Two signs that our little baby girl is growing up:

(1) She’s getting better at reading books with her mommy.  She used to just fall asleep, turn away, or cry when Carolyn got out a book and tried to read to her.  But the other day she looked at the cover.

(2) She’s getting taller: she’s now up to 1′11″.

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!

Laura Marie turned12 days old last evening.  Some thoughts from the past couple weeks:

• When Carolyn was in the throes of childbirth, at one point she stuck out her bottom lip.  She does this when she’s sad or hurt.  A moment later the baby came out and started crying, and she stuck out her lower lip.  She looked just like her mommy, only seconds after being born.  It was so cute!
• Nothing could prepare us for how awesome it is to have a new little baby.  Nothing could prepare us for how extremely challenging it is to have a new little baby.  This whole experience has provided further evidence for the axiom which says that the most rewarding things in life can also be the most challenging.
• Several days ago some friends stopped by.  It was a mom and her three small children.  As her four-year-old son looked at Laura Marie, he told me, “Um, Pastor Nathan?  Our mommy used to have some babies, and now they’re us!”  And he grinned real big.  It struck me that it really won’t be too long before Laura Marie is a smiling four-year-old whose mommy and daddy used to have a baby, and now it’s her.
• The way people have treated us in recent weeks helps me to better understand the gospel.  So many people–and I mean sooo many!–have been so generous to us!  They gave us everything we needed for the baby.  They gave us money.  They came to four baby showers.  They sent cards–we still get at least one in the mail every day.  We have so many gift cards that we don’t even spend money anymore except for rent and utilities.  And our church family has brought us dinner 11 days in a row!  We are so grateful to so many people.  Those around us have been a tangible expression of God’s love, grace, and care.  There is simply no way to thank them enough or express how much their kindness means to us.  That’s how it is with the gospel: God has given us salvation in Jesus Christ, and there’s no way we could ever repay Him or thank Him enough.  All we can do is be thankful and love Him in return.  Wow, we are so crazy blessed.
• Carolyn and I marked our fifth wedding anniversary yesterday.  They say that five years is the ideal time to have children.  You’ve had enough time to become established in your marriage relationship, but you’ve not become too set in your ways.  We hit the five-year mark when the baby was 12 days old.  Guess we couldn’t have timed it much better!
• Carolyn and I were married at 2:00 in the afternoon, and that morning I sat in the living room wearing a tuxedo and watching The Andy Griffith Show with our friends Derrick and Joy while I waited for the big moment to arrive.  When Carolyn was in labor, there was an all-day Andy Griffith marathon that played in the background most of the time while we waited for the big moment to arrive.  Strange how The Andy Griffith Show has popped up to soothe me on the two biggest days of my life.

Laura Marie is here!  She was born on Sunday, June 7, 2009 at 5:01 p.m.  She weighed in at 7 pounds 10 ounces and 20.5 inches long.  We brought her home yesterday afternoon.  Mom & baby are both doing great!

I’ll write more whenever I get a chance…which could be after she goes to college.

Carolyn is nine months pregnant.  Now I understand the expression “pregnant with anticipation.”

A friend of mine from Australia is visiting D.C. later this month.  He’s interested in seeing a baseball game, so I was talking with my dad and my brother Dylan about it.  Since the Washington Nationals are so ridiculously bad, I told Dylan and my dad that I wasn’t sure if I should send Tom to watch the Nationals or a little kids’ t-ball game. 

I loved my dad’s response.  He said: “Send him to a Nats game, and tell him it’s t-ball.  He’ll be surprised at how big the kids are and how well they play for that level.”

Nice one, Dad!  (I’m not sure if the second part is true, but it’s still funny.)

Yesterday at CrossWay we talked about the comeback church.  A comeback church is an underdog congregation that is headed toward decline but turns things around to begin reaching people for Christ.  A comeback church sees lives transformed by the power of the gospel. 

There are certain spiritual dynamics at work in a comeback church.  They include:

(1) A comeback church has a renewed commitment to the mission that Jesus Christ gave His church.  You can read about Christ’s commission to His church in Matthew 28:18-20.  At CrossWay we constantly remind everyone that our mission is to make lifelong followers of Jesus Christ throughout our community and around the world.  We will only do things that serve this purpose.

