April 26th, 2009
It’s 11:19 p.m. on Sunday evening and I’m actually really enjoying this feeding. My Pop and Mom are bottle feeding Justice & Jaxon while I blog. It is so fun having them here. They are getting to spend some quality time with their grandparents and Cyndi is getting a little extra much needed rest! It was such a privilege having Pop minister to New Hope this morning! Who knows? Maybe I will be able to talk them into moving up here someday. But for now, I’m just going to going to soak up every moment I have with them.
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April 23rd, 2009
Yeah, this picture is a much more accurate look at what I actually look like during these late night feedings. Note the fabulous hairdo! It’s 12:54 right now and Justice is sleeping on my shoulder. I just finished with a bottle feeding. Pat has already put Jaxon back in the crib. I will be heading up there in a minute, but I just wanted to take a moment to capture this moment in the blog. The great thing is that my babies don’t care how I look. They are having much more wake time now. Their beautiful blue eyes trying to take everything in this new and loud world in. I think about how quickly this time will disappear and I have to thank my God for the privilege of being a father. My father is flying in to town tomorrow with my mother and they will be meeting the twins for the first time. I can hardly wait to see the look on their faces when they hold their new grand babies for the first time! Don’t worry, I will post pics!
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April 18th, 2009
Here I am standing in front of my laptop at 3:30 in the morning as I dare not sit down less I fall asleep on the job and leave my twins without their warm milk. Do you ever commit yourself to something and then wonder what in the world could have possessed you to make such a commitment? Is there a way out? Was anyone really listening? Was that really God that prompted me to do that? The second guessing game begins and search for a suitable escape route ensues. I am standing here this morning in this kind of a moment wondering about this blog. Could God really talk to me at this time of the morning when I am so tired and only want to be hugging my pillow? Then a take note at how quiet it is. Yes, in a house of five boys, three adults, one dog and three gold fish (well, two now, but that’s another blog) finding the house this peaceful is a rare thing indeed. I begin to think about the spiritual disciplines of silence and solitude and wonder when the last time was I exercised those in my life? Just as I write that I hear my baby Jaxon screaming at the top of his lungs. He wants his milk and he wants it now! Like I said, silence is truly golden around here. Well, I’d better not shirk my duties. This was a small beginning, but nonetheless, a beginning. See you tomorrow morning around 3:00! Remember to open to that still small voice of The Spirit that might prompt you to ask, “What was I thinking?”
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April 17th, 2009
It’s hard to believe it has been three weeks today that Justice and Jaxon have been home after two months in the hospital. The picture above is the Hollywood version of what I really like at the 2:30 a.m. feeding. That’s why I’ve named these specific entries my Bloodshot Blogs. It’s that foggy place in the middle of the night where it could be God actually has something to tell me. You know those middle of the night revelations that are something more then the pizza you ate for dinner? Or maybe this is just an opportunity for me to experience my Lord at a time when I am normally in Rem sleep mode.
As I read through the Psalms I see David encountering His God during the night seasons and experiencing fresh revelation. Here are some examples:
Psalm 1:2- Instead you thrill to God’s Word, you chew on Scripture day and night.
Psalm 17:3- Go ahead, examine me from inside out, surprise me in the middle of the night - You’ll find I’m just what I say I am. My words don’t run loose.
Psalm 42:8- Then God promises to love me all day, sing songs all through the night! My life is God’s prayer.
Psalm 77:6- I strum my lute all through the night, wondering how to get my life together.
Psalm 91:1- You who sit down in the High God’s presence, spend the night in Shaddai’s shadow,
You see the Psalmist interacting with God during the night seasons. He doesn’t always get resolve or even always have a complete thought, but he knows the reality of a God who never sleeps.
So, I have no idea if anything will come of this, but I’m publicly committing my midnight moments to my Maker. While I am heating up the bottles for my babies I will at least enter something here in the blog and for whatever it’s worth- It’s His!
Let me know what God has been whispering to your heart lately!
