Archive for family
shelton3.com updated…
Hey guys…I’d love for you to check out our family-site with some new pics of my beautiful little girl, Julia! Man, she’s growing!
Visit www.shelton3.com
a recent success…
Almost two weeks ago I attended a coaches training for the Clifton StrengthsFinder® in Hickory, NC with several others pastors, church-planters and community leaders from around Greensboro. During one of the training sessions we were all asked to list a couple of “recent successes” we’d had in life, ministry, etc. First of all, I love this question because it obviously focuses our minds and hearts toward some positive areas in our lives that perhaps we commonly overlook. Success here doesn’t necessarily have to be related to a huge event that took place, nor anything which may have been ‘noticeable’ to others. It’s a great question and one that I wish I’d ask more.
Our habit here more often than not seems to be a tendency to move on from our successes a bit too quickly, not taking time to properly notice them and celebrate them. Is this because we feel like we’ve got so many other areas of failure in our lives that we need to quickly move on with the momentum of our success in order to fix them? Or, is it that we feel too prideful about celebrating any success in our lives or too afraid that our success will only be short lived until our next encounter with failure - so why bother, right? My friend Justin and I were talking just last week about how poorly we’ve been celebrating in our own church-community and how we just need to have a party - just because…
So back to the coaches training…I began to list a few things right off the top of my head that I felt to be recent successes in my own life, beginning with my family (my beautiful wife, Molly, and our success so far in raising our daughter, Julia)…being a part of a youth-event in Wilson, NC recently where we saw over 40 kids surrender their lives to Jesus Christ…our growth in the area of financial stewardship and the ability to live more debt-free…
As the time came for me to share with about 20 others in the room, something else came to mind, something that didn’t hit me until right there in that moment. Including the successes above, I realize that I no longer see what I’m doing as a church-planter and a pastor as a failure compared to what others are doing. In fact, over the past few months I’ve grown to appreciate more about what others are doing rather than feeling like I have to measure up or set myself up against anything that’s different from what God has called us to be and do at Awaken.
I can’t tell you in words how much of a success this is for me, how much growth has taken place in my life just to get to this point. I’m still trying to figure out how to properly celebrate this, but one thing I’m doing in the meantime is experiencing an enjoyment that I haven’t had in several years.
Recently, I’ve been reading through Galatians and how the writer, Paul, is distinguishing between a life of human-attempt and a life of living in God’s promise (see chapters 3-4). I’ve been reminded just how futile striving for success through my own efforts truly is and how what I do celebrate and find complete satisfaction in is nothing short of what only God has accomplished through me.
Where is that joyful and grateful spirit you felt…? _Galatians 4:15 NLT
1When the Lord brought back his exiles to Jerusalem, it was like a dream! 2 We were filled with laughter, and we sang for joy. And the other nations said, “What amazing things the Lord has done for them.” 3 Yes, the Lord has done amazing things for us! What joy! 4 Restore our fortunes, Lord, as streams renew the desert. 5 Those who plant in tears will harvest with shouts of joy. 6 They weep as they go to plant their seed, but they sing as they return with the harvest. _Psalms 126:1-6 NLT
life keeps moving…
Happy Birthday to my dad today (April 28th) who turns 73! We’ll be heading up to celebrate with him this evening, which we’re so excited about! I’ll be catching back up the middle of next week as I welcome in “the early-30’s!” Whew! Life keeps moving…
Speaking of which, it’s amazing to watch kids grow up, isn’t it? Too bad we can’t slow things down a bit more. A few weeks ago, Julia began sitting up on her own - which has led to several other new things, like reaching for toys and foods and getting into things we’re learning as her parents to keep out of reach. It like there’s something new every single day now!
Here’s one of her most recent pictures, which I can’t help but to show off as a proud father. Heck, just last wee I had two dads of young boys make dating-proposals to us - to which I responded, “Not until she’s at least 30.” (That may sound ridiculous and unrealistic, but as I learned recently from one of my friends, when I lower that requirement to 16 or 18, she’ll think I’m doing her a favor!)
Also, last week our friend, Vickie, noticed while watching Julia that her first tooth had come through. I have to admit as her parents we felt a little embarrassed that we hadn’t noticed it sooner. I guess another difficult thing for us about Vickie noticing it first is that she’s a ‘yankee;’ so of course we had to tease her and lead her on for a while that it was actually some abnormal growth on Julia’s gum rather than an actual tooth. (Way to go, Vickie…that totally explains all the fussiness we had to deal with last week!)
