Lucky? Or Twice blessed...

Our first week with Selah and Charis together has been a blast. We heard from so many people that we really got lucky with Charis as she was sleeping through the night at 8 weeks and on a regular parent directed schedule of eating every 3 hours. She never cried too much, slept really well, and even early on allowed Moriah and I to sleep for long periods of time. Everyone said, "That's the first one. Just wait 'til your second and things will be different. You got lucky with this one." Well, we are still waiting. Maybe number 3 will be the hard one, but I doubt it. Last night Moriah and I both got 8 hours of sleep. Granted they weren't continuous, but they were long and very restful. We went to bed at around 11:30pm during Selah's last feeding. I stayed up with her after she cried a bit to get her to calm down. She drifted off at around 12:15pm. Moriah had already been sleeping for an hour by then. I brought her back into the room a little after 1pm (once my Bond movie was done), and laid down myself. Selah slept until 3:30pm. Then Moriah fed her and everyone was back asleep within the hour. We figured, hey, she'll be up in a few hours so no need to set an alarm. The next thing we know, we hear Charis talking in the next room. As we glance at the clock, we see 8:45 staring back at us. Selah awoke peacefully and ate at 9 as I hurried to get into work.

I don't know if every night will be like that, but we are thankful for our little one who lets us sleep. So, for those of you who say we got lucky again and it isn't fair, I say don't chalk it up to luck, chalk it up to good parenting and a good God smiling on us. As we guide our children with the principles we've learned from our parenting class and Babywise, we've seen great progress that makes us wonder just how people can do the "On-demand" feeding. If that works for you and you enjoy being at the beckon call of your kids, more power to you. Personally, I'd rather sleep in. More to come later...

Settling in for now

Selah is doing so well. We've had a few days to adjust to our new addition, and we are very happy with her progress. At her check-up on Sunday, her weight was down a little (to 7lbs., 3 oz.), but by her doctors appointment yesterday she was back up to 7lbs., 7 oz. There is no sign of jaundice, so we are pleased as punch. She's even giving us time to sleep at night. It takes a little while, but around 1am she gets into a good cycle of sleeping about 2.5 hours, feeding for 30 minutes, then sleeping for another 2.5 hours, so Moriah and I have been getting a good amount of rest.

Charis seems to be adjusting well. She is starting to whine more, knowing that when Selah cries, she gets attention. We are adapting to that quickly and nipping it in the bud (literally). Charis has been a great helper, bringing blankets, gently patting the new baby, and being a little quieter when Selah sleeps.

Today is Moriah's first day alone for a good amount of time with both girls while they're both awake, and so far she is doing well. You can continue to pray for us all as we adjust to the changes. God has been very good and faithful so far and we are fully expecting Him to continue in that goodness. That's it for now. More pics and video to come later.

Going to the doctors for the first time

A Great Start (And Happy Birthday Jordan)

The first night has passed, and we are enjoying a great morning watching Prince of Egypt (very appropriate considering the time of year) and enjoying our hospital breakfast, which isn't too bad. Selah is sleeping and doing great. She has only lost 1 ounce which is great. She is eating very well and has already had 4 very good feedings from Moriah. Moriah is doing great as well. She looks beautiful after her shower and quite unlike she just went through 12ish hours of labor yesterday. We actually got some good sleep last night. Selah has been eating and sleeping, but about every 5 hours she has a good feeding. Those will increase throughout today and tomorrow until she is feeding about every 2-3 hours. We both got about 6 hours of sleep with interruptions of course, but we still got some good sack time.

Our plans for today are to just take it easy, enjoy our new little girl, and welcome all our friends and family to see the new one. We are excited for Charis to get to know her sister a little better, but we know that will happen best at home. Speaking of which, we are planning on being home tonight before bed, so if you are planning a hospital visit, make sure you don't put it off until too late. Everyone is welcome to come and visit, just call first to make sure we aren't feeding her, and I believe that from 1-3pm is nap time, so that time is off limits for visitors.

Also, I want to give a shout out to my younger brother Jordan. His golden birthday is today (22 on the 22nd). I hope it's a good one.

