May I introduce to you the newest member of the Johnson family: Dylan Thomas.

Dylan was born Friday, January 15th at 12:33 p.m. He was 8lbs 4.6oz, 21.5 inches long, and perfectly healthy.

My wife now officially bears the title of toughest person I know. She did natural childbirth and pushed this new life out in 10 minutes. It was incredible to see so much pain and joy within moments of each other. I never thought anything could be more profound than the birth of my first son, Liam. But this one was beyond amazing.

We’re so thankful to God and to all our friends for your prayers and support.

I’m looking forward to getting back into the swing of things. Not sure how much I’ll be blogging over the next few months as we’ve been blessed with both this amazing new addition to our family and things are really picking up with work. In the last month I’ve landed a book project, two new potential clients, and a large project with a very reputable agency here in town. Additionally, we’re gearing up for the launch of our new website at Praxis and the official roll out of The City. All of this has come at a just the right time, proving God is one who provides.

One of these days I’ll stop being one of so little faith.

It was 365 days ago, around the time in the morning when I am writing this that I received a phone call from my mom.

“Jake,” she said somberly. “Grandpa died last night.”

“I’m coming over,” I said.

Putting the phone down, I quietly got dressed. Holding back the tears, I told my wife what had happened and that I was going to be back in a little while. My three-year old son, Liam, was still sleeping in the other room.

As I drove over to my grandfather’s home, I quietly began to cry. Seattle was experiencing one of the worst snow storms in its history. It was very cold out, and I remember the odd sensation of having hot tears run down my face even as I was shivering uncontrollably, waiting for the car’s heater to do its magic.

I pulled up into the gravel driveway of the house that held so many wonderful memories for me, knowing that this would be the last time I’d ever set earthly eyes on my grandpa. I didn’t know what to expect. I had never experienced death this close. It was a surreal experience to walk through the front door and see him laying there, mouth slightly open, stiff and lifeless.

The time of mourning was very hard for the family. The onset of death, so quick and unexpected. In such a short time, joy turned to sorrow, and the celebration of our Savior’s birth turned into the reality of sin’s consequences.

It was by God’s grace that I was even in Seattle last year. In the summer we were building our first home here in Arizona, and had planned to experience our first Christmas in that home. But as we moved closer to the holidays, I began to feel the importance of coming back home to Seattle to celebrate the holiday with my family.

So we changed our plans.

Grandpa, I think, was holding on just for that. The McElroy family gathered on Christmas day for a great celebration. Grandpa was healthy, alert, and taking in the joy of being with four generations. He was a true patriarch.

It wasn’t but a day or two after that wonderful time that things went down hill quickly.

By December 29th, he was dead.

During this time, I was reading N.T. Wright’s Surprised by Hope. I’d like to believe it wasn’t by accident. In that book, Wright speaks to the hope we all have as Christians in the bodily resurrection of humankind and the redemption of all creation. I took great encouragement from his deep insight into the hope we all have in Christ. And it was comforting to know that one day, our family will once again be together, bodily, celebrating not as just four generations, but as a multitude of generations.

God knew this would happen. He knew my family and I needed to be in Seattle last year. For that gift of providence, I’m eternally grateful. I am also grateful that Grandpa was a believer. Today, he is with our Lord, in a place of no sickness, pain, or death. And one day, we will all be reunited together for a joyful time of celebration once again.

This year, as we observe the first memorial of grandpa’s death, I’m reminded of the cycles of life. My wife is nine months pregnant, and we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our second son. Last year we mourned death. This year we will be celebrating life. It’s funny how, despite our best efforts at times, life just keeps on marching forward. The realities of death and life, continue to confound us despite our best efforts to conquer them.

I wish my grandpa was still alive to see the arrival of his second great-grandchild. But the reality is that he is still alive, just not with us in the present. And while he won’t be there when my son arrives. He will one day hold him in his arms and give him a great big hug.

Grandpa, I miss you and love you. Say hi to the big guy for me.

