More Pictures from Christmas . . .

After the Youth Christmas party! They had a good time with Ann Clayton! Obviously, she had a good time, too!
Ann Clayton with her new kitchen set from her Manina & Grumpy.

Daddy & Ann Clayton jammin' with the new music set we gave her.

Ann Clayton very interested in Koie's stocking. For a while all she wanted to do was play with Koie's tennis ball. Who knew we could have saved the money and bought her a tennis ball for Christmas!

Ann Clayton's first car from her Puff & Pappy!

Ann Clayton in the Christmas program at church. She's the little lamb on the far left.

Close-up of the little lamb:

Christmas Blessings!

Christmas was wonderful in our home! On the Tuesday before Christmas day, we went to the doctor for the “big ultrasound,” that is, we found out whether we are having a boy or girl! A friend gave us the idea to have the nurse write it inside a Christmas card to open on Christmas day. What a fun idea! We waited until 11:00 AM on Christmas morning when all the family was present and we opened it to find out that we are having another GIRL! We’re so excited. Sisters! Ann Clayton will have so much fun! We feel so blessed!

Despite the craziness of the season, we wanted to be sure Ann Clayton, with the little understanding that she has right now, understood what it was all about . . . Jesus! Although I’m certain she understood very little of what we were talking about, we used our nativity scene to explain to her about the birth of Christ, we celebrated Christmas day with a “Happy Birthday Jesus” cake, and we participated in the church kid’s Christmas program—I was a shepherd and Ann Clayton a precious, baby lamb. It was a wonderful Christmas!

And now it’s time to start getting the house back in order . . . my least favorite part. Two things I absolutely hate doing: packing up when departing from a vacation and putting away all the Christmas decorations. Oh well, it will come again and there’s plenty of reason to celebrate all year long anyway!

If I don’t make another entry before the new year, which, given my track record is not likely, I’ll see you next year! Happy New Year and may God bless you and yours the coming year!

1 Peter 1:3-5 A Reason for Celebrating
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

So Thankful!

This past week I’ve spent much time reflecting on all the things for which I am thankful. My list goes on and on, but I am incredibly thankful that God sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, to die on a cross for me so that I may have eternal life in Heaven with Him. That alone calls for thanks all year long. Shane and I have been so blessed with each other, our precious Ann Clayton and son/daughter on the way, our families, our church, our friends. We are so thankful! Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Our camera was broken on Thanksgiving, but Ann Clayton made a mess similar to the one shown here. She loved the sweet potatoes!

Well, I just can’t believe the Christmas season is here. I love it! I normally wait until Thanksgiving to break out the Christmas music, but I’ve been dancing to Christmas music around the house for the past 2 weeks. In the past, I’ve always been studying for exams during this time and really not able to enjoy the season until mid-December. It’s so nice to take everything in at this early date! We got our tree yesterday and it smells so good! Any suggestions on how to keep a very-curious-and-into-everything Ann Clayton out of the Christmas tree are welcome! She's now WALKING, so I imagine she's going to have a grand time around the tree! Maybe we’ll just hang all the ornaments out of her reach and have a bare tree on the bottom?? She still may be enticed to pull on the tree. Oh dear.

I did something I’ve always said I would not do. I braved the crowds on “Black Friday” to hit up Walmart for a Fisher Price Rock and Play Piano which was advertised in their toy catalog for $20. I have my heart set on getting this for Ann Clayton, but I’ve since learned after 3 trips to different Walmarts and browsing their webpage several times, that it’s no longer in production. Tell me then, why do they advertise for it?? Big bummer. I’ve found one on ebay, but I continue to be outbid. I’m not giving up! The piano has 1 day and 1 hour left. I will succeed and on Christmas day Ann Clayton will be rocking and playing on her gently-used piano!

Let me leave you with some more reasons to be thankful this season and all year long:

I am thankful that I am A Child of God (Romans 8:16) “For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children.”

I am thankful that I am Forgiven (Colossians 1:13,14) “For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.”

I am thankful that I am Saved by Grace through Faith (Ephesians 2:8) “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.”

Looking for a Christmas Present?

If you’re looking for that perfect gift this year and you think a magazine might be just the one, check out our youth fundraiser webpage at www.magfundraising.com/ORFCyouth. You’ll find over 650 magazines which can be bought at prices which are 85% off the newsstand price. Plus, our youth group makes a 40% profit on each sale! Check it out if you're interested!

Fall Farm Retreat: The Good & The Bad

It wasn’t exactly the weekend retreat that I had hoped it would be. We took 14 teenagers and 5 young adults to the family farm. Friday night was great. We built a big campfire, cooked hotdogs, sang praise and worship around the campfire accompanied by guitar, and even took the gullible kids snipe hunting. Koie certainly enjoyed herself around the fire with 14 kids to throw a stick to her! It was so peaceful having the stars hang above us and the coyotes singing from afar. We didn’t get much sleep, but that was to be expected. We all got up around 6:00 because the sun was bright and the boys were freezing from having slept in the tents while the girls took over the tiny bunkhouse. My pregnancy won us that luxury—otherwise we would have had to duke it out, I’m sure.

