What am i supposed to do with a girl?

I sit in the chair with the boys fast asleep upstairs and my heart and mind are racing.  Tomorrow our family moves from 4 to 5.  At this point it is not the number that is getting me, it is the whole girl thing.  If I’ve heard it one time I’ve heard it ten thousand times – a girl will change my life, she will be the apple of my eye, the catch phrases go on and on.  But my mind is still full of questions. Questions I know that won’t be answered for days if not years to come. I can still remember the days running up to both Champe and Eli’s birth, and the uncertainty and joy that filled my mind.  I remember bringing each one home and sitting on the couch, looking at Mel and saying.  “Can you believe we are parents.  Who in their right mind would let us raise kids?” (i actually ask myself that once a week)  I am not sure what tomorrow may bring but i do know it will be a blessing.  I love my wife and my boys, and I’m not sure how i can give out anymore love to a baby girl.  But as a good friend John told me, God provides the love.  He is the giver of love.  Now when do we get rid of all this pink stuff around here?

Take a deep breath and plunge in

By now the news has spread that my pastor, Jeff Warren, is leaving First Baptist McKinney and headed to Pastor Park Cities Baptist.  Although the thought of FBC without a creative a inspirational pastor like Jeff is hard to imagine, it is still possible.  As I thought about the future I was reminded of what my Dad told me right before I took on a big challenge, just take a deep breath and plunge in.  That is what we must do.  We can’t hold back and wait for someone else to tell us what to do or think, we must make the moves and decisions we were called to make.  I truly am humbled once again at the thought i was called to serve along side a great team, but am excited at the future ahead of us.  In the next few months we will begin the search for a pastor, and until then i will dive in a begin to mold a legacy for others to follow.

Boys will be boys, but no one told me how different they are.

Eli turns 2 this week.  It is hard to believe how much has happened to Melissa and I over the past two years.  I  have many people who told me that as your children grow you will see how Each one is unique.  The humor to Mel and I is that our two boys are so different.  Eli’s first word was “ball,” and once he learned that word we were in trouble.  It seems where ever we go he either wants to take some sort of sports ball or item, or he finds one the minute we get there.  When you are looking through a magazine or catalog he has the uncanny ability to spot a ball from a mile away.  Why is this funny?  Because Champe is more concerned with taking his animal figure’s and playing with till the cows come home.  He will play sports, but is is usually to get the snacks at the end of the game.  Each day we discover how different, and alike, the two boys are.

His Life is a Musical

I’ve never gone into great detail about my kids, but recently my life has become a lot like a sitcom.  With 2 boys and a girl on the way.  Yes, if you are not up to date with the Presley clan we are expecting a little girl around thanksgiving.  So I came home the other day to hear the lovely tunes of a 4 year old singing.  You see Champe’s life is a musical.  He lives his life as if he is a permanent fixture on a stage.  I would like to think he is training for Broadway or a simple community theater, but i don’t think he cares.  You see if singing is a super power he is the superman of 4 year old singers.  Every phrase, thought, or mumbled word throughout the day seem to make their way into a song.  He is a song machine, our own Jukebox.  With each tune, it seems no matter how normal or unique his songs are, I am proud that he is letting his creative shine for the world to see (or hear.) His life is a musical.

