Happy Birthday, Kari and An Update

Happy Birthday, Kari.

Yesterday Landon had his annual checkup. After answering several questions about Landon's vocabulary and other skills, our doctor informed us that Landon is on a 16 month on skill level. He is completely clear of his ear infections and is getting two new teeth; one of the new teeth is a molar. He received two shots and had blood drawn and took all three needle pricks like a champ. The only time he cried was when he chewed the bandaid off his thumb and Kari took it out of his mouth.

After arriving 15 minutes late to Landon's appointment and being told we would have to wait to see the doctor, we told the office staff that we had another appointment for Baby Hellums Number Two shortly after. The office staff spoke we the doctor and we were in and out of Landon's doctor in record time.

At Kari's appointment we learned that she was a little over 2 cm dilated and half effaced. What does this all mean...Baby Hellums Number Two is getting ready to make his appearance. On the way home Kari started experiencing contractions and the thought of having him yesterday was on the front of our minds. We made several "just in case" phone calls and talked to our friends Rod and Dana about coming over in the middle of the night if she went into labor. After about two hours, the intense contractions subsided and the concern lowered.

It was a great day at the doctors. Only about 3 more days until we meet Baby Hellums Number Two. We are scheduled to arrive in Round Rock at 5:30 am; which means we will be leaving the camp at 4:15amish.

Thank you for all your prayers. God Bless.

Baby Hellums Number Two is Ready and Waiting!

It is hard to grasp that in approximately 4 days Baby Hellums Number Two will be making his grand entrance. Kari has started to experience infrequent contractions, is uncomfortable and ready for him to be delivered. The house is 97% prepared, but we could always use more diapers. With Landon, almost every time we went to the store we bought diapers. This trend has continued, but we still were buying for Landon not Baby Hellums Number Two.

Today we are going to Landon's one year checkup. Please pray his ear infections are all clear. Later this afternoon we are headed to Round Rock to see Kari's doctor one last time before Baby Hellums Number Two scheduled arrival, Monday, August 2nd. We are very excited about his arrival.

Stay tuned for the latest news about Landon and Baby Hellums Number Two @ Insert Title Here.

God bless.

My Utmost for His Highest Entry: July 27

"When Jesus drives something home to you through His Word, don’t try to evade it. If you do, you will become a religious impostor. Examine the things you tend simply to shrug your shoulders about, and where you have refused to be obedient, and you will know why you are not growing spiritually."

-Oswald Chambers

We began the morning with today's entry from Chambers' My Utmost for His Highest. This quote stood out and I had to share it.

How many times do we not jump at the Spirits prompting, listen the the small whisper or follow the obvious guy wrenching movement of God to do something or say something? Are you a religious impostor?

I hope you find as much as I did in the quote. I pray that we follow and obey what the Lord has for each of us daily. It is so rich and not worth missing out on.

God Bless

Photoshoot Fun

A Bit of Advise

Warning: The following post may contain TIM (to much information).

A few nights ago I was in the reading room, reading of course and had a heart stopping moment that must be shared.

On the back of my head I felt a thump. Immediately after my head was hit, I felt the same thump on my knee and saw something fall into my shorts. I start to scream at a small volume, but increased the level because whatever hit me came crawling out of my shorts.

A scorpion had fell from the ceiling, bounced off my head and knee and fell into my shorts! I was really screaming, when I saw the scorpion. As Kari heard my screams she happened to be walking near the reading room. She looked down and saw the scorpion scurrying across the floor and said, "It's just a scorpion."

The good news: I didn't get stung.

I hope everyone has a great day; watch out for falling scorpions!

A Word from 2 Corinthians 12:7-10

On June 20th, 2010, I had an opportunity to share what the Lord laid on my heart at Sunday chapel.

These are the notes/converted blog from that day. The unquoted scripture comes from 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, so if it is not referenced that is where the passage is from.

"To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me."

To me Paul is a superhero apostle, I mean he wrote half the New Testament, but Paul does not want to be magnified or glorified, he wants to give all the glory to the Lord. For me to read he has some problems brings him down to earth and makes him human; just like you and I.

Paul is facing opposition. James 1:2-4 it says, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." God is using a "thorn in Paul's flesh," to maintain growth and maturity in Paul; God is using it for good. These are the "growing pains," that take place when you become a believer. We find them uncomfortable and miserable, but there is no reason to complain because it has a purpose: perseverance.

Another facet of Paul opposition is that it is clearly a spiritual battle. Christ tells us in John 10:10, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy..." Guys, we are in a spiritual battle. If we aren't facing opposition daily, than we are already playing for the other team. Satan is alive and well at Highland Lakes Camp; if we allow him to reign. We are all trying to shine for Jesus, day in and day out. Satan delights when we fail, get frustrated with one another, and get on one anthers nerves. Name anything unholy or unrighteous and Satan delights in it. This is a real battle that each of us should be aware of and stop fighting with one another and fight spiritually. Did anyone let Satan win a few this past week?

What should be our response: The Message starts verse 8 by saying, "what he in fact did was push me to my knees...Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me." We should be on our knees asking the Lord to intervene on our behalf. Where do you take your problems first? Do you take them to your neighbor?

