1/4 of a century

When I was growing up, for some reason I had this belief that I would never be older than I was at that time. I always saw people that were older and thought that they must have always been that old and that I would forever be as young as I was. Looking back now I see that was wrong, but I still seem to do that a little these days.

The first instance I was finally "older" was this weekend when Whitney and I were serving at Forklift. Hanging out with the high school students and having them ask me questions about events in their life that were soon to come and actually looking to gleam some advice from me was a little new to me. I mean I get asked for advice everyday from 12 year olds, but that is different. These were pivotal questions about what to do in certain life situations and how to handle adversity when it means disappointing a friend or family member while growing their relationship with God. The funniest experience of getting older this weekend was playing sports with all of the high school kids. My team was able to win the basketball tourney, which is cool, but when it came to the dodgeball tourney, that was a little different. We did really well, but the funniest thing was how sore my arm was the next day after playing. Now, I have played baseball since I could walk and have been throwing things whether for sports or at my brother for a very long time. But, my arm felt like it was going to fall off. I think I got my first glance at the limitations I am going to be facing with my body for years to come.

I told Whit last week that I don't miss being in High School at all. All of the experiences we have had since then often make me forget that it ever happened in the first place. I also said that I don't think I am going to miss being 24 either. I think that every year I have been alive, life has gotten just a little bit better. Whether it is gaining experience in the job I am in, deepening and strengthening my marriage or going farther in my daily walks with God and seeing that relationship really start to take off, I think that there is so much more left in life to experience and I for one am looking forward to seeing it come, in due time of course.

I have had some amazing birthdays in the past, but I think this one might be the best so far. Not because of any gifts, money or "things", but because of the phase of life I am in and the people I get to share it with. I feel like this is a huge moment in mine and Whitney's lives and I am looking forward to yet another year of learning, laughing and loving with the people we are fortunate to have in our lives.

Checking in...

This is me checking in and letting you know what has been going on since Christmas. Well, during the huge snow storm Whit and I ended up staying with the in laws for two weeks with the puppies. After moving back into our house, we found out that our main water pipe downstairs had been leaking slowly and soaked about half of the carpet in the basement of our house. Yeah.

When we finally got back to school it was tough. I had started to slip into summer mode because of the amount of time we got off from school. The kids were showing signs of this dangerous condition as well. I also started coaching 6th grade basketball at Shiloh, and I am loving it. It is so much fun to be able to spend time with some of my students doing something they really love doing. Plus, it gives me free reign to make them run if they don't listen to me. Like I would ever do that...

We have had a lot of great opportunities as well to hangout with friends and family and rekindle some relationships we had let slide over the past year. We are looking forward to some great things happening in '09 and possibly moving to a new house... so if anyone out there knows of a good realtor that we can trust to help us in this HUGE undertaking, we are more than willing to welcome and names.

Christmas Cards and other Christmas Expectations

(This is our Christmas Card replacement for this Christmas)

Well, I am thinking we are finally getting to the age when it is expected that we send out Christmas cards to those we know. In this age of technology and email, it is still very cool to get Christmas cards from friends and family. I have been plotting our next year's Christmas plan. I am calling it, Assault on Christmas '09. This assault will involve: Baking everything Christmas (sugar cookies, no bakes, rice krispy treats decorated with red and green frosting etc.), sending out Christmas cards, watching all of the classics and hopefully not shoveling 40+ in of snow before the 25th.

Of course I am just kidding and I love to celebrate Christmas in any way that involves hanging out with family. Hopefully this snow fall has forced some families to spend some much needed time together reconnecting and sharing memories and maybe starting new traditions for years to come. Have a Merry Christmas and to all of you kids out there who convince your parents to let you open just one present on Christmas Eve...GOD JOB!!!!

Spreading God's wealth to his children in need

About a year ago now, Whit and I decided we needed to sponsor a little boy named Quy from Vietnam through Christian Children's Fund. No one twisted our arm or guilted us into it, we just thought we should. We have loved every minute of it. I do have to admit, that we thought originally, "Can we afford the $30 a month?" Well, the answer is YES. We have enjoyed it so much, we decided to sponsor a little girl from Africa named Nacha through World Vision. Now, both of these are tremendous Christian organizations and do amazing things for God's people, but I just learned from Cathey that the Free Methodist Church has its own child adoption program. I am going to try and put this as delicate as possible, because it is hard to say exactly what I want to say without offending someone I am sure, if you are concerned about the $30 a month you can always do the International Childcare Ministries children for $21 a month. I am not trying to imply by any means that one child is worth more or less than another, it just happens I guess that they can do the same with less money. They probably have less operating costs, and I guess Pastor Glenn says that more of the money you donate actually goes to the children directly as well. So if you are looking for something to shake up the holidays a little, think about sponsoring a child and changing a life forever (click the link below to go to the website). I know Whit and I cherish the letters and pictures we receive from our kids like they were actually our own. God bless and stay warm through this blizzard we are having. 

International Childcare Ministries

Do we not exsist??

After watching the national news a little the past couple of days, all I have to say is, "Does the West Coast not exist"? All they can talk about is how the East Coast is going to get hit hard and not how much snow we got. Oh well, I just want to tell the East Coast, we are here too, and we get to watch sports before midnight, HA!!

Less than a week to go...

Now that we are officially less than a week away from the best holiday of the year, I think back to all of the amazing Christmas' I have been fortunate to have. My parents did an amazing job making it a special day for our family growing up regardless of what they had to do to make it happen. A couple of the more special Christmas' I can remember, and they usually had to do with our extra bedroom downstairs being transformed into something:

1) My Dad turned our extra bedroom downstairs into a full on slot car racetrack. My brother and I opened the door and found ourselves looking at a gigantic racetrack that we would play with until the next Christmas. I have no idea how long it took him to build it, but it was awesome.

2) Another Christmas my parents got Casey and I a Sega Genesis and turned that same room into a little arcade.

3) The bike Christmas. I know everyone has a Christmas or birthday when you get the bike. But, I would challenge anyone to say they rode their bike more than I did. I used to go out in our yard and just ride in circles for hours on end. I rode it so much, that my knuckles got wind burn and I had to coat them in vaseline for the next two weeks.

4) Every Christmas that I got to spend with both my family and Whitney's family growing up. When you have been with someone for 10 years, you tend to spend a lot of holidays with their family. They always made me feel welcome from the very first Christmas. The very first Christmas present Whit ever got me, 2 weeks after we started dating our Freshman year of High School, was Michael Jordan cologne. I still have the bottle.

5) I look forward to the Christmas' with kids and taking them over to the grandparents house and watching them be spoiled by the people who can now justify doing it.

I wish all of you a Merry Christmas and hope that you remember all of the great Christmas' you have had as well. Even though we tend to focus more on the gifts and my stories did a little as well, but what I really remember is the amount of time spent with family each one of those presents brought me. So, when Christmas morning rolls around, take some time to look around the room and just enjoy the fact that it "forces" us to spend time with those we love, what a great holiday!!

2 Years in a row??

Usually when you live in Spokane you expect to not see positive temperatures from the end of December until early February. But not this much snow!! I went out and measured around 10:00 AM and we already had 22 in.! I don't think it is supposed to end anytime soon either. I feel like I will be recreating this scene in my backyard by noon.