I’ve only been a dad for about a year-and-a-half, but I must say one of my favorite things to do is to pray for Asa before he goes to bed every night.  If you don’t pray for/with your kids every, I would highly recommend it. I thought I would take a moment and share with you what I pray for Asa every night before we put him in his crib.

Father,

I thank you so much for Asa and the blessing that he is in our lives.
I pray the you help him to fall asleep quickly and to sleep the whole night through so he can get the rest that he needs.
I pray that you keep him safe through the night and send your angels to protect him and keep him safe.
I pray against Satan, his demons, their works and effects, and in the name of Jesus I demand that any demons that are in the house or in this room leave immediately and go to  pit for which they destined for all eternity.  I pray this by power and authority of Jesus Christ.
I ask Father that you would send your Holy Spirit to enforce this.  I pray that you would fill our house and hearts with your Holy Spirit.  I ask that your Holy Spirit would work in Asa’s heart; regenerating it and drawing him to You.  Make him a child of yours.
I pray the same thing for his future wife, and that the two of them would stay pure til the day they are married.  I pray that they would become parents and grandparents and great-grandparents who raise their children to be lovers of Jesus.
I pray the same thing for me and Shannon.  Fill us with your Holy Spirit and give us wisdom and strength to raise Asa to be a lover of Jesus.
We pray this all in the name of Your Son Jesus.
Amen

Shannon and I have developed this prayer over the past year-and-a-half.  The words aren’t always the same, but the general concepts are.  We’re constantly adding and changing it.

Do you pray for your kids every night?  Do you have a regular prayer, or do you play it by ear?

I remember last Tuesday as I watched the election results come in having this intense feeling that I was watching history in the making (it also helped that the news casters were saying it every five seconds).  I had this intense feeling that this was a moment that I would never forget, and it was.  I don’t think I’ll ever forget how I felt.

Tonight I’m having the same feeling.  The bidding on the house we want closes tonight at midnight.  tomorrow morning somebody that works for the government will turn on their computer, open the file on our house, and our fate will be determined.  I just can’t help but have the same feeling of anticipation and and tension that I had on Tuesday.

I hope I can sleep tonight.  Whatever happens tomorrow, I know that God is in control, and His will will be done.

Every now and then I have to go on business trips for UPS.  I really don’t like going.  Generally their pointless, but mostly it’s because I have to be away from Shannon (and now Asa).  I have to eat alone, watch TV alone, and sleep alone.  It’s really depressing.

But this week Shannon and Asa went with Shannon’s mom to Denver to see some family.  I have determined that I don’t like going on business trips…but I hate having my wife and kid leave me at home alone.  Like a business trip, I have to eat alone (and now I have to make it too), watch TV alone, and sleep alone, but I have to do this at home where everything reminds me of them.

I’ve been cleaning the house today so Shannon can come home and relax, and everything reminds me of the two of them (hince the reason I’m blogging to take my mind off of it…but I’m blogging about them so it’s not working).  Making the bed, folding the laundry, cleaning the kitchen, picking up the house, all reminds me of the two of them.  So I’ve determined that I’m never letting them leave me home alone again…..yeah that’s about it.

So men…if you’re at home with your wives and kids…realize your blessing and tell your wife how much you love her and spend some time playing with your kids.  Sometimes you don’t realize how pitiful you are until you’re all alone again.

P.S. Don’t worry about me…Shannon and Asa come home tomorrow.

photo by: laffy4k

So I realized today that I haven’t given a baby update in awhile.  So here is your update.  We are currently four weeks from our due date of June 1st.  I have to say that there are elivated levels of excitement and fear.

It’s kind of crazy to think that we are about to be parents.  In no time at all, I’m going to be losing sleep and changing diapers.  But I’m also going to get to use all the cool stuff that we’ve gotten for the kid.

We have the nursery pretty much ready to go (we still have to get a few minor items) thanks to two baby showers that were thrown for us.  I’ve been having fun the last few weeks/days setting things up.  I even have the car seat base already in the car. I know…I’m a nerd.

It’s also been fun getting to feel Asa move.  He is already in posistion (head down) and has been really active.  It’s crazy to watch Shannon’s stomach rise and fall.  And from what we’ve noticed of his activity, we are going to have a night baby (he takes after his daddy).  So, it looks like I’ve got a lot of late nights in the near future.

Speaking of the near future.  Don’t forget to put in your guess for when our bundle of joy is going to enter this world.

Well that is pretty much it in baby world.  We’re just getting ready here on the home front.  Preparing the nursery and taking birthing classes.

Here is one question for all the parents out there.  What was one thing that you think every new parent should have that they don’t typically get beforehand?

Isn’t amazing how God works things out sometimes.  I’m not necessarily a chatty person when I’m flying.  I know there are some of you out there who look forward to taking flights just so you can talk to your seat mate.  I’m not that person.  I like to read or better yet sleep.  So I wasn’t looking for someone to chat with on the plane today.  But God has other plans.

After shoving my bag into the overhead storage I took my seat by the window.  My seat mate commented about how he ripped his bags on his way to Africa a few months ago and had to duct tape them back together for the rest of the trip.  Now you chatty types would see this as an opportunity to hop into a wonderful conversation about Africa and his trip.  I don’t do that…I smile, nod, and say, “That had to suck.”  I figure this is sympathetic, but keeps me from having to talk anymore.

But God has other plans.  A few minutes later, my seat mate asks if I’m originally from Seattle.  I told no that I live in Albuquerque and that I’m going to a conference in Seattle.  He asked what conference.  Now honestly I was thinking about lying and saying I was going to some UPS conference or something…but I decided to say that I was going to the Resurgence conference.  At this point he told me he was going to the same one.

After talking about the conference a little, he started telling me about his ministry.  He is part of a record label called Reach Records and a ministry called ReachLife.  And for the next hour he showed me videos and had me listen to audio that his ministry has produced.  I must say they are really using their culture to present the gospel in a way that people understand.  You need to check them out at http://www.reachlife.org/.  Pretty awesome stuff.

I just came across this alarm clock in my general web surfing at ThinkGeek.com. The description is as follows:

Connects via WiFi to your online bank account, and donates YOUR real money to an organization you HATE when you decide to snooze!

For years the masses have told you that if you snooze you lose. You never believed them. You held your head high and slept in whenever you wanted to, always without fear of loss. Well, dear friends, the times have changed. The ingenious sages at ThinkGeek Labs(TM) have finally created the Ultimate weapon against snoozing – the SnūzNLūz(TM). People who enjoy sleeping in are cowering in fear all across the globe – it’s finally true, when you snooze, you lose!

When I first saw this, I instantly saw the answer to all my needs in one handy alarm clock. You see for the longest time I have had trouble waking up in the morning. In the past I would hit the snooze button a minimum of 4 times before I finally got up for the day. I would drive my wife crazy every morning.

So when I saw this alarm clock, I immediately thought I had found my answer. But then I started to think to myself, “Am I really that lazy?!” I know it would work…because I am the cheap. Forget giving $11 to an organization that I hate. I hate the idea of giving $11 to anyone simple because I want to sleep more.

Plus I have found a way to get up early every morning on a consistent basis. My friend Alf (his full name is Alfonso..but Afl sounds cooler) and I have made a pact (ok just an agreement…but pact sounds much cooler) to pray with each other over the phone at 6 every morning. Now I know some of you are thinking that six isn’t that early in the morning. But for me that is like getting up at 4:30 in the morning. Since we have started doing this, I have only failed once to roll my lazy butt out of bed, call Alf, and pray. It has been life changing to start every day off with prayer with Alf.

Now I just have to work on not going back to bed after we pray.