Ford Family Christmas 2008

Here are a few pictures from the Ford Family Christmas gathering 2008. Growing up in my family, I never had cousins that were similar in age. Caroline on the other hand has Noah who is only four months older. They are so much fun to be around as they play together, etc. I know that my mother is looking down with a huge smile on her face. She would have greatly enjoyed these little blessings! We miss you Mom...

Caroline's Dedication Sunday

Here are a few pics from November 2, 2008 the day of Caroline's dedication at church. In my twelve years of ministry I've dedicated many a child, but it was a real blessing to dedicate one of my own. I was proud of myself - I didn't tear up while bestowing the pastoral blessing on her. I practiced many days in advance in order to keep my emotions under control. The Lord is good and His blessings abound. Thanks be to God!

A Full House...

Here are a few pictures taken by one of our wonderful nursery volunteers this past Sunday at my church. It was Christmas Sunday and all the children were dressed in their Christmas bests. I look at these precious children and thank God for how he has blessed their families and our church family this year. When I became pastor in 2003, our nursery had not been used much and now in 2008 it is filled to capacity each Sunday. These children are definitely messengers of God's unending grace & love for all of creation.

Caroline's 1st Birthday

Here are a few pictures from Caroline's 1st birthday party. It was a wonderful day with friends and family. The weather was warm and wonderful. For those that could not make, enjoy the pictures. Thanks to everyone for their love, support and gifts.

Halloween Pictures

Here are a few of the pictures from Caroline's 1st Halloween outing. Thanks to those of you who were willing and available for a photo op w/ us. She had a great night & got some healthy snacks - it was fun! We look forward to next year.

October Photos

Here are some pictures of our family trip to Lamar. Caroline turned 11 months old October 1st. She was able to experience her first bonfire/hot dog roast, which by the way, was really a "roast" seeings as how the coals had not burned down enough before the feast began. As you can tell, this didn't detour anyone from their hotdogs & brats. There were however a few missing eyebrows before the night was over.

September Photos

Here are a few pictures from our life in September. Caroline turned 10 months old September 1st. These photos remind me of warmer weather. Nice thoughts for such cold weather days as these.

Lithuania Trip

Well, my wish to travel internationally finally came true October 7-14, 2008. I was invited by the Future Leadership Foundation to lead a coaching seminar for Lithuanian Baptist pastors. I traveled with two other team members that lead seminars for children and youth workers. The "Find Us Faithful" seminars were held at Christ Mission Baptist Church in Kaunas, Lithuania. We had a wonderful trip and met many new friends. Ministry in Lithuania is unique and very challenging, especially for Baptists in a Roman Catholic dominated area. Baptist churches are very young, most were established after Lithuania declared their independence from Soviet Russia in 1990. It was an honor to coach these pastors who are still young in the faith, many of them have only been believers for a few years. God is doing some powerful work in Lithuania and I am blessed to have been able to journey with these pastors for a few days.

Business Trip to Cabo

Holly & I recently went to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Holly was presenting at the district meeting of ACOG and I went along as a supportive spouse. This was the first time in our marriage that we traveled on a business trip that was for my wife. For years we have traveled to national conventions and other meetings of mine, but now I was in the supportive spouse role and it was nice! Of course the location helped make it very enjoyable as well, what can I say? My 35th Birthday just happened to fall the week we were gone and I spent 4 heavenly hours that day playing the Desert Course at Cabo del Sol all by myself. Besides the marshal, the drink cart lady & a wild jack rabbit, I did not see a soul until the 17th hole. Later that night Holly & I traveled into the city of Cabo to take a sunset cruise that took us out to Land's End, the Arch and the Pacific Ocean. Not a bad 35th B-Day if you ask me. God's blessings have been many for the Ford family this year. Being a pastor who is married to an OB/GYN physician and has an 11 month old daughter, I find life very busy, full and blessed. These small moments of rest & relaxation away from the hustle and bustle of the "real world" are priceless. Regardless of where we spend those moments, let us not take them for granted and appreciate them for what they are.

August Family Visits

Caroline turned 9 months old August 1. We visited our families in Lamar & Hamilton. Here are a few pictures from those adventures.

July Vacation

Believe it or not Holly, Caroline & I got a week's vacation in late July. Here are a few pictures from our adventures. We had a great week. Caroline experienced a few firsts as well: first trip to two favorite restaurants (Claysville Store & Gates BBQ), first Royal's game, first trip to the KC Zoo and a best of all a first visit from the Shaney family in South Texas. Good times were had by all!

July 4th weekend in Clinton, MO

Here are a few pictures from our family get together on July 4, 2008. Caroline just turned 8 months old in these photos.

