Our son, Noah, loves the camera! Check him out…!
(warning – you are about to fall in love!)
(sorry for the poor video, but I’m not the one you wanted to see anyway!)
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Spoiler Alert: Our Son has Down Syndrome
This little baby came with lots of fun surprises!
(Sorry for the spoiler, but if you’re anything like me, this much text can be overwhelming! Also since I posted this we have started a new website where we are creating an online narrative of what life is like raising a child born with Down syndrome. We wanted to give people the facts about down syndrome! Feel free to check it out and read Noah’s full birth story.)
Wow. There are no words that can describe the rush of emotions that Abbie and I have experienced in the last 24 hours.
We were told on Tuesday that Abbie would be induced at 7 am on Wednesday. We came into the hospital and waited for Noah (our son) to arrive. After almost 12 hours of labor, the doctor decided to perform a C-section on Abbie. (This was not an emergency C-section, and I was allowed to be in the delivery room; behind the curtain, of course). Shortly after, Noah David Smith, was born! We were so happy, excited, thrilled, and all of the rest. Around ten pm, last night, we were informed that Noah was born with Down syndrome. We didn’t see this one coming, and as you can imagine we had even more emotions. (Fear, disappointment, worry, but mixed with the same joy, and excitement that we already had). Noah was able to spend the night in our room, and today we were told that Noah’s heart had an Atrial Sepal Defect (my wife is a Doctor, but for the non-medical people out there, like me, it means that Noah has a small holes in his heart, and that one of the connections is still open as well.) Our cardiologist told his that this wasn’t considered “major”, and that it could have been much more serious, and in fact may heal itself without surgery. (We are praying that is what happens!) We are waiting for him to take his first “poop.” He hasn’t yet, we really need him to soon to confirm he doesn’t have any medical issues with that. So PLEASE be praying for that! Noah then passed his hearing screening at 100% in both ears! (Which is great because he has a dad who really enjoys talking!) Continue Reading…
3 years of awesomeness and some very serious words
Wow…I can’t believe that 3 years ago I stood in front of a chapel full of our friends and family, and said these words to my wonderful bride, Abbie:
Abbie
I, Rick / Give myself completely to you, Rick,/
To be your wife in marriage;/ I will submit to your leadership/
As I trust your guidance from the Lord/ and His Word to guide our lives;/
I will be faithful to God and to you
and I will never leave you;/
Honor, serve, & cherish you;/
And divorce,/ whether mental, emotional, spiritual, or physical,/
Will never be an option to me./
I will forgive you as Christ has forgiven me;/
I will encourage, challenge and pray for you./
And I will keep Christ/ at the center of our marriage./
And I will love with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength all of the days of my life
All this I vow/ to you and to God
I really meant and mean every single one of the words. The man who married us, and one of my closest friends, Don Munton, asked everyone in attendance that night to hold us accountable to these vowels we made to each other. I’m thankful that many of them have. If you are reading this, you to have permission to hold me accountable to these promises as well. This has really been the best 3 years of my life. I am beyond humbled that God allows me to live the life I live, with the people I get to live it with. I’m truly blessed. Thank you Abbie for looking past my ten million flaws and saying “Yes” 3 years ago…..you really are the most amazing women I have ever met. (And I”m not just saying that because you are my wife….!)
Oh, one more thing. If you know me in “real life” then you know that our son, Noah, is due the first week of January. I just wanted to say something to him real quick….
Noah, I’m not sure if we’ll have the internet by the time you are old enough to read, (who knows, we may be in the matrix by then) but if so, please know you have full permission to hold me accountable as well. If you ever see me treat your mommy in any way less then the way I wrote above, let me know. If I don’t listen, call my close friends. You have permission. I’ll never, ever, ever be mad at you for holding me accountable to that. My promise to you is that you will grow up in a home overflowing with love because your mom and I both have a love in us that surpasses all understanding. As soon as we found out you were in “there” we have been praying that one day you to would come to know this great love to. I love you, and I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY can’t wait to meet you. You have some really cool toys, and I can’t wait to play with them with you!
/humbled.
rick.
{rescue}.
To my friends who walk with God; have you ever had one of those unexpected mornings where you are spending time in prayer, reading your Bible, or maybe singing praise songs, and God gracefully lets you know He is there? Today was one of those times for me.
This morning I was just worshipping God at my house before heading to school to do some studying, and I just started weeping. Not in a bad, “sad” way, but it was just one of those mornings where I became very aware of what God has done for me. It’s so easy for me to get discouraged, to feel like I’m not making any impact, and feeling like God is busy using more “famous” Christians to change the world. I often need to be reminded that God has done incredible things for me. For Rick Smith. (and for you to). And that He wants me to be a part of what He is doing in the world.
