Family of Four

Welcome to our world, Hosea. Welcome to our world.











Our beautiful children, Addison and Hosea.


The new family of four.


That's a good lookin' boy right there.


We are enjoying our new life as a family of four with all its adjustments and compromises and joys. It hasn't been quite as earth-shatteringly different as it was when Addison was born, but there is definitely a new vibe in the Gates house. And I like it.

Tomorrow, Hosea will be three weeks old, and, as they say, "it's already hard to imagine life without him."

Happy Birthday, Darlin'

It's Addison's first birthday today. It's hard to believe that it has been a year already, but it has been a great year. I can't imagine the past year without her. She went from being our new baby that we didn't really know what to do with to being a wonderful, exciting member of our family. Our lives have been enriched in new ways that we would have never known but through Addie's presence. Here are a few of my favorite pics from Addie's first year.




This picture is from the first day of her life. Shortly after her birth, they washed her off and wrapped her up, and this is what she looked like. It looks like she's already smiling, and she hasn't stopped since. She's a lot like her mom in that way.


I love this picture. Every once in a while, she seems to be engaged in some really deep thought, and we captured it perfectly in this pic. She was only a few months old at the time. What a beatuy.


On the day of the Super Bowl, we did our part to cheer on Da mighty Bears. Though the outcome was less than ideal, it was still great to see the Bears most beautiful cheerleader in action.


We went out to the east coast over the 7/7/07 weekend for Jake and Karen's wedding, and one of our outings was a trip to Manhattan with the Gustines. We thought of going to the Empire State Building, but thought it was too touristy, so we went to Times Square (that's a joke from The Office, in case you missed it). Addie liked all the people and flashing lights and million inch tv screens everywhere.




Here we are on our last day in Indy (8/5/07). Right after church, we got our pic taken all gussied up in our Sunday best. Almost all of her first year of life was spent in Indy, and our Hope church family really embraced our little one. She was loved there, and surely misses playing with all the Hope kids (big and small, old and young).



And now she's one. Switching from formula to milk, facing forward in her carseat, moving up in the world. Everyone was right. It does go stinking fast. But we've been blessed to not have missed much. Marcie and I both have gotten to spend a lot of time with Addie this year, and I pray that we continue this trend, even as our situation will be quite a bit different this year.



Her middle name is Grace, for she is truly a gift from God. Thank you, Father, for entrusting us to raise your daughter. Continue to stand by her and touch her life with your Holy Spirit. May we love her as you have loved us, and by doing so, show her a glimpse of your kingom here on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.

The End of Blogger's Block

I've had some blogger's block. Not because I don't have anything to write about, but I have just had this unexplainable hesitation to click the little "New Weblog Entry" button on my blog. It's as if I haven't given myself permission to blog. Too many important things to do and all that. I think I'm over that now.

On Saturday, May 12, I ran the Fifth Third River Bank Run 5K in downtown Grand Rapids. In '06, I ran it in 29:19, much to my disappointment. This year, my time was 27:39. It still wasn't great, but much improvement, and I had a lot left at the end. I got really excited to run a 5 miler on June 2 here in Indy. I took a couple days off, and hit the training hard again.

On Saturday, May 19, I ran 5.9 miles in 57 minutes. It was hard, but awesome. The longest I've run since the fall of '99. Wow.

On Sunday, May 20, Addison was officially dedicated to the Lord in a ceremony at church. We promised to raise her the best we can as a disciple for the Kingdom, and the church promised to support us and her in that very adventure. We had tons of family in town who love her and love us. We all were reminded of just how blessed we are. A supportive family is something I think I take for granted most days, caught up in my own little world of busy tasks and self-importance.

The week of May 21, I tried to run a couple times, but I had some serious anterior shin soreness. I just read about how when Jeff Tweedy got into running, he got stress fractures in both legs (his explanation: once an addict, always an addict). I decided that I didn't want those, so I stopped running for an indefinite period of time, icing my leg periodically with some frozen peas from the freezer. This week, Addison began to become a much more confident crawler. Still content to stay in a three foot radius most of the time, but showing signs of increased mobility.

On Sunday, May 27, I had the privilege of preaching for our congregation from John 17. It's always interesting to preach on the day of the Indy 500 in Indianapolis. I did it last year as well...you never know what to expect. This year, attendance was actually pretty good. There was a lot of rain at the race track. The whole worship experience was really encouraging to me, and I even snuck a small clip from The Office season finale ("Hmm, why don't we call it Secret Assistant to the Regional Manager"). After church we ate at Famous Dave's. Yum. Then we headed north, to Merrillville, IN (just a bit southeast of Chicago). We found a hotel with a pool and free breakfast en route to Covenant Harbor in Lake Geneva, WI.

From Monday, May 28 til Wednesday, May 30, we got to experience a totally FREE youth pastor's retreat at Covenant Harbor. It was free. The food was free. It was Covenant Harbor. Needless to say, I thought an awful lot about RyJo. Anyway, it was a really relaxing time. Marcie and I felt like we truly experienced Sabbath for the first time in awhile. Jeff Mazzariello spoke truth to us throughout the week, and it was invigorating. We also got to reconnect with Tim and Heidi Eaton, who we haven't seen for awhile, as well as meeting most of the youth pastor's in the Central Conference for the first time. It was nice to not have any programming responsibilities for a retreat. We even got some free time to saunter into Lake Geneva to enjoy the sights and partake in some delicious birthday treats.

On Tuesday, May 29, I turned a quarter-century old. The big 2-5, as it were. It doesn't seem like that bit a deal, but it's a bit more exciting than 24 was, anyway. My most exciting present this year? Definitely the turntable Marcie got for me, and all the records I got along with it, including the record of all records, Chicago V, complete with "Saturday in the Park." I'm much older and wiser now at 25, as is evidenced by the fact that I'm listening to records now along with my standard cd's and iTunes.

On the evening of Wednesday, May 31, we got back to Indy. I worked for a day.

On the morning of Friday, June 1, we headed up to Michigan for Chad's graduation open house (Marcie's cousin, and the one member of Marcie's family that I've actually known longer than I've known her). It was good. I ate way too much pizza and got to catch up with some of the cousins and aunts and uncles and sisters-from-other-misters up there.

On the morning of Saturday, June 2, we headed back to Indy so I could get dressed and ready to speak and play music at Will's graduation. Will is the only grad from my youth group, and he was homeschooled, so we put on a service for him at the church. It was a touching ceremony, and it was capped off by a celebration involving eating large amounts of Squealers pulled pork. We went to Nathan's graduation party as well, which celebrated his graduation from his 5 year plumbing apprenticeship, and we ate lots of lumpia.

Since then, things have been pretty much back to normal. Sunday, I started running again, and I feel great. Taking a week and a half off doesn't seem to have hurt me too much, and my leg feels much better. I'm listening to Wilco's Sky Blue Sky and Neutral Milk Hotel's In The Aeroplane Over the Sea as much as I can, and I'm reading Slaughterhouse-Five, finally. So it goes.

Grace and peace to you all.