What a Joy

I am very excited to tell you all about Charlie Maddox Schneider. He was born March 7th 2011. Sorry it has taken so long to get the post up but life has been busy. He is now almost six weeks old. Hard to believe that this much time has gone by but it has. This is a picture that was taken when he was four weeks old.
Melissa had entered some contest and won a free sitting with a photographer here in Lamar. I think that she did a wonderful job. Charlie did very well during the photo shoot. After it was all over he took a good nap.
Charlie has many different faces. I love playing with him in the mornings because he seems to give all his wonderful smiles then. I am so thankful to God for this wonderful blessing in my life. I am sure that lots of babies are cute but Charlie is the best. That's my non bias opinion of coarse. I love him so much. It is going to be a fun summer, but for now I am just living in the moment.

I will continue to post some pictures of the little man up here for you to see.

Four days to go

So it has been a crazy last couple of weeks working on getting things ready for our little visitor. We have done some work in the baby room that you can see on Melissa's facebook, some moving of furniture and making room in our closet. Baby J.J. is scheduled to be delivered on his due date March 7th. Right now he is breach so he is faced the wrong way to deliver naturally. I hope and pray that he will turn before the time for the c-section. Either way I am excited to see this little man and ready for him to enter this world.

Melissa has been hopeful that he would come early or that the Dr. would induce labor if we found out J.J. was turned the right way. She has never been super patient but I know that she is just as excited as I am to see our Baby.

We will be updating all of you on information about the baby when we know but right now we are trying to be patient. We will be texting, calling and emailing family and friends but you can also come here to check it out and see pictures. There may be a chance that we miss some of you so I hope that you do not take offense to that but we will eventually get around to getting a hold of all of you.

In four days (or less) we will be introducing and celebrating a life that will be coming into this world. God has been amazing in creating and forming this baby and we are very excited to continue to see God work as we witness the miracle to come. Thank you for joining with us in support and prays for this little life. I am so thankful that we have a God that can and will bless us in so many ways.

27 and Counting!!

Last night Melissa and I became an Aunt and Uncle again. I love the fact that we have added two babies to our family in the past 8 months. (Lucas I can not believe you are getting that old) As we have been able to join our family in the joys of their new little ones. I can not help to think about what will happen in 27 days.
We to will be joining them in the adventures of parenthood with our own little guy. There are still things to be done at the house and at work, but with all of that aside I am ready. I am so excited to see the little face of my son. I want so much to hold him and hear his little cry. There are time where I feel like a giant blob of emotion. Basically like that blue guy from the movie Aliens and Monsters.
Can't wait to share pictures with all of you when he is born.

Lord's Leading VS. God's Calling

Wouldn't you think that they are one in the same. Well that's what I would say but sometimes it can be confusing. When we think about the Lord Leading in our life we sometimes connect that with a feeling. At times we can feel like the Lord is leading us a certain direction because that is where we want to go or want to do. I think God does work in this way and that we should listen to God when He speaks to us. When I think of God's calling I think that it might be more audible or even forceful. This is where I feel God pushes us to something that we may not want to do. He has to call us and tell us where to go or what to do.

I feel that both avenues are valid for God to use to direct us to the places we should go. My rub is when we use these words or phrases to get what we want out of life. Sometimes we say it is God's calling or that He is leading me a direction simply because that is what I want. We use this as a post blessing. We think that if we say the words then it must be true. God must have been calling us there because I said he was. I am not saying that I have never been guilty of this in my life, but my question in how do we know that it truly is God?

I think that there are many scriptures we can reference that will help us determine this. We can pray, but when we pray if we do all the talking are we really listening to what God has to say or are we listening to ourselves. We can also talk with our community of believers. There must be a combination of all of these things to be able to truly listen to God.

Final thought, don't and I repeat do not use God as a cop-out to do something you shouldn't or that you just want to do. Well God told me to go out with this boy/girl. God told me that I need a change so I am going to another church. God wants me to witness to people in southern California. I am supposed to buy this big house because God wants me to live comfortably. Do not do this, you want to go out with that person because you think they are cute, you want to go to another church because you think you might like it better, you want to go to S. Cali because it is warm there, you want to be comfortable in your big house. Does God really say to do these things in the Bible? Like I said before don't use God as a way to bless the things you want to do. Call it as it is, If it is God leading then good if not then it is something you want.