As I weeped this morning, I sung a song by Matt Redman called “You Alone Can Rescue” The entire song is awesome, but I can never make it through this verse without choking up;
“You, oh Lord, have made a way
The great divide You heal
For when our hearts were far away
Your love went further still
Yes, your love goes further still”
What a powerful reminder that even though we far away from God, in fact as far off as one we could possibly be, God sent Jesus to come rescue us. To save us. To make a way for us to be right with God. Through Jesus’ work on the cross, God has completely rescued us. In Eph 2:16 Paul says that through Christ we are reconciled to God. Again, I’ll spare you the details, but the word translated from the Greek into English as “reconciled” is a pretty awesome word. It isn’t used very often in The Bible, and in fact Paul is the only person in The Bible who uses the word. It brings with it this idea of being be made COMPLETELY RIGHT before God. In other words, those of us who know Christ, are made completely right with God! We are no longer far from God, we are near. We are RESCUED!
No matter how “bad” things are in your life, or how you are feeling today, if you have a relationship with God, through Christ, by the Holy Spirit, then you are COMPLETELY RESCUED! Saved! Made COMPLETELY right before God! Now if that doesn’t give you a reason to sing, then I don’t know what will…!
Take a moment and look at the cross above. Remind yourself that you are COMPLETELY reconciled, made right, toward God! Why not take a few minutes and thank God for what He has done for you through Jesus, and by the Holy Spirit! He has truly, completely, rescued us!
Yelp, I’ve danced in Times Square
The cool thing about life is you never know who you’re going to meet, where you’re going to meet them, or what fun you can have. (Like dancing on a Friday night in Times Square!)
I met the guys from Lanzanator and The Beat Calculator while I was in New York. They are a super cool improv group. They are from Dallas. We were in New York. They were shooting a video. I ended up in the video. I am an awesome dancer. We became friends. End of Story.
Check it out!
(Be sure to check out 2:41 to see some of my super-nova dance moves!)
Jay-Z got it wrong
Jay-Z’s new song, Young Forever, proclaims you can be ‘forever young.’ Lost seems to imply that some people can live forever, here on earth, (or wherever that island is) and Jack Bauer makes it look like you can always live another 24 hours.
As much as I enjoy all of the above, it’s all fiction. We won’t be ‘forever young.’ We won’t live ‘forever’. Our days are numbered. In fact the Bible says our life on Earth is ‘like a vapor.” It just runs out. Quick.
How are you spending your days here on Earth? I sometimes find myself living for the next day, instead of living in this one. I sometimes find myself ‘living’ for the things that don’t really matter, instead of the things that really to do.
How are you spending your days? Are you living for the things that really matter? Are you making an impact in this world?
I want to give my life away to others. I want to make investments into other people’s lives. One day my life here will be over, and when that day comes I hope people will be able to say that I cared more about others then I cared about my iPad.
Here’s to tomorrow…..
If grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking. – The story behind “How He Loves”
I first heard “How He Loves” while speaking at a Disciple Now weekend in Oklahoma back in January. I had never heard the song before, and I couldn’t even make it through the entire song without tears streaming down my face. The lyrics are that powerful.
Take a look at this video as John Mark McMillan talks about where the song came from. (No, it’s not a David Crowder song.) It’s a powerful story about how God will loves us no matter what, and how He isn’t afraid of our honesty.
The metaphor, “If grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking.” is perhaps the most powerful one I’ve ever sung. How true, and how good.
Man, the grace of God’s love for us is mind blowing.
He is jealous for me,
Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.
When all of a sudden,
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realise just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me.And oh, how He loves us so,
Oh how He loves us,
How He loves us allYeah, He loves us,
Oh! how He loves us,
Oh! how He loves us,
Oh! how He loves.We are His portion and He is our prize,
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes,
If grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking.
And Heaven meets earth like an unforseen kiss,
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest,
I don’t have time to maintain these regrets,
When I think about, the way…
It is finished…for now
Yelp, that’s where I sat for the last ten days. I don’t think I left that chair for more then two hours at a time, including sleep, the last ten days. I’m thankful that my wife wasn’t frustrated (or at least did a great job of hiding it) that I kept the table looking like that all week.
However, another semester is over, and if you follow me on twitter, or read my status updates on facebook, then you probably know this semester has consumed me. If you are thinking of going to seminary, don’t expect it to an awesome, four, year summer camp…it’s not.
But it is good. Real good. You’ll learn more then you ever thought your brain could learn. You’ll also learn that you’ll never, ever learn all there is know about God. Ever. You’ll get humbled. A lot. You’ll learn that you’re not near as smart as you think you are. And you’ll learn that God loves us. A lot. More then we could ever wrap our minds around.
