Long Night, Early Morning

It is just after 5:00am and my brain is chugging steadily onward towards its morning rush hour of caffeine and sugar in the form of one 20oz. cardboard cup. I have been awake steadily since about 3:45am and off and on before that since Carrie went to sleep at 11:30pm (after a run to McDonald's for a Happy Meal and anxiously awaiting the passing of tornado sirens and massive thunderstorms). I have spent my time dozing, thinking and praying for this beautiful woman next to me. Although it's not even been 24 hours since we came in with Carrie's acute abdominal pain and the procedure done wasn't what one would necessarily consider "major," for my wife to be in any pain is just about enough to make me want to bust some heads.

In these waning moments of night, though, I'm reminded of several things, though:

1. Carrie and I have incredible people around us - our family, friends, co-workers at NEXT, and our fellow Providence church-goers... wow, I've been blown away. We talk and talk and talk about "being" the Church, not just playing church, living missionally and a host of other catch-phrases to make us sound as though we're "different from those other churches and Christians..." but rarely see any difference. Cancel that thought. God has put us in the middle of a network of people who continually challenge, support, tease and yes, even "endure" us. But, more than anything, the Lord has placed us in the middle of an incredible network of people who know what it is to love.

2. The Lord's timing is perfect - So many factors that could have gone wrong... I was out of town all day on Monday, Carrie had an inkling that something was amiss just a few days ago, we didn't have an uber-stressful day ahead at the office, Andy and Robin were already coming down to spend some time with us and also Cassie and Curtis, Cassie was already coming up to the Northern Climes to watch LK for the day... it's ridiculous to see God's hand at work in such huge ways. All of that aside... Carrie found her new OBGYN down here (she was the OBGYN on call for the ER)!

3. I know that there will be rough times in marriage, but, I'm reminded again of the pain that Christ suffered for His Bride, the Church, and that I would willingly take all the pain that Carrie has endured on myself in a heartbeat. - This brought to mind Ligon Duncan's call to husbands from last years "Together for the Gospel" conference when he said these words: "You love your wife in light of how Christ loved the Church. He gave His life up for her and you are to do the same!" In a world awash in the heresy of emasculated men, husbands must be, in the words of Steve Farrar, the "point men" of their families and LEAD. I've been praying that God might enable me to treasure my wife and my daughter even more and I don't know how I could love the woman next to me any more, at this point in life.

God is good. He continues to watch over His people and lead them forward in advancing His Kingdom and, ultimately, magnifying His glory.

Redemption

As a little boy, I had a fear of being kidnapped. I can remember planning out how I would pretend that someone had already "gotten to me" if there was ever a kidnapper in my house. Whether it was because of movies I saw when I was little, the constant "Have You Seen Me?" advertisements in mailers and at the post office, or even broadcasts in the middle of Chicago Cubs baseball games on WGN, I was scared of being kidnapped and held for ransom. The movie "Man on Fire" was playing in my head almost two decades before it came out.

As we began our new sermon series at Providence over Exodus, some of these thoughts came flooding back to me. Exodus is the story of God's redemption of His people from slavery in Egypt. As I sat there and thought about these fears from childhood, it reminded me of how incredible it is that Christ has redeemed His children.

What would it be like to be kidnapped and not even know it? The heartache, loneliness, abuse, and everything else that comes with our idea of being kidnapped? Or, even worse, to be constantly wooed into a stupor by your kidnapper to where you just thought the things that were going on around you were how things were supposed to be?

To realize and really understand what Christ did in redeeming us is an incredible thought. He paid our ransom so that we might no longer be under the control of the kidnapper. Through His sacrifice, He glorified Himself by purchasing our lives.

We live in a world that doesn't even know it's been kidnapped. In fact, it's very being desires to be with the kidnapper, since we fall into believing that he gives the best treats and candy. Yet, we know the ransom that has been paid, in Christ's blood, for us.

I pray that my daughter and wife know that, if one of them were ever kidnapped, their man would not stop until he had brought them home (as well as their kidnappers...). And to think... Christ has already done this for us!

Will Your Children Remember? (Part II)

How many children, around the globe, now, will not get to remember anything about Obama's tenure as President of the United States of America because of the lift on banning government funding to international organizations that promote abortion or counsel women to seek abortions?

I realize that this debate goes down every time a new party is in Office, but still, why can we not see life for what it is worth?

My heart is heavy thinking about the implications that this new executive power has... at least for the next four years, America will not be an advocate for children nor for ethics.

Again, the arguments in my head for moving to New Zealand roll in my head like thunder.

Will Your Children Remember?

