time with friends

some image explanations:

playing zumba wii with our friends the kims and the laras.

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legit chinese buffet. mun kil offered to feed jaythan while i filled up my plate.

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josh and his fiance, michelle, teach jaythan the blues.

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a wonderful evening spent with the dear kims. jaythan watches their son, enoch, in amazement. 'hey, that guy's small like me. he's movin' around. how the heck is he doin' that?'



wishin' you could all come and spend some time in our lives. we love you all!

fun in the sun

so the weather's been beautiful the past few days. so i did what every good mother would do: take pictures of my son in the sun (it was fun)!!!

Sandy Cove

This last weekend we went on a church retreat to Sandy Cove in Maryland.

It was wonderful. Almost our entire church was there, and the focus was on faith and friendship. The time was well-spent getting to know one another and praising our wonderful God.

And the sunsets along the coast weren't too bad, either.

turtles and monkeys and penguins, oh my!

last week we went to the zoo with our dear friends, the kims.

they are great. and so are ginormous turtles. but not equally so.

i felt like such a mom....wheelin around a stroller and all.

oh, and jaythan's crawling and pulling up and making his parents anxiety shoot through the roof. expect video soon.

a blistery breakfast for two

what a surprise! i sign in to post a blog, and lo and behold, my husband has beaten me to it. how blessed am i?

really, truly blessed, and truly in love.

speaking of love, i hope you all had a wonderful v-day yesterday. most importantly, i hope you felt the love of your creator. last week, i was asked to lead the 'prayers of the people' at church. i would like to share a segment with you.

'Valentine's day is this week. To many Americans this means chocolate, roses, and paper hearts, but the history of it is very different. Valentine’s day originated to commemorate 2 men who loved God so much that they were willing to give up their lives in His name. How fitting then, that this day has become a celebration of love. How even more fitting that Valentine comes from the Latin  word ‘valens’, meaning strength.

Jesus said, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

So God, I pray that like the St. Valentines of centuries ago, we learn to truly love with our whole hearts, souls, minds, and strength--our ‘valens’.

Amen' 

i find it interesting that society associates love with weakness, when it is anything but. love takes courage and strength. and it is stinkin' HARD. so may God give you the strength to love today...and forever.

and may you all have a beautiful, blistery day!

Somebody's Birthday

Today my wife turns a quarter-century. I think she is still young enough for me to tell the world her age—she is certainly beautiful enough. As I think back over the last six and half years that I have known her, I am simply flabbergasted. This woman has simply changed my life.

She changed me from an immature boy who didn’t really “get” women into a confused man who still doesn’t “get” women, but is none the less taken aback by the mystery of woman.

She has given me a heart of greater compassion, by introducing me to the world of the right-brain. This weird world is a place where beauty is more important than practicality. I didn’t say I understand it now; I’ve just been introduced! :)

She has gently led me into the role of fatherhood. Without her calm poise and earnest exploration, there is no way I would even be close to an adequate father.

Whitney is simply amazing. She’s the best. Thank you, God, for giving me my best friend.

I pray that the next quarter century is even better than the last. I love you Whitney!