Yesterday Kari and I had an encouraging meeting. A very, very encouraging meeting. At this meeting with the leaders of a local church we were blessed to make official on paper my new assignment by God to serve as a pastor. Next month I will join their pastoral team as associate pastor and Kari and I are overwhelmed by God and these church leaders for the opportunity. A person with more faith would have looked at our similar meeting two weeks ago and see that as the watershed moment. It really was, and it came as kind of a surprise. That was the day I was offered the role/position of associate...

" ‘Tis not that I did choose Thee, For Lord, that could not be; This heart would still refuse Three, Hadst Thou not chosen me … My heart owns none before Thee, For Thy rich grace I thirst; This knowing, if I love Thee, Thou must have loved me first." – Josiah Conder, 1836 Found in the front matter of the Jesus Storybook Bible we bought Dutch. Wow, that’s the type of Christ-exalting humility and truth I hope our young son to grasp. We hope to swim with him in the deep end of God’s perfections and grace (even from this young age). "We love becaus e...

Celebrating 5 glorious years of marriage Five years ago today Kari Zyp and I exchanged vows, and then I got to kiss the love of my life for the very first time. What an amazing time it has been, my Sauce. We’ve had our adventures: moving 7 times, living in two states, both following the call to seminary as students, raising Dutch, continuing to serve our Lord Jesus Christ, and being able to know, love and enjoy Him oh so much more because of one another. Sauce, I love you! I told you back then that I want to plunge the depths of who you are, and that passion has not and will not fade. You...

Dutch doesn’t feel good today. But he is real sweet. Here’s a pic of him last weekend enjoying the old Jeep. SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Here’s looking at you, Kid", url: "http://www.deTheos.com/2008/05/29/heres-looking-at-you-kid/" });

No worries — Kari and I are not failing seminary Instead, the title refers to a good reminder posted a while back at Goingtoseminary.com: "Failing Seminary for the Glory of God ." I left a comment about the article, and recently Timothy Paul Jones, Assistant Professor of Leadership and Church Ministry at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, commented: I may be wrong, but I do believe that some seminary professors are beginning to glimpse the truth in what you’re saying here—especially with reference to refusing to neglect your family. As a seminary prof, my students...

My Love, You are the best mother ever and the joy of our home. Dutch can take a nap in peace right now because of your untiring labor of love. God’s grace is evident in every facet of your character and personality. Thank you for pouring out your life for us. Happy Mother’s Day! "But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us." [1 Thess. 2:7-8] SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title:...

Yesterday we three ventured out for our first ‘08 hike in the woods. The single track trails were closed due to winter erosion but the old logging roads provided a good and wide path for us to let Dutch loose on the trails. We set out to go about 4 miles round trip, but that was cut short by an impatient little 16-month-old. In Kari’s words : We did do our hike, although it is now confirmed that Dutch does NOT like hiking. That is, he loves hiking, as long as he’s the one hiking. He doesn’t like being stuffed into a backpack. So, our hike was significantly truncated because...

Here are some pics from this weekend Dutch the hiding boy We woke up to Winter Came home and it was beautiful Spring again Dutch the preacherman; he likes the ESV Mommy + Dutch playing … Mother and son reading … (kept still for 45 minutes!) SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Blessed family pictures", url: "http://www.deTheos.com/2008/04/20/blessed-family-pictures/" });

The house is quiet tonight. Just returned from teaching our Foundations class. Kari and Dutch are not here with me, as they hopped on a plane this morning bound of Salt Lake City to visit her brother and his family. Kari took this picture of Dutch with her phone… Kari started her one-year no-new-clothes fast today (read about her LiveDifferent challenge #1). Truly, I married up (!), and miss Kari already. As much fun as Dutch is and as much as I love Him, I could not live without my Karina. I think it was J.C. Ryle who wrote: “The great thing I always desired to find was a woman who was...

Borrowed from Kari’s blog… ——————————– Nothing deep here … I just wanted to reflect on the joy of mommyhood.  Yesterday Dutch got a new toy–a green John Deere truck from my dear friend Crystal.  Dutch flipped!  He loved it. Usually snack time is the most exciting part of the day and when I pull out the special Dutch muffin and start breaking off pieces and putting them on his high chair tray, he just about goes crazy.  He loves muffins. But yesterday, he totally ignored the muffin as soon as he saw the tractor! ...