Callen Joshua Nudd

Our baby boy has arrived. Heather started laboring Sunday afternoon Oct 31. Finally, 2:30 AM, Nov 1 we headed to the hospital. And after being here only two hours, Heather delivered our little boy. His name is Callen Joshua Nudd. Born on November 1, 2010. He was 7 lbs. 1 ounce and 18 1/2 inches.

People have asked us about the name. So here it is.

Callen (Cal - en) I'll break it down to make it easy. You pronounce it like "Cal" in California and "en" is pronounced like "an." We didn't pick it because of it's meaning. Heather and I heard it, thought about it for awhile, and really liked it. I guess we heard it as a last name, but never as a first name before.

Joshua - This I liked because of Joshua in the Bible. Also it means "God is salvation." I love his character in the Bible, his courage, faith, and leadership. Also, probably one of my favorite texts in the Bible, if not my favorite comes from Joshua 24:15, "If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."

Today we are in the hospital and my mom has been able to come down and watch Owen. But, it has been fun to watch Owen look at his new baby brother. He says the baby is laughing every time he actually is crying. I'm sure he will learn soon.

Thanks everyone for your prayers and support. We love you all and feel blessed to have this new gift.

Week of Prayer - Growing In Grace

The week of October 23 - 30, the Hiram church hosted a week of prayer with the theme Growing In Grace. It was a tremendous blessing. Anne B. our prayer ministry leader planned the entire week, even taking off work to lead out in it. Also, we planned four speakers from our church family, Eddie, Godwin, Devon, and myself to each speak two nights. It was a great experience and the Lord worked in wonderful ways. We had guests many of the nights.

During the week and before, I was worried that our baby might be born in the middle of the week. However, the guys who were speaking were great and ready to be on stand by just in case we did go to the hospital. Eddie kept telling me the baby wasn't coming until after the week was over anyway, so not to stress about it. They had prayed for it to happen like that. And it did. I just want to thank God and all the church family for this blessing. I loved the experience and learned so much. We have a wonderful church. Praise the Lord.