The Cutest Pumpkin Ever

Lydia was a pumpkin for Halloween. She, in our opinion is cute in anything, but here she is a little orange gourd. She didn't like getting dressed up much...if you look closely you can see a tear. But all in all trick-or-treating went well. Daddy carried her from door to door in our friends' subdivision (we went with a big group of toddlers, babies and parents). Lydia graciously donated all her candy to Mommy and Daddy. We, in return, gave her green beans and yogurt. Apparently she found this fair.

MORE PICTURES: Family Photo, Trick or Treat, Pumpkin Photo Shoot #'s 7, 2, 5, 6

5 Gospel Essentials: Free Offer by Faith Alone

The past Sunday was Halloween. (For those who read our blog for Lydia updates - Lydia was a pumpkin. Pictures coming soon.) But more importantly, it was Reformation Day--when the church celebrates Martin Luther nailing a paper of 95 theses to the door of the Wittenburg University's Castle Church to spark an academic discussion about their contents. In God's providence and unbeknownst to anyone else that day, it would become a key event in igniting the Reformation.

As Martin Luther, along with others, questioned the Church's teaching on matters of selling of indulgences, the treasury of merit, and purgatory he would conclude that salvation by faith plus works or by faith was the issue.

"This one and firm rock, which we call the doctrine of justification," insisted Martin Luther, "is the chief article of the whole Christian doctrine, which comprehends the understanding of all godliness." He also called this doctrine the article of the standing and falling of the church... "if this article stands, the Church stands; if it falls, the Church falls." Justification by grace alone through faith alone in Christ's righteousness alone is the gospel, the core of the Christian faith around which all other Christian doctrines are centered and based.

Luther read passages like Galatians 2:15-16, " We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified."

In this passage, we find that we are not justified (or accepted/approved/made right with God) by obedience to the works of the Law. That is, what we do, either good or bad, or our merit cannot be the base for our relationship with God. In fact, no one can be made right with God by their faithfulness to the law or own moral standing. It is clear as day that all have broken, disobeyed and rebelled against God and His law. Is there another way?

Yes, "through faith in Jesus Christ". God works, obeys, and lives for us. It is Jesus Christ's perfect obedience to the law of God. It is His righteousness and goodness given or credited to us. We believe in what God has given to us. Faith is essentially a receiving of what someone else does, and not what we do on our own. We look away from ourselves and to Christ as our Savior, Lord and Treasure. Now, we are justified/accepted/approved/made right with God by God in Christ. God only sees Jesus over those who believe in Him.

This is the Gospel. It is a free offer of Christ and His perfections for anyone who would believe, not in themselves, but in Him alone through faith alone.

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Other passages:

Romans 3:26-28 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. 27 Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. 28 For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.

Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Titus 3:4-7 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Playdates, Daddy-time and Lydia's Future Alma Mater

A hog-podge of pictures for your enjoyment, dear blog-reader.

"Here Lydia, this is how you do it." -David

Moments before David exited the wagon and asked my permission to give Lydia a kiss. Of course I said yes. It was too cute.

A favorite time of the day for me. Brian gets home from work on Friday, takes Lydia outside to look at the garden while I prep dinner. Here I'm not prepping dinner, but taking pictures of this sweet moment at the Stock Household.

"How are the cayenne peppers doing Little Girl?" -Daddy

Chris and Sarah (both Georgia Tech grads) invited me to come along to the Clemson/GT football game this weekend. The Tigers won, of course. Before the game we all toured the campus and Lydia posed in front of Tillman Hall. Her mommy's hope is that she one day calls Clemson home too. Well, I told her she could go anywhere she wants to...besides University of South Carolina.

Rock Ranch Adventure!

Mandy's birthday present this year from her mom and step dad was season passes to the Rock Ranch's Family Fall Days. The Rock Ranch is a 1250-acre working cattle farm, owned by Chick-Fli-A founder, Truett Cathy, south of Barnesville, Georgia. It is a wonderful place for families to spend a day enjoying Rock Ranch's many activities, each other, and God's glorious creation. They have a whole days worth of activities: train rides, tiny town, petting zone, land slide, paddle boats, corn maze, family dodge ball, face painting, and so much more! This fall, we have had the enjoyment of heading down south to the Rock Ranch two times. The first time was just the Stock family and the second time Papa and Nana came up from Tampa to enjoy a Saturday with us.

The video captures the first weekend with the Stock family. Underneath the video are pictures from the second trip. Enjoy!

Lydia's first adventure of the day was to sit on a giant cow with the help of Daddy! Mooo!

During this Family Fall day at the Rock Ranch, they had Hot-Air balloons. They are always a neat sight to see!

Adventure Mommy with her sidekick, Chickin' MINI, on her back!

We are at the petting zone, Lydia's favorite adventure in the whole-wide world (at least, as of now!). Papa and Lydia are feeding the goats.

Lydia and her new found friend, pony!