Then comes along Noel Piper’s post on why they don’t do Santa over at the Piper household. The post has a lot of the usual reasons you’ve probably come to expect, but this particular section stuck out to me:

Third, we think about how confusing it must be to a straight-thinking, uncritically-minded preschooler because Santa is so much like what we’re trying all year to teach our children about God. Look, for example, at the “attributes” of Santa.

• He’s omniscient—he sees everything you do.
• He rewards you if you’re good.
• He’s omnipresent—at least, he can be everywhere in one night.
• He gives you good gifts.
• He’s the most famous “old man in the sky” figure.

She’s right. Santa is a lot like God, but only partially so. Noel goes on:

But at the deeper level that young children haven’t reached yet in their understanding, he is not like God at all.

For example, does Santa really care if we’re bad or good? Think of the most awful kid you can remember. Did he or she ever not get gifts from Santa?

What about Santa’s spying and then rewarding you if you’re good enough? That’s not the way God operates. He gave us his gift—his Son—even though we weren’t good at all. “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). He gave his gift to us to make us good, not because we had proved ourselves good enough.

When Liam was born, my walk with the Lord was drastically different than it is now four years later. And I’ve got to admit that Noel’s reasoning here has me thinking.

Still, a part of me just thinks Santa is a little harmless holiday fun, and Liam and I talk a lot more about Jesus than we ever do Santa.

Just the other night, after nightly prayers, I was cuddling with my buddy when he said to me, “Daddy?”

“Yes, buddy?”

“Did you know Jesus was born in a barn? Isn’t that wonderful?”

He knows the reason for the season.

So what do you think? Is Santa harmless Christmas fun? Or is Noel right, does he cloud your child’s capacity to know God fully?

Some things I’m thankful for:

• Jesus’ obedience unto death to redeem and reconcile creation and a lost sinner such as me to God.
• Jesus’ resurrection unto life and His victory of Satan, sin, and death.
• My beautiful wife, Collette, who is the love of my life and the toughest girl I know – hang in there, babe! Only a few more weeks to go.
• My awesome son, Liam, and my coming son, Dylan. Not every dad gets to say, “My boys.” What a blessing!
• Our incredible Praxis Church family, who have shown us continually the love of Christ.
• For the Pastors, leaders, and volunteers who work tirelessly at equipping and serving the saints at Praxis Church.
• My family and friends, many of whom I will not be seeing this holiday but wish I was.
• For my Missional Community family, whom I’m so happy God has brought into our lives.
• For grace, which abounds.
• Football, which is of God.
• Food, which I have more than I need.
• Sanctification, which continues daily.
• Books because I’m a nerd.
• An awesome house that is perfectly suited to our family.
• Cars that run.
• My bike, given to me generously by a friend.
• That every day is sunny in Arizona. And that the weather is cooling down.
• I woke up today. So did my son and my wife.

What are you thankful for?

[Photo by futurowoman]

The reason? The Busy Season.

We’ve all experienced a busy season before, and I’m finding that this one is particularly difficult. I’m also finding it to be a great time of sanctification.

About two weeks ago, my beautiful and very pregnant wife, Collette, went in for a scheduled prenatal check-up and found out her blood pressure was too high. They put her on bed rest. As these things always go, it couldn’t have come at a worse time!

First off, I’m naturally worried about my Collette and the baby’s health. I’ve been praying earnestly for good health and a joyous pregnancy. But bed rest, while it is necessary, brings its share of frustrations both for Collette and for me.

So, along with running my company, serving at the church, and keeping up with my online hobbies, I’ve also been Mr. Mom! It’s a good thing I can make a mean roast.

But the stress level has been high, and I’m seeing all the crap I’m so good at hiding float right to the top.

Thankfully, God is gracious, and is working through this time to point out some areas in my life that really need to be sanctified.