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March 26th, 2009
Five years ago today Cyndi and our two boys (Elijah 2, Aden 6 months) stepped onto an airplane leaving behind this in Kauai…
And looked out the window at this in the beautiful Puget Sound…
To be honest… it was a much darker, wetter, colder night then this. I had arrived a day earlier in a moving truck from California where we had many of our things stored at my parents house. I had only had time to unload enough for the boys to sleep on before their plane landed, so Cyndi and I slept on the floor of our new house in Shoreline. I remember sitting on the floor with my back next to the wall journaling about the possibilities of the future. We hardly knew anyone, we didn’t have a job, we didn’t know where we were going to meet once we started the church, but we did have a vision. A vision for a church that felt like home to a people and a generation longing to belong. A place of laughter and tears, food and fun, music and ministry that flowed from the very heart of God. We had no idea the challenges that we would face over the next few years. We also had no idea how blessed we would be with all of the amazing people God began to bring our way. I look at what God has done through this young church plant in such a short time and all I can do is praise Him! I look at how my own family has grown (we are stopping at five by the way) and I can’t imagine ever living anywhere else. This place fits us! It’s where we are called to invest our lives and love and I can hardly wait to see what the next five years hold. I usually sign all of my letters/emails with the tag “In His Adventure”. I can honestly say that “In His Adventure” is the best possible way to live.
“So this land shall have a long, bright morning before any clouds come over the sun. You must get me the seed from which that tree is to grow.” ”Yes, sir,” said Digory. He didn’t know how it was to be done but he felt quite sure now that he would be able to do it. The Lion drew a deep breath, stooped its head even lower and gave him a Lion’s kiss. And at once Digory felt that new strength and courage had gone into him. ”Dear son”, said Aslan, ” I will tell you what you must do. Turn and look to the West and tell me what do you see?”…He hadn’t the least idea of how he was to climb the cliff and find his way among all the mountains, but he didn’t like to say that for fear it would sound like making excuses. But he did say, “I hope, Aslan, you’re not in a hurry. I shan’t be able to get there and back very quickly.” ”Little son of Adam, you shall have help,” said Aslan.”
excerpt from “The Magicians Nephew” by C.S. Lewis
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March 24th, 2009
“God has lost track of me. He doesn’t care what happens to me”? Don’t you know anything? Haven’t you been listening? God doesn’t come and go, God lasts. He’s Creator of all you can see or imagine. He doesn’t get tired out, doesn’t pause to catch his breath. And he knows everything, inside and out. He energizes those who get tired, gives fresh strength to the dropouts. For even young people tire and drop out, young folk in their prime stumble and fall. But those who wait upon God get fresh strength. They spread their wings and soar like eagles, they run and don’t get tired, they walk and don’t lag behind. Isaiah 40:27-31
I have grow up hearing, memorizing, sharing, and preaching these verses on waiting on the Lord, but never before has it meant so much to me as it does right now. At eight and a half weeks the twins are still at the hospital and Cyndi and I find ourselves at the intersection of expectation and reality. The light flashes red no matter how much we will it to change to green. Heck, we would even settle for yellow at this point. The bottom line is there is nothing we can do to “hurry up” the process of our preemies and their development. Their breathing is amazing, they are both nearing the eight pound mark and they are responding to feedings… just not all of them. That’s the benchmark they have to reach before they are released from the hospital to come home. When will that be? That is the question that plagues our lives right now. We ask it of ourselves. We are asked by the caring community of family and friends around us. We are asking God. Ultimately it is something we don’t have an answer for and that’s the rub, isn’t it? I thought I was good at this waiting thing. I mean it felt like I had waited forever to find the one who would love me for a lifetime (I was only 22 when Cyndi and I got married). How many times did I have to lay my expectations on the altar and trust God with my hearts desires? Here I find myself again and it’s like I’m learning the lesson all over again. Here it is: It’s not what I’m waiting on but Who! It’s a simple distinction, but it makes all the difference in the world. Whether I’m waiting for the money to pay the bills, the spouse of my dreams, the healing of a loved one or, in this case, my twins to come home, this promise in Isaiah encourages me to focus the attention of my waiting on the Lord. He is the one who will bring it pass in His timing- whenever that is! I know that my timing is not His timing and all of that, but I have forgotten is that my strength, my energy, my fresh resolve can only come from waiting on him. I will be worn, weary, and worse for wear if I spend my life waiting on all of these other things and not on my Lord. My circumstances will come and go, change and rearrange, but my God and His love is the only that lasts through all of it! Maybe, this is a “no-brainer” for everyone else, but I feel like I’m just beginning to get it. I’m not waiting on my Twins, on the doctors, on anything else. I’m waiting on the Lord, serving Him, loving Him, trusting Him and as I do He lifts me up above my circumstances and I begin to see things from His perspective. Here’s the truth: Even when I am able to hold my babies in my arms 24/7 they will still be in His hands and I will still be waiting on the Lord! I don’t when my babies are coming home, but I know where my strength is coming from right now!
