Christmas Love

Christmas Love

"We all need some Christmas love
Gonna get my Christmas love
We all need some Christmas love" - Billy Idol - Christmas Love

Yes Poppin' Fresh. I named this one for you.

Lindsey did not have to work Christmas Eve, Christmas Day or the weekend. So we got to have her home for a nice four day Christmas weekend. She did however, have to work Mon-Wed on the days leading up to Christmas. So I got three days in a row with the kids where I was responsible from the time they woke until bed time since Lindsey was working 7AM-7PM. Then there was the Christmas Gauntlet starting with the Candlelight service at Church on Wed night and going thru the last Christmas service on the 27th.

I've had a lot of you ask what's it like staying at home and how am I adjusting? I can sum it all up in two words: Exhausting & Fun.

Our last day of Home School we made Clay Tablets in History class.

This one told about a Snail in Egypt.



This one told a story about Cupcakes.

We made Christmas Cookies & Cards at 4H.

 

 

We played Power Ranger Uno. It's like regular UNO only there is also Power Rangers.

 

 

We Snuggled on the couch and watched Christmas Movies.

 

We made pancakes with Gpa!

 

and of course there was a visit from your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Men.

Look out! He is the Spider-Sam!

We sang at Cambridge with the Choir.

 

A GREAT BIG THANK YOU!

 

Over all we feel extremely blessed this CHRIST mas. The amount of cards, gifts, prayers and well wishes this holiday season has us feeling overwhelmed, humbled and unworthy. We just felt grace upon grace this December. I think we got a card or present in the mail every single day since Thanksgiving. We are very blessed to have such wonderful friends and family. So if I we didn't get to tell you individually (which we did try!) THANK YOU for your love and generosity.



Phil 1:3-5 " I thank my God every time I remember you. ⁴ In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy ⁵ because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now,"

 

Much Love,

Pastor Glen

 

 

 

 

One Week

By Popular request I tried to journal the rest of week one. For the record I have no idea how Lindsey ever got anything done across the last 3 years.

Tuesday
After the relative success of monday I was looking forward to tuesday. Tuesday didn't have co-op or a trip to the grocery store. All we had to do was go to Spanish Club at 10AM which is about 5 minutes down the road from us and Lindsey didn't have to be at work until 8:30AM which meant I had her help a bit longer in the morning. I was looking forward to Tuesday.

The same way someone looks forward to a monopoly game at a family get together. You know at Thanksgiving, the food is eaten, you don't like football so you break out monopoly. You have the time and the people you might even finish a game! Everyone is excited at first, you select your piece, get your money handed out to you and you even get a property or two that you wanted. However, like all monopoly games, it always ends like this.

That was Tuesday.


Wednesday
Wednesday I woke up at 5:30 with really good intentions of getting an early start on the day! I was going to shower, have coffee, some quiet time with a devotional and zzzzzz. Then it was 7AM and Anna was taping me on the face letting me know it was time to get up. In all honesty I was still pouting from yesterday's disaster of a day. I sat next to Sam and Lindsey on the couch and Sam is frustrated that he's not hitting a home run every time in his game. Then the following conversation occurs.

Sam: Oh Man! I never hit a home run!
Me: You can't hit a home run every time Sam.
*Wife gives me the look*
Me: Which is a lesson your dad needs to learn also.

I did not make the mistake this time of attempting to make breakfast, dress everyone, and do home school all before having to be somewhere at 10AM again like yesterday. We'll do school in the afternoon. It appears that being a Stay at Home Dad that Home Schools is a marathon not a sprint.

We went to Cambridge Hills as part of our 4H group to sing Christmas carols and hand out gifts to all the residents. As an added bonus, one of the residents is my mother. Lindsey was able to join us today since she didn't have to go into work until later. I was so proud of all the kids going from room to room handing out presents, singing their hearts out and giving hugs. If you ever want a blessing come with me to Cambridge sometime and meet some of the people there.

4H Group at Cambridge

We got home, we eat lunch, Lindsey goes to work and I start school with the kids. I also have to make more coffee because I can barely keep my eyes open at this point. We finish school and Lindsey comes home early since her training class was cancelled. I snuggle on the couch with Anna and apparently fall asleep for 45 minutes. We then head off to church for the night.

As a side note: I preach most Wednesday nights at Antioch. You are welcome to come and join us anytime or you can watch a replay of the service here. Most recent sermon: Can Santa be Saved?


Thursday
Here it comes! The longest day yet! Lindsey is working 11-12 hours today! She heads out the door at 7:30. At least I was able to get a shower before she leaves. I start on breakfast. You know just keeping these kids fed is pretty much a full time job. How can people so small eat so much food? And then still be hungry 30 minutes later? I think Food Lion & Coscto should open a special VIP lane for us.

We do homeschool during Squishy's nap and then when he wakes up we head to Cambridge to visit mom. I try to visit her 3-4 times a week if I can. It's nice now that I can see her more frequently and take the kids with me.