I don't know how many times in my life I will hear the question "Where were you when the Towers fell on September 11th?" This is, I guess, my generation's version of "Where were you when President Kennedy was assassinated?" No doubt, after tomorrow's inauguration of our nation's 44th president, the question will be "Where were you when Obama made history?" This question may just be asked several times in his presidency, as we look at new policies and how he will deal with the economy as well as foreign policies.

Bigger than any of these questions, though, and much more important than whether or not your child will remember where they were when President-elect Obama dropped the "elect" from his title, is will your children remember the influence for Christ that you had in their lives. More important than any political ideology or leader, more important than our nation's first black president, more important than any simple slogans to be repeated by the masses ("Hope. Change."), we must teach our children about faith and, even more importantly, live those tenants out for them to see and emulate.

Bring Back the Fireside Chat

2009 will certainly be a year for change for many things: our economy is going to improve, new big government items are going to be brought into being, the Church is going to continue to grow and worship and bring more people into the community of Christ, Israel will grow in strength (I pray), and many people around the globe will view Obama even more as a sort of saviour.

When it comes to Obama, I've been quite critical of how many things he has copied from his predecessors in the Presidency. Many of his ideas are not original, at all, and have been copied from those who have gone before him. Evidently, though, a lot of his ideas have come from the presidency of FDR, the "New Deal"er, and a fellow Socialist (although Obama is of the neo- variety). If he's going to take one cue from FDR, though, I genuinely hope it's this: bring back the "Fireside Chat."

I know that our society and even culture have moved forward quite a bit since the days of FDR encouraging his people over the radio, but how many modes of communication does Obama have to utilize that haven't been done since the time of FDR? I don't know about most, but I think the idea of our president speaking to his people several times per week is a great idea. Even if I don't agree with a lot of his policies, I think that most people would feel more "in the loop" if more communication directly with the people, rather than through press conferences and whatnot, were carried out through different mediums.

2009 will certainly see me doing a better job of communicating with those who support Carrie and I, as well as just with our loved ones. If you're perusing this blog, then chances are, you may just very well be in that group; here are some ways we can stay in touch:

   1. this blog

   2. Facebook

   3. Brite Kite

   4. Twitter (probably my favorite form)

   5. better phone calls

   6. (although it's quite impersonal) texting

   7. email, email, email

Looking Out...

In my personal study time (what many might call a "Quiet Time") on Tuesday morning, before I happily made my way down from the Northern Climes of Little Elm to Grapevine, I read this particular part of a verse in the book of Jeremiah:

"The land lay subdued before them." (Jeremiah 18v.1b)

This got me thinking: What if we looked at life in this way? Not in a presumptuous way, as though the Lord should give us every single thing we want just because we say a prayer or anything like that... but in the simple knowledge that God truly is in complete control of every aspect of our lives. Would we still be terrified by economic woes? Would we freeze up when someone says we're not being politically correct or sensitive enough? Would we finally be men of faith who would lead in all areas, like we're supposed to?

The land that is our lives lies before us and, although there are definitely wild areas and places where we might come upon things that scare us to the core, we need to know that that land is subdued before us. We serve a mighty God who preserves His children to the end, and it's time that we see this and trust in that strength and love, not to mention grace.

Sleep Deprived? Not Hardly

Sometimes, I wish that more blogs carried a time-stamp on them, something to let you know not only what day the article was posted, but also what time. I know there are a plethora of thinkers and writers out there who are up at all times of the day and night, sending their thoughts out into the meta whenever it strikes their fancy. I'm just curious as to when most bloggers do their critical thinking and writing.

Since you can't see what time I'm posting this, I'll tell you: 5:10am on Friday morning.

I know that I have a meeting in just over an hour with the FCA leaders of Little Elm High School. I know that I've an accountability meeting at 11:00am. I know that between those two things, I've got stuff to get done at the office. But, I've been up since 4:30am. Conscious since about 4:15am. To most, this would seem like an incredibly horrible thing but, for me, my brain is running on all cylinders and this is becoming a kind of common thing.

I've never been able to sleep like most people. Growing up, I was always a little bit jealous of my buddies who could go to bed at midnight and sleep until noon the next day. For me, I can't sleep past 9:00am, ever. Even if I've stayed up all night, I simply cannot stay asleep after that threshold. I can take naps and have the ability to kind of go into a twilight stage when I need to (I believe Jason Bourne called this "delta meditation"... something to do with the brain's delta waves), but I can't stay in bed. I really started to get worried, as I've only been sleeping in the five to six hour range (with the occasional four hour night) each night.

So, that being said: it's not a lack of exercise, bad heart rate, sleep apnea, or anything else like that. I think I'm just one of the weird ones who only sleep in the four to six range.