Interesting Comments

Here lately I have had a few very interesting comments. One from Janet Jackson, another from The National Security Agency of the USA, and finally from an anonymous "experienced mother" who supposedly pressed her belly up against a Doppler radar to hear her baby's heartbeat over the evening weather report. I appreciate good humor and got a few good laughs out of the comments. Thanks to those "anonymous commenters".

I do request however, that anyone who wants to post in the future, leave your real name.

Thanks for the cooperation on this.

The Next Big Question.... is it a boy or a girl?

All the times of feeling sick and being sick paid off in a big way today. We went to the doctor this morning and heard the most amazing sound we’ve ever heard in our lives. After what seemed like a long time of trying to find the heartbeat, which I’m pretty sure was only 5 or 10 seconds, relief flooded my heart to hear that baby’s strong, healthy heartbeat. As I relaxed to take it all in, Freddy kept saying “Wow! That’s amazing, Wow! The sound of that heart beating is one we could listen to all day long and never get enough of . I told Freddy, “I hope as long as I live I never forget what that sounded like today.” As some of you know this appointment was much anticipated, because the Daddy prayed for triplets. Unless we missed something today, we are pretty sure there is only one baby growing inside there. How can anyone who has ever heard the beating of their child’s heart for the first time doubt for one second that God does not exist? He is truly working a miracle inside of me right now.

Everything is right on track. The doctor said I was healthy and believe it or not I’ve actually lost 4 pounds being pregnant. Nothing to worry about though. January 1st is still the expected due date which means the holidays could be very interesting in our family this year. I’ll go back to the doctor in 3 weeks, and then after that we can schedule an ultra sound to determine if we have a girl or a boy.

I’m still in complete amazement of how good God has been to us. Thank you for all of you who are praying for us and our baby. We are looking forward to continuing to share our journey together.

Can't Sleep - Doctor's Appt. Tommorrow

I feel like a kid at Christmas and can't get to sleep. We are going to the doctor tomorrow and are supposed to be able to hear the babies' heartbeat(s). So, I was laying in bed wide awake. I got up and worked on some sermon stuff and then this little post. Its about 1am our blogger clock is off so the it wont read the proper time. If you will be upset to read the update tommorrow night on the blog...then call our cell's tomorrow sometime after 11:00 am. I know there are a few of you out there because of the heckling we've been getting. We are a little nervous and very prayerful, excited as all get out.

Hero Highlight - The Claytons

Great friends of ours, and intimate friends of Jesus, Craig, Lori, Lydia, Graham, and Isabella Clayton are missionaries in Celaya, Mexico. The Claytons are heroes of mine for too many reasons to list. Currently, they have abandoned many comforts, safeties, and simple pleasures I take for granted all for the sake of taking the gospel to the people of Celaya. They will probably cringe if they read this, for they do not think of themselves as heroes. Nevertheless, heroes they will forever remain in my heart. Their courage and faith in recent days have been a model for the church all over the world.

Life as a missionary is real. Missionaries get tired, frustrated, angry, and afraid.

Pause and pray for the Claytons with me today. Pray for a supernatural filling of the Spirit and power of God in their lives today. Pray specifically that God will raise up and grow strong indigenous leaders in their midst. Visit their their website to learn a little more about their ministry in Celaya and how to pray for them most specifically. Impact the world today through prayer for the Claytons!

Quite Possibly...

...the cutest thing you'll see all day. This is our nephew Trevor!

A Bit of an Explanation

I've been blogging for almost a year now. The first blog I ever heard about belongs to our good friends Lori and Dustin Walker. Props to the Walkers! Lori and Dustin, along with Susan were 3 of the first 5 people on the field in New Brunswick, New Jersey tilling the ground as they planted The Point Church. Lori keeps their blog up of their cute as can be twin girls here. To see two cutie patootie twins check out their blog.

