Mimi, Promotion and Homeschooling - Updates!

Thought I should give a quick update (Thanks, Ashley for the motivation)!

1) My mom moved to the Charlotte area a month ago, so Abel & Belle have been getting to spend lots of time with their Mimi- which they LOVE!

2) Aaron was recently promoted with his company, LifeWay, as a Market Manager. He will continue to manage his current store but will also oversee 5 additional stores in the market area. Promotion without Relocation is AWESOME! We have lived in 4 different cities and 2 states since we got married 8 years ago. We have lived here the longest (4 years), so we are thrilled to be given an opportunity for advancement without uprooting our lives. We love our church and our life here. We feel very settled for now.

3) Abel & Belle continue to grow up each day. I am going to start some Preschool Homeschool curriculum with them this fall. Nothing too big because I strongly believe that children this age learn best thru play. But, sometimes free play all day equals chaos, so I want to give them a little bit of structure. Maybe just 20ish minutes a morning. I bought some fun Disney workbooks from the Dollar Tree that focus on the alphabet, numbers, colors and shapes.I'm planning to go "School Supply" shopping this weekend when everything school related is tax free. I will get them some new crayons, supply box, washable markers, construction paper and other "preschoolish" stuff. We are excited :)

Below is a picture of our family at Chick-Fil-A's Annual Cow Appreciation Day! And also, here is a link to Aaron's blog about our experience that day and the Kingdom of God!

Interested in SAVING MONEY?!

Aaron has recently started a blog for writers. Here is a post about how we saved money to finance his book. Even if you aren't planning to publish a book, the money saving tips are useful to anyone who is trying to finance an adoption or anything else!

P.S. Every time you visit his website, a chapter of the Bible is donated to someone who needs God's Word!

Promotional Video for God is NOT a God of Second Chances

 Check out the promotional video for Aaron's upcoming book.  Please feel free to share!

The video was filmed and edited by Justus McCranie with Berean Productions.  You can visit his website at www.bereanproductions.com

"God is Not a God of Second Chances" (Promo) from Berean Productions on Vimeo.

Help Us Choose A Book Cover

Help us choose a cover for the upcoming book.  Let us know in the comments which one is your favorite!

Update & Prayer Requests for Book

Thanks to everyone who expressed a desire to follow the new book Aaron is writing called:

God is NOT a God of Second Chances

and Other Good News from the Gospel

You're part of a grassroots team that will receive monthly updates on this project.  Many of you have already asked how you can be praying for the book.  Thank you so much!  This brief post each month will keep you informed on where the book is in the production process and provide you with specific ways you can be praying for it.

So first, some quick info about the book itself:

- God is NOT a God of Second Chances is a 31 day devotional.  Its goal is to present a beautiful, challenging and sometimes unexpected truth from the Bible for every day of the month.  Whereas some devotionals are light and fluffy, the goal of this book is to engage the reader with the gospel, have them wrestle with its implications and inspire worship for Jesus!

- The title devotion comes from a blog post that Aaron wrote for our church last year.  You can check it out here.

- All royalties from the book, outside of reimbursing the book's production costs, are being given to church planting efforts in the Charlotte Northlake area.  The timing of the writing of this book matches the start of a church plant in that area that will be supported by whatever income the book generates.  For more info, check out this website.

- The book will be available to order through physical Christian booksellers and will be available to order at Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com and other online retailers.  It will also come in a digital format.

- As of today, the first draft manuscript is 54% finished with a goal of being at 100% by the end of October. We're shooting for a release date of early 2014 for the finished product.

- Graphic design for the cover is currently underway.  We hope to get several proposed cover options to you soon.

- This Wednesday, Aaron will be shooting a short promotional video for the book.  When this is available, it will be an easy-to-share marketing tool that you can use to help spread the word about the project.

Now for the prayer requests:

- Pray for a humble heart and an ambitious drive to write and market with excellence to the glory of God.

- Pray for faithful stewardship of Aaron's schedule, that he might intentionally carve out time to write without sacrificing time with family or church.

- Pray for Biblical inspiration and doctrinal integrity for each devotion

- Although the book will be primarily sold online, getting it in stores would provide a big boost for it.  There's one national Christian retailer whom Aaron happens to have a very close relationship with (ahem).  Pray for God's favor on the project and for wisdom and winsomeness as he engages retailers.

- Pray for the graphic design and promotional video that are currently in production.

If you have any other questions about the book, please let us know in the comments below.  Thank you friends!  We appreciate you all!