The other day Morgan came to me complaining the computer wasn't doing what it was supposed to do and said, "He wanted to punch it!" I asked him, "Did you pray over it?" He replied in shock, "No." A few days later, we were waiting for a package to arrive. Morgan was on pins and needles. When the package arrive he proclaimed to me, "Prayer worked!" Are you asking God to help, even with your computer problems; with your relationships; with your communications skills in these times when Satan attacks? Pray, seek after the Lords help.

Verse 9 Christ answers Paul, "But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me."

WOW! Christ doesn't say, "Ok Paul, I'll fix this," Instead Paul's answer is "grace." Through Him, and our weakness, Christ is glorified. How many times do we think, I can do this, I don't need help, I am strong enough, whatever; when really we need to surrender and rely solely on Christ. Galatians 2:20, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me." In Christ, we are no longer, for lack of better words, in charge, we are Christ. We are weak humans, but with the empowerment of Christ, we are strengthening and ultimately give glory to God for are lives and what He does through it.

Paul concludes this section by saying, "That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." Let me read that again: "I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, and in difficulties." It doesn't say anything about complaining, whining or ignoring to or about one another, does it? It say, "I delight!" We have a hard job, but is it really that hard when we have Christ. From this scripture, God is calling us to take all these "troubles," turn them over to His grace and delight to allow Him to be glorified. We need to rely on Christ strength, or we are going to be miserable, downtrodden and tried.

When I am weak, He is strong. I urge you to surrender you life everyone morning. Accept grace, delight in troubles and rely solely on Christ Jesus for everything. In this, we give all glory to God, not ourselves.

I hope this falls fresh on those who read it. God Bless.

A Little Fire in a Dimmer

We had a little contained fire in Miles Auditorium on last Friday afternoon.

As we wrapped up Journey Two, we were cleaning up and testing some lights and smoke tickled my nose. We pulled the ladder out and started searching for the electrical fire smell. After several minutes of searching we found the above burned up dimmer pack.

Just thought I would share a little light dimmer fire fun!

Have a great day.

Landon Picture of the Day

Invitation to Worship @ Highland Lakes Camp

Most of you know that I serve at Highland Lakes Camp in Spicewood, TX. During our programmed student camps we have begun to broadcast our worship service live. I want to invite my readers to tune in tonight at 7:15pm to watch our service. The featured band this week is Article One and the speaker is Michael Satterfield.

It has been an amazing week so far, tonight should be awesome too.

Let me know if you tuned in and what you thought. I pray that the service blesses your life as it has already blessed so many this week.

The direct link is: www.highlandlakescamp.org/live

God Bless.

Landon's Birthday Party

First, I want to say thank you, thank you, thank you to all the family who attended Landon's first birthday party. We are so thankful for each of you and were amazed by your love and support Sunday afternoon.

Landon's party went well. We had wonderful food and fellowship. It included home cooked briskets by Ronald, 30 pounds of sausage, potato salad, watermelon, banana pudding, cup cake decorating station and so much more.

Landon had his own personal star cake and he had a blast tearing it up and shoving it in his mouth. I am not sure if he ate anything else, but he ate a lot of the cake. Sadly, he was starting to get sick near the end of the day. We concluded the day at the swimming pool and dinner with immediate family.

Oh and about the fireworks...we watched them on July 3rd, not July 4th.

Current update: Landon has a double ear infection, again. Please pray that he overcomes this quickly. God Bless.

Death to Self. Alive in Christ!

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Galatians 2:20

Jesus asks Peter, "Will you really lay down your life for me?" Jesus asks us this question everyday. How do you respond? Do you get at of bed every morning and die to self?

Will you say, "I have been crucified with Christ," or continue to live in the flesh?

To continue to live an unchanged life in Christ is to be without Christ.

We are to strive to live holy lives. In first Peter 1:13-16 believers are call to, "...prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy."

I have a friend who tells me you can be sinless; the more and more I read, study, trust and believe, the more I believe we can live without sin. We need to stop making excuses and strive to be holy instead of abusing the grace of God. The Lord desires us to live holy and righteously. In Christ, you are no longer a sinner, but a saint.

If you commit your life to Christ, die to self, how can we live out this impossible faith? You can't.

In and through Christ you can and only with Christ in your heart changing and permeating your life is it possible.

What do you choose: Death or Alive in Christ?

There is freedom in Christ, will you accept His grace and follow Him?

Happy 1st Birthday, Son

Brennan Manning Quote

"Sad but true: Some Christians want to be slaves. It is easier to let others make decisions or to rely upon the letter of the law. Raised from the dead, Jesus remains present in the community of disciples as the way to freedom."

Brennan Manning The Ragamuffin Gospel

A Day with the Family

Wednesday was my day off and it sure was an amazing day off.

I can't remember the last time I had a nap, but yesterday I took a two hour nap. WOW! I didn't even realize I was that tired.

Later that evening, we weren't sure what to do about dinner. After much discussion, we decided to get out of the house. We headed to the Lakeway Chick-fil-A and enjoyed an interesting meal.

