Faith… through the eyes

This morning I had the opportunity to just sit and rock Silas for about an hour while trying to let Linds catch up on some sleep.  I knew it had been a long night for her with Silas getting up twice in the night to eat, and then the dogs starting to cry around 6 to be put outside.  So I told her I would take him downstairs and let her go back to bed for a while.  What a moment it truly has been for me.  After a few minutes of him crying, he fell back asleep in my arms.  All I can honestly do is sit and look down at him and how precious he is as my child.  So as I take a few moments and just pray over him, my mind begins to wonder if that’s how God feels about each and every one of us as his dearly beloved creation.  Next thing I know I find myself humming along to “Jesus loves the little children.”

“Jesus loves the little children,

All the children of the world.  

Red and yellow, black and white,

they are precious in his sight.

Jesus loves the children of the world.”

Talk about a smile coming over my face.  The way I look down and see my boys is how God look down and sees his creation.   Each and every child, so different, yet all part of his masterpiece, made in his image.  Just imagine with me now the Father holding you, whispering to you, “my dear child, I created you, perfect in your own way, and I love you.  You are so precious to me.  There is no one else like you in all creation.”

“So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”

Genesis 1:27 NIV

Take comfort in that today and allow it to put a smilie on your face.  Have a great day resting in the knowledge that God loves you.   

It’s now May and that means one thing in my family, Baseball season!  This is a tradition in our family.  Going back to my own dad, who still to this day loves to just play catch.  While growing up some of the greatest memories for Trav and I are in the side yard every night playing catch and fielding grounders until it was to dark to see.  For my birthday party each year my parents would allow me to invite 4 friends to a Pirates game, then have a sleepover.  Even as i grew older one of Lindsay and I’s date nights would be a weekly game just to get out of town.  Others might find the game boring but it runs in our blood.  The past few years though my joy for the game has grown even more as my dad and I have started going to the little league World Series.  There is just something about seeing kids from all around the world playing their hearts out and the thrill this game brings to them.  It truly brings back so many memories of being that age. It is incredible to see the joy in my pops as the rest of the world disappears for a day as he recounts his own trips to Williamsport as a kid.

One guarantee about Williamsport is that you will hear John Fogerty’s song “centerfield” playing throughout the day.  It is a tradition with such simple lyrics that just get stuck in your head and you can’t help but singing along.  There is just such a simplicity to sayin, “put me in.”

“Oh, put me in coach- I’m ready to play today:

Put me in coach- I’m ready to play today:

Look at me, I can be centerfield.”

Now as a Dad it is awesome to see this joy for the game being passed down to Eli.  We have started taking him to games himself and now even on TV he gets excited to watch it saying, “baseball game, baseball game.”

This past Christmas we got Eli and my dad both new gloves so they are ready to go.  Watching the lil man try and learn to throw has been hilarious. Sometimes you would think he could be an incredible pitcher with the accuracy he already has, then other times somehow he manages to throw it backwards.  (I think he learned that from his bubby somehow)  Whether it goes forward or backward he just loves it, such a simple joy to being a kid.  One thing to me is certain though, I can picture him as he grows saying, “Put me in coach!”

“The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy, yet I have come that they might have life to the full.” -John 10:10

Now spiritually speaking this simple statement has me thinking.  The game is our lives, God is our coach, and as believers it is time for us to start saying, “Put me in coach.”  I hear way to many others talking about how they would play or what they would do if they were the ones in the game.  Then here is a simple statement just for you, GET IN THE GAME!

The thief is out to keep you from being part of the game and experiencing what God is doing.  Yet God is calling you to get in, to start living.  No more excuses.  No more sitting on the sideline watching and critiquing what others are doing.  No more wishing we could just be part of the game.  No more thinking that we don’t have enough skills or knowledge.  Just a simple desire to truly start being part of what God is doing.

You have the gifting you need given to you by God himself.  You have him leading you and teaching you as you go.  Will you screw up at times, without a doubt.  Will you strikeout or miss a fly ball every so often, of course we all do.  You will also have the thrill of being in the game that many others never exprerince because they are still on the bench living of fear of what could be.

What game is God calling you to today.  Where in your life is he challenging you to get in the game?  How will you respond?  With a resounding, “Put me in coach”  or “I think you have the wrong person. “

One final thought for the day.  Being in the game of life with God is meant to be a thrill, a joy.  Picture Eli hitting his first home run or making his first catch.  The excitement and pure joy of just being in the game.  I believe that is what God intended for us in living.  What would life look like if we started living with that passion?

“Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice.”  -Philippians 4:4

 

 

As I shared before Eli is saying new things all the time.  Sometimes he is saying stuff that is totally off the wall, other times he is saying things he has heard us say, and other times honestly who knows what he is saying.  As he starts speaking more though we are realizing some stuff he is saying is good, and other times we just shake our heads.  This past weekend was one of those moments.  We were trying to get him to slow down and ready for bed.  It was also during his nightly routine of running laps around our house.  This time was a little different though.  Our other son SIlas was laying on the floor and Eli felt the need to practice jumping as part of his run.  So he would go right up to Silas, get his toes right beside him and then shout “Jump” as he launched over our 5 month old.  At first we thought it was funny until he started getting tired and barely clearing his younger brother.  At that point we had to put a stop to Eli’s fun.  

So I tried at first to ask him to stop, yet lap after lap he kept going right up to Silas, looking right at me, and then doing the same thing.  After the third time around my patience was getting tested.  “ELI, STOP.”  The response, not quite what I expected.  He looked right at me with this defiant little face,  “Daddy, I don’t want to listen to you.”  Then he proceeded to do the same thing over.  Next time around my voice was a little bit firmer, “Eli I said Stop, do you want to go to timeout?”  Again only a little bit louder from him, “Daddy I said I dont want to listen to you.”  Then off running again.  Next time, he got his butt smacked, and started screaming, “I don’t want to listen, I don’t want to listen,” as I proceeded to carry him to his timeout chair.  That finally got his attention.

Proverbs 13:24, “Whoever spares the rod, hates their children, but the one who loves their children is careful to discipline them.”

I remember as a kid having to be disciplined by my own dad.  (Oh wait, I never misbehaved)  In the moment the last thing you want to hear is you are grounded, or your mom say, just wait until your father gets home and then we will talk.  But in the long run and looking back it was truly what I needed.  With my dad it was never him screaming or shouting or even a good smack.  His discipline for me that always seemed to have the most affect on me was hearing the words, “I’m disappointed in you.”

I will never forget coming home one day after school and for some reason my dad was home already from work.  I walked in the front door and there was my mom and dad both sitting on the couch waiting for me, holding up a piece of paper (my fine I had received two weeks before for doing something stupid).  He just gave me that look and said, “Where were you two weeks ago?”  Needless to say that was a learning day for me and an expensive one.  I am grateful my parents didn’t withhold discipline from me even though in the moment it was the last thing I wanted.  Their discipline has made me who I am today.

Now spiritually speaking, what is it in our lives that we know God is calling us to do that we are screaming at him saying, “Daddy I don’t want to listen.”  Is he calling you to go to a certain place or speak to a certain person.  Is it an area of forgiveness that you are holding back?  Or how about showing love to the untouchables in your area?  “God, I don’t want to.”  Maybe for you it isn’t what you aren’t doing but what you are that He is trying to get your attention.  Maybe it is a sin in your life or an area of disobedience.  Maybe it is a path you have been taking or a relationship you are in that God is trying to get your attention and yelling at you at this point, “Stop!”  

I wonder what God’s timeout chair would look like. Not that I ever want to experience that in my life, but honestly knowing that sometimes in our lives maybe it is exactly what we need for God to finally get our attention.

Proverbs 3:12, “Because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.”

Ephesians 6:4, “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”

 

 

 “I do believe I can do it Dad,

Help me to see what you see in me.”

Eli is a little wild man, no fear in his body at all, doing things that would make a lot of others cringe.  Snowboarding full speed ahead, climbing on things that are riskier than he should be climbing on, being thrown in the air way higher than he should be, you name it or kid will try it.  He must get that from mommy.  (To be honest there are moments where I will hear others say, “hopefully your mommy didn’t see that” even though she is usually standing right there.) The craziest thing he probably is doing right now though is jumping off of things.  When I say jumping I mean totally launching himself to the point he is horizontal to the ground.  We have had moments in our house where he will be at the top of the stairs, will look at Linds about 4-5 steps down, and he will just shout, “Ready?”  At that moment he turns around, starts running and gets a full head of steam going and then launches himself into her arms.  He has a complete trust that she is going to catch him.  His fear he might have in the moment is wiped out because he knows his mommy is right there.   Now there have also been times where he will launch himself over our heads off the couch or jump off the bar in the kitchen where we haven’t been ready.  Luckily, to this point he hasn’t taking a total spill (knock on wood) and we have caught him.  How is our kid so fearless?  He has a trust that mommy and daddy are going to get him.  When he is snowboarding, he knows if he gets out of control, I will come behind him and pick him up.  He knows while climbing that if he gets to a point of being stuck, that we will get him down.  He has this unwavering trust in us.   

