She is here...

Ok I have been getting hate notes all over...."post on your blog about your new daughter..."
People when a new baby comes it takes all your time and energy...heehee....so thats my excuse..
Morgan Ashlee Kraemer is finally here. Mak we call her for short...get it?
Anyway, she was 6lbs 12 oz and born on December 7th. She has already been a really good baby...meaning she does not cry much. And of course Miss Ella loves being a big sister. She has been really fun to watch interact with Mak. I will post more soon. Just wanted to let you all know..here are a few pics....

Who would you choose?

I have been doing some thinking and reading. And looking at my life and seeing where God has brought me from and where He is continueing to bring me. And it blows my mind that He would use me to do what I do. I am so blessed and lucky to be a Youth Pastor. Never thought I would be that nor did I think I wanted to do that. But I am loving it. And I am loving seeing what God is doing in our lives, the lives of the youth, and also the lives of the college kids in our church. The one thing that I struggle with the most is haveing to preach on Sunday nights. I am going to try something a little new this week. I am going to just preach from the heart. I know that is a no brainer to some of you and you are wondering.."Well why didnt you just do that from the start?" Because I am a idiot thats why. I see how my dad preaches and how my brother preaches, and even how our Pastor here at this church preach. And they are AMAZING. I just get up there and read. I want to preach like them. I have been really working on this next sermon and praying about things and just evaluating why I am actually doing this. Do I totally trust Jesus? Am I doing this because I said I would follow him? Cause if I am doing it for any other reason then I am doing no justice to the Church as a whole. I am more of a hindering block. I want to be so much like Jesus that when people have a conversation with me, they will know who and what I stand for. They will know im a christian by my love. An amazing person from my church has emailed me and said some things that really sunk in. This person reminded me that I am not my dad, or my brother but that I am Pastor Scot. And God called me to do this for Him. And i need to accept that call and get going with it. Of course it was worded much more profoundly. Then I was thinking....ya know...I know this is what God called me to do. But am I really the type that God wants to lead?? Then this scripture came to my head:(message version)
1 Corinthians 1: 26-29
Take a good look, friends, at who you were when you got called into this life. I dont see many of "the brightest and the best" among you, not many influential, not many from high-society families. Isnt it obvious that God deliberately chose men and woman that the culture overlooks and exploits and abuses, chose these "nobodies" to expose the hollow pretensions of the "somebodies"? That makes it quiet clear that none of you can get by with blowing your own horn before God.

So that made it quit clear. I am doing this for Jesus. I dont have to preach like my dad or brother. As long as I am following Him, I cant go wrong.
Man, how many times is He going to have to remind me? He chooses who He feels is equiped for the job. Why do we doubt so much?

~Learning As I Go~
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Miss Ella

She was very busy working in this pic.....

just stinking cute
Miss Ella with her new puppy Mocha
This is our favorite past time...reading books on dogs...

Just amazingly cute....

The Joy of a Daughter

I was in Nashville TN from Thursday of last week until Monday of this week. I was there for a youth convention. It was great and I learned a TON. That is not why I am blogging today though. I will blog on that soon. But when I get there, my wife calls me and says, "Well I had the doctor appointment and the baby has dropped in place and I am starting to dilate." Lucky for us she did not have the baby but just means we are that much closer. And then I call the next day and Miss Ella was crying for me to rock her to sleep that night. Broke my heart. So I get home very late on Monday night so I just have to peek in on her. She is getting so big. Cant believe she is going to be 2 in Jan. Sick. Anyway, she gets up at 5 am. So I go in her room and crawl in bed with her. When she sees it is me, she hugs my neck (hard for a little one year old too) and starts to kiss my face. I then lie down next to her so we are looking at each other on her pillow. She starts to rub my face saying "daddy home, daddy home" At this point I am crying just a little, not enough for anyone to tell...but a little. And it just reminds me how great my life is. How awesome God is. And how much stinking fun it is to be a dad. Even of a girl who is entering her terrible two's.

~Learning As I Go~
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Christmas Through New Eyes

I had a good friend tell me once that when you get older, you dont feel the magic of Christmas that you once felt when you were a little kid. I guess I am still waiting for that time to happen. But then again I am a Christmas FREAK. To some it is a time for family and fellowship. To some it is a sad time when they are missing someone that is no longer here on earth. No matter what, it is a special time. And now that I am older and have a child and one on the way it makes it all that more real. My wife and I went Christmas shopping today. I know it is kinda early but the new baby is coming right before Christmas so we thought we better hurry up and do it while we can. We have however had our tree and some lights up for a while now. And watching Miss Ella look at them and touch the ornaments with that "awww" look in her eyes makes me think of when I was little. And how I couldnt wait for that day to come. I remember not sleeping a wink on Christmas Eve listening for any sound. And then finally being able to get out of bed. She cant even say the word clearly yet but I think she is beggining to understand it. My dad always read the Christmas story out of Luke to us before we opened gifts. At the time it would drive me crazy because I just couldnt wait to rip into the gifts. So it will be fun making Miss Ella sit through that. A tradition that we will uphold. With all the commercialism it is going to be tough teaching her the real reason for this day. Just fun to watch now. That magic is still there, just a different kind....and this year we will have two kids to enjoy it with...well hopefully, that is if baby #2 comes on time. Who knows we might celebrate this year in the hospital. Either way I better have my bible there...
Whats that famous quote from Linus..."And thats what Christmas is all about Charlie Brown..."
But then again...we need to get through Thanksgiving first....HA

