It Still Amazes Me

It blows me away to see the way God has been moving in my life recently. He is really teaching me to trust Him in all areas of life, and He has been faithful to provide our needs even when it seemed completely impossible.
On the flip side of the coin, it is also somewhat irritating and mildly amusing to see how faithful Satan is in trying to play the part of the wet blanket. Even as I see God's miraculous hand at work, there is a definite ongoing attempt to suck the joy out of life that is more than just everyday happenings and coincidence. Thankfully, we're relying on God's strength and direction right now which makes it much easier to deal with this resistance from the other team. The latest verse to come to remembrance during the most recent chain of events was Psalm 84:11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield, the Lord gives grace and glory, no good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.
I'm so far from perfect it's pathetic, but I can so definitely see God's protection and blessing as I make the effort to do what He asks of me. He's also given me a wonderful godly wife that gives me the nudges and reminders that God is driving this boat whenever she sees me start to waver. Occasionally I get to return the favor. God is good!!

Oh, the Horror!!

So Owen (age 3) just came running towards the house screaming at the top of his lungs...
"AAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!". He desperately slammed the door behind him as he came bolting through.
"What's wrong??!!", Monica asked, expecting the worst.
Owen calmly replied, "I saw a ladybug."
Definite Calvin & Hobbes moment.

Verbal Antagonists

I am amazed to see how quickly my sons are advancing in certain life skills. The most noticeable of these is their inherited ability to argue and debate. Only a year ago, Shane & Owen would engage each other in a nonstop barrage of simple "Yes! No! Yes! No! Yes it is! No it's not! Yes it is!! No it's Not!!! I SAID YES IT IS!!!!............No it's not." and since Carter couldn't talk, he would quietly observe and develop his own strategies to draw on once he became of age.

Fast forward several months to the present. Carter is now of age (meaning he is 2 and can talk), whereby it is now possible for all three to make each other upset at the same time. To me, that takes skill. You would think that it would always be two-on-one, but somehow they have managed to rise above that and have their own conflicting sovereign opinions. I must say though, that Shane still manages to stay a step ahead of his brothers.
While most boys argue and fight about their present situation, Shane has the ability to create trauma about theoretical future events. Case in point -- Yesterday we were on the way to Ukrops to pick up a few groceries. This particular location has a playroom where you can drop off your kids and shop in peace. Shane was able to get his brothers squawling while we were still enroute simply by declaring the order in which they would walk into the play area. Dominant self-serving organizational planning by a five year old.
What's next?
Trust me, it won't be long until Owen will come bursting into the living room crying his eyes out screaming "Mommy! Shane's got an imaginary playground and he won't let me go on the slide!!"
I love being a dad.

What can I do???

Shane, being all grown up at age five, has started asking regularly "What can I do?". At first I thought it was selfish childish boredom, and he just wanted his next fix of something fun to keep him happy for a few more minutes. Instead, I realize that he asks because he wants a "big-person" job to do. From his viewpoint, I am about to tell him that he can put on his chef's hat and prepare a five-course meal, or go sell a house, or take over an empire thereby gaining disciplinary authority over his two brothers. Something BIG. What he gets instead is "You can clean your room!" or "Did you make your bed?". Although these are things that big people actually do (sometimes) and it brings joy to his parents when he does these required/requested items, it doesn't jive with his expectations and desires. He feels disappointment because it's not something special.

It so easy for me to become the disgruntled five-year old when I look at my spiritual life. The apostle Paul says that "the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all". He then goes on to rattle off various gifts or manifestations of the Holy Spirit. Reading them, I ask God "What can I do?". (What I actually mean is, "I want to do something BIG. I want the gift of healing, or prophecy, or tongues, or discernment of spirits.)
When God comes back and answers, "You can pray!" or "Did you give your time to someone in need?", I sometimes feel disappointment because it's not something special. It doesn't matter that it brings God joy when I do these required/requested items, and that they are "for the profit of all". Again, like Shane, I don't see my motives as selfish. I just want that tangible visible evidence that I have received the baptism of the Holy Spirit and that God sees fit to use me to help further His kingdom. Paul encourages us to "earnestly desire the best gifts", and to me that means there is nothing wrong with asking for or desiring gifts I don't have. What is wrong is for me to not do the things I can and have been told to, so that God can use me right now in the way He sees fit. Just because I can't identify or define the gifts I have doesn't mean that I have not been given "the best gifts". That is for God to determine. He knows what His plan is for me, and I just need to walk in it faithfully and with contentment.

