A Sad Day

I was just saddened to hear that today is the last day of the Albert Mohler Radio Program. I've listened to every single broadcast for the last three years and found it a very helpful look at news and events happening all over the world. Dr. Mohler still offers tons of resources at his website, and I will continue to use those to help me evaluate news and offer resources to the parents of youth at our church.
Thanks Dr. Mohler!

Vacation Pictures

We just got back from vacation. Here's some pictures! We'll comment on our vacation later.

A Systematic Summer

This summer I'm reading through Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology. I was spurred on to do it by a variety of influences, one of them being an ambition to know exhaustively the doctrines of the Christian faith.

Every morning I have been reading a chunk of the book and I'm currently on page 118 (of 1,164 pages) in chapter 7 - The Necessity of Scripture. This quote substantively says what I try to tell our youth all the time:

"To neglect regular reading of God's Word is as detrimental to the health of our souls as the neglect of physical food is detrimental to the health of our bodies."

I really do believe that and Grudem does a fantastic job of explaining why that is the case in his chapters on the authority of Scripture.
Another reason that I'm doing this--aside from the fact that I'm a huge nerd AND in seminary--is for a series we'll be doing in Reality Check in the fall called "Boot Camp." In the series we'll be preparing the youth for deployment in the Lord's Army (yes sir!) by covering the basic doctrines of the Christian faith. I feel that the baptistic tradition I've lived in my whole life has so negatively reacted against other denominations and church structures that we've lost the original sense of confirmation classes. No, I'm not interested in baptizing babies, but I do think that making sure our young people are grounded in the truths of their faith is vastly important and vastly overlooked in most churches in Southern California. It is a direct offshoot of our youth's theme for the 2010-2011 year: War!
Our logo was designed by Melanie Brown, a college freshman who attends Reality Check. Enjoy!

The First Day

It's been a long day. It's been a tiring day. It's been a good day.

This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. - Psalm 118:24.

We're getting ready for bed here in our post-partum room in the hospital. Alice (I'm calling here Ali . . . no, not like Muhammad Ali; think an alley) is falling asleep in her little bed. She has breastfed well today. We've had some visitors, mostly family. It was fun to see new grandparents and aunts and uncles holding Ali.

We are thankful for all the prayers of the saints. God has shown himself gracious (again and again!) to us today. Amy is doing well. She is smiling a lot!

There's so much more, but I'm tired and need to end this post. My dad read from Psalm 139 tonight:

For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from you,when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance;in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
If I would count them, they are more than the sand.
I awake, and I am still with you.

Oh, and here's a picture!

Alice Mary Gilmore

She's here! At 8:08am, Alice Mary Gilmore was born. She weighed 8' 14" and was 20.5 inches long. She's with mommy now and trying to get adjusted to this world of air and lights!

We're very happy and so is Grandma Godwin!

Praise be to God for his unfailing love, faithfulness, and goodness.

Psalm 127:3-5 - Behold, children are a gift of the LORD,
The fruit of the womb is a reward.
Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,
So are the children of one's youth.
How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them;
They will not be ashamed
When they speak with their enemies in the gate.

Morning Update

Amy decided to get an epidural last night and received around midnight. She's now (7:28am) been pushing for an hour!

Facebook . . . or not!

For some reason I can't get Facebook in the hospital. I imagine some bored employees were caught messing around on Facebook, so it's probably blocked. Oh well.

Hiccups

We're listening to the baby's hiccups on the heartbeat monitor right now!

Quote of the Day

"Doo doo doo doo . . . I'm bored." - Amy Gilmore

Pitocin

I'm typing this post on my Macbook in our hospital room at Kaiser Irvine. Today, Amy's contractions were happening regularly. They had started on Monday night and we went to the hospital to get things checked. Amy was 3 cm. dilated and they sent us home.

We were very excited and thought the baby would be coming post-haste! But then we slept through the night Monday and Tuesday was a long day of mild contractions, walks and waiting.

This morning, Amy called Labor and Delivery to ask some questions about labor taking so long. The nurse said to come in and get checked. We were kind of discouraged about how long it was taking and Amy was very tired from all the contractions.

We were placed in an observation room and when the midwife came to check Amy out, the baby's heart rate dipped a little bit, so the midwife advised induction.

Sooo . . . here we are in the birthing room. Amy's hooked up to the monitors and we're getting ready to welcome the first Godwin/Gilmore grandbaby into the world!

We'll keep you posted!