road trip '07

this past summer my dad, my father-in-law and I went on a road trip...here are my journal entries for those three days. and pictures. not that you care:

July 26, 2007

let me first say how thankful I am to God that I have a father AND a father-in-law. and they like each other. i imagine this trip will be treasured in all of our hearts. the day began with coffee at our house. the destination: Bedford, VA and the National D-Day monument. conversation included Tennessee's upcoming football season, the lack of appreciation & knowledge of American history by the younger generations (i hope and pray Jack learns to appreciate his heritage and the sacrifice made for him to be free, both in America and spiritually) stories were told of the father's fathers history in growing up and their involvement in WWII.

next stop: Lexington,Va. Lee chapel, Lee residence at Washington and Lee, Marshall museum on VMI campus, Jackson residence, Jackson gravesite.

the tour at the Jackson home was excellent. the lady guiding us was very good and very dedicated to her post, which was probably a volunteer position. she was older and it was fun to watch her dedication to the details of her job. She faded the lights as the movie began at the beginning of the tour and waited until the credits were over before carefully fading the lights back up and continuing on with the tour. you just don't see that much anymore.

Jackson home: Jackson began every day in prayer, a brisk walk, THEN returned at 7am for family prayer and breakfast. he had a digestive problem and thought being upright helped so he studied his classroom lectures standing up. he sat in a chair facing the wall and recited his lectures to his wife until he had them word for word. self discipline was this guy's forte: spiritual, mental, physical.

After checking into our hotel, we pulled the cooler out by the pool and talked until dinner. topics included the mystery of the female mind and crazy stories from our own histories. then it was to Applebee's for dinner. We sat at the bar (like all Christ followers should) there we met, not a "woman at the well", but a man. in conversation I believe God was glorified. relationship was central. it's fun to watch your heroes engage someone with no pretense, no judgements, but with a genuine desire to just be themselves and get to know and love their neighbor...buy him a beer, hunker down and do life with the people that come to the "well". to be continued...

birthdays, my wife, and the love of God...

birthdays are good. my wife is great. Lensey and my mom managed to co-plan a surprise 30th birthday party for me while nine months pregnant. she even lied to my face and led me to believe that we were going to the captains table on watauga lake to eat dinner. we walked in my parents house to "drop the kids off"...literally (not poop) and there were most of my favorite people in the whole world. and we laughed and ate chicken wings and told stories and laughed some more. somehow when stories are told of me, almost 94% percent of them involve nudity on my part. i like to think it's someone else's idea to get naked, but when the story is told out loud, it sure sounds like someone else came up with a great idea to do some spontaneous random thing, but it's always me who has to add, "you know what would be even better....if we did it NAKED!"

anyway, it was good times. but the interesting thing is that for the past month or so, i've felt very lonely, alone, by myself. no friends, no family, no God, nobody. but then Jack came, and my phone didn't stop ringing for a week because people called to check on us, and people from church signed up for three weeks to bring us dinner, and my friend Josh wrote me from Orphan Helpers with an encouraging note, and I had a birthday, and people showed up at a party and had stoies to tell on me, and my friend Ryan said he hopes that we are friends for a long time, and one of my former students thanked me for investing in his life, and liz and curtis post-it noted my car (see picture), and chris gave me a card that played the Bewitched theme song and read, "your magic makes me tingle".

And so God showed up in all these ways and finally I had no choice but to realize that it is not God that goes somewhere, but me who walks away. and the passage that says, "as for me, the nearness of God is my good" started to make sense. because life sucks when we walk away from God like we have it all together and we don't need anybody. but I ask myself "why?" why do i walk away? i walk away without even knowing it. i start feeling like crap and still don't recognize the fact that i have turned a cold shoulder to the nearness of God. i sure wish i could trust only in that passage, I guess i'll just have to keep saying it over and over in my head.

friends...

you know, i'm sitting here nestled up against my screen door so I can steal my neighbors wireless, and that little lump camp up in my throat as I thought about my friends. Over the past several years, my "friendships" have changed drastically. I've lost friends to heaven and to circumstances. I got married and a new season began for me so I felt like I was losing my unmarried friends, bert passed away, other relationships that were strong faded for one reason or another, ministry only leaves so many minutes in a day to continue relationships.

But today I rejoice in the friendships I have, new and old that, even in the past few months, have sprouted new leaves and are gathering water to strengthen again. Richie and I have been talking more, Pat too. Chris as my office mate. that dude challenges me and I like it. and the monday night basketball dudes have been a real blessing and treat. todd bell is good. John Fooshee, who has probably been THE most influential person in my life the past five years, is around more...at cracker barrell and panera anyway.

