Birthday Wishes...(and a new fence!)

happy birthday piper! i was thinking the other day about the first birthday card i got you (really just a friendly gesture at that point) and how much has changed in the *years since then. each day i am thankful for you; for your strength, for your compassion, for your support of me and this ministry we have been called to, for the way you challenge me, for the way you love our children and the people around us. i am thankful for your patience with me as i continue to stumble through being a husband and a father-you are quite gracious!

*i am not really allowed to say how many years, but i will say piper's years > my years :)

i pray that this year you are more blessed than ever; that you discover even more clearly the purpose the Lord has in who he has created you to be.

happy birthday (and an early happy mother's day).

while it is by no means a professional job (nor do i think it warrants quitting my 'day job' to become a chain link fence installer), i'm pretty proud of what i did accomplish...not without help, mind you. gresham is always a great help (on any project). a note here: the benefit of having an underground fence for the dogs is that i only have to put a length of fence from each back corner of the house to the underground fence line...much better than having to fence-in the entire back yard. we're doing all of this in order to allow the front yard to recover from the dog-trampling it has taken over the past year or so; we're trying to regain a bit of 'curb appeal'