This morning Deanna and I went to the doctor for our first ultrasound. The ultrasound was the COOLEST thing I have ever seen. Here are some of my personal thoughts:

• I about went through the roof when I saw our child…I was filled with EXCITEMENT and JOY!
• I am totally SMITTEN with our little baby…when I saw the picture on the screen, I became attached!!
• When I saw our baby’s heartbeat…I immediately felt proud as a parent!!
• I realized that I will do anything to protect our baby and protect my wife, their mom!!
• I saw our baby moving around and being squirmy and I thought…CRAP, he/she is going to more active than me…I am in so much trouble, but thank you Jesus!!
• I cannot wait until the beginning of June when our baby is due!

There are so many other thoughts and excitement running through my head!! I am going to leave you with the clearest picture we got today from the ultrasound, although it is from the back…this is the best picture EVER!!

Last night, Deanna and I made it to Florence around 8:00PM.  We drove through some crazy awful weather, but made it without any problems.  We went straight to 317 S. Irby Street, Town House Restaurant.  We called my parents, who were already there and they ordered for us, so we were able to eat almost immediately when we arrived.  I am going to tell you that is one of the best meals that i have ever eaten in my whole entire life!!! 

I sat there and ate slowly for the first time in a LOOONG time!  I cherished ever bite of that Greek Marinated Grilled Chicken Breast with onion rings and fries!  As I was eating I was blown away with how blessed I am that I can go out to eat and eat anything that I desire.  I know that there are people in our own country that would do anything for a full course meal everyday!  I am truly blessed, I pray that I never forget that and also use the opportunities that God presents me with to bless others as He leads me to!

How are you blessed?  Think about that for a moment, I bet that you are blessed more than you really think!!!

Over the past 19 hours, Deanna and I have received so much encouragement!!  We feel so blessed that we have family and friends that have sent us words of encouragement and excitement.  To those of you that read my blog….THANK YOU!  We greatly appreciate it and are very excited about how our lives will change in the coming months!

I am going to be posting on my blog with updates about what is going on with the pregnancy, doctor’s appointments, shopping, nursery, etc.  Yeah, this will make my blog not as manly, but I don’t care!  I super stoked that I am a dad!!!

Deanna and I are super excited to say that we are having a baby! We feel so blessed that the Lord has blessed in this amazing way. We went to the doctor today and got the estimated due date, which is June 8, 2009!!!

Please pray for our little baby and Deanna! I am looking forward to seeing my wife’s belly grow in the coming months!!

Please send any information that you find helpful if you have ever been pregnant!!!

I am filled with so much anticipation…right now I am sitting on my couch with the Presidential Debate on in the background, my wife is asleep on our oversized chair.  This weekend was HUGE with over 600 people proclaiming Jesus as Lord.  There has been so much going on in my life in the last 48 hours.  So many things that I can’t really reveal yet, but some will be revealed soon.  Each one of those things make me very EXCITED!!!

Tomorrow, I am leaving to attend Catalyst.  I am going to be attending with many of my NewSpring teammates, but I am going to be spending an extensive amount of time with Jake Beaty.  He has been my boss for the past 6 months, but friend for over 7-8 years.  I am looking forward to the many challenging conversations that we will be having over the next 3 days.

I am also looking forward to the many speakers that we will hear at Catalyst.  Andy Stanley, Craig Groeschel,  Seth Godin, Steven Furtick, Jim Collins, Matt Chandler, Dave Ramsey, and many others.  It is my prayer that I will be able to listen without any distractions so that I may be strectched, challenged, and encouraged!!

So I sit hear a little giddy, waiting for this conference to begin and get going!!!!

For a some time, I have been pondering about using a software to track my finances.  I have been doing it by using an EXCEL worksheet, but I have been desiring to use something a little different for some enhanced features.  So I pose the question to all out in blog world…which software do you use and why?

Here are some of the options I have found:

• Quicken
• Microsoft Money
• Dave Ramsey’s Gazelle Program
• Crown Financial’s Mvelopes
• Mint.com

Bring the heat on all of these options or others that I don’t know about!!!

I was reading in Matthew 10 and in this chapter Jesus gives his disciples instructions for their ministry. In 38 verses, Jesus makes it VERY clear about where to go (v. 6), what to say (v.7), what to do (v.8), and what not to take (v.9). He also does not sugar coat it! He tells them the truth…brutal and strong!

Take a moment to read what Jesus tells them about the opposition they will face, “Be on your guard against men; they will hand you over to the local councils and flog you in their synagogues. On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.” Matthew 10:17-20

Seriously, Jesus tells them you will get thrown under bus, get beaten, thrown in jail, and put on trial, but when that happens…DON’T WORRY! When you face the crap of your life and people want to beat the mess out of you…DON’T WORRY! When people accuse of you doing wrong and tell you that you are wrong for following Jesus…DON’T WORRY!

DON’T WORRY…because I will have your back, I will give you the words to say, and I will show you exactly how to say it! WOW!!! Jesus knows what we will face and knows exactly how He is going to respond to it! All we have to do is listen and do as He says. We should all take comfort in that truth and be able to say “Bring it on!”

Here is a list of my BEST of Hawaii while we were on vacation:

Breakfast: Kuhio Grill
Lunch: Duke’s Canoe Club
Dinner: Cheesecake Factory
Dessert: TIE - Hula Pie at Duke’s Canoe Club & Snickers Cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory
Attraction: Polynesian Culture Center
Beach: Hanauma Bay
Thing we brought from home: Garmin GPS
Snorkeling: Hanauma Bay
Discount Shopping: Swap Meet