5 Days ‘til Christmas? Time to Blog

So where has Brad been lately?  Why haven’t we seen any blog posts in, like, forever? What should I get my geek friends for Christmas?

Life has been amazingly crazy as of late.  Not just “busy” crazy, but more “Holy Cats, I think I’m living in the adult world now” crazy.

Yes, I’ve been living in the older-than-18 world for 16 years now (that makes me 34 for those of you who are kinda slow with numbers), but most of that has been in the post-college/newly-married/starting-a-family (PCNMSF – great acronym) phase. 

The PCNMSF phase is mostly fun, with a few challenges and growing situations thrown into the mix for kicks and giggles.  After college you start to figure out who you are outside of the protective bubble of college life.  Getting married opens your life to the idea of living to serve another and being loved by another.  Starting a family shifts your focus away from yourself in an entirely new way. In the PCNMSF phase, you want to see and know the best in yourself and those around you (your wife, young kids, and those closest to you).  For the most part, those people want to see and know the best in you as well. 

The PCNMSF phase ended for me sometime over the last several weeks… and I made the abrupt shift into the adult world. 

In the adult world, people are crazy… irrational… self serving… and crazy (yep, I know I already said that).  In the adult world, people act like bullies, say intentionally venomous things, and have no regard for the welfare of those outside their immediate family. In the adult world, grace, mercy, and forgiveness are hard to come by. 

My wife and kids are as awesome as always, and I still see and know the best in them.  There were several situations in our quaint little community that really opened my eyes to the way people are.  I didn’t like what I saw.  Blatant lies… verbal attacks… manipulative deception…  the list goes on (this was a fair number of folks, not just one bad apple).  I’m not being judgmental in that I don’t know the complete history of the people that behaved the way they did.  On the flipside, I want to raise my boys to treat people with more dignity and respect than what I’ve seen lately. The nastiness in down didn’t involve members of our church family… which was awesome. 

In churchy-speak, I wasn’t seeing a whole lot of the fruits of the Spirit… it was high season for the fruits of the flesh (Galatians 5 if you’re interested).

Am I a total pessimist now?  No, but I do see people in a different light.  I’m definitely a little less trusting. I’m more appreciative of the Jesus followers I know that I see loving on people and caring for others.  I’m also much more thankful for the wonderful things I get to experience in this crazy ride of life.

Enough about me… here are some fun pics of the great things in my life.

Fatal Reflections

Tragedy makes a guy reflective.  This past Sunday, as I was getting ready for church, I got a phone call from a friend.

“Brad, it’s me.  Call the paramedics. Christian’s down!”

My friend was in a car accident with three of his four sons.  He was on the way to church. He veered off the road, over corrected, and the car rolled several times.  One boy died instantly.  The two other boys were helicoptered to Pueblo and Colorado Springs.  The dad ended up in the hospital as well.

As the town pastor and a member of the volunteer fire department, I had an interesting role in the day.  I helped strap the dad onto a stretcher.  I prayed over the dead boy (yep, I thought that would have been a great time for a miracle).  I also had the wonderful job of telling the mom that her son did not survive the accident.  (There really is no right way to do that.  It’s just horrible any way you look at it.)  Jodi and I took the mom and the fourth son (both were at home at the time of the accident) to the hospital in Trinidad.  Being a local guy, I drove down some backroads so we could avoid the accident scene on the highway.

Here’s what’s crazy wonderful – on the day before the accident (Valentine’s Day), this couple invited Brody and Brock to their house to play all day long so Jodi and I could have some relaxed time alone.  My boys spent all day playing with the boy who died the next day.

What’s the point in all of this?  Is there a point?  Here are several things I’ve absorbed over this crazy week.

1.  Hug your wife and your kids. A lot.

2.  Help people around you. Look for ways to help them.  Don’t wait for them to ask.

3.  Bad things are going to happen in life. It’s not a matter of “if” – it’s a matter of “when”.  I’m not a doomsday guy at all  (I’m probably too optimistic most of the time).  Here’s the question: is your focus going to be on God before the tragedy strikes, or will it be the tragedy that brings your focus back to God?  I think God lets it happen both ways.  I’d rather choose option A.

What a week.

P.S. Just in case you’re curious, the injured kids and the dad are doing fine.  The family has a strong and real faith in Jesus and they’re doing pretty well at this point.  Pray for them if you have a minute.

Loading Up My Quiver On the Tea Cup Ride

We’re about to shift from man-to-man defense to zone.

According to my brother-in-law (and father of of 3), that’s that way it works.  Other dads of three say the same thing… along with more gray hair, or increasing lack of hair or, or complaints about their membership fees to Starbucks anonymous (caffeine is one of God’s more wonderful gifts to mankind).

There’s still tons to get done… putting together bunk beds and convincing both older boys that they want to share a room now… getting the garden totally planted… writing grants for our local school… curing cancer.  Somehow it will all get done (I hope).  Having three little arrows in my quiver will be awesome.

In about 6 hours I’m leaving on a 4 day rafting and rock climbing trip with our teens from church.  Three nights in tents with no showers.  Hoo boy!  To top it all off, I went on a grueling/exhilerating/insane mountain bike last night with a buddy (so I’m really tired right now) and only got about three hours of sleep last night  (so I’m really tired right now) which is common for me before big trips like this.  Oh yeah, I have to go preach in a couple of hours from now.

Amidst all this chaos, I keep reminding myself of the counsel I’ve been giving several friends and community members over the last several weeks:  God is in complete control and everything that happens is part of His plan to mold us into who He wants us to be.

Good to remember during the Tea Cup Ride known as life.