klink

Okay so this entry is about four years late. Four years ago my little Olivia came into this world. And ever since she has been ball of energy and spunk. She has so much personality and I just hope that I can be the father she needs me to be. I hope that I can be the father that all my children need me to be. Olivia changes every day and her sparkling eyes light up the room. Olivia keep your sparkle and keep the light that you have because it brings me joy!

My daughter has been born: Isabella Kiera Baldwin. She is so beautiful and healthy. She was born on November 4, 2011. The labor was not that long but my wife, Liz, was in a lot of pain. We owe a great deal of gratitude to the midwife for intervening and helping to manually progress the labor. Isabella was a big baby weighing 8 lbs. 11.5 oz. and was 22". I am so excited to have a daughter and I can't wait to raise her. She is so cute. Her brothers Matt and Lex are also excited to have a sister. With all the superheroes and sports we can now have princesses and fairytales. My family is growing and I have God to thank.

Just about everything is ready for Isabella's arrival. We've painted Isabella and Lex's room a soft yellow or off-white and we painted the closet and trim a color called nature's green. We aslo rearranged the room and added a crib, changing table and several other things to make the room look really nice. We put together the new stroller that Liz was given at her baby shower at work and put the new carseat stand that goes with the stroller in the truck: the vehicle that Liz will be using. Over the past several weeks we've made additional changes to both the inside and outside of the house. Liz painted our bathroom a bright light green. We raked up the leaves in the backyard (although more have fallen since) and we put in a true compost pile in the back right corner with wire fencing that Liz attached to some metal stakes. I also planted a red oak in the front yard to replace the maple tree we had cut down and I planted a photinia bush to close up the gap between o...

Right now my son is banging on my bed with his toy wooden hammer. The interesting thing is that this is probably the least annoying and/or destructive thing he's done today. Those old Looney Toons cartoons that featured the Tazmanian devil and all of his spinning destruction pale in comparison to my small but lethal Lex. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

I know I haven't posted in an extremely long while and while there have been countless events in that time worth blogging about I have not due to my laziness or disinterest. But I want to change all that so here is a picture of my wife's handiwork. Beneath the old sock that has been cut up to act as a wrap there is plastic wrap, tissue and a poultice made of charcoal to heal my knee. Alexander my small but ferocious youngest son in his carelessness whacked me with a metal golf club. I'm not carrying a grudge but me knee is not the same.

I have not written in this blog for a long time. I know however that I should. Since I've written the country has taken an extremely left turn. We've got a neo-communist at the wheel and capitalism is being kicked to the curb. Okay enough with the metaphors. I'm just concerned that the principles of limited government, the competition of the free market, and moral accountability are no longer the goals of our society. We've re-prioritized and allowed a loud and aggressive minority to guide us, nay pull us onto a precipice. The hope is that perhaps people will wake up long enough to suspend the winds of strife just a little longer. Just a little longer.

I am so proud of my Aunt Elizabeth for the creation of her new website . I really think that it will provide a way for the American people to exercise their collective voices and possible hold their senator and representatives accountable for their decisions and performance. I do realize that we are a Republic but it we should follow the mantra "Government for the people and by the people."

Sometimes my absence from this forum causes me to wonder if I am intentional enough about expressing my thoughts. In any case I've wandered back into this blog so I think I will record a few of my thoughts and update the public on my whereabouts. My family and I have now been in Texas for more than nine months. I have had a roller coaster ride with possible changes to my job and Liz has had a hard time with her nursing boards: twice. Our children have also had their ups and downs. Matthew started out his fourth grade year feeling ostracized from his class and excluded from hanging out with the two other boys in his class. However one of those boys has now made a concerted effort to include Matthew if not befriend him instead of his previous playmate. Alexander has continued to be a terror at night. However the doctor feels his problems are probably not a behavioral and rather stem from acid reflux. I hope so. Life has been difficult but I know that the Lord has some plan for us. Wh...

