The Monster and other things

Things have changed a lot here at the house. We finally got the service/companion dog that we have been waiting on for my oldest son. It is not the same dog that I blogged about months ago, but that is another story for later. My son's dog is named Monster. Which is appropriate since he is a large Saint Bernard. He is great and he seems to be my buddy currently. Monster has attached himself to me which I love since I have always wanted to have my own dog. I know that the dog is for my oldest son and that is fine. My son is not ready to handle the dog yet but it will come with time. If Monster listens to me and my wife we can at least be assured that he will be well behaved and not drive us crazy.

I also listened to a great interview with Reverend Desmond Tutu. I loved listening to him talk about God. The thing that struck me the most was the way describe being silent in front of God. When asked about how he felt about God Reverend Tutu said, "I am learning to shut up more in the presence of God," he says, laughing. One model of prayer, he acknowledges, is that "you have a kind of shopping list that you bring to God" — and even Desmond Tutu confesses that "I still do."

But more and more for him, he says, communion with God is about "trying to grow, in just being there."

"Like when you sit in front of a fire in winter — you are just there in front of the fire," he says. "You don't have to be smart or anything. The fire warms you."
I enjoyed hearing it for this great man. I have never been able to put into words the way I felt about God.

Accepting Second Best

This week was a very long week for me. Many of you probably heard of the latest school shooting that happened in Colorado this week. It is really close to home because I am one those "security guards" the news referred to this week. Deer Creek was one of my schools last semester, and I personally know the "security guard" who was assigned there this school year. I am not going to blog on the shooting this week it is still to fresh to me. Instead, enjoy my take on the current health care debate.

My wife sent me this link this week. It is an article about the current health care debate and our role as modern Christians. The author states that as a follower of Christ maybe we should elect not to have the best tests or get that designer drug for our restless leg syndromes. Basically, if your healthy by keeping from using up medical services frivolously we leave that doctor's time and drugs for others who may truly need it. I know that you could take this debate to the extreme. If your old don't try and prolong your life by taking that expensive treatment or body part. Sure, there are a lot of people who think me a monster for suggesting that the sick and old not hold on to life. But isn't that what God calls us to do.

Matthew 16:24-26 Jesus said,"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?"

The real question I am asking is where is your soul invested. Is it invested in this life or is it invested in the life to come? What have I gained by extending my life another day or year if I haven't used those days to bring God into the lives of those around others. And I don't mean to say that I need to spend time converting as many people as I can possibly find to listen to me. I mean bring God into peoples lives even just one life by loving them and caring for them. Alter calls are great but teaching someone to love as God loves will benefit them their whole life. I am not the best example of this but I know one thing that is for sure I know where I am going when I die. I don't need to worry about the end of my days. I am free. Are you living free as well?

Retiring a trust parenting tool

I recently had to retire one my most trusted parenting tools (ie threats) that I have to use with my oldest son and oldest daughter. My wife and I made the decision that the two oldest children could no longer be spanked as punishment or discipline. I made the decision because I felt that I was using that discipline to much and too easily. There is also a point at which as a parent you have to grow up and change things up. I cannot keep trying to spank a teenager. It might do some teenagers some good but that it not what I want for my children.

Giving up spanking for me really has been hard because I don't really see the effectiveness of time-outs. I feel like the child just takes the time-out and is laughing at the parents the whole time. I know that there has to be some studies out there that say that physical discipline is not as good as time-outs but that's not how I was raised. I originally thought it should be "spare the rod spoil the child."

But recently, I read the Message translation and it opened my eyes.

 ²⁴ A refusal to correct is a refusal to love;
   love your children by disciplining them. (Proverbs 13:24, The Message)

I feel like the passage is not calling me to beat my children into submission. I am called to discipline them with wisdom. That means the discipline that leads to love and correction. It is hard to change how my understanding but I really want my children to love me not fear me.