View from the top

In the end it really is all about our perspective on life and the things of God…

Last weekend Melissa and I went to Arkansas for the weekend where I help lead a retreat for college students. In the middle of the retreat my friend decided we would all go for a short hike. Immediately I was fooled. 1) it was not short and 2) it was not a hike – it was a torturous mountain climb. The trail started by following a stream, and it was quite the picturesque moment.  All of the group was hiking through autumn colored trees, Melissa was holding Eli, and Champe and I were walking hand in hand while I could swear the tune of Andy Griffith played in the background as we followed the trail around the base of the mountain. About 200 yards in Champe’s 3 year old legs got tired so like any good Dad I put him on my shoulders. Which was a great idea until the trail no longer went around the mountain, it turned straight up and went over the mountain. As I made the fateful turn to start on what would be 1 of a dozen or so steep switchbacks, I stopped and realized I was in for the fight of my life. With Champe on my shoulders I counted each step as a trekked up the mountain determined to not look like a wimp in front of the group, but more importantly my boys. With each step my hatred towards this mountain and this experience grew, but my determination not to let the mountain get me also grew. The entire time I am huffing and puffing my innocent 3 year old is on top of my shoulders singing away clueless to the struggle of man versus nature below him, but instead is driving me and perhaps the mountain crazy. Over the next 30 minutes this is what I hear nonstop from my dear sweet boy… “daddy why are the leaves yellow, daddy why is the sky blue, daddy why are you stopping, daddy we can do it, daddy why is your face red and all wet, daddy can i put this stick in your ear, daddy why is everyone beating us. daddy will you sing with me. daddy why are you crying. Daddy why is everyone way ahead of us. Daddy why is you shirt all wet. Daddy, daddy, daddy.” He squawked on and on in is his high pitched 3 year old voice that was just inches from my ear. Melissa (who yes carried Eli on her hip the whole way, although he was not singing and talking nonstop) at times stopped to make sure my heart was still beating. The battle waged on for what seemed like 10 miles but was probably a little less than 1, all the way to the top. Where I gladly took Champe off my shoulders and set him down. What happened next will forever be sketched in my mind. He grabbed my hand, squeezed it and then proclaimed to the group, “We climbed the mountain.” I did not correct him with but my mind was saying, ” I climbed the mountain, you were just along for the ride.” It was a victory that will forever go down in history father and Son we Conquered the mountain, and Champe had the best seat in the house.

I think somewhere in there there is a spiritual point or two about our perspective on life and what God does and we take the credit for. Thank you Champe for the innocent memory you created, and thank you God for conquering the mountains in my life.

One year later

It is amazing what changes happen to you and your family in a year. A year ago we said goodbye to my father – the whale. I spent most of today reflecting on how i was supposed to feel, and then it hit me that I need to feel the way I do today, not how someone in a hallmark card told me to.
Today I look back on the many adventures my dad and I shared. I look back on the laughs we shared as we worked together. I smile at the tears we shared as a family. I reflect on the advise and words of wisdom he shared with me. Today I celebrate a man that made me who I am. I stand today a man of God who seeks to be the dad my father was and the husband he taught me to be. I thought a year later i would be brought to tears today. Instead I am smiling ear to ear at the thousands of stories he gave me.
I lot happened to us this year. It was a year of firsts- both saying goodbye to my dad, and saying hello to my second son Eli. We had to say good bye to close friends at work and sold our house (that is a story for another day.) Perhaps it was a year like that for you. It would be easy to reflect on the bad, but today in honor of my dad take a moment to reflect on the smiles that life brought you. As a family we look forward to next year. And i am going to start it the way my dad would want me to. tomorrow i head out for a ten day mission trip to South Africa. This is a day we will not soon forget.

I miss you dad

I know it’s been a while, but to be honest I have been scared to write here. Tonight I write this post from my iPhone in the middle of nowhere Oklahoma. I am at our annual church youth camp We are in worship and God is really here. The power just went off to the entire camp, so we moved to an outdoor venue. All that setup for this … I miss my dad. In the midst of an incredible worship set the sun started to set and my first thought was my dad. You see be loved sunsets. I still remember the call I got from him as he sat at the top of enchanted rock watching the sun set. Or the times at the cape working on the house watching the sun set. Or the days in the fly fishing. Watching the sun set.

It sounds like sadness but my heart is overflowing with joy. I miss my father but I love my God. If my dad never passed I would not have grown the way I have this year. If he never died I would not realize the power of technology. His life and death have inspired me to love my wife and my boys. He has become my inspiration to truly live. His death has become the purpose behind me living a life if joy. I laugh because all this is coming out through tears and an iPhone. Praise God…

Oh and 8 people just came forword during the invitation to make Jesus lord of their life.