I’m planning on resting (somewhat) this next week, and then the busy summer schedule begins….here’s to having a few sno-cones next week…!
spiritual disciplines are hard
It’s almost 2 am, and I’m still up trying to finish up all the research, papers, readings, etc. that come along with the end of another semester.
Every semester is jam-packed, but this one has seemed to be especially busy.
I’ve pulled more all-nighters this semester then all of the other semesters in my academic career combined. I’m looking forward to taking a few weeks to rest before my very busy summer schedule kicks off. In fact, I hope to take a few naps like the dog above!
I certainly have a lot of junk in my life that God is in the process of ironing out, and one of those issues is the spiritual discipline of rest. I’m certain rest is a spiritual discipline, and like any other discipline, it takes work. I’m working on it, and it’s a struggle. I know God usually shows up in our lives in the slow, still moments; not so much the fast, slammed, crammed, busy ones. I’ve really got to learn to rest.
How about you? How are you doing in the area of rest?
How teenagers are using their cell phones
This is an interesting graph showing some stats of ways that teenagers are using their cell phones. Here are a few that really stood out to me:
Girls send and receive about 3 times as many text messages as guys.
Almost everyone uses their cell phone to take pictures.
“Sexting” isn’t as big of a problem as the media makes it out to be. (Sure any number is “bad” but the media makes it seem that every teenager with a cell phone is doing it – this just isn’t true.)
Take a look at the graph, and let me know what stats you find the most interesting. 
.
info taken from flowtown
Can you say “DELUXE ” accommodations…..
I’m in Atlanta this week at The Orange Conference, and while I’m in town my friends Jared and Eryn (both who work for Orange) offered to let me stay at their place. Since they are both working CRAZY hours at the conference, they are staying in a hotel across the street from the arena where the conference is located. Which means we (a cool guy by the name of Kyle is staying here as well) have their house to ourself…!
I’m sure they wouldn’t want me to brag on them, but I was excited to find out they have a HUGE bathtub. (For those who don’t know, I’m a “bath” taker. So what, I”m not afraid to admit it.) Not to mention their entire place is awesome! (dual shower heads + dual sinks = AWESOME!) Kyle and I got to their place around midnight tonight, and take a look what we came home to…! Thanks Eryn and Jared, it’s going to be a great week!
Orange 2010 – YOU CAN BE “THERE” – FOR FREE…!
Please excuse the low quality of this video, I’m going on about five hours of sleep in the last three days so I’m a little out of it. Now on to the important stuff! Tomorrow is the start of the one conference I look forward to all year – The Orange Conference.
If you are attending, please be sure to make the short journey to the top of the arena to The Orange Leaders Lounge. I’ll be hanging out there pretty much the entire conference, and you won’t want to miss some of the cool things we’re going to be doing! During the conference you’ll have a chance to come up and meet Donald Miller, Rev Run, Reggie Miller, John & Nancy Ortberg, just to name a few…! In other words, we’re going to be having a GREAT time up there…and rumor has it you’ll be able to come up with your team and great a FREE picture taken in front of some awesome masterpieces created by Hannah Joiner! We’ll also be giving out some prizes, and running contests throughout the conference, so stay tuned..! (You can follow me on twitter for the real-time updates from The Orange Leaders Lounge. @Rick_Smith )
If you aren’t able to attend the conference I am very excited to announce that we are doing something super cool this year at Orange – a live video stream from backstage. You can click this link, and get your fill of “Orange” for the next three days – FOR FREE!!!! This is a great chance for you to get a “sneak peek” at some of the cool things going on backstage at Orange. You’ll also be able to hear some great insight from people who are passionate about helping the church partner with parents and students! (And if your around your computer at 1:10 on Thursday you’ll be able to see, and hear from me! I’m excited to be a part of this, and I think it is super cool that we are able to do this totally free for all of you out in “internet land”!!!)
Again, if you’re at Orange, come up and say hi. If not, check out the link above and enjoy the FREE, live stream…! See you, or tweet you, soon….
p.s. – if you have an iphone, or iPad be sure to download the official Orange iPhone App..!
-Rick
rhythm. how’s yours?
Everyone has rhythm. Yelp, even me. The question is how’s yours?
Lately mine has been fast. Too fast. Sure, a fast rhythm can be exciting, but I find I feel more connected to God when I slow down. If we aren’t intentional about slowing down the rhythm of our lives from time to time, April turns into May, and 2009 turns into 2010, and life gets away from us.
We look up and find we aren’t any closer to God in 2010 then we were in 2009. And then 2010 becomes 2020. And there we are, still chasing iPads, and iPhones.
I want to make sure I take time to slow down and connect with God.
It may just be me, but God seems to really like slow rhythms.
