1. For a good start to Saturday, our good friend Mark Chapman has written some beautiful thoughts here regarding the recent Ted Haggard situation. Thanks for reminding us of grace, brother.

2. Go Michigan!

3. We are leaving this morning for Greenville, North Carolina, to spend almost a week, including Thanksgiving, with Mom and Dad Erickson! We are looking forward to speaking and singing at their church – Christ Presbyterian, also one of our supporting churches - and most of all to great family time. We likely won’t be able to blog for the week, so we’ll put up an update when we return on Friday.
Thanks for reading! Happy thanksgiving!

More Noah Pictures!

Little Noah gets his picture taken way too much....we hope you enjoy these shots of a typical morning

Breakfast time!

He loves to feed the family dog, Jaz

Although sometimes he'd prefer to save some for later (I promise we did not pose this!)

A new discovery - getting into mischief already....

Good book....

I just finished a very interesting book called, "The Next Christendom" by Philip Jenkins. It was quoted often during our cross-cultural training and is about the shift in Christianity throughout the world. Whereas the church used to be almost synonymous with Western culture, it is now thriving and growing exponentially in Latin America, Africa and Asia. As the West (more accurately the North) has secularized and stagnated in population, booming third-world cities in the southern hemisphere are becoming the geographic centers of the faith. And there are remarkable implications - for church practice, missions, immigration, politics, etc.
The writer, a prof at Penn State, does his best to be objective and non-committal, but while he does not seem to be an evangelical Christian, he is far more sympathetic to evangelicals than most Western academics. Though I did not agree with every approach he took, I really enjoyed the book, and recommend it, if even just for the remarkable analyses of demographic projections and the church's interaction with culture. It certainly opened my eyes to a more global view of what God is doing, and was particularly insightful for our upcoming ministry in Peru.

I was just reading this, from The Valley of Vision, a phenomenal book of prayers and devotions.
It really caught my attention - I need grace so badly.

"Blessed Lord Jesus,
No human mind could conceive or invent the gospel.
Acting in eternal grace, thou art both its messenger and its message,
lived out on earth through infinite compassion,
applying thy life to insult, injury, death,
that I might be redeemed, ransomed, freed.
Blessed be thou, O Father for contriving this way,
Eternal thanks to thee, O Lamb of God, for opening this way,
Praise everlasting to thee, O Holy Spirit,
for applying this way to my heart.
Glorious Trinity, impress this gospel on my soul,
until its virtue diffuses every faculty;
Let it be heart, acknowledged, felt..........
...O gracious redeemer,
I have neglected thee too long,
often crucified thee,
crucified thee afresh by my imprenitence,
put thee to open shame.
I thank thee for the patience that has borne with me so long,
and for the grace that now makes me willing to be thine.
O unite me to thyself with inseparable bonds,
that nothing may ever draw me back from thee, my Lord, my Savior."

10 Months Old!

Noah loves to stand!

Showing off his teeth

We spent the day with Annmarie and her family in Fredericksburg. What a treat!

This month has contained the biggest changes yet! Noah has mastered the art of mobility! This has been a big adjustment for me. It wasn’t very long ago that I could sit him down, turn my back, and know that he wouldn’t have moved more than a few feet. He can now get to where he wants to go via scooting, crawling (his quickest mode), or now creeping by walking while holding on to furniture! One of his favorite activities is pulling up to standing and then letting go and falling on his bum over and over again. Sometimes there’s a brief moment after he lets go and before he falls that he’s standing, hands free! With this newfound freedom comes a whole new world of learning. Michael was saying today how it’s funny that he’s learning how to get around before he can speak or understand words like, “NO!” “Stop!” and “Come here.” Ah, God will surely sharpen and humble us through this time. At least there’s hope for all the sign language we’ve been teaching him; last weekend he signed “more” for Cheerios!

Noah is showing some favoritism now – he loves being with Mommy! (Even though his favorite word is "dadadada" (c:) I must say this is kind of gratifying since I spend the most time with him, wake up in the middle of the night with him (no, he’s not sleeping through the night anymore – I’m open to suggestions in this area), and am mostly responsible for his activities every waking moment. While I’m often tired from chasing after or carrying my little boy, there’s nothing like the bright smile he greets me with when I walk into a room or how he crawls as fast as he can to me and begins climbing up my legs. He gives me his strongest hugs, wrapping his arms around my neck. Then, of course, there are his famous “Noah kisses,” best known for their wetness!

