A Righteous Just Warrior

Justus Drew Burger

This is the name of our second son.
Strong. Meaningful.
and more importantly, goes well with BURGER...i mean come on, lets be honest.

Justus
Righteous. Just. Fair.
There are three mentions of Justus's in Scripture. The first is the most commonly known, Joseph of Barsabas called Justus, was elected along with Matthias to become an Apostle after Judas of Iscariot fell. Acts 1:23.
Although the aforementioned Justus is great, we are taken more by the next two for various reasons. The second one mentioned is in Acts 18:7. Justus' home adjoined the synagogue in Corinth and he received Paul into his home when the Jews opposed him. Paul considered Justus' home his own synagogue. Paul's description of Justus is simply this, A worshiper of God. I LOVE IT!
And the third Justus mentioned is in Colossians 4:11 is a great friend of Paul's during the same years that Paul wrote to Titus. So Titus and Justus both were followers of Christ and friends of Paul. It could be that they ministered alongside one another at some point! cool to think about!

(funny side note, when I was in j-high and high school i had a running list of names i wanted my sons to be and both Titus and Justus were in the top three...i wont reveal the third in case the Lord sees fit to bless! hehe!)

Drew
Warrior. Man. Wise.
The name Drew came from a dear friend of ours Drew Barker. Drew is a 17 year old boy from Midland TX. He is a wonderful example of what we hope our boys to be in their young adult years. He loves the Lord, loves his family and is fun to be around. Drew has the perseverance of a warrior, just like his name. When things are hard, he is strong and gentle all at the same time. He loves children and has taken Titus in as his own little brother. He is a hard hard worker and has the heart of a true servant. I could go on and on about Drew and his sweet family and all the Lord has done in our lives through them, but that will have to be an entire post of its own.

So that's the name....what do you think?

His Voice

It is exciting times around the Burger house. We are expecting Son #2, Titus has become a Pre-Schooler and the work we do in Sudan is becoming its own Non-Profit! His Voice Inc. is the official name. We had our first Executive Board meeting this week and it went GREAT! Vernon asked me to do all the media for the presentations and I had a blast working on the power point and the movies. I always love a new challenge so instead of using the old movie maker from our PC I decided (the day before) to use iMovie on our Mac. It was fun for me to figure out a new program but as the day passed and hours until the meeting got closer, my perfectionism had to be tamed. So here is the finished product. One day on a new program....not perfection but LOTS of fun! enjoy!




***for iMovie Pros***
Please ignore the annoying photo transitions... I know how to do the transitions between the pics, it is just when I load a photo to imovie, it automatically makes the photo a 5 second movie by moving it....and surely there is a way to change this so if you know...please let me in on it, if you don't, just ignore i even said anything! hehe!

Titus' First Day of School

Titus started pre-school on Monday. He is enrolled in a great private school here in Fort Worth. He is in a two day program and LOVING IT. I, on the other hand, have had a bit harder time with it! You see, I always assumed that we would home school or send our children to a Classical School so they could get a Classical Education. So needless to say, school at three and a half kinda took me off guard! It came much earlier than expected! From 9 to 2 two days a week, its just me in the house. Quiet and calm...or more like...music I prefer (instead of HillsongKids or ClearmontKids) blaring while I work through the HUGE list I need to accomplish before boy #2 comes along. (oh and his name has been decided...so keep your eyes open for a post to come!)
For three and a half years its been me and Ty all day, just the two of us...and boy has it been fun! Lots of laughs, lots of hugs, lots of books read and lots of cars played. I have watched him go from an infant to a pre-schooler and I can hardly believe my eyes! Somedays I remember thinking, "oh! for a day with him at school so I can just be." But now it is here and I think about him all day, miss him and anticipate picking him up at his new little classroom. Don't get me wrong, I am enjoying this much needed time to organize and revitalize but it has still been an adjustment! So with all that said, here are some pics of his first day!And here is a little clip we made for Titus' cousin Ladan. They are a little over a week apart in age but 1000 miles apart in location! So we send videos back and forth...its so fun!

