we should probably catch up...

I haven’t blogged in a long while.

In fact, I had almost written this off until my good friend Randal Schafers mentioned to me the other day that it’d been over a year since my last entry. When we last left one another Melissa and I were knee-deep in anticipation over the birth of our first child Olivia Reese. Needless to say, we had her and she’s awesome. At the risk of sounding like an overly proud parent she is most likely the smartest, most talented, quickest learning and cutest child that has ever graced the face of this planet (until our next...then she’ll at least have an equal). I’m kidding of course. She’s awesome to us and to those who know her but I’m just a proud parent and parents say and do ridiculous things when it comes to their children. (Take if from the guy who vowed never to post endless amounts of pictures of their kid on Facebook.)

Life has progressed since last year.

Olivia is 8 months old right now. She’s chubby. She’s aching to move around. She’s got a nice growth of ginger hair making its way in. She likes it when I make farting noises. Melissa has been back at work for some time and daily humbles me as I continue to figure out what it means to be a good parent. How is that moms already know and dads have to decipher the code? I’m blessed to have someone who holds within herself the innate power to be the most loving, patient and caring human being on planet earth.

Church life carries on. As a youth group…we are a group in transition. This year I will bid farewell to my first official batch of seniors; the very first group of students to have survived (or put up with) me all 6 years in our youth ministry. I will be completely honest and say that it both scares me and saddens me knowing I won’t get to see these kids on a weekly basis come August (if not sooner for some). God has bigger plans though. Better ones too. So as we begin to prepare for life without our seniors we begin the search to find the new identity of the group. Who will the leaders be? Who will step up and fill the gaps? What new faces can we expect to see in the coming year? We pray that as time marches on God begins to clarify the answers to these prayers.

2012 is poised to be a great year for our students. We’ll take a core group of 17 to Houston this coming week to do some manual labor mission work. Our yearly Disciple Now retreat is coming up in April with camp not far behind at the very beginning of June. And of course, I’ll be joining 4 of our students and the wonderful Debbie White as we travel to Ecuador in July to help out with a children’s/youth camp an hour outside the capital city in Ambato. God is going to do some major shaping this year and my prayer is that it begins with me.

In September I also assumed the part-time role of worship pastor here at the church. Somehow this role follows me around like a lost poppy looking for a home at every church stop I’ve ventured to so far. I love it. I get to work with some amazing musicians and more importantly some amazing humans and followers of Jesus. Our goal has been and will always be to add a level of depth to the worship service that creates an environment where we can easily disappear and the Holy Spirit can take center stage as He controls as He wills. Hopefully people aren’t getting to tired of seeing me on Sunday mornings. 

Oh yeah, while all this was happening I tried my hardest to stop being fat. (mission somewhat accomplished) In August I began a program suggested to me by my buddy and fitness-guru Travis Hastings. Over the course of 60 days I shed 34 pounds. It was really tough because when it comes to self-control I usually come up empty handed. This time, due to a large monetary commitment to join this program, I kept with it and saw some incredible results. Since I stopped in October I’ve lost a few extra pounds and have brought my weight down 42 pounds.

I’m not completely finished yet.

In the heat of the moment and overcome with a complete sense of insanity I have decided to run the 5k race WARRIOR DASH this coming June with some other men from our church. 3.11 miles of rugged terrain mixed in with the usual rope bridge, mud crawl, fire jump, etc… I had simply started to plateau in weight loss and figured I might need to add some exercise at some point. Nothing says healthy like running with 599 other wild humans trying to jump the same fire you are.

God continues to work on me; as a pastor, as a dad, as a husband and definitely as a follower. My goal is to keep up with this a bit more. I’ve even planned out some things to hit over the coming weeks. But I won’t spoil you with all of them now. For the 2 of you (Hi mom!) reading this…you can wait with overwhelming excitement for the next installment of my blog.

Until then…go do something productive

surprise...it's a girl!!

My baby girl is no doubt sitting in Melissa’s womb right now smiling and snickering at how nervous and stressed her father is.  (My assumption is that she’s got the same keen wit of her father with the gentleness of her mother.)  Melissa and I would have been thrilled with a boy or a girl.  We did not have a preference entering this week’s ultra-sound.  We were, however, pretty convinced that we would be having a boy.  Since, as I’m told, the sex of the child is decided by the genetics of the dad we figured we’d no doubt be adding another handsome Ramirez to this world.  Men dominate my mom’s family.  My dad’s family is fairly man dominant.  And of course there’s Jacob and myself, both men (no smart comments here).  And yet my baby girl grows snuggly inside her mom right now unaware of how much we completely adore her already.

my baby girl says hi...