 

What if we had that type of faith in God? A complete unwavering trust in Him that when he says to jump, we would launch ourselves into his arms. What if when Jesus said to walk to him on the water, instead of trying to figure out how it is going to happen we just jumped out. What if we had that type of trust that when God’s calls us to do something we just go.

Now I have to clarify something here.  This type of trust that our kid has in us is because he has learned it.  I may have been the one to teach him to jump off the bar.  Teaching him to count to three and then saying, “Ready, Set, and Go.” He didn’t just start jumping the first time we told him to.  He had fears, and would shake his head no.  Yet he learned and came to understand that we had him and were not going to let anything happen.  It is a learned trust, from experience.  

I believe completely that God is the same way with us, teaching in life that we can trust Him.  Allowing us to go through moments that we have to learn what it means to jump.  Sometimes this might mean going through times that we look back on and know that the only way we were able to get through was that God carried us.   Other times it might mean literally having to trust God so much that without Him coming through you are going to fail and hit the ground.  

Think with me real quick about a little child jumping into the swimming pool, scared out of his mind, except for the fact that his dad is in the water saying, “I got you my child.”  

“But dad, it’s scary, it’s unknown, what if something happens?”  

“My child, I got you.”  The child jumps.  Dad catches him, and tells him to do it again, this time higher.

”Dad I’m scared.” The boy cries out again

“Did I catch you last time?”  Laughs his dad

“Yes” The boy chimes in

“Then trust me that I will do it again” reassures his father

The boy in this story overtime learns to trust his father and allow his fears to subside.  What is it in life that is causing you to have fear even though you have seen God come through time and time again, saying jump, “I got you.”

“If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.” Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”

Mark 9:23-24 NIV

This is truly one of my favorite passages in Scripture, but at the same time probably one of the scariest.  You might look at it and wonder what I mean about it being scary.  Let me explain.  “If you can” is like saying, “Jesus will you catch me?”  It is scary because it is the unknown.  The what if’s start playing in our minds and causing us to doubt.   We. have to get to that spot of trusting, “I do believe, help my unbelief.”  Or we can just keep standing on the diving board looking at the water below.  We can just keep staying in the boat going it is scary out there.  To walk on water, you gotta get out of the boat.  I do believe Jesus, I do believe, Help me overcome my fears.

Eli has learned to jump because he has learned to trust us.  What is God calling you to jump to today?  His arms are open, his voice is calling, My child I got you.  

 

 

To start out today, I want everyone to know that I am super pumped about today’s topic and the opportunity to share this blog with you.  Hopefully it challenges you today in your prayer life and makes you think.  I know it has for me.

So Eli is now over two years old, and talking like a madman.  He is copying every word we say and making absolutely off the wall comments.  He is really starting to comprehend things and know what he is saying.  With that, Lindsey and I are really trying to teach him to ask for things instead of just pointing at things and giving us simple statements like, “I want chicken.”   He has actually gotten pretty good at saying, “Mommy, can I have some Chocat milk,” especially when you ask what’s the magic word and he goes while giving you the pouty face, “Pease.” (yes I spelled that wrong on purpose because that is how he says it)

Now what we weren’t anticipating with teaching him to ask for things was how picky he is.  “Daddy, can I have some Peanut Butter Pease?”  So I go to the kitchen, grab a jar out of the cabinet and prepare to dip the spoon in when I hear him in the background, “No daddy, I don’t like that kind, I want that one” as he points at another jar hiding behind some other cans.  If you know me at all you know that at this point I am cracking up laughing, but he is serious.  “I don’t like that kind daddy, I want that one” as he starts to stomp his feet.  In my mind I’m thinking, “Come on bud peanut butter is peanut butter.”  The same thing is true with yogurt at our house.  I don’t get it at all.  If he is at Pap and Mema’s he will eat any yougurt, but at our place unless it is Dannon Vanilla Yogurt, he wants nothing to do with it.  This is absurd!  The other night we were finishing dinner and of course he wanted nothing to do with his green beans so I tried to compromise with him, “Eli, if you will eat 5 green beans you can have one of bubby’s cookies.”  The response made Lindsey and I turn away to keep from laughing.  He got inches from my face and said very seriously in his little 2 year old voice, “Daddy, I don’t need to try them to tell you I don’t like them.”  Where is this coming from?  Our kid knows what he wants and doesn’t want and he lets you know it.  You might think it is absurd and laugh, (don’t worry it is what we do to).  Also, please know Eli doesn’t always get his way.