Titus' First Basketball Game

For your viewing pleasure we uploaded some footage from Titus' first YMCA basketball game. It was yesterday at a local elementary school. Somethings you need to know before watching this....
*the entire time he kept asking if we could just go home and "do art."
*Titus is in BLUE and is #11.
*Titus has never seen a basketball game and at practice they each have their own ball so the concept of only having one ball was very hard for him to grasp.
*Titus is 3 and most of his teammates are 4. And he is the only one who has never been on a team before, this team played soccer in the fall together.
*He couldn't understand why people would take the ball away him every time he tried to do anything.
*Vernon and I were both VERY competitive and into sports as a child. Titus....not so much...yet.

An Aussie Wedding
I got the privilege of photographing my good friends Harlie and Liz's wedding last weekend in Houston. I haven't edited them all but here are some i pulled out of the bunch to start...enjoy!

A Year in Review

I have tried to think of a way to sum up 2007 and have fallen short so I thought my IPOD would be telling of what the year held. So here are, to my best guestimation, the most listen to songs of the year and a little bit about each.

Inside Out- Hilsong United
I bought the United we Stand CD on iTunes before we left for Sudan Dec '06. While in Sudan this song became the song of our hearts. It continued into January '07 and has been song thousands of times in our home, in our church and in our hearts. Lord, let Justice and Praise become my embrace...what a cry! So many songs these days speak of our Love for the Lord, but this one states two ways in which we long to express our Love for the Lord...not just by praise alone but by acting towards Justice, Social and Spiritual Justice. Let it be Lord.

On the Go 3- an iPod mix
Came to My Rescue, A Reprise, None but Jesus, Selah, Fire Fall Down, No One Like You- Hillsong. This mix was what I ran to five days a week from January when we got back until April. This is not common for me, I usually burn out on songs, but each day the Lord met me on the tredmill, as I was reminded of my mortality. Also, this might be crazy, but sometimes when I hear a song, I know immediatly that it is the exact tempo of my natural running pace. Came to my Rescue is on of those. Even within the first 3 measures if this song comes on, i have to jog...its weird.

Hosanna- Hilsong United
if you are still reading, by now you might think i am obsessed with Hilsong United, and well i might be, but they put out some amazing music this year in particular. From April until now, I think there has been less than 20 days that i have not listen to this song. I know that is a little much but its just that good. The first time I heard this song, i was going to write a post intitled "Bye Bye Evenesence and Kelly Clarkson" Because these are the two I use to think i was when i was alone in the house or on the tredmill, but not anymore. This chick ROCKS...and she plays the guitar herself. Seriously. On a different note, this song cuts right to the core of my soul...Break my heart for what is Yours, Everything I am for your Kingdom's cause...Yes Lord. And then there is just just something about the word Hosanna. It is not common, it is not over used, it is set apart for the King of Kings. Hosanna in the Highest.

On the Go 4-
Devotion, Desparte People, Lead me to the Cross, Hosanna, For Those Who Are To Come. -Hilsong United
This is the same as On the Go 3 April until October, five days a week this was what I ran to. So powerful. It took me beyond my self and focused my heart on the Lord and on praying for others both here and around the world. This took my excersising to an entirly different level. I loved it.

New Day- Robbie Seay
I ll let this song speak for its self
I'm gonna sing this song
To let you know that you're not alone
And if you're like me
You need hope, coffee, and melody
..... It’s the calm of the storm that comes blowing in
It’s the springtime saying I'm back again
The clouds that roll by
Crossing moonlight
Me and you love – everything's alright
Standing in the rain with nowhere to go
Laughing and we're spinning and I hope that you
Remember this day
For the rest of your life
Me and you love – everything’s gonna be alright

This song came at a whirlwind time in our life and I am so grateful for it.

So much has happened this year and I am so thankful to the Lord for all He has done. To leave here are a few accomplishments/highlights.

Three successful trips to Sudan and back.
Our fifth move in 4 years.
Bought a home.
Made it through two semesters of Vernon being in school.
Issac had a surgry and is back in Sudan healthy.
Titus went from a toddler to a Pre-Schooler!
We celebrated 4 years of marrige!
We got to go to the DG conference again and hear Helen Rosevere
We held Thanksgiving at our home...an amazing feast.
We found out we are expecting our second SON!
Victor came to live with us from Sudan.

Thank You Lord for the many blessing. I'll be back with fun ideas for 2008!