Late night, or was it an early morning?

One night/morning this week I was up with Andrew trying to help Kel get some rare - and well deserved - sleep. Seems like it was around 4 am. He was wide awake, of course, and I was somewhere in between. We made our laps around the living room and kitchen, just trying to hold off the inevitable when he decides that he's had enough and let's everyone know that it's time for him to eat.

As we were making our way around the house, I started thinking about how much has changed for our family in the past year. I would have been shocked to look a year into the future and see myself holding a little newborn! The older kids have changed so much, Drew has arrived, we've moved to a different house, pre-school, etc. It's all happened really fast, but much has changed. The interesting thing was, though, a year ago I was completely clueless to all of it.

This time last year, I really had no idea that we would shortly start talking about the possibility of looking for a new house. I was not seriously considering whether or not we should think about having another child. To be honest, I don't have a clue what my expectations for the year would have even been at that point. The only thing I'm sure of is that I saw none of this coming.

I'm not a planner by nature, but I'm married to one. We make a pretty good team in that department, and we're almost always on the same page about where our family is going. But really, we have no clue. One unexpected event can cause us to abandon our most firm plans. This year, the unexpected has been good for us. It won't always be that way, and I was feeling the weight of that reality the other night. As much joy as we've seen lately, eventually there will be hurt, sadness, and loss. That's the reality of the fallen world we live in. Try as we might to avoid it, we can't, no matter how much we plan. For now, I'll take comfort in this:

Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand. Proverbs 19:21 ESV

Thank you God that your grace is constant - and enough - regardless of our circumstances. And thank you that you have bigger and better plans for us than we can come up with on our own.

-Jeff

Integrity matters?

If you follow college basketball at all, and perhaps even if you don't, you've no doubt seen the mess that is the current state of Indiana basketball. It seems odd to call it a mess. I mean, after all, they are 22-4 so far, easily their best season in several years, and just knocked off their bitter rival Purdue. However, there is a huge gray cloud hanging over the program after recruiting violations by coach Kelvin Sampson have surfaced.

I am never shocked when these types of violations occur anymore. They have become all too common. Although, Sampson had already gotten caught for the same exact type of violations at his previous school and had pledged that it was an honest mistake due to his ignorance of the rules. Indiana, knowing of the previous problems, took him at his word. Kind of hard to argue that excuse this time around, though.

What does surprise me, though, is the reaction of the program and especially that of the fans in this situation. There is outrage at all levels. People want him gone - even though they're winning! It's easy to have that reaction when things aren't going well. However, this is a program that is historically used to winning - a lot - and lately they haven't been. They've been restless, eager for the success they had grown accustomed to. Under Sampson the last two years, there have been signs that things could be turning around. Momentum has been building and this team should go into the tournament as one of the top seeded teams with a realistic shot to go pretty deep. Now, it looks as if it will go to the tournament without it's head coach.

Would this be the reaction everywhere? I have to think not. I mean, we are just talking about phone calls here, right? Seems these infractions could be minimized, you know, in comparison to the greater good that is being accomplished. Well, at Indiana at least, it appears not. I have to hand it to them, it appears that they might just send the message that integrity still means something, perhaps even more than winning.

And who would have thought that Indiana fans might just be wishing for the good ol "non-controversial" days of Bobby Knight . . . :)

-Jeff

Home!

Wow. The past few days have absolutely been a blur. I remember the snow and ice. I remember all of the waiting and frustration at home waiting on the hospital to call and say a bed had opened up. I remember being tired. Then Andrew Franklin was born and I remember forgetting all of that stuff.

It's hard to believe that Drew is finally here, and that today we all got to come home. I remember when we brought Ally home. I remember thinking "Uh, oh. We're on our own and we have this baby that is completely dependent on us. What do we do!?..." It was pretty overwhelming and kind of scary. I still felt like a kid myself and suddenly I'm responsible for a kid!? With Ben, we were anxious to finally get him home since he had to stay in the hospital longer. There was a sense of relief because he was getting healthier and stronger. There was still a little uncertainty in going from 1 child to 2, but mostly relief.

