Not good...

I know I have been really bad at keeping this updated.  I thought I definitely had to get on today to wish Cameron a happy birthday.  I failed to think of anything amazing to embarrass him with at school today. 
It is holy week in case you don't know.  I grew up in the Lutheran church and they went all out with the lent stuff.  I have mixed feelings about that now.  I'm excited everyday about Christ's resurrection.  Thank you Jesus.for dieing for me!  I love you for that.  Thank You for raising yourself from the dead!   I worship You for that!

Redneck

The redneck stampede was a blast.  Im not sure of the ministry value of the night but it was a lot of fun.  No one died and no one got arrested.  In youth ministry usually consider that a success.  The teaching was about the original redneck Esau.  I got the idea from T.J.  It could have been a meaningful talked but it ended up dragging on because of lots of distractions.  I spoke the Word.  It won't return void, but sometimes you wonder if anyone heard anything or if it meant anything.

Got to bring in some firewood with Cameron's dad today and meet Cameron's grandparents.  I can see where Cameron inheritted his amazingness from.  Although I did beat him in madden again last night! 

Tomorrow grandma Pam got us tickets for another play at GBPAC.  I'm not sure what to expect but we are going.  Then I should probably study I the afternoon.  I have lots of reading to do.

I might be a redneck

So I was doing some research for our Redneck Stampede tomorrow night.  I was looking up you might be a redneck jokes.  Is it bad if about half of them pertain to me?  I think what sealed up my redneckedness was when I turned two toilets into racing carts today.  You might be a redneck if you do that, and I did.  I did spend more on my education than on my hunting dog though.  Although, the education I have isn't really helping me anymore so I guess i should have saved that for a hunting dog.  The education I am getting now costs me the same amount as the dogs I have.  I hope the education is more useful than the dogs.

I think tomorrow night will be a bl

Not Herd from in a While

It has been a busy time.  I have been absent from blogging for several days.  We are doing well.  CAMRY is gaining weight and Annie is losing weight.  They are both beautiful.  Annie and I celebrated our 9th anniversary last Thursday.  Boy did that time fly!  Five kids later we are still madly in love. 

Student Connection stuff has been going well.  We have been learning and growing together.  180 just concluded about a 6 month study of the book of John.  It has been quite a journey.  Next week are going to learn some apologetics.  These kids are faced with the world every day and the need a ready defence for the hope that is inside them.

The middle schoolers are doing pretty well.  We are also studying John but are quite a bit behind 180.  We just got through chapter 14 tonight.  We learned a lot about the Holy Spirit.  Very cool!

Tomorrow is MOPS so I will have as many as three kids to watch in the morning.  If the weather cooperates I will be straightening light poles with Scott.  If bad weather I will be doing homework.  Started my new class on Daniel and Revelation this week.  I hope I learn a ton!

Day Off... kind of

It is spring break so we didn't have herds today.  I cleaned all of the cat smell out of our garage and then Camry had her 2 week appointment.  She has gained a good amount of weight.  The doctor was very pleased.  We don't have to take her back for a monh and a half!

Tomorrow is our 9th wedding anniversary.   We got each other the board game Stratego.  My brother Seth will be extremely jealous.  We used to play the game constantly at the babysiter's house when we were little.  Annie loves board and card games.  I pretty much hate all off them unless I am guaranteed to win.  However, I love Stratego.  I think it will grow on Annie.  I do like Farkle also and Yahtzee is okay.  I must enjoy dice games somewhat.

I am not sure how we will celebrate tomorrow.  I'm pretty sure the girls will make us lots of cards and 'snacks.'  They are so sweet.

Friday some students and I are attending a conference in DesMoines.   It should be a blast.

Sabbath

We observed our Sabbath today.  It was a great day.  We had family worship time and studied Acts 2 together.  It was a major blessing to all be home together.  This afternoon I pulled the kids behind the lawnmower in redneck style.  I hitch up a broken power wheels jeep and the kids' wagon.  It was almost like a parade.  Daphne got to hang out with the bite kids outside again.  She is getting so big.  I think she looks extra huge because Camry is so dinky. 