The morning started out well with Krispy Kreme and a morning hike/devotion which we did in small groups. But after that, things took a turn for the worse. Perhaps it was lack of sleep, but some of the teenagers’ demeanor changed and we had on our hands a few disgruntled, sour attitudes which put a damper on the morning. Then, one of our rambunctious youth decided he’d climb a tree, despite our instructions otherwise. Not seconds after my final demand to “GET DOWN FROM THAT TREE,” he instead fell from the tree—about 10 feet, head first. By the grace of God alone, he was not injured, though took an awful jarring. After an extended period at the ER, we were given a good report from the doctors. The retreat ended a littler short than we planned and we all caravanned home.

I learned a lot from the weekend, though I must admit I’m tired of these lessons and ready for some success with these teenagers! Any advice is welcomed! It’s all in God’s timing, I know, and I must stop putting trust in myself and put it solely in God’s hands.

Proverbs 3:4-6
If you want favor with both God and man, and a reputation for good judgment and common sense, then trust the Lord completely; don’t ever trust yourself. In everything you do, put God first, and he will direct you and crown your efforts with success.

Our New Dog

Yep, we got ourselves a new dog. Her name is FiFi the French poodle! I think Ann Clayton actually liked her costume. It didn't seem to bother her a bit and she stayed warm! We visited all the grandparents (Puff, Pappy, Manina & Grumpy) and trick-or-treated to a couple of our neighbors' houses. We had very few trick-or-treaters, but Ann Clayton was ready and waiting to give them their candy! Koie, on the other hand, was ready to pounce on anybody who would dare come to our door! Hope everyone had a good time.

Our First Hurdle

Well, much has taken place since my, yes, September 5th posting. But now that I am officially sharing this blog, I intend on being a better blogger from this day forward. For those of you who have not yet heard, Shane and I are expecting our second child! We could not be more thrilled. It’s about time Ann Clayton had a playmate. What a great big sister she’ll be!

Ann Clayton is on the verge of walking . . . I can just feel it in my bones. She walks so well when she’s holding my hand, but she’s been timid in letting go. Lately, however, she’s been getting braver in trying to stand up on her own and she’s even taken a few small steps by herself. Today she came home from school with an “accident report” which occurred when she hit her head on the floor after an attempt at walking. Bless her little heart! She’s got a big bump. It will be any day now when she’s actually getting up and taking off all on her own. Wow! It’s all happening so fast. I’ll be sure to post a picture after Halloween of her in costume! The picture to the left is Ann Clayton waiting on Daddy to come home! Yep, she's a Daddy's girl.

You may be wondering about my title for this entry, “Our First Hurdle.” I knew that Shane and I would face challenges as youth pastors. I knew this. The first time I talked on a Wednesday night, I accidentally chose a worship song from itunes that was sung in an African language rather than in English. I thought choosing Chris Tomlin’s “We Fall Down” was a safe choice, but apparently Tomlin takes a good bit of mission trips to Africa each year. Needless to say, that was sort of a kink in the service. I recovered somewhat in saying that God is in all languages and that maybe we ourselves would mission there in a few years, but they totally thought it was weird—you could just tell. I never choose a song without listening through it entirely before services now. Those types of things are to be expected, of course.

So, call me naïve, very naïve, but I just didn’t think our youth would ever be so disrespectful as to outright defy our rules which we’ve established at church. I want to be their friend. I want to show them the love of Christ. But, how do you be their friend and lay down the law at the same time? I think I’ve been too concerned with being the new, "hip" youth pastor, that some now feel like they can walk all over me. That's my fault. I should have expected such things from teenagers because the Lord knows that I was not an angel in my late-teen years! Thus, from hereon out, we’re their youth pastors, we’re their mentors, we’re their spiritual leaders, we’re even their friends, but we won’t be walked upon, and we expect respect. Unfortunately, I’m learning that the position of youth pastor means also having to be the “mean guy” at times. I only hope they come to see that we do it out of love and it’s all in the best interest of both the youth and the church.

So, we’re learning and we have much to be learned down the road. We’ve jumped the first hurdle. I think we may have hit it, but we didn’t knock it down. And we’re back on track, ready for the next one (I think).

Prayer request: We’re taking the youth to the farm next weekend for an overnight retreat. Pray for us, but mainly pray that God will open their eyes on this retreat and create in them a deep desire to want to know Him more.

Proverbs 4:11 I have directed you in the way of wisdom; I have led you in upright paths.