Category: family

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Tennessee Bound.

Hey folks, this is just a short post to let those of you in the great state of TN know that I am coming your way today, and I’ll be back in Asheville on Monday (late afternoon).  While I’m there, I am meeting with tons of folks to share about our ministry and do a little support raising.  Here’s the two things I need from all of you:

  1. If you live in TN, you can hit me up at 828-51-51-BEN and we can meet to talk about Jesus, your wallet, and the gospel going to every corner of the globe.
  2. If you don’t live in TN, you can pray that my time in my former stompin’ grounds would be fruitful, encouraging, and fun.  Pray that I would see $200 in monthly support come from this trip.  Also pray that my car continues running all the way there and back.

Thanks so much, folks.  While we are on the topic of prayer requests, how can I pray for you?  Comment below.  Or if it’s a personal one you don’t want to share with the far reaches of the internet, you can shoot me a message.

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Stay-at-Home Mom. A Tribute.

Lee Ferguson tells me I never officially had a post on here sharing that we are pregnant again.  The evidence suggests otherwise, but just in case I haven’t made it clear enough: we’re having another baby.  We’re a few weeks into the second trimester right now, meaning that in a couple more weeks we’ll know the gender.

Because of the pregnancy, Jacqueline is having to rest more, meaning that I have been helping more and more around the house with LB and Wynonna.  I’d like to give a shout-out to the fact that this woman, my bride, does A LOT.  I found this article on the Reislands’ blog that begins to do justice to the job my wife does.  Enjoy.  If you are a mom, pass this along to all the haters.

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We’ve Come a Long Way!

Almost exactly 7 years ago, I loaded far too much stuff for a single guy to own into a Uhaul in Winston-Salem and drove I-40 over the mountains to Murfreesboro, TN.

Almost exactly 4 years ago I loaded far too much stuff for a single guy to own into a Uhaul and drove almost to the edge of Murfreesboro before it broke down and had to be repaired.  After about 8 hours, we unloaded stuff into a storage unit in Asheville.

A couple months, rings, and fun stories for the grandkids later we unloaded that storage unit into an apartment.

18 months later we loaded that apartment into a Penske truck (having sworn off of Uhaul after our experience coming back over the mountain) and moved north to our beloved rental house.  We had to make room for a new life.

Exactly 5 days ago our good friend Elaine wiped down the windowsills and vacuumed out 2 years worth of dust from the carpet beneath where the dresser sat, as we loaded our stuff into the largest truck Penske will give you without necessitating a special driver’s license.

We drove back down I-40 and unloaded that truck into our latest house, having sensed God’s leading to the regional office in Apex.

We’re excited to put down some roots here, and to hopefully not have to load any trucks in the near future. Interestingly, I’ve never lived more than 30 minutes from I-40.

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Now I Lay Him Down to Sleep.

I have a new favorite time of the day.

A friend of mine posted on Twitter recently that he thinks his son runs a 5K every day.  And given that LB is only sitting down when he is eating (and that is by no means a guarantee), I’d agree that my son also puts some serious mileage on those little legs.  I’d wager he runs a quarter-mile per day in bare feet.  That’s not even counting once I can catch him to put on shoes.

Our new back yard has a fairly substantial hill (for this part of the state) with a wooden privacy fence at the bottom of it.  Yesterday LB probably ran up and down the hill (averaging about two falls and one roll–all intentional– per trip) at least 15 times.  I’m thinking of lining the inside of the fence with bubble wrap, spare pillows, and Styrofoam (which, according to spell-check, needs to be capitalized.  Is that a brand name?  This warrants googling.) The little guy loves to run.

But after all the running, the temper tantrums, the frolicking in the yard with the dog, and the unnecessarily long trips up and down the stairs at the new house, there’s my new favorite time of the day.  Though he (literally) kicks and screams at the thought of bed time, once I get him in the room, with the lights off, sitting in the rocking chair, something magical happens.  We’ll sing a song (Amazing Grace is his favorite this week) and pray.

With his little head on my shoulder, I say two prayers.  One from his perspective, and one from mine.  Then, I ask him if he wants to pray.  Most days he says “not yet” and then mumbles something about Elmo.  Where his treasure is, his heart goes.

I love being a dad.

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