These moments are what I am storing up in my heart and remind me of how motherhood is one of God’s richest blessings. I just began reading a book by Susan Yates called “And Then I Had Kids – Encouragement for mothers of young children.” A friend at church gave it to me and I don’t think it could have come at a better time. Yates is a pastor’s wife and mother of 5, the youngest of which are twins. She has given me some great perspective and encouraged me especially in the area of vulnerability. She reminds me that my feelings of frustration, guilt, fatigue, and failure are normal for a mother to have. However, “great joy and growth comes as we see these feelings not as enemies but as God’s agents to lead us into deeper relationship with Him. Our self-worth should be determined only by God’s great love for us, which is constant and never changes. We can’t take it away, improve upon it, or make it more. His love for each of us is already the most it can ever be! (p36)” My own efforts of trying to be supermom will usually leave me to feel like a failure, frustrated, guilty, and fatigued. How sweet it is to know that Jesus is gently drawing me to himself, calling me to rest in his presence. Noah reminds me that I need to crawl to my Savior as fast as I can to be scooped up into his loving arms.

“He will tend his flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs in his arms; He will carry them in his bosom, And gently lead those that are with young.” Isaiah 40:11

Learning

Noah woke up in the middle of the night, and though I was up to feed him with a bottle, he would have none of it. He pushed the bottle away and cried all the louder. There was only one person he wanted to see. We are trying to wean him off of nighttime feedings because he really doesn't need them, but he still thinks he does. His bottle refusal is only further proof that he's more upset than hungry. Yes, we're reading many good books on training kids to soothe themselves, but if you have any tips, they are of course welcome. Anyway, I'm up now, so I figured I'd blog.

I'm reading an excellent book recommended to us during our "Living in Grace" training. It's called "Holiness by Grace" by Bryan Chapell, the president of Covenant Seminary. It's just an honest practical book on what it looks like to bring the doctrine of justification by grace into our daily situations, to be truly changed at the heart level, and not just in outward behavior. This was the central theme of that week of training, as well as of a class we took through our church called "Sonship." It has been life-changing for us, and I need to be renewed in these ideas daily, because I am so prone to base my acceptance before God on my daily performance. There's a great summary of this which Chapell quotes in the book - it is by Richard Lovelace, from his book, Dynamics of Christian Life:

"Only a fraction of the present body of professing Christians are solidly appropriating the justifying work of Christ in their lives. Many have so light an apprehension of God's holiness and of the extent and guilt of their sin that consciously they see little need for justification, although below the surface of their lives they are deeply guilt-ridden and insecure. Many others have a theoretical commitment to this doctrine, but in their day-to-day existence they rely on their sanctification for justification...drawing their assurance of acceptance with God from ehtier sincerity, their past experience of conversion, their recent religious performance or the relative infrequency of their conscious, willful disobedience. Few know enough to start each day with a thoroughgoing stand upon Luther's platform: you are accepted, looing outward in faith and claiming the wholly alien righteousness of Christ as the only ground for acceptance, relaxing in that quality of trust which will produce increasing sanctification as faith is active in love and gratitude."

The last part there particularly gets me, and has proven true in my life, in marriage, etc. Can I start each day, each hour, each particular task or step of faith with the belief that I am accepted fully because of Christ, and see what entirely new direction of freedom and joy comes to the task? More often than not I find the answer is no. On those occasions which I do start with the perfection of Christ credited to my account, I do find a new rest, a load lifted, and actually a deeper motivation to labor intently.
But I am weak, and quickly forget. If you should think of it, pray that these concepts would be central in our lives, and in our ministry in Peru. We would love to do the same for you.

