Attractive

Got the kids all ready for bed. PJs on. Looking cute. Hair still a bit damp from bathtime. Smelling sweet. I think the Johnson's people must have done lots of research to know that making their shampoo smell like Flintstone vitamins would be pleasing to Daddys.  Sorry, the sweet smell of clean kids got me off story...

So, all five of us are in Seth's room.  Prayer time.  John Mark, two, is usually in bed before his siblings.  He's still awake tonight.  Overly energetic.  I'm kneeling down beside Mary Elizabeth. Trying to bring calm.  Melanie is about to sit on Seth's bed when he announces contrary plans, "I want John Mark to come up here on my bed with me.  Daddy, you come up here."

Me & John Mark together on Seth's bed doesn't compute in my Daddy brain.  Maybe I blew that fuse during my morning sermon prep.  Maybe I tripped that breaker running around with the kids before suppertime. So I ask, "Why do I need to come up there, Buddy?"

In second-grader simple logic Seth states, "John Mark's attracted to you, Daddy.  If you come up here.  He will too."

There you have it, friends.  I am attractive to my two year old son...

At least in the eyes of his almost eight year old brother I am.  That's something, right?  I may have thinning hair, an average face, & a less than stunning physique, but I can attract the toddlers.  Watch out, world!

I have to ask, however, as a Christ-follower: Who am I attractive to? What might make me attractive?

Jesus says he will draw all men to himself if I will lift him up.

He is attractive.

Lift him up.

Spacewalk

U.S. Astronauts began a risky spacewalk about two hours ago to repair & upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope.  Among their maneuvers will be a camera upgrade. The old one allowed us never before seen views of space & will end up in the Smithsonian. The new one will look deeper into space & is the size of a baby grand piano.

The little boy inside me spoke up, "Wow! Wouldn't that be a cool thing to be doing this morning! Walking in space. Floating around. Seeing Earth like a glowing ball. Awesome!"

The grown man inside spoke next, "That took years of dedication & training to get there.  And even though those guys are weightless they are in those heavy, cumbersome suits.  And for each one guy out there working he actions are directed by countless many."  You've seen the space movies, right?  How many people watch monitors & give instructions & updates down here while a handful are up there?

The Christ-follower inside had the last word, "I can be weighed down & encumbered by the sins of this world, yet freed to weightless dependence as I confess to my Savior.  I am part of the Body of Christ, the church, & although we are many we seek our direction from only One, our Lord Jesus."  What needs confession today?  How is he directing me to follow?

Following Jesus.  A lifewalk.

Jumping Curbs

 

I had a Huffy ProThunder 4.  The coolest BMX bike in the world of 1980.  Shiny black & yellow bumblebee meets BMX, Baby! 

I loved to ride hard.  I loved to jump.  The stuff a BMX bike was made to do.  The stuff boys frighten their Mamas doing.  Jumping curbs was the thing to do on our neighborhood streets.  The transition of curbing into each driveway made a pair of impromptu ramps--one in each direction--in front of every home.

Jumping curbs.  Again & again.  Jumping curbs.

My heart jumped too.

Fun stuff.

Well, fun when you're a ten-year old boy.

Years later as a newlywed my wife had a white Cutlass Supreme. Nothing too expensive, but the wheels & the trimwork gave it a tough, futuristic look.  From the front it had the look of an old-school Star Wars Stormtrooper helmet.  She never liked it when I said that & she still won't.

Finishing up a late workday at my desk in Fort Worth & knowing Melanie would be leaving work in Dallas near 40 miles away, I got a cellular phone call.

Noise.  Sirens.  My heart quickened.  Then a firm voice.

I'm an EMT with Dallas Fire Department.  I've got your wife with me in the ambulance. 

My heart stopped.

She's been in an accident.  We're taking her to Baylor Hospital.  I'm not supposed to, but she wanted me to call you.

I must confess that I broke the speed limit as I drove the very road my wife had wrecked on.  I was only slowed by the onlookers gawking at what was left of her tough turned upside down white Cutlass Supreme.

She'd been run off the interstate.  Jumped a curb.  Flipped her car. At highway speed.

Not fun.

Not fun no matter your age.

The ambulance ride & ER visit ended up being only precautionary.  She came out sore, but with just one scratch & one good bump by God's grace.

