Men's Breakfast at Gateway

Yesterday morning we had our Men's Breakfast at Gateway (that's the Church community we belong to). We heard from a guest speaker named Josh Riebock. He was described as a radical man of Christ and even though he denied that his story told led me to believe differently. He challenged us on the day before Easter to be radical ourselves. The word radical might frighten some of you but, trust me, it's okay in this context. :) I'm going to give a recap of what we heard as best I can. I liked what I heard and thought it was worth sharing with family and friends.

Josh began by first describing how we sometimes view our Lord. Comforting, caring, loving, relaxed, at ease....and He is, no doubt, all of these things. But He was also amazing and strong and dynamic, and a little edgy. A lot edgy as we learn from the story Matthew tells in Matthew 14:22-32 (Jesus walks on water). Many of us have heard the story of how Jesus walks out to the boat and reveals himself to his disciples and how He invites Peter out onto the water with him and when he begins to sink Jesus is there to grab him and keep him safe. Many of you may have envisioned this story before, as I did. A nice calm sea where Jesus walks out to the boat and calls Peter out of the boat and when Peter follows the Lords command to come to Him on the calm sea. This story helps illustrate that when we are troubled God is there for us and will not allow us to sink. Not a bad way to think of the story. And it's words are true. But let's dig a little deeper and understand it in a light that has much stronger meaning.

We know from the story that Jesus sends his disciples ahead of him to cross the Sea of Galilee, dismisses the crowd and goes to pray until the evening. So considerable time has passed, yet Jesus was still able to reach the fisherman on the water before they have completed their crossing. These experienced sailors are in very rough seas. We can think of it as a storm. The winds are gusting and they are in water that is extremely rough. Waves crashing against the boat as they make their way. When, in the water, they see Christ approaching them and they are terrified and cry out in fear. And Jesus says to them, "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid." I imagine these men scared at what they were seeing and not knowing what to do, prompting Peter to go check it out. I imagine Peter cautiously moving to the edge of the boat where it is not quite as safe, to investigate what is there. Then he says something to Jesus, "Lord, if it's you, tell me to come to you on the water". Now that's interesting. He and the others want proof that what they are seeing is real and that it is in fact Jesus. But why does he say those words. Why not, "if it's you Lord, where were we when you asked me to follow you?" or "what was the name of the boy your rose from the dead?" or "where did you heal the blind man?" or even "where is your secret place of prayer?", after all Peter knew all these places and events well and that would offer proof enough. Instead, he asks for something he knows only Jesus can do. Jesus told him to "come". And Peter got out of the boat and went to Him.

Let's step back for a second and consider some of what is happening. The seas are stormy. There is a figure that is calling to Peter that has told him that He is Jesus. And now he's getting out of the boat to walk on water. The other apostles are watching all this happen. So we have Peter on the edge of the boat preparing to step out onto the waters and we have the apostles in the safety of the boat. Now all the apostles were amazing men and had tremendous faith in Christ. They walked in faith with Jesus daily. Giving up the comfort of their homes and way of life to follow Him and deliver His message to others. These were strong men. Strong in their faith and listening to God and yet they were frightened, terrified in fact, trembling like little children at the sight of this figure they knew so well walking toward them on the water. How often I find myself in that same situation. Disbelief in what is possible, fearful of what is going on around me or what might occur next. And then there is Peter. Fearful and terrified himself but asking if Christ wants him to take what he believes is the next step. "Lord, if it's you, [if this is the path you want me to take, if this is the direction I am to go], tell me to come to you on the water, [tell me to take that next step, tell me to reach out to a friend in need, tell me to build a church, tell me to help a sick friend even when it's not convenient, tell me to stand up and give my testimony, tell me to leave a job when I don't have a better one, tell me to give when I have nothing to give]".

So Peter left the comfort of the boat and stepped out in faith that Jesus would be there for him. And He was. It was still frightening. Let's pretend we're Peter for a second. Out on the water, waves crashing violently, wind gusting. This was an extremely uncomfortable situation. If that was me it would be very easy to lose focus and freak out a little. As Josh was describing this, describing the events, I could see myself in that situation. And when Peter cries out, "Lord, save me!" Would that had been me or would I have been the one that looked back to the ship for help? That would have been just as normal a reaction. To look back to your friends for help, to pull you from the water. And while that makes sense, when you're out of the boat, when you are where God has called you to be, only He can help you. You must do as Peter did and look to Christ. And when you are where God has called you to be, He will reach out and take your hand just as Jesus did for Peter.

