Chelsey and I had a splendid time celebrating the union of Josh and Emily last weekend.   It was chilly in Denver, but it's never too cold to stare at Mountain Peaks.   Our sleep schedules were crazy, and I very well might have gained 5 pounds from the sugar & caffeine in-take, but it's all well!

I learned a lot this weekend, about both myself & Christ, that I wanted to share, but first a bit about the wedding.  

Saturday was not about Josh and Emily.  That was clear.  There wedding provided a picture of the union between God & His People (the church).   The ceremony was so spirit-led; from worship to the pronunciation of husband & wife, I felt like this was one of the more clearly presented pictures of the gospel than in weddings I've seen in the past.   That's a testimony to the hearts of Josh and Emily, but also the others involved -- Jason & Phil Wing included.   I pray that those present who don't have a relationship with Christ will remember it well.

But as I spoke about in the previous post, I was hoping this weekend could be a little vacation for Chelsey and I as well -- which I felt like we received (hopefully she feels the same).

There are two things that I felt God has laid on my heart as a result of this trip:

• Community is Key - The groomsmen spent the night up in a cabin near Beckenridge.  It was beautiful up there, as the snow had already began to cover the roads, and there air was bitter.   We had fun, guys being guys.  There was plenty of jokes, flatulence, and junk food.   But there was also this sweet since of community among us, and to be honest, it was uncomfortable for me.   I realized that for a variety of reason, I haven't had good guy-time community in my life, and I need more it.  I need to be able to share struggles, but also carry others as well.    I need time to joke-around, like only boys can, but also talk in-depth about the same things too.   I was refueled and challenged by the community we had.

• Serving our Spouse - A deeper book-report is coming out shortly, but I have been reading the book Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas.  It has been a tough read, as it really challenges us that marriage is not simply about our pleasure, but God's Glory.   On our flight between Indy and Denver on Wednesday, I read the chapter entitled "Make Me a Servant."   Wow, did it knock me over.  I spent the weekend pondering the thoughts witch it planted, and how I need to be asking myself the tough questions about my role as servant, especially to my wife, more often.   It is so easy for me to forget that the  best way to lead is to serve.   We, Chelsey and I, have had some good conversations about this since the weekend already.   I want God to continue to mold me in this area, and help me learn how to die to self daily.

Last but not least, some photos to share:

Chelsey and I are now into week 11 of pregnancy, and it's crazy to think we're over a quarter of the way done.  Last Friday we had our first "official" pre-natal visit which was so cool.   We actually got to hear the heart-beat of the little one inside. What a crazy thing that was.  At first, we just could hear Chelsey's heart, then all the sudden there it was -- "chuchu, chuchu", almost like a train.   It was like twice as fast as her's, just chugging along.  

I went to the waiting room for the rest of the exam, and couldn't help but to tear up.  How humbling?!  I am humbled that I have been allowed to be part of creating a child.   That God would allow me, so undeserving, to father a baby.  Even now, there's a weight to the responsibility in doing so, yet I believe it's a healthy one.  Not overwhelming, just a new challenge to grow closer to Him so that I am leading others His way too.  

I am not sure how often I might attend these appointments (our doctor is notorious for being behind), but I am blessed to have been a part of that moment.  To experience the signs of life we've created, in such a real way, is unreal.

"My frame was not hidden from you, when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth" - Psalm 139

Over the course of the past 18 months work for me has been more divided than ever for me between help desk for end-users  and web design.   I can truly call myself a "coder", because more than often I spend a majority of my week writing code for some project or another.

In September I pushed live two sites:

The first was a Sportlinc website, for the recently revamped AIA Sportlinc ministry.  SportLinc is designed to help resource student-leaders to lead AIA on campus where we do not have staff there to lead, mainly DII & DIII schools.   Chelsey actually is helping administratively to get this movement off the ground.   The website is resource-centered for students to be able to come and get resources to help lead team meetings, discipleship, weekly AIA meetings and more.

I am still not completely satisfied with all of the design, but am awaiting a new SportLinc logo to be created see what direction that make take the site.  My favorite piece however is the Campus Locator, where I integrated all of the campuses with Google Maps.   We were also able to copy that tool to AIA.com as well.

The second site is our Application Center.   As we begin to connect with more and more students we needed a more robust site be able to handle the multiple application needs as well as various forms.   This site has had over 50+ applications go through in three weeks for next summer already,  and will see somewhere between 1500 - 2000 total between Sept. - May.    I actually built the back-end for this site (what the staff use to process the applications) last summer.

I also want to share, not necessarily being the product of my work the new AIA.com.  It went live just over two weeks ago, and still has some tweaking to do, but definitely makes for an exciting September for our IT department.

I posted a page with brief descriptions of all my work here.