The explanation is about the list of links over on the side of our blog, and what that is all about. Certainly, it is to expose visitors to the Laughing and Learning blog to some excellent web resources and other blogs they may enjoy following. By no means do I support/affirm all of the positions/opinions one may find on those sites. But rather the list of sites serves primarily as a one stop kind of home base for me. Many of the blogs and resources I have listed, I visit often. By posting them on this blog, I can get to them all very quickly just by coming to our blog. Sometimes I will list someone's blog site by way of encouragement hoping it will spur them on to more blogging. An example of that is found here. A hopeless cause of that is found here.

My list is always changing every 3 or 4 months or so. It is by no means a comprehensive list of all blogs or websites I visit, and it is not a representation of Susan's top blogs. Take Lori and Dustin's (noted above) for instance. Susan visits their blog all the time. Whenever there is a new cute picture of the twins she shows me - however because I'm not regularly checking the growth of the two cuties, I don't have their blog listed. I may change my approach in the future. I have thought about sometime soon, passing this whole blog to Susan and it being more of family and friends blog, while I start a fresh one that is a theological reflection only kind of thing. Thus far, our blog has had a more devotional tone, with theological reflection and family friend stuff sprinkled in from time to time. Some of you may have wondered, most of you probably haven't.

Build A Brother's Library

Why should the girls have all the fun? When you get married, it can be overwhelming all the goodies loved one's and friends pass along your way. Girls get the best end of the deal on this one because most of wedding gifts are more up her alley. Although, us guys definitely benefit in the long run from all the dishes (food eventually is cooked/served on those). About a year and a half ago I decided to turn the tables a little and host a book party for a buddy of mine. It is perfect for your seminary buddies or anyone who is an avid reader. We're excited because we're having one for my good buddy Kyle Barrett in a week or so. Every guy who comes will be invited to bring a book and verbal blessing for Kyle. It is a great way help build a brother's library. File this one away for future use fellas.

Missing Susan in NC

I flew over to Wilmington, NC Thursday to preach for a college event hosted by the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina. The retreat is held at the beach of sorts at Ft. Caswell. Yesterday morning at 6:00 the alarm in the room connected to mine began to go off. It was loud. It was not stopping. I got up, went through the kitchenette, knocked on the door and hollered at no one to get up and turn the alarm off. I went outside (where I noticed it was beautiful at 6am) and knocked on the door and again hollered at no one to turn the alarm off. I came back to my room and got in bed. The noise did not seem as loud as it had previously been. The the air conditioner kicked off and the alarm clock returned to its original volume. I opened the drawer to the night stand and found a number to the retreat center. A security guard answered the phone. "I'm a speaker here this week, and I'm in room 12. The alarm in room...", "What building are you in?" He interrupted. "It is a long flat...", "That doesn't help me." He interrupted again. [apparently since there are about 20 different buildings on campus a description was not going to be that helpful.] So I found a map in the Guests Services Directory and was able to identify what building I was in, and finished telling the man on the other line what the problem was. Within about 12 minutes someone came with a key to room 11 and turned the alarm off. Back to bed I went. While up at 6am that morning I did notice the beauty of the campus and beach at that time of morning, so I decided to get up [on purpose] this morning and go for a run. My alarm went off at 6:15 and I awoke to find it raining and cloudy. Ahhh! It has been a great few days here. It is a fairly small group of about 50 college students and they are soaking the messages up. Last night, I went to eat with the director and a few others to a hole in the wall [best kind] seafood joint. It was actually at the site where they filmed part of the boat scene from the movie Cape Fear. The boiled shrimp and crab cakes were so good! The retreat is going great, I just miss Susan like crazy. Some of you who read this, may be wondering why we didn't get her to come too. Well, they only allow a certain number of seats on each flight to be allotted for vouchers and we waited too late to try to snag a ticket. I've got three more messages and then back to Louisville. I'll miss the good folks at FBC tomorrow. I start a one-week summer term on World Religions Monday. Perhaps my flight home on Sunday will be as fruitful as this one was.