Love is letting someone pull your chest hair out
June 29, 2007 at 7:00 pm | In Chuch Planting, Parenting | 5 CommentsYesterday one of our wonderful neighbors brough cookies and dinner over to Kristan and I (notice the order of importance). She recently had a baby as well and knew exactly what our cravings would be at this time. As we talked about the joy of parenting she made a joke about how “grabby” her son is. Apparantly he has a tendency to pull at her earrings and hair.
I like to hold Nolan on my chest. He sleeps on his back of course, but it seems like the only way I can get him to stop crying is by laying him tummy-down on my chest and breathing deeply. Its soothing, you should all try it. Anyway, recently Nolan has begun making fists a lot which means that when he lays like that he gets big handfulls of my chest hair.
It hurts. However, the first night that he was really having a hard time going to bed I just sat there in our rocking chair, grimacing, as he slowly thinned out my body beard. It was so important to me that he be able to sleep that I just let him pull.
We tolerate so much more from the ones we love. Just today some lady almost hit me with her car (although it may have actually been me who almost hit her with my car). My road rage manifests itself differently than it does in many other people. Instead of honking or yelling at the other driver I like to grin and wave…big grin and big elaborate wave! It really ticks them off.
A friend of mine says (something he read out of a book) that real relationship is there when you can walk in someone’s house and make yourself a sandwhich and turn on the tv without asking. Essentially, you know you are buddies when you can do things that would likely tick off a stranger without fear of getting punched in the face. Twice this week I have had a conversation with someone that would be really difficult if there was no understanding of love. No acquantence would have put up with a conversation like that.
In close community (especially Christian community) we need these conversations to grow. It doesn’t do us any good to stomp and cry everytime someone who loves us tries to help us along by being honest about a broken area in our lives. Does it sometime hurt (like having your chest hair ripped out)? Yes, but thats what friends do…they rip your hair out.
Extraordinary
June 27, 2007 at 1:25 am | In Chuch Planting, Movies | Leave a Comment“There are no ordinary moments.”
This was the theme of the movie, “Peaceful Warrior”. It was kind of a updated version of Karate Kid, and it went a little over the top with trying to be philosophical and deep, but overall it was a good flick. The theme alone was worth the rental.
I think one of the saddest things are those kids who are pushed so hard by their parents to accomplish something (getting into Harvard, being in beauty pageants, becoming an NFL long-snapper, etc.) that they miss out on the joy of being a kid. I guess this comes from the belief that the culmination is of more value than the preparation.
Its kind of like marathons. Personally, I don’t run unless I’m being chased, but some people love to run marathons. Now, I have entertained the idea of trying to run something like this simply because I think the feeling of crossing the finish line would be really fulfilling, and I think there are a lot of us that feel this way. People like me will never run a marathon. The ones who participate in so many of these a year that they log more miles than my grandmother in her crown vic are the people who love the first step as much as the last. Sure the feeling of crossing that finish line is great for them too, but I’m convinced they love mile 8 as much as 26, maybe more. For me, mile 8 is a minor annoyance between me and my goal.
There are no ordinary moments.
The Patio is beginning to pray seriously about setting time-lines for launch dates. I spend a lot of my time nowadays filling out paperwork and building our support teams and doing busywork. There is also a lot of time going into meeting and building relationships with neighbors. Honestly, its real easy for me to be so focused on crossing our finish line of launching that I miss out on the joy and wonder of the mile marker that God has me on right now.
The Patio is currently in an absolutely extraordinary moment! As thrilled as I am about our future I am missing out on the profound now if I’m not careful. God knows where we will be meeting as a church, and we are beginning to really approach Him to seek His provision. The next few weeks and months are going to be so exciting, so inspiring! It would be a shame for me to miss out on the adventure of seeing the story unfold b/c I am too busy flipping to the back of the book.
Boys Night Out
June 26, 2007 at 12:06 pm | In Chuch Planting, Community | 1 CommentLast night Hal, Mladen and I took off to see Knocked Up. It was such a great experience to hang out for a few hours just the three of us. We have poker nights and basketball games up at the pool, but last night was especially encouraging. We spent a lot of time talking about what God is doing at The Patio, and what our response should be as a church.
The most notable thing we talked about was our need for God to provide a place for us to meet. As Hal aptly pointed out, God already is aware of where we will be as a church in six months, He just isn’t telling us. God could be teaching us a plethora of things through this period of silence, but one thing I feel strongly about is our need to seek Him through prayer and fasting as a church.
This Thursday we will explore this further, and on Friday I would like for us to begin a period of fasting in order to connect with God and hopefully hear from Him on the issue of meeting location.
Thanks Hal and Mladen for your faith and example!
Pine Ridge
June 23, 2007 at 12:31 pm | In Chuch Planting | 1 CommentI can’t wait for this Sunday! We are heading to Burlington as a group to help out Pine Ridge on their first of three preview services. Yesterday they had their Family Night at the Park where they had a turnout of OVER 2500 PEOPLE! They are going into Sunday with a lot of momentum already, and I think it will be such a blessing for us just to be there with them on this milestone of the church.
So, be on time tomorrow! We are leaving at 830.
Desperation
June 20, 2007 at 11:22 pm | In Chuch Planting, Parenting | 1 CommentI think I was prepared for sleepless nights, but I assumed it would be crying that kept me up. The first night back Nolan was really restless (which meant that all of us were restless). Kristan was up a lot trying to comfort him. I’m kinda embarrassed to say it, but I mostly slept through the cries. Last night, however, was a different story. I was up until about 3 checking on Nolan several times an hour.
