So, maybe it’s time for a new post. How about a baby?

Monday, June 9th, 2008 at 9:54am our second son, Henry Ross Nicodemus was born. June 9th is a significant day as it is also (our 2 year old son) Jack’s birthday. Carly was amazing and was strong despite a long night and 2 consecutive sleepless nights.

Saturday Evening, the serious contractions started. They were fairly consistent but only 10-15 mins apart. We were preparing for a possible hospital visit that night or early morning, but the contractions never fully cooperated. After a few hours of sleep for me and maybe 1 hour for Carly, I left for church with Jack, armed with my cell phone and all of Jack’s belongings for the next few days, thinking I may get “the” call.

However, the contractions stopped for a while and were very sporatic and inconsistent. But, at 8pm that night they began once again, this time they didn’t stop. By 1:30am on Monday they were close enough to warrant packing the car and leaving for the hospital. We quickly found out that we were a “keeper” and the adventure was in full swing.

Sparing the details, as mentioned above, Henry entered our arms and joined our family. We are so excited to have another little boy, can’t wait to see how he grows and interacts with his big brother in the days to come. It’s going to be exciting.

For more pictures click HERE.

Also, we’ve made the CE Online News! HERE.

Steelers Draft

I try to keep my Steelers comments to a minimum on this blog. But, I can’t let the draft weekend pass without directing you, if you care, to plenty of Steelers draft coverage over at 5goldenrings.net

Go check it out.

Encounter With a Bengals Fan

Saturday night, Doug Black (fellow Steelers fan) and I went to pick up Chipotle for our wives and kids…

As we arrived, a fun, jovial kind of guy comes in after us, skips the entire “S” shaped line-forming apparatus to cut in front of us. Immediately he begins yapping about his slick “Chad Johnson” like moves and continues yapping (making CJ look like a mute choir-boy). Being the nice guys that we are…we offered that we were going to let him in front of us anyway, because of our extensive order and limited ordering experience at Chipotle.

We talked for several minutes about his in ability to commit to a woman for more than 2 weeks because of his deep desire to have toilet paper rolled just the way he likes it. That conversation arose because we had wives, which he obviously didn’t. We humored him and enjoyed his antics.

Then it happened…

He stopped mid-sentence, jaw dropping as he noticed both of our hats and said, “oh, ‘expletive’ you guys are Steelers fans”. We acknowledged his incredible observation skills, he bitterly whined about the Kimoing Carson’s knee received two years ago and then immediately turned, back to us and facing the counter, raised his hand above his right shoulder and showed us the dirty finger.

We laughed. Pure class.

For those who are wondering…He didn’t actually say “oh, expetive”, but that would have made the story 150% more funny.

Closed For Remodel

I’m being completely serious when I say that Burger King is one of my most favorite restaurants. Fancy, high quality restaurants are nice, but I don’t get there often enough. BK, can easily be accessed, afforded and enjoyed just the same. My love for BK was instilled at a very young age as my dad and I would go shopping weekly (for “man” stuff: baseball cards and junk food) and our lunch selection was always Burger King. Before anyone gets worked up, I’m not crazy about their fries, but, what are they called? Burger King…that’s right, they are the king of their specialty (fast food version).

It’s not like Burger King’s are in short supply, anywhere. However, imagine my joy when I discovered my personal taste of heaven only a few blocks from my house. Upon discovery, they were in the midst of selling double cheeseburgers for a mere $.99. Pure excitement.

Well…Carly called me this week at the office to ask if I had seen the Burger King lately. I hadn’t. She proceeded to inform me that the sign says that they are “Closed for Remodel”. She quickly added that the building was gone!?!?! Huh? Some remodel!

It got me thinking…

So Long…

This evening Skybus, a super cheap airline based in Columbus, went out of business, effective at 12:00am April 5th. This is very sad news, but not very surprising. It must be hard to make much money when fuel costs so much and you sell your plane tickets for $10.00.

Well, it appears that Carly and I have some free time during the last week of April as we had purchased tickets to visit our friends Eric and Katie in Wisconsin. We also had several friends that have and were going to utilize the cheapness of air travel via Port Columbus in the very near future. I guess we won’t get to see those friends as they pass through either. It will be interesting to hear over the next few days who else has been affected by this sudden news…especially considering WCS’s spring break ends this weekend. Hmm?