Some of you will write, “Asa, you’ll be a great parent, don’t stress!”  “Asa, stop worrying.  She’s not even born yet.  Chill out.”  And to you I ask this simple question; have you discovered the vaccine that makes boys less idiotic, less perverse, less manipulative and less detrimental to the mental, social and spiritual health of my eventual teenage daughter?

No?  You don’t have that vaccine?

Well then, stress it is for Asa.

My prayer is pretty simple over the next few years.  God, help me and give me the strength and guidance to raise a daughter who is assertive and confident enough to know what she’s worth.  Help her to find her value and strength in You and help us to fully communicate to her Your great love and amazing plans for her.

Of course, there are other important issues at stake here.  Melissa and I will be on opposite ends of the baby wardrobe spectrum.  (Yes, I realize I just jumped from a tremendously serious topic to a silly one.  Deal with it!)  Even prior to pregnancy, every time we’d pass by a children’s department in a store Melissa would “ooh” and “ahh” at various fluffy, frilly and overtly girly items.  I don’t mean the types of dresses and outfits you see on “Toddlers and Tiaras” that make even Jesus cry, but just the sensible very child-elegant outfits that girls would love.

I, on the other hand, have this intense desire for my little girl to be one of the coolest girls on the planet.  I’ve already begun my research on the internet locating all the best places to buy baby Weezer t-shirts, tiny Chuck Taylors and a plethora of other nerd-related items.  Is it BAD to want to dress your 3-month old daughter up as Princess Leia or a house elf for Halloween?  She might find duckies and kitties more appealing NOW but in hindsight I think she’ll thank me.

Of course we both agree that our daughter should have the stunning good looks of my wife.  The type that easily take one’s breath away and make one’s heart beat a mile a minute.  And if that is the case then we’ll also be in agreement as we find a way to mask such good looks from all the horrible boys around her during her teenage years.  Which foods CAUSE acne?  We’ll need to stock up on those.

Oh it’s going to be fun.  It’s going to be a blast.

We’re having a baby girl.  I’m going to be the dad of a baby girl.

Could life get better?  I submit that it could not…

good bye cav...

I’m going to miss my Chevrolet Cavalier.  It was red.  It was dependable.  It was driven longer than it needed to be driven.  It lasted longer than it should have.  It was purchased at a time when it probably wasn’t the wisest thing to do.  And it probably saw more of this country and its roads than it ever needed to.  I thank God for my Cavalier.  I thank God that He always provides for me.  I thank God that even when I feel I have less than enough to get by I don’t just squeak by, but His providence makes it abundantly clear that He is still very much in control.

Maybe it’s not a Cavalier for you.  The sign of God’s providence in your life could be anything.  It could be a rainbow.  It could be a DOUBLE rainbow.  Either way…He’s firmly in charge.  Not me.  Not you.

Tuesday Melissa and I find out if we’re having a boy-Ramirez or a girl-Ramirez.  Either way, He’s in control, right?

What do I prefer?  Do I want a boy?  Perhaps.  I feel that with a boy I’ll be able to head him off at the pass.  I have this feeling that there’s absolutely nothing he could hide from me that I wouldn’t know or find out through my cunning snooping.  I feel like I can build fences and boundaries around a boy that wouldn’t suffocate him and would allow him to make some mistakes and at the same time guide him in the right direction.  I feel with a boy I might be better equipped. 

With a girl…I feel I’ll need a door to my basement (complete with multiple locks), a view out window for sunshine and a lot of sweatpants and sweatshirts to give her plenty of variety in her wardrobe.

But He’s in control, right?  Just like with the car that He gave me and made work for all those years I have to trust that no matter what it is we find out on Tuesday that He’s going to provide all we need in order to accomplish His plans through our child. 

Here’s what I DO know.  This one is His.  Even now, this one is His.  I’m sure that will be harder to live out later as I try to wrangle control from the creator of the universe, but right now I want to openly say that his one is His.  All of them are.  I’m just the steward.  I’m the one who has set apart to watch over, love and nurture this future minister of the gospel.  This future missionary.  This future work-place missionary.  This future first time ever Hispanic NBA All-Star Center.

I welcome the task.  I look forward to having NO idea what to do.  I can’t wait to depend on God in ways I’ve never known possible.  I look forward to keeping you guys up to speed on the development of this future Ramirez. 

Thank God for Chevy Cavaliers.    

Denny's, Kool-aid and a life after college...

