Ali, Leigh, and Matt Cooper at the UNC basketball game.

UNC basketball vs. Lipscomb

UNC basketball vs. Lipscomb

Allen and Sons BBQ

Wow. The BBQ and sweet tea are incredible.

Allen and Son BBQ

Chapel Hill, NC awesomeness with Matt Cooper.

In the Costco cart...

Kids sleeping in the car.

Our great hope.

Click here to get an excellent discussion of living forever.  Read it all.  It's quite good.

Having been raised in a pre-millennial Christian tradition, we saw the world as evil, everyone around us evil, and that things were only getting worse.  Jesus was going to come down in a spiritual helicopter and 'rapture' us all away from this sinful mess.  A quite pessimistic, destructive and, in my opinion, irresponsible way of looking at the world.  It only encouraged detachment, aloofness, elitism, and a  weird gnosticism

Moving to the post-millennial side of Christianity, we see a much more optimistic view of things.  The world is indeed corrupt, sin happens, but things aren't getting worse, they are getting better.  Indoor plumbing, iPhones, central heating, A/C, Christian philosophy, morals, and worldview growing from 12 Hebrew stiffs to a worldwide movement that converted an entire empire (thanks Constantine).  The post-millennial view of the kingdom of Jesus and eternal life is both responsible and creative.  It encourages engagement with the world around us and requires that we build.

Is man still inhuman to man?  Does tragedy happen?  Yes, of course.  This is not a pollyanna-like naivety.  The coming of the kingdom of Christ is an incremental, slow working of the yeast through the entire loaf.  The kingdom doesn't happen all at once.  Our microwave, want-it-now approach fits perfectly with our length of life, but is oh-so-short-sighted. But if we have a long-term view of the coming kingdom, death does seem as if it's only a nap and we raise our kids and build our communities in anticipation of the fullness and fulfillment of time, the coming of Christ.

A poor substitute for a stick.

A hockey stick would be lighter and provide more support! Suppose I could use him as a puck though.

Hockey puck Zane.

He's got about as much teeth right now as a typical hockey player. A little bit cuter though.

B-zay and Dad skating.

Holloway skates! Cute Signe.

Holloway family on ice!

Zane skates!

Zane skates!

The look on B-zay's face is priceless. We couldn't keep him off the ice!

Jack o'lanterns

Horse and 'Bama boy.

Alabama fan?

No, I'm not really a Crimson Tide fan, but I thought borrowing Gunnar's helmet might protect my brain and hep soothe my savage side.  I don't think it helped.  (Thanks for the pic, Rob... THANKS A LOT.)

Reformation day & All Saint's Eve (aka Halloween)

For Gunnar, it's "Chocowate" and wanting to be brave at the scarier houses so he can be a daddy someday too.

For Zane, it's figuring out that walking up to people's doors at night, muttering some incantation, a bowl of candy appears, grab said candy, and stuff it into one's mouth, irregardless of wrapper or covering.

For Signe, it's dressing up as a fairy princess, refusing to wear anything but the most inappropriate plastic princess high heels, and being the first to ring the doorbell (despite being held back by aforementioned shoes).

For Abby and I, it's about enjoying our kids, watching our kids enjoy the day, and remembering the saints who have gone before and thanking God for the blessings that have come to us through them.  Thank you God for giving us saints, grandparents, great-grandparents, and more, dead and gone, who passed on the living faith.

Holloway family from the Harvest Fest 2010