Give Me Some Rain, Jesus!

“Give me some rain, Jesus!  I really need some rain!”  shouted my three year old son, Will, as he and mommy came back from feeding the hens tonight.  It wasn’t a shout, it was really him just using his natural unhindered talking voice: loud.  Maybe he was a little louder than usual because he needed to be… Jesus is pretty high up there ya know.

He knew that Jesus was listening.  The confidence in his voice was the same as when he very matter-of-factly “asks” me for a glass of milk.  Will knows I will get him a glass of milk… unless its his third glass of milk in five minutes right before dinner.

Where is that confidence when I talk to God?  Way too often I sound sheepish or petty or repetitive or boring or disinterested when I’m talking to God.  Maybe I try to sound like a mature Christian when I pray because for some reason I need to convince myself that I’m worthy of talking to God.

Pretty retarded, huh.

There are times to talk to God, our loving Daddy and times to humble ourselves before the all-powerful creator of everything… times to honestly (and sheepishly) ask for forgiveness and times to confidently ask for rain.

The next time you talk to Jesus, let the time be what it needs to be.  Don’t try to sound too churchy, or too casual… just be natural and let your conversation with God flow.  With a little practice, it becomes easier than you think. 

You may even find yourself praying with your loud outside voice once in a while.

Waking The Dead Could Rock Your World

There are books that are fun to read.  Some books have amazing, intricate plots.  Some books leave you feeling good about life.

John Eldredge’s Waking the Dead rocked my world.

This book has been sitting on my bookshelf for at least five years.  Having thoroughly enjoyed Wild At Heart, I jumped into Waking the Dead about five years ago expecting the same gung-ho he-man testosterone-laden spiritual slugfest that Wild at Heart had brought on a year prior.  At the time, that’s what I wanted… and Waking the Dead failed to deliver… then.

That was then, this is now.

The last several months have been very graying.  Not in hair-color, but in vibrancy of life and passion for ministry.  I’d really  been questioning and doubting my effectiveness in my roles in our church and in our town.  My life… in fact my very existence… had grayed into anything but the purposeful adventure that I knew it should be.

The spark began to light again as I studied Second Timothy, not because I wanted to, but because I had to for my pastor job.  The themes of purpose, rescue, battle, soldiers, and focus began to stir something inside me.  That’s where God had lead my heart to when I picked up that dusty copy of Waking the Dead.  God used His Word to prime my heart for what He wanted to say to me through Waking the Dead.

I’m not going to give details or write an in-depth review, but I will say that book has caused me think about life, ministry, and the basics of why God did what he did for me in a way that no other book has.  This book is not gender-specific like Wild at Heart was… the Scriptural truths Eldredge presents speak to all of us.  As a result, I’ve seriously questioned some of the “fundamentals” I’ve been taught and that I’ve preached to my congregation… in a very good way.

You may be ready for it, you may not.  If you are, Waking the Dead could rock your world in an epic way.

Wowed By My Momma Cat

Our cat had 4 kittens today and I got to be there to see it. My mind is racing with how amazing it was.

First, a little background.

1.  The cat used to be named “Muffin” until she was given to our boys, who renamed her “Wander Cat” because she wanders around town.

2.  Jodi has never been a pet person. She had a rabbit or two as a kid, but that really doesn’t count for those of us who had real pets.  I’m sure I’ll get a flood of comments and hate-mail now from the rabbit-loving nation…

3.  Wander Cat is our first cat to survive our owl-infested town for an extended period of time. She’s won the hearts of the boys, the neigbors, and even my non-pet loving wife.

That said, I happened to be home today when Wander Cat went into labor.  She got very clingy and wouldn’t let Brock (my 5 year old) or me out of her sight.  I pulled out a box with an old beach towel in it and she jumped right in.  She acted just like my wife prior to labor: she couldn’t get comfortable, she didn’t move a whole lot, and she had a look of “please don’t go anywhere right now” in her eyes when she looked at me or Brock.

Then the magic started.  Her whole midsection contracted 8 or 9 times, then there was a wet kitten.  Wander Cat immediately cleaned the kitten and cleaned up the afterbirth and the kitten immediately started to root around for some milk.  There was about a 30 minute break between each kitten.  Brock and I witnessed the first 2 births, then I had to take Brody to a Cub Scout pack meeting.

