Little Layla Grace

So yesterday we were amazingly blessed to see our Layla Grace in 3d. Honestly, I had no idea what to expect. I've seen pictures of other baby's 3d pictures, but this was completely different. Seeing your child as close to real as you can get without taking her out of mommy's stomach was unbelievable. We saw her yawn, get the hiccups, open her eyes, practicing her breathing, and we definitely know she's a girl.

Yesterday was one of those reality check moments for me. They've been happening with more and more frequency lately. Moments where it suddenly hits you: Holy dang, we are going to have a baby. I SAW my child yesterday. It's completely and totally real. And in two months, that child will be here, in our home, a part of our family.

It's a scary thought. I don't really know of ANYONE who is completely ready for a baby. I'm certainly not. But it's ok. I've got Amber :). And I've got both sides of the family who, thank the Lord, are absolutely more than ready to help us out in any way possible. It's such an incredible blessing because I know people who don't have that. They're a single parent, or a couple who have kids, and they're on their own. They don't have that comfort and support of family members, either because they don't have any, or they live too far away, or simply because their family sucks.

I know I mention this in about every post, but God has truly blessed us. I cannot keep count of the ways. And it's not because we go to church every Sunday, or know the right people. It's because God has chosen, of His own free will, to bless us. It's unconditional. God doesn't expect anything in return. How insane is that? It's awesome. And more the reason to praise and thank Him every day for the blessings.

Life is about to get turned upside down. I know there's no way to prepare for it. It was just like marriage. No amount of books, or people's stories or advice can prepare you for what's ahead. You just have to experience it. As much as it freaks me out, I'm so ready for it.

God is Good, All the Time. All the Time, God is Good.

Thank Him today for the blessings. 

The Art of Faith

For some reason today John 20:29 popped into my head during church. "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe." It's the most simple definition of faith. Believing in something that you cannot see.

What would it have been like to see Jesus? I mean, the literal Son of God, a being fully man and yet completely and fully God? And to not only see him, but to live with him as his closest disciples during his time of ministry? How amazing would that have been?

It just really hit me today the idea behind faith. We base our theology and faith off of those closest to the Son of God. We have Faith that what they saw and wrote down accurately represents God and Jesus. I mean, of course we believe because it's the Word of God, but even THAT belief is taken on faith.

Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe. Many of us have not seen Jesus. Or God. Yet we still wholly believe he is who he says he is. Our faith is GREATER than the disciples. The very disciples who lived with Christ. Because we didn't live with Jesus. We haven't seen him personally heal the blind, or give a sermon full of parallels and symbolism. And yet we STILL believe.

So for every Christian who reads this, you are more blessed than the disciples. God rewards your faith in the things unseen. And for those who haven't accepted Christ, maybe you will one day, and see the rewards of faith in a completely sovereign God

Job, Wifey, God (not in order of importance)

It's been awhile, eh?

A lot has happened in a month (well more like 6 weeks). Wow. I've been at my job for about 5 weeks. And have learned a ton. No amount of college deadlines matches the speed at which I blow thru designs. The pace of this job is unlike anything I thought to be possible. You always imagine having fairly strict deadlines, but this...this is insane. But it's amazing for me. I love the job part. Bosses are a different story. I won't go into it, but it's a wee bit crazy.

My wifey is a growing. She's 29 weeks along. TWENTY. NINE. That's almost 30 ;) It is absolutely ridiculous that in a couple of months we will be in the hospital having a BABY. I must say I'm absolutely smitten with little Layla. She has a ton of personality (hard to believe for something that hasn't come out of a womb yet). Apparently Amber scared Layla upon dropping a can on the ground, which caused Layla to "jump."

Pregnancy has had its up and downs, but for the most part, it has been a fairly easy ride (from the husband's perspective, mind you). Amber has had nothing majorly wrong happen, and she keeps herself very healthy. I have enjoyed every bit of it, but I think Amber is definitely ready to be done. I'm just ready to see this cute, adorable little baby Layla. We've gone to childbirthing classes, and learned waayyyyyyy too much stuff I didn't need to. It was good, I learned some extremely helpful things, just there was some stuff no man should need/want to know about.

We had our baby shower Sunday. And were "showered" with gifts. See what I did there??? lol. Really though, I am so thankful for everyone who has given support for our first child. We won't go without anything I believe, and we have so many people to go to if anything should happen. We feel unbelievably blessed. So thank you everyone. Truly.

Thru all of this God has really shown Himself. He has poured blessings on us, and I do my best to give praise to Him. It's honestly difficult sometimes. I mean, after all, I can take the credit for a lot of it right? I'm the one in the physical realm, doing this stuff. But it's truly because of God that ALL of this has happened. Some people have a hard time attributing anything on Earth being a direct result of God's blessing, and yes, sometimes that person is me. Yet I put my faith in the FACT that God is leading my life, and He knows best, and always will. He can, will, and does, take care of me and my family.

Thanks to everyone who has supported us. It means a lot. And soon we will have a new person to add to the family!

God Bless!

Information Overload

Have you ever had a day where you got so much information that your brain literally hurts? That was today. My first day on the job. I took in so much info, I was exhausted by 11, and I "worked" until 5. Today I discovered just how big of shoes that I'm going to be filling. Slightly....no, heavily overwhelmed would explain my emotions.

It wouldn't be quite so bad if I had a couple, maybe a few weeks to ease my way into this position. But nope! The guy I'm replacing has surgery on Wednesday, and that means I'm by myself until possibly Friday. So today and tomorrow is essentially my training. Wednesday and Thursday are...how do you say it...test days. Even though I'll be working minimum hours those days, I will have to push myself to prove I was the right choice for this job.

