Happy Birthday Anna

Happy Birthday Anna!!! 8 years ago you showed up in our lives and we haven’t been the same since. You make each and every day interesting. You have a great sense of humor, love being a drama queen, and are simply “fabulous”.

My people will call your people for a breakfast date soon. Mommy and Daddy love you lots and we can’t wait to see how God will move in your life the next 8 years. We pray for you every day.

Welcome Ellie born to my youngest brother Caleb and his wife Kristen this afternoon. This is their first so they have no idea what they are in for.

— George Patton

Noah turns 4 today. The last 4 years have flown by. We are excited to see what Noah does over the next couple of years. It will be interesting to see how he responds in school. He has shown affinity for soccer and also baseball (he can throw well with both his left and right hands). He is learning to wrestle with his dad and can throw a pretty mean right cross when he wants. Most importantly, he loves his sisters and his mom and dad. We love him too……..

This is Emily a few (3 to be exact at the zoo) years back. She was cute then, but she is beautiful now. Her mom and I are so proud of our little girl. She is growing up and becoming one of the smartest 10 year olds I know, a talented musician (she has played guitar in chapel three times now), and an awesome soccer player. I can’t wait to see what the next 10 years hold for her life. Our prayer is that she continues to develop a strong faith in Jesus and has a desire to serve him all the days of her life. We love you, Em!!!

Today, as I reflected on these last few months, I began to sift through the many conversations we have had with a number of friends and family. Most of them concluded with us either asking them to pray for and with us or with them saying that they would continue to pray for us. Let me tell you, those prayers meant so much to us. I know I cherished them tremendously.

That being said a little guilt began to trickle in as I realized that Dawn and I have been so inwardly focused in recent months. For the most part Dawn and I are givers not receivers. That has made for some awkward moments in the last few months as I am not accustomed to so much attention. It has been hard for me to receive those prayers.

With that being said, I plan on focusing on others for a while. Focusing on their needs and how I can best pray for them. My brother Aaron and his family are trying to work out the details on getting home from Budapest this summer. My sister and her husband are trying to sell their house. My youngest brother and his wife are expecting their first baby (a girl) in a few short weeks. My mom is just an all around great mom, who deserves so much, but expects so little. I am just going to be praying for God’s blessings in her life. That is just a start. I look forward to filling up my prayer time with these items as well as the things that God lays on my heart for that day.

How are you using your prayer time? Who could you be praying for that you aren’t?

I have a series of posts brewing in my head that I hope to get typed out this weekend and ready to post next week. So check back then.

In the mean time you can follow my everyday life on Twitter