Simple Gratitude

Yesterday afternoon I took Benjamin to see the new movie, Cars...his first time ever in a movie theater. I wasn't too sure how he would do but it was great. He absolutely loved it. For the first hour of the movie he was glued to the screen like he was inside the movie himself. He was totally unaware of his surroundings and sat in my lap like he was in a trance. After a while he loosened up and began to eat some popcorn. By the end he was standing up in the isle cheering for "Lightening McQueen". It was a great time. But the most special time came later in the evening. We had just finished the whole bath and bed time rituals and were saying our final good nights. Leslie and I were walking out of his room when I heard him say in the dark, "Thank you for Cars Daddy". Leslie looked at me and I completely melted. It was so pure, cutting right to my heart. I was captured by his words the rest of the night.

The last few days Leslie and I have been sensing that we have been taking some pretty big blessings for granted...simply not having gratitude. This both convicted and taught us. As a father, it felt so good to hear these words from my prescious son. The rest of the night I just kept thinking how it would please God for me to do the same. I learned that gratitude does not have to be anything fancy or some big calculated act. It's just a simple "thank you for cars daddy".

No title for this one.

OK, I'm going to be bold here and share some real life. After finishing up some work for my intensive class this month I went in for a little "minor surgery" on Wednesday. Understanding that Leslie and I just had twins and we have 2 year old Benjamin, some of you will gather the nature of this surgery. It made for an interesting week. I had many of my friends tracking the countdown with me to "V-Day" and have had several call in since then to check on the "family jewels". My good friend Brandon drove me to and from the monumentous occasion. But when I showed up to check in at the front desk they told me I was a day early. WHAT...I couldn't believe it. My heart sank. I felt like I had pumped myself up for the state championship football game then just before running out of the locker room someone tells me it's the wrong night. But after explaining how "geared up" I was for this, they decided to work me in. We had to wait around a bit and Brandon got a little freaked out by one the the lobby brochures but we stayed the course. In all seriousness, it was a mark of true friendship. Then sweet Leslie had a king size 5th Avenue candy bar (my favorite) waiting for me when I got home (along with an ice pack and ibuprofin). All in all it has not been too bad. If anything, it forced me to get some much needed rest and catch up on some reading (I also watched the movie Ronin two times on TNT). But now things are pretty much back to normal...except for running.

All kidding aside, it became a good week of quiet and rest...and a time to just look and be thankful for our beautiful, healthy children.

42 Days

Yes, It's been 42 days since my last post. I've been on a little
break from the blogworld but a lot has happened since May 6th. I finished up the Spring semester, made a visit home to Auburn (it was truly the great American adventure) , preached at our home Church-Cornerstone, and am now back in the throws of class...United Methodist Theology. Among all this this I have just been spending a lot of time with Leslie, Benjamin, and the girls (two months old this past Wednesday).

Going from a family of 3 to 5 has been quite the challenge for us. In Leslie's words, we are learning to "die to our own agenda". I have had a few days where I have kept all three by myself for several hours and it has been unbelievable...imagine the wacky clown at the circus who is trying to spin several plates on the tips of broom sticks all at once...that's me. Leslie came in the other night from a much needed break to find me rocking Grace in a chair, with Liza in the bouncy seat in front of me rocking it with my foot (trying to keep pacifiers in each of them), all while Benjamin was running around with his lightsaver. I now have some conviction and can say from experience that Moms have one of the toughest jobs in the world!

Anyway, have much more to track and update here...especially thoughts about last semester. Don't let me off the hook without writing about this later on!