First Kick

Emily has been feeling the baby kick and move for a few weeks now. She's spent the last week randomly grabbing my hand so I would feel the baby move. Monday night, I finally felt the baby kick. My hand happened to be on Emily's stomach as we went to bed. Apparently, the baby didn't think 1 am to be an appropriate bedtime so he kicked me. In retaliation for kicking me, I plan to take Emily out for Cajun food.

Why a Chaplain?

I have a difficult time anticipating questions. I think the "why" question will arise from a few people, so I will attempt to give my reasons.





1. God's Calling - We feel that God has called us to this particular ministry. Emily & I each spent an extensive period praying and seeking God's will. To be honest, this is the real reason for the change. The rest of the "reasons" are simply aspects of the chaplaincy that I am excited about.





2. The Spiritual Need - Think about who is in the army. Many soldiers are very young. Many are away from home for the first time. Many are newly married. Many are new parents. Most are facing the possibility of deployment into a war zone very soon. These are situations where people ask spiritual questions.



3. My personality - I think particular ministry is one that I am suited for. The Army is a heavily structured environment. I am comfortable with structure. The Army is a secular environment, and I am comfortable dealing and working with people who disagree with my beliefs. Physically, I am in a condition that makes this ministry possible.

A Change in Ministry

OK, many of you knew this was coming. For those who didn't, Emily & I will be changing our ministry over the next few months. As opposed to serving within the local church, I will become a chaplain in the US Army. I have not previously mentioned it on this blog because the church I currently serve in doesn't know. I don't think anyone from the church checks my blog, but just in case.



We will be announcing to the church this Sunday, so I thought I would go ahead and post this. We do ask for your prayers as Emily and I prepare for this announcement. In the next few weeks, I will be posting more information about what is going to happen over the next few weeks. I may post an explanation of the process Emily & I went through in this decision later today or tomorrow.

One More Week...

Well, classes are almost over. Next Thursday is my last day of class. Finals are the following week, but two of my finals are take-home. I'm hoping to have those done by the last day of class just so I have that much less to worry about. I'm done with everything except for one paper. I've got a lot of work to do on a research paper for Intercultural Communication. Actually, I have all of the work to do on a research paper for Intercultural Communication. OK, tomorrow will be a long day, so I think its time for me to crash.

Its a Frog

OK, I know these look like absolutely nothing to any of my friends that read this. If guys are honest, other than their own children, sonograms do not look like anything. You see a head or arm and that's about it. Most guys honestly aren't sure if they're looking at a fish, child, or scrambled cable.

That being said, more of my wife's friends check this than mine. Supposedly, the baby's mouth is open in the first picture. He is after all Emily's child. There are actually five fingers on the second picture. Even I was able to figure that one out without the technician explaining it, but she did anyway. I don't think it took her very long to figure out that I was completely clueless. The third picture is the one that he gets to be really, really angry about in a few years. Just so you know, they labeled it at the doctor's office. The "boy" sign is not from my phtotshop. Again, they correctly assume I'm not that bright. I'm assuming that by the time he's old enough to be embarassed, blogging will be pretty much dead anyway.

Some of you know that we initially did not plan on telling the gender. Emily changed her mind. She's pregnant, and I'm more than a little scared of her right now.

...and growing, and growing, and growing!

This picture is for those of you we have been unable to see lately. We have been planning to post a picture of Emily for a while now so that everyone can see how she has grown. Tonight at church, everyone speculated that we are going to have twins. Emily is just over 18 weeks pregnant (approximately 4 months). Personally, I'm refusing to consider twins. I think they're all crazy.

Still Here

I meant to post a couple of weeks ago, but I've simply been a little lazy about blogging. I would apologize, but there's not been a lot happen. Last week, we went to Mississippi to visit my family. Its always nice to get back to the farm. We spent a lot of time with brothers, ate catfish, listened to everyone's speculation about the gender and number of baby/babies. Emily went from barely showing to looking like she has a volleyball strapped to her stomach. The rapid growth in the 3rd or 4th month of pregnancy has made Em & my mom dream of twins. Obviously, they have both lost their connection with reality. I'm in trouble if either actually reads this blog (I doubt they do).

Other than the trip home, school and church have continued as always. God is still blessing the church. We baptized last week, and will do so again later today. Speaking of which, I better head to church.