Updated Pics of Amelia

Coming Home from the Hospital...Welcome Home Millie!

Millie's sweet new crib...complete with cool hanging bears.
Hunter likes to help Millie with her Bouncie Seat.

Hunter - Sept '04

Millie - Apr '07

Hunter enjoyed helping give Millie a bath. He really enjoys being a big brother.

More Pics of Millie

The Family's all here!So that's what the sun looks like...

I love my Mommy and my Mommy loves me!

Mommy, my Aunt Jennifer, and me

My big brother, Hunter, helped change my diaper

Daniel, Nathan and Drew love meeting their new cousin...but not as much as the Purell soap dispenser.

My D-Dad with his new hat. It's instant tobacco cred in this state.

My Big Brother, Hunter, gave me a little kiss. I love him.

Some pics of Amelia Louise

Millie's Birthday

Happy Birthday Millie!

Kim woke me up Friday (4/20) morning and said, "Donny, I don't want to sound alarmist, but I think today is the day." We went to the doctor's office to see if Kim was in fact in labor. The doctor kept saying things like, "Kim, was your first child a fast delivery?" (He wasn't). Soon after seeing the doctor in her office we were across the parking lot in the hospital prep room. An ultrasound on Thursday indicated that Millie was going to be around 10lbs 4oz. The doctor assured us that these measurements are sometimes wrong. Nevertheless, we opted for another C-Section. At 11:41am, weighing in at a cool 10lbs 3oz (see, the measurements can be off) and 21 inches, Amelia Louise, "Millie," entered the world!

Mother and baby are doing well. It was funny to look through the nursery windows and listen to other people comment. "Awww, look at all the little babi...whoa, look at that one! She must be 9lbs." To which I would reply, "Actually she's 10lbs...and she'll beat up your baby when the nurses aren't looking."
We are all really excited about this blessing from the Lord. It has been a little bit of a shock. I wasn't really prepared for her this week...but we wouldn't want it any other way! We can't wait for each of you to meet her.

Hunter is doing well. He doesn't seem to mind Millie, but he isn't exactly thrilled. He sang Happy Birthday for her, but the end of the video kinda sums up his feelings.

Recent Campus Activities

I have had a busy couple of weeks on campus. Most of it has been really great. Some of it I could have done without.

April 4th - my 30th birthday

In adding insult to injury, not only did I turn 30, but I got the flu. I told my sister that if 30 feels this bad I can't imagine what 40 is going be like.

April 5th

Campus Crusade co-hosted a campus wide Easter service with CSF (one of the local campus ministries here at UK). It was a great event. The room was packed with college students. The Director of CSF and I spoke at the meeting. I shared about the Offense of the Cross and he shared about the Re-creation of the Resurrection.

April 8th
I led Easter Chapel for the University of Tennessee Baseball team. They were in town for a weekend series with UK (UT took the series 2-1, go Vols!). I regaled them with my Little League stories. My coaches in Little League took one look at me and knew I had the "right" stuff...the deep right field stuff. "Friederichsen, get out there and hug that foul line!" I think all my coaches just hoped and prayed that no one would hit the ball my way.

I also shared with the UT guys about the truth of the cross and the hope of the resurrection. I explained that on the cross Christ experienced physical pain beyond belief. But the most excrutiating thing he felt was the full wrath of God for my sins. He took my death on himself, but death is not the end because Easter morning is here! Because of Easter I can know that Jesus is victorious over death.

The team gave me a game ball they had all autographed. It's one of the coolest things I've gotten since I have been on staff.

April 10

I was the keynote speaker for a Greek Prayer Breakfast. I shared with around 175 Greek students about the importance of worldviews. A worldview is the lense through which you view the world. It is the grid that everything in life is filtered through before you make a decision about it. We all have a worldview...and often Christians have a worldview that is incompatible with Christianity. I explained the difference between the two dominant worldviews on the college campus: Secular Humanism and Christian Theism. When it comes to worldviews, everyone must answer three basic questions. Why am I here? What is wrong with the world? How do we fix it? Secular Humanism says, "I am the product of random chance with no purpose. I should consume and enjoy. The problems of the world are that I do not have the power to consume and enjoy all that I want. The solution is education and government." The Christian Theist's answer to those questions is summed up in Colossians 1:15-23. The Christian Theist responds by saying, "I am created in the image of God. I am the crowning glory of His creation. There is inherent worth and value in every person, regardless of age, race, gender, or ability. We are here to glorify God. The problem of the world is sin and hostility to God. The answer is the cross of Christ and His resurrection."

April 17

Our ministry hosted a Prayer Vigil on Tuesday night to pray for the victims of the Virginia Tech shooting. I spoke briefly to the 250 students gathered about the hope of the Gospel. My main text was from Habbakuk 1:2-5 and 3:17-19. In the midst of tragedy there is hope that the Lord is at work. He is doing things that are beyond our comprehension. But even though His plans are beyond our comprehension doesn't mean that God cannot understand our suffering. He understands suffering and injustice because experienced suffering and injustice on the Cross. Through the Cross, Jesus Christ brings hope to all who will call on Him. This is a good message to come out of an incomprehensible situation.

You can find more info about the Virginia Tech Campus Crusade and UK Campus Crusade response to this situation at www.ukcru.blogspot.com.