Author: Wick

So it’s finally public….we are expecting a NEW BABY! February 21st, 2008. We are about 8 weeks in right now, so it’ll be another 12 before we can announce the gender. We are very excited! We found out on Father’s Day (which was an awesome present), but wanted to wait until the first ultrasound to announce it.

Kudos to my wife, who has agreed to go on our Mission Trip with us this next week, with Addison, while being a pregnant woman. We leave tomorrow, the 15th, with a group of about 20….and she’ll come back with a couple others on the 22nd. The rest of us will stay and do a GROUP workcamp until coming back finally on the 27th.

So hopefully I’ve blogged enough to last you until I return (to whoever reads this). Please be prayin’ for our group,and for the residents of Knoxville, and Kingston, TN. God has great things in store for us!!

Saw a great movie yesterday. A movie that I probably put far too much thought into. I’m not quite sure what started it, but it happened still.

“humans don’t just live, they create”- a quote (I think) from the movie towards the beginning. Reminded me of something a friend of ours has been talking about lately, in regards to the elements of art and worship.

I won’t go far into it, and won’t even say that the movie works with this illustration throughout. You should go see this film for yourself, and allow the message to hit where it will. But I will say, watching this movie with the themes of “how humanity worships our creator”, and “what is art?” in mind….it really became a rewarding experience. I would recommend this silly cartoon movie to anyone who wants a reminder, and a refresher on how to go about ascribing worth to God….or a kick in the pants to use the creative gifts we’ve each been given.

Just remember….”Anyone Can Cook!” We can be led into the presence of God, in so many more ways than we currently realize. How can you be a part of it?

“Marriage is not a lifelong attraction of two individuals to each other, but a call for two people to witness together to God’s love. The basis of marriage is not mutual affection, or feelings, or emotions and passions that we associate with love, but a vocation, a being elected to build together a house for God in this world….

…The real mystery of marriage is not that husband and wife love each other so much that they can find God in each other’s lives, but that God loves them so much that they can discover each other more and more as living reminders of God’s presence.”
– Henri Nouwen – Clowning in Rome

It’s not often that I’ll post quotes up here, just because it’s MY blog, and I feel like anyone can go anywhere else and find good thoughts from other people. But I really enjoy this section of Henri Nouwen’s writing.

For anyone who’s married, especially the Jesus-loving male…there’s a pressure. On the worlds’ side, the pressure to create within your marriage this “whirlwind” of romantic experiences, to where if all you do some nights is lay on the couch eating cheez-its; you feel like maybe you’re a bad husband. On the churchs’ side, the pressure to enforce strict family prayer/devotion/bible reading schedules on a daily basis; to where if you’d rather relax watching X-Men 3 again than seeing what Leviticus chapter 3 says….you feel like maybe you’re a bad christian. (if you’re interested, Leviticus 3 discusses the sacrifice of animals, and actually says towards the end “All fat is the Lords'”. Does that mean if I gain weight, I’m holier, or less holy? 🙂 )

It’s freeing to remember that it’s not about either extreme alone. Sure, moments of these things will inevitably end up in our families from time to time. But overall, it’s our life together. Our lives that come together, pointing to God, creating a space between them for Him to actually reside…a Home. This is family. This is what I pray Addison grows up experiencing. This is how I hope I can love my wife. This is how I pray I can love my God…