Chris Here

Well after Mindy's last post, I wanted to put something up too. We have spent so much time blogging about Cade-man we have forgotten to blog about ourselves. So I am going to put somethings up in the blogosphere here for everyone to read.

First, it has been a pretty weird, hard, exciting, tiring, and sometimes boring summer. This is the first summer in over 14 years that I have not been busy doing something inside a ministry context. It has been great to be with my family and see Cade grow and change daily and I have loved being able to hang out with Mindy. So much of our lives have revolved around my job or my aspirations (and being in Abilene continues this tradition) this summer different in that I have really done NO ministry: i.e. mission trips, camps, retreats, lock ins, VBS, devos, etc. To be blunt, I really miss it very much. I never knew how much I loved working with teens and families until taking time away from it. I guess the old saying, 'you don't know what you've got until its gone' applies here. Needless to say it has been quite an adjustment coming here this summer. We have been burning the candle at both ends for so long, it has been hard to downshift but we believe it has been very much needed. To use a phrase from Mindy, we needed some healing time together. Some time away from Ministry--which may be hard for some of you to hear and understand.

Second, I am very excited to begin the Marriage and Therapy program at ACU. I am very excited to learn more about helping families be what God created them to be. I know it will be hard and I am sure i will struggle with the new lifestyle but I believe this will be a great tool in my ministry career. I have become even more passionate about families, marriages, etc over the past few years and believe this program is a great place for me to be.

Third, I can not wait to see Parker's face and hold her in my arms and continue to road of fatherhood. Though we were a bit taken a back when we found out Mindy was pregnant, we are very very very excited her arrival. We seem to be more excited every day. We are excited for Cade to have a sister and for them to be so close in age. I am so happy about our family becoming 4. We have this idea and this outlook about family that really started the day that Cade was born. We believe our family is a team. We work together for each other and with each other. We want to support each other, cry with each other, laugh with each other and build each other up.

Lastly, we are very much looking to get involved in a church here. It has been hard to do until now because we have been traveling so much. But we are hoping that will change over the coming weeks. We miss that 'family'. We miss our Fairfax family very much and will never forget our life there and the way that God brought each person into our lives. We were honored to be part of their lives.
We are excited about the next 2 years and cant wait to share it with everyone. Thanks for all your love and support.