So my friend Eddy is a huge Denny’s fan.  I can remember back to one of the first times my roommate Ben and I actually hung out with Eddy exclusively (sorry if this sounds like we were dating).  It was the middle of the week after a mid-week worship service and we had a hankering for some breakfast food I suppose.  We decided on the local Denny’s that was really close to the FSU campus.  The funny thing was, when we walked in every single one of the workers yelled, “Eddy!!” just like they would yell “Norm!!” on Cheers.  I think Ben and I knew at that point this was a man who knew people.  It was like eating with the godfather, Eddy didn’t have to order because they knew what he wanted and then didn’t have to pay because apparently, “his money was no good there.”

True story?  Perhaps…

The point being is that two weekends ago, during MLK weekend, I was able to travel to Atlanta and meet up with Eddy and Ben for the first time since Ben got married several years ago.  All three of us Texans.  All three of us married. All three of us somehow placed at Florida State University.  And I could not have been more encouraged by the weekend.  I’m not going to lie, life after college sometimes has it’s “WOW THIS SUCKS!” moments.  We even talked about it that weekend.  Take for example the fact that at any given point we really had nothing to do in college.  We would simply move from apartment to apartment hanging out on a moment’s notice and had nothing to really worry about.  Another aspect of college that seems to be extremely different post-grad were the gross amount of believers that seemed to congregate together.  We just found one another; so it was really easy to make promises to God about life styles and choices because you were surrounded by so many people who drank the Kool-aid with you. 

Life is full of people who don’t like your Kool-aid though.

And so post-college it’s been easy to lose track of those commitments and lose sight of the way it used to be.  When you don’t have 30 people pressing you to be more like the person Jesus has called us all to be.  And so to Eddy and Ben I say thank you for a great weekend.  Thank you for encouraging me.  Thank you for showing me that in spite of several perceived ups and downs that the life Christ calls us to live CAN be lead outside to confines of a hermetically sealed Christian “Bio-dome” (thank you Pauly Shore for your fine cinematic work).  Even as a pastor it’s hard some times to live right and continue to grow in the right direction. Sitting around MLK weekend and discussing a plethora of spiritual issues with these guys was like a lightening bolt of energy to my Dolorian.  I heard their stories of life post-grad and how it’s been tough at times and easy during others.  We all talked about the struggles we’ve faced and the things that have kept us from moving forward.  

Life outside the bubble is hard some times but life outside the bubble is ultimately good.  Life outside the bubble was always part of the plan.  Do NOT misunderstand; this is not a blog discounting the value of the body of Christ and our fellowship together.  It’s simply an observation regarding the difficulty of making the same wise choices when living in the world and no longer constantly around a virtual commune of believers.  There's got to be something in the middle.  There's got to be something in between being with ONLY people who share your thoughts and then living and working in the real world in real life with people who a) probably don't care what you have to say and b) don't agree with you.  

So here’s to a healthy mix of post-college living.  To my friends from school who are reading; my prayer is that since moving on you have all found a strong group of believers with whom you can relate to, worship with and serve along side.  My prayer is that you would view wherever you are as the mission field God has specifically designed for you and only you.  And I pray that your walk with Christ doesn’t hinge on the amount of people around you sippin’ the same Kool-aid.  I pray it hinges on the One we live for.

It is my humble opinion that more people should eat at Denny’s.  It is not only the home of the famed, “Moons over my-Hammy” but a place where something special always happens; a place where the godfather eats free.  Thanks Eddy and Ben.

Monday...Snowy Monday...

There aren't many things that would cure a case of the "Mondays".  When I woke up this morning the ground was covered in snow.  I'm guessing roughly 3 inches of white, fluffy, soft very peaceful snow.  Nothing earth shattering.  Nothing that would keep me home from work.  Just snow.

Luna L. Ramirez (our tiny chihuahua seen here inside of a pink Snuggie), had yet to experience snow until this morning.  I was a gracious master/pack leader and cleared out a path to the grass for her.  I even shoveled some snow away from the grass so she could poop and pee as she pleased.  Luna was a bit timid at first and then jumped right in.  It was like Christmas morning for her.  My worst fear was that she was going to be so scared of the cold-icky snow that she went nuts inside of our house with a pooping spree...twas not the case.

This got my Monday off to a great start.  She was so happy prancing around the yard.  I thought that while I was in such a good mood I would go ahead and go weigh myself.  Turns out, even with a couple of fatty meals this weekend I was able to shuck 2.5 lbs.  It's not life-changing, but the thing is, I didn't go crazy last week.  I worked out 5 out of 7 days (including a REALLY bad decision to go jogging on a VERY cold VERY windy Friday).  It was a good week and it would seem that I did pretty well.  We'll see next week I guess if I can keep up a consistent rate of loss.

Today I've started 2 of my 4 classes for the semester.  I'm knee-deep in Christian Apologetics and Evangelism.  I would love to write more and fill you in on our fun filled weekend, but it's off to read about faith and reason.  I'll write again soon...until then...

adios...

