Haydn's Baptism

Tonight I was able to baptize Haydn. It's such a great experience to get a chance to baptize your own children. I baptized Suzanna a couple of years ago and I might get to baptize Aria in the next year or two.

I tried to upload a video but it's not working. You can see it on my FB page. 

Christmas at DSC 2012

We go to Desert Springs Church in Chandler. We love it!! I just wanted to share some of the events that our kids have been involved in this Christmas. I hope you can see why we love it.

The Children's Choir

(my daughter, Aria, has her hand over her mouth)

The Children's Christmas Production

My daughter, Suzanna, being a great angel with lots of enthusiasm.

And the snow brought in that leads to snow ball fights.

Prayers for Aria

In all the years of going to church, I have never seen so much prayer. We've had multiple people over the past two years say, "let me pray for you." All you have to do is mention something and they'll stop and pray right then and there no matter where you're standing. At one time or another we've had someone pray over each one of us individually right in the middle of the foyer and sometimes it's a handful of people who put their hands on us and pray. We've also had the blessing of being a part of praying for others. At first it seems strange because they'll get loud but it's the most amazing thing. I was so used to people tell me "I'll be praying for you" or "I'll remember you in my prayers" or something to that fact.

Today, at two separate times after the morning service I had someone say, "Can we pray over Aria with you?" The first time was just me and Aria with a group and the second time it was with me, Tina, and Aria and about four other people. Two of them were pastors and one pastor anointed Aria with oil, laid hands on her, and we all prayed. What a blessing!!

I know people are praying and we thank you for those prayers. It means a lot. I want to publicly thank everyone who has physically circled us and laid your hands on us and prayed for us as we've gone through this challenging time in our lives. Knowing people are praying and hearing the prayers over our daughter is inspirational. I know God is in the midst of us while praying because that's His promise to us through Scripture. Thank you for making God's presence known to us through your prayers.

Wisdom Received through Unsolicited Advice

Many times things happen in our lives and we wonder why. James 1 talks about trials and asking God for wisdom. Twice this week I was given advice by two different people completely unrelated to each other and about two different things but both equally valid and valuable.

I have a co-worker who is high energy and has a hard time sitting still and doing his work. He's good at his job but is very social, vocal, and is fun to be around. He's loves having a good time, is charming and engaging, and people, especially women, are attracted to him. He's just very charismatic. Due to this, he's sometimes looked at like a slacker and is not considered management material, not that he really wants it but it's an image that will be hard for him to shake when he does.

Anyway, he came to do a y-connect with me to listen to how I connect with clients. He's 15 years younger than me but he asked the boss if he could do some training and the boss sent him over to listen to me and another co-worker. I must say that I was impressed with him. He was uplifting (no surprise), highly encouraging (no surprise), full of excellent advice (surprised), and pushed me out of my comfort level to be more enthusiastic (GREAT ADVICE). I've been focusing on that this week and it's been a great help. Thanks, Jayson.

The second person with unsolicited advice was from a pastor friend at church. I helped him teach a class last night and at the end he pulls me aside and encourages me by saying that I had a lot of good things to say but there were times when I used "umm" too much and he could tell it's holding me back and if I could work on getting that out of my speaking it would improve my effectiveness not only in teaching but at work. Later he comes by before he leaves, puts his arm around me and says, "love ya brother." He was sensitive to possible feelings of resentment for giving unsolicited advice. He loves God and he loves his brothers and sisters in Christ. I've been working on this today. I tell you that this takes a lot of concentration not to say "umm" because it's a big part of my speech. It's a bad habit. Thank you, John, for encouraging me to get rid of it.