Monday, April 27, 2009

the life of Jared (4/27)

The week that was:

Where to begin?  My mom and dad flew in for the weekend on Wednesday and they got to see Karis for the first time in person, which was cool.  My sister and brother in law flew in on Friday for the weekend as well, and they also got to see Karis for the first time.

Saturday was my 30th b-day and my lovely wife planned a surprise party for me with a few friends.  It was a great time hanging out with good friends.  The highlight was probably when Stephen Porter walked into the room.  He came all the way from South Africa, though not totally for me.  He is in town for a couple of trips to DC to hopefully secure visas for his family so they can return to Angola and the missionary assignment they have there.

Sunday was a really busy day.  It was our 30 hour famine Sunday at church which meant that Doug and I team preached in "big" church.  We were both satisfied with the message that we challenged our church to be a part of the solution.  I don't know if everyone "heard" what we said, but hopefully a few did.  We called the church to a time of prayer at the end of the service in order to begin to dream about being a part of the solution and in both services the altars were full.

Also on Sunday Holly and I dedicated Karis.  That was the main reason that my family came into town, and it was good to have them there.  Doug dedicated her and prayed over her.  It was cool to have him do that since I had dedicated and prayed over both of his kids.  Man, I'm going to miss that guy when I move.

After lunch at a local Italian place we returned home to snap a few more pictures and then I took my family to the airport.  I returned home for about an hour to only go back to church for Solomon's Porch, where I spoke again.  In addition the kids had brought in a bunch of cupcakes to celebrate my birthday and one of our leaders painted a caricature of me that I'll take a picture of when I get it back.  She wants all of our students to sign it.

The week that is:

I am currently gearing up for Middle School retreat this weekend.  We are focusing on the Potter's house passage in Jeremiah.  I'm really excited about this weekend and the impact that it'll have on our students.  I just hope that they are open to hear what God has laid on Doug and my heart.

What I'm reading:

I'm finding it really hard to read right now.  I don't know why, but I keep looking at the same 3 books and not making any progress with them.  Because of that I'm putting off the Romans study until life gets a bit more steady.  I promise that I will pick it up!

What I'm listening to:

Right now, Hillsong United.  I like them, but can only handle em in doses.  This will be my dose for the week.  I really wish they would write more communal songs instead of everyone of them focusing on the individual.  I listened to a little bit of Crowder this morning as well.  I really like the Remedy album and the live one is great as well.

What I'm (Not) looking forward to:

Packing.  I don't like packing at all.  I need to start purging some clothes that I don't wear anymore and other junk that I've accumulated over the past few years.  I'm going to try my best to get that done here in the next 2 weeks.

Housing.  Do you know how hard it is to find a house when you are hundreds of miles away?  We are blessed with my sister being in the town that we are moving to and my in laws a couple of hours away and willing to go on road trips, but this is really stressing me out.  It seems like when we find something fairly good online, it's either in a bad area, not as good as the pics they posted, or too far away for Holly to commute.  We are going down there next week and hope to come back to PA knowing exactly where we will be moving.  Please pray that we can work out these details.

Update on Karis:

I can't believe how much she is changing.  She is really starting to interact with us well.  We have a few trigger words that always seem to bring a smile when she is in a good mood.  I love my little girl no matter how much she screams in the middle of the night.

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