Honestly, I believe I can handle it. I learned an immense amount of knowledge today, most of it I hope I remember this week. But it IS overwhelming. BUT! God wouldn't throw me in the lion's den without giving me some help. So if you could pray for anything about me, pray for inspiration. Inspiration that will keep me on my toes and keep me moving forward.

That's all. Just a small update. God works wonders. Thank goodness.

God Is

Praise God, from whom all blessing flow. That's the doxology for many churches, right? Especially on a day such as today, it seems extremely fitting. Today we celebrate what many people consider to be God's greatest miracle: The Resurrection. The symbolism (literal as well) of what Christ did on the cross fills up volumes of books, and to go even further, conquering death is a fairly big deal. It's something that no one (minus the prophet Elijah, but he more or less just skipped death) has been able to defeat. Death is something that every single person before us has succumbed to.

But because of what Christ did, we no longer fear Death. Where as it was the end of a person's life before Christ, now it serves as a means to be reborn forever. Christ turned that which was meant as a weapon of the enemy into the means for eternal life. And it's thru His sacrifice that we have this gift. If you can't get excited about that, then....well you should. Because no other being could ever go through with such an immense thing and come out of it alive (and I mean alive in the most literal of statements).

Switching gears.

God has poured out his blessings on us this weekend. I went from being a "shift supervisor" at Godfather's Pizza, to being THE graphic designer for a small screenprinting company fifteen minutes from where we live. Literally it happened in less than 24 hours. I applied, took a design "test," had an interview the next morning (saturday) and was offered the position in less than a full day. God's hand was at work in the whole process, I have no doubt. Everything fit too well and moved too fast for the circumstances to be coincidental.

This has been an answer to a long period of prayers. God has taught me a lot about patience (not to say that I've kept a lot of it), but has shown me that if I keep my faith in Him, no matter how down the situation looks, He will provide in HIS. OWN. TIME. And it somehow always becomes clear once it happens. Funny how that works.

So now that I am in charge of all graphic design for this company, nervousness has rushed in to fill the excitement. I am the only graphic designer, so I create everything for every design for every t-shirt, hoodie, etc that come thru this place. A little pressure for a guy who graduated a year ago with hardly any work/client design experience. Slightly overwhelming? Chyes (Modern Family input there).

But I know this will be the best for me right now. I guess God knows that if I worked under a head graphic designer at some other job, I probably wouldn't quite grow as quickly. But with every design being created by me in this crazy fast-paced industry, I know I will become faster, more efficient, and will HAVE to grow to complete these orders. By the time I move on beyond this job, I will have honed my skills to a degree I couldn't imagine. At least that's the plan.

Switching gears. Again.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow. This weekend has been one of many affirmations of my faith. God DOES answer prayers. Yes, God says no. He has shut many doors, right in my face. But He also says YES! YES! SEE HOW I PROVIDE FOR YOU?!?! HAVE I NOT TOLD YOU I'D TAKE CARE OF YOU? I LOVE YOU MY CHILD!! SO MUCH THAT MY SON TOOK ON ALL OF YOUR SINS SO I COULD HAVE A RELATIONSHIP WITH YOU AND BLESS YOU AND LOVE YOU!!!!

So if you're reading this, and you don't have that relationship with God, I pray that you would find it. It doesn't mean He'll give you everything you want or ask for. But it will change your life in ways you couldn't believe. It relieves you of so many hurts, pains, bagges and mountains. Let Christ die for you, because He already did, and He wants you to be in a loving relationship with Him, and He wants to bless you in a million different ways that you couldn't fathom.


Praise God from whom all blessings flow. 

Blessed

This is probably the most current and accurate word that I can describe my life right now. These past few weeks have been nothing but blessed. Now I'm not really aiming to brag, but Christians (and non-Christians) like to hear about the joys and blessings of others, right?

Layla Grace. That's her name. The name of our little baby girl. Not only have I gotten to see her, but she's a stubborn, kicking little being. Getting to feel our baby has got to be one of the most exciting and terrifying things in the world. It's just unreal that there is a living, breathing, moving, kicking, human being inside of my wife's womb. Just the complexity of it screams God. And having a constant reminder of God right next to you is an amazing blessing.

A baby of course has financial obligations. But what do you know? God has taken care of that, at least temporarily. I've recently been promoted to Shift Supervisor at Godfather's Pizza. Not exactly what I believed would be the plan when I prayed to God for help, but hey, God is God, and I am not. He has reminded me that He will take care of me and He will do it however He wants. Not that I am complaining, it's just humorous how in control we think we and how we believe we know what's best for us at any time.

God has always promised to take care of us. He will and does always provide, especially in ways we don't think are possible or wanted. It's a harsh lesson to be learned, but what doesn't kill you makes you smarter, not necessarily stronger. God keeps us in check, thank goodness. And when we are faithful, He blesses us. Like I just said, it's pretty much guaranteed that it won't be in the manner you want. But I am fully under the influence that He always blesses those who are faithful to Him.

I'll try to keep updating more frequently, I just had major blogging/writer's block this past month.

God bless everyone. Thanks for reading!

Tomorrow

So tomorrow is the one of the biggest day of my...excuse me...our lives. Tomorrow we find out whether we are going to have a girl or a boy. I absolutely cannot wait to find out. I want a girl, and so does Amber. But I will be completely content with a boy. 

I still can't believe that God has chosen to bless us with a child. A few years ahead of schedule, but hey, God knows what He's doing right? I think so. 

I just wanted to have a post about this. And I'm so incredibly, unbelievably, crazy, ridiculously, undoubtedly excited for tomorrow at 930. 

Bring. It.