That's about it for now. I'll leave you with a few more pics to enjoy.

Moriah, looking amazing this morning!!

A little whiny after a good feeding (I think she looks like Great Grandma Lucy)




Selah with Grandma and Grandpa Huff

Selah Is Here

Well, our little daughter is here. She was officially born at 4:41 pm CST. She weighed in at 7 lbs. 12 oz. and is 19.5 inches long. She scored a 9/9 on the APGAR test, which is pretty good I guess. She is eating dinner right now and enjoying spending time with all of her loving Aunts, Uncles, Grandparents, and of course her big sister (who will be here any minute). I'll leave you with a few pics to enjoy. I hope all of you have a great evening and think deeply about why this is such a Good Friday; not just because of Selah, but ultimately because of Christ our Lord, who gave His life as a ransom for many on this night so long ago.

This is within 2 minutes of her being born



She quickly quieted down when I started singing



7 lbs., 12 ounces (she beat her cousin Noah)

Update #3: 2:15

Well, they finally checked her and even with all the slow progressing, she is at 7 cm and they are putting in the epidural right now. Gotta go

Update #2: 1:15pm

Well, things have really slowed down. Contractions are very light and are spread out between 15 and 20 minutes. The doc has spoken with the nurse and they are going to get the Patosin going as well as break Moriah's water which should kick her into labor very nicely. Right now, Moriah is finishing her liquid lunch (frozen cherry stuff, jello, juice, etc.) and when she is done, they'll begin all the fun stuff throwing her into labor. If you could pray for her (and me) as we've been at this since 4am and are a little tired. But, we are still pumped for little Selah to arrive, hopefully before dinner time. More to come later...

Update # 1: 12 noon

So, it looks like I'm going to rock in my NCAA picks for today. The two upsets I picked are looking good (Saint Mary and W. Kentucky to win) and I'm tied for second place with my points. Oh, I guess you are all wondering how Moriah is doing. Well, she is bouncing around on a pregnancy exercise ball thing and full of energy. She is still dealing with contractions, but thankfully, NO BACK LABOR this time! Yay! That is making the contractions a lot more bearable. Charis and Moriah's mom will be here soon, so that is it for now. Another update should be coming in about an hour or so. Later...

SELAH IS COMING!!

It is around 9:45, and we are in the process of labor. She is progressing nicely and it looks like sometime this afternoon we'll be welcoming Selah Joy Huff into this world. It's certainly a good Friday. Right now, Moriah is getting her I.V. and preparing for an epidural at some point. She is such a trooper with these contractions. Well, I'll post some more in a little bit, but I need to be with my honey now. Later...

An Early Morning

As I sit here in my office, early to work by half an hour, I ponder my morning. I had agreed to be a debate judge for some of our homeschooler families today, and I needed to be in Naperville (about 20 miles away) at 8:30 this morning. So I woke up early, got all spiffed up to look professional, and left at around 7. As I pulled onto I-88 at around 7:30, I double checked my directions and noticed, in bold type, "Thank you for volunteering to be a judge. We are expecting your arrival at 8:30 am on Thursday, March 20th." What?! Today is the 13th of course, so, after feeling mildly retarded and regretting the extra 2 hours of sleep I missed this morning, I got off at the next exit and made my way to work. At least I'll get to clean up my office a little bit more and I won't be so far away if Moriah goes into labor.

Speaking of labor, I am so pumped. Waiting for "the call" from Moriah is kinda like holding a lottery ticket and waiting for the numbers to be announced later that day, except I know I already won. As soon as she goes, I'll try to keep this blog up to date with all the fun details and pictures of the new baby. For now, Moriah and I are catching up on long term projects of cleaning and organization.

Speaking of organization, it had fun cleaning out our Youth Ministry filing cabinet yesterday. It was interesting to read my own senior profile I filled out 8 years ago when I was a senior in High School (I feel old sometimes). It was encouraging to see that my goals back then of being a pastor are still being worked towards. God has been so faithful over the years and I'm looking forward to where He leads our little family next.

Speaking of next, I'll post some more next time. Later...

