Leaning Away From the Swagger Wagon

By now everyone and their brother has seen the Swagger Wagon video.

If not, here it is:

There are some who desire the Sienna’s bench-style seating , but as a parent of only two (and only moderately shopping for a minivan), I’m leaning away from the Toyota Sienna in favor of a Honda Odyssey.  While the Swagger Wagon certainly brings the “street” to the soccer fields and suburbs, I’ve got to say I’m not sold by the “Hip Because We’re Not” approach.

As a guy, I tend to appreciate functionality more than anything else. If you’re going to sell me on anything, convince me that your product is the most functional and that it just works best… which reminds me of my favorite commercial of all-time:

This tips the scale for me- that and having been a happy Honda owner for nine years. Technically, this isn’t a commercial for an Odyssey, but I’m just a sucker for a Rube Goldberg.

I’ll take “pride in my ride” while sporting the Honda Odyssey even though there’s not a current, (relatively) hip commercial out there for it.  Besides, the best-selling minivan seems to carry enough ‘swagger’ without one.

My Rationalization for Being a Bad Blogger

When I started this blog, I envisioned regular postings that would come as the lessons of life about God and/or parenting came along. It just hasn’t happened that way.

However, I have been posting at another blog for a Sunday school class I teach, Exploring the Christian Worldview. We’ve been studying Romans since January and I’ve been posting my lessons there. It has consumed what little time I have for writing.

With that said, I’m trying to make time to actually contribute to this blog more frequently.

Sucking Well and God’s Enduring Faithfulness

Takeru Kobayashi is an impressive man. Some of you may know him as “The Tsunami” or have seen him on ESPN when working as a competitive eater. It is a gross sport to watch, but somehow fascinating too. The guy’s been known to eat 66 hot dogs and buns in ten minutes. Surely Kobayashi didn’t start off this way; he had to make baby steps in eating too.

Our twins have been home since Monday evening and we have been feeding them every three hours since. As many of you probably know, we all have an instinct known as “suck-swallow-breathe.” In preterm infants (such as ours), this instinct is under developed, but comes in time. In order to leave the NICU they had to be able to take all their food by mouth which requires a good suck-swallow-breath coordination. While they have this coordination, it isn’t quite perfect yet. They get pooped out at times, forget to swallow or (at worst) forget to breathe. Fortunately, we’re seeing their endurance being developed. While at the beginning of the week it took 30 minutes to finish a bottle, now they are throwing it back in 10-15 minutes while increasing the amount. Seeing their strength increasing is so encouraging. At times I feel like a strength trainer helping them get stronger (and ironically fatter).

Endurance is a funny thing. We often don’t realize how much we truly have unless someone is there pushing us. I can’t help but think of God and his incredible endurance with me. My favorite description of God is found in Exodus 34:6-7 where God is described as loving, merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. My own suck-swallow-breathe coordination, when ingesting what life serves me, doesn’t always work like it should. I cough, choke, sputter and even spit it back up. Despite this, God is right there, loving me faithfully and enduring with me. No matter what he gives me, he will give me the grace I need to handle it and be patient with me when I can’t. I can always rely on that. His grace is sufficient and his power is made perfect in my weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9) and we can endure all things through Christ who gives us strength (Philippians 4:13). Let us not forget that this certainly (if not primarily) includes the hardships and suffering we endure. There is a great blessing in suffering and pain. We must not waste our suffering or our pain. Instead, let us relish in God and his revealed character to us and depend upon his enduring faithfulness.

My hope is that my kids will see the grace, patience and faithfulness of God through me whether in eating or any other venture in life. More importantly, I pray that they will see my dependence on God for these attributes and humility to admit my need for grace when I fall short as a parent, husband or person.

The First 24 Hours At Home…

Okay, so a few disclaimers about this post.  First, it will not be as exciting as any Jack Bauer adventure.  Second, it will be limited on spiritual insights.  Finally, these are probably nothing new to most of you, but will bring fond memories of days gone by or give you windows to your future. Instead, here are some rapid fire things I’ve already seen, done and experienced having Titus and Riley at home:

GREATER RESPECT FOR ABRAHAM:  Tending to my newly circumcised son has given me a much greater respect for the sacrifice Abraham made by enduring this procedure (without anesthetic or sharp instruments) at an older age.  See Genesis 17.

“I’VE SEEN WORSE”:  Strange phenomenon that parents do- comparing one diaper to the previous.  I kinda feel like a battlefield surgeon comparing one wound to another.

TOTALLY DEPRAVED:  Yes, a statement of our sinful nature, but in this context- we’re totally depraved of sleep.

BEST TIME TO START LAUNDRY:  When the washer stops.  Seriously, the dirty linens these guys produce doesn’t end!

NEW RESPECT FOR NASCAR PIT CREWS:  We’re not “racin’” fans, but already we’re timing our feed times and talking technique… how can we shorten the time?  Which one should we start with?  Maybe we need to video tape them and get one of those on-screen markers to analyze it.

GAUGING THE RIGHT TEMPERATURE IN THE HOUSE:  Just below my boiling point seems to be right for their ideal temperatures.  I’m planning to break out my summer clothes later today.

