Vital stats:
Date: Oct 24, 2008 @ 5:30pm
Weight: 7lb 9.2 oz
Length: 19 – 1/4 inches

(Amelie blessing us with her voice)

For more photos go here

Here’s some stills of Amelie.. or baby Ami as our kids call her.

(Hiding behind her feet)

(Hand pose)

(Nice Yawn)

(And back to sleep)

Behold children are a gift of the LORD, the fruit of the womb is a reward. – Psalm 127:3

Sean showing us how its done.

Ryan cruising on the board

Me finally getting up

Me with a major face-plant

Arlene posted an entry on her blog about where we were some weeks back along with a video clip. That was a good time and dinner was fantastic! Junior’s got mad skills in the kitchen.

We recently got back from the “happiest place on earth” so expect some photos to be posted soon. 3 days was simply not enough in the Magic Kingdom. Next time we definitely need to stay atleast 5 days… more on the whole trip later.

One last thing to mention is The Cornerstone Seminary will be hosting a Summerim where Phil Johnson, yes the Pyromaniac himself, will be speaking on the Life and Sermons of Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

I found myself most encouraged by this since it challenges me to think of where my strength is coming from and how it causes me to lead my family.  Sibbes says a very pointed and helpful statement here:

Some have light of knowledge, yet follow not that light, but are guided by carnal reason and policy, such as those that the prophet speaks of, ‘All ye that kindle a fire … walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled.  This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow’ (Isa 50:11)… We must therefore, walk by His light, not by the blaze of our own fire.  God must light our candle (Psalm 18:28) or else we will abide in darkness.  Those sparks that are not kindled from heaven are not strong enough to keep us from lying in sorrow, though they make a greater blaze and show than the light from above, as madmen do greater things than sober men, but by a false strength: so the excess of these men’s joy arises from a false light. (pg. 39-40)

If you have faced trying times or have had dry seasons in your walk with the Lord, the temptation is to try to “get yourself fired up” again for Christ.  I’ve done that and as Sibbe’s rightly said, produced nothing since those self-produced blazes are not strong enough.  Why?  Those fires were not from Him.  They were not kindled by Christ, that spark we tried to turn into a blaze was not God’s spark but our own.  Our affections may have been driven by guilt instead of love.  We may have been drawn back to Christ out of neglect instead of drawn by His cords of love (Hosea 11).

(HT: JT)

(click to see photos)

(HT: DJP)

our web stats indicate: interest in reading the Bible daily crests in January
and fades throughout the year. Maybe you’ve tried to read the Bible in
a year before and haven’t succeeded. In trying to read a good portion
of the Bible by February 1, you can rely on your initial enthusiasm and
resolve to almost carry you through—you may find that you’re done
before you realize it.

Any takers who want to do it with me?  So the reality in accomplishing this goal is you’ll have to start now and will need to spend 76 minutes per day.  (The 76 minutes actually assumes you start by December 10th).  You’re already two days behind so you’ll have to spend a bit more then 76 minutes in January.  I think this will be a good chance to read through a different translation like the ESV.

So your daily bible reading will require 6 pages in the NT and 19 pages in the OT per day if you want to be done by Feb, 1st. 2008. This daily page count assumes you’re using the ESV Classic Reference which has 1259 pages. Calculate your own bible pace by looking at the final page number in the book of Revelation and divide that page number by the number of days between now and Feb 1, 2008. That figure will determine how many pages per day you need to read. To determine the OT and NT reading do the same simple division except divide the total number of NT pages by the number of remaining days between now and Feb 1, 2008. Similarly do the same for the number of OT pages by the number of remaining days between now and Feb 1, 2008. Even if you don’t stick to this plan you’ll be way ahead for your reading for the year.

Before I end this post, it must be said that there’s obvious negatives from this approach, namely: you may not understand a thing you’ve read!  So one thing that would be helpful is to write.. actually first thing would be to pray David’s prayer before reading: “Open my eyes that I may behold wonderful things from Thy Law” (Psalm 119:18).  Second read, third write down a thought or two from your reading that you can meditate upon the day.

(HT: ESV Blog)

Of all the holidays in the year, Christmas remains our favorite and look forward to establishing traditions and memories. Here’s one memory that we won’t soon forget.

(click on the images to see larger view)

And down came the tree

Our itinerary for that special day will be:

9am Sunday School
10:15am Morning Worship Service
6pm Evening Worship Service

If you’re in the Sacramento area and looking for a bible-church that exalts Christ I encourage you to visit TCBC of Natomas!