your legs up around your arms like a frog. As I watched my son perform this feet, I wondered how well thought out it was. I then made the prophetic announcement "We should stop this before someone busts out their teeth." Noah then fell on his face, shards of teeth all around. My heart sank in ways that words cannot express. I was furious with the scout leader for allowing such a dangerous activity to harm my child... unfortunately I could not yell at him because standing in front of the mirror screaming at myself seemed a little bit on the crazy side.

But Scout HQ got a call from me about this activity and so did their insurance company. Noah had two root canals and while in the dentist chair one of the teeth came completely out. The endodontist (root canal doc) said we should wait a while before we do anything cosmetic. The trauma to his teeth was significant, but we would try to save his teeth until he is about 18 years old when he can get implants. I have been sick about this, yet Noah has faced this trial with his standard jovial faith driven character. For the last three months he has shown off his smile and then broken into song..."All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth....".

Well all this heartbreak aside, three weeks later the poor guy ended up with an infection around his eye that looked like someone shoved a golf ball under his eye lid. So we were treated to a new song..."I'm popeyed the sailor man...toot tooooot"....

Noah continues to amaze me with his ability to face this trial with the faith that is promised in the gospel and this week he got his Christmas wish...

The new teeth are not permanent, but they do bring back his smile. Noah has also brought James 1:2-4 alive for us.

The 21st Century

Well we have finally done it. Cell phones, DSL and now a blog. After years of being disconnected from dear friends we now look to the information highway to reconnect. So don't be shy, add us, send us your comments, make quipy remarks about bad grammer; and inproper spelingz.

As for an update, we are living in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Lynard Skynard fans will know us by the song "Sweet Home Alabama", which was not only recorded down the street but mentions our town by name. We own a house that gets nicer with every tax return in the same neighborhood that George Jones used to live in, along with many other musicians... ohh, and we have three great kids.

Jen is sitting next to me rolling her eyes wondering why she allowed me the chance to enter our first blog entry, but I digress.

Noah is 8 years old and is in the second grade. Elijah is 4 and is incredibly charming (and knows it). Elizabeth is 2 and is into everything. I am a pastor of a 40 year old Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church (yes a real pastor with preaching and everything). While Jennifer has only grown more beautiful over the last 12 years, I have simply grown less hair. But our first blog entry would be incomplete without mentioning our dog, Kolbe. But I can explain his name at a later date.

This being my first blog, I don't want to blow it by telling our whole story, so check back early and often...The best is yet to come!!!!!!!!