At this point, all I could hear from Lydia was "Pony. Pony. I want a pony. I want a pony. Please. Please, come home with us. Pony, Please!"

Nana is showing Lydia all the cool adventures at the Rock Ranch from the train!

Lydia: Nine Months

3/4 of a year "on the outside"! Since she was born a few weeks early, Lydia has now been in the world as we know it for as much time as she was inside Mommy. Kinda weird to think about, but amazing how God is growing her.

We went to the pediatrician this week for a flu shot, a really long questionnaire on her skills and a weight and height check. Our little gal is weighing in at 17 lbs 7 ounces...which was way off our guesses (more like 20!). She has also grown 2 inches since our 6 month appointment, so she is now 26 inches long. She is consistently in the lower percentiles for weight and upper for height. Although she may not look tall and skinny now, that's what the stats say... it seems she may take after her Daddy in this as well!

Her fine motor skills (grasping, moving things from hand to hand, figuring out how to get a toy out of something else, etc) are excellent. Verbally she's also got mad skilz! However, in the gross motor skills category (crawling, pulling up, etc) not so much. We are not worried, but must continue to refrain from holding her all the time. :/ Everything else checked out great...good heart, kidneys and lungs (she even screamed at the doctor to demonstrate).

We love love love her so much...and if you are reading this blog, I assume you do too. Keep praying for her to grow, learn and love the Lord Jesus Christ with her whole heart, soul, mind and strength.

5 Gospel Essentials: Achieved and Accomplished

[My last post in this series was this summer in June. I have struggled writing anything since then as my mind desired to take a break after finishing school. Writing nor reading comes easy to me and each is a painstaking task. But, Lord willing, I will press on forward and begin to write again. Now, to the post...]

"What is the News?"

News matters. Just the other day, after more than two months of survival, miners from Chile were rescued. When the mine caved in on August 5, the men were all thought dead in yet another of Latin America's litany of mining accidents. But rescuers found them 17 days later with a bore hole the width of a grapefruit. During those 17 days of silence, what was the difference for the wives of the miners?

On August 5th, the news to the wives was, "there has been a mining accident and your husband and father of your children is dead. We have a rescue mission planned, but..." Then, seventeen days of silence. No phone calls. No emails. No touch or kiss or hug. No tucking children into bed. Dead. Forever. On August 23rd, they received a phone call. "Against all odds, they are alive. We have drilled a tiny hole to where they are. We are sending down food and water for the miners." The difference for the wives of the miners is one word, NEWS. The miners were always alive. The wives weren't a part of the rescue. They relied on news. It was the news to the wives that changed everything during those despairing days.

Roughly two-thousand years ago, a poor, Galilean peasant carpenter turned Jewish teacher walked upon this earth. His name was Jesus of Nazareth. What is the news in that? The news in that is in who He was and in what he did.

He was Emmanuel, God with us. He was the Son of Man, the Ancient of Days. He was the Christ, the Anointed One. God has come to earth. The Creator has entered into His creation. He has broken down the barrier between the infinite and the finite, the holy and unholy. The news of the gospel is that Jesus Christ in life, death, and resurrection achieved and accomplished salvation. All of the acts of Christ in his life, death, and resurrection means redemption, reconciliation, and rescue.

All these acts, along with a hundred others, are done by Christ and are outside of us:

Absorbed WRATH: "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us - for it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree'" (Gal. 3:13; cf. Rom. 3:25-6)

Bore our SINS: "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed" (1 Peter 2:24)

Performed PERFECT Righteousness: "he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross" (Phil. 2:8); "so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous" (Romans 5:19)

Defeated SIN and SATAN: "By canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him" (Col. 2:15)

Victorious RESURRECTION: "And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain... And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins" (1 Cor. 15:12, 17). "It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification" (Romans 4:24-25).

This is the news that truly changes everything. As sinners and rebels, who are dead in our sins and are dying into eternity, the Gospel is the only news which breaks the silent and brings power of new life, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes" (Romans 1:16).

Crazy Hair!

Most people, upon seeing Lydia, comment on one of two things: "Look at those blue eyes!" or "I love her crazy hair!".

We don't style, comb or really do anything with her hair. There's pretty much nothing you CAN do with it. Bows fall right out. Combing doesn't take. And really, we are not going to put product in our baby's hair. It starts to lay flat after a few days without a bath, but once we wash it...and especially after a nap it's back to it's awesome crazy self.

Here she is after a bath, nap, and oatmeal.

And just the "do"

Cute and crazy

Laughing along with me

Moments with Mom (Part 2)

Please excuse the rather long and semi-anti-climatic video, but we really do think every little thing she (that is Lydia) does is magic. Well, not really magic...but cute and worth spending five minutes watching her just have fun with a toy phone.

