_The Blog Restart

So, it looks like it’s been close to a year since my last post.

 
And there are several reasons for that.

 
#1 – We had a kid. You’d think I’d post more about him and all that. Actually, it’s just kept us/me so busy I haven’t had much of a chance. #2 – Work has kept me busy. Our work at Grace has been going very well and that means staying busy. A lot. #3 – It’s not that I haven’t had anything to say, I just don’t know if what I have to say is really worth putting on here right now.

 
So, with that. Here we go with a fresh restart of it all. So, what does this restart look like?

 
I started cycling recently. After almost 20 years having not owned (much less having actually ridden) a bike, I bought a bike. This will be a lot of what this blog is about. What kind of lifestyle changes I make, what it’s like. Routes I’ve ridden. Experiences I have. All of that fun stuff. It’ll be interesting to see where this topic goes. And, in case you’re curious, you can see what kind of bike I got over at the bike gear page to the left.

 
Why write about cycling mainly? Because it’s easy. I can just sit down and write fairly quickly. And, it gets me writing. That’s why.

 
I’ll still write about the other stuff (life, ministry, etc…) periodically, but, definitely not as often.

 
In order for this to be a success it means I have to be able to post quickly without a lot of thinking. So, that’s what I’m going to do.

 
That said, let the great blog restart begin…

_Worth Noting…

A few things worth noting from the past week or two.

Ben Arment has had some great blogs recently (well, more than recently, but, here’s 2 I thought sharing). Read ‘em here and here.

Carlos Whittaker had a good one about church and NYC the other day.

Ed Stetzer posted this little bit of hilarity the other day.

So, I live in New York and the governor’s position is up for grabs. The Republican guy… Corrupt. The Democrat guy… Corrupt (seriously, they don’t even try to hide it up here… craziness). Maybe I should just vote for this guy…

_Simply Amazed…

We went back in for another ultrasound today so they can look at his foot further. (And, before I go any further, I’ll let you know that his name is Augustin, but, we’ll call him August for short. We liked both names, so, we decided to go with both ). They got some great shots of his foot today which will help the pediatric orthopedic surgeon know what to do. We’re hoping that rather than surgery, we’ll be able to do a series of casts that will slowly move his foot into the correct position.

What’s cool, though, is that they’re using the 3D/4D system to get better looks at his foot. And, while they’re at it, since we’re paying for it, we might as well see the rest of him in 3D/4D. Seeing such a clear image of August was just amazing. The more I see this stuff, the more excited I get. February can’t get here soon enough!

_A Theory on Rude New Yorkers

I hear a lot when I travel about rude New Yorkers. I get stuff like, ‘how can you live in a place with such rude people?’

So, how do I live in such a place with such rude people?

How do you live in a place with such rude people?

Everywhere I’ve been I run into rude people. It’s inevitable. When I lived in Atlanta, there were rude people. When I lived in Los Angeles, there were rude people. When I lived in Tallahassee, there were rude people (yep, there are actually rude Seminoles. Hard to believe I know…). And, even when I lived in NICEville, FL, there were rude people.

Here’s the difference, though. New York is a concentrated area. There’s a concentration of people here that you don’t really experience in most other places on earth. So, purely statistically, you’re going to run into a rude person more often here than anywhere else.

And, just a caveat, I could be completely wrong on this. And yes, there are other factors to take in as well. Just throwing this out there as a possibility.

Do you know who generally are the rudest people I meet in New York are?

Tourists.

Sure, I’ve met the stereotypical ‘rude New Yorker’. But, I think that tourists come with a stereotype in mind that they’re going to run in to the rudest people on the planet. So, then, when I say ‘excuse me’ to a group of tourists that are standing blocking an entire sidewalk while trying to figure out where they are, it’s not uncommon for me to get a response like, ‘stupid, rude New Yorkers’ directed back to me as I end up walking around them into the street to get by.

So, if you’re not a New Yorker, the next time you’re traveling up here I challenge you to look for the ‘nice’ New Yorkers. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed as I meet quite a few very often and you’ll also probably have a much better time.

_4D

As part of the issue with our child’s foot they did a 4D ultrasound to see his foot better. I must say it was neat to see him in such detail.