Tomorrow we are kind of on vacation.   There are no Herds this week so I do not have much Stuco stuff to do.  I need to send in my bills in and that's it.  I am excited for another day with my wonderful family.  I knew we had a lot of kids but it becomes glaringly real when they are all together.  All of the kids converged on our bed this morning a about 8 o'clock.   We had seven people in our bed.  It is a big bed, but we pretty well filled it.  I am one proud dad.  The Lord continues to bless and provide.  God is great!!!

Dodgeball Tournament Champions!!!

Our team, the Cameron Crazies, won the dodgeball tournament today.  I was definitely not anticipating that.  I told my wife that I would be home by noon.  I figured we would maybe win one, lose our two games, and go home.  The Lord has a sense of humor and he let us 180 guys win it all.  It was really unbelievable.   I am not sure who was more shocked, us or the teams we were beating in the finals.  I will never forget the look on the one team's faces when we caught almost every ball they threw.  It was Crazy, Cameron Crazy!  I am gratelful to the boys for including me.  I said our team name should be 5 Young Bucks and 1 Old Goat. 

I am assuming the Lord was with us because I do not think we would have won otherwise.  We did not have the very best atheletes.  I do have an analysis that would make sense of how or why we won.  It was a blast and I really thank Jesus that I didnt get hurt.  We will have to see how hard it is to get out of bed tomorrow.

On another note.  I was very impressed tonight by the middle school play.  The kids were so well organized and did a wonderful job.  Their director Kelly Voss did a phenomenal job preparing her kids.  It was so much fun to watch.  The costumes were well done and we could really here most of the lines well.  I am very proud of all those young people and Kelly.  I look forward to future performances!

I am going to Aplington Baptist tomorrow.   Apparently they are canditating a new pastor.  We are still searching for a church home.  To make things more interesting the pastor that the ABC just fired is moving back to town this week too.  That might be a bit awkward.  I am very excited for them to be back.  Pastor Dan has two boys that I adore.  They are great young men and I'm looking forward to working with them again.  

Last Night

Herds went well yesterday.  Early Herd kids did a really good job of paying attention and following directions.  We learner about Zaccheus.

The Herd was a bit smaller crowd than we have had.  That may sound like a bad thing but it really makes it easier to control the crowd.  I feel like the kids learn more in the smaller group also.  I'm not saying that I don't want lots if kids to come.  I'm just saying that there are advantages to the smaller group.  God continues to bless the ministry.  I can't wait to see what he does with the Student Connection in the years to come!

Herdles Crossed

This week is shaping up to be pretty good for Herds.  I was a little concerned because with baby coming.g early I wasnt sure id be able to get much together but the Lord has provided and it should be good tonight. 

Early Herdos will be learning about Zaccheus.  It is very interesting story and I think it says a lot more about conversion than we give credit for.  Herd will be studying Jesus washing the disciples' feet.   What an amazing example of the humility of the God-man.  It also is a great metaphor for the process of sanctification.  We are already made clean, but we need a continual washing to keep us on track.

Not that it matters in the scheme of things, but I think that the games will be a lot of fun tonight too.  We don't aim just to entertain, but to equip these young people for the Christian life.

What beautiful weather we are having.  I got so much work done outside yesterday.  If things dry off a bit I will be spending a lot of time cutting wood hopefully. 

The new baby has an appointment this morning.  I am anticipating a good report from Annie.  All the other kids got a trip to Urgent Care this morning.  All the kids have been coughing.  We are over the fevers thankfully.  Well my lunch is here so see you next time.

Home Day!

Today I have been home with the family.  Kind of anyway.  I spent some time outside murdeeing trees in my backyard.  That was pretty fun.  I chained them to the tractor and pulled them out like a rotten tooth.  Some guys from the Butler County extension office came out and looked at our property for a possible windbreak site.  They also gave me some advice on caring for our grove that we already have.  They suggested removing a few trees to help another one grow better.  I was all about it because I was super tired of mowing around those pokey trees.  We also have an oddity on our property apparently.  Scotch Pine is apparently all but extinct in Butler County and we have one in our yard!  I have never seen anyone so excited about a tree before.  It made the extension guys' day.

