CHAPTER FIFTEEN – A Well Oiled Machine

I watched a documentary today about how Clay County, Kentucky (and specifically the city of Manchester) has gone through a miraculous change because of unity in the church.  They were top in the nation for prescription drug abuse, and many people were dying because of crystal meth and other drugs.  So finally the city reached a breaking point where all the churches in town got angry at the drug problem because it was killing their children.  So for the first time all the churches united in passionate prayer and marched against corruption in their government and lawlessness in their community, and God showed up in response to the church uniting in prayer.

So the town changed in so many ways.  Many former drug users became Christians, the churches began to fill up, people in the government and schools all turned to God.  Drug dealers and corrupted city officials were arrested and jailed.  The town itself was cleaned up and beautified.  Business began to build and even the local plant and animal life has grown with numbers that haven’t been up for 50 years.

When people turn to God, it makes a difference.  The question is, what will it take for the church to unite in other cities and become a well-oiled machine for the glory of God?

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How much better would the world be if all moms were godly and loving, and all kids did what their moms told them to do?  I think most moms love their kids, and want the best for them.  How many kids go astray because they refuse to listen to Mom’s wisdom and guidance?  With Mothers Day approaching, maybe it’s a good time to reevaluate whether or not your life has honored Mom–and if you are a mom–whether your life has honored God.

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CHAPTER SEVEN – Sin Trap

Why do you think some people break the law?  Murderers and robbers and corrupt politicians obviously have some sort of motivation for what they do.  Do you think it’s because they don’t think there will be any repercussions for their actions?  Or maybe they think the payoffs will outweigh the damage done.  Or maybe they’re ultimately just not that smart.

Another good question to ask might be, why do some people obey the law?  Why would somebody live a peaceful moral life?  These days it seems like the law keepers take more of a beating from society than the law breakers.  Do you ever wonder why that is?

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Have you ever run a marathon?  Have you ever thought that would be a cool thing to accomplish.  Did you know the guy who ran the first marathon died after running the distance?  Isn’t that crazy?!  And now it’s a race that thousands and thousands of people run it!

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Happy Mother’s Day!

Ok, so this is from awhile ago.  But it was fun.

Any day is a good day to hug your mom.  Why not do it today?

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I’ve had a lot of people tell me that having a child really changes your life.  But it seems to me, when you are eagerly looking forward to having children and  it finally happens, you don’t even notice the change–kinda like jumping out of an airplane–you’re too focused on making sure your parachute works to think about how different life is with in a free fall.  And before you know it…smack your kids are in college and you’re wondering where the time went.

Our little girl is 4 months old today, and she is the most precious and beautiful baby I’ve ever seen.  And sometimes she needs some attention late at night or early in the morning.  She takes a little longer to get ready to go somewhere.  And she especially likes to be held when you need to use your hands for something else.  But the change to life she brings and the extra work she requires is so enjoyable because her life is such a blessing.  It’s like taking the trash can to the curb the night before garbage day and then looking up at the clear sky and getting lost in the stars.

These first 4 months seem to have flashed by, and she’s already grown so much.  It’s pretty awesome to watch.

Of course a baby can keep you occupied enough that you don’t blog at all for months.  But eventually you figure out how to make a little time to get some work done. 🙂

When you pray, do you pray to a gumball machine, or a magic 8 ball, or a living Lord who cares about you?  How do you treat God when you talk to him?  Do you talk to him or at him?  Do you ever listen–really listen–to what God is trying to tell you?

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From Frog’s awesome wife:

It was a long time coming…but she’s finally here!  The cutest baby ever was born on Sunday morning , August 8^th.  She was delivered by emergency c-section, as her heart rate kept dropping and she was responding well.  We found out the umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck.  She did not start breathing on her own for almost six minutes after birth and was very limp and pale.  She was brought immediately to the NICU, where she was tested for various infections.  Her white blood cell count was very high, so the doctors were guessing she had some sort of infection and started her on antibiotics right away.  Every blood culture they took to determine a specific type of infection came back negative, so they never discovered exactly what kind of infection she had.  Thankfully, her spinal tap results showed that there was no infection signs in her brain.  It was a rough day for all of us as Baby wasn’t feeling well, Mom had to go through surgery, and Dad had to worry about both his girls making it through all the complications.  But it was a great reminder that even through the rough times we can depend on God.

Since the doctors had started a course of antibiotics to fight whatever this infection was, she had to stay in the NICU for 10 days to finish her treatment.  But she was already showing much improvement after the first few days.  She moved out of her isolette into a regular bed, learned to breathe room air and maintain her own temperature, and got her feeding tube removed.  Poor girl went through a lot during her hospital stay, but she was such a trooper.  She is perfectly healthy and happy today!

We praise God for His continued faithfulness to us.  We might have thought our difficulties were over after our 2-year struggle with infertility, but God proved to us once again that He can bring something good out of a seemingly awful situation.  The day she was finally released from the hospital, August 18^th, was one of the best days ever.  How long we had looked forward to the day when we would have a child in our home!  We are so grateful that our precious girl has no lasting issues from her complications at birth.  She is a wonderfully sweet baby and we are as happy and proud as parents can be!

Thank you for your prayers for our family!

It was definitely a rough day when she was born.  I remember that sick feeling in the pit of my stomach when the doctor told us that the baby wasn’t responding and would have to be delivered by C-section.  Thankfully the nurse was happy to wait for me to pray for Jenna and the baby before they were prepped for surgery.  I had to put those paper clothes over my outfit, and then they let me be in the room during the procedure.

I always imagined that a C-section was a nice clean cut where the baby just slid nicely out.  But in real life, it’s more like a cannonball wound and the baby still has to be pushed through the opening.  I watched as they pulled the baby’s head through the incision, and unwrapped the cord and clipped it and handed her to the baby team.

The baby team went right to work cleaning her up and using the respirator to breath for her.  She was like a wet noodle and just flopped around and wasn’t crying or moving or anything.  The baby team was professional about it, but it was scary for me to watch my child not respond.  Meanwhile, I also kept an eye on my wife who was bleeding profusely.  The doctors were also diligently working on mom, but it was clear that both mama and baby were having complications.

As mom and baby were both being worked on I had the realization that I could lose them both on the same day.  And that was heart rending.  So I was fervently praying that morning for both my girls.  I told God I would trust him no matter what happened, but I prayed hard for the recovery of both mom and baby.  And praise the Lord, they both came through it well.

It was such a blessing when I finally heard my daughter cry.  And I love to watch her grow and learn new things on a daily basis.  And it’s so good to know my beautiful wife is well and can share her love with me and our budding family.

PS. If you’d like to read some of the back story to just how huge a blessing this baby girll is be sure to check out these two entries:

Praying for a baby

A miracle answer to prayer

Do you pray?  Does God answer your prayers?  Do you ever wonder why he does or why he doesn’t?

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What are you doing with the resources that God has given to you?  Are you investing it in expanding the Kingdom of Heaven or are you squandering it on temporary things?

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