July26th
My wife, Mary Beth, decided to start her own blog. She is a magnificient writer who has a lot of insightful things to say. Her thoughts never cease to amaze me!
So, go take a look around her site and don’t forget to sign up to be notified when she updates!
July24th
We recently spent the weekend with my husband’s grandparents in northwest Arkansas. We enjoyed spending time with them and introducing them to their new great-grandson. At 83, Casey’s granddad is the oldest of all of our grandparents; he has lived a long, full life and could spend hours telling stories of all that he has seen and done.
As I watched him hold Caleb, I thought of the people that must have surrounded him when he was a baby. I thought of his parents, grandparents, siblings, and aunts and uncles. I wonder if his mother looked forward to his birth just as I did Caleb’s. I wonder if his family laughed as he cooed and smiled and enjoyed watching his every move. I wonder if they tried to decide who he looked like and what he would do when he grew older. I wonder if he was surrounded with the same love and hope that surrounds Caleb. And I wonder if his great-grandfather ever held him with the same gentleness and peace that I saw in his face as he held Caleb.
Now he is surrounded by an entirely different group of people. His children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren have replaced the parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents of his childhood. And now he is part of the family that has welcomed Caleb into the world. Here he stands, on the other edge of life, as Caleb’s only connection to the ancestors that he will never know, and I can’t help but wonder if he thinks of the people that will fill Caleb’s life in eighty years.
It is my prayer that Caleb will also live a long and full life, just like his great-granddad, and that someday he will sit with his great-grandson in his arms and think of all of us who went before him. I pray that he will see the legacy that we will never see and that he will be amazed by God’s faithfulness that continues long after we are gone.
July24th
Our family went up to visit my grandparents in Gravette, AR this weekend. We enjoyed getting to spend time with my grandparents and they just LOVED getting to see Caleb.
All of the relatives on my mom’s side live on a large farm near my grandparents’ house. So there were plenty of aunts, uncles, and cousins for Caleb to meet also. We didn’t do a whole lot, but we got to spend some good time with my granddad, who has been pretty sick lately.
Caleb has now met all four sets of his great-grandparents, and hopefully he will have many more wonderful memories with all of them…
July20th
Mary Beth and I sat down last night to design our Family Mission Statement together. It took us a while to come up with an idea, but Mary Beth was the one who decided to use verbs to define how we wanted our family to be. We both sat at the computer for a little over an hour while I put some graphics together. It really was a 100% team effort!
I co-taught a class at church last fall based on the book by Stephen Covey, “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Families.” After the class was over, Mary Beth and I fully intended to write our Family Mission Statement together, but we never got around to it. So, we finally decided to “Put first things first” and come up with something.
I hope this will be something that we can hang on our wall and live by for years to come. I hope our great-grandchildren will look at this someday and be inspired by the mission that we have chosen to live by. I pray that it will truly be a blessing for our family!
July11th
My niece, Cameron (or Cammie for short), was born yesterday and she weighed 7 lbs. 10 oz. Cory said that she practically walked out!
So, Caleb now has ANOTHER cousin to play with. Our family is so blessed to have such good relationships with all of our “distant” relatives. I grew up surrounded by dozens of cousins, which I loved (most of the time!). My prayer is that Caleb will also have many cousins on both sides of his family with which to play.
Send Brad & Cory your congratulations by leaving a comment on this post…
July2nd
This morning, we were blessed to accompany my mom and dad as they returned to church for the first time since their accident. My dad seemed more like himself while we were worshipping; he even got up to thank everyone for all that the church has done for them over the past several weeks. It was an emotional morning for him after being away from his church family for about a month. We were so glad to be there with him, and Caleb was the well-behaved baby that he always is until he peed on his mom about 15 minutes before church was over. How do you recover from that when you’re sitting on the front row?! Fortunately, it dried quickly.
After church, the Picker men posed on the back porch. I feel so blessed to be part of the generations of Picker men that have served the Lord. I am grateful for all that my dad and my grandfather have taught me about being a man of God and hope to instill these same values in Caleb. I know that one day he will appreciate his wonderful heritage of faith.
July1st
My parents are both doing great at home, and life is starting to return to a state of normalcy. They received over 300 cards and several banners from friends and family while my dad was in the hospital. It’s just amazing to see the outpouring of love and consideration that have been shown to my family.
My dad is still on the IV feeding tube and he is eating a very limited diet. It’s going to be a long recovery, but I think he’s willing to do what it takes to get back to 100%. Again, thanks for all of your prayers, cards, and flowers. They have encouraged my parents a great deal!