I hate shots…
I remember when I was growing up and those infamous visits to the pediatrician’s office. I remember my doctor’s name - Dr. Amos, whose office was located near Moses Cone Hospital in Greensboro - and I remember that the only cool thing about going to his office were the “Highlights” magazines and all the germ-infested toys you’d get to play with before you get called back. Other than that, I don’t have fond memories of those experiences…probably because most the time I could barely breathe due to my asthma and there were always those inevitable shots. Remember?
Yesterday, Molly and I took Julia to her pediatrician, Dr. Van Winkle, for her 6-month check-up - who, along with the cool name is also a really great guy; oh yeah, and his first name is ‘Chris,’ and his wife’s name is ‘Molly,’ further affirming for us that he was the right choice as far as pediatricians were concerned. (Thanks Matt and Whitney for putting the bug in our ear about the other Chris & Molly in Greensboro!) Now, something I’ve actually grown to hate about these visits are the shots, which I do actually believe hurt me worse than they do Julia. She gets the first shot, and by the time she realizes how bad it hurts, we’re already on the third. Her face inevitably turns beet-red and I always start getting a little worried after she hasn’t breathed for a few seconds. It’s excruciating for us and for her. Goes to show that pediatrician’s offices don’t get much better.
I was reading through Hebrews 12 the other day and was reminded of something that yesterday’s experience once again brought into light. It’s a difficult thing for a parent to allow their children to go through any kind of suffering or pain - and most of the time, we’ll keep them from it at all costs. However, there are those times when it becomes absolutely necessary for the well-being of the child and it can become a detrimental thing for them in the long run to avoid it. Like shots. Now, I won’t go into a parenting “how-to” here, mostly due to my inexperience as a parent, but consider the discipline of a child. Whether you’re a proponent of spanking or time-out, it could probably be agreed upon easily that no discipline can ultimately be destructive. And if this is the case, we could probably agree that there is some pain and suffering that is absolutely necessary for out good.
Now, think of all the ways in life we tend to avoid pain and suffering, as if it’s something totally opposite to the Christian journey. In fact, Jesus totally makes clear that pain and suffering and discipline are all a part of the Way. But in the end, there’s the hope of our transformation, redemption, restoration…
No discipline (pain and suffering) is enjoyable while it is happening - it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way. _Hebrews 12:11
So as we were walking out of the office yesterday and I told Julia, “one day you’ll probably come to despise this place.” And she probably will. But I also know the peace I have in standing there as her dad and watching her go through this pain is because of it’s necessity for her. It’s for her good. What a great reminder that when I’m going through difficult times of my own (whether of my own choosing or not) that my Father is standing right there, not because He loves shots or with some kind of twisted desire for my pain and suffering, but with what will come out of it for me…
Thanks, BT, for our conversation about this a few months ago. Thanks to you, I’ve been able to open my eyes while Julia gets her shots now.
Speaking of dreaming…
(referring to thoughts from my recent post, resolutely…)
Last week, Molly, Julia and I visited Chicago for a few days with our friends, Ryan, Caroline and Amelia Shuping. In all, we had a blast. One of the highlights (besides spending the whole week with my girls) was finally getting a chance to see Michael Jordan - well, not the real MJ, but the infamous statue of him outside the United Center. Now, I have to say this wasn’t equivalent to the Hebrews worshiping a golden calf…although I’m not sure how to really explain how it wasn’t…but it was a great experience nonetheless seeing a tribute to who I believe is the greatest basketball player there ever was and ever will be (feel free to offer your opinion…I’ll stick to mine)!
Feel free to click on the picture to see more photos from out trip. And hooray Skybus and Travelzoo for making the trip affordable!
resolutely…
Recently, I taught what turned out being a 2-part series (and should have been a 3-part series) titled, When Jesus Comes to Town based on the account of the Triumphal Entry in Luke 19 and the events leading up to it. Over the past few weeks/months, I’ve been absolutely captured by this thought (which begins in Luke 9:51) concerning Jesus resolutely setting out for Jerusalem. It’s almost as if I can see Jesus’ face, taking Him to Jerusalem, to His death, to our redemption. That’s what Jesus was resolutely set out to do. As John Eldredge puts it, there is no more dangerous man than the one who has reckoned with his own death.
