Indigestion

We have heard many stores of couples going into the hospital thinking they were going into labor and then being sent home on account of indigestion; however, we have heard few stories of which the couple went in thinking it was indigestion to have it be that they were potentially going into labor.

We were released from the hospital today around 1:30pm this afternoon after what was a crazy 36 hours in the hospital.  The last two days came at a complete surprise to us, as it did you so let me quickly recap what happened to you and the diagnosis.

Shannon called me from class on Tuesday evening saying that her stomach hurt thinking it was something she ate. When she got home from class her stomach still hurt and the pain was moving into her back.  After calling her doctor we were told to come in to the hospital.  We went and were asked questions that we have never been asked, they asked Shannon "Do they feel like contractions?" to which her response was "What do contractions feel like?"  Very quickly we realized that Shannon was having contractions less then 2 minutes apart from each other for a number of hours.

The diagnosis: The doctors were able to stop the contractions (which is good because we are only at 32 weeks in our pregnancy and baby V needs more time to develop).  After MANY tests they were able to figure out that it was not pre-term labor, but that Shannon's body was fighting some sort of a infection (seen by a high white cell blood count) and this somehow triggered the contractions.  

The doctors treated the infection with antibiotics but were not able to decisively say what caused the infection in the first place.  They have told Shannon to "take it easy" but did not put her on bed rest.  Our son is doing great, every time the doctors came in they commented on how active he is, and he was diligent about kicking at any sort of devices that they tried to put on Shans stomach.  The truth is that hearing his heartbeat for the last 36 hours brought us so much joy, I couldn't look away from the machine that gave us the count per minute.

Our continue prayer is that the infection doesn't return, that Shan continues to get more healthy and that baby V is born healthy and not for another month or so.

THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR PRAYERS AND SUPPORT, last night as Shannon was sleeping I pulled my phone out and spent about a hour or so reading (in tears of gratitude) through messages from you all.  We are SO blessed to have you in our life and can't wait to one day (in about 1 1/2 month) to introduce you to our son.

Whats Next?

The natural question that is waiting to be answered from my previous post is, “What is next?”

Good question, here is my answer.

On the same day that I put in my two-week notice at Grace I also gratefully accepted a position at The Church at Rancho Bernardo (http://www.thechurchatrb.org/) as their Student Ministries Director (or Youth Ministries Director).  I am going to be leading the high school ministry and working with the Junior High pastor as she leads the Junior High ministry.  There is a great team of Pastors on staff there that I am excited to be a part of the ministry that most of them have been doing for the last 10+ years, a lot of the original staff from when the church first planted back in 1991 are still on staff at the church.  

As Shannon and I prayed about where the Lord would lead us next, which each interview (and there were a lot of them) we felt instantly at home.  There are many things that I am excited about in coming to CRB.  Along with a great history of where the church has been and how it has come to be where it is now, there is a great passion for the Kingdom Building and for sharing the love of Christ.  Upon logging onto their website you will see verily early that their specific goal is to "Build Believers, Reaching Seekers and Change the World."  There is a healthy tension of ‘already, not yet.’ in that they have done so much, yet know that God has just begun in their ministry and church body. 

What I am most excited about is being able to continue in youth ministry and to have a more specified role in being able to minister to high school students, while partnering with the junior high ministry.  I am excited to create a relational-worship-experience not just on Sunday mornings, but one that connects to family systems, weaved through the rest of the church body, and can be shared throughout the North County as an authentic relationship with Christ.

I feel incredibly blessed.  As I have received a tremendous amount of support in this transition, as I am joining and incredible church family and staff, as I look at my wife and the baby being formed inside of her and imagine ourselves raising our child in this church, and as I have the opportunity to continue in full time vocational ministry.  It is a life that I don’t deserve; but, because of a tremendous amount of grace and mercy that has been extended to us all I can to step into this next chapter of ministry.

Please be praying with me (us) in this next season on ministry.

Blessings,

Dan (& Shannon)

Big Changes

This week has been one of the most challenging weeks I have had in youth ministry.  On Sunday 09/18/11, after much prayer and many conversations with leadership within the church, I gave my two-week notice with Tom and the Personnel committee at Grace.  I have spent a lot of time calling students and families this week; however, time is of the essence and I am wanting to give as much time as possible to the Grace family to ask questions and have any needed conversations before my last day at Grace.  My last day at Grace will be 09/29/11.  I apologize for the impersonal nature of hearing about this if this is the first time you are hearing it.  There will be a formal announcement this Sunday in both church services and both Shannon and I will be here to talk to you this Sunday.

Working at Grace has been such an amazing blessing.  In many ways we feel, as our time has been cut-short.  The people at Grace are incredible and the youth will go on one day to change the world.  It was not an easy decision to be made, but God often times calls us to make difficult decisions.  The main theme around this decision was one of longevity.  Longevity both for Grace and for my family, as we prayed and talked with Grace it was determined that Shannon and me needed to pursue a job opportunity that would better provide for our family and for our future in vocational full-time ministry.

Working at Grace has been a blessing to be with the church members and a part of the ministry that has been taking place in the past two years.  Working as a staff member, and participating as a church member, has been a great experience to be a part of an incredible church family.

If you have any questions, please feel free to call, facebook, text, email, or any other form of communication that you would like to use.

In Deep Gratitude,

Dan (& Shannon)

the extraordinary in the ordinary...

A few weeks ago I held my cousin’s two day old baby girl. Her feet kicked and her arms wrapped around themselves as if she was hugging herself. She turned towards me and wanted me to hold her in close, secure, wrapped warm and snuggly. What struck me, and always strikes me when holding babies is the size of her feet. Not even as long as my index finger, those little feet. Where will they go, what will they take her to do, and who will she be standing on those feet throughout her life? What adventures will this little life go on? It was an ordinary moment. Holding a child in my arms, and yet whispers of the divine danced around that living room that evening for as I stared at the wrinkles separating her toes from the ball of the foot, I was reminded of Jesus. That thousands of years ago God became man and stepped into our world. God the creator of this sweet little life I was holding, himself became this small, this vulnerable, this helpless.

The events surrounding his birth were anything but extraordinary, but the crux of the matter is that in our world, the ordinary is always sprinkled with the extraordinary, and so to a teenage couple born in the equivalent of a gas station restroom, God himself was born into time, into the realities of our world. Born into the filth, and the pain. The celebration, and transformation. Born into humanity with all its triumphs and foibles. Born into the ordinary…for you, for me. For Juan and Hakim who work at the gas station down the street. For Charlene, the homeless woman I know. For the chefs at the swanky restaurants in our downtown hotels. For the Google execs. For the engineers, and the service men and women at the energy companies. For the family who owns the Christmas tree farm that I drive by on my way to church. For the teenagers on the street and for the kids who live in the slums of urban centers around the world. For the teachers who work hard to tell children about our world and their role in it day after day, week after week. Born, to ordinary people like you and me. Born for us into our ordinary lives so that we might just get a glimpse into the miraculous in the mundane. That we might slow down enough to feel and sense the longing in our souls for something more. That we were created to live in relationship with the living God. And that we’d begin to see God in our ordinary lives, for indeed he is all around us, and his birth reminds us that God’s brush strokes are plastered all over the canvas of our lives, if only we have the eyes to see, the ears to hear, and the heart to feel his presence.

So this Christmas, may we be more attuned to the extraordinary breaking into the ordinary, walking around, shopping, laughing, sleeping, cooking, parts of our lives, for indeed that little baby brings so much more than wrinkly toes and a warm snuggle. He brings hope, and the mystery of the miraculous breaking into time and history to help us see the extraordinary in the ordinary.