End of the Year Wrap Up

We have 'officially' brought our school year to an end at Wesley, although our work for this fall has already begun. Last Thursday, we had Intern Appreciation out at Deborah's uncles house in Gainesville. Traditionally, we always have it at Wesley, so we led our interns this year to believe that we were going to be at Wesley this year as well. However, once they all congregated at Wesley, a charter bus came and picked them up! They were extremely surprised and excited about the off campus evening we planned for them. After some really good food (yes, I cooked it all) and some very encouraging words shared to the interns, we concluded the night with a fireworks extravaganza! It was so wonderful, and I truly believe that every intern was blessed by it.

As I mentioned, next year's planning is in full swing. We spend three days earlier this week at our director's retreat, and I (clay) will spend two days away with Daniel Simmons (my partner in crime with the internship program) planning for next year. Why all this work so soon? Oh, it is because we have SEVENTY SEVEN interns coming in on August 2nd!!!!!!! A year ago at this point, we had just finished intern appreciation for our 38 interns, and we were wondering what we were going to do with 51 incoming interns! Now, 51 seems small compared to 77! With 14 directors, we will have over 90 people on staff at Wesley for 2010-2011. It will be crazy but fun for everyone to see what God is up to with this type of staff.

Our family will be joining up with my brothers family and my parents to participate in the annual Kirkland Beach Trip in Amelia Island during the last week in May. Since last year, by brother and I both have added a child, so we now are having to rent two condos to fit everyone. This will be the first time that I have ever attended this blessed event and not have to either leave early or study at night because of seminary. So, this will be a new experience for me! When we get back, I will post some new pictures of the kids. They are both growing like weeds!

clay for the kirklands

Jamaican Times

Hey Everyone - Well, the Jamaica trip was absolutely terrific! The Lord was so kind to us, and we could really feel His tangible favor upon us. The travel, the airports, the weather, the team, etc - everything was blessed by Jesus!

Our kids are normally very well behaved and live life really peacefully. In Jamaica, they were even better! Fields had a blast with the team, and he became quite the socialite during the evenings with the Freshmen. His crowning moment was getting in the middle of the group and dancing to the tunes of a Jamaican reggae band! Cannon was offically labeled a 'beach bum' all week. His activities included sleeping, eating, laughing, and sleeping some more! I dont think that either of them wanted to leave; they have actually seemed a little bored this week without their fifty three new friends around all the time!

We would not have had the trip we had without Deborah's sister, Cat, being there. She was terrific all week, helping with the kids and bonding with the team. She took a whole week of work off in order to make this trip happen for us (it was a requirement for me to have someone stay with Deborah during the times we were out on the work sites).

Deborah and I had a blast spending time with the students on the trip. With our positions at Wesley, we do not get as much interaction with the students as we would like, so this trip was a special blessing. We were amazed at how passionately in love with Jesus they were and how they really came together as team. They are a very impressive group of young men and women!

Enjoy the pictures...

clay for the kirklands

BLOWN OUT of the 'Blog Fog'

So, life with two kids has been both WONDERFUL and BLURRY! We certainly have seen a lot of our free time disappear, but it has been worth it. Our blog has most definitely suffered from this time warp - something that I have called the 'blog fog.' How do you come up with something clever to say when you cannot even think straight? I cannot remember half of what I used to know, thus the blog has been empty for a long time.

Fields to the rescue, though! Here is the background:

Things had been going really well for us with two kids during January. We settled into a great routine and both the boys were thriving together. During the past two weeks, however, Deborah and Fields have been hit hard with bronchitis. Both of them have been through a round of antibiotics, and just now they are showing signs of improvement. Cannon, poor little guy, tested positive for RSV, thus he has been on steroids and breathing treatments for a week. By the grace of God, I have managed to stay relatively well during this war zone.

Fields, at 18 months and 5 days , has had a streak going on that I have been personally proud of. He went the first 18 months and 4 days without ever having diarrhea!!!!!! Sounds strange, but he has been 'solid' for his entire life, which I contribute to his insanely healthy diet (mush rules). Well, after a week of antibiotics and snot being ingested, he finally caved. I was asleep this morning because I was on Cannon patrol last night (feeding and breathing treatments every 4 hours). Deborah got Fields around 7:30 am, and she was welcomed by a natural disaster....

PROCEED TO LOOK AT THE FOLLOWING PICTURES AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!!!!!!

Cannon was, needless to say, undisturbed by the whole thing!

Clay for the Kirklands!!!

Two Week Review

We have entered into our third week of parenting two, and thus I figured a review would be in order. The great news is that we have had a lot of help so far. My mother was here the first week with us as we transitioned from the hospital to the house. She was a major asset to us! She cooked, she cleaned, she washed, she changed diapers, she held the babies, etc. We then had three days between helpers before Deborahs aunt Pat and cousin Allison came into town from Colorado. Allison was here for four days, and Aunt pat is staying here till this Saturday. They, too, have been so helpful to us. Allison is a pediatric nurse and Pat is a retired physical therapist, so Allie was our doctor on demand and Pat has massaged out all of our stress!

The boys have been wonderful. Fields had his first fever of his life last week, and the jury is still out as to whether it was more traumatic for him or for us! It turned out to be a case of Rosiola. The great news about Fields is this: He adores Cannon! There is not a waking hour that goes by where Fields is not kissing, hugging, patting, or rubbing on Cannon (especially his ear). Cannon has hung in there with all of the 'affection' from his big brother. He is sleeping very well for a two week old, and he eats a lot as well. He really has been as 'easy' baby, especially since he never cries! Of course, he can let it out when we change him and our hands are cold, but in all honesty, he is pretty chilled out for a newborn.

Deborah is, as always, handling things beautifully. With the help that we have had, she has taken the chance to rest at times during the day, and most nights, Cannon does not keep us up much at all. Wesley is on Christmas break, which gives me the opportunity to be at home right now with everyone. We are looking forward to our first Christmas as a family of four!

Enjoy a few new pictures!

clay for the kirklands

Introducing Mr. cannon asher kirkland

Today, cannon asher kirkland was born at 2:10 pm! He weighed 8 pounds 8 ounces, was 20 1/2 inches long, with dark hair, great skin tone, and brownish eyes. Deborah did INCREDIBLY well - the whole process from water breaking to cannon was forty minutes and four big pushes! Fields adores him already. Much, much more will come in the near future, but I am too freakin tired to do any more!

clay for the kirklands

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