I posted five albums with a whole bunch of pictures to Facebook:
Natasha Grace - 6 pounds, 8 ounces, 19 1/2 inches long
My family comes to see Natasha
Monday, December 29, 2008 | Posted by TJ Draper
Sunday, December 28, 2008 | Posted by TJ Draper
“But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting On those who fear Him, And His righteousness to children’s children, To such as keep His covenant, And to those who remember His commandments to do them.”
(Psalm 103:17-18, NKJV)
“He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, And carry them in His bosom, And gently lead those who are with young.”
(Isaiah 40:11, NKJV)
“For the mountains shall depart And the hills be removed, But My kindness shall not depart from you, Nor shall My covenant of peace be removed,” Says the Lord, who has mercy on you.”
(Isaiah 54:10, NKJV)
“And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.”
(Matthew 28:18-20, NKJV)
“For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”
(Acts 2:39, NKJV)
Thursday, December 25, 2008 | Posted by TJ Draper
She’s already famous and making the rounds on the internet:
Thursday, December 25, 2008 | Posted by TJ Draper
With great joy during this Advent season, we welcome into our home this precious gift from God, our first daughter, Natasha Grace Draper.
After stop and go labor starting on the evening of December 23, Rachel finally went into definitive labor at about 10:00pm on Christmas Eve and gave birth to Natasha at 1:16am on Thursday, December 25. The Lord has greatly blessed Rachel with an easier labor than her first labor with Allen, and for that we are extremely grateful. The Lord has also blessed Natasha with very good health. As her Grandma Price has said many times already today, "She's just perfect."
The name Natasha is a form of Natalie, which means born on Christmas day. We chose this name before she was born because we knew she would arrive around Christmastime and we thought that would be as close as we would ever get. Little did we know that Natasha would actually be born on Christmas Day. And of course the middle name Grace, because we truly desire to raise a beautiful, Godly, and graceful daughter upon whom God will indeed bestow much grace.
Allen has been wonderful with Natasha, as you will see below in the pictures. He wanted to hold her right away when he woke up this morning. Though we can see we will need to work with Allen on being gentle, he does seem quite fond of baby Natasha!
We earnestly covet your prayers as we raise Natasha in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, and we wish you and yours a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
In Christ Our Lord,
After stop and go labor starting on the evening of December 23, Rachel finally went into definitive labor at about 10:00pm on Christmas Eve and gave birth to Natasha at 1:16am on Thursday, December 25. The Lord has greatly blessed Rachel with an easier labor than her first labor with Allen, and for that we are extremely grateful. The Lord has also blessed Natasha with very good health. As her Grandma Price has said many times already today, "She's just perfect."
The name Natasha is a form of Natalie, which means born on Christmas day. We chose this name before she was born because we knew she would arrive around Christmastime and we thought that would be as close as we would ever get. Little did we know that Natasha would actually be born on Christmas Day. And of course the middle name Grace, because we truly desire to raise a beautiful, Godly, and graceful daughter upon whom God will indeed bestow much grace.
Allen has been wonderful with Natasha, as you will see below in the pictures. He wanted to hold her right away when he woke up this morning. Though we can see we will need to work with Allen on being gentle, he does seem quite fond of baby Natasha!
We earnestly covet your prayers as we raise Natasha in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, and we wish you and yours a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
In Christ Our Lord,
Tuesday, December 23, 2008 | Posted by TJ Draper
The time is finally here. Rachel is in labor and Allen is with my parents, and all the aunts and uncles over in that neck of the woods.
We are told the baby is in a good position, as opposed to Allen (he was posterior). Every thing looks good at this point, and we give God the praise for it.
I borrowed my sister’s D80 so I should be able to get some good pictures! 
I plan to post an update with pictures here when the baby is born. Stay tuned…
Saturday, December 20, 2008 | Posted by TJ Draper
As I wait on pins and needles for the baby to arrive (due date day is almost over and still no sign of labor) I thought I would share this article. It is after all, that time of year again when the air can be filled with a lot of “BAH humbug.” 
Should Christians celebrate Christmas?
I sympathize with those who want to be rigorously and distinctly Christian, who want to be disentangled from the world and any pagan roots that might lie beneath our celebration of Christmas, but I don’t go that route on this matter because I think there comes a point where the roots are so far gone that the present meaning doesn’t carry the pagan connotation anymore. I’m more concerned about a new paganism that gets layered on top of Christian holidays.
Here’s the example I use: All language has roots somewhere. Most of our days of the week—if not all—grew out of pagan names too. So should we stop using the word “Sunday” because it may have related to the worship of the sun once upon a time? In modern English “Sunday” doesn’t carry that connotation, and that’s the very nature of language. In a sense, holidays are like chronological language.
Christmas now means that we mark, in Christian ways, the birth of Jesus Christ. I think the birth, death and resurrection of Christ are the most important events in human history. Not to mark them in some way, by way of special celebration, would be folly it seems to me.
I remember I lived next door to somebody back in seminary who didn’t celebrate birthdays for their kid. The idea was, partly, that all days were special for their kid. But if all days are special then it probably means that there are no special days. Yet some things are so good and precious—like anniversaries, birthdays, and even deaths—that they are worthy of being marked. How much more the birth and death of Jesus Christ!
It’s really worth the risk, even if the date of December 25 was chosen because of its proximity to some kind of pagan festival. Let’s just take it, sanctify it, and make the most of it, because Christ is worthy of being celebrated in his birth.
There is no point in choosing any other date. It won’t work.
By John Piper. © Desiring God. Website: desiringGod.org