There have been and continue to be so many changes in my life and the lives of my family members. My wife while continuing to care for our baby son Alexander is now studying for her NCLEX for the second time. She is using an online preparation course we purchased from Kaplan. So far she has found it to be quite helpful. We also just got a puppy. The puppy is a nine week old German Shepherd and Siberian Husky mix that we have named Odin. I have spent the better part of a week over the extended Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend trying to crate/house train the Odin. So far it's working, but I am very tired. We also have some changes that will involve a redistricting of churches and new responsibilities on my part. All in all it makes for some pretty hectic times. Hopefully the dust will settle soon. I need to see where I am going. Oh and getting some sleep would be nice too.

You know it really has been a roller coaster ride for my family and I as of late. Financially there have been ups and downs and emotionally it has been taxing for numerous reasons. Liz lost her mom Karen, our Prius was in an accident that put the car in the shop for almost a month and Alexander has not slept well at night. This last issue has been the most difficult. I think I can say that much of what we have been dealing with would have been blunted if we had enough rest. It is so hard right now to be consistent with my ministry and to do much more than what I have to do. We're about to go to Alabama for Christmas. We will leave early Sunday morning. With the onset of this trip we all seem to be getting sick. Matthew has been coughing. Alexander has congestion and Liz and I are on the verge of a cold. We're really under the weather, which is an apt description because we are unaccustomed to the fifty degree drop in temperature that happened a few days ago. The vast difference...

Thanksgiving is tomorrow and this year seems to be flying by. In so many ways I am blessed and I know that I need to continue to focus on that. I love my family and I think and feel that God is leading in my professional life. Liz's mom has been here since last Friday. She is staying a week to be with us over Thanksgiving. We've played a lot of Wii already and I know that Liz feels a little closer to home having her here. Water continues to flow under the bridge of life and I hope that I'm drinking as much of it in as I can.

For most of my life I have asked questions. I think it is important to ask questions. Without inquiry there really is never any understanding. However whereas most people ask questions that start with what, when, where, who and how I have often tried to ask why. I have endeavored to understand why I or anybody else would do what they are doing. I have tried to understand why God does what he does and this is where I think my problem lies. When it comes to asking questions we must ask what God wants us to do and then try and figure out how to do it. However I think that sometimes the why is beyond our reach. I think of the discussion between Job and God where God tries to illustrate that his thoughts are beyond are thoughts and his ways are different than our ways. Truly who can know the mind of God. Sometimes asking the why only leads us to doubt what was done for us and is being done through God's continual involvement in our lives. It isn't that God doesn't want us to ask...

How best do we order society? What is the role of the government? Most people would agree that the aim of any society is to produce the most good for the most people. The problem comes in when you try to define who determines what is best for society. Traditionally the debate is between giving the power to a few or to the many. There are merits to both approaches. By giving power to the few those few are able to accomplish what may have been hindered by a multitude of conflicting ideas. However this too is the weakness because if the few do not have the diversity of opinions of the many they will not be able to adequately represent all of the people. A few can move quickly but with less connection to the people and the many will represent the diversity but will be hindered by their numbers. The founders of the constitution of this country attempted to find some balancing principle between the few and the many. We are not a direct democracy which may come as a surprise to many people. A...

I am reading William Dembski's book "The Design Revolution." The book is well written and I am sure that I will have continuing thoughts on the content of the book. Currently I have noticed that design theorists do not attempt to attach any specific attributes with the presupposed designing intelligence. They merely presuppose design based upon the first step of the scientific method: observation. Observation leads design theorists to propose that there are possible explanations of existing biological structures that give evidence of design. In contemplating their methods it is clear to me that they must presuppose design. However I realize also that the adverse is true when it comes to naturalists. They predispose that there is no design and that the biological structures that exist today do not arise out of design. In essence they predispose that life is undesigned. Therefore design theorists presuppose that the biological structures arise because of design while the na...

