Saturday Evening Update

It’s not from a lack of time that I haven’t written to the blog, but an odd sense of distraction that has kept me from visiting the page. There’s been an enormous amount of “stuff” preoccupying my time the last few weeks, and I have not felt up to the task of creating anything significant or presenting an update of the variety of things going on in the life of the Bryant family. So, with a number of folks asking about it, and wondering what’s been going on, I thought I would offer a brief update, youngest to oldest.

Caden is just 33-days away from turning five. He is settling in to the routine of doing a little bit of homeschool each day pretty well. He is still pretty quiet, overall, somewhat stubborn like most 4-year olds, and has this really neat habit of just coming up to Stacie and me and giving us a big hug. He loves going outside and is anxious to do some tent camping.

Ethan has been playing flag football. This is his first year playing, so he is still trying to learn the game, and looks lost at times. But he had been asking to play with the pads because he wants to “hit” the other guys. I am glad I decided to give him a glimpse of the flag game, as it lets him see how to work as a team, and how several guys can affect the play. Maybe next year I’ll let him suit up. I think he would be one of the bigger kids in his age group.  Most importantly, he is having a great time being out there!

Gabe is 11-years and 5-months old and stands just over 5’10” tall. He is pretty huge. His coordination hasn’t caught up with him, but that will come with time. He still loves books and reads them more than he watches TV or plays on the computer/Wii combined. There’s been talk of bumping him up a grade level, but right now I am happy he is where he is. One of the benefits of homeschool is that we determine where he is placed based on his skill level. He’ll do fine either way.

Stacie has been busy. When the phrase “a woman’s work is never done” came around it was made with women like her in mind. She is still a master of the coupon, and boggles my brain at times with the deals she comes up with. Paying ten bucks for fifty dollars’ worth of groceries is no longer impressive to her. She wants the real bargain. Homeschool has been going well this year, and the boys are working hard. I think she is ready for another quick trip to the beach, though.

I have been busier than ever at work. I had a recent regional audit, somehow escaped a bigger corporate audit (that I really wanted to do), and completed the entire year-end processes of inventory, annual budgeting for next year, capital reconciliation of all fixed assets, vacation liability reports, etc. etc. I also had a big meeting in Charlotte with a number of execs from the company. The bulk of this happened while my mother was undergoing complicated surgery and we were facing a 10-day vacation where everything was paid for, but little would be refunded if we cancelled. Talk about a wee bit of stress.

Somehow God worked it all out and things for the most part have gone well. My mother is recovering, despite having to go through a second surgery to fix a few things, and has a good number of family and friends helping her up in Winston-Salem. The vacation was a good time away despite about half of it being rained out. The meeting in Charlotte went better than expected and the boss (and his boss) seem to be pretty happy with me. And all of the year end business was turned in on time, despite my having to turn it in a good 10-days earlier than my peers due to my choice of vacation time. (Lesson learned.)

So the fall (mid-September through Thanksgiving weekend) is the busiest time of the year for us. This fall is no different. Almost every night has something planned. Monday and Tuesday the boys have Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts, respectively. Thursday nights Ethan has football practice. Wednesdays are always a late work day for me, with my typically getting home after 7:00 PM. Saturdays always have either a scouting activity or campout and football games for Ethan. Sunday is the Lord’s Day, and we commit all of it to church and fellowship or rest.

The new Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC) church plant we have joined in Cary, NC, is Shiloh Presbyterian Church. http://www.shilohopc.org/ is the web address. It started in early June and has been a fantastic church home for us thus far. Though we are still searching for a pastor we have been blessed with the likes of Joey Pipa, Jr., Lacy Andrews, Bill Shishko, Phil Proctor, Dr. John Carrick, Dr. Sid Dyer, and Matthew Judd preaching for us. When we reviewed the mission and values of this work we knew it would be a great work to join. So, we transferred our membership from Providence OPC in Greensboro to Shiloh and now enjoy a 30-minute drive as opposed to a 70-minute drive to church. We miss our brothers and sisters at Providence, but are quite anxious to continue growing with our new work.

Shiloh Presbyterian has a good 17-18 families making up a portion of the maybe 80-90 members and regular attendees to start. Almost all of the families homeschool and perhaps half of the group are children under 18. We have quickly come to love the people in this work. Their fervency for their faith is inspiring and contagious.

The mission work is reformed theologically, and covenantal in its approach to Christian living, which is what I am eager for in my own family’s Christian walk. Most importantly there is a strong desire for Christocentric preaching that is applicable to gospel-centered living in the life of the believer. We are very eager to see who God provides to shepherd our congregation, and to see God raise up men to be our elders and deacons.

Recently reading:

The Puritan Library - http://www.puritanlibrary.com/ - A nice collection of works from the Puritans. I have been going there often the last few weeks.

Knowing God by J.I. Packer – This is the same book I read in 1991, but it is a completely different read. Amazing. If you have never read it, I strongly urge you to pick it up.

Essential Truths of the Christian Faith by RC Sproul – I have been reading this at bedtime with Stacie. It’s a great intro to many facets of the faith for her.

Training Hearts, Teaching Minds by Starr Meade – We have been using this summary of the Westminster Shorter Catechism off and on in our family worship throughout the week.

Recent Web Sites:

http://www.chapellibrary.org/ – Free (limited) tracts, booklets, and books from a Puritan and reformed perspective. Donations appreciated. A very nice collection of works.

http://www.esvonline.org/ – The English Standard Version of the Holy Bible online. Create an account, take and keep notes, highlight text, listen to audio of the text, utilize daily reading plans. A great tool.

http://www.reformationart.com/ – Prints and posters of key figures and events related to the reformation through the ages. I think I am going to buy a few to decorate a few empty walls in our home!

http://www.wtsbooks.com/ – The bookstore of Westminster Theological Seminary. You can typically count on them for having the lowest prices on most reformed titles, Bibles, and more.