Happy Sunday! Max's First Church Experience From the Outside (of my belly)

Yesterday was our first time taking Max to church since he's been born. When I was still pregnant, Max would kick like crazy in my belly when the music was playing and then go to sleep when Pastor Carter spoke. Nothing has changed! He did the exact same thing yesterday!

While at church, Pastor Carter pulled the three of us aside and we introduced him to Max. He then prayed a special prayer for the three of us. He thanked God for giving us this sweet, sweet boy and for giving us such a good outcome with his surgery and health. He prayed that Max would come to know Jesus at an early age and become a follower and good steward of His teachings. Carter also prayed for Tyler and me to bless our marriage and make us good parents to Max. He prayed that God would strengthen our marriage as well as help guide and direct us with raising Max.

What a special thing for Carter to do; we really appreciated it! Church was great; Carter is doing a series on "what it means to be successful." It was an awesome message and I define success so differently now that we have Max. I've really had a lot of things put into perspective in these last few months and I've learned a lot of lessons.

Here is one definition of success that Carter quoted that I really like (not sure of the author)...

"Success is an intentional, faith-filled approach to life to align my passions and resources to leverage myself fully to elevate everyone around me to their greatest potential in order to find and live out their unique part in God's Larger Story and to help others know, love and become like Jesus."

There's a lot to think about in that run-on sentence. :) How do you feel about it? I think that's a great definition of success!

Anyway, to lighten things up a bit, here are a few photos...

Like Father, Like Son! They both wore their white button down shirts and dark jeans to church.

After church, Uncle Eric came over to watch the Titans game with us and to visit Max. Of course, we had to put on our "football watching outfit" to get ready for the game. After the Titans won, Max and I took a nap and then Tyler, Max and I took a walk around the neighborhood. How could you ask for a better Sunday than that... a great church service, a winning football game, a nap, and a little exercise.

Oh, wait, it actually does get better. Max slept for 8 hours straight last night, then got up and ate, and went back down for 4 more hours. I couldn't believe it when I woke up and saw what time it was! What a rockstar baby!