Being a Dad - Can’t Wait!

It’s funny, as the days go on, I become more enthralled with the thought of being a father. Now as crazy as this sounds, there is research and proof that babies while still in their mother’s womb can hear their surroundings. So, with that said, I want to be sure that my baby girl recognizes her parents’ voices.

As Barbara and I were talking, she said that I should tell Maeleigh about my day. I was like “this is weird to me”, but then kind of got into, especially when last night, as I was talking to Maeleigh, she would kick as I told her about my day. I was amazed that as I talked to her, she kind of responded. This really makes me, even more so than I already am, proud to be a father!

This is a #lovelivegive moment!

Until the next time - MjC

May Your Day, Be a Shay Day…

2 CHOICES

What would you do?…. you make the choice. Don’t look for a punch line, there isn’t one. Read it anyway. My question is: Would you have made the same choice?

At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves learning-disabled children,  the father of one of the students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he offered a question: “When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does is done with perfection. Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do. He cannot understand things as other children do. Where is the natural order of things in my son?”

The audience was stilled by the query.

The father continued. “I believe, that when a child like Shay, physically and mentally handicapped comes into the world, an opportunity to realize true human nature presents itself, and it comes in the way other people treat that child.”

Then he told the following story:

Shay and his father had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball… Shay asked, “Do you think they’ll let me play?”  Shay’s father knew that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their team, but the father also understood that if his son were allowed to play, it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging and some confidence to be accepted by others in spite of his handicaps.

Shay’s father approached one of the boys on the field and asked (not expecting much) if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance and said, “We’re losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we’ll try to put him in to bat in the ninth inning.”

Shay struggled over to the team’s bench and, with a broad smile, put on a team shirt. His Father watched with a small tear in his eye and warmth in his heart. The boys saw the father’s joy at his son being accepted. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay’s team scored a few runs but was still behind by three. In the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the right field. Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be in the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear as his father waved to him from the stands. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay’s team scored again. Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base and Shay was scheduled to be next at bat.

At this juncture, do they let Shay bat and give away their chance to win the game? Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was all but impossible because Shay didn’t even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball.

However, as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher, recognizing that the other team was putting winning aside for this moment in Shay’s life, moved in a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least make contact. The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed. The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly towards Shay. As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball right back to the pitcher.

The game would now be over. The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could have easily thrown the ball to the first baseman. Shay would have been out and that would have been the end of the game.

Instead, the pitcher threw the ball right over the first baseman’s head, out of reach of all team mates. Everyone from the stands and both teams started yelling, “Shay, run to first! Run to first!” Never in his life had Shay ever run that far, but he made it to first base. He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled.

Everyone yelled, “Run to second, run to second!” Catching his breath, Shay awkwardly ran towards second, gleaming and struggling to make it to the base. By the time Shay rounded towards second base, the right fielder had the ball … the smallest guy on their team who now had his first chance to be the hero for his team. He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he understood the pitcher’s intentions so he, too, intentionally threw the ball high and far over the third-baseman’s head. Shay ran toward third base deliriously as the runners ahead of him circled the bases toward home.

All were screaming, “Shay, Shay, Shay, all the Way Shay”

Shay reached third base because the opposing shortstop ran to help him by turning him in the direction of third base, and shouted, “Run to third! Shay, run to third!”

As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams, and the spectators, were on their feet screaming, “Shay, run home! Run home!” Shay ran to home, stepped on the plate, and was cheered as the hero who hit the grand slam and won the game for his team.

“That day”, said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, “the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love and humanity into this world”.

Shay didn’t make it to another summer. He died that winter, having never forgotten being the hero and making his father so happy, and coming home and seeing his Mother tearfully embrace her little hero of the day!

If given the choice, what would you have decided?

AND NOW A LITTLE FOOTNOTE TO THIS STORY: We all repeat thousands of jokes without a second thought, but when it comes to talking about life choices, people hesitate. The crude, vulgar, and often obscene pass freely through life, but public discussion about decency is too often suppressed in our schools and workplaces.

If you’re thinking about sharing this message, chances are that you’re probably sorting out the people who aren’t the “appropriate” ones to receive this type of message. Well, the person sharing this believes that we all can make a difference. We all have thousands of opportunities every single day to help realize the “natural order of things.” So many seemingly trivial interactions between two people present us with a choice: Do we pass along a little spark of love and humanity or do we pass up those opportunities and leave the world a little bit colder in the process?

A wise man once said every society is judged by how it treats it’s least fortunate amongst them.

May your day, be a Shay Day

#livelovegive

Becoming a Dad and Realizing It!

Over the past four months learning that I am going to be dad has been quite a roller coaster of emotion for me! Those that know me well, know that I have always been very excited and could not wait to have children. At the very same time that I was excited, I started thinking: Would I be a good father? Could I provide for my family, take care of my wife and now, new child? Would I get it? I mean seriously, you have to have a license to drive, a permit to build, permission to sell hot dogs on the corner, get approval from the City Counselor and Board of Health to have a restaurant, and the only prerequisite to having a child is, well NOTHING!

