I can't wait to see you.

Alyson and Brooks,
I can't wait to see you. Being here in Texas has been fun, but I can't wait to see you and hold you both in my arms. I never thought that a month could take so long. I pray for you every night for your protection. You both are in my thoughts as I sit in class waiting to be released for the night. I look at Brooks' picture on my phone first thing in the morning, and all I want to do is hop in the car and drive home to be with you.

Alyson you are great beyond words. You have done all of this on your own. You have taken care of Brooks in my absence all without complaining. I am so blessed to be called your husband and I thank you for your incredible spirit. I can't wait to see you next week. Oh, by the way, you will have to call me "Master" Brian since I will have a Master's degree. Just kidding. I love you. Kiss Brooks for me and tell him his Dad will be home soon.

Messy Spirituality

Ever since I was in High School and I began to really think about my walk with Christ, I have always thought about the following: I don't pray enough; I don't read my Bible enough; I don't share my faith enough; I don't love God enough; I'm not committed enough; I'm not spiritual enough. Those thoughts have been in my head for the longest time. I have always thought that if I am an authentic Christian, then I have to be perfect, as Christ was perfect, but I always come up short, way short. I have associated so much guilt with all of those thoughts, because I feel like I really try to be what God wants me to be. I spend so much life worried about what I don't do instead of what I have done, focused on my imperfections instead of God's fondness for the imperfect.

I have just started reading a book called Messy Spirituality and it has opened my eyes in a whole new way. The book is by Michael Yaconelli. He basis of the book on this question: What if genuine faith begins with admitting we will never have our act completely together? He suggests that imperfection, unfinishedness, and messiness are, in fact, the earmarks of true Christianity; that real Christianity is messy, erratic, lopsided, and maybe liberating.

The book gets into how messed up most of our Biblical heroes were. They were murderers, adulterers, prostitutes, criminals, and lepers. He talked about Noah and his faith and willingness to listen to God to build the Ark. He then mentions that when the waters receded that Noah proceeded to go get drunk and naked. I never really thought about Noah like that, nor had I heard the story told like that. I have to realize that its okay to screw up, and not feel so guilty. I just need to be able to hear Jesus when I screw up, when he says "That's not quite what I am looking for, let's try again". He doesn't say, "That's not quite what I am looking for, get away from me". I guess being so messed up is not such a horrible thing to be as a "Christian".

Just look at this kid!!!

You can't tell me that Brooks does not love to be home with his family. We took this picture the day we moved in to our new apartment.

I leave for Texas on Wednesday and will not be back until around July 10th. I will be gone from Alyson and Brooks for about a month. I will be gone for way too long, but I will have my Master's Degree when I come back. It will be fun to see everyone in Abilene for one last time.

We made it home...finally!

We are in our new home and unpacking. Alyson arrived home on Friday and I arrived home Sunday at 2:00 a.m. We are all doing well. My trip with my dad in the moving truck was fun, but very uncomfortable. The truck was not made for comfort. We both came away from the 26 hour trip with very sore backs. Split the trip up, though not evenly. 7 hours on Friday, and 19 on Saturday. We had planned to stop and sleep Saturday night, but I think that my dad and I both dreaded getting back into the truck again for a third day.
Our new apartment is very nice and I think we will enjoy living here for a short time. I only have a 2 mile commute to work, which in this town is a true blessing (traffic stinks here).

My dad got to meet Brooks for the first time today. It was awesome!!! I will post pictures soon. My dad got so fired up after meeting Brooks that he went and bought a brand new Mustang. I'm thinking it will be a great hand-me-down for Brooks.

Anyway, we are here and settling in. We already miss our friends in Abilene.