After Cambridge we head to the bank and in the bank parking lot I reach for the diaper bag which is not in the van. It's still at Cambridge. This makes the 3rd time I have forgotten this bag in 4 days. I really need to figure out a system for not forgetting the bag. At least I hadn't forgotten any kids yet. We leave the bank and I run back into Cambridge to get the bag. We get home and its 12:30 and no one has had lunch yet.

I feed them, put squish down for a nap and attempt school. Attempt is a good choice of words because it wasn't really all that successful. Anna shuts down on me frustrated at her sight words and Madison wants to do Anna's work for her, because it's easier, but under the guise of helping her sister. I call it early and say we will pick up again on Friday.

Dinner. Oh wait my wife isn't home and I have to fix dinner and we need to go to the grocery store. What do I find on Twitter? 50% Online Papa Johns! Dinner is saved! Night time activities? Pizza and Christmas Movies! Lindsey gets home about 8 and the kids were in bed successfully a few minutes before. I made it! She doesn't have to work again until Monday!

One week down a life time to go. Praise the Lord. 

Pastor Glen


　

Day One

It's day one of the rest of my life
It's day one of the best of my life
I'm marching on to the beat of a brand new drum
Yeah, here I come
The future has begun
Day one" - Matthew West - Day One
Our last post was our most popular one ever. In fact it had double the amount of views then our previous most popular. That was the one where we announced our role reversal. My last day with Spuntech was Monday Nov 30th. They gave me a very nice farewell party.

Lindsey's first day with PMH was today Monday Dec 14th. If you notice there's a two week gap in there. It was quite lovely. Lindsey got to show me the ins and outs of being the one at home with the kids. However, there's not really a lot of time during the day where we are actually at home. There is CO-OP, Spanish Club, 4H, Swim Lessons not to mention trips to the grocery store, bank, park, library, etc. When we are home there is Laundry, Dishes, play time, breakfast/lunch to be made, as well as Home Schooling via the Piney Grove Academy.

I made one very crucial discovery about a week into this. I need an espresso machine. I guess these will do for now.

If you would like to purchase an Espresso Machine for the Piney Grove Academy you can do so here:

http://bit.ly/1NtFZIs

Ok so technically it's a coffee bar. It's all about the caffeine.

Somewhere around Thursday of last week I crashed just from exhaustion and my very gracious wife allowed me a 4 hour nap. Yes, 4 hours. In all fairness I was exhausted when I started and our schedule is particularly busy in December, however Lindsey was doing all the things I was and I simply could not keep up.

Stay at home parents, teachers, people who somehow operate on little to no sleep consistently, I salute you all.

Today being Lindsey's First day with PMH was considered day one for our new normal. I woke up at 6:30 and started getting ready. Lindsey was already up since she had to be at orientation at 8AM. I was able to get in a shower and got up to find the girls already awake and on the couch watching Odd Squad. Love that show. I watch even if they aren't here.

We got everyone sorted for Breakfast and I started making sure everything was set and packed for Co-Op. By 7:40 lindsey was out the door for work. Deep Breathe. This is it!

By 8AM Mr. Squishy had already drank his first bottle of the day. With Squish settled I got everyone dressed, and prepped and int he van 9AM. Co-Op doesn't start until 9:30 so thing were looking good!

On the way to co-op we were playing a game and everyone was cheery. Halfway there I notice a crucial mistake I had made. I forgot to place the diaper bag in the van. Quick U turn to home, run in the house, grab the bag, dash back out and only get to co-op a few minutes late. Co-op starts and right at the beginning of class Mr Squishy becomes Mr. Fussy. I run him up to the nursery where he promptly settles down for the lovely ladies who work there.

After that Class went really well. Sarah was very helpful and kind towards a first time teacher showing me the ropes.

Class ends with no one having glued their hands to their face (myself included!) sounds like success to me.

Co-Op has two classes on monday. For you child to participate you have to teach one class. Then for the second class you can relax in the break room with the other parents. After Class I pick Squishy back up and feed him his second bottle of the day. Milk Comma ensues. I enjoy talking to the other parents and soon. Next thing I know it is noon and Co-Op is over! I let the kids play on the playground a bit and then we have to swing by Food Lion for we are out of a couple of things.

The kids at this point are tired and squish needs a nap. Also, we hadn't had lunch yet. It really sounds like a terrible idea to go to food lion. However, we don't have any milk or cheerios so it can be terrible now or terrible in the morning. I suck it up and decide I gotta do this at some point so why not dive on in.

As a side note, I'm a terrible grocery shopper, or I'm the ideal customer as far as Food Lion is concerned. I go in with no plan, hungry and buy whatever. I had a plan this time! and stuck to it. Also, I bribed the kids with donuts if they helped me.

Squish didn't start fussing until right when we got to the check out line. We got checked out, loaded up and home a bit before 1pm. I fed Squish his third bottle of the day and he promptly took a nap. By time everyone eats lunch and school is done it is 4pm. Lindsey is on her way home! Whew what a day. Praise the Lord. It's day one.

