Texas and Graduation 2013

Most of you have seen the photos on Facebook, but for those of you that haven’t here are some of the pictures and stories from our recent trip to Texas for Will’s graduation from Baylor University.

 

We left Jay, at 3:30 in the morning and drove to Mobile to pick up Nana.  After a long day’s drive we made it to Waco about 14 hours later. It usually takes 12, but with the kids we added two more hours to the trip.  Go figure!

 

The kids thought we were there when we made it to Texas. I hated to break it to them that we had another 5-6 hours of driving.  Luke must have asked a hundred times if we were to Texas yet; even once we were in Texas.

The first day we were there we went to the Cameron Park Zoo in Waco, Texas.  It was a sweet little zoo with lots of shade and animals.

The zoo had these pretty little statues all over the place. The kids wanted pictures with each of them.

Anna ran ahead of our group and up the ramp that is just behind this dragon. Will could see her but she was still running off. As soon as she came around the corner she saw this thing and stopped dead in her tracks. She thought it was real for a second and almost had a heart attack. I say it serves her right for running off.

This fish they were pointing at was the funkiest looking thing.

You can see the fish in the upper right corner of this picture.  It would open its mouth and you could see all the way through. I still don’t understand how the food stays in. It was very odd!

I think this big guy was thinking about how yummy those kids looked. He just paced back and forth over and over again.

This picture, even though it isn’t the clearest, is hilarious. Anna was sliding down the tube when an otter came swimming by; you can see him just under her feet. In mid-slide, she saw that otter and tried to stop herself. The panic on her face isn’t visible in the photo but we laughed so hard. I don’t know what she thought was going to happen.

The same day we went to the zoo, we went to see the Baylor bears. The kids have talked about them and begged to see them for years.  Here they are with their daddy watching the bears sleep.

Just behind the bear facilities is a drainage ditch. We were all so amazed at what the drainage ditch looked like that we just had to take some pictures of it as well.

Finally the reason for the trip, Will’s graduation day. Between practice/lunch and graduation time, we made Will traipse all around the Baylor campus taking his robe on and off in the blazing Texas sun for pictures. Here are a few of the ones that were not already on Facebook.

 

Here we are trying to take a family photo. This is one of the best ones from the MANY photos that my mom and his mom took.  Next time, we are just going to have to take a tripod everywhere we go.  Please note that any time you have seen a family picture in this post, it was a great effort to get one centered with everyone looking.

Isabelle swears that she is going to attend Baylor University and become a scientist.  So, just in case she actually does it, we took a picture of her in front of the science building while we were out there.

This is Will in front of the Truett Seminary building.

And here he is receiving his diploma from Baylor’s President, Ken Starr.

We are all very proud of him!

 

On our way from Waco to San Antonio, we met with the Kendall family for breakfast. Scott is the one who married Will and I and he was the youth pastor at Will’s church when he was a teenager. We haven’t seen them in years and it was so nice catching up with them. They wore their Baylor shirts in honor of Will.

What would we have done on this road trip without electronics. I probably would have been a basket case.

 

Years ago when Will first started his D.Min. program, we promised the girls that when their daddy graduated we would take them to SeaWorld since we never go to the one in Orlando, Florida. They didn’t forget and they let Luke in on the secret. There was no way of getting out of it.

 

It still amazes me at how those big ole things can get their giant selves up and out of the water. It is beautiful!

Apparently, now that the trainers aren’t allowed in the water with the animals, the entire show is about getting people wet. Even when the whales aren’t responsible for it, the trainers are getting everyone wet. In the next picture, you can see Will and the kids right next to the guy standing guard at the gate in the middle of the picture. At the other end of Will’s row, is a Trainer dumping a bucket of water on some poor people’s head. I would have been so ticked!

Here is the picture that Will took when the whales posed right in front of him.

The SeaWorld in San Antonio has a big Sesame Street area for the kids. We didn’t spend near enough time there, but we got to do most of the rides.

 

Here is Anna and Zoey (I think)!

Once again, Grandma is on a carousel. Seems like every time we go to a theme park she ends up on a carousel.

Isabelle is my big chicken. She finally put her hands up towards the end of this ride.

Luke and Rosita!

I think we may have pushed our luck with Anna and roller coasters on this trip.  While Disney has some very good themed roller coasters and a couple with some hills and turns in them, they don’t have anything like the big thrill rides (that are my favorites) at the other parks. The Steel Eel didn’t have any loops or sharp turns, just some EXTREMELY big drops (and LOTS of them).  Anna got on this ride with her daddy and was horrified. He said he’s never heard her scream with fear and panic like he did that day. I don’t think she’ll be trying anything outside of Disney for a LONG time to come. She didn’t even want to get near the sign to pose for a picture with her daddy.

I think this one may be more their style. Grandma and Luke even have their hands up!