An Application for Dating My Daughter

A few weeks back, Lydia wrote a letter to her future husband. She was quite please with it and as I a dad who loves his daughter, I was thankful to see that she is beginning to think about these important matters even at such a young age. But, as a dad who loves his daughter, I saw the letter lacked in key areas. It wasn't as strong as it could have been. So, here is my application for dating/courting my daughter:

Application To Date My Daughter

1. Name_________________________ Date of Birth____________

2. Height _________ Weight________ IQ________ GPA________

3. Social Security # ______________ Driver’s licence #__________

4. Boy Scout Rank_____________________________________

5. Home Address_____________ City/State ____________ Zip____

6. Do you have one male and one female parent? ____________

If no, explain answer _________________________________

7. Number of years parents married ________________________

8. Do you own a van? _______ A truck with oversized tires?______ Do you have an earring, nose ring, or belly button ring? _______ Do you have a tattoo?_________ (if yes to any of #8, discontinue application and leave the premises)

9. In 50 words or less, what does LATE mean to you? ____________ ____________________________________________________.

10. In 50 words or less, what does “DON’T TOUCH MY DAUGHTER!” mean to you? __________________________________________________________.

11. Do you love Jesus? __________ Church you attend _______________ How often do you attend? ______________________

12. When is the best time to interview you father, mother, and pastor? Father ____________ Mother___________ Pastor__________

13. Answer by filling in the blank: please answer all questions freely, all answers are confidential (that means I won’t tell anyone ever — promise)

A. If I were shot, the last place I would want to be wounded is in the __________________

B. If I were beaten, the last bone I would want broken is my ____________

C. A woman’s place is in the _________________________

D. The one thing I hope this application doesn’t ask is________________________________________

E. When I first meet a girl, the thing I notice about her first is ______________

14. What do you want to be “if” you grow up? ________________

15. Are you willing to wear an electronic tracking device? _______

I swear all information supplied above is true and correct to the best of my knowledge under penalty of death, dismemberment, crucifixion, electrocution, Chinese water torture, and red hot pokers.

Signature ________________________

Thank-you for you interest. Please allow four to six years for processing. You will be contacted in writing if you are approved. Please do not try to call or write (since you probably can’t, and it would cause you injury). If your application is rejected, you will be notified by two gentlemen wearing white ties carrying violin cases.

(HT: Anyabwile)

All God's Critters

Every couple of weeks, mommy and Lydia go to the library. At the library, mommy picks out five or six different children books. This time mommy checked out "All God's Critters", a song-picture book. Tonight, daddy had a chance to read it to Lydia and she really enjoyed it. When daddy was just finished, mommy found the song on youtube. It is a fun, knee-slappin' song!

ALL GOD'S CRITTERS

All God's critters got a place in the choir
Some sing low, some sing higher
Some sing out loud on the telephone wire
And some just clap their hands, or paws
Or anything they got.

Listen to the bass, it's the one on the bottom
Where the bullfrog croaks and the hippopotamus
Moans and groans with a big to-do
The old cow just goes MOOOOO

The dog and the cat pick up the middle
While the honey bee hums and the cricket fiddles
The donkey brays and the pony neighs
And the old coyote howls

All God's critters got a place in the choir
Some sing low, some sing higher
Some sing out loud on the telephone wire
And some just clap their hands, or paws
Or anything they got.

Listen to the top where the little birds sing
On the melody with the high note ringing
The hoot owl hollars over everything
And the jaybird disagrees

Singin' in the night-time, singin' in the day
Little duck quacks, and he's on his way
The possum ain't got much to say
And the porcupine talks to himself

All God's critters got a place in the choir
Some sing low, some sing higher
Some sing out loud on the telephone wire
And some just clap their hands, or paws
Or anything they got.

It's a simple song of livin' sung everywhere
By the ox and the fox and the grizzly bear
Grumpy alligator and the hawks above
Sly raccoon and the turtle dove.

All God's critters got a place in the choir
Some sing low, some sing higher
Some sing out loud on the telephone wire
And some just clap their hands, or paws
Or anything they got.

Lydia: Eight Months

We're a few days late posting this Month Update. Our little girl is keeping us busier and busier as she interacts more, demands puppet shows and takes a really really long time to eat (solids, that is...she has nursing down to an efficient science).

Lydia has started to communicate in a variety of ways. She rubs her eyes when tired, waves at passing cars, and flaps her arms which means (as far as we can tell) "pick me up", "I'm excited" and "I'd really like to grab that cat's tail". Verbally she was running with "dadadada" much to Brian's delight, but has recently added some "mamama" and a whole lot of "babababa" sheep style.

She is currently not yet mobile, aside from rolling over, but you'd be surprised how quickly she can reach for and grab things! Her hair continues to be spiky and crazy. Her eyes are Daddy-blue and those chubby kissable cheeks remain.

I suppose we say this all the time, but Lydia is a really fun baby. She is so great to be around, lighting up our home and anywhere she goes (the grocery store and library are much happier

places when she's visiting). Praise our Heavenly Father for this wonderful gift made in His image.