Rejoicing Over Zeke

Words cannot describe what this little guy means to Donna and me. To be honest we rejoice over him! 

We have always heard grandparents talk about how special their grandchildren are to them. To be honest, I thought they must have really just disliked their kids! We didn’t! We loved our kids! They barely gave us a minutes trouble and they were an absolute delight to raise. To this day they are our favorite people to be around. We get together every Thursday night for family night and usually have lunch together every Sunday.

I'm sure you've heard those old grandparent cliches about grandkids being your reward for not killing your own kids. (See what I mean?) Then there’s the popular reference of spoiling your grandkids and sending them home to their parents - We have NO intention of doing that! I want to be an advocate for Zeke’s parents and uphold the values they are instilling in him. I don’t want to undermine those values in any way! Having said that, I do now understand what those grandparents were describing! I can’t explain it, but I definitely understand it! What we feel for Ezekiel is special! I think about him all the time and spending time with him is absolutely at the top of my list! 

He is such a sweet boy. Even when he doesn’t feel good he will still try to muster a smile for you. He is super smart. I’ve noticed lately that he seems to recognize the melody of the songs I regularly sing to him. He responds to them with such joy! 

The Bible says God sings over us. I hope I respond with similar elation to those familiar melodies! 

Zephaniah 3:17, For the LORD your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.

Yancy

We host a monthly service we call "Inspire Night." We love to bring in various speakers and artists that encourage our church family and inspire them to love God and make Jesus famous! One of the events we host annually is our "Back to School Blessing." We love watching parents and grandparents lay hands of their kids and impart spiritual blessing as they prepare to go back to school. 

This year we brought in a wonderful friend who specializes in resourcing Kids Ministry. Yancy travels America performing at "Little Praise Parties" - leading kids and families in praise and worship. She also writes, produces and distributes worship resources for Kids Ministry. 

Yancy was in my youth group when she was fifteen. She was an amazingly talented young woman with a dream of becoming a worship artist. I saw so much potential in her. It was obvious God would use her in a mighty way! I remember telling her, "Yancy, if I had a record label I would sign you in a heartbeat! If I had a promotion company I would sign you immediately. I don't have anything like that, but what I do have is a weekly youth service and a band and I want you to do your first concert right here!" She did. She rocked it! And she never stopped. I'm so proud of this young lady!