January in 270 words (or less)

This is January in 270 words (or less)

It was a wild start to the new year.  Life in the Presley house has truly been more like a drag race and less like a roller coaster.  Christmas was awesome, it is a Presley rule that any gift given to a sibling must be handmade. My family did not disappoint in the creative category this year.   This month Champe started potty training,  Eli started eating solid foods, and Melissa and I are exhausted(but having a ball).  Kari and Kijsa are iced in up in Kentucky, there is a chance that Kari may not get here electricity back on for up to 3 weeks.  Whitney started a new job (technically that was before Thanksgiving but it seems like yesterday.)  We also said another long goodbye to Stephen as he headed back to the land of the Scots.  My dad received administrator of the year and my mom will accept his award later this month.  But the big news is that we are going to sell our house and start renting from my mother.  This will give all of  us a “year of transition”  as we get the McKinney house ready for either us to purchase or to sell to another lovely family.  We have been packing boxes, discovering toys that were long lost and getting ready for the change ahead.  As I  look back on the start of the year I smile,  God continues to bless our family.  In good times and bad, He is always Lord of our lives.  Today take a moment to celebrate what he is doing in your life.

A full Tummy and a grateful Heart

Thanksgiving this year was great.  I went into it thinking it would be tough on the whole family, but when we got together the laughs started pouringout.  This year we were a family divided, by geography that is.  My family and my mother joined The woodand Houseman families in Paducah.  Whitney and Stephen Could not make the trip so they stayed with other friends and family in Austin and McKinney.  The food was great, the adventure of staying my Sister under construction house was a blast.  It may have been because there were 6 kids runningaround a 100 year old farm house all day long.  We had a bonfire on Kari’s land, we played Dr. Mario (the video game), and we went to Flamingo Row (only the best restaurant i have been to in Kentucky.)

But the highlight in my mind was when My sister Kijsa gave a short testimony at Her Church on Tuesday Night.  She was asked to say what she was thankful for. In a year that has really rock the foundation of all of the Presley’s, she was able to summarize the greatest both of our families resolve, but also the passion and soul of my Father.  This thanksgiving what am i thankful for – My family.  This year has been one of the most challenging yet, most rewarding of my life.  My loving wife gave me a son, and i lost a father.  Yet through it all i know through it all my family has helped to encourage and lift up not only my faith, but the faith of our entire clan.  So i would like to say a special thank you to Melissa, Champe, Eli, Kari, Denny, Denton, Zachary, Whitney, Westleigh, Kijsa, Brad, Talia, Keaton, Whitney, Stephen, Haley, Isla, and the matriarch My mom.

 

You can download Kijsa’s talk here  it is worth the read….

Made it home – but my bags did not

My trip around the world came to the end yesterday at 5:00pm.  It was a 21 hour flight with a 1hour layover in London.  I will tell you as a dad there is no better feeling than opening your front door to the sounds of little feet running at you.  Champe was there to greet me with a huge hug and an “i love you daddy.”  Thank you for the many prayers and kind words you shared with me on my trip.  It was a lot of fun and at the same time i was able to capture some video that will really bring a piece of what God is doing in India home.

I will be honest this was the first big trip i had gone on since my fathers death, and along the trip i could not help but stop and say wouldn’t it be great if my dad saw this.  One of those moments was a stop at one of the highest points in Chennai.  It is a known as St. Thomas mount, and is widely believed to be the place Thomas was martyred from. (Thomas was one of the 12 disciples)  As you stood out you truly took in the whole city and as I reached down to pick up i rock, i pictured my dad giving a lecture to a group of students on the geology of the region.  I miss you dad.

I will try to unpack more of the trip in the days to come but for now i could not be more happy to see Melissa, Eli, and champe.  Bear with me as i look through the hours of video and the hundreds of pictures from a trip that truly changed my life.