This was how Anna and Luke sat for the Dolphin show…jaws dropped and amazed.

Luke loved the shark tanks. Here he is talking to the guy about the sharks. I can’t remember his question, but this guy just talked to him like he was somebody important.

Somehow, I got talked into riding a water ride. This time, even though I wasn’t anywhere near Isabelle, I was the one that got soaked!

Grandma and Nana were such troopers during this trip. They wrangled kids, took potty breaks, and dealt with  me and Will when we were grouchy. We were very glad that they got to go.

On our way home, we took the kids to see the Alamo, the Tower of the Americas, and the River Walk Mall.

Here we are at the top of the Tower of the Americas.

They had a beautiful fountain area at the base of the tower. I could have sat there all day!

The girls were really glad that the tall building wasn’t a ride. Just an elevator.

There was a 4D movie that had one part where the rattlesnake whips out from under the seat. Luke STILL talks about how that snake got him in Texas.

 

We had a blast! Thanks again Grandma and Nana for going with us and ALL of the help that y’all provided!

Anna’s Eighth Birthday!

This year Anna wanted an Artist Party. She has wanted one a few other times but I didn’t think I wanted a painting party with a bunch of five, six, and seven year olds.  This year, though, I thought we might could handle it.

 

Here is Anna with her paint splatter cake. She wanted me to just throw icing on the cake to make it look authentic.

 

She is growing up. When we moved here, she had just turned one. I can’t believe how time has flown.

 

Anna working on her painting.

 

Me helping Anna draw circles to paint.

 

Isabelle and Jada painting away.

 

Of course when you have a tedious time consuming project the kids get restless and the moms have to step in to help finish it up and do the touch-ups.

 

 

 

Hope and Bailey were doing a great job!

 

Luke just wanted to make a mess.  I had to help him with his painting. This was just him going to town with a piece of paper and the paint.

 

The next pictures are everyone with their paintings. I couldn’t get a group shot because some left before the other paintings were finished.

 

Here is everyone singing to Anna. She is the center of attention and is not even hiding under the table! I am so proud of her. She is slowly overcoming her shyness.

Thank you to everyone who came to Anna’s party and made her day special!

Truett Seminary @ Baylor University Commencement

Last week on the sixth anniversary of my Dad’s death, I walked across the stage at First Baptist Church Waco to receive my Doctor of Ministry degree.  I began this endeavor just a few months after my Dad’s passing and can’t help but think about how proud he would have been to see me hooded last week.  The education I received at Truett has already been beneficial to my ministry in Jay.  I am thankful for those who helped me navigate through this process even when the easy thing to do would have been to quit. 


I am grateful to my family for all they have done to see this day come.  Kate encouraged me the entire time, even when I was ready to give up.  It was not the workload of the of the degree that was overwhelming, it was balancing that workload while striving to still be a Husband, Dad, & Pastor.  Kate helped me to keep all things in balance.



The kids often had to sacrifice time with their dad while I was away for class, often two weeks at a time.  They allowed me to get away for a few days while I was working on my project and they gave up many evenings while I locked myself in the camper to complete class assignments.



I am thankful for loving and supporting parents.  This is now the third time my mom has seen me walk across the commencement stage of an academic institution.  Her continued support  has been an encouragement to me.



I am also thankful for the support of Kate’s family.  They do not treat me as an in-law, but as one of their own.  Many times they were willing to help Kate with the kids while I was away for school.  I am glad Mrs. Lori was able to be there for the commencement ceremony.



It was a unique privilege to have Matt Snowden, my first college roommate, deliver the commencement address.  Matt and I were thrown together by William Carey College in the Fall of 1997.  We had organizational and theological differences, but throughout the years our friendship has endured.  I proud to call the Snowden family my friends.

I am also thankful to the many professors at Truett who took the time to invest in my life.  Ron Cook, the director of the Doctor of Ministry program at Truett, has been a constant source of encouragement.  He has a pastor’s heart with an academic mind.  My faculty supervisor, Dr. Levi Price, provided insight and support throughout the process as well.  His guidance helped me to formulate the process that would become my doctoral project.  My pastor, friend, and field supervisor, Dr. Howard Gates, has helped me to become the minister I am today.  He has helped me to understand both the hardships and the blessings of serving a church. 

There are so many others who have helped me throughout this process.  I am grateful for all the prayers and support.  Below are a few picture from the day. 
   

Receiving my degree from Baylor’s President, Ken Starr.

Receiving my doctoral hood.

Standing in front of Truett Seminary on Baylor University’s campus.

Inside the chapel at Truett Seminary.

Truett Seminary’s May 2013 graduating class.

Easter 2013

Again this year after Easter Sunday services we piled into the car and headed to Mobile to eat lunch and have an Easter egg hunt with the cousins.