Patience

Oh, boy. This is a biggie. I want things done now, and I want them done my way, the right way, the first time. Unfortunately, my three-year old, Liam, doesn’t really care. The reality is that I have too high of expectations for my little guy, especially in times of uncertainty. He knows something is wrong, but doesn’t know what. To top it off, my impatience causes him to lash out in negative ways. The LORD is showing me that I need to become a more patient man.

Control

I’m a take-charge kind of guy who is used to being in control. I pride myself on order, and hate seeing things fall through the crack. As such, I start to quickly lose it when I’m no longer in control, and my veneer cracks. The LORD is showing me that I need to stop worshiping the idol of control, and rest in his sovereignty.

Pride

Because I like control, I am often too prideful to ask for help. Thankfully, I serve alongside Godly and humble men who have reminded me of my need to ask for help. Though it’s hard, I’m grateful for those who have served me and my family during this time. The LORD is showing me that my pride is evidence that I still don’t fully realize that I can do nothing apart from Him.

Above all, the LORD has used this season to remind me that I’m a sinner, and that I must find my righteousness in Him alone. Too often I cruise along, thinking I’m doing pretty well, but as we all know, adversity reveals the impurities in our heart. I thank God for His grace, and am thankful for His sanctification process.

In all this, I find comfort in James’ words, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kind, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:2-4).

If you are going through a hard time, I encourage you to seek God and count it joy that He is allowing you to grow in your faith in Him. It can be hard, but the end result is a character that is more conformed to the character of Christ. I thank God, that He continues to work in me.

Please keep us in prayer, as we go to the doctors tomorrow to monitor Collette’s blood pressure.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, in you we live and move and have our being: We humbly pray you so to guide and govern us by your Holy Spirit, that in all the cares and occupations of our life we may not forget you, but may remember that we are ever walking in your sight; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

And this makes good sense. During his life, my grandpa poured himself into his home. He expanded it with new rooms, built an garage, constructed a sun room (in Seattle no less!), painted again and again, rearranged the landscaping, busted walls, rebuilt walls, and continually remade his surroundings as he continually remade himself.

A week before his death, grandpa, Liam, and I enjoyed a few hours together. I wasn’t supposed to be in Seattle that Christmas, but God sovereignly had other plans.

It was that house that I used to ride my bike down to at five in the morning, speeding on East View Ridge Drive, down onto the steep, exhilarating incline of Olympic Avenue, and into the gravel drive with a slam of my breaks and an epic skid only an eight year old boy could appreciate, giddy with expectation as I prepared to caddy for my grandpa at one of the local golf courses. It was in the warm kitchen, smelling of coffee and melted butter, that I sat down to eat the smiley face pancakes, a McElroy tradition. It was in the warmly lighted family room, where we sat around the dinner table and talked into the night, telling long and rambling jokes and playing board games. It was that house where my mom, my uncles and aunts, me, and my cousins grew up. Good memories and bad, that house that was his and ours.

I was not able to make it up for the spreading of grandpa’s ashes, and in a way I’m glad. I paid my respects, kissing his cold forehead for the last time in the living room of the very same house in which he lived and died on that frosty December morning almost a year ago. But part of me wishes that I could have been there, to see just one last time the remains of the man I loved, even if they fit in a Chinese take-out box instead of one of his spring-fresh laundered v-neck undershirts. To gather as a family one last time around a man who had been a center of our life for so long. But in the end, it is his memory that sustains my love, not ashes. And those still burn strong.

Yet, there are days when I miss him terribly. Today is one of those days.

Rest in peace, Ronald McElroy. Rest in peace, grandpa.

We’re having another BOY!

And he has a perfect bill of health.

As soon as the doctor told us, my mind began traveling into the future, picturing great times hanging out with my boys! Rough housing, kidding around, shooting hoops together, watching ball games… the whole lot. I’m very thankful to God for blessing us with another son, and for keeping the baby healthy during development. Plus, everyone else at Praxis Church seems to be having girls. So, little Dylan Thomas (as we are currently calling him) will be in good shape come later in life.

Please keep us in your prayers for continued healthy development, and for a perfect birth.