Excellent Illustration

One of my favorite blogs I read on a regular basis is one by Steve McVey. He is a bible teacher and author with a fantastic perspective about what living a grace-filled life can look like. His most recent post has a really neat illustration about the many "flavors" of followers we can find in the church. Enjoy!

http://gracewalkministries.blogspot.com/2010/08/what-flavor-is-gods-church.html

Feeling like a Father

I am sitting here in the hospital while my wife and newborn son are snoozing away and recovering physically from his birth just four days ago. That is hard to believe. Just four days ago, I was sitting in my office thinking of how brilliant my plan to bring my fourth child into the world was. Just four days ago, I was contemplating how I could make Micah assimilate as quickly as possible to the Collins family life. Four days ago, I was thinking about....well, me. My experience in parenthood (or at least the stages that I have seen so far) has been quite the eye opening lesson. With the birth of each of my children, I have a series of mini-panic attacks that plague me with worry, frustration, and exhaustion. What's most interesting to me is that this has happened with all four children. Even though I have sat in this very same position thinking these very same things, I still toss and turn at night (it doesn't help that the beds for Fathers in hospital rooms are designed for punishment) doubting my ability to care for the life that sleeps peacefully just a few feet from me. It has always subsided. Always. But if I were to cotinue having children, this feeling would never change. It would always be waiting for me in the back pocket of all of the incredible joy and relief that comes with the birth of a child.

This little boy sleeping next to me has no idea who he is. He has no idea who I or Christy is. He doesn't even know where he is. He was not given the choice to be born into our family. The Lord just simply made sure that he has made it safely thus far. Micah's brain is working overtime trying to grow enough to understand a little more than he did the day before. He has no idea that he is going to need proper food, shelter, clothing, and education to survive in the world. His mother and I are there to provide that for him. But what happens when I doubt my ability to empty more of myself into his life? How in the world can I raise four children to be caring, content adults who lead rewarding and satisfying lives?

God's blessings stretch me out. They pull me to a place that is not comfortable but still rewarding. Yes, children are a blessing. My children are a blessing to me. But a blessing from the Lord is not always something that makes your life easy. It's not always something that looks like happiness on a clear day. His best blessings are the ones that pull us almost to our breaking point. They are the ones the blind us to what is familiar but show us something we have never seen before.

The Best Laid Plans...

Well, you know what they say about the best laid plans, right? Well, do you? Well I don't know. My best guess is that it has something to do with greener grass, power corruption, and making a horse drink water.

All joking aside, He's Here! He's Here! Yes, Micah Martin Autry Collins was born Wednesday August 18, 2010 11:05 PM wieghing in at 7 lbs 8 oz and measuring 21 inches long. That is our second lightest baby but the longest at birth. If you really want the most detailed account of the birth, you should check out my hot mess wife's blog; http://hotmessmomma.blogspot.com/.

I do have some great little pictures including the first one of our new family all together. Enjoy.

Come out, come out little Micah!

So, Christy and I went to the doctor this afternoon to check on Micah Watch 2010 and we were encouraged to hear that Christy is still 4 cm but the doctor is comfortable with inducing labor soon. We decided on this Thursday around noon. She will start on antibiotics since she tested positive for Strep. B (you don't really want to know and I am not really that sure that I could explain it). She will then get another dose of medicine around 4 or 5 and then the Doc will break her water and start administering a drug called Pitocin. This basically makes her start having contractions.

This is going to be a first for us as all other labors started naturally. However, we are comfortable since she is already dilated and this is her fourth pregnancy. You better keep your eyes open 'cause this labor is going to be like driving through College Station, TX, very short and there might be a smell. Oooooooh snap! Did you see how I got that dig on my Aggie friends there? Did you? It must be close to football season cause I am getting a little snarky about the college rivalries.

Anyway, we are both super pumped and ready to meet the little guy. Hopefully my next post will be filled with pictures of the new friend. Cheers.

Recently...

I decided that I would finally take the time to update this blog to let all of the masses know about our recent adventures. First of all, our trip to New York went very well. As excpected the kids did all that we asked of them and more. We were so glad to make the trip and best of all, there were no scares of Christy going into labor! The old Caravan also did very well under the circumstances. We had to get an oil change and two new tires on our way back but we did not have any other issues. We also found that of the seven states that we drove through, Ohio was surprisinlgy the most annoying state to get through. Six hours! I wasn't sure that we were going to actually make it to Pennsylvania. But we did. I told Christy several times throughout the trip that if we could do this we could do anything. 3,000 miles, 3 young kids, 1 dodge caravan. We did it.

We are also preparing ourselves for the arrival of little Micah. And by preparing, I mean washing off our old bassonnet and sort of organizing baby clothes. Christy had an appointment today with here doctor and she has actually progressed to 4 cm! For those of you who aren't familiar with this measurement, it indicates the lengh of the cerv.... Nevermind, I really don't think that you want to know. Regardless, it tells us that when labor "starts" we only have 6 more cm to go before she pushes him out. We will be certain to keep everybody posted via text and phone calls.

I am anxiously awaiting next Thursday for when our children return to school at Trinity School of Texas. Getting back into a routine this fall will do everybody some good and hopefully our family can adjust quickly to our new addition and keep running our little race towards the end of the year.

That's all for now. I can hopefully add blogging more regularly into my Fall routine.

Article

Okay, so I know this is not a post detailing our fantstic trip to New York a few weeks ago. But I promise to make that a reality by the end of the week. I couldn't pass up the chance to share this great little artical on marraige by two very funny people. Enjoy...

http://lifestyle.msn.com/relationships/article.aspx?cp-documentid=24970292&gt1=32023