Amazing Life!

So I figured it's time for an update. Not much different has been going on since the last update. Church is going well, averaging in the mid 120s now. Spent time in Indiana after Easter. Good to get away and see family and a lot of Warsaw people. Spent some time sick last week, as well as Susan finishing it up this week. Took Eli to a duPont Children's Hospital to check out a funky infected rash on his scalp. Fun stuff.

Sometimes it's just not easy thinking of stuff to write on here. You know, when you grow up and you're basically living the same life every day, it can be a bit boring and seem a bit mundane. Life doesn't slow down for us here though. I continually enjoy what I'm doing. There have been days of extreme frustration, but I don't know that I would trade it for much of anything right now. Except maybe a 2 week vacation in the sun with my wife. Like that's happening anytime soon. (note tongue in cheek)

Our life is good. Not always easy, especially with three boys now, but still good. I was talking with someone recently about living and doing church work out here. I was telling them that I don't know that I could go back to the midwest any time soon. There are so many new opportunities here on the east coast. I am fascinated by it. I'm overwhelmed by it sometimes, in a good way. It invigorates and enlivens me thinking about all the possibilities that are out here. WOW is about all I can say.

Anyway, enough of the tangent on the east coast. Isaac is playing baseball and having a blast. He is one of the youngest on the team so he sits more than the others. Not saying it's right, but it's a fact. He is figuring out timing with the pitching machine. Really cool. He was 3-3 the other day and scored 1 one. He's having fun and that's important.

Riley is Riley. He is our choleric personality. He makes life fun for me, the phlegmatic. (I've been reading again, haven't I?) He loves people and being around people and controlling people. LOL.

Eli is adorable. He smiles a lot and lights up a room with his smile. We had pictures taken just over a week ago and he smiled the whole time. Neither the photographer nor Mom and Dad had to work very hard to get him to "ham it up" for the camera.

Susan is doing well. For Mother's Day I gave her the illness that I battled most of last week. Aren't I generous and thoughtful? Having three kids and being sick I saw how hard mothers really work. And then I found out first-hand when Susan did get sick. What an amazing wife I have!!

What an amazing life I have, too!!

Absolutely Amazing

How to describe the roller coaster that we've been on over the last 2 weeks or so?!? Absolutely amazing!! If you are a somewhat faithful reader to this here blog, you might know about our church's Community Day and Egg Hunt that we were putting on April 15. Well that day has now come and gone. And all that's left to be said is, "Wow!!"

First of all, I had been working with a company to send out 10,000 postcards to our community inviting them to worship with us this Easter, as well as to the Community Day. Well, those cards did not go out. Long story and don't care to rehash it here. So we're a bit frustrated at that time. After finally "discussing" with them that I would kindly like my money back, they agreed and we made other plans to announce. Thankfully, we had already placed an ad in the local newspaper. I called and asked them to enlarge it to a full-page ad. Yes, that's right. Full-page. Color.

Amidst all this stress as well as other issues being dealt with (sick kids, etc.), we were praying a whole lot. I had finally turned it over to God and said that if we reached one person, if one family came to this event, it would be worth it. Saturday came and we saw God move in an absolutely amazing way. People came.....and came.....and came.....and came. At the end of the day, we estimate that there were approximately 600-700 people at our event on Saturday. WOW!!!!!! I was able to share the resurrection story with at least 450 of them. How great that was!! We were all totally exhausted, but a good exhausted.

Of course, I had to be back at the school from 6-8:30pm for our praise team practice. Long day. Sunday at church we hit our highest attendance yet......145. This was also with about 20 regulars not there. What a great day!! God is so good.

In all this I have been reminded of the David Crowder Band song that says, "Take my frets. Take my fears. All I have, I'm leaving here. Be all my hopes. Be all my dreams. You're my delight, my everything. I will worship You, Lord. Only You, Lord. I will bow down before You. Only You, Lord."

In all of it He was there saying, "Trust me. I got you covered here, Tim. You let go and let me take control."

Thank you, Lord!!

How Refreshing......A New Post

So I really needed to post. Life has been quite the chaotic madhouse for about 2 weeks now. In fact, we were supposed to be in Indiana this week for a visit, but that was postponed because Isaac and Riley were both sick.

Things are still going quite well though. As I said, life is chaotic. Today was Isaac's first day back at school in a week and a half. I'm not so sure he wanted to go back to school. After all, he discovered that there is a whole other "cartoon world" out there while he is at school. At any rate, he went back today and we look forward to seeing him this later this afternoon.

Riley is Riley. He went to his first speech therapy session today and did well. It should be interesting for us, having already gone through this with Isaac.

Eli is growing and doing very well. His mysterious rash is all but gone right now. He smiles a lot and laughs quite a bit too. He is even "cooing" some. That's something that neither one of the other 2 did very much. My theory is that if he wants to be heard later, he better get started now.

Susan and I are doing good too. We really hated postponing our trip to Indiana, but it had to be done. We have both stayed relatively healthy through this little bout the boys had. I was down for about 36 hours, but, thankfully, Susan and Eli have been pretty much healthy.