Quotable Quote

One of my clients told me this morning of an "old school" saying that I would like to share with you.
"God doesn't always show up when we want Him to, but He's always right on time!"

Nuff said!

Strep Be-Gone!!

Please allow me to share a recent miracle with you. Last month some of you may have seen me post concerning an onslaught of illnesses that seemed never-ending and unstoppable. Shortly after that posting, Monica (my wife) came down with strep for the third consecutive time in a two month span. After yet another round of doctor's visits and another round of more powerful antibiotics, we were hopeful that it was finally over. The other four of us had been declared strep-free, so we knew none of us were carrying it and passing it to Monica. Every time she came down with strep, it presented in the same manner. Her right tonsil would become inflamed and swollen and then, within several hours, the rest of the symptoms would start presenting again. She would then go to the doctor, go through the ten day round of antibiotics, and be fine for about five days after discontinuing. This third round of antibiotics had taken effect much more quickly than before, so we were pretty sure it was finally over. About five days after finishing the drugs, she started feeling that familiar discomfort. It was devastating. We had already been forced to cancel our family vacation after the last wave struck. She was tired. We were financially exhausted. We were not even remotely prepared for a repeat. We knew that the next doctor's visit would yield a referral to a specialist who would inevitably want to remove Monica's tonsils, which is not nearly as pleasant for an adult as it is for a kid who just gets to relax and eat ice cream for a few days.
I decided we were going to beat this with prayer. I prayed for God to spare Monica from having to endure this yet again. It was a hopeful prayer, but I really was praying without strong conviction. Logic was telling me that it was too little too late. I called a few other people and asked them to pray for the same thing. Even though they all agreed to, I could tell that they were feeling the same thing I was, and most likely, their prayers would end up more like asking for us to have the strength to endure while going through rather than it being avoided entirely. So even though I knew I was lacking in faith, I firmly insisted that the prayers be specifically for the strep not to happen again.
I don't know how many people ended up praying for her, but although I expected to wake up dealing with another nightmare, the next morning brought exactly the opposite. No strep! Almost another week has gone by since, and Monica is still healthy. It would have been so easy to just keep moving along, gratefully but without outward acknowledgement of what had transpired. I can't let that happen. Sometimes the remembrance of these "small" miracles provides the encouragement to stand up against the larger struggles and to pray with faith, knowing that God can and does answer prayers!

Keep It Simple

As kids are apt to do quite often, Shane (my 5 year old) recently found himself in trouble for doing something he had been warned not to do a gazillion times. After administering the appropriate penalty for the offense, Monica had a little talk with him that seemed to clear things up in his mind fairly effectively. She explained to him in basic terms that his responsibility as a child was actually very simple. Where God tells Mommy & Daddy a whole bunch of things that they need to do, he only tells Shane to do one thing. All God tells kids to do is to obey their parents. That's all!
Now even though we as parents constantly tell our kids all these things that they should and shouldn't be doing, hearing it simplified really gave Shane a point of focus. He was nodding his head and you could see a light turn on inside. It ceased to be overwhelming. All he had to do was obey us, and God would be happy. That was something achieveable.
When Monica told me about their conversation, I'm sure she saw me nodding my head as a light turned on inside. I thought that was great stuff. Looking at it as myself being a child and God as my Father, even though there's a great big huge overwhelming list of individual things that I should and shouldn't do, all I really need to do is focus on obeying my Father. Keep it simple. If I actually start to tune in to what He is saying to me on a daily basis, I won't have to worry about all the should's and shouldn'ts. God is an attentive parent, He wants to do great things through me, and He will definitely find a way to grab my attention when I do something I've been warned not to a gazillion times.
Kids do what they see. If Shane sees me and Monica obeying our Father, he'll be more apt to obey us as well. "Don't do as I do, do as I say" is a real lame parenting excuse. I'm guilty of it, but it's still lame.
We tell Shane to put on his "listening ears" when we want him to really hear what we are saying.
As I am writing this, I am suddenly remembering how Jesus would say "He that has ears to hear, let him hear." I'll have to go back now and re-read those verses, because obviously what followed must have been really important.