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March 21st, 2009
“Recognizing that my calling had been given by God, James, Peter, and John, the pillars of the church- shook hands with me and Barnabas, assigning us to a ministry to the non-Jews, while they continues to be responsible for reaching out to the Jews.” Galatians 2:9
The inner circle of Jesus while He walked this earth were now the pillars the new and thriving church of Jesus Christ. Who would have thought that these common fishermen from years before before would now be in such positions of esteem, honor and authority? Peter, the king of gaffes, of speaking before he thinks, of revelations (”You are the Messiah”) and of rebukes (”Get behind me Satan”) would now be in the highest place of leadership. How about James & John the Sons of Thunder. These momma’s boys who had their Mom ask Jesus for positions of honor higher then the other disciples out of vainglorious one-upmanship would now be looked upon as pillars of the church, serving in great humility the purposes of Christ and His church. What can I learn from this?
1. Pedigree and position do not determine my future: Jesus saw something in these guys that no one else did. He looked at these fishermen and saw fishers of men. He looked at these men of the sea and saw pillars of the church. Help me to see this in those around me.
2. Intimacy with Christ is transformational: These three shared some the Savior’s most intimate soul crushing moments. These three, out of all the disciples, saw what it looks like to bare the mantle of a servant of the Lord. They saw what it looks like to truly bow your will to the Father’s no matter how painful the prospect. They saw the love in Jesus’ eyes as He spoke to the Father and spoke to the broken. They learned to love the Father and the broken with the same abandon. Intimacy with the Lord must be modeled if this next generation is to know a personal relationship with the Lord.
3. Pillars can be crooked: They needed the rebuke from Paul they received from Paul in this chapter. Their positions of power did not make them infallible or unapproachable. If any thing, they needed this eye-opener now more then ever because they were starting to lose perspective. Those pillars were getting a bit shaky as the Jerusalem Jews leaned on them a bit! What keeps a pillar strong and balanced? Accountability and approachability! Let me always be open to reproof and correction!
Food For Thought:
Have you ever had a time in your life when someone saw potential in you that you did not see in yourself? If so, tell me about it!
Where is God using you to be a pillar?
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March 17th, 2009
Last week we received a surprise call from Swedish Hospital. They asked us if we would like to have the twins transferred back to their birthplace at Northwest Hospital so could be close to us. We had given up on that idea because the cost of the ambulance was astronomical and not covered by our insurance and also we completely happy with the care they were receiving. They worked it out with the insurance and now they are at Northwest, just a quick ten minute drive from our house! Woohoo! Not only that but now they get to share a bed. Justice and Jaxon are now known affectionately as the farm animals in the nursery. Ever since being placed in a bed together the grunt and bleet back and forth to each other in much the same way sheep or goats do. I’m going to try and get this on video because it is hilarious and has all of the nurses cracking up. Another amazing answer to prayer is that their breathing has improved so much that they are having no more episodes. One big step closer to home! Now we are praying that they can get their breathing/sucking coordination down so as to receive all eight feedings via nursing/bottle. When they accomplish this we get to bring them home. You can tell by the picture that these boys aren’t going to be preemies much longer. As of last night Justice weighed 6 pounds 13 ounces and Jaxon at 6 pounds 14 ounces. The competition continues!
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March 14th, 2009
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March 12th, 2009
ON JAN. 15, one of the first reports of US Airways Flight 1549’s emergency landing in the Hudson River was made by Florida businessman Janis Krums: “There’s a plane in the Hudson. I’m on the ferry going to pick up the people. Crazy.”
Krums didn’t leave it as a voice-mail message, nor did he just text a few close friends: He broadcast the note to his Twitter followers, who then relayed it, screen to screen, all over the world.
Krums’s “man on the scene” report was one of the highest-profile moments yet for Twitter, the two-year-old Web service that has become explosively popular among the Web 2.0 set. Users can fire off tiny messages from their computers and cellphones, from wherever they are, and have them appear on the screens of whoever is keeping track of them. The messages answer the question “What are you doing?” to an audience of friends, family, or random strangers, or to no one at all.
This is a portion of an February 8th article from the Boston Globe. The writer is profiling the newest phenomenon in online communities- “micro-blogs”. I’m thinking to myself, “Wow, I just recently entered the blogosphere and now I’m hearing about the “Twittersphere”. I really like the concept though, so I thought I would give it a shot. It’s pretty easy to sign up. You just follow this link to the Twitter website and it leads you through a simple process. Then you begin to look for your friends and family who might already be “tweeple”. You can also get free apps. for your cell phone. If you are interested why don’t you join me in this social experiment? You can look me up on the Twitter sight under TheBurgessBunch or under Jonathan Burgess. I’ll be looking for your “tweet” soon!
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