Archive for 'Other Stuff'
Blog Neglect
Posted on 09. Oct, 2006 by Josh Agerton.
Blog Neglect. Yes, I’m guilty…I confess. I’ve been heckled by a few friends about my backsliding on the blog so I’m putting this out as a challenge to myself: Josh, you have 24 hours to write something here. So it’s official. I’m coming back. And I’m doing so with a new commitment…to not worry about spelling, using eloquent words, or writing some great work that will impress people. So here it goes. Check back in 24 to see if I can hang with the challenge.
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No title for this one.
Posted on 24. Jun, 2006 by Josh Agerton.
OK, I’m going to be bold here and share some real life. After finishing up some work for my intensive class this month I went in for a little “minor surgery” on Wednesday. Understanding that Leslie and I just had twins and we have 2 year old Benjamin, some of you will gather the nature of this surgery. It made for an interesting week. I had many of my friends tracking the countdown with me to “V-Day” and have had several call in since then to check on the “family jewels”. My good friend Brandon drove me to and from the monumentous occasion. But when I showed up to check in at the front desk they told me I was a day early. WHAT…I couldn’t believe it. My heart sank. I felt like I had pumped myself up for the state championship football game then just before running out of the locker room someone tells me it’s the wrong night. But after explaining how “geared up” I was for this, they decided to work me in. We had to wait around a bit and Brandon got a little freaked out by one the the lobby brochures but we stayed the course. In all seriousness, it was a mark of true friendship. Then sweet Leslie had a king size 5th Avenue candy bar (my favorite) waiting for me when I got home (along with an ice pack and ibuprofin). All in all it has not been too bad. If anything, it forced me to get some much needed rest and catch up on some reading (I also watched the movie Ronin two times on TNT). But now things are pretty much back to normal…except for running.
All kidding aside, it became a good week of quiet and rest…and a time to just look and be thankful for our beautiful, healthy children.
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42 Days
Posted on 16. Jun, 2006 by Josh Agerton.
Yes, It’s been 42 days since my last post. I’ve been on a little
break from the blogworld but a lot has happened since May 6th. I finished up the Spring semester, made a visit home to Auburn (it was truly the great American adventure) , preached at our home Church-Cornerstone, and am now back in the throws of class…United Methodist Theology. Among all this this I have just been spending a lot of time with Leslie, Benjamin, and the girls (two months old this past Wednesday).
Going from a family of 3 to 5 has been quite the challenge for us. In Leslie’s words, we are learning to “die to our own agenda”. I have had a few days where I have kept all three by myself for several hours and it has been unbelievable…imagine the wacky clown at the circus who is trying to spin several plates on the tips of broom sticks all at once…that’s me. Leslie came in the other night from a much needed break to find me rocking Grace in a chair, with Liza in the bouncy seat in front of me rocking it with my foot (trying to keep pacifiers in each of them), all while Benjamin was running around with his lightsaver. I now have some conviction and can say from experience that Moms have one of the toughest jobs in the world!
Anyway, have much more to track and update here…especially thoughts about last semester. Don’t let me off the hook without writing about this later on! 
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Who do you depend on?
Posted on 06. May, 2006 by Josh Agerton.
This week I had to give another speech for my Communication as Christian Rhetoric Class (fancy seminary name for speech class). I decided to go with the topic of self-reliance vs. dependence upon God. I discussed how self-reliance was the normal and accepted cultural value…sounds like “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” and “I’m a self-made man”. And then I explained how in looking at the Biblical narrative we see something much different, the value of utter dependence upon God. In doing research for this I found an interesting quote in Ronnie Floyd’s book, How To Pray. It was short but powerful: “Prayer occurs when you depend on God. Prayerlessness occurs when you depend on yourself.” I have not been able to get this one out of my head since earlier this week. It has become sort of the “litmus test” of my own dependence upon God.
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Still Alive!
Posted on 29. Apr, 2006 by Josh Agerton.
We are still alive. Just kidding here…life with 5 is going very well. I’ve yet to get a picture of Benjamin with the girls. What you see here is about as close as he gets to his sisters. I think his world has been rocked more than anyone else but as you can see below, once he gets a chicken finger and little ketchup he is just fine. This pic is from a picinc today with friends. It was so good to get out with friends, eat some junk food, and play woofalball in the rain. We’ve been home for a few hours and I think I have told Leslie 4 times now how much fun I had!
Here’s a few more pictures of the girls.
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In his death we have life…
Posted on 15. Apr, 2006 by Josh Agerton.
Grace Carolyn (5 pounds 2 ounces) and Liza Walker (5 pounds 13 ounces)…born on Good Friday, April 14th at 11:00 and 11:22AM.
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Not Yet!!!
Posted on 06. Apr, 2006 by Josh Agerton.
Still Waiting!
Leslie is 36 weeks today. We give praise to God for this…getting to this point has been the prayer of so many in these last weeks. We had a good visit with Dr. O’nan this morning and Liza and Grace are doing great. It is so amazing to hear those two heart beats going at the same time. Truly a miracle of God! Now we are home and just playing the waiting game!
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The Countdown!
Posted on 21. Mar, 2006 by Josh Agerton.
17 days and cooouuunting.
Leslie is holding strong with the pregnancy. She’s been on bedrest now for 3 weeks…we are surviving by the grace of God and his work through so many wonderful people around us. As you see on the calendar, we only have about 2 1/2 more weeks before we hit 36…full term pregnancy for twins. We are learning how to live one day at a time (thus the bedtime ritual for Benjamin to cross out another day on the calendar).
Benjamin seems to think that there is more than just babies in Leslies belly. For months now whenever we talk about the babies in mommy’s tummy he will say…”Liza, Grace…..and Thomas Train!”
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The journey home…
Posted on 17. Mar, 2006 by Josh Agerton.
The journey home continued…
It was an incredible trip home last week. A very rich time that I will never forget. The Lord called me in a very unexpected and powerful way to go home and visit my Mom and my Dad (see previous post). I didn’t know exactly what to expect in this but after a day of being there I realized that it was about hearing my Dad’s story. Over these days and nights we mostly sat by the fireplace and I listened to him tell the stories of his life: his early days as a kid in Quincy, FL; the struggles of growing up in an alcholic home; his dreams of becoming a pilot and his time in the Air Force; his years at Auburn University; his first job as an electrical engineer; how he became a Christian; his marriage to my Mom; his proudest moments as a father; his best friends along the way; all the cars that he owned. Most of the stories in themselves were very ordinary but all together they weaved an incredible narrative of God’s guidance and providence. It was amazing to see how God protected and nurtured my Dad long before he came to know and follow him. What might have been seen as an ordianry life became an extravagant artwork of God’s grace.
I am left with so much to process after these days with my Dad. I will never be the same. Something really big happened here that I know the Lord will be revealing to me for a long time. This life story of my Dad is now a part of me. There is really something to this business of telling our stories to others. Our souls become deeply connected to oneanother and there is a unique fulfillment in our hearts. It is life giving…in watching my Dad tell these accounts the suffering of cancer and chemotherapy seemed to melt away. He suddenly became energized, charasmatic and funny. It was almost as if we escaped our current place and were temporarily imported into the world of the stories. Rich times for a father and a son.
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The Little Boy Inside
Posted on 08. Mar, 2006 by Josh Agerton.
Today the Lord called the little boy inside of me to go home and be with his daddy. The voice came through a close covenant friend but the words were from God. Only his words can pierce into those deepest places of my heart. Heaving sobs and tears flowing.
My dad has been in a heated battle with cancer for 6 years now. But in the last year he has been extremely ill. For much of this time I have been the responsible son, stepping up to lead our family and keep us together in the fight. But today I was called to go home…not to fix anyone or anything, but just to be the little boy again. The one who would go visit his daddy at work and play with the paper weights on his desk. The one who made a business suit out of a paper grocery bag just so he could be like dad.
Tomorrow I’m heading to Auburn to be with my Dad and Mom for a few days. It will be a tough trip…probably filled with both sorrow and joy.
More to come on this journey…
