small change

I've had more than one blog over the years, and while perusing through old material, I came across this:

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so i'm in the shower today, and i'm thinking...what's changed in me lately?

now...i'm not talking about small changes. i'm not talking about...haircuts, or what kind of toothpaste i use or even...what my job is going to do.

i mean, that's all good and well and all, but what about...spiritually?

and its easy to say, and we hear it all the time that you grow and you adjust and you ease into being a good christian...but is that enough? i mean, Christ didn't call people to making small little changes and "ease into" being a christian.

we see him calling people out of their entire worlds. in luke 9:59 he asks this guy to follow him and this guy asks, just to go bury his own, father. and Jesus, he didn't miss a beat and said "let the dead bury their own dead". even in the very next verse, Jesus tells someone else to follow him and they ask to say goodbye to their family, and Jesus tells him, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God." and i don't know about you but...that seems radically different than what we hear today. i mean, if you told someone that what do you think they'd say?

but that's the point, isn't it? Jesus didn't call us to some...humdrum life where we can just change a little bit and be like him. he called us...to change. and not just change to this, this...culturized, sunday-wednesday church that comes in, sings some songs, and goes to lunch.

but you can't change radically all the time, but you can make radical changes in your life more than once, and more than twice. and if you haven't...if i haven't...then there's something wrong and we need to fix it.

and we need to do it now. we need to change ourselves so radically that we never even know who we used to be. we need to change ourselves to be so much like Christ that anyone, and everyone, that used to know us doesn't know what happened to us.

and i'm not saying that...that it's somehow bad or wrong or that you're lost if you don't change as fast as the next person or you don't know how to radically change your life or you just...don't understand what the big deal is yet. but just going day to day isn't enough. just being a "nice person" isn't enough. if we're not trying and striving and sweating and bleeding to change...is it enough?

and we're not perfect. we're going to fall and trip and stumble and crash, and burn sometimes...but only, if we're trying as hard and as long as we possibly can to be more...like...Jesus.

and if we're not...we need to fix that. we need to find someone, anyone, that can help us be who we know we need to be so that we don't...get left with this small change scenario when we are called and created to be so...much...more...

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I hope i can express this to my children one day. obviously my parents did something to help me realize that myself.

I don't worry really, about raising decent children who grow up to be decent adults.

Sometimes though, I worry about raising truly great children who grow up to be truly great men or women of God. It'll be tough to figure out, I'm sure, but I'm willing to put in the effort to help make it happen.

Guess it's time to get started on me. :-)

Father's Day

I didn't write the song at the bottom, but it sums up what I think of my dad. Without him I'd have gotten nowhere, and even though he thinks we made it easy to be a good dad, he made it easy to be a good kid. I look around and see so many guys, both kids and adults, and wonder what went wrong. Chances are they didn't have a father to back them up, show them how to live a good life, and how to be a man. If I manage to be as good of a dad to my kids as mine was to me, it's to his credit (along with mom), but there are certain things that you can only learn from a good father, and I've learned an aweful lot, and I learn more every day even when I don't talk to him. To me that's the mark of not just a great dad, but a great man and a great man of the Lord above.

What's a dad for dad?
Tell me why I'm here dad
Whisper in my ear that I'm growing up to be a better man, dad
Everything is fine dad
Proud that you are mine dad
Cause I know I'm growing up to be a better man

Father I will always beThat same boy that stood by the sea
And watched you tower over me
Now I'm older I wanna be the same as you
What's a dad for dad?
Taught me how to stand, dad
Took me by the hand and you showed me how to be a bigger man, dad
Listen when you talk, dad
Follow where you walk, dad
And you know that I will always do the best I can

Father I will always be
That same boy that stood by the sea
And watched you tower over me
Now I'm older I wanna be the same as you
The same as you

When I am a dad, dad
I'm gonna be a good dad
Do the best you could, dad
Always understood, dad
Tell me I was right, dad
Opened up my eyes, dad
Glad to call you my, dad

Thank you for my life dad.

Not Cutting the Baby in Half

So today was our first appointment with the new doctor. His name (as the title suggests) is Doctor Solomon. He came complete with a great attitude, jokes, and a beard, just like we picture King Solomon in the Bible. Well...with the beard at least.

Anyways, to continue the story, we got down to the hospital with little delay, and within short notice we (she) had refilled out all her paperwork and we were called in to see the doctor.

So he came in, insisted that we not get up from our seats, and welcomed us warmly and started asking a bunch of questions. The Little Kitty answered them all and had some of her own. The whole time he was very considerate and made a point to go into detail on many health issues and/or things we didn't quite understand. This was rather nice, as the previous doctor, while seeming competent enough, didn't seem have quite the bedside manner we were looking for.

There was no ultrasound this time, but Doc Solomon did bring his microphone thing, and upon putting it to LK's belly, we once again got to hear the "thumpthumpthumpthump" of the Little Monster's beating heart (at 168 beats per minute). This time though, we heard a weird "whoosh" sound. Upon seeing the odd looks on our face, he told us that that was the baby's kick! I didn't know babys made sounds when they kicked, but apparently they do! That was really really cool. A couple seconds later we heard a "beep beep...beep beep", and the doctor told us that it was not, in fact, the baby, but rather that his microphone thing needed new batteries.

So overall it was a great treat to go. Great doc, great place, and the Little Kitty felt it was a bit more "homey" than the last place, so what's good for her is good for me.

Release the Beast!