Fenway Croud Sings National Anthem

This sort of thing makes you proud to be an American...

Will we have a boy or a girl?

Please vote in our poll on the left side of our blog -- will we be having a boy or a girl? Make your call now and we'll see who's right in 8 months or so.

Surprises

I went to the doctor day because I thought I had the flu this weekend. Turns out I have a cold and I'm pregnant. We're very excited about this little surprise! Papa already thinks its a boy. We'll just have to wait and see...

Mac's First Voicemail

Mac and Jennie left me a voice message today that was absolutely great. You can't hear much of Mackenzie unless you listen closely, but still it was very sweet. I just wanted to blog it so I never forget Mac's first voicemail.


Mac's First Voicemail from Tim Morgan on Vimeo.

Thomas Wesley Morgan, 1943-2005

My dad lost his battle with lung cancer in the last days of 2005, following his last Christmas with the family. Jennie and I had hoped to deliver some good news in the later half of 2005 regarding a new little addition to the family, but God's timing was a bit different than ours. Not that such news would really help with the hurting that much, but it might have been nice to (at least for us) think of the time more as a transition, as in God gives and he takes away. Along with death can come life, and the fact that my dad chose to follow Christ in baptism in his last months underscores the theme of new life. Dad has new life now.

But he didn't get to know about Mackenzie before he went on.

I don't have a clue what heaven will be like. I imagine earthly things are mostly meaningless once a person is with the Creator of the Universe, but I like to think that he knows about Mac and our small family and the choices we make every day.

I think every son desires the approval of his father. I know he was proud. I hope he knows I am proud of him, too.

On December 29, it will have been two years.

I miss him.

Jennie and I put together a simple video for his memorial service back in January 2006. I ran across a low-quality wmv video file on my server yesterday in doing some clean-up and was reminded of the stack of DVDs we made for the family. Here is a rip from one of those DVDs, if you're interested:



Thomas Wesley Morgan from Tim Morgan on Vimeo.

Yay, Ron Paul!

Yay, Ron Paul!
Originally uploaded by georgeloring

I emailed our friend George in Arkansas to ask if he was supporting Mike Huckabee for president since he was a fellow Arkansasyer. I was surprised to get a response that said No, George is supporting Dr. Ron Paul, quite literally, and provided some proof. Ha!

I believe this was Monday, the day Paul raised 4.2 million in 24 hours, breaking most if not all the records. We're currently sitting at 7.7 million.

Most of you will say so what, rich people give money and that means nothing of a candidate's support. Campaign finance law sets the maximum contribution per person at $2300, which means if Bill Gates decides to support a candidate, he can only give the person $2300. The cool thing about Ron Paul's campaign bonanza on Monday was that it was from over 37,000 donors, which means the average donation was just over 100 bucks per person. Wow.

Hotel Glasses

Now we know not to use the glasses when staying in a hotel. Any hotel...

Halloween Photos

Here are some photos from Halloween. All the kids dressed up (well, I should say we dressed them up) and were adorable of course. Mackenzie was dressed as Snow White.


Lex was dressed as Tigger and had some bouncy, trouncy, flouncy, pouncy, Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun!


Inara was dressed as a nurse.

We had a lot of fun dressing them up and taking pictures. Though we didn't do the door-to-door thing, but we did head to the mall to see the other kids dressed up and to have some professional photos done.

Bibles Banned at 2008 Olympics

Crazy. Bibles will be banned from the 2008 Olympics. What's next? Will prayer be banned, too?

Last month, Ye Xiaowen acknowledged that he expected large numbers of religious faithful among the athletes, coaches and tourists to be swarming into the officially atheist nation during the Olympics.

They're also banning "any kind of religious symbol" -- not just in the games themselves, but also in the athletic facilities, where the athletes will stay.

I wonder how many Christians will boycott the 2008 Olypics? Or better yet, wouldn't it be great if so many Christian athletes and attendees came to the event wearing their most cliché t-shirts and giant gold cross necklaces and, China-forbid, Bibles, that the whole world took notice and laughed at China?

OK, all kidding aside, I'm not sure what the Christian response to this should be.

Art is in the eye of the beholder...

Worship Through Art
Originally uploaded by Tim Morgan

Well, someone liked it at least. This blog linked to our little worship-through-art project back in September.

Blog Visits

Not that this surprises me, but it's always nice to see that the statistics line up with perception. It seems our family blog gets most of its visits from Oklahoma and Arkansas (where most of our friends and family live). What this means is that our blog is not wildly popular with random strangers. Sob :-(

10 Tips To Better Love Your Wife

Here are some things I've learned over the last 6 or so years of being married.

Disclaimer: I have absolutely no authority whatsoever to be writing a post like this. But then again, you're probably used to reading blogs and you know what most of the blogosphere is all about: people writing from life experience whether they have a clue or not (mostly not).

