It is with considerable delight that I kick off this family blog. I’ve never really had a need for one before – Jaimie and I have been living fairly simple lives, easy enough to keep people up to date on.

All of that is going to change in the near future, though. Here are the things on our plate in the next 8 months:

• The birth of our first child, a little girl (who I am praying looks much more like Jaimie than like me)!
• A move to North Carolina so I can begin studying at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.
• An accompanying change in jobs.
• An accompanying change in churches – we’ve been at our current church for the last four years.

These changes will mostly be bittersweet: we’ll be glad to get out of Oklahoma (where I’ve spent my last six and a half years), but sad to say goodbye to our friends here; we’ll be glad to be attending seminary, but feel a bit of trepidation at the enormity of the change ahead; I’ll be glad to start a new vocation, but know it will be enormously more challenging in many ways.

In addition, we’re moving far enough that we’ll no longer see Jaimie’s family more than about once a year. That’s going to be a significant transition, as we’ve never lived more than about 3 hours away from them. That’s still plenty of time to make weekend trips down to visit tiring but doable. Similarly, my own hometown of Colorado Springs has been a drivable distance away if we’re going to be in town for a few days: it’s just one long day of driving each way. North Carolina is a different matter entirely. It’s a solid three day drive to visit either side of the family.

I said mostly bittersweet, because the birth of our daughter will be nothing but sweet, God willing! I look forward to sharing pictures of Jaimie’s growing belly, and especially of pictures of our baby girl when she is born. I can’t begin to express how excited I am, and as well how much trepidation I feel at the responsibility of raising a young woman to walk with God. I have to regularly remind myself – yes, even now, four and a half months before the due date – that the most important things I can do are pray and walk with God myself and trust him.

Though a sweet change, that change will bring its own challenges, too. Our schedule will never be the same; our lives will never be the same. (For the record, that’s a good thing and something we’re only excited about.) Most of all, neither of us have ever been parents before, so we are going to have a lot of learning to do.

I’ve no doubt we’ll navigate the transition, and I’ve no doubt there is a great deal of joy ahead. I have seen the faithfulness of God over all my life, and am confident of his goodness on the road ahead. I simply know that it will be interesting and very different from our current phase of life.

I hope you all enjoy joining us on our adventure. I hope to keep this blog fairly up to date, posting at least twice a month, and over time Jaimie may post as well. Here’s looking forward to the adventure ahead!