New Adventures... God leads the way.

November 26, 2013

Hello again friends! It has been 3 months since my last post which is hard to believe. Many of you wether you read my previous post or know me personally know I had a lot of anxiety about where life was taking us. Well lets just say a lot has changed since then and life is certainly taking us in new directions. Let me summarize by saying God has surprised us for many reasons but he has been so faithful and good to us!

Let me start off by saying our little Owen is not so little anymore. He is going to be 5 months old in December. He is also about to experience his first Thanksgiving and Christmas (not that he will remember them) but it will be fun for all of us. Owen has been such a good baby and he is so fun to interact with a lot of facial expressions, contagious giggles, and loud squeals. Peyton loves being around him as well and is such a great helper! I am excited to see how their relationship grows as they get older and can start to relate to each other. Nichole and I are blessed with great kids!

Now for the even bigger news! We are officially homeless... Thats right we sold our first home which was very bittersweet for us! It was hard to sell the place where we started our marriage and our family. We loved that house, but felt it was time to see if we could find one with a little more space. Well to be honest all we really wanted was another bedroom for Owen. The selling of our house was a long journey of which I had basically given up on. We listed our house last December and I knew it was going to be a tough sell with basically no wiggle room on price and it was only a two bedroom.

Well time passed and we went to September with many showings, but no real offers. We decided to pull the for sale sign and figure out how to make the house work for our needs. It was about a month later after trying to refinance the house and not being able to that I got a phone call. My cousin had someone who was looking for a house in Zeeland and would like to go through ours. I agreed with thoughts in my head of well one more person who will go through and not want it for yet another reason. We had been down this road many times so my hopes were not real high. However, God answered our prayers yet again and not only did she want the house but all the financials added up perfectly. No we didn't make a bunch of money on our house, but we were blessed with a new opportunity to find a new home.

Thankfully Nichole's parents let us move back to their house in the basement! Peyton of course was super excited to go live at Grandpa and Grandmas house. I can say I always knew family was important to me, but with all the changes recently for our family it really has hit me hard the last couple weeks. We are blessed with great family and friends who were willing to help us out when we needed them most! I am thankful for each and every one of you and can not express my thanks enough. God truly works in mysterious ways and although we didn't expect it we are excited to see where he leads us! We would really like to stay in the Zeeland area, but Nichole and I have both said we will go wherever God wants us to be and right now all we can do is take it step at a time. Please keep us in your prayers as there are still a lot of unknowns for us and a lot more changes to come. We love you all and are thankful for your support as we take on this new journey!

Where has the time gone?

August 11, 2013
Well it has been a month since my last post which also means Owen John Morren is a month old! Thats right time is flying by and our little man is growing like a weed! Who knew having two kids would be so much fun! Peyton has taking a liking to her little brother and has even started singing to him when he gets up in the morning or when he starts to cry! Nichole and I are feeling very blessed to have such a great little family. I have a little anxiety over summer coming to a close because that means fall is just around the corner. Why would this cause anxiety in me you may ask? Well thats because my life is about to get super busy and I am not sure I am ready for that yet. I have really enjoyed just being a Dad and Husband for my family. The calendar is about to fill up and with that means more running around and less time focused on the things that matter most! Now its not that these calendar items are not important or don't mean anything because they are important but it always leads to less time for the family. It also means that our time at our second home (Silver Lake) is almost up and I am certainly not ready to give that up either. Isaiah 40: 29-31 tells me however that I am not alone:


29 He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless 
30 Even youths will become weak and tired,     
     and young men will fall in exhaustion.
31 But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.     
     They will soar high on wings like eagles.       
     They will run and not grow weary.     
     They will walk and not faint.

That was todays verse of the day on the Bible app. My Daily Reading devotional for today was titled "Where is Your Hope?" and was about finding our peace in Christ while life hits us with its storms! Why is that ironic you might ask? Because I didn't read it until after I wrote the paragraph above. God knows us better then we know ourselves and tonight is yet another reminder of how amazing He is. That even as I wrote down all these thoughts that were in my head, He already had an answer for me. Trust in Him and He will take care of the rest. Wow what an amazing Savior we have! May God Bless you friends and may we never take a moment in this life for granted. We live in a broken world full of hardships may each of us strive to make it a little better for those around us.

Celebration and Reflections

The events of the past few days and a close friend has inspired me to write down some words and let the world into my life a little. 

