gijoejw's Xanga

Friday, May 25, 2007

Fri, 25 May 2007 15:01:05 GMT

For those of you who still xanga....we're still waiting fo rour little boy to be born!

He is due June 8th, but we just have this feeling that he's coming early! Christy is about to explode, every pound she's gained in this pregnancy is on her belly. You seriously can't even tell she's pregnant from behind. Our youth get a kick out of that! We'll update when the litte guy is born!

Meanwhile, we've started a new blog: It's :

http://justinandchristywyatt.blogspot.com/

See ya,

Thursday, March 01, 2007

Thu, 01 Mar 2007 14:23:41 GMT

So I thought that maybe after a month I would update. I'm a slacker.

Life is crazy busy, but it's a busy wonderful! Right now life is consumed with baby prep. I tell you what, this baby's a lot of work, and he's not here yet! And of course, people are so full of advice! It kind of reminds me of being single and how everyone tells you that you aren't really living yet because you aren't married....well now it's oh you're not really living yet until you have children...and I'm sure in years to come it will be you're not really living until you have grandchildren...

well, I'm coming to the conclusion that we're not really living until we're dead! Paul says that to be absent from the body is to be in the presence of Christ. In Him we have full life. So I think I'm trying to focus on living with Christ, becuase that's where 'living' comes from.

In Greek we've been working through the sermon on the mount..and a verse just came to life for me.

Matthew 5:3 - Blessed are the the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven...the phrase poor in spirit always was a booger to me. I never really understood what it meant, and I don't really remmeber a whole lot of explanation on it...but a really good literal meaning of it translated could be: Blessed are the one's who know they need God...or blessed are the one's who know they are powerless. So that's where I'm trying rest; learnin that I am powerless, realizing nothing good is in me ((Rom 7:18) and that I desperately need Jesus.

Closing out with some fun pics from our 'baby-moon' to San Fransisco and northern California...if you've never visited this place..it gets by uber recommendation!

The GG Bridge In the City

Chinatown The bluffs on the coast

The sunset over the Pacific...taken from our room at the Bed and Breakfast. I could get used to lying in bed and watching the sunset

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Wed, 24 Jan 2007 13:56:44 GMT

Hope all is well with you folks. We went to the doctor yesterday...and we're having a boy!

Here are some pics from the ultasound!

Here's his little profile with his hand up by his head

His footprint

How they knew it was a boy!...

Another profile..

Smile...he's looking right at you!

Friday, January 12, 2007

Fri, 12 Jan 2007 14:36:48 GMT

Happy Birthday to the most amazing woman in the world...my wife! (and my baby's momma)

I thought all the weird crazy techno remixes of old songs was a phenomon of gyms Korea....like the remix of Itsy Bitsy Teeny.....Bikini...but apparently its taking over american gyms too...this morning...it was a total remix of that 80's Dirty Dancing Hit, Hungry Eyes....it just didn't work

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Tue, 09 Jan 2007 15:06:22 GMT

In recent weeks several news stories followed the details of different rescue attempts. One story followed several hikers lost in the snowy mountains. Another story was of attempts to rescue a father who was missing after he attempted to rescue his family lost in the snow. Just last week another rescue occurred, this time of people caught in their cars after an avalanche. Some of these rescue attempts were successful, while others sadly were not.

Can you imagine the plight of those who needed rescuing? Imagine the feeling of being utterly vulnerable. Conceive the thought of being trapped in a place where you are helpless to obtain your own safety. Picture yourself lost, utterly helpless, and unable to get to safety. Envision needing rescue.

What you have just imagined is a perfect picture of our sin. We are lost in it. Not just kind of lost, like when you have taken a wrong turn. Utterly lost. Helpless. Hopeless. There is nothing we can do to get out. Our best efforts leave us short and only more ensnared.

Colossians 1:13 For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son.

How beautiful is the truth of this verse. Amazing love and divine compassion rescued us, pulled us out and redeemed us. We were so profoundly in need of rescue, and through Christ, we have been so profoundly rescued. This truth is our joy. This truth is our hope. This truth should cause our hearts to rejoice and to join with all of heaven singing “Glory in highest to our great king!”