Josh finished up the message with some final thoughts. That sometimes God will put us in some difficult situations and ask us to do things outside of our comfort zone. But consider this, when the apostles looked back on the previous day's events and thought about the experience of what had transpired. The apostles definitely all had a story to tell and the events deepened their relationship with Christ for being there but Peter, without a doubt, had a much deeper closer relationship because of what he did. He was out in the storm with Jesus. A little inconvenient, a little out of his comfort zone (or a lot), but that is how we build our relationship with Him. Trusting Christ to be there for us just as He was for Peter.

Our little one is waking up :) .......keep in mind that you don't have to do a complete 180 when it comes to trusting and having faith....take one degree at a time. Make a difference in your life, someone else's life and return the love Christ showed us when he died for our salvation.

Josh finished up with three points that he wanted us to remember. (I actually forgot what they were and emailed him about them so I could make sure to remember. Funny huh?) Here is a question he posed then answered with the three points.

Why does God invite us to live in faith?
1. To become who we want to become
2. To become who the world needs us to become
3. To further develop intimacy with us

I really enjoyed the time with Josh and the other men at Gateway.

(Podcast's are available on Josh's website: http://www.joshriebock.com/

Spring Break '09

What a week... Saturday we had Sydney's Birthday party at Pump it Up. She asked for donations to the Town Lake Animal Shelter instead of presents for herself, and she got a LOT of great items to give. Thanks to everyone who supported the cause! On Sunday, her best friend came to spend the night. We went to Pappasito's for dinner and then to the movies. Monday morning, we went to the animal shelter to take the donations. We petted puppies, played with cats, looked at the rabbits and found out our animal shelter even has roosters.




I took the girls to lunch at Chuy's - one can rarely have too much Mexican food! After that, Bria went home and we went to celebrate Sydney's birthday with my Mom & brother. Tuesday, we had lunch with friends and then Jake went to spend the night with Max while Sydney swan all day in Shelby's heated pool. That night, Shelby came to spend the night. The next morning when Jake came home, we went to 1/2 price books and then picked up lunch and went to the park for a picnic. The kids spent Thursday with their Dad while I got in a workout and some 'real' work, plus lunch with my Mom and husband. Friday morning, we left for Houston with Kristi and her kids to visit Jill and hers. We had lunch at Jill's gorgeous new house and then spent the day at the zoo.

monkeys at the zoo :)

Martin drove down Friday night, and Saturday our family left for Kemah to visit friends, see their beautiful, open house with two big porches and a huge kitchen, meet their dogs, and go sailing with Terri (with whom I used to work at CSC) and Scott. That was a blast with everyone taking a turn at the helm and kids exploring every inch of their big, beautiful sailboat. We drove back home late Saturday night. Today, we took Abby & Spencer to the movies with us and then went to the evening service at church. Jake was a pain today. Some days he's just really grumpy and hard to be around and today was one of them, but mostly we had a great week. I am grateful to have a wonderful husband to share weeks like this with - by myself it was harder to do as much for and with the kids. I love to spend time with my family and friends and to see my kids enjoy time with theirs.

We are gearing up tonight for Martin to be gone this week - he's out of town for work from tomorrow morning until Thursday afternoon, which is also his birthday. We have another busy, fun weekend planned for next week, including a date night/birthday celebration on Friday night, quick trip to Dallas on Saturday for an 80th birthday party for a family member, Brownie event for Sydney on Saturday night and soccer game on Sunday. There really is never a dull moment around here, but I like it. It's not all over-scheduled and overwhelming; we leave plenty of time for friends and playing outside and family movie nights. Thankfully Martin has the energy to keep up and make it possible for our house to run smoothly. We are also blessed with the happiest baby in the whole wide world. She travels well, enjoys all of the activity and cries maybe once a day for a couple of minutes when she's tired - she's truly amazing!

Camping at Enchanted Rock

This past weekend Sydney and I had an opportunity to bond a little, which was really nice. We went camping with a bunch of other fathers and their daughters from our neighborhood as part of Adventure Guides.

There were 10 girls in all with 7 dads. We got there at around lunch time on Saturday (Syd and some of the other girls had a soccer game earlier that morning) had a quick bite to eat and headed up to the top of the rock for a little adventure on the trail. Sydney is often very competitive and this was one of those times. She was very eager to be the first one to the top. After about half way up I saw that she was definitely determined to get there ahead of the group. So with all the other girls very close behind she managed to find her way to the top ahead of us all. I think she was too tired to be excited and went for the water bottle and snack that we brought up before saying much else. And by that time all the other girls and dad's were there to take pictures and explore the caves that were near the peak.

After our spending a couple of hours exploring we were ready to make our way down the path. Syd again decided to be in the front bunch but decided to walk down with her friends instead of alone.



When there wasn't any hiking or eating going on, the girls spent most of their time down in the dry creek bed. Boys in the next camp spent a lot of time in the creek bed too. Needless to say there was a little conflict brewing. The girls practiced sword play with sticks they found just in case they wanted to battle. They also spent a lot of time telling us the boys wouldn't leave them alone even though they did their share of invading the other camp.

The one night we were there it was extremely windy. Shelby decided she wanted to be in our big ol' 50 person tent since there was so much room. When I put the tent up earlier that day there was virtually no wind so I only tied down what was absolutely necessary to keep the rain guard in place. Since the tent was so big it caught a lot of wind. The big walls acted like a sail and the tent was shaking pretty badly when a gust of wind came through. Shelby was having trouble sleeping and asked that I go out and check on the tent. I think it was a combination of the wind and other creepy sounds from outside. I went out and did find that my knot skills were not very good. I retied one of the ropes holding the tent in place and added some that I didn't tie down before. That helped but the tent shook all night.

Sydney slept right through it all. I stayed up with Shelby. She was a little scared but we talked our way through it.



The trip was a total blast and it was such a blessing to be able to spend that time with Sydney. On the way home we drove down highway 29 and saw a bald eagle nesting. It's quite a site. ...something I never thought I would see in person. They are incredible birds.

A Letter to the Kids' Teachers

Back to the Gym

Today was my first day back in the gym in a lloooooonnnnggggg time. I LOVE that my friend Kristi is willing to work out with me again. It made it easy to fall back into things, even when I didn't want to shove my big butt into workout clothes this morning. Unfortunately, it was legs today, which is not an ideal way to jump back in... but, oh well. I figured I'd write about it today instead of tomorrow when it takes all of my effort just to stand up out of bed. Martin is also starting to run again after taking time off for family and to heal a really badly sprained ankle from last fall that stayed swollen for months. We'll keep you posted on our progress.

So, who weighs 17 pounds, 6 ounces and is the cutest chunky monkey on the planet?? You guessed it! Kiley had her four month check-up yesterday. She got two shots and an oral, liquid vaccine and weighed in at a size that is, once again, off the charts. She has started really grabbing at things, working her arms, drooling like a fiend and taking a pacifier. She talks to us and laughs with (at?) us. She bounces up and down when we hold her upright and she rolls side to side. She has lots of dark hair and is kind of going bald in back the way babies do when they rub their hair off from turning their head, but she's got this comb-over thing going on so it's not horribly noticeable (although that's not a style I would typically recommend).

Jake had a big homework project due yesterday. He had to have a timeline for his life with a big event for each year - starting in '99 and ending in '09 - so 11 in all. I had to come up with pictures to correspond, and this is our '09 picture with the milestone being the start of guitar lessons. It took him about an hour to do the captions to describe each of the pictures or events and it took me about three hours to find and scan old photos, resize, print, etc. Also this weekend, we had a girl scout cookie booth on Saturday. It was cold and the little one was wrapped up like a burrito, but Sydney sold 41 boxes of cookies and surpassed her goal of 180 boxes. I was proud of her - I told her last week she was 27 boxes shy of her goal and if she wanted to hit it she would have to do a booth or really hit the phone & door-to-door sales. She wanted to go for it, which made it worth sitting in the cold for two hours. Thanks to all who bought cookies - and thank goodness the sale ends on Friday. That alone will do wonders for my weight watchers progress!!

