4.29.2010

Squirrel Crossing?


The weather has turned spring and squirrels are as active as ever. However, this past week, I am very curious about one question: Why do squirrels cross the road 90% of the way and then stop? I have seen three or so squirrels do this. I would like to ask this question to the lead squirrels and then train them just to keep going all the way. Nothing is stopping them, then why do they stop? Did they learn how to cross the road like one would learn how to have a first kiss? No, this isn't the same. Go all the way, please. For your sake and mine, cross all the way!

4.26.2010

photo shoot #2

A week after Rachel captured some great pictures of our little girl, our good friend, Erika, blessed us immensely with a photo session here at the house. This is Erika's first time photographing a baby. Can you believe it? We think she has a great talent as these pictures will show. Visit her blog for more of her work: http://gashuttergirl.wordpress.com/.

We are certainly happy to have great talented friends, and a cute daughter for a photography subject!

4.25.2010

My Birthday by the Hours

It is a Saturday morning around 7:15 a.m. Normally, I would have been up by now busy with something. I am a morning person so I enjoy the mornings, but this today I was still in bed. Then, Lydia woke up so I decided to get up. As I was getting up, I was stopped by my lovely wife to get back in bed for a moment. She then got up and instructed me on my first birthday task. Late last night (3ish in the morning), Mandy had hid 29 strips of paper around the house each telling a reason why she loved me. I then leaped to my feet and started the search. Each reason was special to me. My favorite funny ones were that "I didn't dress like a normal presbytery pastor with a cell phone holster on my belt loop" and "My deep voice" because Mandy put it on our little subwoofer for our sound system.

Around 8:30 a.m Mandy made breakfast happily. An old-fashioned breakfast plate of eggs, grits, and bacon was served. It was delicious. The rest of the morning for us consisted in sitting around the house and playing with Lydia. For me, I went for a good run in between storm cells at 10:30 a.m.


At roughly 1:00, the first person arrived at our house, my brother David. Uncle David came from Athens, Ga. We got to catch up with him on what is going on and he got to play with Lydia some. Next at 1:30ish, Mandy's parents drove up. They came from Tampa, Fl. This sounds like a surprise birthday party but it wasn't. We were expecting them. Both David and Alex didn't eat, so Mandy fixed them leftover brats with sauerkraut. Five minutes later, my parents with my sister roll up in their RV. Whenever somebody comes to visit you in a RV, the proper verb is that they "rolled up" to your place. So, here we were all in our little town home. Let's just say the volume level rose by a couple thousand notches. We were all catching up with everybody and passing around Lydia (who did GREAT!). I loved it. I love having people, especially family, over at our house. I love watching my sister and brother play with Lydia. I am very thankful they came over... which means much to Mandy and I.


I loved also watching my dad and Alex play with Lydia as well. As you see in the picture, I think they were enjoying it as well. The grandmas were great as grandmas always are! Bringing gifts for their precious granddaughter, they showered Lydia with love. Each of them shined as they brought gifts which express themselves. Mandy's mom continued to build Lydia's collection of knitted-stuffed animals. She is a talented knitter (is that they way you say it?). The new addition is a very creative and colorful rabbit. My mom, who loves puppets and is a professional puppeteer, brought over a bag full of hand puppets. Lydia was mesmerized by her three-minute puppet show.


The small hand on the clock turned five o'clock which means dinner time! And what a dinner it was! Compliments of my dad and mom, they brought some of the best, meatiest, and smoke-flavored ribs that I have ever had. Plus, my mom's potato salad and broccoli which are tasty enough by themselves. It was a great feast with lots and lots of napkins.

