Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Blog Design Update
FYI: In order to take advantage of a new Blogger feature (adjustable column width), I updated the look of our blog. I wanted to make the text boxes wider. Hope you enjoy the changes, Steve
365 Days of Aaron: Day 1
365 Days of Aaron: Day 0 (Birth Day)
Friday, May 21, 2010
Introducing Aaron Kenneth Peterson
Vital StatisticsDate: Thursday, May 20th, 2010
Time: 9:06 pm
Weight: 8 lbs, 2 oz
Length: 20 1/4 inches
After hours of fighting to stay inside, Aaron was finally born last night. Diana's contractions started at 3am Thursday morning, growing in frequency and intensity until about 6pm. (We got to the hospital at 10am) At 6pm, the doctor "broke the bag" at 6 cm and she was fully dilated by 7pm and pushed with gusto until 9:06pm. All without any medications. Truly amazing!
We have obviously been getting ready for this for the last 9 months (plus an extra week) and have had plenty of time to get physically ready, buying all the stuff, setting up the house, installing the car seat, but I was not ready for the wave of emotion that came seeing Aaron enter the world in such a dramatic fashion and seeing Diana holding him for the first time (picture below). Wow is all I can say!
We did not know if Aaron was going to be a boy or a girl until last night, so naturally we had to have a boy's and a girl's name ready. (Diana has been determining our children's names since before we got married and has our first three boys and girls named) This, of course, did not come without a long discussion. Since I am partial to boys, I was more involved in the boys names and am particularly excited about Aaron Kenneth.
I like Biblical names and want each of our children to have names that have meaning and purpose. Aaron was chosen because we both liked the name, but also because there are a number of Aarons in our lives that we respect and admire. Aaron was also a strong spiritual leader for the Israelite people in the Bible and I want our Aaron to be a spiritual leader in his family and community. Kenneth was my dad's name and I wanted to honor his memory by using his name, particularly when our due date was May 13th, which is the day that he died. The name Kenneth means "handsome" or "good-looking," which our son already is, but my innermost desire and prayer is to see Aaron's life mimic the courage, determination and passion that my father had (and good looks too :).
So, welcome into the world Aaron and may God grow you into an amazing man after Your own heart.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Blogging from the kindle
I got a Kindle for my birthday and discovered that there is a basic web browser on it, so I had to see if I could blog using the Kindle. Right now, Diana and I are sitting in the doctor's office waiting to see the doc and I am blogging. The typing is pretty slow, but it works and that is cool! Okay, time to see the doc.
Friday, May 14, 2010
Peterson Update: and the decision is ...
Here is an email that I sent out to our email list. Let me know if you want to be added to the list.
Greetings! This email is long over-due and I hope that the suspense hasn't been killing you :) So, our decision is (insert drum-roll here): Cape Town. We finally made the decision late last week after some long deliberation and a deadline extension from the University of Cape Town. Quite a bit of agonizing went into the decision (see blog for more details), but ultimately it was made quickly. I asked for a extension from UCT because I wanted to give the University of Nairobi more time. Turns out the Vice Chancellor had been out of town and wasn't available to make a decision until last week. So, late last week, I got an email from the Physics Chair at Nairobi telling me that the Vice Chancellor had decided to conduct a full interview process with multiple candidates. The Physics chair estimated that it would take two months for the whole process to play out. So, I told Nairobi that I couldn't wait that long and accepted the offer at Cape Town on May 7th.
So, now what? We finally get to start planning our future. Lots of details yet to be determined, but this is what I can tell you. My start date is Sept. 1st, and we would like to be there 1-2 weeks early to get settled, so we will try to move in mid August. It also means that one big headache is resolved, mainly getting our stuff moved, because UCT will hire a moving company to move us, which is awesome. It also sounds like I will get to start teaching right away, which I am excited about. UCT's second semester starts in July and ends in Nov, but the Physics Chair told me he is working on getting me some time in the classroom once I get there.
Well, that is it! The decision is finally made! Thank you so much for your prayers and we will keep you posted on our plans and the arrival of the new Peterson, Steve & Diana
Greetings! This email is long over-due and I hope that the suspense hasn't been killing you :) So, our decision is (insert drum-roll here): Cape Town. We finally made the decision late last week after some long deliberation and a deadline extension from the University of Cape Town. Quite a bit of agonizing went into the decision (see blog for more details), but ultimately it was made quickly. I asked for a extension from UCT because I wanted to give the University of Nairobi more time. Turns out the Vice Chancellor had been out of town and wasn't available to make a decision until last week. So, late last week, I got an email from the Physics Chair at Nairobi telling me that the Vice Chancellor had decided to conduct a full interview process with multiple candidates. The Physics chair estimated that it would take two months for the whole process to play out. So, I told Nairobi that I couldn't wait that long and accepted the offer at Cape Town on May 7th.
So, now what? We finally get to start planning our future. Lots of details yet to be determined, but this is what I can tell you. My start date is Sept. 1st, and we would like to be there 1-2 weeks early to get settled, so we will try to move in mid August. It also means that one big headache is resolved, mainly getting our stuff moved, because UCT will hire a moving company to move us, which is awesome. It also sounds like I will get to start teaching right away, which I am excited about. UCT's second semester starts in July and ends in Nov, but the Physics Chair told me he is working on getting me some time in the classroom once I get there.
