Pregnancy 37 weeks

Full term at 37 weeks! We are officially full term now, meaning that if Baby Brooks arrived today his/her lungs would be fully developed. However I will not be at my official due date for another 2 weeks and 5 days. So far no big signs that labor is real close. We will keep you posted though!

Christmas Tree 2008

The Brooks family tradition continued as we headed out to a Christmas tree farm the day after Thanksgiving to cut down our Christmas tree. This was the first year that Cole or Callie came with us (sort of...). He or she was there in belly at least. It took us a little longer than in years past to find the tree, but this is what we came up with:

Then I began cutting...

About 30 seconds later, this is what we came up with...

And the finished product...

Pregnancy 36 Weeks

I'm getting bigger...

Burly Man Retreat

Last weekend we had our 3rd annual Burly Man retreat. We get together and talk about Biblical manhood, growth in the gospel, and our Christmas Conference. Another big draw for the retreat is the burly man competition. We play "burly games" like tug of war, sawing logs, the human knot, pushing vans, and running a huge log up and down a big hill. We were thankful for the turnout of guys, and it seemed like everyone enjoyed themselves. We are praying that the guys that came to the retreat would continue to come around our ministry and want to grow in their faith in Jesus. Here is a video from the weekend:

Pregnancy 34 weeks

6 weeks to go (give or take)...maybe

First Snow 2008

This is the earliest that we have seen snow since moving to Minnesota. It is November 7, 2008 and we are already seeing the flakes fall. Just 3 days ago the high was 74; tomorrow the high is in the 30s. I guess this is what we get for moving to Minnesota.

I like this quote...

“We are people that know politics is important, but not ultimate. We know that politics has its place, an urgent and important place where, in the City of Man, decisions are made that can make the difference between life and death, injustice and justice, mercy and no mercy, commonweal or common disaster.

But we also know that there is in this world at its very best only a hint of the kingdom that is to come, where God’s reign is supreme.

No government will ever be able to say, ‘Every tear has been wiped away.’ No government will ever be able to say, ‘The blind have received sight and the deaf have received hearing and the lame now walk.’…That power is God’s alone.”

We cannot put our hope in a government to save us. There are a lot of people who are upset that Obama was elected president. While there are other people that I would like to have in office, I cannot forget that hope does not lie in a political figure, but in Jesus Christ who did far more than Obama, McCain, or any politician could ever do.

Vote as though you are not voting

What should our perspective be on voting in this election? Our pastor, John Piper, gives some of his thoughts that I think are very helpful.