~Learning As I Go~
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Door to the past

I am a history buff. I love it. My wife says I like it so much because if you think about it, it is nothing but a bunch of stories, stories of the past which is one of my favorite things. I am one of those people that love to sit down with a cup of coffee or pop or whatever and just catch up with an old friend or read a really good book.
My mom gave all of us kids a book of stories that my grandfather, her father wrote. They are stories of what was going on at that time, and the cool thing about it all is that it is all about my mom's family while they were growing up. He was such a great story teller. Last night I read so many different entries. I was laughing so hard at times. I actually got to see what life was like for my mom as a child. With her parents, siblings, and grandparents. There was one story where he tells how he found out my mom and dad were getting married. It was crazy to be reading all this. Gives you a whole new light to your family that is for sure. What is so funny is that my parents live in a very tiny town in ND called Carrington. And some of the things he was talking about I can picture in my head.....life has changed but no that much.
As I was sitting there reading it, I was thinking, my kids do not have anything like this. Nothing to see what it was like for us growing up.
With all the changes going on, we dont even have letters anymore. We do everything by phone of email. Our kids are kinda getting screwed out of a great deal of heritage.
I think I am going to start posting some of the funny things grandpa wrote. How he and grandmas relationship was and everything. He died before I was born, but with this book I can totally see what type of person he was.
Not sure....just on my mind today I guess....

~Learning As I Go~
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Pastor Scot???

First of all sorry for not posting sooner....so many thing have been going on that I cant even find my head half of the time.
We made it...we are now in Valley City North Dakota. And let me tell you....It is a lot colder here then where we just came from.
Our first Sunday was this past Sunday, and we have never felt more welcomed or loved as we did this day. The people were amazing. They welcomed all of us in...even had a little prayer for Miss Ella. And then they gave us a food pounding. It was incredible. We have so much food now. God is so amazing.
So now I just have to get use to being called Pastor Scot. That is something that will take some time. On Wednesday some one was just saying Pastor..Pastor...trying to get my attention. Well my dad and brother are pastors so I have learned to not respond....but turns out they were trying to get my attention. It was pretty funny.
Miss Ella LOVES playing in her new house and I think Crystal is really enjoying decorating our home. It looks so nice and already has a homey feeling.
Well now that I am getting more into all this I should be able to blog a little more. My two favorite holidays are comeing up....Halloween and Christmas...and it is already getting cold...maybe i will bust out the Christmas music early this year......wait who am i kidding, i have already been listening to it......

~Learning As I Go~
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The fish spit me out....

Well I have gotten several different responces to a few posts back where i talked about the modern day Jonah.
Crystal and I flew up to Valley City North Dakota, well we flew into Fargo ND, which is only a hour away. They interviewed both Crystal and I, and in October we are moving up there to be the youth and college pastors. We are excited/scared/excited/scared....
It is going to be hard for Crystal being so far from her parents and family but God will get us through. Just wanted to hurry and put up a post so the people who actually read this will know what is going on. I will write more soon. Oh...and we are going to get a house...FINALLY>...woohoo

~Learning as I go~
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Another book Review

“Celtic Christians had a name for the Holy Spirit–An Geadh-Glas, or ‘the Wild Goose.’ The name hints at mystery. Much like a wild goose, the Spirit of God cannot be tracked or tamed. An element of danger, an air of unpredictability surround Him. And while the name may sound a little sacrilegious, I cannot think of a better description of what it’s like to follow the Spirit through life. I think the Celtic Christians were on to something….Most of us will have no idea where we are going most of the time. And I know that is unsettling. But circumstantial uncertainty also goes by another name: Adventure.” --from the introduction


Author Bio:
Mark Batterson is the lead pastor of Washington , DC ’s National Community Church , widely recognized as one of America ’s most innovative churches. NCC meets in movie theaters at metro stops throughout the city, as well as in a church-owned coffee house near Union Station. More than seventy percent of NCC’ers are single twentysomethings who live or work on Capitol Hill. Mark is the author of the best-selling In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day and a widely read blogger (http://www.markbatterson.com/). He lives on Capitol Hill with his wife, Lora, and their three children.

