My love,

Today is your first Mother’s Day, and I thought it might be nice to pen you a note. (I was going to buy you flowers, but my aunt and uncle beat me to the punch.)

In the four and a half years I’ve known you, and in the almost three we’ve been married, I’ve gotten to see you walk through the fire of some very great ordeals. So I know your strength, your courage, and your willingness to press on – your willingness to soldier through, even when doing so entails considerable pain and frustration in your life. I know your heart for God, the way you want to please Him with your life, and the depths of your commitment to loving him. I know your compassion, and your incredibly tender heart, and your sweet and gentle spirit. I know your verve, too, and the strength of character that runs in your veins. In short: I know you to be a truly excellent woman. Read on, intrepid explorer →

That last post was written carefully. (I adapted it from an email to friends, and even then I was careful.) It is exceptionally important, I think, to speak and write carefully when our hearts are full of less than pleasant things. As, truth be told, mine is when it comes to much of the news I shared. I wanted to be clear that I see the direction we are headed as good, and to make it clear that I trust God is working these things for good.

However, the reality is that I am not particularly happy about the decision. At times, I’ve been everything from mildly disappointed to deeply angry about it. Read on, intrepid explorer →

Baby girl has been kicking up a storm – enough to keep Jaimie from sleeping some nights. She’s also gotten what seems quite large, but apparently she’s about to kick off a growth spurt. Between now and the end of the pregnancy, she will triple or even quadruple in size. That’s frankly mind-blowing, as is most of pregnancy. There is, you know, a person growing in there. Read on, intrepid explorer →

Two days in a row, now, I have called Jaimie on my way home from work. A rough transcript of the beginning of each conversation:

“Hello, Jaimie Dawn.”

“Hi! *belch*“

“You burped!”

“Yes. *giggle* Are you coming home now?”

Two days in a row. I’m eagerly awaiting today’s conversation to see if it happens again. Read on, intrepid explorer →

One evening recently, Jaimie went to bed early. I stayed up late working. Around 11pm, she walked out of our bedroom and stared at me, then proceeded to tell me about a dream within a dream within a dream within a dream within a dream, each one involving waking up in her bed – and several of them involving coming out and talking to me. Read on, intrepid explorer →