Acceptance

I could even say lately I’ve felt lost, even depressed.  Not because God hasn’t been extremely good to my family, but because I feel like I haven’t been extremely good to Him.  I’ve been so busy managing my stuff that I’ve neglected to shout out praise to Him by how I live.  I’m worried quite often about things that don’t hold a candle to anything eternal.  How am I going to get my backyard done before the HOA slaps a fine on me, my wood floors are cracking, I’ve got 98 spindles to paint on my stair rail, a big month at work, raises, bonuses, position….  How do I focus my family on things that matter eternally, how do I build an eternal perspective in my family when my actions support these other things?

I’ve been reading a couple books to try and help me wake up from this slump I feel stuck in.  To help me find how I fit in this mess.  But when it comes down to it I’m already found.  And, I have been uniquely made for a purpose.  The struggle shouldn’t be for God’s acceptance, I’m already accepted.  I’m already His friend, His child, His bride (weird being a guy to say that).  I am being fiercely pursued.  The question isn’t about being loved, I was loved enough for Christ to die for me while I was yet a sinner.  The question is how can I accept that I’m already found and glorify God in the midst of my acceptance?  Once I grasp the Lord’s acceptance; I can joyfully be a living sacrifice. 

Through natural (general) revelation my kids help with this picture.  They adore me in my imperfection and I am fiercely committed to them in their misbehavior.

Jenn helps me in this picture, she is fiercely committed to me.

My friends help me, they are there for me.

Here is our family Christmas Letter we never got out.  Sorry!

McQuate’s 2008 Christmas Letter – Castle Rock, CO

By:  Seth, Jenn, Job and Lilah

Those friends in Colorado might wonder why I would include a city and state in my title.  I know I thought it was funny seeing that in the intro or title of those I have received.  The thing is, our family is all over this nation.  That is new for me, but a sign of the times I guess.  Jenn has family in Ohio, Nebraska, and Colorado and I have family in Ohio, Alabama and South Carolina.  Plus, although I can’t tell what tomorrow will bring, we bought our first home which I think we will settle down for awhile, but we’ll get to that.

I thought last year was pretty crazy as far as the life changing experiences that had happened, but this year might have just surpassed 2007.

The big events for 2008 were:

·        February – Jenn became a stay at home Mom

·        June - The birth of our little girl, Lilah Ann Marie McQuate

·        July - The purchase of our first home

·        October – Seth turning 30

We were married only one month when we found out about Lilah and we knew a tough decision had to be made, “When can Jenn become a stay at home Mom?”  It took us a few months but in February we worked it out for Jenn to put a hold on her career and make the move from the business world to the role of a homemaker.  The timing worked out especially nice because it allowed Job to have some time with just Mom before his world would be rocked by having to share her.  And boy was it rocked!

Lilah was born 27 June 2008 and weighed 5.16 lbs.  Six months later she is now around 15 lbs.  She has curly brown hair like me and Jenn’s blue eyes.  She is a happy and healthy six month old.  She loves to smile and make growling noises that don’t sound like they should come from such a cute little girl.

Job has grown to be very fond of his little sister, but there was an adjustment.  He actually asked us if we could take her back at one point.  But it wasn’t long after he began to ask us if we could pick up another one at a garage sale.  (I guess we visited too many garage sales, but with one income you have to bargain shop right!)  

Job will be 3 in February and is turning into such a handsome young boy.  He is all boy as we hear often from Sunday school workers.  Basically he is aggressive and a little rowdy.  Given the “Wild at Heart” fan I am I’m okay with that and don’t want him to become anything else.  He is a natural athlete who loves all sports.  He can kick field goals, hit baseballs with a real aluminum bat, shoot hoops around 7’ high, dribble a soccer ball, loves to wrestle with me, and can run forever!  I love being able to share my passion of sports with him!  His other passion is tractors!  If you want to get Job’s attention tell him a story about tractors!  Movies about tractors, books about tractors, tractor toys to lift jelly beans (his dirt inside for the winter), or excavate roads outside.  He just loves them!

We scored on a beautiful home in Castle Rock.  3045 Mountain Sky Dr, Castle Rock, CO 80104 for those who want to mapquest.com or zillow.com it.    The house is a 3 bdr 2 ½ bath home on about 1/3 of an acre backing to open space.  We have made a lot of improvements since the original purchase and I think we can safely say that we have found a home to grow into.  Job’s favorite room is the basement, Lilah’s is the loft, mine is the family room and Jenn’s is her master retreat.  There is still some work to do, but we have a lifetime.

Lastly, I turned 30.  Yeah-yeah, old man turning gray.  I’m okay with that because every day I get to see my kids gain new experiences and learn something they didn’t know yesterday.  Jenn and I are enjoying a love of a lifetime and I couldn’t ask to be more blessed from our Father in Heaven.  Job knows his God, Lilah will learn, and Jenn and I will continue to grow closer to Him as we grow closer to each other. 

Thanks for reading our 2008 Christmas Letter and I hope to hear from you soon!

Remember to thank Christ for the blessings in your life during this season and for the Eternal Gift He made possible through His sacrifice on the Cross.  I know times are tough but this like anything is temporary and those who know Him will share in His glory one day.  So get to know Him because my family and I want to spend eternity with you.

Seth, Jenn, Job and Lilah

The McQuate Family

3045 Mountain Sky Dr

Castle Rock, CO 80104

s.mcquate@comcast.net

Seth Cell: 303-918-3642

Jenn Cell: 720-939-4441

Marriage in Heaven

This is an email I wrote to a friend about marriage in Heaven.  I wanted to share it with everyone who cares to read because I think it speaks to how important our marriages are and how amazing being Christ's bride will be.

