It's A Boy!!

Steph and I are blessed with a wonderful 19 month old little boy, Dreyson. Those of you who know him know that he just lights up a room. Now, after our ultra sound this morning, we know that we have another one on the way.

We were convinced that we were having a girl this time. Convinced? I'm not sure why, but we just felt that it was a girl. Disappointment should never be a word associated with finding out the sex of a baby and it most definitely was not our emotion, but we were excited about the idea of having a girl. Maybe one day.

Now that we know it's a boy, it just feels right. God is so good! We just pray that he's healthy and thus far, even though he's still a little alien, Jarren is looking great. That's right. His name is Jarren Andrew Crynes. See ya soon little buddy.

To One End

310 ce...Gone!

For those of you who aren't guitar lovers like I am a Taylor 310 ce is a guitar. In fact, it is a very nice, beautiful sounding, expensive guitar...and I had one.

My uncle Paul, about 8 years ago or so took me into a music store in small town Indiana and told me to pick any guitar, and so I did. His stipulation was that I pay him back, which I willingly and eagerly accepted. One of the reasons this guitar was so special to me was that when I felt the calling on my life to go into full-time ministry my uncle wiped my debt clean. I paid half and the rest was eliminated...gone...history. That was a very special gesture from a very special uncle. If you ever read this uncle Paul, thank you.

I've had that guitar since that time, and a few others that never could compare, until a few nights ago. It was stolen out of my car. You never leave guitars in your car by the way. Not for the fear of them getting stolen, well, until now, but because the humidity and heat aren't good for them so I never, ever leave my guitar in the car. Well, once I guess, and now it's gone. Thankfully I have a back up but that was my Taylor, my precious Taylor.

Here's the bright side of the story. I found out Sunday morning about 10 minutes before rehearsal, when I needed it, that it had been stolen. Needless to say, I was frustrated. I was mad. I was sick to my stomach. My guitar was gone. So, I told my team about it, shared some of my frustrations and disappointment, and put a smile on my face and acted like nothing was wrong. I mean, that's what we're supposed to do at church right? Here's the cool thing though, and a way that I can see God working in my life, it was real. The smile, the "oh well, it's ok" attitude. It was all real. I felt so close to God during worship that morning. I just realized that no matter how much I love that guitar or how special it was to me, I can't take it with me when I go home. Also, I don't know who took it, obviously, but I would love to meet them for two reasons: 1) Because I would get my guitar back, but 2) and most importantly I would tell that person that I love them and that I forgive them.

I guess something my pastor Jamie once said has stuck with me. He said that we need to know that people like this (in my case the thief) are not the enemy. They are the victim of the enemy and if we believed that we would treat them differently, or lets say...appropriately.

To One End

Soooooooo Big

186,000 miles per second...anyone know what that is? That is how fast light travels. In the time that it takes you to snap your fingers just once, a ray of light can circle the globe seven times. Wow! Now that's fast.

Did you know that the sun is about 93 million miles away from the earth and the farthest galaxy ever discovered from the earth is 13 billion light years away? Wow! Now that's far.

Now I just said that light travels at 186,000 miles per second, so in a year that equals 5.88 trillion miles, or if it helps 5,880,000,000,000 miles. That number doesn't even make sense to us. This is all fascinating to learn and overwhelming to try to understand, but it's so revealing of our God Who is sooooooooo big!

I'm reading a book right now by Louie Giglio called, "i am not but i know I AM." It's a great read and so far Louie is painting a picture of just how tiny we are and how big God is. The known universe is so big, but it's only the "known" universe. It seems as though every time a new and more powerful telescope is created, the more we find. It is simply amazing to think of how big this universe is and then to realize that God spoke it into existence.

Psalm 33:6, 9 says, "By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth. For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm."

Isaiah 40:22-25 says, "To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?" says the Holy One. Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all of these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing."

Louie says in his book, "Though we are transient dust particles in a universe that is expanding faster than the speed of light, the unexplainable mystery of mysteries is that you and I are loved and prized by the God of all Creation."

Is that amazing? God, Who created everything out of nothing, Who knows the billions and trillions of stars by name, knows our names too. He knows everything about us because He chooses to. He loves us and demonstrated that to us through the atoning sacrifice of His Son Jesus Christ.

Life piles up doesn't it? Life gets hard, people get frustrating, tragedy strikes, jobs are lost, cancer is found, and what we need to remember is that we have a big, huge God Who loves us and cares for us and Who is in control. There's no problem or circumstance that is too big for Him if we would just give it to Him. Whatever it is as you read this post, give it to Him.

Let me leave you with this thought...the smaller we become, the bigger He gets.

To One End