Landon ate like a champ. He is to the point now, we can stab a piece of food for him with a fork and he does the rest. After he was done eating he decided to gag himself. We are trying dissuade this action, but last night he was successful. As I was picking him up he lost his dinner all over my white shirt. I really could do nothing but laugh. I asked the Chick-fil-A guy for a new shirt. He stared into my eyes with confusion and than slowly made looked down at my vomit shirt. It was too funny.

I cleaned up and took Landon out to the playground. I was very impressed with the safety of the playground. Landon got into a few things on ground level and than found the slide. He started up the tunnel slide. Below is the video footage of his second attempt in the slide. He made it successfully three times and the third time he flew up the slide, I barely could keep up.

Today I went home for a few minutes, long enough to get in the door and allow Landon to walk across the living room to my arms for the first time. I can now officially say Landon is now walking. It has been an amazing eleven months watching him grow and learn. Enjoy the video. God Bless.

Off to the ER We Go

This post is an echo of a post on June 20, 2009 entitled A Trip to the Hospital. Yesterday evening, Kari fell in our living room at about 9:40pm. At about 10:15pm we decided to go to the hospital.

Landon was putting himself to sleep, meaning he was screaming his lungs out, and Kari was sitting in the living room without the lights on. Landon's scream turned to extreme scream so Kari went to check on him. On her walk from the couch to his room she stepped up onto Landon's train and was swept off her feet. She says her feet went in the air and than she hit her back and head on the tile floor.

My dad and Donna met us at Labor and Delivery in Round Rock. Kari's doctor happened to be on call. They hooked her up and found Baby Number Two's heartbeat. They continued to monitor her for a little over an hour and sent us home. They said, "you'll be sore in the morning," and she was (and still is). We made it home about 2am and quickly hit the sack.

I am thankful to say both Mommy and Baby are doing fine. Thanks for all the prayers.

Two funny Landon moments:

When we were being escorted by a nurse in scrubs to L&D, Landon kept his eyes on her the entire time. Landon has already had a few "bad nurse" experiences and he wasn't about to allow her to touch him. We got a laugh out of that.

Another funny note, when Landon's Grandpa walked into the room, Landon let a terrible scream. Tears rolled down his face and he got very upset. I say it is funny because Grandpa's voice is what is upsetting Landon, so I asked my dad to talk in a higher tone. By the end of the evening, Landon and Grandpa were on good terms.

God Bless.

Landon Playing in the Sprinkler

Landon Picture

Freedom, Saints, Freedom!

"...all my stains are washed away..."

This morning I had the opportunity to share my testimony to the students who are serving this summer at Highland Lakes Camp. I opened with, "Have you allowed Jesus to completely wash away your stains?"

Glowing Blue led the group in Grace Like Rain, where the above lyric comes from. God laid it on my heart to encourage the students to let their past go and bask in the freedom and love that Christ offers. In Galatians 5:1 it states, "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery."

Christ offers freedom and yet so many people hang on to the past. If you have Christ in your heart, you are no longer a sinner because Christ has set you free. Jesus' blood is enough to wash your stains away.

What are you hanging on to today? Have you allow the blood of Christ to wash all your sins away? I pray that each of you bask in the freedom Christ has set before us.

God Bless.

Random Thoughts

Summer is upon us. About 50 Summer Missionaries arrive today (those that aren't already here).

Blue Bell Ice Cream is now selling a Butter Crunch flavor. If you like Butterfinger and Blue Bell, this is a must try.

Watching my little boy taking his first steps is amazing.

Check out a Penny for your thoughts. My cousin Penny is a riot, check out her blog.

When I put Landon in the tub a few nights ago, there was also a live scorpion taking a bath too. I quickly reacted and scooped the scorpion out with a water pail and dumped it in the toilet. Small crisis averted.

Kari and I have started doing night time lawn projects...it is hard to weed the garden at 9pm, but a lot cooler.

I am looking forward to catching up with Mike Satterfield, who will be here this week and twice for Journey Camp.

Have a blessed Sunday. Go love someone, even if it hurts.

Landon's First Trip to the ER

On Sunday, May 16th, Kari and I took Landon to the Emergency Room. Before you have to read the whole article, Landon is fine.

Early Sunday morning Landon woke up about 1:30am and as I was rocking him back to sleep his body began to radiate with heat. I treated him with some Tylenol and put him back to sleep. Later that morning he continued to have fever of about 101 degrees. As the day progressed, Kari noticed a rash.

After attempting to contact our pediatrician, we took another pediatricians advice who said not to allow a fever and rash go unchecked. We headed out the door and went to Seton Southwest. Several hours passed and finally we were seen by a doctor.

The doctor diagnosed Strep throat and the rash was just an due to the fever. Landon got a shot and we headed home.

After further review of Landon's clothing, we have reason to believe the rash is due to his clothing being washed in Tide.

Update: Landon is doing much better. He slept with me on Monday night, but did much better last night. He was in a great mood this morning and hopefully he will be 100% by tomorrow. Thanks for your prayers.