There is so much to take into consideration. I have been recently reading “The Expectant Father”, which has taken me slowly but surely through the steps of fathers that are expecting. Reading it month by month during the pregnancy has put some fears behind me, and has comforted me that all I am thinking and feeling is normal! Well, that’s certainly a relief!

None-the-less, I am very excited about our Baby Girl! Thinking about being a father brings so much joy to my heart, but it makes me even more in love with my wife (don’t worry sweetheart, I haven’t already forgotten about you in all of this ;)

Until the next time - MjC

What’s So Amazing About Grace?

What’s So Amazing About Grace by Philip Yancey is a great rendition of what grace is. He talks about the number of ways in which we can see grace, and challenges us as Christians to offer more grace to those around us. He talks about how a prostitute was at her lowest point and she was asked “why haven’t you gone to the church for help”, as she was homeless and hungry. She then turned to Philip and said, “I feel bad enough about myself, I don’t need to feel worse.”

I often think about how Christ was blameless and offered grace to even the “lowest” of people, but, people ran to Him without feeling judged and knowing that they wouldn’t feel worse about themselves. They knew that they would be forgiven even though they felt forsaken. They would be accepted by the Savior and King of the whole earth, even though they felt condemned by the rest of the world. Even while on earth, Christ forgave and gave the gift of love and mercy and grace to anyone that accepted Him as the King!

So what happened? Thousands of years later, Christ’s ministry is still alive, but it is dead to what it should stand for, where judgment rather than grace is offered. Why?

What about you? Have you forgiven people that have hurt you? Have you forgiven yourself for things that you have done in your past? I would venture to say that one of the simplest concepts of forgiveness (grace) is so often misconstrued that we as Christians cannot fully accept or understand it, because we don’t have to work for it. We are only called to be in a relationship with God through the Holy Spirit and Christ!

So, what is it that you need to give up so that you can accept God’s grace?

Surprise Me God!

Surprise me God! Well, I took a 30 day journey with Terry Esau and let me just tell you, I wish it was a 1 day journey and a forever journey all at the same time. Let me explain. I wish I could have read the book in one day because I didn’t want to put it down, but I also wish that I was not done with the book. However, it makes me think about my own life and ways in which I recognize God within my own spiritual journey. This book is not one of those books in which Terry gets these huge big surprises from God, but the day to day little things within his life that he was able to appreciate more.

This book was a great reflection of my own life, and the little things God nudges me with. Through songs, prayer, everyday occurrences and just life, Terry helped me to realize God is in it all. That we have to realize that with God it is all or nothing. As I think of my spiritual journey, I feel like I haven’t given God my all or nothing. Sometimes I have given Him my none or nothing. Other times I have given Him my some or nothing.

So what about you? How is God surprising you? What are you giving God? I know that sometimes it is hard to see how God is working in our lives, but it is up to us as brothers and sisters in Christ to help each other to open our eyes, hearts, ears and voices to God and what He has to offer to us!

I would recommend this book if you are looking for ways to hear God within your life. To know that not everything is set in stone. Not everyone knows what God is saying all the time, but the peace and joy that He gives us within our souls is greater than anything else offered to us in this world.

The Five People You Meet in Heaven

This was a good book in regards to showing how there are sometimes so many people in our lives that are affected by us, and how we are affected by them, sometimes indirectly.

I would have to say that some of the people that Eddie, the main character, meets in heaven, would not have been my first choice for this book. Overall, I would say that the book put perspective on the the ways in which our lives are intertwined in a messy web that somehow, in the grand scheme of things, all works out in the end.

This was an okay book, that I would have to say was an interesting rendition of some of the people we might meet in heaven. If you have lost someone in your life, this might be a great book for you, but since I have not had to deal with someone close to me dying, it is hard for me to appreciate this book to its fullest extent. This book has the potential to be a great close to someone’s death.

The Shack

I will have to admit, when my wife told me that this book was a must read, I was rather skeptical. I will tell you though, this is by far one of the best books I have ever read! This book is about a man, so angry about his young daughters death, that he has changed as a person, and is especially angry with God for allowing his daughter’s death. He is then invited to the Shack and encounters God first hand there.

The encounter that this man has with God is absolutely amazing. He is met by God, accompanied with the Son and the Holy Spirit, and is able to just spend time with them; he is able to see the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit as one working together and softening his heart to understand God’s will, love and grace more!

This is a must read that gives a great picture of who God is and how He wants us to be in relationship with Him. In this illustration, God shows us how we perceive Him, and how He wants us to perceive Him. This is a great book that makes you look at your own relationship with our Creator and maybe some misconceptions that we might have. I hope you enjoy this book as much as I have!

Enjoy ~ MjC