Matthew 5:17 records Jesus saying, "Do not think I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them."

John R.W. (you know he's English because he has two middle initials & the way he spells "curb") Stott writes of that same biblical Law, "It is the kerbstone along the road of love."

I can do the math on that equation: Law = Curb + Road = Life of Christ-follower.

God's Law shows us our boundaries as we seek to follow Christ Jesus living by grace.

As a kid jumping curbs was fun.  A thrill.

As an adult jumping curbs is costly.  Possibly deadly.

As a kid jumping curbs was habitual.  It was daily.  

As an adult I try to keep it between the lines.  Trouble free.

But I must ask myself... When it comes to some of God's Laws for me--His commands, His direction, His will--am I still jumping the curbs?  How does that reflect the growing maturity I should be attaining as a Follower of Jesus?

Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13:11, "When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child.  When I became a man I put childish ways behind me."

Still jumping curbs?

Twins

3:06am. Woke up hurting fierce. Fiery pain in my belly. Front, left side. Just above the belt.

Unmistakable pain.

Kidney stone.

Woke up Melanie. Writhed in pain. Broke into feverish sweat. Thankfully Mamaw & Karli are here from Louisiana so we didn't need to wait for childcare.

This is my third kidney stone, but first since we've had children. A few days after I'd endured stone two, I'd heard from a co-worker who'd had three children—naturally—and two kidney stones that stones hurt worse than childbirth. Of course that evening I went home & announced this to Melanie. I was, in a sense, defending my honor and propping up my wounded ego after my unmanly behavior of rolling on the living room floor wanting to cry for my Mama. Melanie, ever quick, her eyes fixed like pins popping my balloon stated, "If you breathe a breath of that when I am in labor, I will slap you into next week!"

I still tell that story, however. Just did. You read it. But, just to make sure you know, I tell you here: I was smart enough not to mention it during the birth of any of our children.

Back to today... Got my kind nurse. Got my confident nursing student. Got my little open back gown. Got my IV. Got my nicer than expected lady doc. Got some morphine.

Didn't take the edge off. Kidney stone pain tends to come in waves. Not unlike contractions. Mine were coming about every three minutes at that point. That means its time to deliver, right?

Got to the cat scan room. Didn't hear a meow. Maybe a purr as that thing spun. Not even the sight of any shed fur. It is a hospital you know. Clean. Gotta ask how they remediate that pesky fur.

Quicker than I knew it was legal as per some unspoken hospital rule I got my test results. Resisting my urge to ask where the cats were hidden, I got the news from the doc. Yes, my medical layman's diagnosis was accurate: kidney stone. 3.5 millimeters.

The good news: It is ready to pass soon.

The bad news: There is a second one "up in there." Her professional medical terminology.

Twins. One is ready to deliver. Soon I hope. The other may linger.

Got some Toradol. That worked. After two hours in pain, ten minutes of Toradol had me feeling much better. And the doc even threw in a RX for the road so I could go home before my sleeping kids even knew I'd been gone: Hydrocodone.

So, in honor of the drugs that work for me, I decided right there to name my pain in waves like contraction causing twins, Tori and Hydi.

Yes, I'm "under the influence" even now. Could you tell? A cheap-drunk pastor with a laptop and a blog can be a dangerous thing. My hope is that I made you smile & maybe even laugh.

My greater hope, however, is to deliver the twins soon.

Who I Am

The reFocusing proccess at my church asked us to discover who God has created us to be. As a reminder to myself, here I am.

My Biblical Purpose

I exist to be loved by God through the risen Savior & the powerful Spirit.

My Values

1. Kingdom: Living faithfully by the principles of the eternal Kingdom of Heaven.

2. Discipleship: Becoming evermore Christ-like & influencing others to be the same.

3. Missionary: Extending the Kingdom in an Acts 1:8 movement.

4. Courage: Surrendering in faith to take risks for the Kingdom.

5. Family: Loving my family whole-heartedly without compromise.

My Vision

My vision is to love my family in words and actions, prayers and presence as God loves me so that Melanie will be vibrant and my children will be confident.

My vision is to love the Church as a discerning pastor and a passionate preacher as Christ loves me so that we might see with an eternal perspective, walk in transformational discipleship, and live with a missional impact.

I desire the Kingdom of Heaven to be enlarged because I gave my life away.