I blog for essentially 3 purposes:
1) Stewardship of my life thoughts and learnings
2) Influence and encouragement for
Christ-followers and leaders
3) To leave a digital-footprint for my children and
grandchildren
Think about it - everything you ever post or blog will echo into the future. The internet will outlive you.
And so today I blog to an audience of one:
Josiah Nathan Herron.
One year ago today something happened.
You made your grand entrance into human history.
The ancient Hebrews would name their children using at least one syllable from God's intimate Name, YHWH. "Jo" and "iah" are both syllables from God's Name. You are special.
3 events have profoundly shaped my life:
1) Choosing to follow Jesus as my Forgiver and Leader
2) Meeting your mother my senior year of high school
3) Becoming a daddy to you
Because of you, my heart is larger. Your mommy is filled with joy. I've become a huge advocate for open adoptions.
My house is a mess. Power naps have become my friend. I'm learning sign language. Juliet the Wonder Pug gets to go on a frequent walks with you in tow. Bald is beautiful. I'm addicted to "Yo Gabba Gabba" on tv. I see Children's Ministry in a whole new light. I want to be a better man.
Thank you, Josiah, for one. Happy Birthday.
Can't wait for two.
I can't believe the Little Man is almost a year old! Emily Powers took these late summer pix last night - there's TONS more on her blog. And yes, she and her sister do travel for photo shoots, so hurry up and request their services!
"I'm learning that the only way to live is to love."
- Emily reflecting on open adoption...
Josiah Nathan Herron -
Your first name means "Fire of the LORD." King Josiah was a godly leader who advanced God's Kingdom in a time of spiritual darkness. May you grow up to be a warrior-prince.
Your middle name means "Gift of God." In 1 Samuel 1 where we see baby dedication, Hannah presents her infant son Samuel to God, saying that he was lent by God, and she was now lending him back for God's glory. Today your mother and I do the same by dedicating you to Jesus.
Your last name means you're family. You're stuck with us. And we count it all joy. We resolve to make Christ the center of our marriage, not ourselves. We pledge to strive toward modeling trinitarian love to you. We promise to teach you about Jesus of Nazareth, His love for you, and His supreme, eternal sacrifice made for your salvation.
May you choose to follow Christ, be baptized as a believer, and make disciples of all nations.
Beyond the Largest Easter Egg Helicopter Drop in Kent History this weekend, there's 2 additional reasons I'm primed for a very special Easter at Catalyst.
The first is that we're launching a new children's environment on the heels of our easter egg family event. KidMo is for 5th grade and below - a fun, safe, engaging environment that utilizes kid-friendly worship, high-energy DVD-based Bible lessons, and small groups. Our volunteers are released to do relationship-building, leaving the teaching work to the KidMo DVD. Chas & Chelsea are leading the way this Sunday - go team!
Secondly, Amber & I are dedicating Josiah this Sunday. At Catalyst, we strip away man-made traditions and open the Scriptures for guidance. Nowhere in the Bible do we see infant baptism (or christening). Instead, we see people making a decision to follow Christ and then immediately being baptized as a believer.
With babies and children, we instead see dedication by the parents to the Lord. 1 Samuel 1 is not only a firm foundation for baby dedication and its purposes, but is also a dramatic parallel to our family's own life. Amber & I will make a covenant with God to do everything we can to point Josiah to Jesus of Nazareth. It is an important responsibility with great weight (see Deuteronomy 6 - the shema).
We wanted to dedicate Josiah at the time of his adoption finalization - when he legally becomes a "Herron." When the Court assigned us April 9th as the finalization date, April 8th became his dedication date. Little did we know that it also happened to be Easter!
So we are dedicating Josiah on Easter in front of his family (who are coming in from Iowa & Pennsylvania as I type), his birth family, and his church family, Catalyst. What a weekend it will all be. I'm primed!
The rest of Josiah's 6 month pix - courtesy of Emily & Angela at Sweet Dreams Photography.
Somewhere in the distance I can hear my mother-in-law shrieking with delight.
Domestic adoption rocks... especially when it's an open adoption. A couple times a year we take Josiah to visit his birth family - it's great! We have an awesome, open relationship with both sides of the fam, sometimes he gets showered with clothes and toys, and best of all, he has that many more people in his life who love him. Tonight's visit was no different - Josiah was in such a playful mood! More pix are over at the Herron Hacienda.
Today was Josiah's final post-placement visit with A Child's Waiting - one month from today he'll be a 'Herron' and celebrating at his Open House. To celebrate, he went cruising through the neighborhood:
