As Little as I Am

On December 5th I found out that we're pregnant! Here's the story of how I found out . . .

I called Nicole at about 9:30 that morning to try and work out a solution to my situation of locking my keys in my car in a rough neighborhood at the opposite end of town from her workplace. I did not want to pay $100 for a locksmith. I was having a bad day as it was. Fortunately, Nicole didn't answer her phone when I called. She had just taken a pregnancy test that looked positive and even if it was right, she didn't want to tell me over the phone.

Nicole proceeded to take other pregnancy tests and even do a blood test to confirm her wonderful findings. My day got a lot better when one of my Mexican coworkers, Lomberto, helped me retrieve my car keys. After work I came home, worked out, took a shower, and when I came out . . . Well, I need to back up a little bit. While I was working out, Nicole called me to tell me she would be a little late coming home from work because she needed to pick something up at the store for someone and then grab some Costa Vida burritos to go. So, when I came out of the shower, Nic was standing in the kitchen with the food and said, "Would you mind setting the table?" I said, "Sure," and set to it.

On the table I saw a curious display. I thought, "Neat onesie." It said, 'Don't wake me, I'll wake you.' "Really clever. Who's just had a baby?" I thought. I strained my mind thinking, "Surely I must know a friend who was due about now."

Then my eyes moved down from the clever onesie to an envelope, obviously a card--'For the Dad to be' it said. Almost troubled, I thought, "Why would Nic give a card to a Dad?" Then, my heart began racing especially as I saw the two pregnancy tests. I turned toward Nicole (who was watching me intently) and said, "WHO'S HAVING A BABY?" Nic said, "WHO DO YOU THINK?" Oh! I was so excited, and still am.


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A preview of the next few months:
So we are anticipating the arrival of a little Whaley due August 10th. If it comes two days earlier, the birthdate will read the same up, down, forward, or backward. Obviously we have more to think about than the birthdate, though.

We are seeking a church sponsorship (and feel extremely close to finding it) and we're also partner raising for our mission in Wollongong, Australia . . . during a year that promises to be a lite recession for the U.S. Prices may go down slightly, but inflation is surpassing the value of our dollar thanks to the federal reserve printing money for the politicians who want to see our U.S. military strung out across the globe. They don't have the money so they essentially steal it from us by printing more money and going into debt by borrowing money from social security and the Chinese government. . . . I digress . . .

Anyway, I'm not depressed about raising money. We're actually quite encouraged. We even received an unmarked envelope of $100 yesterday from an anonymous donor even though we haven't officially begun accepting checks and such. What a liberal God who gives even before we ask!

This month we are having a retreat over MLK, jr. weekend with our mission teammates and that is sure to be wonderful and edifying. This Saturday night we're having a focus group dinner at the Kohlbacher's (we babysit their boy, Joshua) to present our vision to a small network of future partners of ours in the Gospel. Tomorrow night, our Irish-American friend/neighbor, Pat, is coming over for dinner. She plans to immigrate to Sydney, Australia later this year, too!

In February, we're visiting two churches in Texas, giving presentations and doing Q & As about our vision, plans, and dreams. We're looking forward to both of these weekends. Later in the month, I'm going on a "Faith Walk" with men from various Christian groups for the purpose of drawing closer to God and meditating on personal discipleship. Nicole's coworker so graciously paid for me to do this. (I may post she and her husband's story someday.)

In March, Nic will do a "Faith Walk". We'll probably have another focus group dinner. And we are flying to Belize to join a medical mission team! They have a team of doctors, nurses, and anesthesiologists, but need someone like me to talk to people in the waiting room and in neighborhoods about the message of Christ. We are so excited. Gordon, the anesthesiologist, has helped us organize for this.