Welcome Joshua Stephen

Ok, this is a long one so if you don't have time to read everything I perfectly understand. I won't get offended if all you do is look at the pictures and the video at the end.

At about 11:45 on June 9th 2009 the Lord brought Joshua Stephen Channer into the world. It is quite an amazing thing. I wonder if any atheist has ever witnessed a woman giving birth. I don't see how anyone could witness a woman giving birth and still be an atheist. How can you experience something like that, and come away thinking that you had any power at all over the whole process? At any time if that umbilical cord quit working right the child would die. "Hey mister evolution. It took you how long to come up with the umbilical cord? A billion, or two?" "Ok, so how many babies didn't make it during that time? Where are their fossils? And where are the fossils of all the other mammals that didn't make it while you were trying to figure it out with them?" Do you see how retarded the logic is of the people who subscribe to evolution. I'm glad that the evolutionist will never figure out how life happens. Praise the Lord! They will never figure out how life happens because it doesn't just "HAPPEN". It is GIVEN. Life is given to man by God. Physical life and eternal life are given by God and the Lord Jesus Christ. They will never understand because they kick God out.
Prov 1:7 ¶ The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Prov 9:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.
It was a long night. I must say though that I did get a lot more rest than my wife. I spent the rest of the night with my wife there at the hospital. Thankfully when they moved us from the delivery room to the recovery room there were two beds. I am surprised to say that the hospital bed that I slept on was a lot more comfortable than some hotel beds that I have slept on before. I slept through most of the times that the nurses came in and checked on Kim and Joshua. I can only vaguely remember one time being awakened and hearing the nurses voice. The next day though I got a full experience of playing "Mr. Mom." It is an experience that I don't want to have too often. For those of you men who think that you would like to have an at home job, don't switch roles with your wife. I now fully know what it is that my wife has to deal with on a daily basis. I'm not talking about dealing with disobedient children. I'm talking working before the children get up, and working when the children are taking a nap, and working when they have gone to bed for the night. Being a wife and mother is not for a lazy woman.

My mom and Dad came up all the way from Fort Myers. It has been a blessing to have them here for the past week. I think that Joshua will turn out more like his grandfathers. Both of his grandpas are tall. Joshua's hands and feet are huge. It is something that you just have to see. I'll probably edit this post in a couple of days and try to get a good picture of his hands and feet in relation to the rest of his body. Maybe the Lord might call him to be a preacher to the lumber jacks up north like his great, great, great uncle Al Channer as written about in the book Last of the Giants.

Ryan is happy to finally have a little brother. He even spent one night up at the hospital with him. I'm sure he would rather have a brother a bit closer to his age though. I'm sure in a few years if the Lord tarries that Ryan will be teaching Joshua how to slam dunk a basket ball and to roller skate. Before that though I'll have to make sure that Joshua doesn't pester his big brother like I did mine. I distinctly remember my brother asking Dad on several occasions if he would give my brother permission to hit me. I can't imagine why my honourable brother would ever wish to do such a thing to his ever loving little brother . I hope that you read this part Jon. Maybe it will bring conviction upon you and cause you to "repent in dust and ashes." (For those of you who don't know me and my brother very well, that was just some friendly brotherly banter.)

Christina also loves her little brother. It is amazing that she knows the difference between a baby doll and a real baby. Just about every time that she sees Joshua she greets him with the sweetest "Hi." It's funny. Kim and I were both kind of wondering how she would take to the new baby, but so far Christina loves her new brother. She has helped burp him even offered him a cookie, but he wasn't in the mood for it just then.
Another thing that is kind of funny is that when Christina is tired she will cry when Joshua cries and stops when he stops.

Children sure are a blessing. We don't deserve the ones that he has given us. I pray that the Lord will let us raise them and train them for his honour and glory.