(2) A comeback church has a renewed commitment to servanthood.  We recognize that we’re not here just for ourselves.  Rather than turning inward and becoming collectively self-centered, we turn outward.  We recognize that nothing we have is really ours: our bodies, our time, our possessions, our abilities–they all belong to God.  He lends us these things to enjoy and meet our needs, but also to share with others.  You can read about the attitude of a Christian servant in Philippians 2:5-11.

(3) A comeback church has a renewed commitment to strategic prayer.  We pray seriously, continually, and strategically.  We pray for things that matter.  You can read an example of this in Acts 4:23-31.

Of course, the ultimate comeback story is the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  After all, He was dead and buried–you can’t get more hopeless than that!  But He  conquered sin and death and made the ultimate comeback.  Since we’re His church, we too can make a comeback.  We can be a comeback church!

If you’re interested in learning more about this subject, I’d encourage you to check out Comeback Churches by Ed Stetzer and Mike Dodson.

One dollar tacos.  Support education.  Read about it at the blog of Pastor Kyle from SonRise Church.

Last night I got a lesson in perspective.  While I was on my way to the volunteer training class at the Eastern Shore Pregnancy Center, I got into a minor accident when I was just a couple minutes away from the center.

Obviously, it stunk.  The car has some damage that needs to be fixed.  The car seat that we’re using to bring the baby home from the hospital is in that car, and Carolyn could go into labor at any moment.  We’re going to have to shell out at least 250 bucks and maybe 500.  I don’t have names of any witnesses to verify what happened.  All that: bad.

But the more I’ve gotten to thinking about it, the more good stuff I’m starting to see.  No one was hurt.  The other vehicle was not damaged.  Carolyn and I have good insurance.  The damage to our car could have been much worse–at least it’s still driveable and will probably only need one panel replaced.  I could possibly have been given a citation for a moving violation.  (I would have fought it in court, but that’s no fun to have hanging over you.)  And I learned more about what to do in that situation if it should ever happen again.

The more I got to thinking about this, I realized how limited my perspective usually is.  When something bad goes down, I tend to look at it and simply say, “That’s bad.  I wish that hadn’t happened.  I want this situation to change.”  But sometimes we have to lift up a rock before we can see all the little signs of life underneath it.  Circumstances might be tough or painful, but God is often at work doing something that’s good right in the middle of it, whether or not it’s something we ever see or know about.  And even when we just see the bad, it could often be a whole lot worse.

On a related note, this also taught me a lesson about control.  I’ve replayed the accident many times in my head, and I can’t think of a single thing I could have done differently to prevent it from happening.  So I’m having to come to terms with the fact that I’m not in control.  I already knew, of course, that I’m not in control of many external aspects of my life.  But I at least want to be in control when I’m on the road!  The fact that an accident could happen and there’s nothing I could do to prevent it is difficult for me to swallow.  Like everything else, however, God is the only one who is ultimately in control.  And that’s a good thing.

I’m sitting in my office at church, and right outside in the sanctuary there are some little ballerinas practicing for their performance on Friday.  One of them just asked her teacher: “Miss Jeanne, do you want me to give you the answer to what’s new with me today?”  That’s my question for you, my loyal readers: Do you want me to give you the answer to what’s new with me today?  Okay, here we go:

• Last Thursday was Graduation Day at the Training Station.  It’s always memorable, but this year’s highlight for me was when one of the teachers asked the students what they want to be when they grow up.  One little boy said: “An insect!”
• Friday was Sports Day (what us old-timers remember as Field Day) at Carolyn’s school.  She’d been off for three weeks at that point.  We went out to visit her students.  The kids were totally stoked to see her again!  One little guy went up to Carolyn and after carefully examining her belly, proclaimed: “Mrs. Hyde, your baby is getting heavy!”  Then he walked over to me, took a look at my stomach, and said sort of whimsically, “Well, Mr. Hyde’s a little bit fat.”  Thanks kid.
• Carolyn’s sister, Kristen, is an advocate with Compassion International.  In Sunday’s worship service at CrossWay, Kristen and her husband Michael joined us to share about the ministry of Compassion.  She did an excellent presentation, fielded some questions, and then they worked a table with sponsor packets.  Our church and Carolyn’s family have been involved with this organization for over 10 years, and the things this group accomplishes and how they achieve them is amazing.  Compassion is an awesome ministry, and I’d strongly encourage you to check it out at www.compassion.com.
• My brother Dylan graduated from college (UMBC) last Thursday.  Go Dylan!

And in case you’re wondering, what’s new today with the little dancer mentioned above is that she got a new headband.