After returning home for the evening and putting the boys down to bed, Jodi and I spent about 15 minutes in with Wander Cat and the little ones.  Jodi felt her pain and knew she was hungry, so my wife put about a handful of cat-food next to Wonder Cat, who gratefully scarfed it down.

Okay, now for the reflective thoughts.  Well, it’s really one thought with a set of related thoughts…

1.  How amazing is the God who creates life! That’s the big thought, in case you were wondering.

(Before you read on, you should know that I’m not trying to start a creation-vs-evolution debate at all.  I’m just amazed at how it all works.  For the record, I don’t know how it all started, I don’t think anyone really does… and I’m okay with that.  So please don’t respond with long-winded fact ridden paragraphs from either side of the table… let’s just marvel at how amazing life is.)

2.  How can evolutionary biology explain the motherly instinct? Why do virtually all mammal and bird mothers automatically care for and protect their young while the dads could basically care less?  The motherly instinct is one of God’s most beautiful and amazing creations.  I picked up one of the kitties for about 3 seconds and Wander Cat gave me the look.  Don’t mess with a momma.

3.  How can evolutionary biology explain mammary glands? How crazy is it that mammal babies survive by eating a substance that is secreted by their mother’s bodies?   That’s both crazy and funny! I would never have planned it that way (I’m not sure how I would have planned it, but surely not that way).  Each of those kittens knew that they needed to head for chow right away… and they got that chow from sucking on their mom’s body.  Simply amazing.

4.  This was purely natural. I’ve watched my wife give birth to each of our three sons and each was a very special event.  However, my sons were born in state of the art hospitals, as Jodi was in a specialized bed, coached on by trained mid-wives, monitored by professional nurses, and married to a husband who endured …. I mean willingly attended… birthing classes.  Even now moms that choose “natural” birthing methods do so with lots of knowledge and supportive networks of midwives, dulas, and hippies.  Wander Cat didn’t need any support, or coaching, or birthing beds… she just did it.  God’s creation knows how to take care of business.

Those were the big observations.  There were other cool things too… the way the tiny paws already had claws… the perfectly formed little ears… the way the boys responded tenderly and excitedly at the new baby kitties…

It was simply an amazing day.  Isn’t life amazing!

Dorky Stuff Gets Cool With Age

As I get older, things I used to think were incredibly dorky are now incredibly cool (to me at least).

As a kid in southern California, I took pride in my soccer uniform, my baseball uniform, and even my green and white 4-H uniform. Apparently in California, you still have to wear these ridiculous outfits to show your livestock project in 4-H. Let’s make kids get dressed up in shiny white clothes right before they have to lead their “clean” show animals into a ring!  Great idea.  I think Clorox-funded the whole thing. It’s no surprise that there are surprisingly few images of these 4-H uniforms on the internet.   But I digress.

They will change clothes the minute they are out of the show ring.

In addition to the 4-H uniform, there was another uniform that I didn’t understand at all: the Boy Scout uniform.  As a grade school kid, I could not comprehend why you should have to dress up in an outfit with a scarf and patches to go camping.  It made no sense whatsoever.  My dad and I were into sports and 4-H, not Scouts.  I was never anti-Scout, just anti-dorky-Scout-Uniform.

Until my son Brody got his Tiger Cub Scout uniform today.

That's a proud Tiger Cub

As a father, it’s awesome to see your son excited and proud. To Brody, than new uniform represented something that big kids get to do.  Something special.  Something his younger brothers are too young for.  I’ll be ordering a matching hat and shirt for myself pretty soon.

My opinion on Scout uniforms shifting from extremely lame to supremely cool got me thinking… What other things in my life have made the lame-to-cool transition as I’ve gotten older?  Specifically, what would have been a complete waste of time to me as a child or teenager, but I now find increasingly valuable and enjoyable.

Here’s what made my “Dorky-to-Cool” List:

1. Rest

2. Gardening

3. Instrumental Music

4. Silence

5. Disco and Funk Music

6. Other People’s Ideas

7. Just Relaxing With God

What makes your “dorky-to-cool” list? Leave a comment here on my FB.

5 Crazy Firsts This Week

Most weeks just fade in and out.  Not this one.  Not by a long shot.

1.  First Cub Scout Meeting. I haven’t seen Brody so excited in quite a while.  It’s only a matter of time before we post pictures of me and Bro in those way too cool Cub scout threads.

