Abi Update

I have a new sister! I love her so much! I play with her every day. Sometimes I make her co

okies with my play kitchen, and give her a bear to cuddle with. My friends and I are ready for the summer!

May Prayer

Camp. Camp is starting soon. Pray that all the final details for prep week would be completed. Pray I would have wisdom about the things for which the cabin leaders need training during orientation week (after prep week). Pray they would be attentive and connect with one-another easily. Also, pray my assistant will acclimate quickly and be able to help me. Finally, pray for us as a family, as we begin living in a new location. Pray we will all enjoy our new environment.

Seminary. We are still trying to line things up for our transition to Louisville at the end of July. We are a little anxious about housing and job. Pray that all the right opportunities would land in our laps. Pray we would be patient and trusting of God’s plan. Please pray for extraordinary grace. Also, pray for us as we attempt to pack this summer.

Anna Grace. What a happy baby! Anna is doing so well. She is healthy and growing quickly. Within a week she was back at her birth-weight (which is really good). Pray she would continue to grow healthy and happy. Pray for us as we take care of two!

Camp!

Tonight, we begin our move to camp! As I type this letter, the packing process has already begun. We’ve got clothes, books, baby stuff, and all kinds of miscellaneous things packed in rubber tubs, ready to go in the van.

Though campers don’t come until the beginning of June, there is a lot of preparation to do on location at Youthfront Camp West.

Next week is ‘Work Week’. The full-time Youthfront Camp West staff will be at camp doing work projects and getting ready to train the summer staff.

After work week is over, approximately 50 college age men and women will arrive ready for our nine-day orientation and training. The first few hours will be spent getting to know one-another. Then there are some basic practical things to talk about like how to handle emergencies, and the the specifics of each person’s job responsibilities.

The majority of their orientation and training time, however, will be spent learning the best ways to help middle school students come to know and love Jesus. We want our summer staff to be able to assess a teenager’s walk with Christ and move them to the next step, whatever that may be.

After Summer staff training week, its time for the students to arrive.

This summer I will function as the Cabin Leader Supervisor. Every cabin will have two cabin leaders in it, a full-time person and a volunteer. My role is to supervise, train, and spiritually guide this group of leaders. I also act as the funnel for any camper issues that need someone in authority (abuse at home, bullying, eating disorders, direct disobedience, etc.). Its a lot of responsibility, but also carries a lot of reward.

I am mostly looking forward to the spiritual input I get to pour into the summer-staff. I’ll share some of this with you in future newsletters.

Pray for us over the next couple weeks there is a lot to do.

Anna Grace!

About 2:15am on Sunday morning, April 10th, I woke up to Amanda’s voice in the other room, “honey, I think my water just broke!”

There are very few words in the English vocabulary that will get a husband out of bed faster than those. After a few semi-frantic delirious paces around the room, Amanda told me to call our parents, the doctor, and the hospital to let them know we were coming.

I dialed the hospital’s number and spoke into the phone, “My water broke! We’re coming in to have a baby!”

The nurse obviously thought this was quite funny and said, “your water broke sir?”

Realizing that I had just made myself the laughing stock of the maternity ward, I corrected myself and asked what we should do next.

After a few minutes of packing up the car, we were gone. As we walked the hallway from our van to the maternity section of the hospital, we stopped every few minutes as Amanda’s contractions were strong enough to keep her from being able to walk. Finally, about 3:15am Amanda laid down on a bed in the maternity ward and waited for the doctor.

When the doctor arrived and found how far along Amanda was, nurse chaos ensued (9 cm!). All of a sudden, there were four nurses in the room and Amanda’s bed was being moved. They pushed her to the delivery room, transferred her over to a new delivery bed, and about 45 minutes later.... we had a baby.

Little Anna Grace, was born at 4:30am on Sunday April 11th. She weighed 7lbs. 10oz., was healthy, beautiful, and had more hair than I do. We are so grateful for the new addition to our family.