I only have one week left in my current college class on theology.  Then I begin a class obser Daniel and Revelation.  I am very interested to study the end times prophecies.  It should be very interesting.

I need to get to work on preparing for Wednesday night.  I think the younger group may study about Zacheuss.  He's a super cool story.  The older kids will have a lesson over John 13 or 14 I can't quite remember.  Either way it will be a blast.  We only had on week off for baby, but I really miss the students.

Camry home!!!

We got to bring Camry home today!  We are bvery excited to have our entire family under one roof!!!  Thank you to all of you who have interceded on our behalf.  We are very grateful.  It will be 2 months before Camry can make any public appearances by doctor's orders.   We can have visitors, but really have to keep her away from germs.  It will be a trying time, but will be much better than her getting sick.  We love her so much!  Praise the Lord!

Camry update

Camry has been feeding well!  They removed her iv today!  Looks like she will get to come home tomorrow or Tuesday!!!!  The Lord has been good to us.  Thank you so much for your prayers.  We are so excited to be a family under one roof again!

Camry update.

Camry is doing well today. We have a minor setback her billirubin level is a little bit high so she has to be on the glow worm light.  Daphne has a fever still.  She is watching lots of Dora. 

Camry Update Again

Camry is eating well and breathing well.  It is just a matter of time until she gains enough weight to come home!!!  Thank you all for your prayers. 

Camry Update

Camry is off the CPAP and breathing on her own.  She is so beautiful.  She has lots of hair that we can see now that she doesn't have that cap on her head to hold the breathing deal in place.  What a blessing!  She has to have two consecutive days without breathing assistance and two days in a row with weight gain before we can leave.  Thank you so much to every one of you for your prayers and comments.  It is so great to feel loved and protected in prayer.  Annie is feeling well.  Her hemoglobin is low from the bleeding she experienced, but the doctors are confident she'll be okay.  She needs to eat lots of steaks when we get home to raise that iron level.

Better Day

Things are going better today.  Annie is feeling a ton better and her blood loss is under control.  Camry is still in nicu and probably will be for a week or more unless the Lord multiplies her development which I don't doubt He will.  We are grateful to the Lord for His provision and safety.  We are pleading the Blood of Christ over Camry for her quick growth.  We miss the other kids a whole bunch but are so grateful for family that are so helpful.

180 Reasons I love my job

Had a great night of 180 today.  We worshipped and then learned about the crucifixion.   Jesus really loved us a lot.  He still loves us a lot!  Got to have some fun, and sometimes awkward conversations with the high schoolers.  It was very fun.

Tomorrow is our Sabbath.  In the evening I have to do my studying for class.  This week is pneumatology, study of the Holy Spirit.  I am super excited to learn.  I wish I hadn't put it off to the last day, but sometimes life gets in the way.

I hope to get some more wood cut this week, but it is not crucial.  We are expecting our baby at anytime.  We are just shy of 35 weeks.  We are getting excited to meet our newest miracle.  We have a name picked out but I am not going to tell you...

Sittin

Today is a relaxed day for the most part.  I am chilling at home.  At about 3 I have to go set up the band at First Reformed church in Aplington.  We play there tomorrow morning for worship.

I split some wood and stacked it yesterday.  We are getting a really good like going.  I'm pretty sure we have enough for all of next years heating season.  That is a good feeling compared to dealing the bottom of the barrel to find enough.

Apparently we missed a good school concert last night.  I didn't know about it or we probably would have gone.  Tomorrow night is 180.  We are about four weeks away from finishing the boom of John.  It has been a long worthwhile journey.  There is so much truth there for us.  I hope my teaching has done it justice.