2.  First Server Crash that’s 100% My Fault. Yep, no one to blame but me.  I made one little change that looked good for a few minutes… then brought the internet crashing down for a whole bunch of our customers.  I owe my co-workers brownies.

3.  First Kite Flying Day of 2011. We have lots of breezy days here in Branson, so the whole crew headed out for a little stringed flight action.  FYI, the Spiderman and Iron Man kites flew way better than the Transformer kite.

4.  Read the First Several Chapters of Francis Chan’s book Crazy Love. Great book so far.  Can’t wait for the rest.

A Crazy Awesome Book

5.  First Thoughts on Firefox 4… Awesome! I had to put some geek stuff in this list.  Seems like its trying pretty hard to feel like Google’s Chrome… but that’s not a bad thing.

So you made it this far down into this post.  Let’s see who’s still reading.

What gets your attention in life? Urgent things?  Big things? Little things?  Normal things?  Awe-inspiring things?  Difficult things?

In the last week or so, I’ve begun to catch glimpses of God just around the corners, trying to get my attention.  Not in a bad, “You’re in trouble,Brad” kind of way… but more of a playful, loving, everything-or-nothing kind of way.  It’s in the sound of birds as Spring begins.  It’s in watching my pregnant cat’s belly move as the kittens inside her have karate matches.  It’s in watching my 2-and-a-half year old pull his 5-year brother down in a laughing bear hug.  It’s in seeing my wife from across the house laugh as she’s talking to a dear friend on the phone and being awe-struck by how far out of my league she is.

It’s in realizing that in 100 years, no one will know who this Brad was.  It’s in the awe of thinking about the immense size of the universe compared to my small life in this small town.  It’s in trying to wrap my brain around how an all-powerful Creator of everything, who has created billions of people, billions of stars, and gabazillions of life-forms throughout history… loves me and pursues me.

The reality of me (and you) being pursued by the most important being ever is crazy.  And that is how it’s supposed to be.

The more and more I embrace, and live, and share that crazy reality… the better and better life gets.

7 Big Things Since My Last Blog

It’s been a while.  Way too long.  Seven months since my last post.  One more than a half-dozen.

In honor of the 7 months of blogging void, here are 7 Big Things Since My Last Blog.

1.  I ran a half marathon on a volcano. Yep, I did it.  The way I see it, I finished at the back of the fast pack or at the front of the slow pack.  39 out of 59.  You don’t believe me?  Check out the official race results here.  Oh yeah, did I mention that the race was up and down a volcano?!

2.  Jodi and I have been married a decade.

10 Years - The Babe and the Baldy

3.  We have a cat. My apologies to our cat-allergy friends, but the cat is a good one.  A little girl in town came over the day her family was moving out of town, and with tear-filled eyes gave “Muffin” to our boys.  The name was quickly changed to Wander Cat (because she wanders around town) and she’s expecting kitties soon.  I’m confident she’ll be able to fend off any kitty-eating Sith Lord owls with her Jedi skills.

The Catawan

4.  The boys make movies. Brody and Brock have figured out how to take movies on our digital camera, and they have a blast.  Brock tends to be the camera man, and Brody is the anchorman for “FUN News.”  If we “encourage” this right, this could turn out to be daddy’s retirement fund.

Sledding Day in Branson

5.  Brody took home a first place award from the regional science fair. I don’t know who was more proud – him or me.

Brody Making Eyes With Another Award Winner

6.  Brock is a Lego maniac. Architect in the making.

Architect In Training

7.  We’re starting a worship team at church. God has put all the pieces into place, not me…  and I wouldn’t want it any other way.

Reflections From A 60 Mile Bike Ride

Yep, the title is right.  I willingly went on a 60 mile bicycle ride from Avon, CO to Glenwood Springs, CO.  The ride consisted of 3 major segments.

Section 1: The Fun and Easy Downhill. The first section of the ride was scenic and mostly downhill.  Most importantly, I wasn’t tired yet.

Section 2: Why Am I Doing This? The middle section was by far the toughest.  Not only had fatigue set in and the scenery went from quaint mountain towns to ugly mining town (everything is uglier when you’re tired), but the trail (US Highway 6) ran on the right-hand side of Interstate 70.  Having cars and trucks zip right by you at 70 miles per hour makes you feel like you’re moving at a snail’s pace… which is about the worst motivation possible at that moment.

