Brian and I had maternity pictures taken today by our friend Stephen Devries. Here is a 4x5 polaroid picture that he took of me and Naomi. We will post more pictures as we get them! 

Update on baby girl!

We had a fetal echocardiogram today to make sure everything was ok with the baby's heart. Everything looked great! She is about 1Ib 9oz. We are becoming more and more excited about her arrival. We are slowly getting the nursery underway! She is an active little girl. Brian is able to feel her move now! Brian reads to her most nights and she starts moving when she hears his voice. I think she may be a daddy's girl! We are so thankful for her and consider her a precious gift from our Heavenly Father. 

Brian and I are getting our bags ready for Paris. We will be leaving on the 31st of March. We hope to be able to keep you updated throughout our trip! 

Baby Fulton, part 3

Part 3 (eyes & talking) -  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VqvmppxRDM

Baby Fulton is a Girl!

Link to Ultra Sound and more to come: 

part 1: (profile, feet and toes) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stZ51ISY1wA

part 2 : (bicep, and gender)  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_iRVcqxXlcpart 3: 

If you haven’t heard the news already, Ashley and I are having a baby girl. She looks healthy and has all her limbs attached so that is good. The due date is July 7^th.

She was moving all over the place when we had the ultrasound (Ashley had a little coffee to wake the baby up before we went in).  

There are some people that have asked me if I’m disappointed, which is insane, and far from what I am feeling. People always ask us what we want, a boy or a girl, and our response has always been “a healthy child” is all we really want. That was true then, and it is true now. I have to say though with all honesty, if making a baby was like going through the drive through window, we had our mind set that we were getting a boy. However, God had different plans and we are both excited. In a few months, we will be the proud parents of a baby girl. I won’t love her less or be disappointed that we didn’t have a boy. But the thought of raising a girl the right way scares the crap out of me. Mostly because I know one day I will have to protect her from creeps. 

What books have changed you this summer?

My reading this summer has taken a different turn but an incredible turn. I have decided to read a biography once a month and anything else is through the summer is going to be from dead people. 

I am currently reading Spurgeon: A New Biography by Arnold Dallimore. It is an easy read, and a good summary and helpful insights for pastors. 

Something I read that I did not know about Spurgeon was when he was testing out the acoustics of the Crystal Palace in which he would preach the next day:

The day before the service, he went to the Palace to weigh up the task he was facing. The building had not been planned with any thought of meetings, and in order to test the acoustics he repeated several times the Scripture, "Behold the Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world." His words were heard by a man who was working somewhere in the building. That man came to him days later to say the message of the verse had reached his heart, and he had come to know the LORD Jesus Christ."

Salvation belongs to the Lord (Jonah 2:9). We do not save people. God saves people. No one can make another love God. Only God can make you love God. I found this incident both encouraging and challenging. Encouraging to know that God is working through me and you even when we do not think he is. I know this is true from times of teaching and preaching and thinking "That was a flop." and weeks later hear someone share how it brought the gospel into their life to bring change and holiness. Also, it is a challenge because I know God can do the unthinkable but I do not often believe that he can do the unthinkable.

So, how's your summer reading?  

An attempt to keep in touch: blogging and vacation.

This blog here is an attempt for Ashley and I to keep in touch with friends and family. I have always been hesitant to post my life on the internet for the world to see, but this seems to be the easiest way for you to know what is going on in our world. We hope to begin to add stuff sooner than later so bear with us.  

Speaking of attempts of keeping in touch, blogging is kind of like a quick vacation from day to day life, a time of reflection and meditation to keep in touch with reality. We recently had a family vacation in which I was able to do some reflectingThat reminds me, pics from our last family vacation! We were at Grayton Beach, FL, one of the greatest places in this beautiful world. 

We went deep sea fishing and the boat was named Elizabeth Ann, which is Ashley's middle name! We were pretty excited about that. Below is a pict of a set of Fulton foot prints from back in the late 80s when our grandad owned the Magnolia Treehouse beach house at Grayton. He built the house in the 50s (I think) and bought the lot for $600. I was really excited to see the footprints still there because it was one of my earliest childhood memories.