Forming Family Traditions: Sunrise Easter Service
Now that we’re a young family of four, Taylor and I have been thinking a lot about family traditions. It’s been fun to discuss the question: What traditions do we want to have shape and set rhythm for our growing family?
This Easter, at Taylor’s initiative, we took our first stab at doing what we hope will become an annual family tradition: a sunrise Easter service. For those of you who don’t have this tradition going and might be interested in getting it going, here’s what we did:
-Chose a hilltop down the street from our home where we knew we’d catch a good sunrise
-Invited neighbors to join us
-Woke the boys up at 5:50am, met up with friends, and hiked about a mile to the hilltop with breakfast in tow
-Gathered together and, as the sun began to rise, we read the resurrection story and then prayed and sang a song together
-Ate breakfast and drank coffee
-Let the kids enjoy an Easter egg hunt
-Took some photos
-Raced off to CPC to prep for our morning services while wife, kids, and other lingered
I think this tradition will be a keeper.
Taylor has been enjoying reading Kent and Barbara Hughes’ book, Disciplines of a Godly Family, as it’s been stimulating her thinking on traditions. You might want to check it out.
Phone vs. Email
A guest post by Taylor Buzzard:
I have a trivia question for you.
What surprisingly requires all of the following, simultaneously:
Left hand.
Right hand.
Left eye.
Right eye.
Brain.
Physical body orientation.
?
EMAIL. Email requires all of the above, all at the same time. And that is why email has become a thorn in my flesh. Email asks too much of me.
I used to love email. I thought it was fun, a convenient way to plan and touch base with people, a vehicle for being witty and silly with friends, and a way to be creative with writing. But, as of 3 months ago, I now have two young children. And, as of 3 months ago, email demands more than I can give. The inbox piles up higher and higher, and my stress mounts higher and higher. Even as I write about this topic, my heartbeat is accelerating. I just can’t get my email under control.
The phone is much better suited to my lifestyle these days. It allows me to communicate with someone, while still looking at my children, physically interacting with them, and turning my body towards them. Email is like a dark cave that requires me to dive in, whereas the telephone allows me to stay at sea level and multitask. Have you ever noticed that one email topic requires at least 3-4 emails in order to close the issue at hand?
Here’s an example:
Email #1: Do you want to meet up for coffee sometime this week?
Email #2: Sure. I’m free on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings.
Email #3: Oh, bummer, I’m busy those nights. How about Friday morning?
Email #4: Sounds great. Want to meet at Peet’s at 9 am?
Email #5: You’re on. See you there.
Email #6: Alright. See you Friday morning.
I don’t think I exaggerated while writing this out. Six emails for a coffee date. A one-minute phone call could have taken care of all of that.
So, what to do, what to do? I can’t close my email account and call it quits. Email is a component of our modern life, and it would be unwise to pull the plug. I’m looking for ways to live with it without letting it weigh me down. One suggestion I’ve received is to create 3-4 folders where I immediately file every incoming email (To Read, To Answer, Pending, etc.). That way the inbox is always orderly. I’m going to start with this tactic. And if this doesn’t relieve my email stress, I think I will take more serious action and move to the second suggestion I received: to create an auto-reply message that states that I check email on days x, y, and z, and if a response is needed sooner, to please call me.
Email, email, I used to love you so.
Email, email, now I long to let you go.
Email, email, let’s try to make this work.
Email, email, before I go berserk.
Merry Christmas from the Buzzards
Taylor, Cru (2 yr.), Justin, Hudson (2 mo.)
To all Buzzard Blog readers, Merry Christmas. Thanks for reading and interacting with what I write here. Blogging will continue to be light through the holidays, though I’ll try to get a Best Books of 2008 post up soon.
The shots that didn’t end up on the Christmas card:
Manly Wisdom from a Vet to a Rookie
A few hours ago I brought my family of 4 home from the hospital. Taylor and I are simultaneously exhausted and having an absolute blast with our two boys. Watching our 23 month-old son, Cru, interact with his 2 day-old brother, Hudson, has been hilarious and touching.
