I told you...

Yes, it's me again. After a little over five months, I'm back on here writing/thinking/sharing. As I warned, my activity on here could be sporadic. Surely I didn't disappoint? The past few weeks, I've thought about getting on here and have just delayed it. I guess it finally got to me tonight. Since I last posted something, a number of things have taken place in the Huffman's lives, as one can imagine. I'll be the first to admit, not all have been good, but remaining positive has been my focus. Positive in the sense of not allowing circumstances and difficulties to keep me down.

As one could gather, in my first post, Jamie and I were expecting our first child. Our sweet little boy was due on March 14th, but he (and his Creator) had something else in mind. Friday, February 13th, 2009, was the day Madden Jay Huffman rocked our world. After having her water break at 4:45am, being in labor just shy of 17 hours, Jamie delivered our amazing "Huff-puppy." At 9:22pm, our 6lb. 15 3/4 oz, 19 inch long baby boy, came into our world (4 weeks early)!! WOW!!! We couldn't be any more happy!

This time in our life was an obvious HIGH, however, there were several other things closely around me that were taking place. A manager of a former artist of ours (TCAA) had been battling pancreatic cancer for a year. Things looked to have cleared up for him about 8 months or so into his battle, but at the beginning of the year, test results came back that it had spread. The next round of treatment was so intense that his body could not longer handle fighting this disease. We (our office) received word in early February that they were giving him 2 weeks to 2 months to live. The evening I came home from work, Jamie and I talked through this situation and prayed for this family often. For some reason, I struggled with my emotions on this. I found myself on a few occasions at work breaking down in tears. I can't fully explain my thoughts or feelings, but my heart went out to this family. On February 25th, 2009, he passed on.

The next Monday, the Christian Music Industry came together to honor him and raise money for his family. As I stood up from the sofa to leave my wife and sweet 2 week old boy, I received a dreaded phone call from one of my best friends. He was letting me know his brother's (also a best friend) 7 month old son had stopped breathing and was being rushed to the hospital. He was born with EB (skin disease) and had been battling it ever since. His health was like a roller coaster from one day to the next. This particular situation seemed to be the most detrimental yet. I was informed that he stopped breathing for nearly 17 minutes and was without oxygen for about 11 minutes. My heart dropped like a lead balloon and my head spun without control or direction. Here I am about to walk out to a benefit event for a man who passed away from pancreatic cancer at age 46 and I receive news that my best friends son is hanging on to his life, at 7 months old. All the while, I don't want to leave my lovely wife and 2 week old son. This proved to be too much for me to handle. We sat together for a few minutes and broke down in tears and just prayed. The only thing we could pray was for God's loving arms to surround that family.

A week and a day later, that little 7 month old passed on. I quickly made travel arrangements and prepared for a time that I never dreamed I'd share with some of my closest friends. I coordinated things through my friends brother, not wanting to burden the family and flew into town. That Thursday night as 5 of us sat at the dining table talking, I was asked what I was doing there. My response was this, "I'm supporting family. I stood in your wedding with you and tomorrow I'll stand with you as you lay your child to rest. That's what we do, we do life together. Never would I have imagined a day like this would come, but I wanted to be here." The next day was one of the toughest things I've ever seen in my life. I kept thinking about my wife and amazing son back home and that I could not handle something like this. I know my head and heart didn't feel like they could endure such a thing. This resilient family rejoiced in what they had with their son while they had him. What a beautiful picture this painted for me. I can't explain it, but it was remarkable.

Returning from this trip, I found myself thoroughly enjoying my 3-4 week old little boy, but at the same time couldn't escape feeling for my friends in the loss of theirs. There are certain things in this life that we'll never make sense of and I've learned over time that I just have to let them go.

Now to jump into present day or what's been going on in our lives most recently...my company (that I work for) has been purchased by a pretty significant power in the music business. Third Coast Artists Agency will soon become Paradigm Talent Agency. This is a very big move for us!

In other breaking news, Jamie and I started P90X a few weeks ago and working on getting fit! Our precious baby boy Madden is now a little over 3 months old and Jamie just returned to work. Life truly is good!

On a final thought/note/comment, I will try to either begin writing more often or try to write less when catching up. Until then....