Girl times 2....

We found out. Baby #2 will be another girl. So I will be a dad of 2 girls. Crazy. We are very excited. Cant wait. It will be a strange thing to watch Miss Ella as a big sister. I wonder how the adjustment will be. Just wanted to let everyone know. Oh...and we have a name picked out. Morgan Ashlee Kraemer.
~Learning as I Go~
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Modern Day Jonah......

I have been fighting this for a long time and just recently decided that fighting with God was pointless.....He is really working in my life right now and I am just not sure what direction I need go in. I know he is calling me in to some sort of ministry either youth, family, young adults or childre, not sure. We are still praying and not even sure what to look for or how to go about looking. I just know that I finally said yes to God, which feels great, just need to listen to see what He has in store. I feel like Jonah...I am not longer running, I am in the fish, and I am ready to get out......

~Learning as I go~
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SCARY MOVIES...

Anyone who knows me knows that I love to watch scary movies, even though I always regret it afterwords because I am such a chicken. Well this post isnt actually about scary movies but something close. So Miss Ella is growing up faster then I like or want, I tell her to stop but she just wont listen. She is learning new words everyday, and getting more and more independent. Cute to watch but also sad to think about. One day we were sitting there and not only do I love scary movies, my favorite to watch are any kids movies, mainly cartoons. We we have the cartoon The Jungle Book. Miss Ella was watching it and when the tiger comes on she starts to wine...I didnt think much of it because I just assumed she wanted her juice or crackers or something. Well the tiger gets off the screen and she is fine. Well Mr. Tiger comes back on the screen and she runs into the kitchen screaming...not loud screaming but you could tell something was wrong. I turned and looked to see what was wrong, and here is this cute little year and a half old peaking around the cabnets pointing to the tv and saying in the most pathetic voice ever "no...no...no.." then we realized...she was scared of the tiger. It was cute as could be but also sad to see. The tiger didnt do anythign bad at this point, she just knew that he was evil. Of course we took it out at that point but it got me thinking...this young she can tell that the character was bad, and scary. I hope as she gets older she will be able to figure out what is evil and what is good, figure she has a good start...she ended up watching the mupets...loves that piggy.
A few days later I put in the OLD OLD movie Labrynth....ya know the one with puppets and David Bowie...actually a really stupid movie, but entertaining just the same. Well Miss Ella walks into the living room and sees the Giblin puppets and puts her hands on her eyes and screams and runs out.....so yes she is more and more like her daddy...when I was little the first time i watched that movie i had to sleep with my older brother that night...and well for the week after. We will stick with the safe cartoons......

~Learning As I Go~
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She wants to be like me

Wow three posts in one day. Maybe I should start working...ha

Anyway, Miss Ella wants to be like her daddy...she even wears my work hat around.....really people how cute is this kid....and she is going to be a big sister.....YIKES...

~Learning as I Go~

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The heart break begins.....

As kids grow up they learn very fast at what they can and can not get away with. Even at the sweet young age of Miss Ella. But this one time...she was not being naughty like I thought. There have been a few times when we tell her not to do something and she will look you in the eye and get a sly little smile and do it as you are watching her, then smile really big and giggle...and of course daddy laughs and then it is all messed up.
So this week we were playing in the living room and having a great time. She took a book cover off one of her books and through it on the ground. I told her no (because she rips them) and said give it to daddy. She looks at me like what are you talking about? So i say it again a little firmer and she is still looking at me. And I think she is just being naughty because at times she is a stuborn (not sure where she gets that). So i say it again even more firm, and big tears swell up in her eyes....she is not crying yet, just has tears coming down her face and i can tell that she has no clue as to what i was saying to her. She wanted to do what i was saying but she didnt know what it was. So what happened was i was talking very firmly and she had no idea why. Here we were having a blast playing and then daddy becomes a big jerk face. And how I realized it was Crystal who is super mom came in and was saying "Babe...she has no clue what you are talking about...and you hurt her feelings" BROKE MY HEART when i saw her face. So I then picked her up and tried to explain to her....but of course she had no clue what i was saying and just put her head on my shoulder and sniffed......
KILLED ME.......
and this is just the beggining.
~Learning as I Go~
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Why do they grow up.......?

So when people tell you to enjoy your kids they grow up fast, it is completely true. Mind you Miss Ella just turned one in Jan. But she was this little tiny little baby. She decided this week that she was going to start talking more. It is so amazing to watch them grow and start to figure things out. The other day Crystal and her were coloring in her Charlie Brown coloring book, (yeah she is just like her daddy) and she noticed Charlie Brown on one of the pages opened her mouth all excited like and ran to her room and brought out her Charlie Brown stuffed doll. She was all excited because she put it together. And then this weekend we were sitting and she starting saying George. Not sure at first if she was actually saying anything because she babbles NON STOP...but finally she went and got her Curious George book. So she is starting to say more and put things together. Blows my mind to think that she is the same little kid that was just born a year ago. God knows what he is doing when he makes babies. And now here we are trying to get ready for #2. Sometimes I have to ask God what the heck we are going to do, and he just reminds me..."Dude, I am in charge, just sit back and enjoy....." Which I think i am going to do......