After dinner, with full stomachs needing not to sit any longer in the house, we braved the weather and played bocce ball. Three teams all battling it out to see who could get their colored ball the closest to tiny white ball. The first game the teams were 1) my dad and me; 2) my brother and my mom, and 3) Mandy and Alex. This game was a landslide win by my dad and me. Kelly, my sister, was the "backstop" and did save a ball from going down into a storm drain without losing her drink in her hand. Impressive. The second game the teams stayed the same except Kelly switched with Mandy. This game my brother and my mom won, just barely. On a side note, Mandy's mom, Barbara, was inside having the most horrible job of watching and holding Lydia, cooing and laughing and smiling. It is what all Nanas just dislike about their role. :-)

The last game, which we kept the same teams, had a little punch to it. That is, we played for a one dollar per person. The stakes were raised and so was the competition. Each team played their hearts out and tossed till their wrist hurt. It was back and forth. Neck and neck. The rain came but the game went on. A fight for the end and in the end, there was only one winner. My dad and I pulled it out with a 15-12-11 victory. Lydia cheered and we all changed into something drier. It was fun.

The evening was coming to a close. 7:30ish the candles were lit and the family sung the "Happy Birthday Song". Cake and ice cream were devoured. After the cake, some went to bed while others played a game of dice called "Farkle". It was a great way to end and a wonderful day. I begin my 29th year with a great start. May God's grace abound all the more for another year. Thank you Lord for the past 29 years of grace which led me here, and thank You for the future grace I know You have promised. As the famous hymn, Amazing Grace, says,

"Through many dangers, toils and snares
I have already come;
'Tis Grace that brought me safe thus far
and Grace will lead me home."

4.21.2010

Photo Shoot #1


In the past month, Mandy and I have been very blessed to have two of our good friends come by and take pictures of Lydia. Both friends graciously came to us and desiring to share their God-given gift of photography with us. We most definitely said, "YES!"

We want to thank Rachel Wetzel for joyfully taking pictures of Lydia. Mentioned in a previous post, Rachel and her husband, DJ, came by Easter weekend to hang out with us, meet Lydia, and have a little photo shoot. Rachel has a up-and-coming photography business where she wants to specialize in weddings and babies shoots. We would highly recommend her creative photography and gracious professionalism to all who read this blog and their friends. Please check out her website: http://wetzelphoto.blogspot.com/ Now, to the photos!

Happiness!


Chillin'!




Our Rock Star!!!



4.13.2010

This weekend: Licensure and Ordination

It is great to know that Christ continues to call and charge the men of His church to pastor and shepherd over them (Acts 20:28). This call is both noble and serious.

This past Saturday I took my licensure exam. I can compare the whole thing to training for and running a marathon that I did in 2004. In both cases, I started to study/train in January. Each week the training/studying grew more and more. At the end of my marathon training, I was running 20 some odd miles. At the end of my studying, I was retaining and memorizing so much information. For both of them, I had desires to put it off and/or forget about it. I am thankful to Zack Carden, our youth pastor at CCC, who has taken this exam, for his encouragement in the beginning. All this leads up to the day of the test/race. Thankfully, I was pleased with my marathon (I never want to do that again!) and even more thankful, I am pleased with how the test went. I don't know the results, but I feel very confident in the fact that I answered the questions clearly and concisely. I want to thank the Lord for his grace in this process and his continual answer to my prayer to expand my mind, retain the information and let the truths I studied soak down into my heart and through my life.



Then on Sunday evening, Mandy, Lydia, and I had the great honor to see one of my best friend, Dusty Martin, become ordained in the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). It was a great evening and I am encouraged to see God working in and through Dusty as he is serving as Youth and Children Pastor at Tabernacle Baptist Church (http://tabernaclebaptistofvidalia.org/) in Vidalia, Ga, home of the famous vidalia onion.




I love some vidalia onions... Has anyone ever had a fried vidalia onion sandwich? Delicious! Anyway, may God bless Dusty and his family that God's name will be great in that city!

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What is and why take a licensure exam (in the PCA)?
For those who feel called into full-time ministry in the PCA (our denomination), taking and passing the licensure exam allows them to preach in a PCA pulpit on a regular bases. The exams cover Bible, theology, and Book of Church Order (the government policies of the church). That is, if I pass, I will be licensed to preach.

4.08.2010

And the Cuteness Continues!