Section 3: Driven By The Bacon Cheeseburger. Glenwood Canyon is one of the most scenic, beautiful trails in the country.  Cliffs climb thousands of feet straight up into the sky on either side of you as a huge river rolls downhill alongside you.  Guess what defined this section of the ride for me: my desire for a bacon cheeseburger with guacamole.  That’s what kept me going.  Not the beauty and majesty of the canyon… not the glory of accomplishment… but the hunger in my belly that I knew could only be satisfied at the end of the trail.

It was a truly epic ride that left me pondering…

1.  Training and proper gear are key. One third of our biking party was my triathlon-running brother-in-law on his road bike.  The other 2-thirds of this crew consisted of me and my father-in-law, Orville, on our mountain bikes.  Now, don’t get me wrong, Orville and I are not couch potatoes – I’ve been training for a half-marathon in September and Orville plays on several softball teams and works out several times a week.

My father-in-law and I were smoked by the guy with the training and the right gear.  Pushing our mountain bikes and the knobby-dirt-loving trails over miles and miles of paved trail proves to be a huge, painful task for our non-bicycle-conditioned legs.  Not so for my well-geared brother-in-law.

Which brought me to the realization that …

2.  Un-Preparedness Leads to Struggle Rather than Enjoyment. There was so much beauty and potential fun moments that I could have appreciated a whole lot more if I wasn’t struggling for two thirds of the ride.  Yes, struggle makes us stronger. But how often do we experience struggle as a result of not being prepared?

The prolonged pedaling, fatigue, and hunger also revealed that…

3. Motivation Doesn’t Have To Be Noble. There is nothing noble about hunger.  It’s the most primal and basic a need we humans have.  That was the driving force within me.  I’m a pastor that loves the outdoors.  Shouldn’t I have been motivated by the natural beauty of God’s creation that surrounded me?  Absolutely!  The problem was that my natural self had taken over.  All I wanted was to finish the ride and taste the goodness of the bacon cheeseburger with guacamole.  And y’know what… I finished and it tasted great.

So how does that ride related to life for you and me?

• Which section of the ride do you find yourself in the various parts of your life?  Your job?  Your marriage?  Your walk with God?
• Are you prepared for the ride?  Have you taken time to rest and prepare for the challenges you’re facing right now?  For you Jesus followers, have you spent time preparing yourself by resting in him and reading his word?
• Are you motivated to finish?  The motivation doesn’t have to be noble.  It just has to get you across the finish line.

Summer Roasting and Toasting

Summer is just underway and it’s nearly 1/3 over! Holy Cats! Just a few reflections on an already awesome June:

What Do You Enjoy?

There are a few things in life that I really enjoy. 

I’m talking about the kind of enjoyment that you only get from the best things in life… the kind of enjoyment you want your kids to pick up and run with… the kind of enjoyment that you want to share with others… the kind of enjoyment that makes you want to know what other people really enjoy.

So here are a few things that I really enjoy that I want to share with you.

1. Laughing really, really hard.

I think I should invest in Depends so I don’t have to worry about wetting myself.  For more vids like this, just do a YouTube search and watch any of the “challenge” videos.

2.  Amazing musical talent

3.  Well written stuff that makes me think.

Here’s my newest find for thought-provoking God stuff.  www.relevantmagazine.com You’ll thank me later.

4.  My crew.  Duh.

6.  Last, but not least… goofing around with teenagers.

So what do you enjoy?  Share it in a response or a comment on FB. 

Better yet, share what you enjoy with the people around you.

I’m a Rhett and Link Groupie

I have to share this.

I was watching a Nerdfighter video on YouTube, which featured these 2 dudes singing along with Hank Green.  The two dudes are known as Rhett and Link.  They have an awesome YouTube channel that you need to go check out now.

Here are some of their vids that made me laugh so hard I thought I would wake my sleeping children.

Then a few days later, I was watching a preview of Phil Vischer’s (he’s the creator of Veggie Tales and the voice of Bob the tomato) new project “What’s In the Bible” and there they were!   It’s like a Rhett and Link invasion!

And I couldn’t be more stoked.

Subscribe to these guys and support what they do.  Their style is creative, original,  clean, and pee-your-pants funny.