Speaking Portuguese in Arkansas

Yesterday we had Pastor Gomez & his wife with us in worship. Though he spoke in his limited English we welcomed them in Portuguese & our Worship Leader Brian sang a chorus for them in Portuguese. It was a great service as we heard his wife sing 2 familiar hymns in their language & Pastor Gomez shared his testimony. He was in the seminary at the age of 17 studying for the Catholic Priesthood. His brother was a Christian & he went to convert him to Catholicism. Long story short, it had the reverse effect & as Ildeu began reading God's Word it came alive in him & he accepted Christ as his Savior & Lord.
He also shared how the mission trip last October that I went on had impacted his church & his brother's church in Campinas, Brazil. Since the distribution of the 25,000 Bibles these churches together have baptized 48 people w/ several more waiting to be baptized. That's a person a week since the trip. What would happen if our churches were baptizing that many per year? No one will ever convince me God's Word is not powerful & life-changing.
Let us not forget God is still at work all over the world changing lives.

From Brazil to America

This week Pastor Gomez & his wife from Campinas, Brazil are here in Texas & Arkansas preaching & visiting friends. I had the privilege to go to his church last October on a mission trip. With the help of several churches we were able to bring him to America for the 1st time in 8 years. He will be preaching for us this coming Sunday at Central & we expect it to be a great service.
Erin & I took he & his wife out to lunch on Monday in Texarkana & we hope to spend time w/ them again on Friday. Though he is a small guy he has a booming voice. God is using him greatly in Brazil & we're honored to have him with us this week. It's great to have a direct connection to a pastor in a foreign country & know him personally. We're excited about what God is doing in Brazil & hopefully next year we'll have the chance to go back & continue the ministry there. I'll blog more about Pastor Gomez & his testimony after the weekend.

Son of a Preacher Man

Cade didn't go to church w/ me yesterday but stayed home w/ Erin instead. When I came home he was wearing his "Itty Bitty Baptist" onesie he got from Pops & Mimi. I guess he was supporting me from home yesterday.

Erin's mom has gone home & now it's just our little family. We are having a good time & enjoying the life of parenthood. We have gotten a bit more sleep at night than we expected & pray that doesn't change for the worse. Cade is growing & goes to the doctor on Thursday. We can tell he is gaining weight & growing each day. He's a good natured baby & we look forward to what each new day holds.

Settling In At Home

We're settling into this dream-like world of having a new child at home. It doesn't fully seem real yet but we're having the time of our lives. We could never imagine the blessing from God resulting from a new child. We have SOOO many pics, but I'll only share a few from the last 2 days.

We arrived home safe & sound. Whew! That was the most nerve racking experience of driving a car in my entire life!
Just chillin' out on the bed after getting cleaned w/ a bath wipe & fresh diaper & onesie (which most are way too big).
The Carozza's, Donnell's, & Petty's arrived at our house about 30 minutes after we got there on Sunday. We had a great afternoon visiting & sharing in the excitement. Little Rock Crew, please know how much this meant to us for you to come spend time w/ us.
Molly met her new little brother for the 1st time yesterday morning. This was a major concern for us b/c Molly is queen of the house & spoiled rotten. She is doing good & really curious as to what is happening w/ Cade. It won't be long until she is trying to play mother. (By the way, like the deep bathtub converted to a "Moses Basket"? - That's how we do it in Arkansas)
Sunday afternoons in the Fall wouldn't be complete w/o some NFL action. Cade & I spent our 1st day home together watching the Cowboys! He will hopefully love sports as much as I do (sorry mom, guess you will have to tolerate more sports).Oh boy, free fingers! We can't keep the gloves on him b/c he always wants his hands in his face & mouth & will scratch himself.

Our Son Has Arrived!

Cade Christopher Wright

9/4/08 - 11:58 P.M.

6 lbs. 6 oz.

20 in.

Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children like a reward from him.

Psalm 129:3

Labor Day

Here's an update for all who have been asking about our upcoming baby. The whole country celebrated Labor Day yesterday. Erin & I will celebrate a different kind of "Labor Day" on Thursday. The Dr. scheduled an induction for Thursday morning so we will hopefully have our son sometime on Thursday. We are nervous & excited. We will do our best to keep everyone updated through the blog, facebook, email, & text messages.

2 more days & we will be parents! Wow, God is good!