Today...is the BIG DAY!

Well the day has FINALLY arrived! Tonight at 8:30PM Meg will go into the hospital and have our little boy! We went to the doctor yesterday and she was 3 centimeters, and the doctor could sense our (mainly my) impatience for the boy to arrive so he scheduled her to go be induced!

Thanks for all the votes on the name, but as you can tell the winner was Joel Allen...so that will the his name! Meg is really excited about it, me not so much, but I can tell Meg really loves it so we will go with it!

Check back for more information and definitely A LOT of pics!

Daddy Sissy Time

Today Kyrsten and I drove to Rockford, IL to see three of my students graduate from RMC. I love taking trips like this, not only to see what God is doing in the lives of three incredible young people, but I get to spend some awesome time with my daugther Kyrsten. Since she was young we have always called this "Daddy Sissy Time." I can't count on one hand the number of times she said, "we are having daddy sissy time today!"

Once we got to Rockford (5 hours & 45 minutes without a stop...she is a trooper!) we grabbed a bite to eat at our favorite...Qdoba's. Then we checked into our hotel and ran to DQ to get some ice cream. Now we are laying in bed watching the movie RV.

Tomorrow we will go to Rockford First for service and then spend some more time together tomorrow afternoon and evening. It is so awesome making memories with my daughter!! She still remembers our trip last year!

Well back to the movie and memories!

The Last Couple of Weeks

Sorry I haven't checked in over th last couple of weeks. Once I got back to work after vacation it was a sprint to get everything done!

The weekend of May 31st was Earthbeat. We went to 2 different park in the Sandusky area to spread mulch, paint, seal blacktop and simply make the parks look better. It went really well! We had around 30 students plus leaders! It is always an incredible feeling as people from the neighborhood drive by and yell "thank you" out of there car windows!

Got through that weekend and then the entire next week was filled with preparing to kick off our Axiom series called, "change: life at the altar," and preparing for our graduate recognition service this past Sunday June 8th! Alot to get done, but everything went well!

This past week has been steady. I have to right 8 messages for the month of July. I go to Tri-State camp in Missouri to speak as well as 2 churches while I am there! I can't wait! It is going to be awesome!

Yesterday was Kyrsten's 6th birthday. It was a really cool day!! Kyrsten and I leave tomorrow to go to the Rockford Master's Commission graduation this weekend. It will be so cool to see my students as well as other great friends in Rockford!

New Poll

As Meg and I were driving back from Washington DC we were talking about what we are going to name our boy.  We have really struggled to come up with a name that we both like...she has her favorites and I have mine, so I told her I would throw it out in the blogosphere to get some additional opinions.

So help us out!

Update on Dad - Pt2

Well I thought I would give you and update on my dad before I head to bed...I called to talk with him real quick around 8PM tonight and he seriously sounded amazing! Recently I had noticed that he had been talking with some slurred speach or like he was talking with a fat tongue. Tonight when I talked with him he sound normal again. It makes me think that the blockage head had in the artery was effecting his brain.

Anyway, they did end up putting one stint in his artery and then they found another place that they used the balloon to expand. He came through feeling really well, other than his back hurting from laying on the hard table. The surgeon said he may be able to go home tomorrow, but dad thinks they will keep him a little longer to make sure everything is going okay with the diabetes.

I would like to thank everyone for there prayers! I really do appreciate them! Now we just have to face my stepmother going in for another surgery on Tuesday! It doesn't seem to end...

Update on Dad - Pt1

I received a call from my dad later in the day on Tuesday letting me know that on top of everything else he has diabetes. Because of this they wanted him to come into the hospital a day early (yesterday) so they could get him regulated before the procedure this morning.

When he arrived at the hospital yesterday his blood sugar was around 480, but the day before is was over 600. It is supposed to be at 100 or less. They were able to get it down to 87 yesterday afternoon before dinner, but when he ate it shot up to over 200 again. They also tried to some kind of test to measure the blood circulation in his leg yesterday, but he had a muscle spasm and they had to disconnect him because of the pain.

This morning some time is when they are going to perform the heart cath. So please pray that everything goes smooth!

We Now Interrupt This Broadcast...

