Tuesday, December 23, 2008

2008 - the year in review

consider this our christmas card...

in 2008, no one had any major medical issues or operations... we consider this a success.

charlie turned 1 yr. old in may - despite his already having been wearing clothes made for 2 yr. olds. he has already had 3 haircuts, and is developing into quite the comedian. he also has a vocabulary that is pretty extensive, as long as the word starts with "b".

he started day care 3 days a week in august and after adjusting, really came to enjoy it. he has made several friends, and even has one little gal who cries if any one but charlie sits next to her. while waiting to pick him up one day, christi and i also spied him following two girls around hugging them over and over again.
that's right, i have discovered that my boy is a hit with the ladies. and why wouldn't he be? he is built like a super hero, yet has a senstive side, is very handsome, and is a bit mysterious (why does he like to play with my deodorant and stick his head in the garbage can?).

we have also discovered through the daycare process that he must taste pretty good, as on three separate occasions he has had disturbing fang shaped flesh wounds. our little gentleman has yet to retaliate, only to look quizzically at the pint sized cannibal as if to say "why would you do that?" then he cries. he is after all, a lover, not a fighter. (see above).


christi got to take a mini vacation in october and went to a conference with her mom and other ladies from our former church. she did quite well in her first extended leave from charlie.
she will finish up the semester teaching and then move into being a stay at home mom, which she has been looking forward to for a long time. we are both excited, but not as much as charlie will be. probably because she has never bitten him.

i am one class away from graduating from seminary. one final class stands in the way of my masters degree. and of course that class is a class in hebrew exegesis and syntax.

on the other hand, this fall i started taking tae kwon do again (i took it awhile when i was young) and made my way through three belt tests, currently being an orange belt. as a tennessean, that is better than a black belt. i also broke three boards- two with my hand and one with my feet. so if hebrew doesnt quite work out, i could have a career waiting for me as either a lumberjack or an infomercial star selling my own home exercise/defense videos.

christi and i have been married for four years now (nov. 20) , and by year 5 will have two children. our daughter is due to join us in april. her room is already painted in our new house and christi and her mom and sisters have already picked out the assorted things that a little girl needs. i have begun the process of looking into girls only k-college schools. i will also practice cleaning my guns on friday and saturday nights. i may also practice making various hors d'Ĺ“uvres so that in about 15 years when her "friends" come over, i can serve them on platters i broke with my bare hands...right in front of them.

the last day of november, the cave city baptist church voted to call me as their pastor, and so we have been in the process of moving and packing. [see previous post if this is news to you]
charlie has had his moments where he looks around wondering where all of his stuff is going, but he seems to deal with it pretty well. or he is suppressing it to blame us for his problems in adolescence. either way, packing is going well.

our new address is:

stephen christi and charlie cavness
601 e. broadway st.
cave city, ky. 42127

our cell phone numbers will remain the same.

we are moving on new years eve, so we will literally start the new year in a new town in a new house, with a new job, and other things that are new, or at least residing in a new place. we are looking forward to what the lord has in store for us in 2009. we will keep you updated, so check back here periodically...

to you and yours,
merry christmas and a very blessed and christ -centered new year.

from the cavni'



stephen, christi, and charlie (and coming, spring, 2009, piper) [read that in the movie announcer voice and it is even more exciting!)

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

pulling up stakes...

after about 6 weeks of meetings, phone conferences, traveling for further discussions, and preaching for the congregation, i have accepted the full time position of pastor at cave city baptist church in cave city, ky. we will be moving on dec. 31st and our first sunday with our new church family will be jan. 4th.

we are very excited and are looking forward to the transition. the church is much larger than where we have been, bringing with it much more responsibility- which is both exciting and terrifying.

we ask for prayer regarding the following:

1) resigning and leaving our current church.- i have been part time/bi-vocational there for nearly 2 years. as is typical in a small church, we have grown very close to them and they to us. they knew that i would eventually move on to something full time, but it is still hard when the time actually comes. pray for them as they seek their next pastor.

2) the move - my bad back (2 surgeries) will not allow me to do much in the way of physically moving, which puts us at the mercy of people in louisville who are willing to show up to help us load and un-load the truck. also christi being 6 months pregnant and charlie being the first (and currently only) grandchild on the "allen" side of the family makes for competing emotions to say the least. pray for charlie as well, that he would adjust to his new home and surroundings well.

3) trust and faith in the face of changing lifestyles - christi will not be working and our daughter (piper) is due in april. we prayed about this a lot before moving forward with the process. we feel like this is what the lord wants from us, so we know he will provide. we just ask that you pray that we would trust him in every way.

4) the most obvious, that the lord would be glorified, that the gospel would be promoted effectively, and that i will be an obedient follower and minister of christ as i lead his church at cave city.


here are a couple of pictures of where we will be. we will have an extra bedroom in the parsonage, so visitors are welcome!



front corner of the church as seen from the intersection


from the back corner of the parking lot

the parsonage/church owned pastor's home. it is roughly 100 yards from the church with a gigantic fenced in backyard for the kids. between the house and the church is a large playground that i am sure will take charlie .5 seconds to fall in love with.
we will give more info and updates as they come....

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

we're having a girl!

that's right! the 2nd cavni' baby is a girl.


we are certain that charlie will be a good big brother to his little sister, piper...


because he was crazy about his little cousin alex!

the ultrasound technician said everything looked great and all seems to be well...praise the lord for his mercy and grace. we look forward to welcoming
piper elisabeth cavness
in april!