He was just so quiet! It didn’t take me long to admit to myself (and Kristan) that I wanted him to cry. I’m so freaked out about SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) that the silence scares the mess out of me. At least when he is hungry, or cold, or has a poopy I know he is ok. His need, or more specifically, his desperation, reminds me that he is alive.
The sleepless night gave me a lot of time to think about this emotion I was feeling. It is a lot like ministry. As a pastor I prefer people to be desperate, and with a deep sense of need, over silent comfort. The reality of life is that we are not self-sufficient. We depend not only on God, but also on one another. Yet, most of the time, we are content to pretend like we dont need someone to help us when we are struggling or when we really mess up. Adults get poopies too, and if we are honest they are stinkier and alot harder to clean up.
Nolan needs me. As he gets older he will pretend to need me less and less. One day he probably wont need me anymore at all. But he will need someone, just like we all do. Someone to come alongside of him and help him navigate his faith and his life. When he has a need now he is brutally honest that he wants me (or mommy) to help him. The longer he hangs onto that the better off he will be.
The physical, relational, and spiritual needs never go away for any of us…we just become less honest about having them
Building momentum
June 19, 2007 at 3:37 pm | In Chuch Planting | Leave a CommentEverybody be praying! I really sense that God is preparing to do some amazing things over the next couple of weeks. He already has blown our minds in the past month, but my prayer is still for Him to teach me to expect bigger and bigger things from Him.
I want God to use The Patio to impact the Kingdom is great ways! We have such an awesome group of people already and He is bringing more all the time.
Seeing our community rally around Nolan has really inspired me even more to pursue the kind of church that God has put in the hearts of us! I totally believe there are people all over the country that have a desire to have a Christian community like the one God is designing here in Reedy Fork. I am so thrilled to be pursuing God with all of you. Keep dreaming big!
I love you guys
Wow
June 18, 2007 at 2:50 pm | In Parenting | 3 CommentsWhat an insane couple of days! We are back home and getting settled…finally! Thank you all so much for your calls, emails, and comments. It is such a blessing to have a great community of people around us to celebrate what God is doing in our lives. This experience has really taught me what life is all about.
Several years ago some close friends of Kristan and I had their first son, and I missed it because I was “doing” ministry. It was probably one of the biggest mistakes I have ever made. God really used that mistake to teach me what it means to follow Christ as a minister. When you read through the gospels you can’t help but notice how often Jesus gets distracted and how focused he is on relationship. Had I not made that mistake The Patio would probably be a very different looking church (if it existed at all).
Anyway, I want to say thank you to all of you who have already involved yourself in Nolan’s life. My parents were divorced, and I only had a couple of good friends. I didn’t begin to follow Christ until college so I didn’t have any type of Christian community around me. Needless to say I grew up lacking authentic relationship.
After this weekend I am convinced that Nolan will not have that problem. I loved that so many of you didn’t even call to see if you could come by at the hospital! You just showed up. Sometimes it was at the crack of dawn, and others of you came by and stayed until very late at night. In your enthusiasm to be a part of Nolan’s life you completely disregarded the need for sleep that Kristan and I had. THANK YOU! We want you to be so much a part of Nolan’s life that he realized early on how insensitive you are 
!!! Seriously, we love you all very much and are thrilled that you don’t feel the need to ask to share life with our son.
You all rock! Check back for pictures!
Mothers Day
June 17, 2007 at 11:41 am | In Parenting | 3 CommentsMan, I slept like a log last night! Kristan went to bed at around 12 (while Nolan was feeding) and I clumsily put him up. Then, after
reading my Bible and praying for about an 45min, I begin to hear him hiccup. Ok, this is where the “I dont know exactly what I am doing” part of me takes over.
The progression of thought goes something like this:
1. Uh-oh, I forgot to burp him!
2. I don’t know how to burp him, and Kristan is asleep
3. Well, how hard could burping something be? I burp all the time.
4. (After 15 minutes) Nolan is going to be like that girl who couldnt stop hiccupping for 3 weeks!
Only later did I learn that hiccups and “being burped” are unrelated. Oh well.
Anyway, Today Karey (Kristan’s brother) called at the crack of dawn. I would have been mad, but the first thing he said was, “Happy Father’s Day”. Its pretty cool timing I have to admit, but it would be more perfect if it worked out to be Mothers Day. Kristan is amazing. Not only has she been dealing with the afteraffects of giving birth, but she wakes up every 3 hours on some internal alarm clock (I set mine to ring at 230 last night only to immediatly cut it off and forget all about feeding Nolan).
Anyway, despite the calendar, we are definatly celebrating mothers in the Reeve family this week.
Getting the love
June 16, 2007 at 8:13 pm | In Parenting | 3 CommentsNolan has been getting the love for the past few hours. Since 5 we have been packed out with people in the room non-stop. I love telling stories (especially the same ones over and over again) so this whole day is right up my alley. One of my favorite things about these visits is that everyone is so excited they make promises that I fully intend to hold them to!
“I will babysit anytime you want”
“Changing diapers is my favorite!”
“We are going to spoil him rotten”
I think everyone thinks that we are so excited we aren’t paying attention to the words coming out of their mouths. We are! I promise.
Nap Time
June 16, 2007 at 2:54 pm | In Parenting | Leave a CommentWe are starting to catch a glimpse of the routine we have to look forward to for the next couple of days. Nolan sleeps a lot so its pretty much just holding him for a few hours before waking him up to try to feed him. Every now and then the monotony of sleeping and eating is interrupted by a visitor. The phone is ringing off the hook, and we are hearing from a lot of people that we haven’t talked to in a long time.
Its nap time for the Reeve clan. We should be back up and at em around 5 this afternoon so if you would like to stop by please wait til then. We love sharing in this with all of you!
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