So, if you read this, thank you from the bottom of my heart, i'll tell you to your face, but we're dudes and it might get mushy. Thanks.

more on jack..and a sermon quote

Here are a few more pics of jack's first week of life. He is very pleasant (so far) and we all love having him around. He is already cracking us up with his faces. It's pretty special having a son. Laynie is doing well but has some jealous moments. She and I have been spending alot of time together because of obvious reasons. I think she's ready to have her mommy back. Before all this happened, I was worried how I would love another as much as I love Laynie. It is truly God breathed. I felt full of love with Laynie, like I had nothing else to give. There is no doubt God gives you what you need: patience, endurance, comfort, love, energy, etc. There is no stinking way we could do this without His guiding arms wrapped around us.

"Yes, my sister's lips are permanently attached to my face. It's a little annoying."

Jack w/ his Uncle Dick

Chris walked straight in and started teaching Jack how to sing.

One last thing and I'll shut up: This week we opened a series on I Peter. It is written to believers that were scattered all over asia minor in hopes of encouraging them to "live by faith in a world of un-faith." The idea is this, decide that you are going to put all your eggs in the Jesus basket...ALL THE TIME. Who said that, Bobby said that...

ladies and gentleman, my son....

today has been a day. Jack Matthew Richardson has entered the world and when he came out, it looked alot like Laynie. I can't write alot now. It's 10pm and I'm sitting outside Panera Bread blogging. But I thought I would post some pics for you.

Without a doubt the most amazing sights these eyes have ever seen.

tomorrow....

Tomorrow we are scheduled, well, Lens is scheduled, to be induced at 6 am. "nervous" and "excited" are words that come to mind. nervous for Lensey and the baby during delivery, nervous for Laynie and her reaction to a new face that will be getting grandparents attention, nervous because I am responsible for showing my son how to be a man of God.

See, with Laynie there are certainly things I can teach her: how to be independent, the fact that all farting is funny, laughter is the serious business of heaven, all men are pigs except for me and her two granddads, how she should be treated when the whole boy thing starts happening (you can start praying now that she converts to Catholicism and becomes a nun), and that her mom is the greatest friend and person on the face of the planet.

But for a son? the challenge i accept only on the fact that my God is with me.

Tomorrow we meet the second Jack Richardson I have ever known. the first was my grandfather, my dad's dad. He was a great man and good friend to me for the first thirteen years of my life. His story is wild, and I can only pray that the new Jack pursues God with the same wildness that the old Jack experienced. Are you excited? I am.
Tomorrow you get to meet Jack Matthew Richardson.
Tomorrow another Richardson enters the world.
Tomorrow we get to witness the miracle of God's beautiful creation.
Tomorrow we get to smell heaven.
Tomorrow we start a new chapter.
Tomorrow the track changes from 3 to 4.
Tomorrow.

my love...

I don't have much to say right now, but my good friend Chris took this picture of Laynie and I think it's awesome...We were praying at a baptism and she was on my shoulders. I know, I'm bias...........i don't care.

I also love my sister-in-law VERY much.

the wisdom of my friend...

this morning i meet with john fooshee to talk about my talents and strenghts and how to develop and utilize them to the max. there is something serious going on in my life right now, but i can't explain it. and when i can't explain it, john seems to help put the pieces together in a real, personable, friendly way. i was instructed to come up with 15 things in my life, from birth to the present, that i have BOTH loved AND been good at. i came up with 10:

1. Basketball
2. Friendships/ Relationships
3. Words- Reading- Language
4. Communication
5. Competition
6. Acting/ Drama/ Characters
7. Being a dad
8. Being a husband
9. Youth Ministry
10. Discipleship

oh, well. so we met, talked and he asked questions about the stories behind each one of the ten things. here's are some of the themes we came up with, from a simple conversation:

Themes: I am drawn to the challenge of being involved in people's lives.
I most desire to understand people for the purpose of helping them live life to the full.

We also came up with some environments I thrive in: Team, High Energy, Group environments where I'm up front so that I can build into lives one-on- one later, places where the coach or leader values me over the task at hand, and being outside. more on this later...

God in my shower...

In my life, it seems the only still, quiet place is the shower. And so I've been trying to meditate on things above while I'm washing. Acouple nights ago, God showed up and laid on my mind a question that Lensey told me she asked Laynie today. The answer is what got me, though. They were driving around and Laynie was asking 1,000 questions, (she's 2 and a half) and Lens said, "Where are all these questions coming from?!" Laynie thought for a minute and then said, "Ummm, they're coming from God."
And so God started teaching me in the shower.
If God is giving my little girl questions, my response shouldn't be impatience or frustration, because that shows her I'm not interested in what she' interested in. No, my responsibility is to see that God is giving me opportunities to point my daughter to Him! By answering her questions (even if I don't know the answer) I'm teaching her that God, and me are interested in everything in her little world and we will always be available to listen to her and answer her questions.
Is that not how God feels towards us? We question, we doubt, we inquire and He sits, listens, answers, and responds with compassion and love.
Thank you God for showing me something new about You in the shower. Grant me the brains to remember this forever. May You use this experience some day for Your glory.

Another shot...

So i'm going to give this blogging thing another shot and see how it goes. If I truly suck at it and you are really my friend, you'll tell me...and I'll stop. Read if you dare.