August15th
Just over the past week Caleb has really started walking ALL OVER the place. It’s amazing to see him get better and better at it everyday. Maybe I’m just biased because I’m his dad, but he already seem pretty coordinated. (Can someone say pro athlete?)
We put together this cute video for everyone, so enjoy! Just click the picture or the link below…
July25th
Caleb is a late walker; he’s almost fifteen months old, and he has just decided that he is interested in taking some steps. He comes by it naturally though; his Granddad was also a late walker, so I’m told, and he turned out to be a brilliant physician, so we’re not too worried.
Caleb became more interested in walking when my parents were at our house last weekend. He really likes to perform in front of a big crowd; evidently one cheering mommy does not compare to a roomful of relatives. Click below to watch a video of him taking a few steps.
June23rd
Casey’s granddad passed away this week. Some of you may remember the post that I wrote about him last year. We got to see him a few days before he died, and we are so glad that we made the trip.
I’m reminded of John Donne’s Holy Sonnet X:
-John Donne, 1633
As our nephew said, “Don’t be sad Mommy; Granddad is in heaven.”
“And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.’” Revelation 21:3-4
June19th
Mary Beth and I have been praying about and discussing the issue of birth control a lot lately. I’m ashamed to admit that we’ve been married for five years and this is the first time that we’ve really spent much time on this issue. I don’t know why we didn’t have these conversations before we got married except that birth control has really become a non-issue in our fellowship. In fact, neither of us can remember ever hearing anyone talk about the biblical arguments for or against birth control and we both went to a Christian college. But, over the last few years, we have been reading Touchstone Magazine, which we highly recommend by the way, and this is a subject that they write about frequently.
The article “Children of the Reformation” appeared in a recent issue of the magazine and has really given us more to think about. I didn’t realize that Protestant churches only began accepting birth control within the last 75 years or so. After reading the article, we are beginning to fear that pro-abortion arguments are not a far jump from pro-birth control arguments.
Mary Beth and I are serious about seeking the heart of God on this issue. We are desperate for input from any and all followers of Christ. If you are single or married, if you’ve commented before or if this is your first time, please read the linked article and share your thoughts on this issue with us. We are seeking biblical arguments for or against birth control. Here are some questions we are seeking to answer:
Again, we are still seeking answers to this issue, it is not our wish to offend or judge anyone. Please share with us your views. We realize that reading this article could be slightly time consuming, but we feel that this issue is worth the time. Thanks.
Mary Beth and I have found these radio broadcasts by Family Life very helpful in gaining a deeper understanding of this issue…
June5th
Allan and Lindsay were married Saturday, June 2. The wedding was beautiful, and we were all glad to be a part of such a wonderful day. I know that God will bless many people through Allan and Lindsay because they are both eager to serve Him. We are so excited about sharing the rest of our lives with them, and Caleb is very happy that Lindsay is officially his aunt now.
Congratulations, Allan and Lindsay! We love you!
May29th
Casey and I are often asked how many kids we plan on having. The truth is that we aren’t quite sure; we plan on having as many kids as God gives us. But I do hope that we will have a big family someday. I love big families; I love being around them and being a part of them.
While I believe that my family is somewhat “big”, I don’t really consider my family to be huge. My parents adopted Mihaela (#4) the summer before I left for college; so most of my childhood was spent with just three kids in our family. But I know lots of people that consider a family with three kids to be a big family and a family of four to be outrageous. I guess everyone has their own idea of what is big and what is crazy. But I wish that more people would consider having big families, for several reasons: Read More | Comments
May2nd
On Saturday, we celebrated Caleb’s 1st birthday with a party at a nearby park. We had about 30 of our close friends and family come to wish him a Happy Birthday.
My dad cooked lots of hamburgers and hot dogs for everyone to enjoy, and Mary Beth made an amazing Lion birthday cake that Caleb loved digging into.
It was really funny watching him eat cake for the first time. He didn’t immediately dig into it like I thought he would, but instead he delicately picked some icing off the top with his fingers before grabbing bigger and bigger handfuls.
The party was a lot of fun, and it was great to spend some time with friends and family at the park. It’s still hard for me to believe that my little boy is already one year old. It seems like just the other day that I was holding him for the first time in the delivery room. Time really does fly…
My prayer for Caleb is that he will become a man who seeks after God with all of his heart. I want him to know God intimately and personally. I hope that he will someday grasp how “wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.”
April30th
On Friday evening, we all went over to my in-laws’ house to celebrate Caleb’s birthday, or so I thought. We had a big shrimp dinner followed by dessert and then we moved into the living room to open Caleb’s birthday presents, or so I thought. I noticed that there was a single chair beside the fireplace and a speaking podium next to it. Even after seeing this, I was still clueless as to what was going on.
After seeing this, I was told to have a seat and then my father-in-law, brothers-in-law, Mary Beth’s grandfather, and my dad proceeded to bless me and affirm me as a man. For those who aren’t familiar with what a Manhood Ceremony is, it’s a tradition that our family started in order to affirm and bless the young men in our family as they are coming into manhood.
I was blessed to hear what everyone had to say about me, especially the words that were spoken by my dad. Towards the end of the ceremony, my father had me kneel and knighted me and then presented me with a sword. This was a very special moment for me, and one that I will remember for the rest of my life. The sword had the following inscription on it:
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March22nd
A few weekends ago we went with some of our friends to a nearby field that blooms with daffodils every spring. It was great fun getting to see Caleb’s reaction to all of the blooming flowers. We also had the opportunity to take some pictures of the kids, as well as some family photos.
Yesterday was the first official day of spring and all of the plants are now beginning to come back to life. Mary Beth and I were talking about how much we love springtime and how awesome God is for creating it. Spring and fall are my favorite times of year because they are the “in between” seasons. Growing up in southeast Texas didn’t allow me to fully experience all four seasons, so my experience was pretty much confined to summer and winter. Now I live in a place where all four seasons are on full display and I love it!
There are so many metaphors for how we go through different seasons in our spiritual walk with the Lord. Sometimes we can’t avoid the harsh, bleak winters of our life, but praise God that He always brings new life in the Springtime!
March4th
My father-in-law and I woke up early this morning to go run the half marathon. It was about 32 degrees as we waited by the starting line to begin the race and Mary Beth, Lindsay, and Allan even braved the cold weather to come cheer us on. Our goal was to finish all 13.1 miles in under two hours, which would be about an average of 9 minutes per mile.
Everything was going great for me until about mile 9. My stomach started acting up and I had to slow down the pace. I told dad to keep going so he could reach his goal. He finished in under two hours with a time of 1:58 and I came in behind him at 2:08.
I didn’t meet the goal that I had set for myself, but I’m still proud of what I accomplished. I averaged less than 10 minutes a mile and despite feeling nauseous, I didn’t quit. For me, that’s nothing to be ashamed of.
I think I’ll probably take the next couple of weeks off from running, but I plan on running consistently for a long time. We’ll see, I might even want to run another half marathon next year!
