Being a father

This time last year, I didn't really know what it meant to be a father. Sure, my little girl had already been born, however, she was just 20 days old. I was definitely a father but as each day has passed since then and I have had the privilege of watching my little one learn and grow...I'll be quite honest, it scares the crap out of me!

When we left for CIY last Monday, she couldn't stand up on her own and wouldn't take more than about 6 steps before she would fall down. When we picked her up on Saturday, she was standing herself up and walking/running all over the place. How did all of this happen in just a weeks time?

I know that there is still so much for her to learn. Soon she is going to be talking and soaking in every single thing that I say and do. On the one hand, I'm looking forward to it. On the other, again, it scares me to death.

Not having a dad growing up, I don't really have the best example to draw from. I just have to do my best with what I DO know and let God take care of it all.

When it rains...it pours

Normally, when you hear that phrase, it is someone talking about all of the bad things happening in their life and how they just keep piling on.  Well, not so with me.  

As I wrote about in my previous post, God took His hands and wrapped them around my little girl as she went through a very tough day of her life.  

Today, we got some pretty incredible new as well...though nothing could top the health of my little girl.  My wife had a message left on her phone today that our house in California has finally sold and will close escrow next month!  Praise be to God for how He continues to heap the blessings on.  Many have been praying for us and with us over the last several months in regards to this and God has proven faithful (as He always does!)

A Change In Perspective

All too often, I can get wrapped up in to my own little world at work and lose perspective of everything that is great going on outside of my little office. Yesterday brought about a change in perspective for me.

I was sitting at home eating lunch when I got the call. My wife was on the other end and she was hysterical. She proceeded to tell me that my little girl had a seizure yet again. She had been fine all morning but had jumped as if she were scared while she was sitting at lunch. After that, she was very lethargic and unattentive. 911 was called and Lily once again got an ambulance ride to the ER.

Once she was there, they poked, prodded and jabbed her little body over and over trying to find out what might be wrong with her. They seem to believe that the two seizures that she has had now are a result of a spike in a fever that she had. This one came as a surprise to us as she had not been sick.

As all of this went on, I just kept thinking to myself how thankful I was that she was still alive. When you get a phone call saying that your little girl has just had a seizure, all of these different thoughts raced through my head. I couldn't imagine my life without her nor do I want to.

Thanks be to God that He kept His love arms around her the whole time and now she is home resting with her mommy on the couch watching cartoons :).

Book Review: Choosing To Cheat

Andy Stanley writes an INCREDIBLE book about keeping our families the #2 priority in our lives.  Assuming that God is #1 in your life, we have a tendency to put other things in the #2 spot in our lives when that was never God's intention.  Stanley challenges to go to the utmost extremes in making sure that our families not only know that they are #2, but that they truly see that they are #2 by the amount of time that we spend with them.

This book couldn't have come for me at a better time.  I was already at a point in my life where I was feeling the pull between my career and my job.  This book landed in my lap as a result of a men's leadership group that I am a part of and I am so thankful that it did.

Maybe the most important question (and also probably the most difficult) that was asked: (Ask your spouse) What is one thing you would change about my schedule?  I dare you to ask your spouse that question and then be prepared to change whatever they suggest.

Passing the Baton

Last night, we held our annual Graduation Celebration in which we honor our graduating 8th graders and seniors.  Last year was real tough for me because I saw some students graduate that had been with me since I started at the church.  What was interesting about last night was that, even though I have only been at Crossroads for 6 months, I still found myself getting choked up a bit when it came time to say goodbye to my seniors.

Possibly the coolest thing we did all night was when we brought up a respresentative from the graduating senior class and a representative of the now senior class.  I talked briefly about the Apostle Paul and his "athletic-type" writings.  I wrapped up by using the illustration of track runners running a relay race.  Without being a track runner, even I know that the most important part of the relay is the hand-off.  If you don't get the hand-off right, how fast you run won't matter.  So our two seniors exchanged the baton and, in essence, passed off the responsibility of leadership.  It was a real emotional time for me and for some of the students.

Bats in the belfry?

Everyone has heard of bats in the belfry, but raccoons in the chimney?  C'mon!

About 6 weeks ago, my wife heard some noise in the chimney but we didn't make anything of it.  Then about a week ago, I heard some scratching on the roof outside of our laundry room.  A few days ago, one of my students and I heard something that sounded like a bird chirping.  Finally, we talked to our landlords and they came over to investigate.  They looked down the chimney and saw a big mommy raccoon.  

Yesterday, animal control came to the house to flush them out.  The "dead beat" mommy, bailed on her two babies and took off for the land behind our house leaving her two babies behind.  So the animal control guy STUCK HIS HAND in the chimney and pulled each one of them out.  It was INTENSE!

What's in a name?

John 14:13 says, "And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father."

A lot of people pray.  Jesus isn't simply stating that a pray that simply mentions His name will move him but prayer that is in accordance with all that the person who bears the name is.  It is prayer aimed at carrying forward the work Jesus did - prayer that he himself will answer.

To get the true gist of what Jesus is speaking about here, you have to go all the way back to Psalm 5:11: "But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them sing for joy.  Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you."

There is true power in the name of Jesus:

• His people can pray to him by calling on his name
• The name of the Lord protects
• The Lord saves by his name
• His saving acts testify that his name is near.
• The godly "trust" in his name
• Hope in his name
• "Sing praise" to his name
• "Rejoice" in his name
• Both the "love" and "fear" that belong alone to God are similarly directed toward his name

Has any name, in all of history, carried so much power, authority, and love?  Consider the true name and identity of the one who you pray to the next time you pray.