"Whatever you do in any area I would say, first understand [that] this is not about ego, it’s not to bring you glory, it’s to bring the Lord glory and I would encourage you to seek the favor of the God more than anything... Go for quality, go for art, go for all these things but make your number one priority the favor of God."  -Alex Kendrick (creator of Courageous and Fire Proof)

Great Truth from Hubby

Do you know what the most frequently used word is in a Christian’s vocabulary?  It’s not what you’d first guess, a word like faith, hope or love.  In fact, even though it’s a word you’ll likely recite over 74,000 times in your life, there’s a good chance you’re not sure what it means. Ready for it?  The word we’re all saying, and are all confused by, is...

Continue reading here:
http://theexoduschurch.org/the-most-said-word-in-the-church/

Crayon Pictures: Abel's Song

A while back, I posted a song that I had written for Belle.  It's been a while in coming, but here is Abel's song, called Crayon Pictures.  On the afternoon of June 4th 2011, hunched over his little bed in the NICU, I got to tell Abel my first words to him.  They were, "Son, I love you and I'm proud of you.  I hope that you love Jesus."  I want him to always know that he has my love and can never lose it, just like I have the love of my Father not because of anything I do or don't do, but because Jesus made me His son.  Enjoy the song, but I warn you, my novice guitar playing is a 1 out of 10.  If it sounds horrible, you can just enjoy the pictures and how cute my son is!   -Aaron

Why our God Isn't a God of Second Chances...and that is Good News!

Here is a post that Aaron recently wrote for our local church's blog. There is lots of truth in his post and a lot of reason to celebrate that God isn't a God of second chances!

Little Girl Spinning Circles

Here's is a song that I wrote for my little girl.  I'm trying to learn guitar and have only been at it for a few weeks, but this is me playing and singing.  Who knows, maybe she'll let me sing it at her wedding someday.

Two little clarifications:  Belle is not yet two as the song suggests and the pictures are not completely in order.  Oh, and I'll be working on Abel's own song next.  :)  Hope you enjoy!

New Song for Abel and Belle

This is a song I wrote to help Abel and Belle learn the books of the Bible (the NT at least) when they get older.

If nothing else, it should make them laugh one day to hear daddy try to sing a capella with himself.  :)

-Aaron

Daddy's Song to Abel & Belle

Here's a song that I've (Aaron) been working on for Abel and Belle.  Warning, I'm not the best singer :)

Thanks to my brother and dad for the guitar and mandolin playing.  It was fun to record this with you guys!

Scary 24 Hours - Update

Thanks for all of your prayers and please continue. It has been a very scary 24 hours. Jennifer was losing blood rapidly and we couldn't find out the cause. Many of her stats were falling along with this and she was getting very pale. After an ultrasound and a ct scan, it was discovered that she had been bleeding internally and had a large blood clot. She had to go back into surgery where they were able to use the same incision to operate. They removed the clot and located and stopped the leaker. They also transfused her with four bags of blood. Jenn is now in the surgery ICU and will be monitored throughout the night and into tomorrow. Hopefully, this was the cause of the issues that she was having and we will see her stats improve. Already, her hemoglobin levels have increased and the color is returning to her face. Things are looking better, but please pray. Today was so scary.

Both babies continue to do great! We just need to get mommy better.

-Aaron

Abel and Belle are born!!!

Abel and Belle's birthday is June 4th, 2011! Abel was born at 3lbs, 10oz; Belle at 3lbs, 1oz. Both are in the NICU and doing great! When I left the hospital to pick up some clothes for tonight they were both breathing on their own. Jennifer is very tired, but is doing well. She did have to have a Cesarean section.

Jenn had a rough time last night. She developed, we think, some fluid in her lungs around 3:00am which had to be treated. We were told early this morning to expect the delivery to begin around late morning/early afternoon. Abel and Belle were born at 11:55 and 11:56am respectively.

In a really neat act of providence, a couple from our church was admitted to the hospital the same day as us and were put in the next room. She also delivered today an hour before us, so our church has three babies' births to announce tomorrow.

I know that there are a lot of details that everyone wants to hear that I'm leaving out, but I've been up for some time now and am having trouble remembering more than this. We'll update more info soon. In the meantime, please check out the below photos of the two babies who have stolen my heart...

Preeclampsia

Yesterday we had a scheduled appointment with our OB where Jennifer turned out some very high blood pressure results. A combination of that, a lot of swelling and the presence of protein in her urine was enough for the midwife who was seeing her to admit her to the hospital. After being their for 24 hours, it was determined that she has severe preeclampsia. We were told that 300mg of protein is an indicator of preeclampsia. Jenn had over 6000mg.