False Alarm, and notes on the picture from last week

The false alarms for labor have officially begun. Moriah is getting a little perturbed at everyone asking her how she's feeling every 5 minutes, but that comes with the territory when you are within 2 weeks of the due date. My dad is also freaking out a little because our Men's retreat is tonight and he keeps thinking that I will be unavailable because of the baby, which could still very well happen. I'm just ready for this kid to come out so we can get on with it. I feel like everything in my life is on hold until she arrives, so I'm excited for whenever she comes. The kids in youth group are guessing I'll get the call from Moriah while I'm singing during the first session of the retreat tonight. That would be kinda fun, but I hope that everything will wait 'til Saturday afternoon after my responsibilities for the weekend are officially over.

Here's a note about the picture from last time. I think that new title to Joel Osteen's book perfectly sums up what his ministry is all about. If you've ever heard him speak, you'll find it is hard to see a difference between him and a regular motivational speaker. Perhaps he'll throw half of a scripture verse, out of context of course, in there to make it sound like a real sermon, but that's like throwing a bit of sugar into a pile of dirt and calling it a dessert. The real danger of his ministry is how it treats all the symptoms, like depression, loneliness, and lack of success, without treating the problem of sin. Perhaps if he taught from the whole council of God, he would notice that when the problem of sin is taken care of, those other so called issues pale in comparison to knowing Christ fully and understanding His forgiveness and grace. So, if you are interested in becoming your own savior, I recommend Joel Osteen. If you are interested in Christ being your Savior, I recommend the Bible.

Finally Back

Well, I think it's time I begin writing on this thing again. I know many of you have long since given up on checking for updates, but it's good for me to write all the same. So, here is what's happening with me these days.

Church has been great. Paul is speaking through the minor prophets, we just began small groups every other week, and I'm teaching through Acts with the youth in Sunday school. Everything seems to be running smoothly and I can't wait for spring to finally get here. I have been enjoying my discipleship group's study through Romans. We'll be continuing that tomorrow. It is always nice to get back into that theologically rich book and see what God has in store for our minds each week. We just got back from camp a week ago and I have to say it is my favorite Winter Camp I've ever been to. The combination of sweet worship, impactful teaching, and great spiritual fellowship amongst the students made it a very special weekend. I'm hoping we can get the same speaker back for next year.

Family time hasn't been easy to set aside, but Moriah and I are managing. We guard our Monday nights pretty closely. Charis is growing up so fast. She's now saying things like go, wow, hi, bye-bye, and map (from Dora the Explorer). Thankfully, she hasn't discovered "no" yet, but we know that is coming. She will be joined by a new baby sister in just a few weeks. Selah Joy Huff is due March 20, but could come at any time. We are so excited.

Personally I feel energized for the upcoming year. A lot is happening in 2008. A new baby is coming, my position at FVBC is being evaluated and determined for the future, we're getting a new pastor, and the Cubs are going to win the World Series. I've set a goal to be proficient at the guitar and drum set by the end of this year, and so far, things are going well. Ethan H. is a great drum teacher and I'm picking it up pretty quickly.

Well, that's it for now. More to come soon hopefully.

P.S. I just love that new book by Joel Osteen. I'll talk a bit more about that next time.

Movin' Right Along

Life has settled down a little bit. I feel like it is the calm before the storm of fall and winter events and the Christmas season ever approaches. There are so many things to right about, so I will just focus on two of them, my family, and my family.

My family has been awesome lately. It seems like every time Charis opens her little mouth, cute and adorable things come out (except when she threw up for like 10 minutes all over me multiple times the other night... sometime later for that story perhaps). Now that she is walking, it is strange to see such a little person toddling around the house, exploring the wonders of things like hinges, drawers, and of course, the exciting computer keyboard. Each little thing that we as adults just take for granted it a new wonder for this little one. And, just when I think Charis is done exploring the world, I have Selah to look forward to in just a few months. My family is great.

My extended family is also wonderful. I haven't seen either of my brothers for several months. One has been away in PA at college, the other in Uganda for 6 months. The will both be coming home on Nov. 20 for Thanksgiving. I am so excited to see these two men again and to download what God has been doing in each of our very different lives. There is nothing quite like a close brother to share feelings and ideas with. Needless to day, I am very much looking forward to it.