Disclaimer 2 (this one's for my wife): No, I don't actually do all these things currently, but I want to! Doesn't that count for something? :-)

1. Learn her love languages and update your vocab, whether it's words of encouragement, acts of service (dear God forbid), physical touch, gifts (God, double-forbid, please), quality time, whatever. Learn to love the way she needs to receive it.
   
2. Be a good father. If your wife is saying things like "You're such a good daddy," then you're on the right path. If, on the other hand, you're hearing "I just wish you would participate in raising our child," then maybe the 4-hour Halo 3 marathon should be over.
   
3. Let her know how dumb you are. And insensitive. Daily. It's not your fault, but rather part of being a male. You can't help it.
   Dislaimer 3: I didn't really write this list. A woman wrote it... and gave it to me. Her identity shall remain anonymous. Forever.
4. Tell her she is beautiful a lot, every time you see her. Let her catch you looking at her butt (but never someone else's). But be honest when that pair of pants isn't flattering (as long as she is able to change into another -- never be that honest in the car on the way to a party with friends who have nice butts).
   
5. If you think some aspect of your wife (attitude, respectfulness, etc.) should be different, change yourself first. Remember that verse that says something about a speck in your brother's eye and the plank in your own? Yes, dangit, that seems to apply in marriage, too.
6. Work somewhere with lots of ugly women. (And invite your wife to visit occasionally.)
   
7. Love her cooking, whether you like it or not. (I'm just saying that for all the other guys out there with wives who can't cook.)
8. Let her win arguments. All of them. Unless of course, she really does win all the arguments; in that case, of course, just pretend you let her win.
9. In the evenings, change at least 65% of the diapers.
   
10. Don't think that reading lists like this one is really going to make you a better anything.

I love you, Babe.

Mac's First Birthday

Thank you so much to all the friends and family who made it out to our home this weekend to help us celebrate Mackenzie's first birthday. The party was great; our home was packed. Thank you so much for being a part of Mac's life and encouraging our family in Christ...

Update: And thank you just as much to those who couldn't make it but were there in spirit. Many have sent their prayers and best wishes and gifts. We appreciate everyone so much... it is good to have such a loving and supportive family and group of friends.


Mac's Birthday Party from Tim Morgan on Vimeo.

Also, here is a 20-minute video of the first year of Mac's life.


Mac's First Year from Tim Morgan on Vimeo.

Who Should Submit

This is an excerpt from Proverbs 31 Ministries Daily Devotions by Renee Swope, by Wendy Pope.

“Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” Ephesians 5:21 (NIV)

I was driving out of the neighborhood the other day and saw something that broke my heart. A sheriff deputy’s car was parked outside the home of one of my neighbors. Beside the deputy's squad car sat a moving truck. Coming out the front door was the woman of house with an armful of stuff. It didn't take long to figure out what was going on. This was the sight of a broken home.

With this image still heavy on my heart, I later learned that two couples who had been friends with my husband and me early in our marriage had divorced. My mind wondered and my heart cried out, "Lord, what happened? Why does this keep happening?" In the case of my neighbors, I am sad to say that I don't know if they were believers. Our friends were believers and at one time had been very active in the church. Through heartache and prayers I again asked the Lord another question, "How can I keep this from happening in my marriage? What can I do?"

He quickened my spirit to the Book of Ephesians, specifically, chapter five. I had a mental conversation with Him. "Lord, submission? It can't be just up to me." Quickly I felt peace in my spirit as I realized He was talking about verse 21. I have to say I felt relieved once I understood what He was saying. The submission must be to Him. Both the husband and the wife must submit. I daydreamed of what my marriage would be like if both my husband and I fervently submitted to the Lord in every area of our lives. Wow, it gives me tingles just thinking of it.

The purpose of today's devotion is not to debate the pros and cons of submission. Nor is it to discuss the context of chapter 5 in Ephesians. The purpose of the devotion is to make us think. Whether you are married or single this verse applies to you. Submitting to God is not an option. It is God’s prescription for a world of peace. In a world where everyone submitted, God would be heard by all His children and they would willingly and delightfully obey. In such a world families would stay together, murders would cease, and kindness would abound. Wouldn't you like to live in a world like that? It would be heaven on earth!

Dear Lord, Let Your kingdom come. Help me to submit to You as the Lord of my life so that I might reflect the beauty and kindness of who You are. I want to pray for others to do the same, and then this world would be like heaven on earth. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Verses:
Job 22:21, "Submit to God and be at peace with him; in this way prosperity will come to you." (NIV)

Psalm 34:8, "Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him." (NIV)

Psalm 112:1, "Praise the LORD. Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who finds great delight in his commands." (NIV)

Wikipedia Around the World

This is a really neat video about Wikipedia and its reach and use around the world, in different languages. What a neat time in our history where human knowledge continues to take leaps and bounds toward being free for all people of the world...