She is being monitored closely and we have been told that the babies will probably be delivered very soon - we are thinking by the end of this week. She was given a steroid injection today to bolster the babies' lung development in preparation for premature birth. We were told that the babies can be induced after 48 hours of that injection. She's also being hooked up to an IV and made to lay on her side permanently.

Abel and Belle continue to look great. They we be at 31 weeks tomorrow and will most likely be in the NICU for around a month. They did give us a quick tour of the NICU tonight and it is very nice. This particular hospital has separate rooms for each baby, or a double room for two babies in our case along with a recliner or pull out bed. This makes it very quiet and private. The doctors also said that because of the position of the babies, Jenn may be able to deliver vaginally and avoid a Cesarean section.

I'll try to sneak another update in as things progress and as I have time.

-Aaron

Is "Mommy/Daddy-to-be" a Pro-Life Phrase?

This is Aaron again sneaking a post in...

To transform the disregarded into the treasured. That's what I love about how embryo adoption demonstrates the Gospel. For most of their lives, our children have been disregarded by most of the world, including our government. We couldn't even file for adoption tax credits this year because our children weren't recognized as being alive when we adopted them. They were merely seen as cells, as property to be transferred, as spare parts, and as research potential.

In contrast to this chilling view of life, I can't wait to tell our precious children (our eight in Heaven and our two on earth) how much I love them and have loved them since I first knew them on the microscopic level. As passionately as I feel about this, embryo adoption has humbled me into repentance regarding how I used to talk about life before birth.

I'm as pro-life as they come and never thought that I could be sending mixed messages about life to a world that doesn't believe the Bible. However listen to some of the things that I used to say to people who were expecting the birth of children:

1) "You're going to have a baby!"
Translation to the world: "You don't have a baby inside you yet."

2) "You're going to make such a good parent."
Translation to the world: "Your baby in the womb doesn't make you a parent already."

3) "Here comes the Mommy-to-be/Daddy-to-be."
Translation to the world: "She's carrying a baby-to-be."

4) "When the baby gets here..."
Translation: "A baby isn't here yet."

5) "You're going to be a grandfather, going to be a big sister, going to be an aunt..".
Translation: Because "going to" is in the future, you're not these things now.

The message of these cliches never weighed on me until we first adopted our children as embryos. Since then, I seem to hear statements like these every day and it makes me cringe every time to know that my language used to effectively "skip over" life before birth.

I've repented for this and am trying hard to rephrase my speech to honor life before birth. Will you join me in communicating the presence of life in this way? As Christians, we need to make sure that the words out of our mouth match those on our bumper stickers and slogans. Here are some ways that I think we can start doing this:

1) Avoid these types of sayings that I've listed above and graciously correct people when they use them. Just as we are careful to gracefully correct racist speech in our families, churches and workplaces, let's do so for non-life-affirming speech.

2) Recognize adopting families (embryo and traditional) as parents before their children arrive in the home or out of the womb. I know from experience how much adopting families care for their children before they ever see them. Let's be vocal in honoring the hard and expensive responsibility of adopting children by recognizing parents as such, even if their kids haven't slept it to their new beds yet.

3) On Mother's and Father's Day, let's recognize all children, including those who have been sent to Heaven through miscarriage or some other death before birth. Mother's Day can be a hard day for the woman who has lost her children. Remembering them as real children (and treating the Mother as a real Mother), doesn't pour salt on the wound. It actually honors the parents and the children.

4) This requires special grace and wisdom, but on Mother's and Father's Day, honor the lives of children who have been lost through abortion. Don't honor the sin of abortion, but use the uniqueness of the day to bring awareness to the fact that after conception, no one can choose not to be a mother or a father. Let non-Christians know of God's forgiveness and the hope of seeing their children in Heaven. Let them know that God uses sin sinlessly and that their children have a marvelous future that they can still be part of. Let Christians who have aborted children in the past be reminded of God's grace and forgiveness and that their children await them with smiles in Heaven.

5) Lastly, let's teach our children on earth about the value of life by always referring to lost children as brothers or sisters who are in Heaven. What a testimony it would be to a teacher to hear a five-year old respond to the question, "Do you have any brothers or sisters?" with "I have a baby sister and another one in Heaven."

I say all this humbly, realizing how I've minimized life in my own speech so often. I'm thankful to my own children in Heaven and my two on earth for teaching me to know better from now on. I love you guys and you are quite precious!