With that said, we recently had some pictures done for our family, so I will leave you with those. Ya know, sometimes it's just great being a Huff.

My Two Special Girls



The Huffs



We had no idea we were swinging her that high



Too cute for words



Touchdown Bears!! (I hope)

Happy Reformation Day

Happy Reformation Day everyone!! I can't believe it has been 490 years already. The Doctrines of Grace and the Solas have certainly come a long way since then. I feel so endebted to the men of the reformation for what I even know and am passionate about today.

For most of you out there, today is Halloween. But for believers, today holds a special historical meaning. Here's a little history of the day in case you are in the dark.

November 1st is "All Saints Day" on the Roman Catholic calendar. It was (and is still) one of the most sacred Holy-Days (Holidays) of the church. They believed that the day before All Saints Day, All-Hallows Eve (Halloween), was a day of incredible mischief by demons who would try and attack those who were about to celebrate All Saints Day. The people would therefore wear costumes to avoid being recognized by these evil spirits. This would ensure their safety as they prepared to go to church the next day.

On All-Hallows Eve, October 31st, 1517, a professor from the college in Wittenburg by the name of Martin Luther, nailed 95 thesis ( http://www.spurgeon.org/~phil/history/95theses.htm ), or thoughts, to the front door of the church. This location would assure that everyone in town would see them as most people would be at church early the next morning. These thesis spoke to many issues the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) had erred on. Things like indulgences, Papal authority, and works based salvation. These 95 thesis started a whirlwind of controversy and were eventually called heresy by the RCC.

Despite this condemnation, the word spread like crazy and the Protestant Reformation was born. Inspired by his stand against the established church, men like Calvin, Knox, and Huss preached the essential doctrines of the Solas (Scripture Alone, Christ Alone, Grace Alone, Faith Alone, and the Glory of God Alone) and called for reform in the church. We have them to thank for the Biblically centered faith the Protestant faith enjoys today. The reformed tradition still holds the Solas as the central truths of scripture.

That is why I celebrate Reformation Day every October 31st. Thank God for men who stand on God's Word as their sole authority and point the rest of us to Christ, by grace, through faith, to the glory of God alone.

Selah Eden Huff

Well, the results are in and another girl is on the way for the Huff's. I am so excited to have another little angel in the house. There is something about having girls that makes a father feel very protective and needed as that protector. The doctor said she looks really good and everything is perfectly on schedule for the mid-March delivery.

However, there are a few things I'm not looking forward to:
-Two teenage girls in the house at the same time
-Two weddings to pay for
-No one to carry on the Huff family name
-All the women of the house being on the same cycle
-Watching 300 alone for the rest of my life
-Romantic Comedies and chick flicks

But, overall, I would say I'm really pumped about having another girl. Maybe she'll be an excellent female drummer in a worship band or be a missionary to Brazil or marry a great husband. Wherever God leads little Selah and Charis, I know He will be faithful. Our prayers are with our two beautiful daughters. Later...

LA and first steps

Our Vacation has been great so far. Charis has been a super kid and a real trooper. She hasn't adjusted at all to the new time zone, so we have been waking up at 6:15 each day, which isn't too bad because we haven't totally adjusted either. San Diego was great and we actually saw tons of wild animals at the Wild Animal Park in San Diego. There will be more to come about that later. Today we are in LA, visiting friends from of old. Charis is liking it here, and there must be something in the air or the water, because she has had tons of energy without very much sleep. She even started walking on her own today. She is walking all over the place now and sometimes just standing and looking around. I hope you enjoy the videos of the first steps below.

Today we also stopped at Grace Community Church, and Charis enjoyed preaching from behind John MacArthur's pulpit. I hope he doesn't find out that she's Amill (inside joke). LA was just like we remembered it, dirty and huge, but the traffic wasn't too bad.

Tomorrow we are off to Santa Cruz and the beach. We're having a great time, but miss you all at home. The cities are nice here, but nothing compares to Chicago and the beautiful lakefront skyline. More to come later...