Celebration:

July 11, 2013 - 12:00PM: Nichole enters the O.R. for a C-Section. I found myself alone in small room full of anticipation and thoughts racing through my mind. I paused for a second and realized this was my time to talk with God about what was about to happen in just a few minutes. I prayed for safety, love, steady hands, and guidance among other things as I was about to become a Dad for the second time. It wasn't long and I was reunited with Nichole in the O.R. We talked a little and she said something that struck me deep into my heart! Her words were " I can't imagine having to do this alone" and at that moment I was reminded of the powerful role a Husband has. The role of Love, Strength, and Reassurance that everything would be OK. A role that is God given! I also have reflected a little on how lonely and scary it must be for the women who need to brave these situations alone. My heart breaks for you and I pray that God would fill you with strength and positive thoughts. Nichole and I were mid sentence when that first cry rang out! Tears of joy filled our eyes and rolled down our cheeks. This was something we didn't hear with Peyton right away because she had her cord wrapped around her neck and wasn't breathing real well. Owen John Morren enters the world weighing in at 9lbs 11onces, 21" long, and with a head of hair! We got so excited to see our new baby! Then the nurse came and asked if I wanted to cut the cord. I found my self a bit shocked and almost didn't move because I didn't have that opportunity with Peyton! Of course I agreed and promptly followed! After a quick snip and a little time passed showing Owen to Nichole, the nurses and I brought him up stairs to get cleaned up and weighed. I got some special one-on-one time with him as Nichole needed to be in recovery for a while. My heart was full of joy and excitement as I looked at my newly born Son! God had indeed blessed us with a beautiful baby boy who was healthy and very alert! About 15-20 minutes passed and Nichole came into the room. This time around she looked a lot better and could finally hold Owen without shaking like crazy like she had with Peyton! After a few calls, texts, and even a Facebook announcement we waited for Peyton to arrive to finally see her new baby brother! She's been talking and anticipating this little guy for a while now! She arrived and was excited but also very nervous after seeing Mommy in the hospital bed... She held Owen with a happy nervous look on her face but quickly went to check on Mommy! I know she is going to make a great big sister and I look forward to watching them grow together!

More Reflections:

Bring on the family and friends! It wasn't long after the announcements that our family and friends came to see Owen! I got to watch as each Grandparent, Aunts, Uncles, and even cousins held our new Miracle given to us by God. Each with a large smile and or some tears on their faces! Today (July 12)  brought some more family, great grandparents, and friends! We are blessed to be surrounded by all these amazing people who got to share this moment with us! As today comes to a close and I continue to reflect on what lies ahead, I am overcome by some powerful emotions! I think of Peyton who is having fun with her Grandma's and Grandpa's playing at our second home at Silver Lake. What would we do without them to graciously watch over her as we spend the next few days in the Hospital with Owen? Yes, God has certainly given us amazing parents who have showed us what it means to put their Marriage and Family first! My thoughts also circle back to those who may not have such great family and friends by their side. How instead of all this joy and excitement they may have fear and doubt. My heart again begins to break a little bit at the thought of how cruel and hard this would can be without good people around us! It reminds me to thank God for all of you who walk with us throughout our journey we call life! For the nursing staff at the Hospital who help new parents like us gracefully show us how to care for our new child/children. For those who pray for us and shower us with encouragement. For Pastors who come just to see how we are doing and to offer a prayer... God reminds me that if we all can just take a few minutes out of our busy schedules to bless those around us with easy and simple acts of a smile, a hug, a word of encouragement, a small gift, a prayer, or just a few minutes of our time, it could have more meaning than we may ever know! So with that I say THANK YOU to everyone who does this so naturally and without having to even think about it. May Gods light shine through the darkness and bless those around us! 

Bible.com - Psalm 103, 1-13 (NLT):

1 Let all that I am praise the Lord;
with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name.
2 Let all that I am praise the Lord;
may I never forget the good things he does for me.
3 He forgives all my sins
and heals all my diseases.
4 He redeems me from death
and crowns me with love and tender mercies.
5 He fills my life with good things.
My youth is renewed like the eagle’s!
6 The Lord gives righteousness
and justice to all who are treated unfairly.
7 He revealed his character to Moses
and his deeds to the people of Israel.
8 The Lord is compassionate and merciful,
slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.
9 He will not constantly accuse us,
nor remain angry forever.
10 He does not punish us for all our sins;
he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve.
11 For his unfailing love toward those who fear him
is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth.
12 He has removed our sins as far from us
as the east is from the west.
13 The Lord is like a father to his children,
tender and compassionate to those who fear him.