-Aaron

A Christmas Post Worth Rereading

Last year, Aaron wrote and posted "Christmas Thoughts About Embryo Adoption." I know we have some new blog followers this year, so I wanted to share it again with you guys. We often think of Jesus coming to earth as a baby (which He most definitely did), but before that, He came to earth as a human embryo! Please take a minute to read this wonderful post by my wonderful hubby!

Beta #1 Results

This is Aaron. I wanted to be the one to share the good news that we found out today. Jennifer is pregnant with a beta of 1,123! Praise God!!!

We were blown away to be over 1,000. Jenn will go for a 2nd beta test on Wednesday. The NEDC said that they normally look for betas to double, but because this one is so high, they only want it to go up.

Of course this is still a very precarious time and our baby or babies still need much prayer, but we are so thankful to God for His blessings in our life today!

-Aaron

Grieving to God's Glory

Although Jenn usually does the updating for this blog, I (Aaron)felt that I needed to share my heart right now. For those who haven't read Jennifer's most recent post, we just received word from the NEDC that Jenn's beta number was a 6. A 5 is considered non-pregnant. We had two positive home pregnancy tests on Wednesday and Thursday and were hoping for a strong number today. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case.

We took another home pregnancy test this afternoon and it came back negative. HCG levels don't go down and then back up, they go one direction or the other indicating a continued pregnancy or a miscarriage. Although we have to have another blood test done on Monday and continue the shots through then, we are accepting from God that our baby or babies have miscarried. I have total confidence that God can do all things. He has brought people back from the dead. However, we feel that God is clearly showing us that the babies are gone. We feel a peace in going ahead and accepting this.

I'm struggling on many levels right now. I don't know how to view the power of prayer in light of praying without doubting yet praying that God's will be done and not presuming upon anything.

I'm struggling in knowing how to love and relate to my wife. Amidst wonderful blessings, the greatest of which is our common salvation, we have been through a long season where many of our most shared emotions are those of shattered hope and sorrow instead of joy. After receiving our first ever two positive home pregnancy tests, we spent a day and a half sharing a joy that was precious. I saw a look in Jennifer's eyes that I thought I was getting ready to see each day for the rest of my life. We spent time in the mall and for the first time, were able to smile as we saw strollers and baby carriers go past. We felt for the first time that we belonged in the "normal" crowd and could relate to our friends the same age. We envisioned each corner of our new house through the eyes of a little one. That has been taken away and we are back to the too-common bond of sorrow and empty-hearts. All this grows us closer together, but we want to grow our marriage in joy, not in pain.

I'm struggling in feeling like a good husband and provider to my wife. I want to give my wife the joy of continued motherhood but am powerless to do this. It is so hard to want to give a gift to the person you love most and not be able to. It is hard keep seeing your best efforts at giving that gift fall short.

I struggle with jealousy. It frustrates me to see fathers and husbands who have no problem experiencing the privilege of raising children in this world.

And in all of these things, I struggle with learning how to glorify God and live all of life to make much of Him. I know the answers to all of the struggles that I just listed and could counsel any person on the proper theological responses to them. Living that out is hard though. In that sense, I wanted to write this post to say that I know the following truths and want to live my life proclaiming them:

1) God is all powerful.
2) God is good.
3) God is sovereign.
4) God, through the display of His Gospel, is the answer to all of our struggles.
5) We can grieve to His glory.
6) God died and rose again to take all sorrow away and reverse the curse forever.
7) Our greatest hope is in a world awaiting us.

I am struggling, but I am comforted. I am crying, but I am held. We long to love born children, but know that we are loved born-again children. We feel empty, but we believe in Him. That is the work of the child of God, to believe in the One whom the Father sent and cling to Him at all times. Father, we are believing and clinging to You right now. Please make much of Yourself through our lives!

-Aaron

Heavenly Implications of Embryo Adoption

I was hit by some of the weighty Heavenly implications of embryo adoption today, ones that have to do with the children that we adopt that perhaps won't get to experience birth.

During embryo adoption, several embryos, usually 2-4 are transferred at the same time. On occasion, all of the transferred embryos attach (implant) to the uterus successfully and twins, triplets and quadruplets get the birth that they were made to experience. However, this is not usually the norm. More often, at least one embryo doesn't survive either the thawing process.

Knowing this, we're not purposely sending a baby embryo to its death. As it currently is, they sit frozen with no chance, none at all at experiencing birth unless they are adopted by a couple. It is our prayer that every embryo that we adopt will experience a live birth, and we know families for whom this has happened. However, we know that it is rare for God to do this and we have to prepare for the fact that some (and perhaps all) of the embryos we adopt may not experience a live birth. It is a "risk" that we have to take, but it is one that is especially worth taking - for the embryos and for us.