June Family Visits

Whew! Summer has flown by and I have gotten behind on my blog. Here are some pictures of our family during the month of June as we visited and were visited by family.

LBF Church Website Re-Launch 2008

Our church recently re-launched our website with an updated look and feel. Take a look and give us some feedback. Click here to experience Little Bonne Femme Baptist Church on the web!

June photos

Here are a few pics of our lives in June 2008. Caroline turned 7 months old June 1st.

If you haven't already figured it out, I love being a Dad. No matter how crazy a work day has been, coming home and seeing my daughter's huge smile when I walk through the door melts away the day and nothing is as important as those moments. Parenthood is a challenge at times, but most of all it is a true blessing.

My Cousin's H.S. Graduation

I recently traveled to McAllen, TX in the Rio Grande Valley to visit family and celebrate my cousin Celeste's graduation from McAllen High. Way to go Celeste!

May Photos

Here are a few snapshots of our life in May 2008. Caroline turned 6 months old May 1st.

Spring Pictures

Here are photos from more of our life in March & April 2008.

March photos of Family

Here are some pictures from our life in March 2008.

Valentine's Day Weekend

This past weekend was a whirl wind weekend of traveling to my hometown of Hamilton to see some of my family that live in the area. It was great to see everyone light-up when they saw Caroline. It was also great to see Caroline light-up when she saw them. She is almost 4 months old now and has a great smile & laugh that she shares with everyone she meets. We got back to Columbia in time for me to go to work & preach Sunday and then the next round of visitors arrived. Everyone wants to see Caroline?! My in-laws drove up from Lamar and spent the afternoon. Our neighbors joked that we needed to install a revolving door on our home for all the visitors we have had since Caroline has been born. When a family lives apart like mine, it is work to stay connected. Luckily automobiles & other technology helps bridge the geographical barriers we face. With one post of a blog, an email, a facebook post, a cell phone call, a web cam phone call , etc., we can all stay in touch regardless of how far apart we are or how little we get to physically see one another. So, with this blog entry I say hello to all our family & friends, we love you all and wish we could bring Caroline to see you - especially those who are currently living in warmer climates! Keep in touch yourselves - we want to see pictures and hear from you.

Desert Reflections

I have recently returned from a doctoral seminar week held in Carefree, AZ. I greatly enjoyed the week of learning with my cohort pastors concerning missional leadership. I am now two years into the five year program and have really begun to connect with my classmates and the program itself. Learning to be more "missional" as a Baptist is an interesting journey. I'm learning the deeper meanings of missional living, leadership and church. The two biggest questions that come from the missional movement is what is called the God questions: 1) What is God doing? and 2) What does God want to do? As Christians we talk a lot about seeking God's will for ourselves and our churches, but these two God questions re-frame how we understand God and the essence of the church. Missional thinking leads us to understand God as a missionary God that is working in the world (yesterday, today & always) to restore all creation into right relationship with God's self (see 2 Corinthians 5:17ff) and we (the church) are about being on God's mission in the world. God is the acting agent in the world & the church is helping carry it out via the guidance of the Holy Spirit. This is an interesting nuance considering our Western Christian views of missions. I think the missional conversation is the key to church health and survival into furture generations in the North American context. I'm looking for dialog partners for this journey-anyone interested?

Christmas Reflections & Caroline

I have experienced the Christmas story differently this year. I've experienced it as a proud father of a new born child. I marveled this year as I read through the entire Christmas story in the Gospel of Matthew, especially that of the journeys Joseph, Mary & Jesus had to make together.

My wife & I loaded up our daughter and made two separate journeys to the grandparent's homes to celebrate Caroline's first Christmas. These two journeys were much different than Jesus' early family journeys, for instance we drove an automobile vs. riding a donkey for hundreds/thousands of miles. I better appreciate the challenges, the family moments and the deep love that existed between Joseph, Mary & Jesus as they made their way to and from Egypt fleeing from Herod's wrath.

On another level, I also found a new appreciation for Joseph & Mary's ability to act on God's request of them. God asks them to do some crazy things that put both Joseph and Mary's reputations on the line in their community. Mary agrees to be a faithful servant and to take care of the Christ child. Joseph agrees to wed Mary and treat Jesus as his own. An then if that wasn't enough, they are called upon to make the long and dangerous journey to/from Egypt.

This makes me ponder how well we listen to God and are willing to act on what God requests of us? Are we willing to listen to God and if so are we willing to act when the requests get out of our comfort zones?

These are a few of my thoughts for the journey this year in 2008.