~Learning As I Go~
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For those who dont know...

For those of you who do actually read this I have some news. Crystal and I will be expecting another baby in December.....it was a surprise to us as well. Just thought I would fill you all in....
We are VERY excited and shocked and kinda numb all that the same time. Poor Crystal is getting sick already. How crazy....2 kids.....

~Learning as I go~
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ICE ICE BABY......

Ok, Leigh and Mindy you might be the only two who think this is as funny/cute as me but who cares.
So last night on the way home from church I found this really OLD CD that I burned a long time ago. Well the last song on the CD was Ice Ice Baby....I know old school. My wife and I were laughing that I even thought this song was cool enough to be on the cd, because it is a great cd. Anyway, Miss Ella was being VERY quiet...and anyone who knows my daughter knows she is ALWAYS babbeling. So we turned around and looked and this little girl was going to town dancing in her car seat. I mean she had her fist going, head shaking...and she was on beat. If was so funny. Of course as soon as she realized we were watching her and laughing she stopped. SO we turned around and watched her through the mirror. It was so funny and cute. So we played the song a few times. She loved it. We had a good laugh. Being a dad is fun....

~Learning As I Go~
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Being a dad is tough some times......

Of course I knew it would be. But I dont think there is anything in the world that can melt your heart like your baby girl. And yesterday...she was being a little naughty. She knows certain things that she is not supose to get into...and she will look at you with this devilish grin (which is mighty cute mind you) and touch whatever it is that she is not supose to touch or do what she shouldnt be doing. YOu tell her no...and she smiles all cute at you and gives you a hug. Well yesterday, she was doing something and I kept telling her no....and even getting a little loud about it. She was not listening, and kept touching the thing she should not. Mind you looking at me with that look the whole time. Well I finally had to slap her hand a little. Now dont freak out all you liberal morons......it was not abuse.
Anyway...she looked at me and was heart broken that I punished her. Normally that is a mama thing in our house. I have a problem with laughing at her. Anyway...she looked at my like how dare you. Rubbed her hand, (and mind you it was soft, didnt hurt at all) and just gave me that look. My heart broke, but i had to stay stong and told her that daddy said no. She stuck out her lip and cried a little. But then gave me a hug so i know she was not too upset. Its going to be a LONG road. Wonderful...but long.
~Learning as I go ~
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Church is where I got my Kite.

I was talking with a friend not to long ago. And we were discussing church. And his views on church are not at all very positive. So he asked me what I thought about it. And for some reason I said..."Church is where I got my kite." A memory from when I was very little popped in my head. He looked at me in a very confused way, so I said hold on and let me explain.
I cant remember how old I was, but we lived in Regent North Dakota, so I could not have been older then 4. I remember we lived right next to the church in a very small house. Anyway, I remember that the church was pretty much our life. WHen you live in a town that small, and your dad is the pastor of one of the only churches, it becomes your life. But one day we went out flying kites. We had great people in that church and I mainly remember the Wallaces, and three men who drove combine for them. Now I dont remember their names, but I do remember that I thought they were so cool. One reminded me of a guy from the dukes of hazard, and one had long hair and was a hippy type. Well anyway, we were all out flying kites, and I got a brand new kite with Alvin from Alvin and the Chipmunks on it. SO I thought I was something special. Some how being the amazingly independent 4 year old i was, I some how let the kite go, or the string broke, I am not sure, but I remember seeing the kite get higher and higher and then dissapearing. I was crushed. So was my mom and dad, and the great people who drove the combines. They looked and looked for that ALvin Kite, but it was gone. And of course being only 4, cried and was just mad. So back to church.......
That next Sunday, after dad had preached some one needed to make an annoucement. SO the one who looked like the dude from dukes of hazard gets up and calls me up there and gives me a Alvin Kite. I remember it very well, it was just like the first one, white kite with Alvin in his red hat and shirt standing there. I went back and sat down and mom was smiling at me. And right there i knew that this was a great thing to be involved with. For a little kid and his first kite, it was a huge moment for me.
Of course, church means more to me then just getting my kite. But it is so much more then a building. It is the people who are in that building, making a family feel like they are the most important people in the town. Doing the most random things for them. For going out and buying a little 4 year old his kite again.
I actually have not even thought of that story of my kite until this came up. Not sure if God put it in my head to remember the important things or what. But I often think of Regent, the Wallaces farm, and those Combine Drivers who made our life part of theirs.
~Learning As I Go~
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