"Big Papa"

It has been awhile since we've posted...nearly three months. Quite a bit has happened in those months. For one (and a major one), I (Michael) received a job at Southeastern Seminary as the News & Information Specialist (writer). Without going into great detail, the position entails marketing, writing, and traveling. As a great initiator, Jade has encouraged me (by a loving kick in the butt) to take on this full-time position. Already in the second week of training, I have had to relearn my entire structure of life that was formed and reformed in the past two years while at the Seminary. As a "different chapter" in our lives, this new job will drastically change how we think about money (cause obviously we'll be making more), how we tithe, where we live (we're possibly thinking about moving into a house), helping fund missionary friends going to the field, and many other decisions. Quite humorously and on a different note, Jade is giddy about the job because we now work in the same building. She's such a girl.
Another change has also entailed from this new position: I have become the "bread-winner" in the household. By no means am I boasted about the middle-grade income I'm officially making; rather, for the past three years, Jade has been the "bread-winner." She has been so patient and loving in remarkable ways, specifically as the predominant economic supporter for us (and Eli; he eats a lot of bones). Now, I have been given a new opportunity to be, what I like to call, "Big Poppa" (hence, Notorious BIG's pic above [who sang/rapped "Big Poppa"]). Whereas Jade was "Big Mama," who brought in the dollars supporting us financially, I am now "Big Poppa" (Yes, I walk around the apartment singing "Big Poppa," which Jade refuses to sing with me). But "Big Poppa" and "Big Mama" have new responsibilities: loving God and neighbor with new financial and economic responsibilities. We (Jade and myself) must realize that money is not the root of all evil, but it is the love of money that corrupts the heart (1 Tim 6:10). So, we're praying through this new transition period as to how we can love God with slightly larger wallet.