Valentine's Weekend

We had a good weekend. On Saturday, Martin's brother came to stay with us before the marathon on Sunday. He got here in time to help get the house ready for the ten girls who would celebrate Valentine's day with us. I'm sure it was exactly the relaxing day he expected before the big race! The girls made heart shaped pizzas, decorated cupcakes, made Valentine cards, played lots of games, watched the Charlie Brown Valentine's special and ate popcorn. Mat helped throughout the party and was very popular with the girls. He seemed to enjoy himself - perhaps a bit too much with the crafts?? Seriously Mat, thanks for being here and helping out. The party was fun and it was LOUD!

Thank goodness Mom came to help as well. She just got back this week from a 3-week cruise in Australia and New Zealand so it was good to spend some time with her - we've been missing her lots! I think this was about the only time in four hours she sat down - and then she had a lap full of baby Kiley :).

Speaking of Kiley... this past Wednesday (the 11th), she rolled over for the first time. All the way over and pulled her bottom arm out and arched up. I got a picture before she got unhappy being on her tummy. In addition to rolling over, she is giggling (my favorite sound in the whole world right now), sucking on her fist, just starting to grab her toes, and playing with toys that she can pull, put in her mouth, etc.

And, on Sunday she went to her first marathon. I wonder if she'll be a runner like her Daddy. He wasn't planning to run at all, but he ended up meeting his Dad at mile 7 to support him and running with him to the finish line. There were four official runners in their gang this year - Matthew, Grandpa, Ryan (Jacqueline's husband) and Wendy, Ryan's sister who is training for the Iron Man in Idaho this summer with Ryan's help. Mat finished in 3:50 and Wendy & Ryan in about 4:15 - pretty incredible!!

Over 100 days, hitting the 450 mark, milestones

Kiley is just over 100 days old, I know it's hard to believe. Hard for me to believe. She is quite the special little girl and all of us are still enchanted with the little angel. When you see her smile and laugh you can't help but do it yourself. The mornings are typically extra special, so much so that I find it difficult to leave for work. She is laughing and giggling (that's something she's started recently and it's darling) and talking. She is never short on things to say. She'll be very much like her brother if she keeps it up. It's pretty cute. Sydney and Jake are still enchanted by her and often exchange words on who gets to hold her, when and for how long.

Today was the Pinewood Derby. Jake built a killer car. He called it the wedge and it was just that. He let me help him build it but it was completely his design. I am impressed that so many boys/dads participate in this annual event. When I was growing up the derby was something so far our of reach. I thought it only happened millions of miles away, we weren't quite as organized as the troop that Jake is part of. The track is amazing and I'm so happy to enjoy it with Jake. It's a three lane track with each car starting on an inclined plane. The troop and den leaders take the race very seriously and go out of their way to make sure every boy has a fair shot. It's a wonderful time of the year.

Jake's car is second in this heat

Sydney is selling girl scout cookies again this year. She's doing great and has a goal of 180 boxes. It's pretty ambitious but she is really trying to reach it. Courtney has been helping to encourage her and taking her and her friends into the neighborhood to have the best opportunity she can. My favorite are what were previously called the do see dos, they are the peanut butter sandwiches which by the way are perfectly safe. If you want to buy some please let me know. I want to do my part too. :)

Tomorrow is the 450th day of our marriage. I like to keep track of our days together because, my wife loves me for all my faults and supports me in all my dreams and crazy ideas about trying to be the best papa I can. She is an angel to our children and keeps the house functioning like an atomic clock. I honestly don't know how she keeps it all straight, just your typical, taking kids to tutoring, guitar lessons, organizing play dates, making dinner almost every night, remembering important dates, setting up photo shoots for our peanut, just overall managing to look after the whole family, and still have time for her own work and looking after our new little one. She's amazing. I can barely remember to get my oil changed. I love her.

Tonight we went to dinner at the first place where we professed our love to one another and decided to truly trust each other. It's one of our favorite spots. I love her very much.

Milestones:
Kiley is standing, with a little help from us, but only for balance. She is giggling, smiling, following us around the room with her eyes, responding to our voices, and gradually getting into a sleep and feeding rythym. She's quite a girl. :)