Possibly the Funniest Thing He's Ever Seen

Mom holding a plastic ring up to her face. Hilarious! Of course with videos like this, he'd already been laughing at it hysterically, and it's starting to wear off by the time we get the camera out. Still glad we got it nonetheless, because it will probably never be funny to him again.

Crazy Hair

How long can it get and still stand straight up?

I Miss This Guy

..., but he's been having plenty of fun in St. Charles. Kara sent me these pictures today:

Before getting in the pool

And cleaning up after the pool

I've enjoyed my conference very much, but am ready to be back with my family.

Quote(s) of the day (from Robert Gelinas):

"When God is like oxygen, prayer is like breathing."

Also, he worked to make the point that Jesus was fully human, even to the point that he had a rear end (he got there by a good story from his church, not just choosing that as a strange example). Then he said, "Jesus had a derriere. If we could just grasp that..."

He realized what he said and had trouble recovering.

Renovare Day 2

It's kind of surreal: between Dallas Willard, Eugene Peterson, Richard Foster, Randy Frazee, and John Ortberg, I've probably read or re-read a book by one of them 50 times, and they're all here. Especially with Dallas- I quote him a lot to other people who've never read his books, and probably never will, but people here leading the sessions quote him more than I do! I'm not alone!

That has been one of the most encouraging things about being here: the realization that my convictions about what is truly the church's business (and what isn't), and what our priorities should be (and what they shouldn't be), are passionately shared by thousands of other Christian leaders across the country. There are hundreds of other people here whose lives and ministries have been revolutionized by a vision of spiritual formation and discipleship just as mine have been, and that's what I'm most thankful for.

Quote of the day:

Eugene Peterson: "Steroids may help you hit home runs faster in baseball, but there are no steroids for holiness."

My First Father's Day

I'm a bit sad that my first Father's Day is also the first day of Ethan's life that I haven't seen him. I am in San Antonio for Renovare's International Conference, and Kara and Ethan are in St. Louis visiting her family. (They've been there since Friday, but the other two days I've been able to see him on Skype. At least today I got to talk to him on the phone while traveling. He didn't say much, but did sneeze and cough into the phone, so I knew he was there.)

I knew I would have a hard time being away from that little guy for the first time, and dropping them off at the airport was even tougher than I thought. It's good that I'm so crazy about my wife and son, though. They continue to make my heart very full.

If I have to be away from them, this is the place to be. I got to hear Eugene Peterson tonight, and still to come are Dallas Willard, Richard Foster, John Ortberg and others- all of whom I really respect and none of whom I've ever got to hear in person before. (Some of you who know me well know how big a deal it is for me to hear Dallas. He walked into my seminar this afternoon and sat a few rows behind me- I couldn't text Kara fast enough.)

Since I'm here by myself and have yet to see anyone I know, the ol' blog will be my friend...

In the Words of Willie Nelson:

"Well hello there. My it's been a long long time..."

Yes, we do still have a blog, and the intention to make it come back to life.

As you can see here, Ethan is much bigger than when we last posted. Kara has been keeping photos updated on Facebook. You can see a couple of her albums through the links below:

Ethan Week by Week

Ruidoso Vacation 2009