Single Moms

So I have new heros... single moms.

When my daughter was born, the first 2 months were so hard. Funny, my wife and I both have good, somewhat secure jobs. We live in a nice house. We are financially stable. We have a great system of support including parents who live less than 45 minutes away. We have a very stable marriage and have been married longer than most who have kids. Yet it was still really hard to make the adjustment.

This weekend my daughter was sick. She was really, really, really fussy and screaming and crying. It was pretty constant. Between the two of us we were getting pretty burnt out. Today my wife is sick and I'm run down... but we have a wonderful woman who comes over and watches Lydia for us while my wife works at home. So relief is here! Even as I type this, she is comforting my screaming daughter.

How lucky can we be? What if the total responsibility for my daughter fell just on my wife... or me....

Wow.

It takes a village. I hated that line when it first came out. I wanted to scream, "NO! It takes a family!" But it takes a village. It really does.

So single moms... what would that be like? Some are working for next to nothing trying to make ends meet. Some with more than one child. No support. Sometimes no family. That would really suck.

They are heros.

Not as old as I look...

So this age thing... especially in our culture (and especially for women) is difficult. We are in a culture that honors youth. Youth is what is important. Even in my job, the people I "work with" are young... and that is seen by my superiors as a good thing. "It's great that you are reaching those youth!"

And it is...

But there is wisdom that comes with age. And honor is owed to those who grow older. Our culture is not very good at honor.

I just walked upstairs and looked at my daughter sleeping. I'm not old enough to be a dad... and yet I'm actually pretty old to be a dad of an infant daughter. But you know...I don't feel all that different than I used to. The "me" inside of "me" feels the same.

Aging is not what I thought it would be.

It's strange...I know I have matured. I do see the world differently. I know if I was in my teens or 20s I would do things differently than I did them the first time because I'm "wiser" now. So I'm rambling...

If you could live your life over again, what would you change?

I would not be as down on my looks. Looks really didn't matter all that much...in fact I dated a lot. But I was very self-conscious for some reason.

And I would sit with the outcasts more. Identify with the underdog more. Take more relational risks.

So why don't I do that now...

Tell him what you think

A friend is posting about sex. Give him your thoughts... and click here

"Hold me like you did while I read this review..."

Star Wars fans better not read this

Happy Birthday mdog!

Happy Birthday to you...
Happy Birthday to you...
Happy Birthday dear mdog...
Happy Birthday to you!
(And many more!)

Sex on my mind...

So how is that for a post title!

My reasoning is a little less sexy than most. I have a pastor friend who is teaching on it and that is all he talks about or thinks about right now!

Some of you will remember a program that some churches began back in the early 90’s called “True Love Waits.” Anyone heard of that? Any of you "make the pledge?" The idea was that teenagers would sign a pledge to wait until marriage to engage in sexual intercourse. Since 1993 nearly 2.5 million teenagers made that commitment.

I just read that last year, a study was conducted that found that only 12% kept their promise.

88% of the pledgers reported having sexual intercourse before marriage.

That disturbs me. It disturbs me because I'm not sure that the church is all that different from the world. And yes, I know that we are "forgiven" but doesn't the gospel say something about how we live other than, "Oops, I screwed up. Forgive me."

Now, I don't believe that sexual sin is unforgivable. In fact, it may be that we place that sin so "low" that we blow it out of proportion, but as a new father of a baby daughter, what hope do I have of her honoring God with her body before marriage?

"Hold me like you did by the lake on Naboo..."

I went to see the opening midnight showing of the new Star Wars last night. I still don't know how I feel about the movie. I do know that I'm getting too old to be doing too many midnight openings!

I would be curious to hear other's opinions on the movie as you see it.

So the dialogue is classic Star Wars... meaning bad (the blog title was one of my "favorite" lines). The special effects are... well... very CG. The plot lines were all nice and neat and tied together so we are ready to go and rent episode 4 again so that Lucus can get more of my hard-earned cash. The movie moved along pretty well...(Although in this blogger's opinion, the movie should have ended when they put the Vader suit on Anakin and he sat up.) There were some good moments.... but I didn't leave impressed for some reason.

Maybe I'm just tainted. Maybe I just miss the days when the droids were (obviously) made from garbage cans and more than 7 characters in the movie were played by... well... actual people.

But I also realize that part of why I love Star Wars is that it reminds me of a simpler time in my life. It is a movie from my childhood (yes, I was actually ALIVE when it was first released). It is a movie that could have just as easily been a western, I just like the characters. And for its day, the effects were stunning.

And maybe I just wanted to regress once again to a place in my life that seems "a long time ago...in a galaxy far, far away."

Testing 1, 2, 3...

Does this work?

Wow...I can have everything I want

Robert Tilton just announced the title of his new book: "How to be Rich and Have Everything You've Ever Wanted."

I'm about to throw up.

Speaking of throwing up... and I'm going to offend someone... I am starting to think of Joel Osteen ("Your Best Life Now") in the same way. Someone gave me a copy of his book on Audio and I can't get past the 2nd chapter.

Now Tilton is standing by a bunch of Yachts... "You can have everything you want. God wants you to have all of this. Use your faith... Jesus said "I give you the keys".... The key, Tilton is saying, "The key to prosperty is the the Wow of the Vow!" "You should have more than you need. We achieve what we believe."

I'm really going to be sick.

Iced Tea

Just a random thought... there is nothing better to drink than Iced Tea. It is cold, refreshing, when it is mixed with "Sweet and Low" (and only "Sweet and Low" as, believe it or not, I like the aftertaste) it has 0 calories.

So I'm watching Robert Tilton as I type. What a charlatan. Why do people send this guy money? Argggg....

I'm going to bed.

I miss my dog

Good Boy...

Today my dog died. He held out until we got to the vet, but the moment my wife laid her head on his chest and said, "Blaise, you are a good boy. We are here. We love you," he stopped breathing.

In my job I have watched dozens of people die. There are certain things that always happen (extremities cool, lips change color, ears change)... and then there is that moment when the soul leave the body. If you have never seen someone die, you will never understand it. If you have seen someone die, you know exactly what I mean. There is that moment when the person is not there. I saw that tonight with my dog. He was there and then he wasn't.

I'm not trying to start a theological discussion here, I really don't want that... but I believe some animals (maybe all pets) go to heaven. Well...except cats. Okay, just kidding about the cat thing. Like I said, I really am not wanting to convince you of that... and I really am not asking what you think about the issue... people disagree and you can't be firm on either side.

But I think I can make a good case for it based on a systematic theology of creation and redemption. So I can wax eloquent using big theological jargon and quote scripture. But the main reason that I think there can be pets in heaven is that I believe pets have souls. And you animal lovers can attest to looking into your pets eyes and knowing they know...

In the OT, God breathed the RUAH into animals. ("RUAH" is the ancient Hebrew word for "breath" and "spirit.") And although animals are not made in the image of God, I'm not sure that is sufficient reason to believe they are not in heaven.

Theological discussion aside, I hope to see my dog again. I think heaven will be a lot different than some theologians say it will be. I'm thinking it will not just be billions of people all dressed in white all bowing down singing songs to God sitting on a throne. I'm betting it will be a lot like the garden of Eden. And I'm betting it will be very relational...

And I have hope that my dog will be there. Silly? Sentimental? Maybe. But study church history and I stand in good company.

Blaise will love Jesus.

The Old Professor is right

But I knew that!

Only one person probably understands this post other than me....

I'm back

So I'm back and I will write again if you are all still reading...