Finally got around to posting some updated pictures of Cadence! Enjoy!
Mommy made our dress!
Smiling at Mommy!
Little Lady
We love tummy time!
Playing with our friend Willow!
Friday, December 11, 2009
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Cadence is here!
The big day finally came! Cadence Emery Murray was born Saturday, September 19 at 10:14am (a whole week early). She was 7lbs. 12oz. and 20 3/4" long. Mom did great - labor was less than 7 hrs and she pushed for 15 minutes! Everyone is healthy and doing well! We brought her home yesterday afternoon and are adjusting to life at home with Cadence. We're tired, but loving every minute of it!!!
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Lessons Learned from a Scammer
About two weeks ago Morgan and I were having a delicious pizza dinner when we received a knock at the door. It was a young man working for a group called KLMN Reader Services. He said it was a work program to help people get back on their feet and find work (they were selling magazines). When I asked how he got connected with this company, he replied that he had been out of work for a while and saw an ad in the paper for a sales position with them. He seemed like a very nice guy, but I was definitely wary about the whole thing. Perhaps it's the cynic in me, but I just had a bad feeling about the situation. He had a really shady looking clipboard sheet about the company and receipts that didn’t look very legitimate. I ended up giving him a check for $20 for a subscription that’s supposed to go to the hospital down the road.
As soon as he left, though, I went inside and “googled” the company. It seems that I wasn’t the first to be scammed by these people. There’s report after report of people getting ripped off by this company and their workers and every story sounds about the same. People never received magazines, couldn’t get refunds, the phone numbers for the company were not legitimate - they even tried drawing funds of $70,000 from the account of one lady who wrote a check to them.
I immediately had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. At that point, it wasn't so much about the loss of money, but the violation of trust between two people. I think God uses moments like this, though, to remind me that I'm called to something greater than guilt over the loss of $20. I guess if we hold a right view of our resources, the money was God's to lose anyways.
The lesson for me laid more in the calling we have as Christians to give all people the dignity and respect they are due as children of God, despite their efforts to deceive. My gut reaction was that this guy was a liar, a cheat, and definitely a scammer. All of my common sense told me this. But something else made me stay on the porch a little longer and hear him out, and I think it nothing less than God's work in my own life to change my heart towards others. I suppose that it's not so much about whether or not we avoid injustice being done to us (albeit this was very minor), but more about how we honor God in the ways we interact with and even think about other people. I, too, am a liar, cheat, and scammer . . . that's the reality of my own fallenness. And so, if it were to happen to me again, I hope that I would be wise with the money God has given me, but also extend the same love that God has extended to me.
That's the lesson I learned from a scammer.
As soon as he left, though, I went inside and “googled” the company. It seems that I wasn’t the first to be scammed by these people. There’s report after report of people getting ripped off by this company and their workers and every story sounds about the same. People never received magazines, couldn’t get refunds, the phone numbers for the company were not legitimate - they even tried drawing funds of $70,000 from the account of one lady who wrote a check to them.
I immediately had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. At that point, it wasn't so much about the loss of money, but the violation of trust between two people. I think God uses moments like this, though, to remind me that I'm called to something greater than guilt over the loss of $20. I guess if we hold a right view of our resources, the money was God's to lose anyways.
The lesson for me laid more in the calling we have as Christians to give all people the dignity and respect they are due as children of God, despite their efforts to deceive. My gut reaction was that this guy was a liar, a cheat, and definitely a scammer. All of my common sense told me this. But something else made me stay on the porch a little longer and hear him out, and I think it nothing less than God's work in my own life to change my heart towards others. I suppose that it's not so much about whether or not we avoid injustice being done to us (albeit this was very minor), but more about how we honor God in the ways we interact with and even think about other people. I, too, am a liar, cheat, and scammer . . . that's the reality of my own fallenness. And so, if it were to happen to me again, I hope that I would be wise with the money God has given me, but also extend the same love that God has extended to me.
That's the lesson I learned from a scammer.
Monday, August 17, 2009
The Big Picture
Many of you probably know by now that Morgan and I are expecting our firstborn this September! (It's a girl! and we've decided to name her Cadence Emery Murray)
As we prepare for parenthood we've had a lot fun (inspite of the heat, discomfort and swelling . . . sometimes for both of us!) getting the nursery ready, shopping yard sales and clearance racks for clothes, reading stories to her and playing music for her. But one of the most fun things for me has been finding the all important children's bible. Of course this won't even be relevant to Cadence for a couple of years, but I was eager to find one in particular (The Jesus Storybook Bible - thanks Baylee and Ashley for showing it to me). I love it because every story told in this Bible intentionally points to the totality of God's work and purpose from the beginning of creation to Jesus' death and resurrection (of course explained in a language more accessible to children . . . and adults like myself). Something I think we adults forget to do when we read the Bible (particulary the Old Testament) is to remember that God's character and plan remain the same. We often fail to see the full scope of the redemptive work that God began in Genesis. And I love how this children's Bible calls me back to that truth with every story that I read to Cadence!
I recommend checking it out! (and for all you presbyterians out there, Tim Keller endorsed it!)
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