Early Morning Daddy Time

As Shiloh and I have been trying to figure out schedule things that work for us and little Ms. Addison, one thing that has worked out really well is that I take Addie downstairs after her "first" morning feeding...usually around 6:00 or 6:30 and we hang out together until about 8:30 or 9:00 so that Shiloh can get a good stretch of sleep before she has to wake up for real.

This is probably the best part of my day, because Addie is usually pretty content to just lay in my arms and sleep. I've realized that I don't know many lullabys, so I just end up making up songs to sing to her and laugh at the silly faces she makes.

I call the following pictures, "Progression of a Nap". Check out the awesome poses. While Addison was still in Shiloh's belly, the doctor told us she was going to be a breakdancer because she was basically "spinning" on her head. I think these pictures confirm that assumption.

A Different World

At the university down the street from our church building, there is a BAR inside the CAMPUS CENTER.

It probably says a lot about me that I am so surprised by this.

I am really wishing I was headed to Abilene today for ACU Homecoming. It is Shiloh's 5th Reunion year, and lots of my friends' 10th Reunion year. And it would be great to show off Addison. Oh well. Maybe next year...and definitely the next year for my 10th Reunion.

2 years ago...1 week ago

About this time two years ago, Shiloh and I went up for a drive through the mountains. Seeing the aspen leaves as they change color from green to bright yellow, red, and orange is one of Shiloh's favorite things to do in the Fall. We found a spot just outside of Estes Park that had a huge cluster of aspens that were just beautiful.

It had only been about a week since Shiloh and I had found out that Shiloh had had a miscarriage. Taking that drive through the mountains and looking at the aspens was a really healing experience for both of us. I like this picture because of all the colors and beauty, but also because it reminds me of that healing that we both felt.

It has been a hard two years for Shiloh and I. A few months after that picture was taken, Shiloh experienced another miscarriage (this time an ectopic pregnancy) and we were again feeling so much pain.

Yesterday, Shiloh and I drove up into the mountains and took this picture.

All I can say is something that I haven't been able to bring myself to say very often these last couple of years..."Isn't God good?!"

Addison is here, home, and happy!

Sorry I haven't posted since the "Addison's on the way" post...she got here, and I've been a little busy since then. Here are some pictures, and in the next day or so, I'll share the lessons that I've already learned after 4 full days of being a professional Daddy.

Only a few minutes old, and I'm already wrapped around her finger

Our happy family

Getting ready to go home

More later...time for a quick nap before the next feeding time!

Addison Hope

We're at the hospital (been here since about midnight...) and Addison is really close to joining us! Shiloh's already got the good medicine, she's already at a 10(!), and so it really shouldn't be long now at all! I'll update again when she's here!

Is this REALLY how it is?

"The time has come for a more theologically rigorous Youth Ministry because pizza parties and Play Station won't change the world."

This was a friend of mine's status on facebook yesterday. It sparked some pretty good discussion (at least on his status comments) about the state of Youth Ministry right now. Several comments had to do with the fact that Youth Ministers WANT to make these changes, but they feel that parents and other church leadership would fight them on those changes because it would "rock the boat too much". Another comment from another friend of mine was pleading the case that we know we need to make those changes...we just don't know how! There are 10 books out there right now telling us that what we're doing as Youth Ministers isn't working, but there's not really a lot about how we can make that switch.

And my question was, "Who is doing Youth Ministry with pizza parties and Play Station?!?" I can't remember the last time I ordered pizza for the Youth Group, and I think we play video games once a year (maybe twice) in the UYG. Now I know that my friend was exaggerating just a bit...I'm sure that no one does Youth Ministry using only pizza & video games. And I'm also sure that there are some Youth Ministers out there that use the "fun" things as the main focus of their ministry. But I honestly do not think that describes the majority of Youth Ministries out there today. We do fun things, we do things that entertain the kids, but those are not the reasons that our kids come to activities. Those are not the things that are driving our ministries. The teens are coming because they want to be challenged, and they've bought in to what the group is doing and the direction the group is headed (and trying to follow God's lead in that direction).