This time, I'm just ready for all of our family to be together. I love being a dad. I love all of these crazy kids running around the house. I love what our family has become and is becoming.

Welcome home, Andrew.

-Jeff

Careful what you ask for . . .

I couldn't begin to tell you how often I've heard my wife lamenting that we never have any good snows anymore . . . . and welcome to the night before we are supposed to head to the hospital to have this baby. There are several inches of snow already on the ground with more possibly on the way. That sounds about right . . .

It's not that I'm worried about labor and delivery being closed due to the weather. I do, however, have this mental image of the car stuck in a ditch and me delivering the baby in the backseat. (Note to self: take Kel's vehicle)

-Jeff

My Super Tuesday

This pregnancy has been an interesting one. Easy for me to say - Kel might have a different way to describe it. After weeks of worrying that this baby was coming too early, with trips to the hospital and medicine to stop all of the contractions, we finally made it to the "safe zone" where the doctors felt comfortable enough to let him come. Kel was able to stop taking the drugs to hold off labor and we got ready for a new baby at any time. That was over two weeks ago, with no activity since.

To our excitement, and Kel's relief, we found out yesterday that the doctors' plan on inducing labor on Tuesday. Planning a date seems odd since neither of the other kids were scheduled, but we are very anxious to meet this new little guy.

I can't imagine my son without thinking of Ben. Knowing how much Ben and Ally are different, I am really looking forward to finding out what makes this guy unique. It's funny how strongly you can feel for someone you've not even met. It's kind of funny, but we weren't always sure that we would have more children. Unknown to us, though, God did have plans for our family, and already has plans for this little man. I'm ready for Tuesday.

-Jeff

The Monday after . . .

A lot of America is moving a little slowly this morning, recovering from what was no doubt an eventful weekend full of parties with friends, tons of food, and everybody talking about the outcome of the big event. Everyone seemed pretty sure of the outcome, and you were scoffed at if you thought otherwise. But, in the end, everybody was wrong and when Punxsutawney Phil finally made his appearance he did in fact see his shadow meaning we are all doomed to six more weeks of winter. Pretty exciting stuff. Also, you may have noticed that the Super Bowl was this weekend.

We got together with our small group from church to watch the game and had a great time. I'm a big football fan, but as time goes on I'm finding the Super Bowl less and less of a big deal. Maybe it's just because I'm just not really emotionally invested in any NFL teams. Although, from the media barrage lasting two full weeks and the pre-game shows that start in the morning (for a 6:30pm game) you'd think you'd have to be crazy not to.

I really did love the game this year. I was happy that the Giants pulled off the upset, but what made it more fun was that absolutely no one gave them any chance of doing it. I don't ever remember any recent sporting event when the outcome seemed so certain. Sure, all of the goofballs like myself had our opinions, but even among the experts and those the most "in the know" couldn't see that this was coming. That always makes me smile. These people should have known, at least, that this was a possibility. That's their job. They live this stuff and are around the game and these players every day.

We are awfully sure of ourselves sometimes. Something to think about the next time you hear the "experts" talking about whatever is popular that day.

And Happy Groundhog Day.

-Jeff

How Great

Interesting worship services this morning. Before the second service as we were walking to the stage, one of the band members learned that his brother had been killed last night. I'm not sure how I would react to news like that, but I'm guessing I wouldn't have done what he did - he played on anyway.

The last song of the service today was "How Great is our God," and as we were finishing up our pastor (who knew about the situation) came up and asked that we sing it again - with some perspective. He expained what had happened and stressed that God really is great - regardless of our circumstances. It's easy to worship when things are great, but things won't always be that way. Even when things seem bleak, don't make sense, and life just hurts - God is still the same as he always was, just like in the good times. Life, however, will continue to cycle between the good times and bad, at least until he comes again to make things right.

Our family has had times like that, and I'm sure I'll write about those at some point. For now, I'm thankful that God is truly great - and in control - regardless of what circumstances we find ourselves in.

-Jeff