Frustration...1 pound at a time...

I realize that I lump myself in with the millions of cliche Americans that vow every new year to make themselves less fat.  I KNOW that I've gone on more diets and eating plans than I can remember or care to count.  I'm to the point now where I don't even mention it to people if I'm doing something to try to lose the weight.

I suppose I'm breaking that right now as I'm about to complain about my current weight loss venture.  I'm fat.  There aren't any nice ways to put it.  Now I have not ballooned out to an all-time high, but I am fat none the less.  Normally this wouldn't bother me.  I would simply drown the sorrows of my fatness inside the maple-buttery goodness of a plate of Solo's chicken and waffles.  But, I have a kid on the way.  And I would prefer not to leave my wife a widow in her thirties and my child fatherless due to his/her father's lack of self discipline.

So this approach is a bit different.  I've curtailed my use and consumption of sodas; yes, even the diet ones.  I drink large amounts of water each day even though 50% of the time I can't stomach it.  I hate water.  What a horrible drink.  More so in the morning when there's still remnant sludge inside of my mouth making the water taste even worse.  I'll have the occasional coffee or tea, with no sugar and no creamer but for the most part am trying to drink as much water as I can.

I own P90x, an intense work out program geared to kick my butt and turn me into a hunky piece of man-meat.  I said i "own" it.  I did not say I "use" it.  I've tried.  But the leap from doing nothing to starting P90x is a huge one.  Instead, I've purchased a six-week cardio-max work out from, you guessed it right, The Biggest Loser.  I figure if I can get through 6 weeks of this perhaps the leap to P90x won't be so drastic.  Bob is the devil disguised behind a happy fit man who likes to smile a lot when he works out. 

I enjoy the biggest loser dvd more so than the P90x one because it's FAT people working out.  I LOVE IT!!! I feel at home.  I remember vividly going through one of the P90x workouts and feeling horrible about myself because the dude with the prosthetic leg on the dvd did better than me with my two healthy natural legs.  I can't even outwork a ONE LEGGED MAN!!!!

On top of the dvd and the lack of soda I'm also trying to eat like someone who isn't a 500 pound fool with a death wish.  I usually have one of those "instant breakfast" drinks in the morning because I'm not a morning eater.  For lunch I'm usually eating a turkey sandwich with some swiss, VERY little mayonnaise and some Baked Lays.  And then for dinner I'll eat what we normally have, I just only get one serving instead of 2 or 3 or 4. 

I'm fat and I'm tired of being fat.  I've got it cemented in my mind that there is no quick-fix here.  So let's hope these small changes begin to equal a couple pounds a week off my fat body.  I see people all around just shucking off weight.  I see friends losing it by the truck load.  I see family members who continue to lose.  I see wives with their husbands (their very fit, very healthy, very toned husbands) and I feel bad for Melissa because she's stuck with me. 

So here's to change.  I'll keep the blog posted on how much weight I'm losing each week.  I weighed in this past Monday and will do so again Monday morning.  Let's hope I can keep this up with more discipline than I have in the past. 

After all, what baby wants a fat dad?!?!

until next time....adios!

the year of the blog?...

Things are quickly changing.  No lie.  I just got a phone call from my wife.  She was on her way home and had to all of a sudden pull into a parking lot and blow chunks (ralph, puke, vomit, become a human volcano).  Of course this comes as no shock to me seeing as Melissa (my wife) is entering into her 2nd trimester with our soon-to-be offspring.

Things are quickly changing.  This semester I'm going to be taking 11 hours of course work while continuing to work full-time at the church.  Most of you reading this would tell me to stop complaining and suck it up, but for those of you well versed in the land of vocational ministry and seminary you know how taxing the next few months are going to be.  The beautiful result when the month of May comes calling will be my master's degree, finally attained after a few years of toiling.

Things are quickly changing.  I'm embarking this year to read through the New Testament with my students.  It's already been a huge challenge (we started in late 2010).  I'm learning all kinds of new things about what it means to be a follower of Jesus and I'm having my face-melted (Raiders of the Lost Ark style) by several of the passages I'm reading.  I'm being challenged to be more and more the person Christ calls me to be.

I think it is a fair to say that I will not leave 2011 the same as I entered it.  And so we have the "Coherent Ramblog".  Usually when I read through or visit someone's blog it can quickly turn into incoherent rambling.  So with as much intentionality as I can muster I'm going to make this a very coherent blog and a much less ramble-ly blog.

For those who care to keep pace or read to keep up to date with the life of Ramirez then here's your chance.  Until my first official post of consequence....adios!