 

Just as in years past, we hurried to take our family photos in our color coordinated outfits. Other than beach pictures it is the only time of the year that we match outfits. The azaleas were the perfect backdrop this year!

 

Isabelle…

 

Anna…

 

Luke…

 

Nacky with the Isabelle, Anna, Luke, and Riley…

 

The Reynolds family two days before Jackson was born…

 

Our family…

 

I love this picture of Will.

 

Just the two of us…

 

My three. We have several pictures of the girls kissing his cheeks. He doesn’t enjoy taking these type of photos, but he is going to have to deal with it. This is our thing now.

 

The Easter Egg hunt was after lunch. When they finally got the big kids up from the table to hide the eggs.  Isabelle is getting so tall.

 

Luke was in a hurry…

 

Until he found this egg.  Now he is thinking,  “How am I supposed to get that one?”

Anna didn’t find these eggs very challenging at all.

 

Until she got to the ones that were up pretty high… She had to work for this one.

 

And of course, as is the case with everything that goes on around this house, the big boys had to take it too far.  They hid eggs on the roof.  Instead of letting the little kids get them, I made the boys stay up there until the little ones pointed them out.

 

Here are my two brothers. Look at all that grey hair on Will Reynolds’ head! Wow!

 

When it was all said and done, they had baskets full of things. No candy this year since Luke is a diabetic, but lots of little junky treasures and coins for the piggy banks.

 

Riley didn’t care too much about the eggs, she wanted to pick all of Nana’s flowers.

 

Another beautiful Easter Sunday celebrating Jesus’ resurrection and our freedom from sin as a result of it!

Isabelle’s Speech

A few weeks ago, I had decided that I was tired of all of the busy work that the teachers and school send home with the kids  that end up causing more work for the parents (I am very busy these days and didn’t need the extra work). You know…like decorate this poster kid to look just like you (cutting yarn hair, digging out craft supplies, finding an old shirt to cut up and decorate with), send out this Flat Stanley (decorating the  paper doll and begging a family member to do something cool with it and send it back for the class to look at), etc.   The very next day after my complaining about this, Isabelle comes home with a paper about the Florida Tropicana Speech Contest that is NOT optional. My fourth grader had to write and give a speech! Ridiculous!  Needless to say, I was not a happy camper.

 

The good news for me was that Isabelle came home all pumped that her daddy does speeches every week so he was going to be good at helping her. And like a good daddy he did just that.

 

Isabelle picked the topic of love.  Will had recently preached a series of sermons on Love and Isabelle has been dealing a lot lately with kids picking on and being mean to each other at school. So this subject is near and dear to her this year.

 

Will helped Isabelle to get an outline together and come up with an organized introduction paragraph. She researched by looking up definitions, listening to Will’s sermons online again, and looking up verses in the Bible that she wanted to use. She filled in the information and wrote the rest of the speech all by herself. Her daddy helped her read over it and make sense out of the few spots that didn’t sound right.

 

She worked very hard and after giving the speech she won third place in her class.  The top three from each of the fourth, fifth, and sixth grade classes then had to give their speeches in the auditorium for judges, those grade level students and teachers, and the parents of all of the speakers.

 

Isabelle did very well. She was nervous and very quiet, but she tried her best. Even though she didn’t place in this part of the competition, I am very proud of her! I probably would have cried every night and begged my mom not to make me do it.

 

Here is the video of her giving her speech this morning. It is very quiet and you will have to turn your sound up all the way and make sure there is no noise in the room to be able to hear her.  Also, Luke is whispering the whole time and making noises, so you will hear that during the video as well.

 

 

 

For those of you that don’t want to listen to the video, here is photo of Isabelle during the speech.

 

Love That Disciplines

Kate and I created wakworld.com nearly ten years ago as we were preparing for Isabelle's birth.  We wanted a way to share stories and photos with our family.  Over the years, wakworld.com has taken on various designs. (You can see some of the various designs of the site by visiting The Wayback Machine)  With the popularity of other social media sites like Facebook, our posts on wakworld.com has become less frequent.  While we might go months without posting anything, I still enjoy using this site as a way of sharing our stories with those who care enough to read them.

I have decided that a new way for me to make regular post to this site is to share the audio from some of my favorite sermons.  I don't plan on posting every sermon I preach to this site as it seems rather redundant since they are available on our church website at www.jayfbc.org/sermons.  Every now and then, though, there is a message that makes a particular impact on my life.  Yesterday's message was one of those sermons.  I have been preaching through a series that explores the various aspects of God's love and challenges us to exemplify them.  The series is entitled "Love That..."  Yesterday's focus was "Love That Disciplines."  Throughout my preparation for this message I was reminded of the responsibility that Kate and I have when it comes to raising our kids.  I am also thankful for the discipline demonstrated by my mom and dad.

You can listen to the message below.