Well, that is it! The decision is finally made! Thank you so much for your prayers and we will keep you posted on our plans and the arrival of the new Peterson, Steve & Diana
Thursday, May 13, 2010
The anatomy of a decision
As always, I delayed in writing this, but here it finally is. I wanted to blog/journal about the recent decision process of choosing between the job offer at the University of Cape Town (UCT) and the potential offer at the University of Nairobi (UN). The benefits of each are outlined in previous postings, so I will not go there. What I want to talk about is what I learned/relearned about myself in this process.
My first confession is that I am not very good at making decisions. For those of who know me well, you know that this is true. I agonize over everything. Pretty sure that it will shorten my life. This decision was no different and there did not appear to be any clear leading towards one or the other. And when it boiled down to the moment of decision on April 30th, I couldn't do it. I asked UCT for a week extension and made a deal with God that if UN offered me a job during that week, that is where we were going. We'll never know if I would have keep that promise because the UN door was closed that week, ultimately making the decision straightforward, for which I am immensely grateful.
Now, my decision struggles was not something new, but as always my struggles brought me before God seeking guidance and direction. A couple of things that He pointed out to me is what I really want to share with you.
First, I have been listening to a book entitled Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell during my runs. Recently, I was listening to it and the author described having a breakdown in the midst of leading a wildly popular church. He visited a counselor and described that he was overwhelmed and wasn't sure why he was doing all of this. After talking through his problems for a while, the counselor pointed out that Rob was spending most of his time trying to please the people around him or being the "Super Pastor." The counselor reminded Rob that there is only one goal that he should pursuing: "to relentlessly pursue all that God had created him to be." Everything is secondary to that goal. As I thought about the decision that I was trying to make, who was I trying to please? I certainly wanted to help this guy in Nairobi. I wanted my friends and family to think that I was going to be a real missionary by going someplace more difficult, like Nairobi, instead a vacation spot, Cape Town. It just really made me stop and think about the motivations behind my indecision.
Second, I received the same Oswald Chambers post from two different people entitled The Graciousness of Uncertainty, which I am sure was not a coincidence. Oswald Chambers says things in a way that no one else can. The entire devotional is good, but what struck me was: "Naturally, we are inclined to be so mathematical and calculating that we look upon uncertainty as a bad thing," which is so true, but then he said: "We are not uncertain of God, but uncertain of what He is going to do next." Once again, I was struck by the misdirection of my focus. I was feeling like my/our entire future hinged on this one decision, but it wasn't true. God doesn't change and as long as I was focused on him and pursuing what He created me to be, the uncertainty in life would work itself out and could actually be exciting. Wow, now that is a concept!
Now, I can only hope that these ideas will stay with me as I continue to make decisions regarding our future (hopefully it will help to write it down). Just remember: I am striving to pursue what God created me to be and my focus is on God and not on the certainty surrounding me.
My first confession is that I am not very good at making decisions. For those of who know me well, you know that this is true. I agonize over everything. Pretty sure that it will shorten my life. This decision was no different and there did not appear to be any clear leading towards one or the other. And when it boiled down to the moment of decision on April 30th, I couldn't do it. I asked UCT for a week extension and made a deal with God that if UN offered me a job during that week, that is where we were going. We'll never know if I would have keep that promise because the UN door was closed that week, ultimately making the decision straightforward, for which I am immensely grateful.
Now, my decision struggles was not something new, but as always my struggles brought me before God seeking guidance and direction. A couple of things that He pointed out to me is what I really want to share with you.
First, I have been listening to a book entitled Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell during my runs. Recently, I was listening to it and the author described having a breakdown in the midst of leading a wildly popular church. He visited a counselor and described that he was overwhelmed and wasn't sure why he was doing all of this. After talking through his problems for a while, the counselor pointed out that Rob was spending most of his time trying to please the people around him or being the "Super Pastor." The counselor reminded Rob that there is only one goal that he should pursuing: "to relentlessly pursue all that God had created him to be." Everything is secondary to that goal. As I thought about the decision that I was trying to make, who was I trying to please? I certainly wanted to help this guy in Nairobi. I wanted my friends and family to think that I was going to be a real missionary by going someplace more difficult, like Nairobi, instead a vacation spot, Cape Town. It just really made me stop and think about the motivations behind my indecision.
Second, I received the same Oswald Chambers post from two different people entitled The Graciousness of Uncertainty, which I am sure was not a coincidence. Oswald Chambers says things in a way that no one else can. The entire devotional is good, but what struck me was: "Naturally, we are inclined to be so mathematical and calculating that we look upon uncertainty as a bad thing," which is so true, but then he said: "We are not uncertain of God, but uncertain of what He is going to do next." Once again, I was struck by the misdirection of my focus. I was feeling like my/our entire future hinged on this one decision, but it wasn't true. God doesn't change and as long as I was focused on him and pursuing what He created me to be, the uncertainty in life would work itself out and could actually be exciting. Wow, now that is a concept!
Now, I can only hope that these ideas will stay with me as I continue to make decisions regarding our future (hopefully it will help to write it down). Just remember: I am striving to pursue what God created me to be and my focus is on God and not on the certainty surrounding me.
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