When we lose sight of our rescue, our lives become out of focus. Our faith and subsequent obedience is not about trying really hard. It is not about duty. It is about compulsion. Because God is so great, His love is so wonderful, His grace so profound; because He has rescued us when we didn’t deserve rescue and we certainly could not have rescued ourselves; because of these things, we lovingly, willingly, and passionately give our lives to Him. This understanding is when our faith stops becoming obligation and becomes a joyous delight. Rejoice in your rescue!

Thursday, December 14, 2006

Thu, 14 Dec 2006 14:59:25 GMT

So I went running on Monday. It felt great! It was the first time I've gone running since having mono, so I was quite thrilled. I had gone back to the gym, but had stayed away from too much cardio, because mono can afect your heart too. It felt great to be outside and breathing in the fresh air. One thing I love about GA is that even in December it can be warm enough to run outside. this whole week it has been in the 60's. Well, to my chagrin, I got a blister on my heel, so I put a band-aid on the wound so it wouldn't rub on my shoe and hurt worse.

Flash forward to today, when I discover I had forgotten about said band-aid, and realized that 3 days later it is still on my heel. Nasty! This is either an implication that I dno't wash my feet well enough to notice a band-aid, or or it is an endorsement of a bandaid's 'sticky'ness. Either way, I was both grossed out and amazed that the band-aid had survived putting on socks and shoes and a lot of walking the past few days.

In other news, we did our Christmas music at churhc this past Sunday. Nothing warms the heart for christmas like that...last time we did it a little boy caught his hair on fire in the middle of the music because when he fell alseep at the table (its set up like a dinner theater) his hair went into the candle on the table. This year, the mishap was a little boy choking on a mint during the music. He started gagging, and his grandma literally stuck her finger down his throat to get the mint out. What's Christmas without things like this happening!

the semester is over, my papers are written, and now I'm rediscovered how great it feels to go to sleep before midnight.

peace, love, and joy

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Tue, 05 Dec 2006 16:27:53 GMT

ok..so I've mentioned this before, but by nature of working in ministry at a church, I get some pretty horrible promotional stuff that makes you just shake your head and say "Why?"

Today's bad promo du jour...

A catalog for handbells...now normally I would just through this away without even looking...but somehow it kept mixed in with my other mail. Did you know that you can order handbell T'shirts to proclaim that you are a handbell player...pretty cool huh?! Among the wonderul shirts, one is a handbell surrounded by flames...kind of like a Harley advertisement, that says "Born to Ring." Oh yes, and then there's the tennage hit, featured on a model whose smile is so fake it looks like her mom held her at gunpoint to be in this t-shirt that says "Handbell Diva." To make this shirt even more complete, both the 'a' in handbell and 'diva' are in teh shape of a bell...oh how cute!

Hurry, if you order these shirts now, you can get the matching key chain for only $5.95

And if your an expectant handbell ringing mom-to-be, order the baby bib that says "Future ringer" now...before it's too late.

Sometimes you just shake your head. the sadder thing is, I'm sure they wouldn't make these things if there weren't people who actually bought them...yikes!

if you want make your day....go to www.wingmusic.co.nz and listen to Wing sing a duet on the song Suddenly Seymour from Little Shop of Horrors. I'm still not sure if this is legit or not, but it sho' is funny!

Monday, November 27, 2006

Mon, 27 Nov 2006 00:03:19 GMT

It's been a great Thanksgiving weekend...

Some things I'm thankful for...

An awesome wife, a baby on the way, cool extended family, north river, my youth peeps, a warm place to sleep, cinnamon hazelnut coffee creamer, jack bauer, christmas lights, and the fact that I don't get what I deserve...I get God's grace instead

I just finished putting up Christmas lights outside the house....welcome to suburbia. The house is decorated...but what's up with grinches charging $50 for a Christmas tree...4 syllables for them..Art-i-fi-cial!

I'm off to study!

