Here’s a short video for our family and friends Kara put together last night per Lucas’s birth. Enjoy!

Lucas Joshua from Kara Graves on Vimeo.

Here’s film from just after the birth of Lucas. I think he’s about twenty minutes into his “out of the womb” experience in this clip. For the record: he survived the paparazzi.

Lucas is four weeks old today. Here’s a fun photo for you.
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Everything in me says “yes” to the truth of this statement: The opposite of love is not hate, it is indifference.

My time as a husband, father, son, brother, friend, minister, teacher, coach, and writer bears witness to the accuracy of this statement.

But [...]

Today, during the teaching time at church, Patrick made the point that one of the primary reasons life is precious is because it is temporary. “There will be a last time. A last time to hold hands with your spouse, children, grandchildren, and friends.” If life was permanent, it would be altogether different. 

Kids won’t always [...]

Here are the top clues indicating you might have a new baby living in your house:
There’s a barely legible sign hanging on your front door that reads, “Mom, Dad, and baby sleeping . . . please come back another time.”
Budget money reserved for Tigers tickets is now used on (very expensive) diapers.
Coffee is the new [...]

If you have not read this inspiring slant on vocation, check it out.
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Aside from reading books about parenting (Anne Lamott’s Operating Instructions being at the top of that list), I’ve been reading through Eugene Peterson’s Tell it Slant. Thinking I’d read Peterson to balance all the baby/parenting stories and wisdom of the last seven days, [...]

I’m a big fan of the song “You Are So Beautiful.” I like most (not all) of the versions that have been produced over the last few decades. Joe Cocker’s version is probably my favorite. There’s something deeply soulful about it. Something simple. Something beautiful.
The song fell out of favor in the Graves house a [...]