Nathan Miller

The title says it all…this is a much needed update to my blog.  So much has transpired since my last post. Since the last post, my little girl has continued to grow so fast. It’s unbelievable how fast your children grow! Hannah is now 5 months old. Her personality shows up more and more every day, and she is such a joy to be around. Josh will be turning 2 on December 12th. I simply cannot believe it. It seems like just yesterday I was holding that little infant in my arms. On December 5th, Jenny and I will have been married for 5 1/2 years. I can truly say these have been the best 5 1/2 years of my life. I am so blessed to have a wonderful wife like Jenny. I would not be the man I am today without her!

I’ve also been to Israel and back since the last post. What a wonderful opportunity to see the Holy Land! Maybe I can post something on it later, but all I can say is that it was the trip of a lifetime. I’ll never read my Bible the same again. When you get over there and see where all the stories took place it brings everything to life. One lesson that stands out is how practical Jesus was in his teaching. If you read the Biblical passage standing where He would have delivered the message, you see how He used the world around Him as the illustrations for His teaching. It’s a great lesson for all teachers of the Bible to apply.

We’ve also moved closer to our goal of church planting. As many of you know, we are planning on starting a church in the Raleigh, NC area. Currently I am looking more specifically at a suburb outside of Raleigh called Knightdale. With the completion of a new section of the I-540 bypass around Raleigh, this sleepy little town has been the location of a massive influx of people. In fact, the Raleigh area as a whole has exploded. There are 167,000 people projected to move into the area between 2008-2014. This massive growth, combined with a general lostness makes Raleigh a prime spot for a church plant. Knightdale itself has grown 69.9% since 1990. It has attracted my attention not just because of the growth, but because no other church planters have been going there. In other news, about a month ago Jenny and I had our church planting assessment. This was a huge step to go through. With the completion of the assessment, we have the green light to continue through the planting process. As more developments arise, I’ll keep you posted, but continue to keep us in your prayers as we seek the Lord’s will for future ministry.

Lastly, I want to invite all of you to be a part of our prayer network. I know many of my readers are already on my e-mail list, but we need more. Prayer is the fuel for the journey! Without prayer we could do nothing! I will be sending out prayer updates about every other week unless an urgent need arises. I would like to ask all of you to pray for us at least once a week. If you would like to get our prayer e-mail click here to send me a message. You can also follow me on facebook or twitter. I update both of these daily, and you’ll be able to stay up to date with me there.

Okay, so I know I’ve been bad about updating again. I guess time flies and I forget how long I go without writing. That or I’ve resigned myself to dumping my thoughts on twitter. You can always stay more up to date there.

I do, however, want to do a quick family update. Most of you should know that our second child, Hannah Ruth was born on June 22nd. Both Mom and Baby are doing great. We are transitioning to a four person home quite well. It’s interesting to see Josh interact with her. Sometimes he can be a wonderful and sweet big brother, and other times he attempts to rip Hannah out of my arms. He is still a daddy’s boy and doesn’t like anyone, even his sister invading his turf. I have to say that being a father is one of the greatest things I’ve ever experienced in my life. I am truly grateful to God for the family that he has given me.

There’s more that can be said, but I need to run. I do want to tell you about a set of posts that I’m going to do in the future. One is on reading, how to read, what to read, etc… It’s based off of a series of blogs run by my Seminary, Southeastern. More to come later. I also want to talk about a great book I just finished last week called Crazy Love. Stay turned for the updates, and here are some pictures. (More in the gallery!)

With every passing day I am amazed at the love that grows in my heart for my son. Fifteen months ago, God chose to bless us with the most amazing child. I’m sure that every parent thinks that of their children, but if you ever meet Josh you’ll agree with me. Since becoming a father the Lord has used Josh to teach me many lessons about His love for me.

I love Josh so much, and I only want the best for him. Because of that love I will set boundaries around his life. These boundaries are for his good and protection. I don’t want him to stick his hands in the fire because it will hurt, yet it amazes me that he still chooses to disobey me. The thing is, we do the same to God. He loves us so much, far more than I can ever love Josh. There are things that He told me not to do. Not because He doesn’t love me, but because He does. He wants the best for me just like I want the best for Josh. But His best comes with obedience! He wants me to live a victorious Christian life, but that can only happen if we live within those boundaries. Yesterday I took a much needed day off, and I spent the day with my family at the Georgia Aquarium. We had a wonderful time, but the thing that I enjoyed the most was seeing the joy on my son’s face. I also loved the fact the he didn’t want to be with anyone except daddy. He wouldn’t let anyone, even Pop Pop, hold him. Of course I didn’t mind holding him all day, but this got me thinking. How much more does my Heavenly Father receive joy when we are living rightly before Him and experiencing the fullness of His joy? How much more does God enjoy our delight in Him? How much more does He enjoy the time that we spend with Him?

Being a father makes me a better man! I love how my son adores me, but this also brings great responsibility. Josh wants to be like me. He makes faces like me. He dances like me (which is not very good). He wants to work on what I am working on. Last night before I went to bed, I slipped into his room to look at him as I often do. As I stood over his bed, I thought about how God might use him one day for His Kingdom work. But I also thought of the great responsibility that I have. Josh is my son, but more importantly he is God’s child. I am a just a steward of this little life. I pray that I will live a life worthy of honor so that my son might grow up to become a man of God. I pray that I will not be a stumbling block for my son to trip over. If I fail in my life before God, then my son will more than likely fail. That thought alone spurs me on to be a better man!

There is more that I can say, but I will defer until later. I did want to leave you with a few pictures of my little man! Enjoy!