lessons from the lil' man

Today I ran a few errands, but basically tried to steal Titus from my wife as much as possible and I would just sit there with him. Doing nothing else, but just sit there and watch him sleep as I hold him. Strangely, I can do this for hours and hours and I just want to be with him more.
This is coming from a type-A, I-need-to-be-doing-5-things-at-once-or-I-am-wasting-time person. I love the fact that I can have several tabs on my internet window and have 4 separate spaces on my Mac where I can have iTunes open on one space, the internet on the other, Microsoft word on the 3rd space, and the power-point I am working on in the final space.
But now, Titus is messing all of that up.
I am just content for hours just sitting with him.
And it is great.
All of the sudden all the business of life is put in perspective.
I have a feeling Titus is going to teach me much more things to come...

Titus John

Bekah and I went to the hospital yesterday at 8am, ready to have a baby (well she was, I was there for support). Unfortunately there was no room at the inn and so we waited until a room opened up and then they started moving things along around noonish. Flash forwards 12 hours and 19 minutes later and we had a little bundle of joy otherwise known as Titus John.
But what about those 12 hours? We watched the Olympics, surfed the net, read books, and coached lil' Titus to come out...which he eventually did with the help of the docs and a c-section due to his inability to continue to progress. (As a side bar, it is always so weird to be on the other side of the medical field as I have seen several c-sections, but it takes on a whole new meaning when it is your wife and child!)
But now we find him content as can be, just relaxing and looking around this big world with his big dark eyes as I wonder how this whole thing really does work. Seriously, he was just in my wife's body and grew from a couple cells to have tiny fingernails and eye lashes. Do other people freak out when they really think about what had just taken place?
And as I look at him I wonder what he is going to be like in 18 years?
Will he like to run? Will he think my jokes are funny? Will he want to go into the medical field? What will do with Jesus? Will he be as small as I was in high school? Will he be friends with children of my friends?
So much potential just bundled up in that little bundle of a person.
As I tend to do I race ahead of things, so for now Bekah is right when she tells me to just enjoy the moment as I am sure one day I will wonder how he grew up so fast...

To Titus, mine own son after the common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour.
~Titus 1:4

new

Today was a day of news.
-A husband and wife shared their first kiss in the front of Church in front of their loved ones as they start their lives together.
-Sunday is the first day of a new week.
-I know of a few couples who are now engaged.
-A good friend called me on the phone telling me he wanted to turn his life around.
(No baby yet, Bekah is a real trooper).
-While the Olympics did not start today, we are still in the beginning of the games in which the dreams and hopes of several athletes are to be put to the test.

New stuff is exciting, full of potential, and necessary for our survival as we battle hurts and pains as the Olympics are overshadowed by the death of an athlete who died on a practice run and two people from South Korea wiped out as they were to finish 2nd and 3rd in a speed skating race.
Similarly this past week was a particularly difficult week with the unexpected bad news of person I was working with.
As I struggled with the events and why God would allow such a thing to happen I found myself feeling totally out of control and empty-handed as I realized (again) that I really do not have control of much of anything.
Then the Lord reminded me of the sermon on the mount where it is the empty that are filled by God and thus blessed (Matthew 5). God uses those who are broken and call out to Him (Luke 18). God makes all things new (Rev. 21:1). God's strength is made perfect in our weaknesses (2 Corinthians 12:9).
So as Sunday comes to a close I am thankful for His constant renewal in our lives as the shadows in our lives prove the sunshine.

men and Super Bowl commericals

Last Sunday I felt that several commercials were very focused on men. First there was the Dodge Charger Ad called "Man's Last Stand" which goes on to say:
I will get up and walk the dog at 6:20AM.
I will eat some fruit as part of my breakfast.
I will shave, clean the sink after I shave.
I will be at work at 8:00AM.
I will sit through two hour meetings.
I will say yes, when you want me to say yes.
I will be quiet when you don’t want me to say no.
I will take your call and listen to your opinion of my friends.
I will listen to your friends opinions of my friends.
I will be civil to your mother.
I will put the seat down.
I will separate the recycling.
I will carry your lip-balm.
I will watch your vampire tv shows, with you.
I will take my socks off before getting into bed.
I will put my underwear in the basket.
And because I do this. I will drive the car, I want to drive.
Charger, Man’s Last Stand.

Other commercials included Docker's theme of men without pants showing several men marching around in their underwear, two skinny men in sumo gear frantically trying to find how to surrender to a sumo wrestler on their cell phones, Snickers showing old female actresses getting tackled in a football pick-up game until they eat Snickers and turn into men again, FLO TV's commercial had a narrator introduced a character whose "girlfriend has removed his spine, making him incapable of watching the game." The ad ended with a very clear message to men: "change out of that skirt."

While these commercials were not on there were Go Daddy commercials inviting men to "see more" of the stripping Go Daddy girls, a Bridge Stone tire commerical where the man ditched his wife when confronted with danger, Megan Fox in a bathtub what would happen if she sent her picture out via her phone resulting in men all over the world staring at their phone causing accidents, or men ignoring all of the doom of being stuck on a deserted island (with a working radio) or a comet hurling down at the earth in exchange for a good time with Bud Light.

These commercials basically portrayed men as wimps or shallow guys satisfied with beer and naked women. Is this an accurate portrayal of today's males?

What does it take to "be a real man?" Do you need to be like Russel Crowe or Leonardo DiCaprio in the movie previews (also shown during the Super Bowl) in which they risk their lives for the good of others, Brett Favre still playing football at age 50, or the little boy defending his mother from the potential new boyfriend?

What about offering their seat on the public transportation to a pregnant woman? It is not uncommon for several sitting guys look at Bekah (who is obviously pregnant) on the train and just go on reading or playing on their phone while she stands there.
Why are urban cities full of young mothers raising their children by themselves?
Why are all the police who are to protect us portrayed as overweight men eating donuts?
What is going on with male politicians literally caught with their pants down or lying?

I could go on and on as perhaps I am writing this as I think about raising a child and what that entails as far as being a father, but I am also concerned that these commercials portray men today who are not stepping up to defend what is right, but rather living in their own little world of beer, football, and Go Daddy Girls which just makes them boys that can shave.

waiting...

We are officially 13 days away from the due date of our first child. The baby room is painted, the crib is up, the changing table is ready for action, we have a couple boxes of diapers, and I purchased several more cases of coffee for my upcoming sleepless nights.
Now we just wait.
Bekah is ready to have the baby as she battles all sorts of weird physical complaints such as swollen hands, which I have never experienced, but according to her is not fun.
I know that I have written about waiting in the past, but I am not a fan. I like to get things done promptly and efficiently. Few things feel better than a completed check list at the end of a Saturday.
But life is mostly about waiting for some expected in as we hear phrases about "joy in the journey" and "it's not the destination, but the journey" to remind us of this fact.
Maybe it is because I am engulfed in The Lord of the Rings with page after page of their journey to ultimately destroy the ring (hopefully I did not give away the ending), but God is teaching me that He does not waste anything as we see Frodo shaped by his journey and I trust that He is also shaping me in my journey as Bekah and I wait for a whole new chapter to open in our life...