music & books

what is everybody reading and listening to these days? here are some of the books and albums that i've really enjoyed over the last year or so:




ALBUMS
"altitude" by yellow second (top of the list - i love it!)

"free to conquer" by subseven

"mmhmm" by relient k

"hide nothing" by further seems forever

"bullet" by mat kearny

"monk & neagle" by monk & neagle

"hymns ancient and modern" by the passion worship movement



i like what i've heard by these bands but haven't actually listened to the whole album: kids in the way (rock & roll!!!), house of heros, the chemistry, 4th avenue jones, disciple (their new stuff sounds great)




BOOKS

"ordering your private world" by gordon mcdonald (top of the list - i've set a goal to read it anually)

"waking the dead" by john eldridge

"building true disciples" by george barna

"your first two years in youth ministry" by doug fields (got started late on this one! :)

"developing the leader within you" by john maxwell

reconnected

it's healthy to reflect on our lives. we break the timeline of existence into periods marked by major events and it's easy to live so focused on the current period with momentary glances to the immediately previous one that we forget how life looks from the "big picture" perspective. reflection really gives us a glimpse at ourselves from God's view... the whole parade at one time, grand marshall to street sweeper all in the same picture.




i started this blog almost three years to today's date! since that time my life has undergone dramatic (and welcome) changes. in recent days i've found myself in contact with friends (mostly from emmanuel college) with whom i lost contact for a while... some i outright neglected because of the "tyranny of the urgent" in my life. because of my closest long-time friend's blog (jonap... see links), i was reminded that i had an existing blog, too! in fact, so do MANY of the people who meant so much to me during my undergrad career.




reading their thoughts and reviewing my own past blog posts drive the point home... the past is important. it's almost insulting to refer to these friendships with the term "the past"... they are part of the big picture and they influence who i am. they are VERY important. praise God for technology... thanks to this platform, friends distributed from michigan to the ukraine can still influence us in this current period and aren't necessarily resigned to memories simply because of miles. for four years i have missed the relationships that developed at ec and i'm glad to reconnect now. it's good to be back in this incredible community!

I have come that they may have ZOE, and have it to the full! (john 10:10b)

the first person ever born with the last name foster-whiddon... zoe kate! born april 13, 2005... 7lbs 6oz, 19" long.

an hour or two before zoe's arrival via c-section

it's the most powerful weapon a foster-whiddon woman can wield (say it again!)... the infamous pout!

april 13th

about 3AM the morning of zoe's birth... mom's in labor, daddy's showered, and everybody's ready to rush to the hospital! (irony = zoe was born at 6PM that night!!!)

lexie lou

alexis is 7 years old and will finish the first grade this week. she loves music, baby dolls, and stories. she is the main character in our ongoing bedtime superhero saga, "the adventures of tuna tongue."

the worldwide population of foster-whiddons has doubled

i married vanessa holton on november 29, 2003. we met when i was serving cool springs free will baptist church as youth pastor... my first ministry assignment after graduating from emmanuel college. vanessa was serving as the youth director at southside baptist church in the same tiny town of norman park. we actually went to the same elementary school as kids, but i never knew her... just her two older sisters!




the foster-whiddon wedding (thanks for the great photo, gina!)