Youth Ministry 3.0 is a book that came out recently that I read at the end of the summer. In it, Marko (President of Youth Specialties) talks about where he thinks Youth Ministry needs to be headed. He talks about needing to challenge teens with God's Word, not just entertain them with "feel good" messages. He talks about really getting to know the teens and the issues they are facing, not just putting a "one-size-fits-all bandaid" on each teen and hoping they don't disrupt the group. He talks about giving the teens some room to do things and follow the call that they are hearing from God in their lives, rather than just doing what's on our Youth Ministry agenda and calendar for the year. And he talks about allowing the teens to ask real questions about what they don't understand, not just telling them to believe what we tell them "because we said so." Of course, there are many other things he mentions, but those seemed to be the ones that really stood out to me.

What really worried me when I read the book, was thinking about the Youth Groups with Youth Ministers who aren't already doing those things. I can absolutely do more of those things in my ministry, but none of those things were a brand new idea to me. And I don't see how they could be brand new ideas to anyone who has been spending time with teenagers for the last few years. Of course these teens need challenges...need relationships with mentors and teachers...need to be encouraged to follow God's call...and they need to be allowed to ask questions. I really think its that last one that scares so many parents and church leaders. And this just might be what they're scared of...what if they ask a question that we don't know the answer to? Or what if they don't take our answer as "the" answer? What if while we're challenging our teens to follow God's call in their lives, they come up with different answers than what we've always been told was "the" answer?

So, fellow Youth Ministers...parents...teens...friends who have nothing to do with Youth Ministry...what are your thoughts?

Get Real & Live It!

Blessed by the UYG

Over the last few days, I've really been reminded of how much I am blessed by the group of teens that I get to work with. We had a "Fun Night" last night where we played volleyball with water balloons. It doesn't matter what this group is doing, they are always having a great time together. During one of the breaks of playing, one of the girls came up and asked me how my week had been. She said that she realized the other day that all the teens try to do a good job of checking in on each other to see how they're doing each time they get together, but that they hardly ever asked me how I was doing. Its nice to be remembered.

Also this week, the teens turned in applications for our Servant Action Leadership Team. This will be the 5th year that we've had this team in place for the Youth Group. The teens that want to apply for this team are wanting to step up as leaders in the Youth Group, and they fill out these applications that have questions about where they see the Youth Group headed, and what they want to learn about leadership, and how they see themselves serving the Youth Group. Thursday I just sat and read these applications feeling so encouraged by what these teens see God doing in their group...by what these teens hear God calling them to do next...and reading their honest words about what they think their short-comings are, and how they hope to let God work in those weaknesses. It has been so great to see what God has done with this group over the past few years. The group of Seniors this year were only 7th graders when I first started working with this group. I am so excited to see what they are going to do this year, their last year in the Youth Group, and where the Youth Group will be this time next year. The only bad thing about these applications and this year's SALT group is that I received 3 or 4 more applications than I think I'll be able to take for the team. That is a good problem to have...but SUCH a hard problem. I'm praying that God will make it clear which of these teens will best serve the UYG by being on SALT this year.

Another thing that has me feeling so blessed by the UYG is the fact that since we announced we were pregnant back in February, the teens have been praying every Sunday and Wednesday (and I'm sure some other times, as well) for Shiloh and Addison. They have been very much a part of our pregnancy, being excited with us, feeling our worries with us, and even now, feeling our impatience and anxiousness for Addison to be with us, with us. When we had our baby shower a few weeks ago, several of the teens (even the guys) made it a point to come to the shower with their moms because they wanted to show Shiloh and I how excited they were. I can't wait for Addison to be here, and to grow up being around some of these teens and having them as examples for what young Christians should strive to be.

Thanks UYG, for the ways that you bless my life and make my job so enjoyable!

Get Real & Live It!