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~
One-T

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~
One-T

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~
One-T

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~
One-T

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~
One-T