We had talked about it before, though, and decided not to get a 4D ultrasound. Why? Because they’re so darn expensive. Our insurance will cover most of our pregnancy, but, we really want to keep any extemporaneous costs to a minimum. This was one of those things. I mean, we are going to get to see him in even better than 4D images in a few months… when he’s born…

You will understand my frustration with it all then, when she switched over to the 4D scan. Let me rephrase that last part. When she pushed a button and it turned into a 4D ultrasound. She literally pushed a button. She didn’t have to change equipment, change adapters, pull a whole new computer and screen over, remove her real arm and replace it with a bionic one, turn on her eye lasers, or anything like that. She pushed a button.

That’s all you have to do to change from a couple hundred bucks to a couple thousand. Ummmmm, this goes into my ‘completely ridiculous’ book (if I actually had a ‘completely ridiculous’ book).

_I don’t get it…

So, on Tuesday at our appointment we learned that our boy has a problem with his left foot (see my previous blog post for details). While we’re concerned about this and aren’t happy at all that our little boy is going to have to have surgery after he’s born, we’re thankful that there aren’t more serious problems.

Something happened, though, at the appointment that struck me. The doctor was telling us about the problem and what the usual procedures are for dealing with this (which is usually surgery and/or wearing a brace on his leg for a bit) and that in most cases children go on to live normal lives. However, one of the procedures that our doctor said some people take is abortion.

Now, this isn’t a political statement as much as it is an emotional statement. We’re at 21 weeks and during our ultrasound we saw our baby move. We saw him rub his hands on his face and kick his legs. We even saw him what appeared to be pick his nose. Even our nurse doing the ultrasound laughed at that one. The longer we sat there watching this, the more emotional I got. I’d be lying if I said a small tear or two didn’t hit my eyes. It was amazing.

So, when the doctor said that some people, when confronted with this problem (which I say again, can be treated and most children go on to live normal lives), choose to have an abortion is just beyond my comprehension. Seriously, I don’t get it at all.

I’m so excited to meet my son in February. I can’t fathom giving up on him. Did I mention I’m excited?

_21 Weeks…

21 Weeks is about how long it’s been since I’ve blogged last I think (which also means that probably nobody is actually subscribed anymore).

In more important news, though, 21 weeks is also how far along we are in our pregnancy with our first child. Words cannot describe how excited I am.

We found out yesterday that we’ll be having a boy. So, on or around February 24th we’ll meet our little boy for the first time. I can’t wait. I already feel like a little kid before Christmas.

As we watched the ultrasound yesterday I was just amazed seeing him move around. It was moving and inspiring.

Also, as we watched the ultrasound, though, we noticed something that didn’t look right. His left foot looked a little strange and in a weird position. As we met with the doctor afterwards he confirmed what we had already noticed. There is something wrong with his foot. He actually has a condition called clubfoot that will require surgery after he’s born. It was a hard reality to swallow, but, there are worse things that could happen. We’re just happy that his brain and other functions are working well.

So, if you would pray for our boy and his foot. We have an appointment in the morning to get it looked at again and I’ll post an update again after that.

Exciting times!!!

_Birthdays, Brasil, and Beating the Odds

So, you may think that I’m going to talk about the World Cup and how awesome it is and all that. But, besides a quick ‘GO BRASIL!!!!!’, that’s about all you’ll here from me on that issue.

A while back Jess and I began sponsoring a child from Brasil with Compassion International. It’s moved our hearts in ways that we hadn’t imagined it would.

Today, though, while the world is watching Brasil try and win their World Cup match, Guilherme is celebrating his 5th Birthday. Today, while the world is watching Brasil kick a ball around a field, Guilherme is trying to beat the odds. In a small way, we’re trying to help Guilherme beat those odds. We want to see him grow up to serve God and make his way out of poverty.

Compassion is helping children all over the world beat those odds today and you can help too! Use the link below to head over to Compassion’s site and sponsor a child and help to change their life forever.

_61 Years

This past year in November, just after his 88th birthday, my grandfather passed away. He was a great man and I still miss him quite a bit.

I’m sure, though, that as much as I miss him, my grandmother misses him more. Today’s a very special day, though. 61 Years ago today my grandparents were married. We were lucky enough to be here for their 60th last year. This is an example I plan to emulate, God willing.

Thanks Grandma and Grandfather…

_Jesus???

I may have posted these videos before, but, can’t remember. Regardless, they’re hilarious. Just for clarification, they’re not portraying Jesus as he was, they’re kind of making fun of perceptions of Jesus. Enjoy…