Hello to our loved-ones, friends, family....

We are happy to announce the good news regarding the arrival of Elijah David Zenz!

Facts and Figures:

He was born on his due date, October 21 at 7:57 am

Weight 7 lbs 3 oz, Length 21.5 in

Mom is doing great.  She was hoping he'd come early, so she feels like he was a week and a half overdue.  But we are very happy to be on this side of the event.  Amity had a rough last two months as she dealt with kidney stones on top of the pregnancy.  Those had cleared up in the last three weeks, but prior had caused much pain and a multitude of trips to the hospital.   Baby is a great eater and Amity is excited about watching DVD episodes of "Lost" as she tends to him through the nights.

Elijah has been declared "cute as pie."  As of yet he doesn't resemble any of his siblings, but he is the EXACT replica of his Poppie, Amity's dad.  Just without the mustache.  So far Elijah mostly sleeps.  He makes creaky squeaky noises when awake.

As most of you know, we put a huge amount of thought and care into the names of our children, viewing a name not just as pleasant sounding identifier, but rather a lifelong Gift.

Elijah has been a longtime favorite Bible character, and David is both my Dad's name and my middle name.

There is a wealth of meaning in the name and story of Elijah if our little guy chooses to glean it someday.  Elijah translated is "The Lord is God."  One of the most riveting stories in the Bible is the Mount Carmel showdown between Elijah and the prophets of Baal played out before the people of Israel.  Since it is a familiar story to many of you I won't relay it all here.  (If not, I recommend reading it!)  But here is one thing I love about the story: Elijah's prayer.  Elijah finds himself in a contest to see whose 'god' will send fire to light a sacrifice made on an alter of stone.  The prophets of Baal have been calling on their god all day with no results.  Now it's Elijah's turn.  After dousing the alter with pools of water no less, Elijah prays in 1 Kings 18:36, "Let it be known today that you are God....  Answer me, O Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, O Lord, are God...."

Notice what he doesn't pray for...  He doesn't ask God to help him win the challenge.  He doesn't even ask for God to send fire!  His one request is that the people watching would know that "the Lord is God."

And what does the Lord do?  The sacrifice doesn't just light.  Fire falls from Heaven and burns up the meat, burns up the stones, burns up the pool of water, burns up the very dirt around the alter.

And how do the people respond?  Verse 39: "When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, "The Lord - He is God!  The Lord - He is God!"

Awesome!  A man whose name was "The Lord is God," whose prayer was "The Lord is God," and whose life led the people around him to declare "The Lord is God."

And what a great reminder for us about what is REALLY important in life.  More than our trials.  More than our victories.  The most important thing in life is to Know increasingly that the Lord is God and to share it with the people around us.  I pray that God would make me a man like that, and that he would make Elijah David Zenz a man like that.  We hope his name is a gift that assists him on his wee journey.

May the Lord Who is God bless you all,