I get to be Noah's Dad

I have been absolutely amazed lately at the joy of fatherhood! Forgive me if I get a little sappy, but it's really knocking my socks off. I didn't think I was ready for it, and (cliche alert) I still feel like I am a bit of a kid myself. Really, though, it's true! How can I be given such incredible responsibility, to care for this precious boy? He has so much to learn, and is so helpless. He will look to us for everything, from changing his diapers and providing cheerios now, to learning to ride a bike and applying to college later. Even deeper, his understanding of God and His mercy will in no small way be shaped by the manner in which that is lived out in our family. Wow. So I feel a great sense of awe in standing before this two-toothed wonder. And though there is some anxiety in that awe, there is great joy and anticipation as well. If I could only capture the feeling when I walk into the room and he gives me one of his big squinty smiles, then gets bashful and buries his face in Mom's shoulder. Every little moment throughout the day makes me want to quit everything else: reading a board book, cheering him on as he explores and tries to stand up, guiding him away from danger, acting silly to bring out a hearty giggle. When people ask what has it been like being a father, I often say that it brings out rich feelings and emotions you never had before, and simply could not have any other way. There is a sense of deep love and protection, a desire for the best for him, and a new understanding of family. I am so blessed that Laura is Mom to Noah and wife to me. She is exceptional, a woman to be praised, and she shows me forgiveness and patience as Jesus does - completely undeserved. Now Noah is starting to teach me about a Father's love; the imagery in scripture is coming alive and it is just too much for me to fully grasp. But like Noah, I am learning slowly.

Thoughts on Election Eve

As we are enjoying this blog so much (and we hope you are too!), we want to use it for many purposes - besides the usual Noah updates. This being an online journal of sorts, I'd like to put down some thoughts about life, the world, the gospel, even (oh no) politics, and in general things we have been learning and pondering. I don't pretend to be articulate in this, but I'd just like to spark a discussion and see where the Lord leads it.
In doing this, I am inviting and encouraging feedback. Please let me know what you think, even (especially) if you disagree. I'd just love to talk about it, because it seems that much of the public discourse (and really much of the political blogging) is not real discussion or interaction. It is mostly people digging in on their side and shouting at or mocking the other side. There is hardly even a feigned interest in understanding. We all want to be right so badly that we have a hard time even listening, let alone "considering others better than ourselves," and we will even go so far as to claim that we have God on our political side. Both sides do this, and our pride will not let us lose.
"You can safely assume that you've created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do." - Anne Lamott
It seems to me that God, the Lord of the universe, who came in the flesh to seek and save the lost, is bigger than any political or social ideology, and I really truly love discussing how the Gospel of grace informs, corrects and redeems our flawed positions on all sides of today's issues. So.....let us come and converse with humility, knowing that when we deserved condemnation, through Christ we were given mercy and love. Happy tuesday and go vote!

Halloween

We couldn't resist taking Noah out for his first trick-or-treating! Because his pumpkin suit had been well worn (see previous posts), Grandma found him a great costume, and he tried his hardest to be a scary leopard. Unfortunately he was just too cute and was a big hit with the neighbors. We did thank him after we ate all his candy. Is that shameless or what? It was such a nice night - did anybody else see more kids out than ever before? My parents definitely ran out of candy to give away. All in all, a fun new experience for little Noah. Happy November!

Well, it's been a little while, but we've had a lot going on in the last couple weeks, so we plan on putting a number of posts up in the near future. I have to admit, it took me (Michael) some time to warm to the blog idea, but now I'm sold. We love reading friends' blogs, and have been encouraged by those who enjoy ours. As we prepare for Peru, it definitely is a great way of keeping in touch with our wonderful supporters, especially those who don't know us as well.
We just spent a fabulous weekend in our recent favorite city, New York, visiting my brother Matthew! He lives and works in the East Village, a wonderfully diverse and interesting part of town near Chinatown and Little Italy. It is actually where "Rent" is set, though it has changed a bit and is now a hip (but not touristy) residential area. Matthew teaches at a middle school for low-income boys, and is also in grad school at Fordham. We really had a great time with him and his girlfriend - going out to eat, meeting his students, recording a song, and just getting to chat. My brother always makes me think and examine different perspectives, and I appreciate our discussions. Noah came along for the ride, and was again mezmerized by the commotion of the city. I feel like there's so much more to say about the city and my awesome brother, but I'll save it for later. Here are some pictures that weren't technically taken this weekend, but are where we were.

This is where my brother teaches!

The view from Matthew's roof, with midtown Manhattan in the distance