So long Skybus, it would have been nice to get to know you. I think we could have been friends.

None But Jesus

My heart is being stirred like I haven’t experienced in quite some time. I’ve been keeping it inside, thinking, praying and allowing Jesus to do some intricate heart surgery. I feel that my life has become so domesticated and at the same time so complicated.

As I complain and struggle with not seeing the fruit that I dream of seeing though the ministry I am involved in I’m beginning to realize the the biggest stumbling block is myself. The weekend away was not what led me to this point but rather gave me the time to step back and get perspective, time to LISTEN. I haven’t been taking time to listen to his voice. Honestly, I’m not so sure that God has even tried to speak to me recently. I’ve refused his voice and chosen not to listen so long that I believe my heart began to grow hard. I’ve been doing a lot of “good” but I’m not called to be good. I’m called to passionately follow Jesus above all else.

As God would speak to me, I would hear him and then act on the parts that I thought I could handle. There’s a big difference between hearing and listening. When listening stops…I believe that speaking gets more quiet and less frequent. It’s because God’s voice gets lost in the crowd. I see Jesus in the crowd but I haven’t wanted him enough to do whatever it takes to get through the crowd. As I write, I recall many times that God has whispered and even yelled to get my attention but I refused. God has used speakers to comunicate the need to refuse the crowd and pursue Jesus at all costs. Francis Chan spoke on this at Momentum when he challenged us to go up the down escalator to chase after Jesus. Last Wednesday night even I spoke on how Zacchaeus didn’t allow the crowd to keep him from seeking Jesus. I challenged my own students to identify what in their lives might be “the crowd”, what has been crowding Jesus out of their lives. I’ve crowded Jesus out of my life and I haven’t begun to admit this until this past weekend.   

God has not only spoken through his Word these past few days, passages like the story of Zacchaeus, and through a book, ”The Barbarian Way” but through an experience on Sunday afternoon. One of the places we went in NYC was to a service at the Brooklyn Tabernacle. I didn’t expect the encounter with the Living God that I so desperately needed, especially not through a choir. But, as they sang the following song my spirit was moved to the point of tears. I’m usually so domesticated that I will stand when everyone else stands, I will sit when everyone else sits. I rarely if ever cry, especially not in church…I used to but my heart hasn’t allowed such emotion to overtake me in quite a long time. This was different. I’m sure it wasn’t the song as much as it was God’s Spirit actively breaking my heart the previous couple of days. However, the timing and lyrics of the song spoke in a way that I desperately needed. I was moved to tears, I stood, I didn’t care, I was worshiping my Jesus for the first time in a long time. It was a taste of Heaven…I’ve never observed and then joined in with such a diverse group pouring out their hearts to Jesus.

Even as I type this “confession”, sitting at Panera Bread, the song is ringing in my ears on repeat and I stop periodically as I fill up with emotion, power, strength and a desire to make Jesus the only one.

None But Jesus

In the quiet, in the stillness
I know that You are God
In the secret of Your presence
I know there I am restored

When You call I won’t refuse
Each new day again I’ll choose

There is no one else for me
None but Jesus
Crucified to set me free
Now I live to bring Him praise

In the chaos, in confusion
I know You’re Sovereign still
In the moment of my weakness
You give me grace to do Your will

When You call I won’t delay
This my song through all my days

All my delight is in You Lord
All of my hope, all of my strength
All my delight is in You Lord Forevermore

Cell Phone tour of NYC

All weekend has been crazy busywith Ed and the YouthNet guys. We have been going, walking, talking, and seeing so many amazing places. The pictures to follow won’t even begin to do justice to what i’ve been experiencing but it’s a very small snapshot through the lens of my LG Verizon camera phone.

View from Battery Park at some buildings…

Henry was my bus captain for picking up kids at Metro Ministries Sunday School program…very cool guy…LOVED the kids…

Peering into the center of Times Square…

Just as I walked under the entrance to the TS Hard Rock Cafe…this sign flashed above me. Only 18 days early but it was a nice gesture. I’m sure it cost Carly a fortune…

5 Guys Burgers and Fries…we actually got there! Several of them call NYC home and we certainly made sure to find one. It was everything I hoped for and more…

This held us up a bit at the Subway as Adam, Koreem and myself somehow had less on our metro ticket than the others, this particular station didn’t sell tickets on the outside of the gate…

Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir…I had low expectations because I’m not a “choir” guy but WOW. Simply Incredible and the whole service was AMAZING…

Obviously not from the cell phone but I met and talked briefly with Dwayne Curtis (#44, Ole Miss) today on Canal Street. He and his teammates are in the city for the NIT Final Four and were doing some shopping when not preparing for Ohio State on Tuesday night. We were able to converse a little because of our mutual connection in Todd Abernethy who played with these guys last year at Ole Miss and his brother is a friend of mine from college. I pledged my allegiance to Dwayne and his teammates instead of OSU for Tuesday night.