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Tue, 14 Nov 2006 18:02:07 GMT

We had a great weekend in the mountains of chattanooga with Christy's fam this weekend. Slacker me forgot the camera, so imagine a cabin right on a river with the a mountain with trees with leaves of every color as the backdrop. that's what it looked like.

Christy finally has a little bit of a pooch sticking out of her stomach. It's so cute. We get this really cool weekly update from some website to let us know what has happened. It's so wierd that the little baby..."Squirt" as my youth call him/her..already has all of its organs, fingers, toes, facial features...everything...its just growing and developing. We're eager to find out if it's a boy or girl..but we won't until January.

Here's a little ditty I wrote for the church newsletter:

Fall is an amazing time of year. I love the crispness of the air. I look forward to cool days and cold nights. I love the fact that for the next five months I don’t have to cut my grass or pull weeds from the flower beds. Above all these, I really love the trees. The other day as Christy and I were driving and observing the leaves, we thought that only God could be creative enough to think about making leaves turn various colors before they fall off of the trees. I don’t know why some are yellow, some are orange, and some are red while others are brown. But I do know that only an all-powerful Father and Sustainer can cause leaves to turn and seasons to change.

1 Peter 1:23-24 says: “For you have been born again not of seed which is perishable, but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God.” He then quotes Isaiah saying: “For all flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers and the flowers fall off, but the Word of the Lord endures forever.” I like that Peter here reminds the reader, that we are born again, not through something that will wither and fade, but by something that is eternal. We are born again through faith in Christ.

In a world where things constantly change, in a place where life can seem as beautiful as the changing leaves or as barren as the empty branches after the beauty passes, it is a wonderful thing to know that we have a promise that is eternal. The Lord’s Word stands forever. The sacrifice the Son made is for all time. We aren’t born again from seed that perishes, from one that is weak, or from one that will lose its leaves with the impending changes. We are born of a seed that is rooted in the eternal promise and Word of the Lord; one that is unchanging and will never perish.

As you see the beauty of the leaves this autumn, glorify God for their beauty and His care in their creation and sustenance. Also, glorify Him that His Word will not perish like the leaves, but will last for eternity. This is truth worthy of our trust from a Father worthy of our worship.

Sometimes in our faith I think it's just fine to say 'I don't know', because if we didn't we'd presume to be as smart as God

Thursday, October 12, 2006

Thu, 12 Oct 2006 20:19:06 GMT

Well, the worst is over. By the worst I mean the swollen throat, constant drainage and not bein able to eat. Now it's just tiredness. I went back to work yesterday for half the day and then for everythin that goes on Wednesday nights. I was major pooped last night...and feeling it today!

The funny thing is, as annoyingly (like that new word?) inconvenient as this has been, it's also been a great time to learn, to be quiet, and be still. I think these are things we don't value to much in our culture any more. We prefer experience, immediate gratification, being busy, and noise. I've realized just how much noise there is in my life, and how much I need to just tune out and be still. It's not just a nifty little verse thrown in Psalms for us to quote anytime we feel overwhelmed. I think I've been discovering the value of just being still and knowing He is God. When I think that our bodies, as much as we try to control them, are really ultimately out of our control, I think the only peace we can have is to be still and know that it is He who is control.

I've been singing the line from my favorite song of the hour "You Never Let Go" by Matt Redman a bit..."I can see a light that is coming for the heart that holds on/There will be an end to this trouble, but until that day comes/still I will praise You Lord." I think the other thing I've learned is that its so easy to praise God after difficult things have passed,..you know praise God I'm healed...praise GOd that's over....but our response should be realy to praise him during that time too...praise God I'm sick, because He's about to do somethin great in my heart....praise God this is a tough time because I'm about to learn the realness of His love. I think sometimes we just want the things we can know about God from the things that are easy...but it's really in the hard stuff that we get to really understand the beauty of His grace, and the wonder of His presence.

It's time to get to work on some mondo papers I need to write...until next time...here's a sign for ya...

The above picture does not represent the author's view of marriage. Both the author and his spouse that it was very funny and 'convenient' that these two offices would be in the same place.