Graduation Celebration

Well, you should all know by now that Deborah is incredible! Here is another example of her awesomeness: Last Friday, I finished my last seminary class! After 5 busy years, Deborah wanted to do something special for me as a celebration. She went straight to the sweetspot of my heart: FOOD!

I am a real food snob - if it bothers you, blame my parents because they raised me to be that way. I grew up eating at some of the best restaurants in the southeast. So, now, my passion for good food and the culinary arts are still as strong as ever. Here in Athens, we have some really wonderful restaurants, with 5 and 10 being the premier restaurant in this city. Hugh Acheson is the head chef there, and he is AMAZING. He won best new chef from Food and Wine among other things.

We have eaten at 5 and 10 a few times to celebrate our anniversary, and each time it gets better. I was able to meet Hugh at Deborah's cousins wedding two summers ago when he catered the reception - it was a great experience.

So, Deborah pulled off a big surprise and had Hugh Acheson come to our house last night and cook for us!!!!!!!!! When he came to the door, I was so confused to see Hugh with a bunch on cooking supplies! He spent 2 hours in my kitchen, using my cookware, cleaning all of the dishes he used, serving us at the table, and talking our heads off about the restaurant business, cooking secrets, and funny stories about our kids.

It was probably the coolest thing that anyone has ever done for me! I was so incredibly blessed, and I believe that I had a perma-smile on my face the whole night. I woke up this morning still thinking about the experience. Below is what was on the menu:

- Spinach salad with grilled pear, maytag blue cheese, walnuts, and shallot-thyme vinaigrette

- Tomato and bread soup with homemade pimento cheese grilled cheese sandwich

- Poached beef eye of ribeye with shitake mushroom duxelle, broccoli gratin, and simple jus

- Peach cobbler with homemade peach ice cream

Wesley is BACK!!!!!

Hey everyone - Let me first answer a question from the fan mail: "Clay, your blog is so totally boss. Can you please let me know why you have not been writing during the past month? I heard that you fast a lot - are you fasting blogging?"

No, I have not been on a blog 'fast.'

OK, so now that the fans are satisfied, let me give you an update on our ministry. We had our first wesley of the school year this past Wednesday. We are meeting this year in a large room in the new student center that is called, Tate 2 (since the original student center is called the 'Tate Center'). Tate 2 is located right in the middle of campus beside the stadium, and it is a perfect location for students who live both on and off campus to congregate.

We had been spending the majority of our time the past few weeks getting ready to load in our sound and lights, but two days before our service, we found out that we were going to be able to use the stage, lights, and sound that had been set up for the Kellie Pickler concert!!! As you look at the pics below, you will notice how 'professional' it appears. We certainly were blessed by it all, but this week we will be back to normal - Wesley level sound and lights, which is on a campus ministry budget level!

The night of the service, students started pouring in from everywhere once we opened the doors. Having been here for quite some time, both Deborah and I know that the first night is always the biggest. But, despite our prior experiences, it never gets old to see students hungry to meet with the Lord after being away from Wesley all summer. The crowds kept growing and growing till we were bulging out of every side of our new room! The front 'mosh pit' and all of the open areas in the back were jammed tightly. We are not sure of the exact number, but we do know that there were well over one thousand students there since we nearly had one thousand seats placed in the room.

We are geared up for an incredible year. Our staff is the largest we have ever had at Wesley, and thus far they have been amazingly willing to serve others and pursue the Lord eagerly. The student leadership team this year had an incredible retreat just before the school year began, and all of us could tell that as a corporate body, our leaders are going to go for it all this year. Words cannot express the gratitude we feel and have toward the Lord for all that He has already done and is doing at Wesley this year. We will be sure to keep you posted.

clay for the kirklands

Season of BUSY

Hey Everyone - we have reached that time of year again where everything in our lives moves into hyper-speed for a while. In the next month, we have our 8th anniversary, Fields' first birthday, Intern Training for 53 young men and women who will comprise our intern staff this year, The first Wesley service of the new school year, my last final ever for seminary, the results of Deborah's licensure process, and much, much, more!

As you can see from the pictures down below, this season is making us T-I-R-E-D!! We would LOVE your prayers for grace and strength!

Thanks,

Clay for the Kirklands

this is the process of Fields waking up from a late morning nap!!!!!!!!!!!!

Drum roll please...

And the verdict is:

IT'S A BOY!!!!!!!!!

Due date is 12.5.09 and everything looked perfectly perfect on the ultrasound today!

clay for the growing kirkland family

BIG week for us...

This Thursday, we will hopefully be able to tell whether we are having a boy or a girl this winter! We actually were planning to find out a few weeks ago, but our doctor had two women go into labor while we were waiting for him to see us! So, we rescheduled for this Thursday - we will certainly post the results when we have them...

In other news, we attended the Madison Sunflower Festival this weekend, and it was the first mini-horse ride for Fields! He is really, really close to walking - he can stand alone but gets pretty shaky when he tries to move forward. Usually, he just plops down without trying!

Below are some pics from the festival....Enjoy!

clay for the Kirklands

Summer Update

Hey everyone - we are smack dab in the middle of summer in Athens, and it is H-O-T! I wanted to give a quick update on things going on in the crazy lives of the Kirklands:

Fields - He is cruising around all of our furniture and putting everything possible in his mouth. His new trick to to show everyone how 'big' he is by raising his hands to the sky! We have been trying to teach him how to wave bye-bye and recognize us with the words he says constantly, 'momma' and 'dadda.'

Deborah - She is at the very end of her first trimester, and while the morning sickness (which actually lasts all the waking day) has subsided slightly, it still can rear its nasty little head at any moment. This go around has been MUCH more difficult than the first with sickness and fatigue. We are all hoping that this will go away, though, like it did around this time of the last pregnancy. Despite all of this, Deborah is still a glowing mother-to-be!

Clay - I am in the process of finishing the work for the class that I attended two weeks ago in Orlando, beginning the work for the online class that started this week (and will run through August), planning for intern training and the upcoming school year, and taking care of my sick wife and crazy (in a good way) son! My last final of my 5 year seminary career is AUGUST 28th! Hallelujah, the end is near!

So, that is us in three paragraphs...


till next blog,

clay for the kirklands

Suffering in Orlando

By my title, some might think that it is nearly impossible to suffer in 'sunny Orlando.' Believe me, things are so bad here - my class is not terribly boring, I finish this one and then its down to the one online class this summer before I graduate, etc. However, this class, which I needed for graduation, happened to fall on the same week that we do the Kirkland Family vacation in Amelia Island!!!!! So, while I am sitting in a classroom for 8 hours a day, my family is sitting at the pool/beach for 8 hours a day.

The fortunate part is that I was able to be there for a few days with them. My class didnt start till Tuesday, and everyone gathered in Amelia on Saturday. Deborah, Fields, and I also had the chance to go to St. Simons for two days with some good friends last week. Thus, I had a bit of a vacation, but it still is tough knowing what I am missing!

Below are some pictures of the family beach trip. Fields, just so you know, LOVES THE WATER! Pool and ocean are welcoming to our little man. Also, Deborah texted me today and told me that she felt the baby kick this morning!!!!

clay for the kirklands