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.