Shot using:
Camera: Canon T2i
Lenses: Canon 50 mm 1.8 & Sigma 18-50 2.8 macro

Edited in:
Adobe Premiere CS5 Mac
I love the Video DSLR presets built in to CS5

Music: “Igloo” by Karen O and the Kids from the “Where the Wild Things Are” soundtrack.

The most surprising thing about having two sons is the way that my older son, Parker is reacting to having a new baby in the house. If you’ve attended The Park I’m sure you’ve met Parker. He is the two-year-old with crazy hair running around with a Starbucks cup, drinking packets of Equal (we don’t let him actually drink any coffee).

Before Nate arrived, we had tried all we could to prepare Parker for having someone else in our house. As a toddler, he is pretty sure that the world revolves around him, especially at our house. Every time that we mentioned the fact that he was going to get a baby brother, he would promptly tell us that he wasn’t, then ignore any more statements regarding the subject. We were worried that once Nate arrived, Parker was going to go completely crazy with jealousy and act out by being destructive and disobedient.

While we were in the hospital delivering Nate, Parker stayed with his grandparents. He was gone from us for three nights, only coming to see us for a few short periods of time each day. The day Parker came home, he came home a more mature little boy. He was all of the sudden talking more, helping around the house more, and being even more obedient. Now that he is a big brother, he has decided he better act like one. Best of all, Parker is absolutely in love with “Baby Nate.” He loves to give Nate hugs, bring him his pacifier, and he tries to hold him whenever possible–with our help of course. Parker is doing everything he can to take care of our newest family member (even though he is only two years old).

As followers of Christ, we are called not only to be disciples, but to make disciples. I think that most of us have heard it preached before and we don’t disagree. We just think that it is something that will happen further down the road in our walk with Christ. Maybe after we’ve done enough Bible studies, attended enough small groups, and gone on enough mission trips, we will be ready to teach someone else what God has done in our lives. The call to make disciples extends to all believers, no matter where they are in their journey of faith. I believe that maturity of faith comes through sharing your stories of life change with other Christians around you. Forget waiting until you are “mature” enough. Start making disciples right now.

Parker isn’t going to wait until he has a son of his own to invest what he knows in his little brother. I’m sure he is going to teach him everything (which may not always be a good thing for us).

(This is a copy of the newsletter I wrote for The Park Loop.)