To get a picture of what this looks like, I believe it’s helpful to go back to Isaiah 50:7, and the prophecy of what God’s Messiah would come to do: Because the Sovereign Lord helps me…I have set my face like a stone (or ‘flint’ as most versions put it), determined to do His will -NLT. Something I find fascinating about this language here is the word flint, which translates to the root word in Hebrew, halam which also means to dream. In other words, we might find this passage saying I have set my face like a dream or toward a dream.
Which raises a great question here for all of us: What is God’s dream, His vision for our lives? Do we know what it is? Is that what my face is resolutely set toward?
If you were to try to picture Jesus setting his face resolutely toward Jerusalem, what if you could envision Jesus - face like flint - set out toward a dream of what you and I could truly become? What if this became personal? I believe this is exactly what Jesus came to do, liberating us from our limitations and freeing us to become the person that only God has dreamed of us becoming. We know all too well how people around us try to shape us into the vision and dreams they have for us, which can be so limited. We also know how the world around us can try to conform us into what it believes we should become. We know this because we, in some way, do it every single day…and we can feel when God’s dream is being taken away, whether we realize it for what it truly is or not.
One of the things I’ve been doing the last month or so to help me have my face resolutely set like Jesus has been to ask God to continue to clarify His dream and vision for my life. In fact, I’ve been asking Him to do that for a couple of years now. I’m not sure if you’ve ever asked God for this in your own life, but if you have, perhaps you’ve gained some real clarity on what that is. For others (like myself), maybe you’ve struggled to hear anything specifically at all.
It can be frustrating to get up in the morning (sometimes every morning) and not know what your face is resolutely set out toward in life. I desperately want my face and the faces of those around me to resolutely be set out toward God’s dream and vision for our lives. But I believe the better question is not simply asking what God’s vision is for my life. Rather, I believe the better question we have to wake up to every day is this: God, what is your vision, your dream for the people and the world around me, and how can I give my life to that? How can I set my face resolutely to that kind of dream?
Perhaps there’s some kind of explanation here as to why we have so much trouble figuring out what God’s dream is for us. Maybe we’re asking the right question the wrong way.
Since Julia was born over 6-months ago, I’ve been asking God to show me His vision for her life. My hope is that as her parents, Molly and I will resolutely love her into God’s future, His dream for her. What if we loved people like that? Could that be God’s primary dream for your life and mine, that we help move people around us toward His dream for their lives?
What is your face resolutely set toward? What is God dreaming?
Milestones
Last night was a first! Julia had her first taste of solids (semi-) yesterday evening in the kitchen…and it was hilarious! At first, while Molly held a baby-sized spoon up to Julia’s lips, she had that look on her face like, “what is this?” But after just a few minutes, she had it down! In fact, she probably could’ve eaten the whole bowl!
Today was another…Julia sitting up in her ‘boppy’ all by herself.
Wow…I can’t believe my little girl is growing up so quickly - already eating solids. Just a reminder that life is linear. It’s always moving. It never stands still. It’s about living moment by moment, and savoring those moments as they come. Living fully present.
Thank goodness for pictures! To see more pictures, visit our family site at www.shelton3.com or www.shelton3.shutterfly.com.
the latest on ‘baby Shelton’
Things are progressing well as we approach the end of the first trimester. Baby Shelton is currently about the size of a large jumbo shrimp (not exactly a good description for a baby), and is “fearfully and wonderfully” being weaved together by God’s Hand. By this stage (according to our baby books) the baby has developed fingerprints, which is an amazing reminder how God uniquely shapes each one of us. Thanks for sharing in our joy!
the latest on ‘baby Shelton’
Last week’s prenatal visit went great. We had the opportunity to not only ‘hear’ the baby’s heartbeat, but to ‘see’ the baby’s heart beat. What an amazing experience watching God knit this child together! Thank you for your prayers as we approach week 12 and the beginning of the 2nd trimester.
Please pray for Molly’s strength over the coming days, as well as our preparation as parents over the coming months.
the latest on ‘baby Shelton’
the lastest
Chris Shelton resides in Greensboro with his wife, Molly, their daughter, Julia, and Baby #2 due in March...