Chinatown Blues

Found a nice chinese “buffet” style restaurant today in Chinatown for dinner. The food was plentiful and cheap.

That’s where anything good that I have to say stops. Ok, the rice was fine. But, seriously the food was working hard and fast on us as we continued with our evening. Maybe if the combination of Calamari type spicy rings, sesame pork with bones the size of my wrist (batter dipped, of course, so as to surprise me), and barbecue tofu would have been allowed to rest peacefully in my stomach, things would have benn just fine. But the added pleasure of the smooth Brooklyn streets would have none of that.

Much discomfort, a bathroom break for me as well as a latenight McDonald’s run to settle our collective 9 stomachs ensued. (You know the food wasn’t good when a latenight McD’s run actually serves to settle the turbulance inside, God bless 6 piece chicken mcnuggets!)

Did I mention the food was cheap?

Traveling…

I’m on my way to New York for the weekend. CE National has scheduled Youth Net meetings for the spring to be a “field trip” of sorts. Now I don’t travel that much, in fact, I’m not sure i’ve ever flown anywhere by myself…but I still get excited like a little kid going through the candy aisle at the grocery store.

Traveling thoughts…

• I need this time. Timing couldn’t be better for a personal “retreat” with some like-minded youth pastors. I’ve just been in a bit of a funk as of late. It could be the cold that just came on, or the lack of sunshine. I’m sure it’s not my awful NCAA bracket but that certainly doesn’t help.
• I’m such a travel nerd that I had my wife drop me off at the airport at 12:30pm for a 4:41pm flight. I’ve been having fun using the wi-fi, answeing e-mails, blogging (writing and surfing), and reading.
• I found two blogs that not only will encourage me but challenge me and give me some fresh ideas…Mark Artrip’s blog led me to this one which led me to this one.
• I have learned more than I cared to learn about Henry’s job. Henry is the loud-blue-tooth-talking man walking around Gate A5 doing business with people who are driving in a Canadian snow storm. Ok, actually I don’t even have a clue what his business is. It all sounds a lot like Wah, wah. Wah, wah, wah.
• I’ve just started a lot of bullet points with the letter and a variation of the pronoun I.
• The airport wi-fi is slower than I would prefer. (that didn’t start with I)
• The lady behind me just referenced the Peanuts adults who talk by saying Wah, wah, wah, wah, Wah. Very ironic, I literally typed the bullet point above 10 minutes ago. And they weren’t even sitting here yet.

I’ve arrived…in the airplane I continued reading “The Barbarian Way” which I started a few weeks ago while getting a new tire Wal-Mart. Wow…it wasn’t hitting me then but combined with what I spoke about last night at Youth Group it’s kicking my butt. I’ll have to share more in a separate post soon.

• Walked in the door of the hotel. Almost literally bumped into Koreem. He was kind enough to wait for me as I checked in and then we hit the town in search of a White Castle. A place neither of us had ever been to. Let me just say, Newark, NJ is a confusing place. It took us nearly 1 1/2 to go, eat and get back. Google maps told us it was 9 minutes away.
• The food wasn’t worth it. The adventure and the conversation certainly was.
• While lamenting the poor quality food, Koreem told me of the “best burger place ever”. 5 Guys Burgers and Fries…it appears that there are 3-4 of these in Ohio, all of which are in Cleveland. Still not convinced anything good can come out of Cleveland but I’m willing to give it a try sometime. There are many more of them near Philly, and I’m sad that I missed the opportunity while living there.

Here’s my Bracket…

Click on the Bracket to view

 …and after one day and a little, it’s not very good. Yes, I picked Pitt to win it all!

However, apparently, if you print it off you can take it to KFC for a $2.99 Toasted Wrap Combo. Woo Hoo.