I am an Uncle!

This week I became an uncle.  My sister and brother-in-law had a beautiful baby boy.  I have had a chance to Skype with them and have seen lots of wonderful pictures.  The internet is great because it allows families who live a long distance from each other to still connect.  If only they could make a way to kiss babies cheeks and the tops of their heads through the computer we would be all set.

But until technology catches up with my wish list, this is where we are.  We will get to officially meet this wonderful little guy in a few months when I see my family at Christmas.  I am so excited.  I’m also excited because they haven’t had a chance to meet our second child, who was born last Christmas.  Because my sister was pregnant and we are so far away, there just wasn’t an opportunity to get together.  My daughter will be one before they ever get to hold her.  They miss out on her entire first year.

If you can’t tell, I’m a little sad today over the distance between us.  But at the same time I am encouraged, and I want you to be as well.  We are a thousand mile away from my family because God has called me to serve Him here in Texas.  As I was looking at my nephew’s baby pictures on Facebook the song “Jesus at the Center” came on my playlist.  If being so far from people I love is the only sacrifice that God asks of me to serve Him, it is nothing compared to the sacrifice that He made for me.  I want Jesus to be at the center of my life, and that means constantly having to reorder my priorities.  I want my family to know how much I love them, and how much I wish I could be there right now.  But if Jesus is going to be the center of my life that means I need to be here, where He has placed me.  And I love my church and my friends and my students here; He has blessed us with a family away from our families that is always there for us.  He is so good to us.  I very rarely give Him anything close to the honor that He deserves, and I could never repay Him for all He has done.  And so in these moments when it is hard to be far away from family, I remember that life is really all about Him, and I anticipate a time in a few months when He will give me the opportunity to be with the family that I love and miss.