Why isn't there marriage in Heaven?

http://www.godandscience.org/doctrine/marriageinheaven.html

I think this is a good article that explains what I was trying to convey to in Moab.  I don’t feel like I communicated well all weekend…trying to take a moment to answer a very important and emotional question was not right and I’m sorry.  I didn’t trust God to allow the Spirit to work in our relationship and allow ourselves to further explore the question.  The question shows sincere passion and connection for your spouse which is why we have the gift of marriage!  It is so good and dear!  But it is a gift that God has given us to enjoy for our time on Earth that will be replaced by something so much better in Heaven.  As the article says, God loves us too much to take away something good and replace it with something bad…He will be replacing it with something so much better than we can imagine or comprehend due to the limitations on our physical mind and body. 

I used to think that God was out to get me…for example I can remember driving to my girlfriends in high school and couldn’t find a brush I had put in my truck.  I remember thinking that God was out to make me look bad for her so she would leave me.  I thought that He didn’t like what I liked and He was going to take her away from me, therefore leaving me unhappy.  Silly example I know, but it brings great Truth!  God doesn't give and take away to make you unhappy or to get you...it is because He has something better for you. 

God loves me so much...say He did allow for events that would make her leave, it was only to replace her with who He created for me because He knows me better than I could know myself and my greatest wisdom doesn’t compare to his understanding of what He created.  He knew I’d be with Jenn someday and prepared me for her and Job.  Just like He knew you would be with Johan and prepared you.  But He also has something so much greater in store for us than this brief time in this physical body.  When we realize we are sinners and in need of Christ we become a new creation upon that acceptance of Christ.  This means once and always the Holy Spirit enters into us and we have been restored.  If you made a personal decision to accept Christ because of your individual need for Him than you’re secure for eternity, period!  No question, no worries!  You are Christ’s bride!!!  What a perfect and pure plan He has for us to know Him like that and for Him to know us!  We can’t even fathom how wonderful Paradise will be. 

Because of God’s gift of marriage we are able to see a greater portrait of who He is by seeing a greater portion of His attributes through your spouse.  You were both made in His image so I see a greater picture of the feminine attributes of my Lord in Jenn so I can know Him more fully.  Marriage is worth any struggle I might experience on this Earth because Jenn reveals a piece of God that I couldn’t see by myself.  God knew it wasn’t good for us to be alone.  We need communion with our spouse so we can get a drop of taste from the bottle of wine which doesn’t even compare to how good it will be in Heaven.  Like we taste a 2008 vintage bottle of wine when He has the original bottle ever made for every meal…     

Here are some pictures from Moab that my buddy took...obviously very talented! 

http://www.jonaspphoto.com/moab/

Family Time

Hey Family and Friends, I just wanted to announce that Jenn and I are expecting a little girl on June 26, 2008!  We are so excited to add another member to our family and Job can’t wait to be a big brother.  With that said this will be Jenn’s last week of work and she will be a stay at home wife and mom.  (Wife first!  At leas that is the order as I see it, ha-ha!  No seriously, I’ll have to write on my own personal opinion for that matter at a later time.  Law of averages, God, Spouse, Children, Family, Friends…)  And since we are going down to one income I will have to cut back on my spending which includes birthday money.  Sorry!  I know I have been horrible and inconsistent anyways, but know that I think of you on your special days and I have them posted on my calendar at work.  Like Dan and Kim celebrated their birthdays on Jan 29^th and Feb 2^nd respectively and Justin turned 17 on the 9^th!  Happy Birthday guys!  Tom and Karin’s anniversary is tomorrow, Job turns 2 on the 26^th and Scott will be 28 on the 29^th.  See how hard it would be for me to keep up with all that…maybe once we get through the sleepless night years I’ll be able to at least send out cards.  I do have one last gift to send out which I was hoping to send with Jim and Julie while they were out here to Brandon.  It is my body board which I think you will get better use out of than me.  It is sweet and a really good one so I hope you will like it.  I just have to figure out how to ship something like that! 

As for my life, I’m working at United Launch Alliance selling rockets to the Air Force, NASA, NRO and other commercial customers.  These are unmanned rockets sending national security, science exploration, mapping, and other satellites.  Sounds cool and the business is, but my job is still in front of a computer doing risk management and helping with other business processes and procedures in the earned value business management world.  Zzzzzz!  I do have dreams of building an indoor soccer complex someday that can double as a church on Sunday mornings.  But, still in the planning and dream phase.  I started playing basketball on Wednesday evenings on the church team; we are 0-3, awesome!  I’ll start back up playing soccer on Friday evenings in May.  I’ve been snowboarding once this year, slacker, but I did land every backside 180 attempted!  I was supposed to go a second time but they closed down 70 so I ended up in Blackhawk playing 3 card poker with a couple friends.  They robbed my lift ticket money!

Other than that, just enjoying being a husband and a dad.  I’m looking forward to celebrating our wedding with my family and friends this weekend.  Thanks to everyone who is able to make the long trip out, it means a lot for you to sacrifice the time and money that takes.  And no hard feelings to those who can’t, it’s hard I know!  Jenn and I just appreciate the times we do all get to see each other! 

Have a great Valentine’s Day everyone and hope to see you soon!            

Darn, since I've moved I haven't had my calendar up and I missed a couple B-days.  Sorry!  I'll be sending out cards; very late I know!