Nathan Diehl

We’ve been doing great.
Reagan likes to be awake from midnight-4 a.m., and wants to be held during that time. Emily and I got to sleep from 5-8 a.m. this morning, and we both wokr up feeling really refreshed, so that was very nice to get 3 hours of solid sleep.
We stopped by the adoption agency today to pick up some paperwork, and then stopped by Costco. It was the first time any of us had ever been to Costco. That place was rocking busy for 2 p.m. on a weekday. Pretty cool stuff there–thanks Uncle Stan for recommending it!

Now we are just chillaxing in the hotel room, and wanted to share with you some more pictures of our Princess Raegan.

Raegan preparing for her first pediatrician visit.

Raegan with the pediatrician.

Raegan didn't quite fit into her 0-3 month pants. I am NOT stretching the waistband--this is really how tiny my Raegan is!

Our new hotel room with the kitchenette--AND running water!

Nathan & Raegan

Emily & Raegan

My girls!

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This week, Emily and I are on vacation in Brown County. We just got a phone call this is going to change our lives.

About a month ago, Emily and I finished all the paperwork required for a domestic adoption.
We were given a general time estimate of 6-9 months, meaning we were expecting to get the call around March to June of 2010.

We just got this call tonight!

We are very excited! The birthmother is due in about four weeks.

At this point, that’s about all we know. More info soon to come.

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Today I installed and started using a little piece of demo software, which is an online To-Do Organizer.

So far, I have put in four things, and I’m getting ready to close one of them shortly before I leave work today.

I also use my Phone/PDA’s calendar/scheduler as an organizational tool.

What kind of tools do you use in everyday life to stay organized?
Have you tried using tools and later stopped using them?

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POO-POO ALERT: In this blog, I tactfully address poo-poo. If you are offended at the mention of poo-poo, stop reading now, please.

In our effort to reduce the amount of high fructose corn syrup in our diet (you’d be amazed at how many things have it as an ingredient), Emily and I tried some organic yogurt.

YUCK!

So after we neither one were big fans of the organic ‘yogurt,’ we looked a bit more and found a Yoplait yogurt without , Yo-Plus, which is one of those ‘digestive health’ yogurts which is supposed to help ‘regulate’ you.

Let me tell you, from first-hand experience, these yogurts work! The first week isn’t exactly fun, as the poo-poo is, um…shall we say, ahhh…quite soft?
But after 10 days on the stuff, this does exactly what it is supposed to do. It works very well, and I’m very happy with my poo-poo situation at this point in time.

I plan on continuing to eat the non-high fructose corn syrup, digestive health yougurt. In the words of Rachel Ray, ‘Yum-o!’ (the cherry is my favorite!)

FYI: high-fructose corn syrup is produced by processing corn starch to yield glucose, which is then processed to produce a higher concentration of fructose. (Read more about HFCS here.)

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I was sitting at my desk eating lunch, and my nose itched. I had to sneeze–now.
I was eating a carrot.
Let’s just say, it was a good thing i covered my mouth when i sneezed!

(my wife is probably shaking her head right now)

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Early this morning, while it was still dark, unsuspecting Matt Keller left for a bike ride.

In utter darkness, he met a rather large gator on the bike path.

Read his story here.

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Mark Batterson posted some really wonderful thoughts on Elder Brother Spirit.

I think if we aren’t very careful, the church can adopt this nasty, ungodly spirit.

The key word there, is careful. We must have the effort to not adopt this spirit. it is easy to adopt. It is hard to keep away. Which will we do?

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This was the scene just moments ago here in the office. You’ll have to stay tuned in the coming weeks to see how this guy fits into the weekend at New Hope.

In other news, my cousin is currently in a featured video at YouTube for his World Record Cup Stacking time. (although unofficial). This video was posted by my brother-in-law, Josh Doyle.Check the featured video out here.
I have embedded the video here for your convenience:

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A couple weeks ago, i blogged about Paul Potts, the incredible opera singer who ran away with the Britain’s Got Talent competition last week.

His album is now available for pre-order at Amazon. (it’s not cheap!–$30!)

I just wanted to pass along the info to you, in case you’re interested in following up Paul Potts.
It will indeed be the next album i buy (although i won’t be buying it pre-order!)

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He who thinketh he leadeth and has no one following him is only taking a walk.
-John Maxwell

true or not?
what about the opposite–He who thinks he’s only taking a walk and has everyone following him is leading.
is that true?

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One thought Seth Godin had in his book Small is the New Big (i do recommend this book in case you were wondering):

What Makes an idea viral?
No one sends an idea unless:
1. they understand it
2. they want to spread it
3. they believe that spreading it will enhance their power (reputation, income, friendships) or their piece of mind
4. the effort necessary to send the idea is less than the benefits

No ones “get” an idea unless:
1. the first impression demands further investigation
2. they already understand the foundation ideas necessary to get the new idea
3. they trust or respect the sender enough to invest the time.

so the question i have been dealing with since i read this: Is church viral? if it’s not, why not? how can we assist people to make them want to spread the idea of attending a church? how can we help people “get” it?

have we instituted barriers for entry? do we turn people off without even knowing it?

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