Life at Northeast Christian Church is as exciting as ever. Our website is finally starting to come together. It still needs some work, but it's coming. Check it out here, http://www.nechristianchurch.com . Our big Community Day and Egg Hunt will be April 15. Lots of publicity has been going out for that. We have done a mailer to 10,000 homes in the area. This is primarily to get word out that we are here. Maybe we'll get some response to it. VBS plans are coming together. Anyone want to come out and volunteer to help us???? June 26-29, 2006.

That's the latest. That's the news. Keep praying. We're praying for you.

Peace

Sorry about the clarity of this pic. Camera is quite weird. But I promised one of Susan with Eli. After all, it is her who has him most of the time. Riley just wanted to join in the fun on this one.

Last night was a much needed night with Eli. I had a very "interesting" time at small group and was somewhat frustrated when I came home. Of course I have agreed to do the 2am bottle feeding. Lately it has involved much screaming (from Eli) and a few messy diapers. Last night he awoke at 2am. I rushed to make the bottle and feed him. Generally when he is done eating he, first of all, fills his diaper. (Did not happen last night!) Secondly, he cries because, well, I'm not really sure why.

Last night, though, he finished his eating and instead of spitting out the nipple and screaming, he pushed it out with his tongue and just looked up at me very contented. I cannot tell you how rare and special this moment was. He stayed there, looking at me, for some time until he began to doze off back to sleep. Not once last night did I need to use the pacifier to calm him down or get him back to sleep. What a peaceful, serence moment it was last night.

Of course, that was followed by me going back to bed at 2:30 and not being able to go to sleep until sometime after 3:30. Two nights in a row of that stuff. I'm the one who's supposed to be able to fall right back asleep. Maybe tonight I pray.

That's the news. That's the update. Enjoy your day and the peace that God provides.

New Pics

Ok! So isn't he absolutely adorable. It actually looks like he's trying to smile in the middle pic. My goal for the next post is to get pics of he and Susan and he and Isaac.

He's growing and getting bigger and more comfortable every day. He loves sitting in his swing and chilling out. What a blessing he is!!

Things are busy here. We are still in the process of getting everything worked out for our community day coming up April 15. Should be lots of fun and lots of stress leading up to it.

Not sure what else to post other than we're all excited for signs of spring. Hope you all are enjoying signs of new life as well.

It's About Time!!!

Well it's about time isn't it?!? We have received emails asking why there are no new posts with new pics of Eli yet. Well, here goes......no good excuse or reason. But isn't it nice to know that I have heard your cries and am willing to share what we have so far.

Eli continues to grow. (He's a baby. That's what he does.) He has developed a case of baby acne. Reminiscent of my teen years. He cries a lot. He eats a lot. He sits in his swing a lot. But he gets more and more comfortable in this world every day.

Susan is doing remarkably well, except for the whole exhaustion part of being a new mother. Eli keeps her busy. I try to help out by keeping the older boys out of her hair for a bit, but sometimes that is impossible.

Isaac is super-stoked about his birthday coming up the end of this month. He's doing great in school and already looking forward to Spring Break. (I didn't think that started until later in school.) We had a meeting with his speech teacher who said that after this next year, she believes that Isaac will be done with speech therapy. That was wonderful news to hear. He is doing so well in his speech.

Riley is definitely a 4 year old. Very active and friendly. Also very demanding and selfish at times. But that goes with being a 4yo, doesn't it? He loves his baby brother and helps out quite a bit at home with him. He is doing much better about getting himself ready in the mornings, much to the delight of his mother and me.

Both boys really dote on Eli quite a bit. In fact, they want to be so close to him all the time that I think it kinda freaks Eli out. He gets nervous when two very antsy boys get right up in his face. But they both love him tremendously and are proud to be big brothers.

I am doing well. Looking forward to a big community day that we will be having on April 15. Easter Egg Hunt included. Hoping that it continues to bless our community and let them know that (1) we're here and (2) we love them. Consistently running over 100 in our worship services now. That is very encouraging. Although numbers are not the most important thing. Making disciples is.

Here are a couple more pics to tide you over for a bit.

A New Update

So it is definitely time for a post. Life over the past two weeks has been quite chaotic in the Grasham household. Little Eli is a joy (most of the time). Just kidding! He is precious and adorable and looks just like his older brothers. (Sorry, Eli. You'll get over it in a few years.)

As many of you know, we make our annual trip to JBC this week for Homecoming. This year we decided not to go. We really wanted to. It's a great time to see family and friends, especially our friends from West Virginia. But a decision needed to be made and so it was. It was especially difficult since Isaac is off of school all week. He wouldn't have needed to miss any classes. However, traveling with a 6yo, 4yo, and 2 week old would not have been a joyous occasion.

We have been blessed by numerous people since Eli's coming. Susan's mom was here for 2 weeks. My mom was here for 1 week (before breaking her leg falling down our basement stairs). People from church have blessed us with meals and gifts and many, many encouraging words.

Things are going so well at church right now. Every week we reach new heights in attendance, but hopefully in spiritual growth as well. I am excited to be in worship every Sunday. What a blessing the past 3 months have been for me personally here at Northeast Christian Church!

I have a sermon to finish and a Bible study to prepare. So I must go. However, leave some comments if you wish. No demands coming from here. Just as you wish. HA!

Here's a pic or two to hold you over!