daddy4ms

This post was originally posted at 1 Corinthians 13 Parenting.  I wanted to share it since my daughter's birthday was last week. The month of March brings back many memories including the birth of my oldest daughter, Mackenzie.   At 32 weeks, Bethany (my wife) began having contractions. The doctor was able to get the contractions stopped and immediately put her on bed rest. Since our first child Mitchell was 2 and would not be helpful to a mom on bed rest, he left for Kansas (we lived in Colorado) for the rest of the pregnancy. Bed rest went well for the next 3 weeks, but after an appointment, Bethany was released for limited activity. Since we were not ready at all for this baby, we needed to do some necessary errands. Following this day of errands, Bethany began having contractions again. This time the doctors could not get labor stopped. Mackenzie was born via C-section at 35 weeks. Immediately after birth she was taken to the NICU where she spent the next tw...

Today we celebrate Good Friday which is the day we remember that Jesus died on the cross for us.  Think about it.  God in the flesh died for you and me.  Why is it good? Because Jesus defeated sin, death, Satan, and sickness on the cross.  And there is so much more.  I would encourage you to look into God's Word and be reminded what Jesus' death on the cross accomplished for you. "It Is Finished!" Today, at Hesston MB, we are fasting and this gives us time to reflect on the sacrifice Jesus made for us.  We do this not out of obligation or duty or to earn God's love or make Him do what we want, but instead it flows from a response of love.

I had written in a previous post titled, "Black Friday" about Molly getting the stomach flu. That was about 2 weeks ago. On Tuesday, Bethany had the "privilege" of being the next one to get the flu. As I thought about this, I hoped and prayed that I would not be next. Everyone else has had a form of it already except for Megan and I. But the flu hitting my house got me thinking about something, is sickness only physical or can it be used by Satan? Here is the reason I ask: Almost every time I am scheduled to preach, someone in my house is sick. This is not an exaggeration. I will preach 4 times this year and 3 of those someone was sick. That's 75% of the time! Now, don't get me wrong. I don't think I am this super spiritual wonderful preacher, but when I do preach, I am excited! Since I don't preach 52 weeks a year, I have sermons percolating in my mind throughout the year and then they come out on paper when there is a need for someone to...