Recovering and Ready to Go

Wow, what a week. I am thankful to say that I survived the lock-in at our church over the weekend. It was brutal staying up all night, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The events kept my attention, and between Sardines, water-balloon fights, midnight worship, and the classic Robin Hood cartoon, the evening passed pretty quickly. I think I was most pleased with the time of worship we had at around 2 am. We gathered in the sanctuary and the students requested songs from the past two years of youth group meetings. We sang together for almost an hour and there were still hands up to request more songs. We ended up adding another time for singing at 6 am that morning, and it was a sweet time to just sing and rejoice in the Lord, even in the midst of our fatigue.

Overall, I am very pleased with where our youth group is spiritually. They requested songs like In Christ Alone, and Dear Refuge of my Weary Soul and really sang them. Those are not easy songs to understand, even for adults, yet our students cherish the lyrics and the tunes. The students have also initiated a weekly discussion group where they talk about the recent sermon from Sunday or what they've been studying personally from scripture. One of our leaders hosts this, but the students are the ones initiating and executing this every week. There is also a growing number of students in discipleship groups. I am so thankful that God is working in the hearts of these students. It isn't just emotional hype and good times when we gather, it is actual mental and spiritual growth godliness. Praise God for His faithfulness.

Well, I leave for my final vacation of the year on Friday. We'll be heading our to the West coast to see my parent's families. That means San Diego, LA, and San Francisco all in one week. I'm looking forward to it, not only because I haven't been out to CA in a long time, but because this is my first time out there with Moriah and Charis. Neither of them have been out to the Pacific. I'm sure Charis will be drowned in love from both sides of the family. I'll make sure to post some pics from the trip. Until then, adios...

The Trivial and Not So Trivial

Well, August is almost finished, and I think it is about time I weighed in on a few issues that have come up over the past few weeks. I will first be discussing the trivial (Cubs), and moving to the not so trivial (Pastor Paul's preaching), and finishing with a few thoughts on the weather.

First of all, I had a chance to see the Cubs play last night with my dad. It was his birthday present to me and I have to say, I had a blast. Granted it was very hot (about 95 with no wind) and there was a rather large Boston Red Sox fan scrunched against me, and the Cubbies were losing going into the 7th inning, but it turned out great. They managed to rally back and took the game 5 to 3. They held onto their 2 game lead for first with two more to go against the Brewers. It was great to think of the heritage of that old ball park. Over a hundred years worth of fans have passed through those seats. Dad told be about his grandpa, how he would come to as many games as possible from the 30s to the 60s, smoking his cigar and cheering on his team. I hope our little girl can have those kind of good memories from her grandparents. All in all, it was a great time with some long lasting memories. Now, onto the not so trivial.

Over the past year, and especially over the past few months since Paul started his sermons on Galatians, I have heard a lot of talk about his sermons. Some of these comments are good, but many are critical, saying things like, "I feel beat up" or "Why does he emphasize sin so much?". I believe these comments come from a consumer saturated congregation. Let me explain what I mean.

Our culture has programmed us to have certain expectations going into every situation. We go into a comedic movie expecting to feel happy at the end. We read a certain type of book or listen to music expecting a certain emotional reaction. When we listen to radio like K-love :"Positive and Encouraging" or listen to messages on Moody, we generally feel encouraged and somewhat good about ourselves. There is nothing wrong with this as a lot of scripture is encouraging. However, the danger comes when we come to expect all of preaching to make us feel like K-love or Joel Osteen. When we hear a message and don't feel "Positive and Encouraged", we think that the preacher is being too negative and needs to lighten up. Perhaps it is the Holy Spirit convicting us of our sin through the preacher, and we just don't want to deal with it.

