Future's so Bright...or Bono has met his match

What do you think? Is her future so bright she has to wear shades?











Or...does she have what it takes to replace Bono for cool factor?

Late Nite Eatings

This is Maggie - Chris' wife...my first post. Everyone knows about the normal pregnancy symptomps, right? Nausea in the first trimester, fatigue, uncomfortableness, etc. Nobody tells you though that somewhere around your ninth month of pregnancy you'll wake up at 2a.m. (yet again) to go to the bathroom and too hungry to be able to go back to sleep. This is clearly survival of the "fetus"! Who eats half a bagel and a yogurt in the middle of the night? My yet unborn son dictates my every move - how and when I sleep, what and obviously when I eat, how I walk (or maybe I should call it "wabbling" at this time), how long it takes me to get in and out of the car, etc.

Our 16 month old baby girl, Maya, is not oblivious to the situation - she senses stress, fatigue, and points at mommy's huge belly almost with a malicious smile. However, she's not yet willing to give up her right to be the "only child". Yesterday we went to TJ Maxx to get out of the house a bit and escape the ever pursuing enemy of depression. As we're walking down the eisle, I'm juggling wiping snot with whatever I can find in the bag, giving her animal crackers and juice on command only to still have the loudest child in the store. Luckily she's still at the age where everyone thinks she's adorable. I'm thinking, "just wait a couple of months when the cute charm is replaced with throw-myself-down-on-the-floor-pitching-a-fit-moment, and there will be nothing adorable to look at". You know those kids (and their parents). We've seen them everywhere: at the store, down the street, at church....and we've all thought the same thing: "My kids are NEVER going to do that", or "I'm going to be a better parent than that"! And then the inevitable happens - you realize that no matter how hard you try and how much you pray and how long you spend reading books on parenting, it's your child throwing a fit because you can't control them and you are the one wanting to sit down in a public bathroom and just hide for embarrassment!!!

Would we change where we are in life though? Not for a million dollars! I think we've both learned more since becomming parents than we had in years. Those realities that you know in your head all along (like you're not in control, dependence, surrender, the power of prayer, etc.) that are so hard to practice all of a sudden begin to tear down walls in your life and you find youreself stripped of much of the crud you've been holding on to - it's almost like a painful metamorphosis and your hope is that at the end of the process what comes out is actually worth looking at. So at 2:30 a.m. I have to believe that my life counts and my late nite eatings are feeding the next hero of the 21st century!

"Come they told me..."

Here's my little drummer girl! Isn't she a cuttie.

Just wait until we get a picture of her behind a real drum set next INTESECT!!! So far we can gather that she really likes:

1) Dave Matthews Band
2) Nicole Nordeman
3) AC/DC - "Back in Black" & "Thunderstruck"

She hasn't quite taken to U2 yet (she's breaking her daddy's heart), but she's young, she'll grow into that!

St. Louis or bust!

Well,

Just to give the few faithful on this blog a quick update on life for us:

- I was laid off from work on February 28, 2006 (Bummer!)
- I was accepted into the M.Div program at Covenant Theological Seminary a couple of days before (Blessing!!)
- Maggie is now a permanent resident of the U.S., which means I'll get to be w/ my wife and Maya will be w/ her momma for at least another 10 years, as long as the INS office has anything to say about it (Blessing!!!)
- We were able to get an on-campus apartment to live in starting in the Fall '06 (Blessing!!!!)

That pretty much sums up the past 3-4 weeks for us as a family. I have been enjoying being home during the day and actually getting to be a fully active and engaged husband & father. So far, we have been working out all sorts of little details which can be frustrating at times (like where to live, how to pay for stuff, how to sell our two cars & get into one that will fit the family, etc...).

But overall, its been a pretty good month. I'm learning that when you have children, you can literally spend your whole day at the breakfast/lunch/dinner table.

So thats life for us right now, in a very broad stroke of it! Thanks for all those who care, who pray and who encourage - we have really needed and treasured it this past month!

Later,

Chris G.

"Do not go gently..."

"We live, in fact, in a world starved for solitude, silence, and private: and therefore starved for meditation and true friendship." --C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory

I posted this on another blog, but felt it was pertinent to put up here too. Here's why:

We as a family have recently become very aware of both our sheer joy at moving into a new stage in life, such as going to seminary and stepping closer to what we've wanted to pursue for a very long time. We have also become acutely aware of some of the regrets we have harbored in our hearts. These mostly have to do with the idea of friendships - not merely the leaving of people we love and care about, but the sadness that we haven't loved, cared for or connected with others in a way that we both desire.

I personally feel somewhat starved for true friendship, especially considering the upcoming life stage and transition I find myself in (going back to school in St. Louis with a family of 4), but is it related to my lack of nourishment on solitude, silence, private and meditation? Does our ability to connect meaningfully with our selves have anyting to do with our ability to connect meaningfully with others?

Perhaps we wouldn't have these regrets of not making the most of our friendships, if we had focused more on what was going on within our own hearts - the desires we felt for true, rich connections with other friends - so that we could have acted and fought for this sooner. But, we will not go gently into that good night! The day is not over, and we will rage against the dying of the light of our time here in Augusta for a greater understanding of our own hearts, as well as for meaningful and lasting friendships.

Go West!

Well,

I know that in terms of keeping this thing current and updated, I'm a horrible "blog parent", but...

We're going to St. Louis! We heard back from the school I applied to (Covenant Theological Seminary) and I have been accepted into the MDiv program up there. Maggie will also be taking some classes as she is accepted in the MATS (Masters of Arts in Theological Studies) program. We're entering into the Fall semester of 2006, so we'll be in Augusta until early August, and then moving up to St. Louis!

For those who are interested, the seminary has some incredible resources. You can check them out at: www.covenantseminary.edu. I personally recomend anything by Dennis Haack!

CG

Hello

Well,

This is an attempt to keep all of you - our friends, family and other interested-and-happen-to-be-on-the-net folks - informed on what's happening in the life of the Gensheer's! We'll post stories, happenings of the family, updates on the children, some snipets of things we're reading/learning about, etc...

So enjoy!

Chris Gensheer