Christmas in November

The birth of a child can be compared to nothing else in this world. The anticipation at times can be overwhelming. For nine months parents go through a gauntlet of emotions, thoughts and feelings. Who will the baby look like, what will we name him or her, how are we going to decorate the nursery, will the baby be healthy, will the baby come on time and what are we going to be like as parents. Twice in my life I have been blessed to anticipate the birth of a child and both times things didn't happen like I had expected them to. Jaden had to be born by c-section and since we didn't find out that Elijah was going to be a boy until the day he was born it was a 50-50 shot. Surrounded by all of that anticipation we were comforted to know that God had everything in control and there was really nothing to worry about.
Nine months is a long time to wait for something truly exciting to happen. I can't imagine what it would be like to wait for something with no end in sight. 25 days from now we will celebrate the most anticipated birth ever, and many people had to wait far longer than nine months. In Isaiah we read

"For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us, And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace." Is. 9:6

How great the anticipation and excitement must have been in Isreal, and this announcement was given long before this baby was to arrive. The Messiah, or Savior of the world, was coming and Isaiah was one of the first ones to announce it a century or so before it came to pass.

As we go about this December getting ready for Christmas it is my prayer that we don't forget the much anticipated arrival of the King. Far greater than the arrival of my own children is the arrival of the one who would take away my sins thus allowing me to call him Father. This Christmas may we join Simeon in saying "For my eyes have seen Your salvation"

Family

This is the wonderful family that God has given to me, Danielle, Jaden, and Elijah. I have decided to use this blog to help keep all of you updated on the cool things we do.

We strive to be a family that loves God and each other. God has done a trememdous work in both Danielle and myself and it is our prayer that our boys grow to be Godly men. Exciting things are happening in our lives and we are looking forward to what God has in store for us. I will keep you posted as things begin to develop.

Incredible Turkey Day

I have worked in retail for the past year and it never ceases to amaze me how quickly the store can turn from one holiday to the next. Halloween was set up sometime near the end of august, costumes, decorations, and tons of candy were on the shelves and being bought by the time the fall colors arrived on the trees. Our son had his Dash costume for close to two months. Even more amazing is the fact that a week before the kids were going to go trick or treating we had all ready set up three aisles of Christmas decorations. Even the display that holds and plays the Christmas CD's was ready to go.
Amidst all of these changes one holiday is forgotten and seemingly skipped over all together. A day that was set aside to remind us to be thankful for everything we have is sadly forgotten about. That is a little harsh, it is not forgotten, it is just simply not as heavily celebrated as the others. Now I understand that there is not much to decorate for Thanksgiving but come on there has got to be some sort of display that can be put up in the stores that reminds people to be thankful. In retail the focus is not on being thankful but rather how do we prepare for Black Friday, the busiest day of the year. It seems at times that the holiday is Friday and not the day before.
Let us take this time to remember the things that we are most thankful for. For me its easy, I have a wonderful family, a savior that took my punishment for me, and a God who is constantly showing me His love in tangible ways.