FINDING HAPPINESS IN A BOTTLE:  This is never a good plan for adults.  We’re trading off between nursing and bottles, alternating who gets which at each feed.  There is a certain level of satisfaction in seeing the bottom of an empty bottle. Again, this applies only to the baby bottles.

A LIFE’S RIDDLE UNDERSTOOD:  Why do athletes always say, “Hi Mom!”?  I’m getting a clear picture now.  My wife is amazing and I’m so grateful for the sacrifice she’s making to nurse our twins.  Call your mother today.  Seriously.  She’s done a lot for you.

Anyone have first day at home stories?

Using Handmade Blankies to Tell About Jesus

Jonathan Edwards (American pastor/theologian) was said to have prayed regularly for the future generations of his family, praying that they would come to faith in Jesus Christ.  Since having learned that Gina was pregnant, we began to regularly pray for our kids, their kids and their grandchildren, etc…  It is a powerful thing that can bond your heart even closer to your children.

While prayer is certainly a most powerful tool, Gina and I relish the opportunity we will have to tell Titus and Riley about Jesus and his desire for a relationship with them.  Having worked in youth ministry for over a dozen years, I know all too well that this isn’t always an easy task for parents.  So how will we do it?

I can’t say for sure, but I know that there are eight wonderful ways to tell them about faith and the power of God hanging in their closet.  We have been blessed by various families in our church that have made handmade blankets, afghans and quilts for our twins;  each of them have been given four.  I can’t wait until we’re given the chance to tell them about the difficult journey that brought them to us- from their conception to their delivery and eventually their homecoming.  A huge part of that story will be the prayers of the faithful people of Valley Life Community Church, the glorious God who answered those prayers and the generous gifts of these blankets. Hopefully our prayers will be answered and they will give their lives to Christ.

How have you or how will you tell your children about Jesus?

Departing the NICU and the Second Coming

So our kids continue growing and flourishing in the NICU.  The doctors seem to think that they will be home around Christmas.  In the meantime, Gina and I have been scurrying to prepare our house and lives for them.  Much of this involves getting necessary baby equipment and doing laundry (I’m saving laundry for a separate post).

The experience is certainly difficult and different than many families experience… they wait for approximately nine months, the baby/babies are born and after three days in the hospital everyone is home.  Our time with them is much more limited.  Gina spends much of the day at the hospital to nurse them, but realistically only gets small chunks of time with them. I come to spend time with them after working all day and basically get to change a diaper for each of them, feed them and hold them until they are back asleep.  Don’t get me wrong- this time is sweet and I wouldn’t trade it for anything, but I long for more time with them.

This (hopefully) short phase reminds me of  my relationship with God.  While I cherish my daily devotional time with him, I find myself wanting more.  Even in ministry, much of my job is spent devoted to things about him (just as much of our “spare” time is devoted to preparing for our kids’ arrival home), but it isn’t necessarily time with him.  Nothing makes up for it.  Nothing nourishes my desire to be with him completely. My longing for unencumbered time with him will not be satisfied until he returns.  That is is the hope of the Christian life. Longing and waiting for Christ’s return is what  pushes us forward.  In the meantime, we must enjoy our time with him and make the most of the life he has given us.

While the wait for Titus and Riley to come home to us continues, we long to  spend more time with them without the barrier of an incubator door standing in our way.  While this will certainly be a joyous day, it will not be as glorious as the day of Christ’s return for his people.

Dirty Diapers and the Steadfast Love of God

Titus and Riley are now a week old (though 34 weeks gestationally). As they continue developing in the NICU, we see daily changes taking place- increased eating, regulated breathing and compositional changes to their waste.

The wonderful staff at the NICU wants parents involved in caring for the little ones. I have already changed more of my twins’ diapers than my previous 35 years combined. Until today I haven’t been treated with anything more than a wet diaper. Oh, how my son changed that for me. It was bound to happen sooner or later, though Gina actually longed for it. The true treat of this occurrence was that no sooner did I have the fresh diaper in place that it too was soiled, along with my hand and so on…

Inevitably there are two groups reading this: those completely disgusted and those thinking, “… and?” Regardless of where you sit, know that in that moment I wanted nothing more than my son to be clean. I didn’t want him to continue sitting in his filth and furthering his discontentment.

As I reflected on this scenario, I couldn’t help but consider how God is very similar. More accurately, my response was similar to God’s longing for us. His love for us is so vast and desires such great things for us. He doesn’t want us wallowing in misery nor does he want us to seek our own source of soothing. He wants to clean us. He wants to give us contentment.

While I could only offer my son a cleaner diaper and some wet wipes, God offered us his Son at the highest possible price. Not only did Christ provide cleanness, he brought contentment.

As you lovingly serve your children, striving to give them your very best, remember the steadfast love of God. Know that his willingness to give you his best far exceeds a double diaper change.

The Meaning of Double Meaning

My wife recently gave birth to twins- a boy (Titus) and a girl (Riley).  It wasn’t easy getting here- conception, her pregnancy, delivery and now in the NICU…  it has been rather tumultuous and we’re well aware that there is much more in store for us.

Throughout this experience, I’ve been learning  parenting lessons and seeing God in new ways- ways that expand my understanding of Him and His desire to relate to us.  My hope is to share these and you might see God in fresh ways.