Pulled Tarp, Broken Heart

We rolled up the ice rink tarp at Stuco today.  I wouldn't be surprised ifthe temperature would drop to -20 for like a month straight.  We only had about two and a half good weeks of hockey this year.  That's not nearly enough, but it did limit the amount of injuries.  The wind was blowing about 25mph while Cameron and I tried to wrangle the 100' x 50' monster.  It was whipping around like me driving the conversion van on the icy Bethel Reformed parking lot.  A couple times if I would have had a better grip it would have flung me about 15' in the air.  At one point I was dragging the tarp and started to think I must be getting pretty strong because it didn't feel very heavy for how big it is.  Then I saw why.  I didn't know Cameron was helping me pull it.  He is apparently very strong.

We took a trip back to the hospital again today.  Annie had another interesting time with Allen's registration department.  We accomplished what we needed to.  Hopefully her numbers come back good. 

Tomorrow is the big night for ministry.  We got a little sidetracked because of some vandalism last week so I have the lesson ready for Herd.  Early Herd is a different story.  I feel like the Spirit wants me to teach about Power and Authority we have from Christ.  It should be interesting.

I blew the brakes out on my truck on Saturday.  Hopefully Scott will be able to fix them soon.  The garbage is piling up nice and high in the garage.  The cats and dogs wreck everything.  They may not survive much longer if Annie has anything to do with it.

A DAY WELL SPENT

This morning my mother brought the 3 older kids and I to see Spirit of Uganda at the Gallagher-Bluedorn. I was skeptical. Anything that has Spirit in the title and isn't blantantly Christian raises a lot of red flags for me. I went along so that my kids wouldn't be exposed to any new age or pagan junk without me there to guide them spiritually. I must say that they stayed away from anything that was actually spiritual. I appreciate that. I did a little research on the organization behind the performance and it seems pretty legit. It's called Empowering African Children. The organization helps orphans in African, of all places. It is not a Christian organization, but it sounds like they do good things. The concert really was amazing. They had young people from age 11-21 performing. They all did an excellent job. The costumes were beautiful and the rhythms were very fun. I was very impressed. They even did one song where the emcee said something about a song that almost sounded Christian. The particular song was from a people group of Uganda and the premise of it was, "how can we not dance and sing when we have a Creator." I'm not sure what kind of creator they subscribe to, but I know the One that I do and He is very worthy of dancing and singing for.

After the show Grandma Pam took us out to eat at Rocco JoJo's. I have always wanted to eat there because we have a child name Rocky and a Child named Josie. It was very good, but they didn't offer us free food or anything.

We headed home and Annie and I releft right away to go to a baby appointment. We got to listen to the baby's heart chug chug and answer lots of questions. Annie's blood pressure is a bit high so we get to have a big jug of urine in our fridge for the next 24 hours. Hopefully it comes back with regular protein or we're going to be getting on the BEDREST TRAIN. I think Annie would rather be boiled in oil than be on bedrest, but she'll do it for little baby Zamira's sake.

After the appointment we had to go to the lab at Allen by way of the ever helpful registration staff. I shouldn't complain. They did work hard to get it right. Then we got to sit in the Lab waiting room for an extended period of time while our paper work was lost and reordered. It really ended up to be a blessing though. We got to talk at length with a really good friend of mine. I used to work at Allen so it was very cool to chat with some of my old coworkers. When I say "old" Vivian I don't mean you, just "old" as in I don't work there any more.

After the trip to the hospital we got to go out for supper. Annie's food was sooooo good. I wish I had ordered what she did. She is very smart. Panda Express walnut shrimp is where it is at. Leave the mushroom chicken alone and get two helpings of the walnut shrimp.

I am in search of a shotgun. I hesitate to put that on here in case my mother ever reads this. We have gone to two sporting goods stores and I have gotten lots of advice from my good friends. I want to be able to hunt deer and dispose of any varmints that may be outside or inside the house. My mother is vehemently opposed to firearms. I need to ask her sometime why exactly. Now that I'm a big boy (mom still buys my underpants) I have begun to buy a few guns. It started with a couple bb guns that were way cheap. Then we jumped up to the Ruger 10-22. Now the Remington 1100 12 ga is my next purchase. I am really glad that I have friend who have a clue about things that I don't.

My wife is great. I like to put that because she is one of the one people who read this thing. I love her so much and she is very pretty. Even if she's on bed rest and I have to wheel her to the bathroom once an hour I'll still love her.