Spiritually speaking though it has me really thinking about prayer.  We go to God in prayer with our requests before Him.  Asking him for things in our lives thinking we know best.  He answers, but then because we don’t like his answer we get upset with Him, “God, I don’t like that kind.”  Hear me on this please and think about it.  We pray for Him to be our provision.  He answers with opening up a job opportunity for us.  “God I don’t like this job.”  We shake our fist at heaven, and we think he doesn’t care..  “God please allow me to date so and so.”  It never comes about.  Our instinctive answer, “God must want me to be unhappy.” Or how about this example, “God, I want you to bless me according to my definition of the word blessing, with a white picket fence and perfect family.”

We pout, we “tell him like it is” as some of you have shared with me your thoughts toward God, we think God is unloving, and the list goes on of our responses.

What I am learning in my own life with Eli is the difference between the words request and demand.   Request is defined as: an act of asking politely or formally for something.  On the other hand demand is defined as: to ask for forcefully, in a way that shows that refusal is not expected and will not be accepted.

Even though Eli is throwing out the word please like it is a request, it is more an absurd demand with a meltdown to follow if we dont meet what he wants.

(Disclaimer:  Eli truly is an incredible kid so please dont take this as him being a terror, I am just using this as an analogy)

How many of us are the same way with God.  Our requests are honestly demands, thinking we know what is best.  Are we truly seeking Him in our prayers or demanding that he answers in the way we want.  We may not always understand how God is working and moving in our prayers.  Will you continue to trust him when he answers in ways you can’t comprehend or grasp.

To follow up with this take some time to read John 11 and think about the story of Jesus raising Lazarus.

“Some of God’s greatest gifts are unanswered prayers.” -Garth Brooks

 

So the last few weeks have been chaos and trying in our household.  As many others in the area have dealt with, our entire family came down with the stomach flu in every aspect possible and we just can’t seem to shake it.  A little over two weeks ago, I woke up in the night just soaked in sweat, feeling like absolute garbage and running to the bathroom.  To be honest I was really hoping it was just something I ate and that no one else would get it in the home.  About 24 hours went by and I was able to start keeping crackers down, so we were thinking, whoo got lucky there, but we are in the clear.  At the same time I was leaving to go on as cruise for my best friend’s bachelor party.  I kissed Linds and the boys goodbye and setoff thankful they didnt have it, thinking I would see them in a week or so.

As we reached South Carolina on our drive down I got the phone call that every dad dreads.  My wife crying, and hearing both the boys screaming in the background, she said to me, “Eli has it and is throwing up everywhere.”  My heart sank… all I could think about was my two year old going through what I had just faced, the stomach pains and feeling like you are being sucker punched in the gut every 5 minutes.  Especially at his age not understanding what is going on.  All I could do in that moment was offer to get a flight home to help.  Linds is a trooper though and said no, that I was where I needed to be and that she would get her dad to come help.  From there it spread from Eli to Silas to Bob to my dad to everyone who literally came in contact with our house.

What broke my heart the most though was the idea that he had no idea what was going on and all that could be done was hand him a bucket.  Just as in the passage we read below, they were confused and helpless.  He would just continue crying, screaming and just dealing with the pain.  All I wanted to do was take it from him, to be the one who was going through it.  I know it truly affected Lindsey and her heart as she would just start crying for our boys.  I hated being away from therm during that first week just listening over the phone, hearing what they were going through.  I hated watching them in that time and would do anything to bear it for them.   That feeling of “will this ever end?”

Seeing him go through that makes me truly think about God as our Heavenly Father seeing us go though our pain.  How he must feel as he sees us go through our struggles with sin, and crying out to him.  I can only imagine him saying to us, “my child let me take this for you.  Let me bear this burden for you.  My child you are not alone.”

“When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless.” -Matthew 9:36

My boys are finally on the mend and getting their energy back, but it truly gave me a new perspective on how God must see us as we are going through tough moments in life.  Him looking down on us with compassion, just as I look down on my boys and it brings a smile to my face.