Sometimes I get really aggrevated when I am watching one of my favorite television shows and I hear the words, "we now interrupt this broadcast..." If it is something really big then its cool, but if it is just election results or something like that, then I get so mad!

Well today I got a phone call...we now interrupt this vacation...from my dad. Let me back up about a month, I was talking with my dad and he told me he hadn't been feeling well and then a couple of weeks later he told me he was going to the doctor to see why he had lost like 25 pounds (without trying) on top of some other things that had been happening. The doctor had him do a stress test and as well as another test on an artery.

So my dad calls me this morning to tell me that Thursday he will be going in for a heart cath. where they will put in stent and if it bad enough they may have to do a bypass. My dad, in his usual fashion tried to blow this off has if it was no big deal, and honestly their are hundreds if not thousands performed every day in this country that goes off without a hitch.

I guess with the recent passing of Mike Thomas and the question that my dad have joked around about for along time (is it going to skip a generation?) Allow me to explain...my great grandfather, and his brother as well as my grandfather's brother all passed away at the age of 65 or 66 (I can't remember). Needless to say that when my grandfather was that age he 'knew' he was going to die that year...he lived to be 88. So my dad and I have always joked, "I wonder if it is going to skip a generation?" Kind of a sick joke, but now it comes to close to home...my dad is 65 and will be 66 in October...it really makes your mind go crazy!

I apolgize for this being so long, but I just feel that I have to get all of this out...I have been crying on and off the whole time I am writing this...I know there are several people who read this blog (but just never comment..hahaha) I would really covet your prayers! I am sure that my dad will go through this with no problems and everything will be okay...but it is still hard...it brings losing your parents real close to home...I don't really like it!

Anyway...back to vacation...gotta beat my wife in Mario Kart!!

Day off, Wii and Playing in the snow...

Today was a really cool day!  I got a call from Pastor Hiser saying that we were canceling service at around 630AM, which allowed me to sleep about another 3 hours!  Just after I got up I got a call from Pastor Tom (our associate) telling me that the Toys R Us here in Sandusky had 60 Wii's TODAY...so just after 10AM I ran up there hoping that people were still digging out and couldn't get there...I was in luck!  I was one of the first dozen!!  So I bought the Wii and headed home.

After getting it all hooked up I played a quick game with Kyrsten (she is catching on fast!) and then we met Meg's parents for a lunch buffet at Chet & Matt's!  Spent the afternoon playing Wii with the fam and then watching the Nascar race!  My boy Tony Stewart came in 2nd!  It was a good day!

After the race we got the girls dressed up and took both of them outside to play in the snow...It was Kinsey's first time...she didn't care much for the snow, other than eating it (it was clean) after seeing her sister do it.  I will try and post some pics soon.

Then it was back inside for Dinner and more Wii!  To sum up the day...it was cool to just hang out with Meg and the girls!  It was nice to sit back and relax and just be a family!

Looking forward to tomorrow...Meg and I's 8 year anniversary is Tuesday, so her and I are heading to Kalahari for a couple of nights to just relax and hang out together!  CAN NOT WAIT!

It's My Last Name!

Today was the most incredible Valentine's Day I could have ask for...we found out this morning that Meg is expecting a little BOY!  After two girls I honestly went into this ultrasound planning on hearing it was a girl.  The last thing I wanted to do was get my hopes up only to have them crushed by reality, like what happened when we had Kinsey's ultrasound.  

I cannot tell you the joy that I felt when she said, "You are having a boy!"  I know it may seem that I am making a big deal of this...but it is important to me!  My father was an only child and I am an only child, so my grandfather (smelcer) would say, "the name dies with you son!"  Even thought he wasn't intending to put pressure on me...I felt it!  When I heard the news I couldn't help but think about my dad and especially my grandfather and feel like I had fulfilled a wish and a desire for them!

At this point I am simply asking God that he would be born with no complications and totally healthy!  Thats the other thing that has been going through my mind all evening, how gracious God is!  I mean think about it ...God knows already what my son is going to do with his life...what he will be, who he will marry...God has it all planned out...and he has not even entered the world yet!

I serve such an awesome God and I am so thankful for everything he has given me...my wife, my girls and now my son!

Catch UP!