That, I think, is why people are reacting negatively to Paul's preaching. He preaches the Word. If you have read the beginning of Galatians, it isn't a bed of roses. There are many challenges to genuine faith and not mixing it with our own sinful ideas about justification. When that conviction comes to our own hearts, we are not used to it. We approach church hoping to feel better when we leave than when we came. If that doesn't happen, perhaps we need to adjust our mindset. My father very wisely said, "When you come to church, don't come looking to analyze the preaching and the preacher. Come with a heart that says, 'What does God have for me to learn about Him and myself today?' Then you will be free to worship God for the whole service." If more of our congregates had that mindset, I think a fresh wave of humility and fruitfulness would characterize us and God would be pleased with our hearts. So, I say, keep up the preaching Paul. I would rather be warned of my sinful heart than coddled by a preacher that echoes the sympathies of the world.

Lastly, I have been amazed by God's strength poured out in the weather of the past week. Huge trees have been uprooted, rivers have swelled, and houses have been flooded. It is so amazing that God has guided every little droplet of water to its final destination, just as He guides each of our decisions, even the small and tiny ones (Prov. 21:1). What a great and sovereign God we serve.

Number two is on the way

Well, practice makes perfect, as they say, and number two is finally on the way. Yes, that is a positive pregnancy test (with the cap on of course) in Charis's little mouth. We are very excited. We've known for several weeks now, but God in his providence ordained this time to reveal it to the watching world. You'll have to read Moriah's blog (ahufflife.blogspot.com) for more info on that. We're calling this little one "Colby" for now. It's derived from a combination of Caleb and Sophia (our original names for the next child) which makes the word Caso or Queso of you are spanish. Queso is spanish for cheese, and we thought colby cheese tasted pretty good. But since then we've changed the names to either Micaiah or Selah, which make either Mise or Semi, neither of which sounded cooler than Colby, so Colby is it for now, until we know the gender 15 weeks from now.

God has been so good in changing our hearts to come to love this little one. We're already praying that God will redeem Colby's little sinful heart and that He will continue to bless our family. Colby should be arriving sometime in March of 2008, about 18 months after Charis. More info to come later. Adios muchachos

So good

Well, we did finally see the movie, and I have to say it was worth the wait. I was very pleased with how it was filmed, the acting, the music, it all was very good. There is now a Harry Potter movie I can say I enjoy watching, unlike the previous four. More to come later...

The Idol of Harry Potter

My plans for last night were great. I was going to hang out at the in-laws for a bit before heading off to see the Harry Potter film at the midnight showing. We arrived there 1:30 early and were already way back in the line. However, as God would have it, we were the first ones into our particular theater. After we got in we began the arduous process of waiting that last hour in our seats. It went by reasonably fast, with good conversation and a deck of cards to pass the time. However, when it was after midnight with no movie, we began to get a little antsy.

But, as expected, the movie started... then it stopped. A minute into the second movie trailer, the picture died and the lights came up. We proceeded to sit there, wondering what was going on, for the next 40 minutes. At about 12:45 am, the manager came in and told us that there was a problem (duh), and it should be resolved in the next 15 minutes. By then we were considering leaving, but we figured that 15 minutes wasn't that bad considering we had been there for almost 3 hrs already.

Well, the 15 minutes came and went. At around 1:10am, they said they were going to give it another try. The preview came back on with the picture split neatly in two horizontally. 10 seconds into that, the manager stopped the film and told us that the show would be cancelled. She said that they would sign our stubs so we could come back and see it some other time.

As all of this sunk in, I was amazed at the responses of people around me, even believers. Most of the people in the theater were visibly upset, yelling at the manager, complaining loudly to other movie-goers. I have to admit, I was frustrated, but it was only a movie. Granted, I was anticipating this movie more than others I had wanted to see, but was it worth getting so upset over?

C.J. Mahaney in his message from New Attitude told us that we can tell if something is an idol based on how we react if we don't receive it or if it is taken away. Let me tell you, many idolaters, including myself, were revealed because of our reaction when this movie was taken away from. It is amazing what God chooses to use to reveal areas of sin to us. Harry Potter mania is a great distraction from so many other good things. It has its place and I am still looking forward to seeing the movie (hopefully) tonight and reading book 7 later this month, but I can't place so much emphasis on it that it causes me to worry or get angry.

I hope the rest of you out there who stayed up late enjoyed the show, just remember that an idol can be a great thing God has given us to enjoy, but is wanted too much. Don't be satisfied with movies and books. They only last so long.