Life Unexpected

A couple of weeks ago, we celebrated our high school graduates.  It was a big year for our youth group, as we graduated 15 students.  I watched that week as students were celebrated for so many accomplishments.  Some had achieved the highest honors they give out in the public school system, some were the top athletes in their class, others had been given full rides to schools they had always dreamed of going to, and there were even a few that had received perfect attendance for all 12 years of school (something I don't even think I ever came close to!).  As I attended graduation party after graduation party, I watched as parents went above and beyond to help their graduate know just how proud they were of all they had accomplished.  It was a pretty sweet thing to be a part of. I have always felt as though the teenagers that graduate from our youth ministry are somewhat "surrogate" children to us.  We not only invest a lot of time into them (although not nearly as much

Several years ago, Nate and I began the conversation of what it might look like for him to be a stay at home Dad when we finally brought home our first little one.  If I am honest, I had my concerns.  For starters, Nate is an extremely gifted teacher.  When I say "extremely gifted," I am not exaggerating.  Nate is the kind of teacher that every parent wants their child to have the opportunity to have.  Choosing to be a stay at home Dad was going to crush a lot of parents hopes and dreams.  I was also concerned about money.  Let's be honest, when you go from living on a teacher's salary and youth pastor's salary to just a youth pastor's salary...that is pretty significant.  Nevertheless, Nate felt strongly that this was what God was calling him to do, and so we did it.  I was also concerned that giving up his teaching profession and moving into a role that traditionally men do not take would somewhat make him feel "less than."  Boy was I ever wrong.

Biruk...before his haircut! This past Sunday we were invited to an Ethiopian family's house for dinner.  We have gotten to know the husband, but just recently met his wife, who cooked for us that night.  After being there for a short time, she mentioned to her husband, who then mentioned to us that we really should cut Biruk's hair.  She wanted us to know that Ethiopian boys typically do not keep their hair long.  We have been talking about getting Biruk's hair cut for awhile, but honestly, we love his curls and had somewhat been procrastinating on it.  And then today happened. We were on our way to a graduation party and ran into one of our Ethiopian friends who lives across the street, who we have become close to.  We hadn't seen her in awhile and the second she looked at Biruk she exclaimed something along the lines of, "Andrea...you need to cut his hair!  Ethiopians don't keep their hair long like that!"  I told her we were eventually going to