Monday, December 25, 2006

Merry Christmas

On my walks through our neighborhood the past week I feel like I have been able to peer into others lives. The hustle and bustle of the Christmas season has been very apparent in the lives of so many of our neighbors. I've seen cooking, present wrapping, tree decorating, stocking hanging, and family gatherings.

It is strange to think how my life is going to change in the next year. We have been the 'scrooges' of the neighborhood for so long...no tree, no lights, no presents, no stockings, none of it. I wonder what Christmas's to come will look like in our home. Last night we were talking about that. One of my questions was: "will we let 'junior' think there is a santa claus?" Its kind of hard to avoid that question...or at least avoid santa claus, that guy is everywhere in our culture.

Well today we are off to our one and only family Christmas event. I am sure next year will be much different.

Friday, December 22, 2006

Today's reading

I am reading in Proverbs right now. This part of verse 3 really speaks to where I am at:
For acquiring a disciplined and prudent life, doing what is right and just and fair.

Thursday, December 21, 2006



Yesterday morning, as you can see from the above picture, “we” had our second ultrasound appointment. This one made it even clearer that inside Natasha there is life. The picture also points out that the life in Natasha is a boy! And he is busy. I found myself sitting their yesterday saying over and over in my head, ‘That is stinkin amazing’. One that there is life in Natasha, two that the life in her is a result of us, three that I am going to be a dad (that is just freaky to type), four that Natasha is going to be a mom, five did I say there is life in her, six that we could watch it on a screen, seven that it stuck out its tongue, eight that it has two arms, two hands, ten fingers, two legs, two feet, ten toes and one head, nine that we saw its heart beating and the four chambers of its heart, ten that we saw the blood flowing through the placenta, eleven that 22 weeks ago there was nothing and today there is a growing baby, and twelve that we saw “it” is a boy!

I should probably explain 11 a little. We were so sure that it was going to be a girl. No real basis for that other than I think when you grow up with four sisters, Natasha only has a sister...I guess I just figured it would be a girl, but as you can see from the picture its not. So no, we don’t have names picked out unless we go with a boy named Sue.

I am still surprised it is a boy. I guess I can stop calling him an it, it is a he. The name searching begins as reality begins setting in. I am excited that I will have a son. Thankfully the Versluys name will live on, it all came down to me…no pressure kid, it all comes down to you now, consider it your first gift. Tuesday I am going shopping for his second gift. We are going to a place where every boy’s first gifts should come from…Cabela’s. Oh the choices that will have to be made, mossy oak or realtree hardwoods, 20 gauge or .410, camo diaper bag or camo one-sy ( I don’t even know how to spell that), but if they have a tree stand that is designed to hold a car seat that is what I will be coming home with...anybody know any beagle puppy's for sale?

Oh, poor Natasha...she is going to be out numbered and out voted.

Friday, December 15, 2006

Who's thirsty?

I have a lot of days where I go to church to consume and to get, for that matter I have a lot of days where I go through life consuming and getting, not searching out those who are thirsty for a life in God.

I was listening to Erwin McManus this morning and his words hit me today: "Don't spend your life trying to impress me, spend it serving humanity. True worship serves, it gives itself away it focuses on the object of Gods love...people. What happens at church is not the apex of worship...its not the music...nothing will happen at church that will be the apex of worship. The apex of worship is what we do when we leave church and we give our lives away to those that are hurting and rejected."

I don't know about you but I catch myself in church or leaving church thinking about how great it was to "worship" God. When I was listening to Erwin it got me thinking about when was the last time during the week I had that same thought...it was great to worhip God. I think a lot of times I am rushing around trying to impress God in my consumption, in things, in getting, in reading, in thinking, in hearing.

Thursday, December 14, 2006


They say a picture is worth a thousand words...she did well.

Sunday, December 10, 2006

Week 21

So "we" are at week 21 now. Not much has changed, for me. My first thought to questions like, Have you picked out names? Do you know if it is a boy or a girl? Have you started on the baby's room? Have you registered for baby things?, is still "For what?". My second thought is still, "oh yeah, we are having a kid". My third and fourth thoughts are still, "Oh my gosh, we are having a kid!" and "Oh my gosh, I am going to be a dad". The whole thing is still hard to believe.

Things for Natasha continue to change. Yesterday morning when I got up I sat there in bed looking at her in awe. There is a life in her. That blows my mind. There is actually a life being formed inside of her. At the same time that is a little freaky. Who is this little life that is being formed? We don't know it, I wonder if it feels alone? We don't know its name, how can you name something you haven't even seen? We have no idea what it will look like and we have no idea what kind of personality it will have, but it is there just look at my wife she is umm, for some reason she doesn't like it when I tell her that.

The update I got for this week is that the baby is like 10 oz. That seems big when you start out at 0 oz. but when you think about most kids are 6 - 8 lbs and there are 16 oz in a lb...there has to be a whole lot of growth going on in these next 19 weeks. I guess that is why I am in awe of my wife. She makes me feel all special some mornings when I am getting ready for work, she will be half awake and say that she loves me. Usually when I ask why, she responds with something about how she appreciates me getting up everyday and going into work to provide for her. So yeah, when I sat there the other morning looking at her in bed, thinking about how a life was being formed in her, how she is growing a new life in her...man do I love my wife.

Friday, December 08, 2006

Tomorrow is the day

Tomorrow is my opening day for rabbit season. It really opened up September 15, but I like to wait until it is good and cold and have some snow on the ground. Also I like to wait until after deer season so I don't mess things up for that.

This year will be very different. I won't have my dream dog at my side. I had to put Penny, the rabbit hunter of the family, down the day before Thanksgiving. Old age finally caught up with her. She was 13 1/2 years old.

She was the best beagle I have ever had and ever will have...she is irriplaceable. She was born to hunt rabbits. She could get into places no other dog would dream of getting. She would hunt all day, bloody paws and all. Thorns seemed like they were attracted to her, but they didn't slow her down one bit. There was no quit in her body. Rabbits feared her. They tried to elude her, but with a sniffer like hers and a drive like hers they didn't stand a chance.

So tomorrow is my first opening day of rabbit season since 1993 without my trusty beagle Penny at my side. I will miss her. I will probably shed a few tears as I walk around the farm tomorrow and the memories of the past hunts with her fill my mind.

Tomorrow its showtime for Abby. Abby is my other beagle. She is Penny's niece. She has always relied on Penny to do all the work. While hunting, when someone pulls up into the drive, when someone comes into the house, if there was an odd noise. So tomorrow is the day. Tomorrow we see what Abby can do...without Penny. Tomorrow is the day, its showtime...time to hunt the wabbits.

Saturday, December 02, 2006

Fun with the woodland creatures

Our back yard is a woods. Our entire neighborhood is basically a woods. It is full of animals. This summer we a flock of turkeys that came through our back yard on a regular basis. We see deer and there are plenty of birds. Not that long ago Natasha decided that we needed some birdfeeders. There is one other thing our back yard and neighborhood is full of...squirrels. We have black one, grey ones and everything in between. They quickly found our bird feeders and began emptying them on a regular basis...which meant more bird feed and an abnormally high amount of squirrels for our dog to chase. Last week I decided to try something I figured might help with the squirrel population. Our bird feeders are on a pole, that the squirrels can climb...but not when you spray the pole down with a good dose of Pam cooking spray.