Now Jennifer and I believe that babies who die, while having an inherited sin nature, are part of God's elect people. We believe that the grace of God applies the power of the sacrifice of Jesus on their behalf so that they immediately are ushered into Heaven. We don't believe this flippantly or sentimentally, but theologically. For great insight on the subject, take a look at this printed sermon by John MacArthur.

This being the case, we believe that God has a plan for each frozen child who is currently sitting in a storage container. That plan is either being birthed to a loving, adopting family on this current Earth or eternal life with a loving, adopting God in Heaven and on the New Earth yet to come. There is nothing but good in store for these children, even though most of the world views them as dispensable, good only for research and spare parts. The connecting line between their current state and the good that God has in store for them is an adopting family.

Now we pray and hope and think about our adopted babies experiencing birth, but what about the ones that God may have predestined for death during the transfer? Well, their entry into Heaven is dependent upon us reaching out to them and going through with the transfer. To turn that sentence around, God could be waiting for us to attempt this transfer so that some of his child(ren) can walk into the gates of Heaven and run into His arms. I guess when it comes to embryo adoption, I've always thought about either its Earthly implications or the future Heavenly and New Earth implications. I've seldom thought about way it could change Heaven before I get there. That I could be sending some of my children on ahead of me. That they could be showing me around Heaven when I get there.

What an awesome thought that Jennifer and I have probably been chosen as agents to literally bring children to God. Of course, death is a result of the Fall, but God is still sovereign over it and uses all of the results of the Fall and our sin for the ultimate good. He proved that by dying for Jennifer and myself and any of our to-be babies who may not experience birth. It is our prayer, and we ask you to join with us in this, that God will allow all of our transferred babies to experience birth. But if any don't, we know where they'll be. All of our babies will be adopted, either to our home in NC or to their Heavenly home with the Person for whom they were made to enjoy. Isn't God awesome?!

-Aaron

Christmas Thoughts about Embryo Adoption

Well now that Thanksgiving is over, we are officially into the Christmas season. Of course, working in retail I've been experiencing the Christmas season since September. I'm glad that everyone else is now catching up.

I don't make many blog posts, but I wanted to share something that occurred to me a few days ago as I was thinking about Christmas. I was making my hour commute to work and reflecting on all the activity that Christmas brings to retail and the real reason that we as Christians celebrate the holiday. My mind went to a picture of a Willow Tree nativity that we keep on top of our entertainment center year-round. As I'm passing it, I often like to look at the baby Jesus in Mary's arms and remember how God left many of the privileges of Godhood and humbled himself by entering into the form of a baby. I realize that I've always thought of the beginning of the incarnation in that way: that in a moment in time, God left his throne for a manger.

What occurred to me that morning is that the real beginning of the incarnation didn't happen on Christmas. God didn't enter into humanity on Christmas morning as a baby, he entered it nine months earlier as a human embryo. Matthew 1:18 says that before Mary and Joseph came together, she was "found to be with child through the Holy Spirit." Two verses later, God tells Joseph that "what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit." That's Biblical grounds for the existence of life at conception right there, that God equates "what is conceived" to being a child. Doesn't that make the incarnation all the more amazing? Jesus goes from ruling the world in Heaven with his Father and the Holy Spirit and enters into the smallest, most dependent, most microscopic form of human life. I've always known that Jesus has a heart for all unborn children, including those who are frozen as embryos. How much more do I know that now, realizing that the same Saviour who submitted himself to death on a cross for my sake, first submitted himself to a womb.

Even more special to embryo adoption is the fact that this could have been exactly what Mary and Joseph did. Not to get too technical, but we know that Jesus' conception was not of result of Joseph's or any man's sperm. We don't know if the Holy Spirit brought about Jesus' conception by using one of Mary's eggs or if Jesus was conceived as one cell without an egg at all. The latter however, is certainly a possibility and if it true, it means that Mary carried and adopted with Joseph a child who was not biologically related to them. If this happened, then the first embryo adoption happened over 2,000 years ago.

Again, we don't know the specifics of how the Holy Spirit brought about the incarnation, but even if Mary's egg had been used, Joseph adopted a child that his wife carried who was not biologically related to him. We can know for sure that the wonderful truth of the Christmas story includes a couple's commitment to adopt a baby before birth. I know all the more that it is God's desire that all embryo's get a chance at birth. I know this because Jesus was once one.

-Aaron