New

Today marks the start of a new year: preschool begins at the Training Station and Carolyn starts her new teaching job.  She’s teaching three-year-olds three afternoons a week.  A new school year also means more time in the office and more interaction with preschool families.  It’s always exciting to enter a new season!

This morning I was hanging out with some of the preschool parents after school started.  One of them has a one-year-old daughter, and she took her first steps while she was there!  It was pretty cool.  It’s exciting to be there for something like that.  She kept walking and walking and walking–she’s enjoying her new skill!

Two other exciting things that mark the coming of a new year: One is that we’ll soon be back into a Bible book sermon series.  The first Sunday in October we’ll begin a seven-week series on Revelation.  I’m looking forward to that one!  The second new thing is a new community group that Carolyn and I are starting at our house.  It’s been a few months since we’ve been in a community group, and it will be so nice to get back into that.

Hopefully another new thing will be the resuscitation of this blog….

I love fall!

Published in: on September 9, 2009 at 10:08 am  Comments (2)  

August Post

This is my first and last post of August 2009.  I’ll get back into this one day, really I will!

Published in: on August 31, 2009 at 4:07 pm  Leave a Comment  

Postcards

Wow, it’s been a long time since I’ve blogged!  I’m going to try to get back into it, though I’m amazed that anyone with kids can ever keep up with a blog.  But I’ll give it a shot.

The past couple Sundays at CrossWay we’ve been in a series called “Postcards,” where we’re studying the little one-chapter books in the New Testament: 2 John, 3 John, Jude, and Philemon.  All four books are short letters with huge significance.

Last week we walked through 2 & 3 John.  In these letters, the apostle John highlights hospitality as an important display of commitment to Christ.  He teaches the importance of partnering with Christian workers by supporting them with hospitality; on the flip side, he explains how anyone who extends  hospitality to false teachers “shares in his wicked work” (2 John 11).

Yesterday we studied Jude.  This is possibly the most severe book in the New Testament, but with good reason.  Jude begins by saying he wanted to write about the joy of salvation, but instead of celebrating with the recipients of his letter, he felt instead the need to issue a dire warning against false teachers who had snuck into the church.  He totally reams them out, and describes them in great detail so that Christians who want to walk in truth can steer clear.  He ends the letter on an up note, giving praise and glory to God our Savior.

Next week: Philemon….

During the month of June we had guest preachers at CrossWay.  They all did an excellent job, and we’re grateful for their ministry!  It’s nice to be preaching again.  As demanding as it is to do every week, I sure did miss it!

Published in: on July 13, 2009 at 10:21 am  Comments (1)  

What’s Up

This past week and a half has been crazier than usual, revealing one of the disappointing ironies of blogging: the more you have to blog about, the less time you have to blog about it!  Here’s a smattering of what’s been up:

  • At CrossWay we began a new three-week series about the Bible called TXT.  It’s taking more studying and preparation than usual, because it requires more research in addition to Bible study.  The series addresses three questions about the Scriptures: (1) How did we get the Bible? (2) How do we know the Bible is true? (3) How do I study the Bible?
  • A couple Saturdays ago Carolyn and I made a day trip to Pennsylvania.  In one day I was deeply touched with the tremendous generosity of a bunch of people all at once: Julie, the woman who owns the house we rent, let us haul one of her twin beds up to Pennsylvania to store in the house of someone she doesn’t even know.  Our brother-in-law’s parents let us borrow their nice, big pickup to drive the bed up north.  Michael & Kristen let us put the bed in the guest room of their house… AND–they bought us a bed frame with a nice headboard!  Carolyn’s been wanting a headboard ever since we got married, because her pillows would fall behind the bed and we can’t sit up in bed without it scooting out from the wall.  They’re very expensive, and Michael & Kristen bought us one and gave it to us while we were up there with a pickup!  And if all that’s not enough, they took us out for a delicious dinner.  I had some of the best spaghetti & meatballs I’ve ever had, and it followed right after some tasty lobster bisque.
  • When we went to the Amish auction house to pick up the bed frame, I saw my first Amish midget.
  • On Wednesday I got to hang out with my friend Kevin.  We had a lot of catching up to do.  He’s recovering from surgery and is on a strict liquid diet, but fortunately Starbucks coffee is on the OK list.  So we hung out and talked for a couple hours while we put a dent in a big box of Sumatra.  By the way, his dog is a trip–she actually watches TV!  She’ll just sit there and watch and listen, and when she sees an animal on the screen, she jumps up and goes nuts.
  • The husband of one of our preschool teachers, Ms. Pat, passed away a week ago.  He’d been very sick for several years.  She’s one of the saintliest people I’ve ever known.  We’ve missed her around here!  She’ll be back tomorrow, which is good because the staff and children have really missed her.
  • On Saturday I did my first funeral.  I had no idea what I was doing, but if anyone had any complaints, they had the kindness to keep me out of the loop!  It was only the third time in the last five years I’ve worn a tie, and I’ve gotten so fat I had to run to the outlets on Friday to buy some new dress pants.
  • After church on Sunday, ten of us got together for lunch and then met with Jackie, the director of the Eastern Shore Pregnancy Center.  She told us about the ministry there, fielded some questions, and showed us around.  About 25 young women a year receive Christ through their ministry!  I love the way they help women to choose life for their unborn children, but they don’t stop there–they stay involved with the family and help them in very practical ways for a year and a half after the baby is born.  I can’t wait for us to get more involved with this ministry!  Please pray for them, because there is a lot of opposition (unbelievable as that is) to what they’re doing.
  • On Monday Carolyn had three doctor appointments.  First she had to go to a nearby lab, drink a bunch of stuff that was like flat orange soda, then have blood drawn to test for diabetes.  After that she met with her obstetrician, where she now goes every other week until the ninth month of pregnancy, when she’ll have weekly visits.  We met for lunch with her parents, her sister, and my dad, then we all headed over to her ultrasound, which was the third appointment of the day.  Afterward we shopped at Ollie’s, ate very quickly, and headed to a Worship Planning Team meeting.  Long (but enjoyable!) day!
  • Yesterday my mother-in-law, Linda, painted the baby’s room.  It’s a pink color that’s almost white.  I’m sure Laura Marie will love it!  (We tease Linda about having a case of Grandma Nesting.)
Published in: on March 18, 2009 at 5:22 am  Comments (3)  

See You in 2009

Okay, so this blog has been really slow lately.  I’ll try to do better when 2009 rolls in.  In the meantime, I’m taking a break for the holidays.

Hope you all have a merry Christmas!!!!

Published in: on December 24, 2008 at 12:31 pm  Comments (2)  

On the Obama Victory

Sometimes you just gotta give the spotlight to people who can say things better than you.  So on this first morning with our new President-elect, I’m turning the mic over to Darren Plummer, a church planter friend in the D.C. area.

Click here to read his thoughtful and well-expressed reaction to the Obama victory.

Published in: on November 5, 2008 at 9:43 am  Leave a Comment  

Computer Update

At the end of last week I finally got my computer back from the Geek Squad.  They fixed it to the point that it can now detect wireless, but there’s still one huge problem: it can’t detect my wireless!  I’m able to get online at the church, but not from my study which is where I usually blog.  So when September rolls around and I’m spending more time back at the office, I’ll get back to regular blogging, ’cause apparently nobody can fix this thing.

Published in: on August 4, 2008 at 2:18 pm  Leave a Comment  

The Blog Vacuum

One of the frustrations of being a blogger with a broken laptop is having an exciting summer and not being able to blog about it.  Since my computer went down and I’ve hardly been able to blog at all, Carolyn and I celebrated our fourth anniversary, went to the Baltimore Zoo, went to a Nationals game with the whole Hyde clan, attended my niece’s dance recital, wrapped up the “Play Ball!” series with a four-church event at a Shorebirds game, had an amazing week of Vacation Bible School, went to a Yankees game in New York, and got drenched in a massive storm on the Fourth of July.  Oh yeah, and Cinderella the tadpole died.  And of course we have pictures of all these things.  Oh, the hindered writer’s agony!  Hopefully I’ll be able to get the computer online again before summer’s end.

Published in: on July 7, 2008 at 2:44 pm  Comments (1)  

!

This past week has been about as busy as possible!  But at least it’s all (or mostly) good stuff.  Last weekend Carolyn and I celebrated our fourth anniversary and spent the weekend with my family in the Baltimore-D.C. area.  On Sunday we wrapped up the “Play Ball!” series at CrossWay Church and went to a Shorebirds game with the other churches that did the series, and the past couple days we’ve been having Power Lab (Vacation Bible School).  I’ll spread some details around when I get a chance.

Published in: on June 25, 2008 at 12:02 pm  Leave a Comment  

Blogging Irony

There’s an inherent irony to blogging: The busier you are, the more you have to blog about, but the less time you have to do it; the less busy you are, the more time you have to blog, but the less there is to say.

I’ll try to make a better effort at conquering this irony.

Published in: on April 23, 2008 at 5:06 pm  Leave a Comment  
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