28 Thanks!

A season of thanks! I have so much to be thankful for! As I am 28 years old, here are 28 things that I am thankful for from the past year. God is so good.

1. I am thankful for God’s sovereign love for me. Oh how He loves me. Oh how he is jealous for me so that I might be jealous for Him. His relentless passion for His glory is my satisfaction.
2. I am thankful for chocolate milk. 3/4 milk and 1/4 chocolate. I like it thick.
3. I am thankful for having a great family. I have great parents, good in-laws, and fun siblings. I hope this coming year I will have more

time with them as we always have a good time together.
4. I am thankful for Cheetos. During the first trimester of wife’s pregnancy, she was very sick to the stomach. The only thing that kept her stomach settled was Cheetos. Imagine that!
5. I am thankful for running. In some way, it is my “sanctuary.”
6. I am thankful for the blessing of a little daughter who will arrive in this world this coming February. I can’t wait to meet her and love her. I already love her so much.
7. I am thankful for MTW’s wisdom to slow down our timing to the missions field. The past three months, we have grown in grace through and by their decision.
8. I am thankful for the book of Psalms. For about a year, I have been mediating upon one Psalm a week. They have taught me how to sing better, have given me grace to cry, and pointed me to Christ every time.
9. I am thankful for my Proverbs 31 wife. I remember a couple of weeks ago in one day she cooked dinner, went to the bank, did the laundry, and putty and painted the wall. She is truly a treasure to me.
10. I am thankful for sweet peppers from the garden. Though they weren’t what I expected, it was really fun picking (a lot of) them, figuring out what they go with, and giving them away to parents and friends.
11. I am thankful for the three gentlemen in my covenant group. They have a desire to change to Christ. They want to study the Word, memorize Scripture, and learn from godly books and each other. I am glad we are walking this season of life together.
12. I am thankful for having two opportunities to preach the Word of God this past year. One of those opportunities was at CCC which was very special. It is truly a blessing to herald the great Gospel of Jesus Christ.
13. I am thankful for Reinhardt College and my job. I love my job and I love hang out with the guys I work with. What fun we have!
14. I am thankful for the God who works out all things for those who love him. This year has been crazy with so many things. Yet, all these things are bring Mandy and I closer to Christ and His image.
15. I am thankful for old and new friends. It was awesome spending time with the Fishers this summer. This year it has been great getting to know new friends like the Goodrichs and Andersons.
16. I am thankful for my church family at Christ Community. Every Sunday it is a joy to join together in worship of Jesus. It is great that we can sing, laugh, listen, and break bread together.
17. I am thankful for marriage counseling. This was recommended by MTW to Mandy and I. It has been so good. I feel more connected to my wife and I know that I so much to learn about her and myself.
18. I am thankful for John Calvin. On July 10, 1509, Calvin was born and this year we celebrated his 500th birthday. Calvin has taught me two truths: the majesty of God’s Word and the centrality of Christ in all things.
19. I am thankful for spaghetti. The greatest meal ever. I can eat so much of it.
20. I am thankful for music especially music directing my heart to Jesus. There is nothing like it. It stirs up my heart to the highest joys to glorify Jesus.
21. I am thankful for a long drive to work. I have so much time to think and pray. I get to drive through the North Georgia Mountains every morning! It is beautiful.
22. I am thankful for God’s love is better than unconditional love. This refers to one of the sermons I preached. The text was 1 John 4:8-11. God’s love is active, sacrificial, intrusive, and covenantal.
23. I am thankful for playing cards. This is one of the fun activities Mandy and I do regularly. She probably wins more, but that is because I let her (j/k).
24. I am thankful for 24. It is so good and intense! Jack Bauer does it again.
25. I am thankful for the Palmer Home in Mississippi. This year I was able to spend two weeks helping build the Oak Ridge Home for children. The Palmer Home has such a great ministry loving on the unloved.
26. I am thankful for men who preach the Word of God. I am thankful for Pastor Mike who week in and week out, preaches the Gospel to my sinful and needy heart.
27. I am thankful for the men and women who serve this country overseas to protect this country and fight for freedom. May justice, truth, and mercy prevail!
28. I am thankful for the Christmas season. I absolutely love it! The anticipation! The Incarnation! The songs! The joys! The feast! The festival atmosphere everywhere! There’s nothing like it.

Week 29

Here is Mandy with more than a bun in the oven....we had ham, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, and more. This Sunday we both had our small group Bible studies over for a family-style dinner. In total there were 14 adults and one baby...and of course Baby Stock. That is not the most we've had at our house before but this time it was a little different since we decided to not do buffet-style, but to have everyone crowd around 2 long tables. It was a challenge, but the close quarters made the fellowship better and more "cozy". It was well worth the tight squeeze.

This week, of course, we are also in for more eating and fellowship time for Thanksgiving. We have so much to be thankful for this year: our growing daughter, our family who loves us, and of course all the wonderful holiday food God provides! Praise the Giver of all things, how He loves us!

Week 28

Sorry, no picture this week. We just ran out of time when I felt like having my picture taken and we were both home together! Promise there will be one for week 29. New things this week in the developing baby Stock world include a new "scooting" motion rather than simply kicks and turns (although those are still there as well). She also is very excited about the holidays...I can tell this by my urge to sing Christmas carols already...oh, wait that happened even before I was pregnant!

Baby Stock is healthy and growing. We are in prayer that God is growing her spiritually even in the womb. We pray she would be a baby, young girl, and eventually woman who is so in love with Jesus and lives in reverent fear of God. Pray along with us for her to come to know Him as her Savior, Lord and Treasure at a very young age.

Week 27

We have officially entered the third trimester!

Baby Stock has grown to a little over two pounds and can (according to the baby book) open her eyes. Although, I'm not sure what she is seeing since it's dark in there...unless my kidneys are giving off an orange glow after that ridiculously strong Tang I drank at youth group last night!

Our doctor's visit last week confirmed she is still growing healthy. Mandy does NOT have gestational diabetes...another test involving something very much like strong Tang. She is precisely within the weight-gain guidelines (even with all that Halloween candy!) and, perhaps most exciting, the doctor predicted no stretch marks!

Last week we attended our first "birthing class" at the hospital. The labor and delivery nurse that teaches left nothing to hide from all these rookie parents. We passed around an epidural needle, fetal monitoring kits, and a baby vacuum puller-outer (which she assured us they rarely use). The video was not as graphic as you would expect but did show the true emotion, frustration and sheer exhaustion of a laboring mother. As Brian said, he has the easy part...and true labor looks nothing like they make it look in the movies!

Computer Medicine

This past Saturday Mandy and I went over to my parent's house on an emergency visit: My parent's computer was on its deathbed. It had an extreme case of malware/spyware on it. Was there hope? Could this computer tread on the brink of death yet still live? In this case, yes. I was able to save the computer but I couldn't have done it alone. In these types of situations (malware/spyware issues), there are only two programs I will use and they work great (and FREE):

1) Malwarebytes (http://www.malwarebytes.org/)

2) SuperAntiSpyware (http://www.superantispyware.com/)

So, if you are having virus, malware, or spyware problems, save your money and don't buy Norton or Mcafee (they don't work anyway and they are system hogs!), go with these two programs.

One last note: Using Windows System Restore to take your computer back a couple of days sometimes works as well. This is a good place to start and then install these programs and scan your computer.