Blocks

The other day I heard Anna’s voice calling me into her playroom where she wanted me to come and see the zoo she was building. Someone had given her these little plastic animals and she decided that they needed a place of their own, so she got down the big tub of little wooden blocks and started building. When I walked in the room, I saw this perfect little block zoo with an entry way and separate pins for the giraffe, the elephant and the lion. I said, “Wow Anna, that’s a great zoo. I like how everyone has their own space.” She told me that was so they wouldn’t fight.

Anna loves to build stuff with blocks, and she pretty much rules at it. She builds everything from castles to cabins, hospitals, towers, bridges, causeways and even entire cities. She populates her vast and intricate creations with this army of tiny plastic bears who sleep on little block beds and drive little block cars, vans and trucks. This is an endless world of fun for Anna that only has one potential problem… hurricane Norah. My almost three-year-old also loves playing with blocks, but for a different reason. See, Anna thinks the fun in blocks is to build them up and imagine life in the little world she has made, while Norah stacks blocks on top of each other for the pure joy of knocking them down. Oh, how many times have I comforted the broken-hearted Anna as her beloved buildings were mercilessly demolished by Norah stomping through the playroom like Godzilla in Tokyo?

For weeks now, we have been in the middle of a global economic crisis. The world’s markets have tanked so many times that I’ve lost count. People have used words like “Great Depression,” “Crash” and even “Armageddon.” In the chaos of the sub-prime mortgage crisis, the half dozen record losses in the stock market and the failing and bailing of some of the world’s largest banks and financial institutions, some people are really, really worried. Some folks have lost thousands of dollars and others have lost simply everything… savings, retirement, kid’s college fund, you name it. Some folks are losing more sleep over their money than they ever have in their lives.

It seems to me that some people are discovering that they have spent their lives, their time and their energy building a world for themselves out of little wooden blocks… a little block city with block cars riding on block bridges to their little block houses. And now they are watching all that work and investment crumble. Look, there is absolutely nothing wrong with spending all day long building stuff that won’t last out of blocks… as long as you are five years old. Jesus said, “Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.” Last Sunday Tom told our congregation that he had some very good news about the financial crisis. He said, “For those of you who have invested money into the kingdom of God, your investments are secure. You haven’t lost a thing.”

Anna holding Jack...


There You Are

As I type this, my son is one week and one hour old. It feels like only five minutes ago that we were packing our overnight bag and heading out to St. Mary’s hospital so excited to finally see our baby. Christy was amazing… after each contraction, that incomparable smile broke over her face as she laughed, joked and even sang selections from South Pacific. It got harder and harder as the night wore on into morning and then it was over and Jack was here… in our world and in our arms. He was so cute and so small and (as always) I couldn’t stop crying. Paba was clicking pictures while Christy was kissing his tiny head and I was just so grateful everyone was okay. Watching a birth is like watching a death… not like the death of someone very old or someone at the end of a long sickness, but like someone dying in battle. It is like a death that is chock-full of vigor and life. It was like she was dying for him. It is a wonder that anyone makes it through birth, and yet they do. I shouldn’t say it’s just like watching death… rather, it’s like watching death and resurrection.

There he was. After all the waiting, dreaming and wondering, there he was. After all the appointments, measurements and ultrasounds, there he was. After all the sickness, sympathy and shower gifts, there he was… Jack. We actually debated over his name for months and only really decided in the midst of labor, but as soon as we saw him, we realized that he really was Jack after all… who else could he be? He was so sweet, he didn’t even cry when he was born. They tried to make him cry and he gave them a couple of little splutters, but then he quieted on down and fell asleep on Christy’s chest. He was the sleepiest baby ever. I remember Norah always having those eyes open, just looking around at everything, but Jack’s were glued shut. Tons of people were running around talking, checking stuff, messing with him and looking at him and still he was so sleepy. He wouldn’t open those eyes for anything.

But then he did. Christy started signing this song to him, and he opened his eyes. What’s more, he turned his head until he found her… the one singing the song. It was a Psalty song we sing to our kids that says, “I cast all my cares upon You, I lay all of my burdens down at Your feet, and anytime I don’t know what to do, I will cast all my cares upon You.” Christy was so excited to see his dark little eyes open up and wondered at how they sought her out and then remembered that this little guy had been listening to that song for months as Christy’s sweet voice sang it to our girls at bedtime. It was one of his favorite songs! He had been listening to that song (muffled as it was) for his whole life and finally he saw the face of the one who sang it, gazing on him in love.

Zephaniah 3:17 says, “The LORD your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.” All my life I’ve been listening to Him sing love songs to my heart. Sometimes I’ve longed for the song and sometimes I’ve run from it. I’ve never really heard His voice, but I will one day. The Apostle says that, “…now we see but a poor reflection, as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” One day I will awaken after death to that song I’ve heard my whole life… the song of His love. It won’t be muffled then, but clear. I’m going to open my eyes onto the very face of love… the One singing the song… and just like Jack, I’ll be thinking, “There you are.”

He's Here! Jack Campbell Younger was born at 3:44 AM on October 16, 2008 in Knoxville, TN... and he flat-out rocks.

more baby pics after the post... oh yeah, and we made a video and posted it on Christy's site, so if you want to see the video, click here.


Maybe Today

What if it were today? I mean, what if it really, really happened today? After all the waiting, guessing, predicting and wondering, what if it all came down today? Maybe I should back up… with all the craziness that’s been happening lately, you might be wondering if I’m talking about another Great Depression or a nuke going off somewhere… no, I mean what if this were very day for our Lord Jesus to come back?

What if last night was the last time you crawled into your bed and the last time you set your alarm clock? What if this morning were the last time you brushed your teeth and the last time Al Roker gave you the weather on the Today Show? What if that pot of instant coffee was the very last you would ever make with sleepy eyes and morning breath? What if you’d already driven your last commute? What if you’ve packed your last school lunch or perhaps studied for your last math test? What if today was the end of all temptation, struggle and pain? What if today was the very last chance you had to trust in Jesus even though you can’t see Him working? What if this was the day for the shadows to flee?

What if you looked up into the sky and saw it tear in two and roll up like a scroll as time and eternity collided into the joyous singing of flaming soldiers coming to end all of your woes and worries? What if… what if… what if today you saw Him… the One your heart longs for more than anything? What if today you saw His joy-filled smile, looked into His tender eyes and instantaneously knew that every doubt you ever had was not only ridiculous, but a thing of the distant past… ancient history!?

Have you thought about this in a while? Have you sat down and given any thought to the possibility that Jesus could come today? We don’t know when He’ll come again, but we have His promise that He will come again. In John 14 He said, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” We know He’s coming back for us. We don’t know when, but we know He will.

I was thinking… what if we knew when? What if you somehow found out (and from a reliable source) that He was coming back in twelve hours? If you knew for sure that He was coming back in twelve hours, what would you do? