jakemiller

three

three years ago today, logan was born... and my world changed forever. 

i can't believe the little boy in that picture is the same one that i held in my arms that night. i remember being so nervous. i had no idea what i was doing. i guess, in a lot of ways, i still don't. 

but i do know this... being his daddy is one of the single greatest blessings God has ever given me. i'm so proud of him. so in love with him. so thankful for him. today, i can't imagine life without him.

happy birthday, logan. daddy loves you so, so much.

for those of you keeping score at home, i realize that it's been 4 months (to the day) since i last posted. i'll try and work on that in 2010...

my new job

although i'm revealing this a little sooner than expected, there is a big change happening in the life of my family right now. this week, i transitioned off the leadership team at waters edge church.  over the next couple of weeks, we will be making a move to atlanta, ga. where i have accepted a position at browns bridge community church.

this change is a little bittersweet for us. we have been blessed to be a part of what God is doing at waters edge and are grateful for our time here.  i served with a great staff and had the privilege of leading some of the most amazing volunteers i've ever met. we love and appreciate each of them, and we will miss them.

but, at the same time, we are immensely excited about joining the team at browns bridge!  i am humbled to be joining such an amazing team of leaders, working to accomplish the greatest mission on the planet... leading people into a growing relationship with Jesus.  

browns bridge is one of three campuses of north point ministries in the atlanta area. the other two are north point community church and buckhead church.  

my position at browns bridge will be director of guest services. i'll be a part of the ministry services team, led by my good friend casey ross.  i'll explain a little more of what my specific role means in a later post.  

for now, we will be wrapping things up in virginia to begin making our transition to atlanta. we would greatly appreciate your prayers as we begin working through the details of the move. i will post updates as often as possible on this blog, and more frequent updates via twitter.

guess what?

miller, party of four...
coming february, 2010.

on vacation...

i'm taking an email / blogging / twitter / facebook... pretty much any form of social contact... break for the next 8 days.

kristi, logan and i are on vacation in cape hatteras.  it's our first trip to the outer banks... and so far, we love everything about it.  it's a little change of pace from the south carolina beaches we're accustomed to, but we like change.

i'm looking forward to some much needed down time with my family.  see you when we get back...

grand opening

our grand opening on sunday was unbelievable. i'm still trying to wrap my brain around everything that happened over the weekend. it's ridiculous. stories of people who walked in the doors of a church for the very first time. stories of how people ended up there... and stories of the people who invited them. stories of people's lives that were changed. wow.

in case you're curious, sunday numbers shake down something like this...

:: 75 - number of first time KIDS on sunday.

:: 409 - total number of preschoolers and kids on sunday.

:: 81 - connection cards. this how people tell us they want to take a next step... i.e. groups or strategic service.

:: 400 - a conservative estimate of first-time guests on sunday.

:: 1,923 - total attendance across 4 services. incredible!

and look... i know it's not all about the numbers. i get that. but come on... those numbers are crazy. to give you some perspective... my first sunday here, last november, waters edge broke 1,000 for the first time ever on a non-holiday. 

7 months later... we almost broke 2,000. 

where's jake?

here's jake.

yes. i do realize that it has been over a month since i've updated my blog. feel free to keep pointing it out to me every time i see you... i don't mind. it's nice that you notice... it feels good to be missed. i hate that i haven't posted in so long... life has just been to flippin' busy to blog. 

what's been keeping me occupied? three things...

:: our brand new building. that, in and of itself, has kept enough on my plate to feed an army. this sunday, may 31, we open up our brand spanking new building... and it is sweet! it's amazing. but getting this building open has brought its fair share of challenges. we've had some delays. we've called some audibles. we've implemented some new systems. our staff has been stretched a ton during these last few months... and i'm so proud of the effort that's gone into getting this building ready. i can't wait to see what God does in the coming weeks... 

:: sunday's coming. a little phrase that means a lot. in the midst of all the preparations for the new building that have kept so much on our plates... we've still had a sunday to prepare for each and every week. no small task. but again... so proud of our staff and volunteer teams. we finished our portable days strong. in the midst of all that's been going on, sundays haven't suffered. pretty remarkable. 

:: my family. easily the most important of the three. i've been putting in more hours at work, which translates to less hours at home. that means the precious time i get with my family is just that... precious. when i'm not working, my attention and energy is on my family. they have been, and always will be, my number one priority.

i really love my job... and i really, really love my family. when i'm at work, waters edge gets 100% of me. when i'm at home, my family gets 100% of me. i used to carve out little pieces of time here and there to post... but those pieces of time have become fewer and fewer. doesn't mean i'm never going to blog again... just means you shouldn't count on daily posts. i love the fact that a couple hundred of you still drop in here on a daily basis. it's really cool... and i hope you'll keep coming back.

jake :: unfiltered

if you've ever had surgery, you know they give you some pretty heavy drugs beforehand. the most remarkable thing about the drugs they give you is that you think you're totally coherent but you have absolutely ZERO recollection of what you've said when you "wake up". 

until now. 

thanks to the quick thinking of my beautiful wife, i have a record of what i said in my drug induced state. as i lay in my hospital bed, COMPLETELY UNFILTERED... she took notes. i thought i would share a few (not all) of the nuggets of wisdom i dropped on the nurses and doctors (edited, of course... we're trying to keep this PG-13).

:: "dude, i feel like i'm drunk. i haven't felt like this in a long time." // at this point, the nurse apparently looked at kristi and asked how long we had been married. she was worried kristi was getting ready to find out some things about me she didn't know...

:: referring to the oxygen tubes in my nose // "i'm gonna pick some boogers and leave them on this thing for a surprise."

:: still referring to the oxygen tubes // "this d--- thing is making my nose itch."

:: referring to my itching nose // "i can put a lot of stuff in my nostrils." (i have no idea.)

:: "i think this is how we should interview people at waters edge." kristi asked why. "because this stuff is like truth serum."

:: apparently i've spent too much time in our elementary environment because i busted out a little "rainbow" from hillsong kids. apparently i even tried to do the motions in my bed. i'm sure it was amazing.

and my personal favorite... 

:: to kristi... "i think that nurse just grazed my wee-wee (shut-up. i have a two year-old. that's what we call it). don't worry, it didn't turn me on. it scared me a little. i was like... 'lady... don't be touching my (um... the medical term would be "testicles")."

honestly... i'm just thankful i didn't say worse.

update on will

so i have some great news about my nephew will. 

if you're just tuning in, will was born prematurely on march 12, and has had a pretty tough first few weeks of life in the nicu. in fact, this time last week, things really didn't look very promising at all. one of the most troubling issues was that he wasn't eating, and doctors were doing tests on his brain to rule out some pretty significant complications. 

after several days, the test results came back completely normal... and not only that, will began eating almost immediately! our bold prayer had been that he would drink a full bottle in one feeding. you have to understand... he had not managed even a quarter of a bottle in one feeding at that point.

things really began looking better, and doctors said that if will could consistently feed, they would send him home. since late last week, he's had full bottles at each feeding! simply amazing. 

this morning... will woke up at home with his mommy and daddy. 

thank you so much for your prayers for will, clint and kelly. they have been so encouraged by them. i don't know that will is completely out of the woods yet, but we're rejoicing in the fact that he is home now, and getting better. i know they would appreciate your continued prayers going forward.

meet will.

this is will.
will is my brand new nephew.
(beautiful, isn't he?)
will had to be delivered via emergency c-section last friday... 6 weeks early.
among other things, he has some serious issues with his heart.
through his first few days on earth, though, will has proven to be a fighter.
he still has a tough road ahead... but he's improving.
he's currently in the nicu @ greenville memorial hospital.
if you don't mind... please pray for will, and my brother & sister-in-law, clint & kelly.
thanks.

eleven.

today is march 5th. 

march 5th is a significant day in my life... and a day i think of often. eleven years ago, on march 5th, my mom lost her battle with cancer. 

on this day last year, i posted these thoughts on the 10th anniversary of her death. the words i wrote then are the words i feel now. rather than trying to capture my thoughts again, i'll let those words speak for me today. feel free to read them if you have a moment.

as a side note... this sunday, we're starting a new series @ waters edge called "in the dark". the premise of the series is that some of us are destroyed by our circumstances, while others of us are defined by them. during this series, i'll be sharing part of my story of dealing with the loss of my mom at a young age... clearly one of the most defining moments of my life.

snow day

me and my boy

abc's & 123's from jake miller on Vimeo.

this is my boy.
it was a big week for him...
first time sleeping in a "big boy" bed.
first time using the "big boy" potty.
first time saying his abc's and counting to ten.  
so...
indulge me for a couple of minutes.

thank you.

can't say enough how much kristi and i appreciate the prayers, kind words, and encouragement from so many of you over the past several weeks. you have no idea how much of a blessing it has been to us.

i don't really have any great words of wisdom or enlightenment to share, but as we've continued to process all of this, we've been learning a lot about ourselves and each other. we've seen God at work in our lives in very real, very tangible ways. this little baby that we never got to meet has impacted our lives forever.

we can't thank you enough for everything you've done to help us as we walk through this. we realize it's going to take some time to heal, but we are confident that healing will come.

life.

that is my child.

the one you've been praying for over the last week.

we went back to the doctor for an ultrasound yesterday.

thump-thump, thump-thump, thump-thump...

they found a heartbeat!

it's still early, but all indications are that we have a very healthy pregnancy.

kristi is feeling great and no longer showing signs of complications.

your prayers and encouragement have been overwhelming.

we will never be able to thank you enough. 

you have no idea what it means to us.

what it means to our baby.

each one of you has already played a role in my child's story. 

one day... he/she will thank you.

we serve an amazing God. praise to the father who breathes life!

for you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. i praise you, for i am fearfully and wonderfully made. wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. my frame was not hidden from you, when i was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. how precious to me are your thoughts, o God! how vast is the sum of them! if i would count them, they are more than the sand. i awake, and i am still with you. 

psalm 139: 13-18 (esv)

baby update & moving...

just a quick update on the baby…

we don’t know much more than we did a few days ago, but kristi is feeling great and showing no signs of the complications we were having earlier in the week. this is very encouraging! we have our next doctor’s appointment scheduled for this friday, the 30^th and another ultrasound scheduled the following monday, february 2^nd. we hope to know more following those appointments, but until then, we’ll keep playing the waiting game.

kristi and i can’t begin to express how thankful we are to have the prayers and support of so many people. we’ve been overwhelmed by the amount of emails, calls, facebook messages, etc. that have been streaming in over the last 5 days. we've heard so many encouraging stories, and kind words. we are so grateful to have people, literally all over the world, praying for us and for our child. thank you all so, so much.

and a quick update on moving...

in the midst of everything that’s been going on, i failed to mention that we found a house in virginia! we are so excited about it, and can't wait to get settled in to our new home! that being said, we’ve been back in greenville, sc for the last few days, spending a little time with family and friends, and getting the rest of our house packed up. the movers are coming to pick up our stuff bright and early tomorrow morning!

i’ll post more details about the house soon, and updates about the baby as often as i have them. right now, i have to go finish packing!