Our Alaskan vacation is nearing the end, but we are still staying in the “I Can See Russia From My House” state for a few more days.  So that means that today those of you at Kingsfield will be jamming with Colton again!  Today for me, though, offers a couple firsts.

In the morning we are hitting up the Big Wild Life Runs (giggle) 5K in downtown Anchorage.  I have never done a run (although we are gonna walk) like this before and I have never had the desire to do so.  But, for some reason my wife has a run like this on her Bucket List so we are gonna get it knocked out with a bunch of family!  Then after we have settled our Lance Armstrong (minus the bike) adrenalin down we will be heading out to Alyeska for our first night away from our 4 1/2 month old daughter.  It will be weird not having her around for that long and we will definitely miss her a lot, but it will be great to get some time away and to ourselves.  Doesn’t hurt that Alyeska is beautiful and we might get to touch a glacier.

So since I am gone again from the normal Sunday morning at church, here is a little bit of the expected soundtrack to my Alaskan Sunday.

All Manner Of Disney Songs (because that’s how my family rolls)
Spamalot (if my sister, Reagan, goes on the 5K with us)
Bon Jovi (pretty much a staple)
Foo Fighters (if we actually run some of the 5K)
John Mayer’s Album Battle Studies  (because that’s the only CD that’s been in my wife’s car for months now and I am not sure what a road trip would be without it now)

If there is one thing I love it is animated movies.  Disney is one of the best.  My parents raised me well and prepared me for a life with kids.  Robin Hood.  Aladdin.  101 Dalmatians.  Jungle Book.  The Little Mermaid.  Beauty And The Beast.  The Lion King. And that’s just a few of my absolute favorites!  But there is one thing that they all have in common (outside of Disney, animation, stolen stories, etc.).  They all have exceptional music (probably why I was so disappointed with The Princess And The Frog).  Song after song. Movie after movie.  They all have amazing soundtracks.

In my preparation to become a father of enough kids to watch these movies for the rest of my life, I already have some of the songs on my iPhone.  Yesterday a song from Beauty And The Beast called Be Our Guest came on during my evening commute.  (Imagine with me if you will a guy in a Jeep Wrangler with the top down and doors off driving through Orange County listening to Be Our Guest at full blast.  Ha!)  I have heard the song a million times but a few of the lines hit me this time.

Life is so unnerving for a servant who’s not serving
He’s not whole without a soul to wait upon
Ah, those good old days when we were useful
Suddenly those good old days are gone
Ten years we’ve been rusting
Needing so much more than dusting
Needing exercise, a chance to use our skill

Obviously if you have seen the movie they are servants in a castle who are going to waste and not using their talents.  What hit me, though, is that so many of us (Christ followers) are just like that.  We have amazing gifts and message that we have been given.  We start out strong, but something happened a long the way, we got distracted and stopped being a servant.  We start viewing Christianity and the Church as something that is for us (consumers) and forget that following Christ is a call to serve!

When we became Christ followers we were given gifts of the Spirit and called to live our lives in service to those around us.  Jesus gave us the example to follow throughout His life.  Some followers understand that and are living it out, but many of us have forgotten that.  What about you?  Are you really serving those around you?  Are you really loving them as Christ loved us?  Find a way to serve.  Greet at church.  Mow a lawn.  Change a tire.  Hang out at a nursing home.  Love your neighbor.  Follow the example of Christ to serve.

It is absolutely clear that God has called you to a free life. Just make sure that you don’t use this freedom as an excuse to do whatever you want to do and destroy your freedom. Rather, use your freedom to serve one another in love; that’s how freedom grows. For everything we know about God’s Word is summed up in a single sentence: Love others as you love yourself. That’s an act of true freedom.

Galatians 5:13-14

Now that we are all singing Disney songs and getting prepared for the Disney marathon life to come, I thought I would give you a short little update on our new life with a gorgeous little one.

We are now into day three of being parents and as expected it is quite taxing.  I had to leave my beautiful girls last night for about 8 hours to go play a show with the band, but immediately came back to find that KK is still a great mother and can take care of her baby (not that I doubted it at all).  KK is recovering very well and we will be heading home in the morning (yeah for our bed…even if it is for an hour at a time!).

Hang on.  My turn for the shower.  Can’t miss my window of opportunity.  Be right back.

Ok.  I’m clean and baby is on her way back.  The show last night went well.  After arriving and realizing I had baby poop on my hospital bracelet (very rockstar of me) we had lots of curveballs that were uninvited, but we lived and had some fun.  Kingsfield throws a good party.  Basketball is on again today so I am wondering if I can convince Jessi that basketball is awesome.  Unfortunately her eyesight is still like 20/7 million so the little bitty TVs they have in our room probably won’t do much for her.  She is doing great and progressing wonderfully.  She likes to eat and makes the cutest little faces.  We had to do 5 glucose tests all day the first day (which sucked because they have to prick her feet) and she passed them all with flying colors.

So we are here.  Day 3.  Finally getting a little bit of sleep.  But now my new boss is crying and awake so I gotta go.

(Hope all that wasn’t too rambly.)

Wait…apparently the hair drier is soothing.  Ha!  Sorry, Jack, you won’t like that.

Momma Said Knock You Out!

This past week has been filled with lots of different things.  Our lives have been pretty freakin’ busy and it seems like there is always something going on.  My guess is that it probably isn’t gonna slow down much in the next…well…20 years.  Guess that means I should get used to it.  In light of the business I thought I would take a look back at the past several days and revisit some of the things that I have learned this week.

• We’re having a baby girl!
• Dwight knows the Now You’ve Got The Chills back rub rhyme.
• When I only have one day off with my wife per week, working is not a smart idea.
• The Oklahoma Sooners defense looks really good, but the offense is really weak.
• Sam Bradford made a wise decision to go to the NFL while his stock is still hot.
• My wife is awesome!
• We’re having a baby girl!
• Technology is going to make it harder and harder to make millions as a rockstar.
• I love Pro Tools, but I hate it when it crashes in the middle of an experience.
• Just because someone is really nice to you and wants to check out your church doesn’t mean that they aren’t trying to sell you something that is absolutely NOT what they promised and missing many pieces of the hardware.  Thanks a ton.
• We need some furnature.
• Jack Bauer James is really cute awesome when he wants to snuggle.
• Modern Family is one of the funniest shows on TV.
• The world of Photoshop is opened up by free brushes.
• The message of Jesus Christ is for people who don’t know it and not just for church people.
• Disney gives unrealistic expectations about hair.
• Girls have a 6th sense although I’m not sure I want to tell them I believe it. Nevermind.
• I like blogging everyday.
• I love my wife/I’m glad I never have to be pregnant.
• WE’RE HAVING A BABY GIRL!

What have you learned this week?