While checking email this afternoon I came across a "keeper" email from a good friend and elder at my church, a veteran father charging this rookie father with wisdom for the days ahead/the rest of my life. I’m so thankful for having men like this in my life, men who will call me out as a husband and father and challenge my selfish bent.
I think many men would benefit from the wisdom/reminder in this email, so below I’ve copied the main body of the email. I’ve put one portion of the email in bold as it provides an application question that I hope, by God’s miraculous grace, to ask myself regularly.
…I am adding a prayer for your marriage, clearly more stress and pressure will be applied with two young ‘uns and all the great stuff you are involved in.
We talk about being "intentional" all the time, over the next year you are really going to have to be intentional in putting Taylor’s needs ahead of your own. She will be 24/7 putting the needs of two boys ahead of her wants, desires and needs…that’s the just the way it is in this stage with multiple kids….so she is going to desperately need someone to pamper her and put her first…prioritize her.
Guess what that is YOU :) I know this sounds kind of like a raw deal (I mean who is going to be pampering Justin?). But this is the Biblical model. Christ laid down his life so that He could present the church (bride) blameless. I think as men we have that same challenge, we need to be building into our wives by serving them, meeting their needs, putting them first in all things…that’s how we lead them to a deeper relationship with Jesus.
Fight the very human desire to want something for yourself. When those thoughts come try and transfer it to, "how can I take something off of Taylor’s plate today?".
I know this may sound a bit brutal in lieu of all you have going on….but God made you strong for a purpose, He gave you an abundance of gifts for a purpose, and He has provided many friends to pray for you all for a purpose…
Buzzard Boy #2 is Born!
Yesterday, right when we got home from gathering with the church at our 11am service, right when we turned on the 49er game, Taylor’s water broke. It was just like in the movies: sudden, stunning, exciting.
Since the contractions weren’t bad yet, we watched our team score a touchdown or two, we made some calls, we finished our lunch, then we made it to the hospital down the street at 2:30pm.
Just over 3 hours later, at 5:56pm, Taylor was holding our new baby boy.
Labor went so smooth, so fast. Once Taylor was dialated to 9cm she got an epidural and then she stopped pinching me so hard.
As we looked at Hudson we thought about the tears from earlier this year and praised God for our son’s life. Then I held my son.
We named this little guy Hudson John Buzzard, naming him after Hudson Taylor, a man who had a profound impact on my life when I first read his biography 10 years ago.
It took a little while to get Hudson breathing properly, but that’s all under control now.
Hudson has a lot of hair, Strawberry Blonde hair like me. Hudson is also rockin’ the conehead look for the next few days.
When I introduced my son Cru to his new brother Hudson, Cru said, "Hi baby brother." You should’ve seen the look on Cru’s face when he met Hudson–a look of excitement, shock, and wonder all mixed into one.
My dad, mom, brother, sister-in-law, and nephew drove from Sacramento to be present for Hudson’s birth.
Hudson liked getting his hair washed by the nurse.
Or maybe he didn’t like it?
Huson John Buzzard STATISTICS:
Weight: 7 lbs. 4 oz.
Height: 20 in.
Future position: Strong Safety, or maybe Tight End
Labor Day Leisure
A great way to spend Labor Day, surfing with the guys and hanging with the family at Linda Mar:
5 Years
Five years ago last Saturday (8/16/03) I married my beautiful bride Taylor…
We celebrated our 5th anniversary this Saturday in the far away mountain town of Graeagle where I officiated the wedding of my friend, Parker (the groomsman standing in the very back at my wedding: see the above pic)… 
and took some goofy pictures…
Next to romancing my wife on Saturday and seeing the look on her face when she read my two love letters, the best part of the weekend came on the way home when my brother (who was a groomsman in the wedding) and I rode the famous 17 mile downhill mountain bike trail in Downieville…
If you’re a downhill mountain biker and you haven’t ridden Downieville, you must change that.
Thanks for Praying for My Son
A number of you were praying for us last week as we took our son in for an MRI on Thursday. Thanks for your prayers. The MRI went well. Cru reacted to the anesthesia much better than several months ago when he had his CT scan done. We receive the results this week which will help us better discern how to proceed regarding surgery and removing the dermoid on Cru’s forehead.