We are not humble when it comes to our little baby girl. She is cute and we know it. We are super proud of her for simple things like finding her thumb to suck on, saying "ah-goo", and smiling at our jokes. We are, however, acutely aware that we could never create someone so adorable, nor do we deserve to, without the grace of God. This little gift named Lydia keeps us looking to our Lord as our gracious Father. So, I suppose in this way, we are driven to humility and thankfulness for His generosity.

This past week Lydia had her share of visitors. On Easter Sunday, we had several people up to our house for a cookout. No, it wasn't the traditional ham but it was too beautiful outside not to take advantage of Brian's new grill (an early birthday present). Our friends from SC, Rachel and DJ, were here to celebrate Easter with us as well as Chris, Michelle and Kelsie from church. We ate grilled kabobs, lemon meringue pie, and played games...intermittently fawning over Lydia of course.







The following day, the Kazee family came to visit (Uncle Duane, Aunt MaryBeth, and cousins Karen, Patrick and Meghan). They stayed the night and we all took a trip to Stone Mountain Park on Tuesday. We rode the train, sky-ride to the top, and just enjoyed the beautiful weather. Patrick loved holding Lydia and his sisters perfected the art of just the right amount of bouncing to ease fussiness!

Wednesday she must have been tired out because I have never seen her sleep that much! We hope we get to continue sharing our little girl with our friends and family...and the sleepy-baby is not a bad side effect!

4.06.2010

I like Ketchup

I (Brian) admit: I like Ketchup. "Like" might be to soft of a verb. For me, it has the potential to go with almost all "salty" foods: all meats, potatoes, eggs, and everything leftover. I don't hate it when I get a little on my vegetables. There is always a back up bottle in storage and sometimes a backup to the backup. The news of my ketchup infatuation has spread around our church that when Mandy and I came back from Jamaica last spring, the first question one of the church staff members, Bonnie, asked me was, "What did you do about Ketchup?" I assured her that there was ketchup in Jamaica. I wouldn't be surprise if I received a 5-gallon tub of ketchup as a parting gift when the Stock family leaves for overseas missionary work. Anyway, here is some ketchup humor:

4.05.2010

First Easter!


At church, our youth pastor, Zack Carden, snapped this photo of the ladies of the Stock household. Both of them are precious! More photos to come!

4.02.2010

Come on, we know why you look at this blog...

it's for pictures of Lydia. We know it. Admit it....she's the cutest baby in the blogosphere. So to appease her adoring public, here are some more pictures of her.



Lydia is currently 11 weeks old (well, she will be tomorrow). She is enjoying the beautiful spring weather and her new-found onesies. She's getting a lot of kisses on the feet and fat little thighs these days since they are out in the open! She loves baths in the sink, except for the part where she has to get out. She also has really taken to her stroller (see the difference from our post about her first stroller ride in January) and we often go for walks at Dellinger Park here in town. We are enjoying each day with her and are excited she is starting to get into a little routine. She is still not sleeping through the night, but even those quiet night-time feedings are precious as we realize this will not last forever. The reality of her growing so quickly encourages us to make the most of even the most "inconvenient" times.

4.01.2010

God's Wonderful Surprise for Kids and Adults alike

Mandy and I love to put Lydia to bed. This is not only because Lydia needs her sleep to grow and mommy and daddy need some time together, but it is the time when we can read to Lydia and then pray over her. These first few months we have read through The Big Picture Story Bible by David Helm. This is a great resource for parents with small kids who are just learning to read. We also have The Jesus Storybook Bible which is for kids who are a little older. Both these children's Bibles share the greatest love story of all God's love for his people.

Here is a video of God's Wonderful Surprise in Jesus' Resurrection narrated and illustrated in The Jesus Storybook Bible. The intro is long (45 seconds) so you can just skip ahead.

I Feel Like Someone is Sitting on My Head. And They Might Be.

How is having a head cold like sleeping next to a child? I'm not overly prone to sickness nor do I often co-sleep with my three beaut...