It's been more than a week now since I completed the week of prayer at Burleson Adventist School. I really think that it went well. The students were respectful and engaged. I spoke out biblical characters and my theme or title was "Lessons from the Little Ones." I tried to highlight what five people: Moses, David, Daniel, Esther, and Jesus learned during their childhood. I really enjoyed it and at the end I offered an invitation to the older group of kids to have bible studies: the week of prayer was divided into two groups with grades Pre-K through 4th in the earlier section and 5th through 8th in the following section. In the younger section a girl from 4th grade requested bible studies without any promptings and in the older section a fifth grade boy also requested bible studies. I'm looking forward to working with both of these children.

I am so excited about the possibilities for the Lakers this year. Kobe Bryant and the rest of Hollywood's finest have the potential to reign on the roost this year. So far they are 7-1 and there are contributions from everyone. They are incredibly deep with Pau Gasol, Derek Fisher, Lamar Odom and the return of Andrew Bynum. While I would like to see more productivity out of Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom I am enthusiastic about the teams' progress.

With the recent appointments by the administration of President-Elect Obama the picture is starting to come into focus. Obama picks Rom Emmanuel as his chief-of-staff and the nonpartisan veneer that was lacquered on so heavily during the campaign begins to chip away like the flecks of paint off an old 57 Chevy. Now rumorings of a possible appointment for Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State are in the air. How benevolent and unresentful Obama appears. Yet beneath even this we see the masterful hand of an ambitious politician that desires to keep the opposition where he can see them if not encumbered by his policies. Obama will further his agenda. That's what's it's alway's been about. The liberal labyrinth begins to unfold.

Choosing the political candidate that I support for president has never been a problem for me until now. I have always made my decision early in the race as I align the candidates beliefs with my understanding of conservatism: the political philosophy to which I subscribe. However this election has placed me between a rock and a hard place. I strongly believe in the three legs of the stool of conservatism: strong national defense, fiscal responsibility in the government combined with the current need to shrink the size and scope of government, and the role of the government to preserve the life and liberty of it's inhabitants by upholding the laws that prohibit and punish criminal activity and that preserve the life of the citizens. However these tenets have not been displayed by the nominee for my party John McCain: he consistently opposed Bush's tax cuts until recently, fought for the equivalent of amnesty, and undercut many of the attempts to grow the economy on the part of ...

Perhaps I should give an update to my life. Halloween is rapidly approaching and right behind it is November. It's hard to believe that we are this far into 2008. I'm trying my best to become a good pastor. I want to be competent in as many ways as possible. This particular week I have my sermon done fairly early. I completed it early so that I could continue to work on my thoughts for the week of prayer that I'll be doing next week at Burleson SDA School. I'm going to be talking about characters from the bible. My goal is to highlight some of the experiences of these characters when they where younger. I've entitled my series: Lessons from the Little Ones. Hopefully it will strike a few chords with the little ones that listen to it. Liz is trying to make the best of her situation as she takes care of Alexander and helps coach Matthews intramural soccer team. Lately she has been having a tough time being separated from family. I hope that she is able to find some wa...

Perhaps I should give an update to my life. Halloween is rapidly approaching and right behind it is November. It's hard to believe that we are this far into 2008. I'm trying my best to become a good pastor. I want to be competent in as many ways as possible. This particular week I have my sermon done fairly early. I completed it early so that I could continue to work on my thoughts for the week of prayer that I'll be doing next week at Burleson SDA School. I'm going to be talking about characters from the bible. My goal is to highlight some of the experiences of these characters when they where younger. I've entitled my series: Lessons from the Little Ones. Hopefully it will strike a few chords with the little ones that listen to it. Liz is trying to make the best of her situation as she takes care of Alexander and helps coach Matthews intramural soccer team. Lately she has been having a tough time being separated from family. I hope that she is able to find some wa...