Much love,

Pastor Glen

Reunion

Reunion
"Change will come
Change is here
Love fades out
Then love appears

Now my water's turned to wine
And these thoughts I have
I now claim as mine
I'm coming home

" – Collective Soul – Reunion


Well, it has been a while since we’ve updated. We've had so much going on that certain things had to go and this was one of them. I’ve written several posts in my head since the last one, but they never made it out of my head. Typically, once I’ve prepared my Wednesday night message and my Sunday School message and the occasional newsletter article that’s all my writing time.

Well, recently we full on hit the Cray Button.

Now, for most of you thought the cray button was firmly pressed back when we decided to have our 4th kid Mr. Squishy. 

Nope.


"You think we on 10, boy you ain't seen nothing 3-2-1 Cray Button" - LeCrae

After much prayer, Lindsey and I have decided to switch roles. She is going back to work and I am leaving the IT Field to become a Stay at Home Dad, as well as, be more available to the church.

I graduated high school in 1997. I enrolled into PCC in the IT program and started in the fall of 1997. I had plans of doing some kind of job that involved computers. Then something radical and totally unexpected happened. I got saved. That was Feb of 1998. Everything changed.

I graduated in May and had my first full time IT job in Sept of 1999 with a local company. I struggled with it. It was far more frustrating then I expected. I spent breaks/lunches studying the Bible which I had grown to find far more important and interesting then computers and IT things. In Dec of 1999 I had a job with benefits at the bank. I enjoyed it and really threw myself into it letting spiritual things slip to the side gradually across two years. I was rewarded with a promotion at the bank and a bonus. Career wise things looked good. They looked terrible everywhere else. My health declined. My girlfriend and I broke up. My walk with the Lord was questionable. Then my career started to suffer. I found that when all you love is the job the job does not love you back. The bank got bought out and the new management just wanted more and more and more out of me with me receiving anything in return. It took about a year (specifically all of 2002) for the Lord to straighten me out.

It was at that point that I first started seriously considering ministry/seminary. Even though now I can roll the clock back in my mind to when I was still at PCC that I started seeing the signs for my calling. The gentle, subtle and not to gentle, not so subtle prodding of the Lord. By the end of 2003 I felt I was back on track, not a smooth ride by any means, but pointing in the right direction at least. I had reconciled with my future wife and even served as an interim youth pastor for about 6 months. By 2004, I had a 50 minute commute to work which I despised. I felt a good 2 hours of my day was wasted just driving back and forth to a job I felt stuck in.

I tried to make the most productive use of that time that I could. I had the drive broken down into 3 segments. The first segment I would listen to the Bible on CD. The second segment I would listen to a Christian audio book or sermon. The third segment was Christian music. That was on the way to work. On the way home from work it was prayer time.

Now I don’t want you to read that and think "Oh, he’s such an awesome Christian no wonder he’s pastor." Far from it. I did all that just to try and keep a grip on life.

"Don't even know who I am no more
Can't recognize my own face
I'd burn it all and just walk away
For a moment of grace" – The Almost

Most days feel like a sinking ship that is begging for that moment of grace. By 2005 I was married and living in Greensboro with the love of my life. I once again had a job that I loved with the Bank but this time as a field service technician. I would drive around the Triad fixing things at various branches and moving on. There was little after hours or weekend work and when there was it was I get time off the next week. I had an expense account, a company vehicle, and I worked from home two days a week. It was my IT dreams come true.

Then out of the blue, at least to me, our beloved senior pastor sent me this horrible email. It said (paraphrasing here)

"The church is growing significantly, it’s more than two pastors can keep up with. I want you to pray about being our third pastor and moving back to Roxboro."

I ignored that email. I had a good life in Greensboro. A good job. A good marriage. A nice apartment. We even found a church we liked. I was more interested in furthering my IT ambitions. The Lord quickly put a stop to that. I soon gave up on studying for an important IT certification and instead, one tearful night, enrolled in seminary. That was spring of 2006. By the fall of 2006 we had moved back to Roxboro and I had been voted in as Minister of Education at Antioch. By the spring of 2007 I was an ordained minister. As God would have it, shortly after I was ordained, my IT career halted. Since 2007 I’ve had roughly the same job/title/pay since then.

I applied for plenty of IT jobs, many of which would have advanced my career. I was qualified for the majority of them and even knew people within those companies. I got multiple interviews but no offers. I was one might imagine it was quite frustrating. The only career moves I was able to make were ones that allowed me to better serve family and church and not my IT Career. Praise the Lord.

When I was first saved and going to PCC I can remember walking around campus and praying . "God, let me be a Godly husband and father." This was before I met my wife and a good 10 years before I met my first child. God has been honoring that prayer for almost 20 years now.

Now once again I have a career change. Its purpose is to allow me to better serve my family and my church. Some of you understand that, some of you don’t. It’s ok. I’m finally home.

"Change has been
Change will be
Time will tell
Then time will ease

Now my curtain has been drawn
And my heart can go
Where my heart does belong
I'm going home" – Collective Soul – Reunion

Much Love,

Pastor Glen