StretchyChurch

A friend just e-mailed this to me. Crazy…

It’s strange being a family of four–especially since Robin and I both come from families of four. And now we’ve got our own family of four. And tonight was a first for our family. Here’s what happened:

After coming home from the open house at Micah’s preschool, we all got out of the car. I had Macy’s car seat and Robin had unbuckled Micah. Robin started walking toward the curb, so I asked, “Whatcha doin’?”

Robin said, “Getting the mail.”

I said, “Ok, I’ll let the kids in the house.”

And then I stopped and said to Robin, “Whoa! That was weird!”

I guess this won’t be the last time I ever talk about “the kids.”

One of the best things about meeting (by phone) with the Pastoral Transition Team at Northminster Presbyterian Church every Monday night is getting to spend the first 20 minutes or so in the scriptures. We’ve been “living” in Luke 10:1-12 (where Jesus sends out the 72) every week for about two months. And every time, the passage is opened up to us just a little bit more and becomes a part of us just a little bit more.

Missional Church offers some great questions to ask while reading scripture to help think about the passage missionally:

• How did this text prepare the early church for its mission, and how does it prepare us for ours?
• What does this text tell us about the gospel?
• What makes it good news?
• What does this text tell us about ourselves?
• What does this text tell us about our world?
• What does this text show us about the way in which the gospel is to be made known?
• How does this text challenge our organizational forms and functions?
• How should our organizational practices change in light of this text?
• How does this text challenge us to be converted?

While scanning the Collide Magazine blog, I followed a link to an article about an Oxford professor who suggests there is a 20% chance that we’re living inside a computer simulation. In other words, human beings may be virtual characters made up of computer circuits and code inside the computer of some divine computer geek. Funny article!

First things first–Macy’s doing great! I’m probably just a biased dad, but I think she’s getting cuter every day. Or maybe I’m just falling more in love with her every day. Anyway, I’ll get some more pictures and videos of her up sometime soon.

But I wanted to get back to church-related stuff tonight. I’m reading Missional Church (edited by Darrell Guder) and it is an awesome read! So thoughtful. So thought-provoking. So eye-opening.

In my reading today, I came across a proposed confession of a missional church (on page 236 of the book), and I thought I’d put it out there for all of you to read. But don’t read it quickly. There’s a lot in there. I think it’s worth chewing on a little bit at a time.

We believe that we are the church, that is, we are a community of God’s people called and set apart for witness to the good news of Jesus Christ. We are blessed to be a blessing. As the Father has sent Christ, so Christ sends us. Jesus Christ has defined us as his witnesses where we are. We believe therefore that the Holy Spirit no only calls us but also enables and gifts us for that mission. Our task is to determine the particular focus and direction of our mission. We are to identify the charisms given us by the Spirit for mission. We have the responsibility and the capacity, through the Holy Spirit, to shape ourselves for faithful witness. Our purpose defines our organizational structures–which means that our mission challenges us to re-form our structures so that we can be faithful in our witness.

It almost makes you wonder if Macy and Micah were twins separated at birth…

There are some pictures of Macy at the St. Elizabeth Medical Center website. Check them out here.

Just added a couple more pictures to my last post, in case you want to check them out.

Macy Eve Watson was born yesterday, Wednesday, August 22, 2007, at 1:40 p.m. (according to all the official documents; however, upon video playback, it actually happened closer to 1:45 p.m.). She weighed 8 lbs. 1.8 oz., was 21 inches long, and has a thick head of dark, curly hair.

The experience was completely different from Micah’s birth, which involved a 36 hour labor, a cervix that wouldn’t dilate, 2 epidurals (one of which stopped working and the other never worked), etc, etc. Macy’s birth, on the other hand, wasn’t necessarily easier (says Robin), but everything was so much shorter.

We got to the hospital at 7am for Robin to be induced, though, ironically, Robin’s contractions were already 5 minutes apart and getting more intense. When the nurse saw that she said, “You won’t need much pitocin!”

And she didn’t. By about 10am, the contractions were strong enough to need an epidural. The contractions continued, but they didn’t hurt—and Robin was oh so happy!

At noon, I asked the nurse if she thought I’d be safe to make a quick Burger King run. She said yes. Robin was 4cm dilated and continuing to dilate at about 1cm per hour. At that rate, Macy wouldn’t be born till 6pm.

So, I ran to Burger King and was back by 12:30. Robin’s mom and I ate while Robin rested. At about 1:10, Robin’s contractions got really strong—really strong! At 1:20, the nurse walked in and saw that Robin was not comfortable. So she checked Robin and found that she was 10cm!! She had jumped 6cm in just over an hour!!

At shortly after 1:30, the doctor arrived. And at 1:45, Macy Eve made her appearance!

We couldn’t believe how quickly it all happened in the end. And I’m so grateful that she didn’t decide to come while I was at Burger King! I didn’t know it at the time, but that was a close call!

We brought Micah over at around 5pm. He gave her a gift that he had picked out and wrapped himself—a package of 2 binkies (pacifiers, for those who don’t speak baby-talk). He was so excited! And it was absolutely adorable. Then we gave him a truck, which was Macy’s gift to Micah. Yes, I think he likes her! The cutest thing was that whenever Macy cried, Micah said, “It’s ok, baby sister!” And he would repeat every now and then, “She come out Mommy tummy!”

Today, we came home at about 2:30 p.m. We’re exhausted, but we’re so excited to be mommy and daddy a second time! I’ll keep you posted on how Macy’s doing. In the meantime, here are some pics and vids.

Macy at 1 minute

Macy at 15 minutes

Macy at 20 minutes

Tomorrow morning we go to the hospital at 7am for Robin to be induced. Funny thing is that Robin’s been having mild contractions all day about 15-20 minutes apart. Now she’s at 7 minutes between contractions and they’re getting stronger. This little one has been holding out and now she says, “Aw, what the heck. I guess I’ll just come out on my own!” She’s gonna be a handful, I can already tell!

Next time I post, I’ll have a daughter!