Sick Day

So yesterday I took a sick day from work. My original goal was to work from home, but that proved to be impossible. I hadn't realized how challenging it is to care for a sick 7 month old. He was fussy and clingy and didn't want to eat, and I had to take him to the doctor. The report from the doctor was good - just a cold - but the trip to the doctor was interesting. Why is it that babies have to wait to poop until you're in the car? That left me trying to change one of the messiest diapers I've ever changed on the fold-down changing table in the bathroom of the Dr.'s office. I'll spare you the details, but I will say, it was quite ... interesting.

Our son, who in my opinion is the greatest in the world, is quite the child. He loves people, he loves to be active, he loves his mommy & daddy, but he does not like to cuddle. You try to hold him close, but unless he's exhausted, he wants nothing to do with it. Most of the time he wants to play on his own or sit on the couch on his own. However, all the while he's busy doing things "on his own," he wants you're full and undivided attention. Then he gets sick. All of a sudden this same baby boy wants to be held and wants to be next to you all the time. Interesting.

But you know, as a pastor and someone who's been a follower of Jesus Christ for some time now, it occurs to me that we often act the same way toward God. We love God, a lot, but at the same time, we like to go through life on our own. We want to play, and rest, and work on our own; however, it's nice to know that God is nearby watching us in case we get in trouble. But then when things go wrong and we're not feeling so great, all of a sudden we want to be held and comforted by God.

Now I know that following God means that we can't just sit back passively waiting for God to "do something." Yes we wait on God, but our waiting must be active. So while we should be busy living our lives for Christ, it's also important that we don't forget that God is the one in whom we "live and move and have our being."

Oh, by the way, even when our son is sick, he's still awfully cute.

Celebrating Life

So yesterday I watched some of the youth from our church at Celebrate Life. Celebrate Life is a district event in which students come to use their talents for God. Events like these are often called talent competitions. I suppose in a sense they are competitions since there are awards that are given and those who advance and so on. For a while this really bothered me. I didn't think there was any place in the Church for competition, but as time has gone on my thinking on this issue has moderated dramatically.

I think some of what I've come to like about Celebrate Life is that all students receive positive feedback -- there is no such thing as "bad" at Celebrate Life. But even more than this, Celebrate Life teaches youth to use whatever gifts God has given them. Scripture teaches us that each one of us have gifts, "according to the grace given us." Not all of our gifts all the same, nor are our gifts given to the same degree, but whatever God has given to us is to be used for the glory of God.

It seems that as we get older we can become too concerned with comparing our gifts to those of others. In doing so we can forget that we have gifts, and we can fail to use those gifts for the glory and honor of God. Hopefully each of us can find our own way to Celebrate Life each day.

Cars

So I've never really been much of a car person. In fact, as far as I'm concerned, cars are a necessary evil. You put money into them to buy them, and from that point on it's a loosing proposition. There's money to maintain them and their value constantly goes down. Whenever I say this there's bound to be someone to say that not all cars go down in value. And then there's the inevitable story about the '57 Chevy that they bought for $2,000 in high school and would be worth 10 times that today had they not sold it or totaled it or whatever. But, every car that I ever have, or ever will buy is going to go down in value. So like I said, it's a necessary evil.

That being said, I went to the Detroit Auto Show yesterday with a group of guys from my church. This is the third year in a row that I've attended the Auto Show, and while I'm not a big fan of cars, I actually had a good time. I suppose it helps that I'm a naturally inquisitive person, so I can find a lot of interesting things with both production cars and concept cars. It also helps that I'm a people person - I like being with people and watching people - and the Auto Show gives me an opportunity to spend some time with guys from my church and observe all kinds of different people.

Still, for all of that there is a part of me that wonders, "Is it ok to like the Auto Show???" Not that I think it's wrong to attend the auto show, it's just that it's consumerism in all it's glory. And for all of the rational parts of my mind that say that cars are a necessary evil, there's something about new, shinny cars with that new car smell. It kind of makes you want to take out a great big loan and make monthly car payments so that I can have the newest thing that's going to go down in value as it gets me from place to place.

On second thought, I think my current cars are just fine thank you very much, but there's always next year...

Conversations

So this morning as I was getting ready for work, my son, who was sitting on our bed, starting talking to me. It was one of those conversations that I didn't really understand even just a year ago. My son is seven months old and speaks in his own language. Before he was born I'd always thought that people like me were just proud parents. It's not that I'm not a proud parent, I am. It's just that I had no idea what it was really like to have a child.

The last seven months I have learned so much about children, about myself, and about God. One of the things that amazes me the most about being a father is how much you can bond with another human being without even speaking words. Sure, my son tries to talk, but he can't really say any meaningful words yet. But at the same time, we can have a blast together, especially on mornings like today. He's always in a good mood in the morning.

The other thing that both amazes me and humbles me is how much my son learns from me. Even at such a young age he is constantly mimicking me and following my lead. I guess that's why we're reminded in the Shema to allow our love for God to so fill our lives that it's constantly repeated to our children and lived out in our lives.

My hope is that one day my son's words won't just be baby talk, but that one day his words will be an echo of mine and give glory to God.