CRAZY! CRAZY! CRAZY!  The past week has been very eventful...I will try and recap as briefly as possible!

• This past Wednesday I began my first "Lent" fast.  I have decided to give up TV for lent, and I got to admit...it is HARD!  Right now I am in my bedroom reading and surfing the web as Meg is out in the living room watching TV.  I know fasting is supposed to be hard and it has taken a week just to get into some kind of routine in the evenings, and slowly but surely I am getting in one...but I did almost blow it last Thursday, I am such a creature of habit I came in the house sat down in my recliner and grabbed the remote.  Meg kind of screamed, "you can't do that!" I looked at the remote and looked at her and "oh yeah!  Habits can be hard to break!
• Friday I shot a video with my Pastor and Judge Binette and then went to Dave & Busters with several couples from the church to celebrate a couple of birthdays!  It was really fun, I really enjoy going out with other married couples with kids...it is such a cool time to develop friendships!
• Saturday...this was an AWESOME day!  We dropped Kyrsten off at the middle school at 9AM and until 1PM she learned a few cheers and a small dance routine as part of the "Perkins Future Cheerleaders" event,  at 1PM we saw them perform.  I am such a dork of a dad...I took both the churches Sony HD cameras and recorded her (with my father-in-laws help) one wide angle and a close up on Kyrsten.  Plan on making a DVD for my parents back in MO.  Then that night she performed at the halftime of the boys JV game...she was so cute with her little pom poms!  Then we celebrated at Chili's after that with papa and nana!
• Sunday was church and nasty cold weather!
• Monday...kind of vegged on my day off...we did have Parent/Teacher conferences for Kyrsten...she is doing well with only a couple of things that she needs to improve on.
• Today - Had staff this morning; we are planning a small ministry fair at the church on March 9th...I have to make promo videos for youth and video ministry and flyers for them as well as angelfood.  Then we had the idea to spoof an eharmony commercial to promo the ministry fair, so I have a lot of video stuff to put together over the next couple of weeks
• Oh I almost forgot...Fine Arts!  Coming down to the wire...it just over a week away and we don't have the schedule, but I know everything is going to be okay...just means that I will have plenty of things to do for the next month or so...

As you can tell my life is jammed packed right now...but to me honest I am really enjoying!  I told my pastor last week...for the first time in ministry I am truly getting to do the three things I love most...1)youth 2)missions 3)video.  My biggest challenge is finding the balance to do them all with excellence and not let one slip...but I am working in recruiting people to help so I think it will all be good!  

Please understand if my post are sporadic over the next few weeks, but I will try and do my best to check in and share what is going on and what God is doing in my life via my fast!

Great Sissy Daddy Time

Tuesday night I treated my little Kyrsten to Starbucks.  I had been in Columbus all day at a meeting and wanted to spend some time with Kyrsten...just her and daddy (what we call daddy/sissy time). Snapped a couple of cute pics of her with her "kids hot chocolate."  She was so cute and it was just a cool time of talking and finding out how things were with her...the time was short, but it was just a little something cool to do with my little "big" girl!.

Today we had "Donuts with Dad" at Kyrsten's school...we took the cutest picture, I will get it scanned and put on sometime next week...it was so cool to spend more one on one time with Kyrsten...it is something that I am making more of a priority.  I find myself so consumed with work or ministry sometimes that I don't want to miss this part of her life...especially now that the third one is on the way!

Oh! be praying...we find out on Valentine's Day...February 14th what we are having...I know everyone is agreeing with me in prayer that there will be a "stem on the apple!"

Mac

Just a quick check into the blogosphere...I am in KC visiting my family for the week.  It has been good to be back and see all the changes to my old stomping grounds...but more on that in the future. 

After at least 4-5 years of talking about it, I have finally gotten my Mac!!  I was able to order my new 15 inch Macbook Pro before we left and had it shipped to my mom's house.  It arrived on Monday and I have been in heaven ever since!

Please be praying for Meg, the girls and I.  We have all been kind of sick and really just not feeling to well since we got here...Meg and I have had trouble sleeping (thats why I am writing this at 5:45am).  Any way we head back to Ohio on Saturday!  Look forward to getting home to my own bed, but sure is good getting to spend time with my family!