Piper joined us on Friday morning. She is doing great and so is Mom.
Piper's Vitals:
Check out a few of the pictures from the weekend:
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| Welcome Piper |
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| Campbell Meets Piper |
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You might not know we moved ... I guess it's better to say we switched our hosting at mcfaddenplace. Not significant to any of our readers but it is significant (or maybe not) to Yahoo. Yahoo webhosting stinks! We started there back in 2005 right before we moved to Oxford. We used Yahoo because they had an easy to use «site builder» and hosting was included. Fast forward 4 years, 3 website designs and a switch to wordpress and we've outgrown Yahoo. How does someone outgrow Yahoo? Easy, they only have tools for people that don't want to experiment with new tools ... they don't even allow people to work with the latest and greatest platforms like WordPress.
So, you might notice some new design changes and features. I hope you enjoy.
Write a commentNo trackbacksThere are volumes of books and internet pages dedicated to the woman's need for «nesting» before a new child comes; yet this past week I experienced the man's version.
1. I had to build something
I've been talking about building cornhole boards for nearly a year and for some reason I decided this holiday weekend it was time. After 4 trips to Home Depot, a few hours reading «how to» articles and countless hours I'm almost done. I haven't even finished yet ... but soon.
2. I had to prepare «my» room
I knew our baby girl would have a wonderful room. Kelly has been working hard on it for months and it is prepared. Beautifully decorated, it's cozy and welcoming ... perfect for our little girl. I on the other hand needed to prepare my sanctuary: the office. I've had boxes of books on the ground since last summer and I've talked and researched book shelves for that entire time. But last night I got on craigslist (for the 1000th time) and found four 6' book shelves listed for $10/ea. Could it be true? Could my office finally be complete? Yes. Thank you Craig Newmark for building a tool that would enable me to complete my office for less than $25 (I only bought 2 shelves).
3. Unforeseen Discovery
After dragging the bookshelves into the office I decided to unpack a box of books. These are books I have not seen in a few years. Business books like Good to Great by Jim Collins and branding books by Aaker to spiritual books like Celebration of Disciplines and an Old Testament Commentary. But then I found a book that I purchased years ago but never started ... The Imitation of Christ by Thomas A Kempis (b. 1380- d. 1471). A classic that was dusty yet unread. So in my nesting and building I discovered something new which was indeed quite old (written in 1441 and translated hundreds if not thousands of times). So this morning I moved my schedule around and decided to pick it up.
After reading the preface and part of the introduction I knew it wasn't a coincidence that I «found» this book. I went straight to chapter one and was pleasantly surprised that it was less than 2 pages long. What a gentle start or was it.
Of the Imitation of Christ
«So, it is vanity to seek material wealth that cannot last and to place your trust in it. It is also vanity to seek recognition and status. It is vanity to chase after what the world says you should want and to long for things you should not have, things that you will pay a high price for later on if you get them. It is vanity to wish for a long life and to care little about a good life. It is vanity to focus on ly on your present life and not to look ahead to your future life. It is vanity to live for the joys of the moment and not to seek eagerly the lasting joys that await you. ...
...Make ever effort, then, to shift your affections from the things that you can see to the things you cannot see...»
Unforeseen discovery. It was a good morning. More eye opening than the strongest coffee yet more peaceful than anything I could imagine. And so I am reminded to rest in Him.
Write a commentNo trackbacks3 commentsNo trackbacksAs I mentioned in my previous post, I listened to one of Keller's marriage sermons 3 times in 2 weeks. It's a powerful message. I've uploaded it so you can listen to it (link below). This is only one in the series of 9. You can purchase the entire series at Redeemer's online sermon store for $22.50 (all 9 sermons in mp3 format).
I chose to share some quotes which are obviously out of context ... so listen to the message to get the full understanding of each quote
«...(many things) cloud our understanding of marriage.»
«Marriage is not something that man made up in a cave.»
«Self-centerednes is the main problem in any marriage. Self centeredness is the main enemy of any marriage ... self centeredness is the main cancer in any marriage.»
«You can decide to treat your own flaws as more serious than the others and treat the needs of the other as more important ... Regardless of what the other person does.»
«You can say 'I'm going to work on my self-centeredness' regardless of what the other person does»
«Essence of marriage is a promise. 10 years from now I'll be there. 20 years from now I'll be there. It's a promise.»
«The purpose of marriage is companionship.»
«No one else is more important than that relationship (with your spouse)»
«Marriage has to be #1»
«Whether you're married or not .. we see that it's our pride and self centeredness which can only be dealt with the gospel. And the gospel is 'you are more wicked than you ever dared believe and more loved than ever dared hope.' It does the 1-2 on your ego.»
Ok. I'm going to upload the 2nd message too because it's that good. If you like both then download the entire series at http://sermons.redeemer.com/store/index.cfm?product=18279.
3 commentsNo trackbacksRecently I finished the book Reason For God by Timothy Keller. Keller is a pastor in New York City at Redeemer Church. His book is a challenging read that I definitely suggest you pick up. He does a great job looking at several questions and doubts about the Christian faith including (but not limited to):
Why does God allow suffering in the world?He addresses each doubt and explains each reason. He uses stories, philosophy, reasoning to explain each. It's a wonderful, thought-provoking read for both believers in Christ as well as skeptics. The book motivated me to research other teachings and sermons from Keller and here's what I found:
I downloaded a few of the Marriage sermons. I'll write a separate post with some notes from it. It was an excellent sermon that I listened to 3 times in two weeks. Anyway, if you have a moment on the computer to listen to a sermon or have a mp3 player, take a few moments to download and listen.
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