An Update on my Unborn Sibling

I'm not sure if life is ever safe or easy, but it's always good, because our God is always good.

For over the last 8 months, we have been eagerly awaiting a new blessing straight from God's hands - Mom's expecting again! It's been 5 years since a baby has been in our home, and we found ourselves so stoked about another member of the family. :)

Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD,
The fruit of the womb is a reward.
~Psalm 127:3

In December, almost all of us went to the sonogram and saw the little one moving around; the tiny arms and legs wouldn't stand still, like he's so excited about just being! "See guys, look what God did! Look how fast I can move these feet!" It was so beautiful to peek into the hidden place where God knits together his masterpieces.

Last month, during Mom's routine appointment, the doctor discovered a heart arrhythmia. We didn't know what it meant, but we wanted to give it over to the Lord. A week of uncertainty passed. Then a day before Will's birthday the doctor confirmed a DRV (double right ventricle) and hole in the heart, as well as a missing or underdeveloped corpus collosum (in the brain), and the little feet appear clubbed. These seem to point to something like Trisomy 13 or 18. Just the shock and pain at finding out that we may have to say goodbye to this beloved child as soon as we say hello is so heart-breakingly hard, but being so close to Mom's due date, Dad and Mom have had hardly any time to figure out details and logistics. There are so many unknown factors that are making this difficult.

Our heart's desire is to savor the time Mom has to carry this precious little soul, rest in God's sovereign goodness, and wrap ourselves in His promises to carry us and work all things to His glory and our good. We are confident that through our Lord Jesus Christ we will triumph, come what may, because He has already won. It doesn't take away the pain, but it gives so much hope, comfort, and purpose, to know Jesus wept, yet for the joy set before Him he endured, and gained the victory!

We feel so blessed to be given this gift, so grateful that we can treasure this baby that doctors deem "unfit for life". We cherish each day, knowing that each day our country "disposes" of 4,000 of the least of these through the abomination of abortion. Just maybe these little ones are here to advance the Kingdom, leave a legacy and testimony to the sacredness of life, to sanctify us and touch others, and glorify God Who ordained His praise from the mouths of babies, even if it only lasts one breath.

The due date is approaching so fast. Last night I put my hand on Mom's tummy and felt the little one moving. Life. A little hand or foot bumping my hand. Little One, do you know how much you are loved by your family?

Right now, we are wanting to rest in the Lord, and get well from some colds, hopefully before the baby gets here. He (we're all pretty sure "it" is a "he") is due on the 20th of this month, but could get here any time. We are waiting, looking forward to meeting and loving on this beautiful little boy, and seeking brave hearts for the unknown, knowing that He has gone before us...He will provide.

Thanks so much for your prayers, good friends. We cherish you!

In our great God and Savior,

~Audrey

Christians and the Cultural Carnival

Once upon a time, in a faraway land, lurked two con-men dressed as traveling tailors. They came to the Emperor’s castle to counsel him in matters of class. They fitted him up in what they called chic, assuring him all would cower at such vogue prowess. Then they told him the true secret of the textile: it could only be seen by the intelligent; those who couldn’t see it were simply square. The Emperor was afraid to let on that he, in fact, couldn’t see the fabric. Eventually, however, their praises went to his head. He held a festival to show off his new outfit. His subjects tried frantically to see the magic suit, but didn’t let on that they, in fact, only saw his birthday suit. That is, until a little lad in the crowd laughed and pointed, “Look! The Emperor has no clothes!”

Unfortunately, we Christians, like the subjects of the Emperor, are too often are deceived by empty philosophies. What we need to do is stand up and say “The Emperor has no clothes!” We cannot be effective disciples of Christ when we compromise with the culture.

We must realize that everything under the sun can be used either for God’s glory, or for selfish ambition. There is no such thing as a sacred/secular dichotomy. Everything is the King’s property; every square inch of everything is His. As Ephesians 1:20-22 tells us, "He raised [Jesus] from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion...And He put all things under His feet."

