Pregnancy 24 weeks

It has been a while since our latest pregnancy shot. I am 24 weeks now. It has been an exciting month. I can feel the baby moving around more and more, and Charlie has been able to feel him or her kicking a number of times. Just about 3 1/2 months to go!

Vision Night

Last night, over 50 students gathered in one of our staff houses for our vision night to kick off the school year. Andrew, our campus director, spoke about how before Christ we look to take from others and give to God. Apart from the Gospel, we are the focus or the center of our lives. That being the case, we look to satisfy our own desires so we take from others or use others to our own benefit. We then try to offer up the things we do to God in hopes that that is good enough. In the Gospel (when Christ is the center of our lives), we look to get from God and give to others. So the Gospel free us from self to God for others.
We spent time praying that God would use our student leaders (the 50 in the room) to impact other people with the Gospel. We are excited about what God could do at Northwestern's campus this school year. Our students seem to really have a desire to reach out to younger students with the truth of the Gospel. We are continuing to ask God to sustain and fulfill that desire.

Theology Fuels Doxology

A phrase that is fairly common around our church (mainly because our pastor says it a lot) is "Let your theology fuel your doxology." Another way of saying this is let your knowledge or understanding of who God is fuel your worship of God. A famous author wrote, "Your understanding of God is the most important thing about you." Who we understand God to be shapes so much in our life. It can determine where we live, what we do for a living, how we interact with other people, how we raise our families, and so much more. I want to continue to fight for a right understanding of the God of the Bible. About a month ago I heard our pastor explain how Psalm 100 is a great example of how our theology should fuel our doxology. As you read this, watch for how the psalmist's emotions or worship flow from who God is.
v.1-2 "Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into His presence with singing!"
v.3 "Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us and we are his; we are his people and the sheep of his pasture."
v.4 "Enter His gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!"
v.5 "For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations."
To break it down simply the psalmist starts by calling us to make a joyful noise, serve the Lord, and come into His presence. You may read that and think "why should we do that?" He gives the answer: "Because the Lord is God," he made us, we are his people. That is the reason we are to sing and serve and come to Him because of who he is and what he has done for us. The Psalmist concludes with the same pattern. he calls us to enter his gates with thanksgiving and to give thanks to God. Again, "why should we do this?" Simple: Because the Lord is good; he loves us in all circumstances, and he is faithful to all generations.
I just thought those were some neat observations on Psalm 100. I want to encourage you that if you really want to worship God as He wants us to worship him (which is "in spirit and truth" (John 4)) you must seek to first know the God you are worshiping.

Ultrasound Pictures

We had our ultrasound yesterday. The baby seems to be healthy and is continuing to move around a lot! Here are a few pictures of our little peanut:

Pregnancy 20 weeks

We just took this picture of me at 20 weeks. We go on Tuesday for an ultrasound. We are not finding out the sex of the baby, but we're excited to see our little one. Please pray for a good report, a healthy baby.