any day now

The Pookies' due date is November 20th. One week.

When Pookie goes into labor, my first of two 3-week installments of paid paternity leave begins.

The Pookies made the decision recently to curtail our ministries a bit. As with everything else in our lives, we've much to do in too short a time, and we want to be as prepared as possible when our little boy comes home.

Another, more important reason, is that we want to be doing what we do worshipfully and restfully, not rushed or even efficiently. We'd rather do a few things with eye contact and exhalation, than do several things in a blur.

Quality, not quantity.

So Sunday was the last Sunday School we will teach for a couple months or so. I'd just finished 1 Samuel, so instead of going into 2 Samuel 1 and then leaving, I taught on Psalm 103 about God's praiseworthiness. It was fun.

We've also stopped meeting with our friends Tuesdays for prayer and conversation. Although it's always rich, we thought we'd instead spend the evenings preparing a comfortable, restful, and organized home for what will be several weeks confined primarily to it.

Lastly, although we love our church's youth, we have taken hiatus from meeting with them every other Friday.

We'll continue to sing every other Sunday, and I'm continuing my study with the church leaders through MacArthur's book "The Master's Plan for the Church."

We also want to prepare ourselves (along with our homestead) for family worship, that is, a situation with fewer distractions (because things are put away and easily accessible), and habits of prayer, music, and bible study.

I don't want to miss one opportunity to teach my son the joy of Jesus Christ, be it by my demeanor, example, or explicit instruction. We have hope in a Savior, comfort and advocacy in the Holy Spirit, love from a heavenly Father despite the recognition of sin, and a future inheritance.

My thoughts on this day are one of increasing joy of seeing, hearing, nurturing, and raising my son, Isaac Jonathan. His parents love to laugh, and we hope he will, too. Pookie chose "Jonathan" one morning when we sat in on the 1 Samuel Sunday School class when our friend was teaching it. Jonathan was the rightful heir to King Saul's throne, what would be the second king of Israel. He instead recognized God's anointing of David, and not only supported and protected him towards his kingship, but loved him as a friend, above nobility.

Good night.