So why are we so tempted to wander from the light? Why are “Christians” sometimes hard to distinguish from the world? Perhaps it has to do with a lingering love affair with the world because of our chronic short-term memories. We forget what Paul tells us in Eph 5:8-10,

"For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord."

We forget that we are called to live in antithesis to a wicked culture. In our forgetfulness we are attracted to the lies of promised fulfillment in the desires of our flesh, and we chase after the shadowy mirage while leaving the lighted path of the Savior.

“By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes.” That Shakespearean line was quoted in the 1983 Disney film, “Something Wicked This Way Comes.” It's the story of two boys, Jim and Will, who stumble into a traveling carnival run by Mr. Dark, the very embodiment of evil. The townsfolk are drawn to it because Mr. Dark promises to fulfill their deepest vain, sensual, selfish longings, but he requires horrific prices afterward. His offers are candied apples on the outside, but full of razorblades just beneath the surface. The townsfolk are enslaved by their foolish choices until the two boys end up saving the day by defying Mr. Dark.

Don’t you think that God meant what He said when He told us to come out from among them (i.e., those that follows foolish ways) and be separate? We are God’s own special people, a chosen generation, so that we can walk as living proof of the awesome power of our God who called us out of darkness and into His marvelous light!

Some would like to protest, “But we need to relate to the world in order to reach them!” Yes, but we are not to compromise with their godless culture. The very concept of being light means to be separate from the darkness, purposely, deliberately, distinctly separate. What comes across to the lost when Christians are not different from themselves? In their minds Christianity becomes a weak, hypocritical, emasculated religious crutch. It gives them warranted reason to laugh at Christians, who always seem behind in turning out their cheap imitations of the world.

Denying the cultural carnival and calling the Emperor naked is not easy. C.S. Lewis once said, “The problem with Christians is not that they are too hard to please, but that they are far too easily satisfied.” We are deceived by the Master Deceiver into thinking that instant gratification of fleshly desires will satisfy and fulfill us, and that God’s path is too hard and not worth the work. It is hard work, but it is truly satisfying. I think of God’s "boundaries" as Lewis once described the heaven of Narnia; the further in and further up you go, the wider and more immense the freedom, the richer and more fulfilling the good life truly is.

We were once in darkness, but now we are clothed in light. The culture is gnarly out there, and seeks to destroy us, or at least make us ineffective. It's not neutral, and neither should we be. We will take back what is rightfully our King’s when we're completely saturated with His word and light. The lost will see the difference, and they will either hate us more, or wonder how we are so transformed. When we walk in light and obedience to God, by His grace, we will show the lost how powerful God’s truth is, we’ll build up Kingdom-culture, and live not the easy life, but the truly good life.

“Look everyone, the Emperor has no clothes!”

~A

Cody's 18th BD

February 26th, 1992, The Fall happened. Not really, but that's what Cody will tell you, jokingly. He entered the world, and the doctor said he had never seen a baby with such well-defined eye-brows. And Cody Daniel hasn't stopped surprising people since.



He was a cute baby. A good thing considering how loud he was; he cried a lot. But give him a cookie or ice cream, and he was perfect. He had a sweet tooth before he ever had teeth. Vegetables, no thanks. He still is a picky eater; his skill at disassembling a lasagna is breathtaking. But even more impressive is his "game-sense". As a child, Cody never wanted to be baby-sat in the player's kid's room of the stadium where Dad played. Sitting in the ballpark with Mom Cody could name all the players and their numbers and positions by age 3.


He's always loved sports and been athletic. He played on a tee ball league when he was 7 or 8, and was the most competitive one out there. The skinny kid with a gap in his teeth is now a lanky 6'4" 18 year old. He played in a rag-tag baseball league a few summers ago as a very tall short-stop, and has played basketball for two years now. As I write he is on his way to play in our homeschool/Christian school state all-star basketball game!




It's been a sweet 18 years growing up together, slowly watching him get taller than me, and growing in wisdom and maturity, while maintaining his one of a kind sense of humor. I don't know anyone who makes me laugh as much as Cody. Not only is he fun to be around and has so much mojo, he has such a big heart for God and people. That's why he's one of my favorite people to hang with. ;)



Happy B-Day Bro!