BABY #1

Karen, my wife of twenty-one years, delivered a 6 lb., 6 oz. boy, our ninth blessing from the Lord, this past Wednesday. We named him: Nolan Thomas. Reflecting on his birth, I am once again amazed by the faithfulness of God to answer prayer. Here are three examples.

• First, we had been praying for the Lord's hand of protection over the womb. Within seconds of Nolan's birth we realized there were two tight knots in his umbilical cord. The nurse quickly labeled him a "miracle baby." We praise our great God for answering our prayers.
• Second, twenty-two hours after birth, when he passed his newborn hearing screen, tears of gratefulness began to flow. We love all of our children more than words can say, and would never trade any of them for anything this world can offer to us, knowing without a doubt that the Creator's perfect plan will be displayed through them all. Three of our children are hearing-impaired and the past few years have been filled with numerous failed hearing tests, three cochlear implant surgeries, and countless therapy sessions, which honestly have left us exhausted at times. Knowing our weakness, my wife and I made a specific request as we prayed together after enduring a miscarriage this past Christmas: "Lord, we believe with all our heart that You are good, sovereign, and wise. Therefore, we will joyfully accept and submit to whatever comes from Your hand. But if it will please You, we ask You to give us a little boy who can hear." We praise Him for answering our prayers.
• Third, during the entire pregnancy we asked the Lord to keep Karen pregnant until I returned from three weeks of teaching Biblical Counseling to pastors in Russia. Our last five babies have been born 3-4 weeks early and Nolan was due Oct. 30th. When I returned on October 1^st we knew the Lord had answered that prayer too. We then began praying that the baby would be born two weeks early, before Oct. 14^th, in time for our trip to Missouri to celebrate our 17-year old son's graduation from Army training. As a result of God's faithfulness in answering prayer we are packing our suitcases tonight--for all ten of us (one son in college cannot come along). On Wednesday, we will spend family day with our military son whom we have not seen since July 5^th. Thursday morning we will then have the privilege of watching him graduate from the Accelerated Military Police program. God has displayed His goodness toward us in so many ways. We praise Him for continuing to answer our prayers.

BABY #2

This past Saturday, the Lord empowered me to deliver my 254-page baby, my doctoral dissertation. I named it: "Authentic Biblical Counseling: A Theology of Discipleship." Nine months ago, our church graciously gave me a four-month sabbatical from February through May, during which time 2/3rds of the project was completed. I was then able to finish the final three chapters over the summer and create student workbooks that could be translated into Russian in time for September's teaching assignment. Here too, God has shown Himself to be abundantly faithful to help me meet numerous deadlines over what many times has felt like a very long pregnancy.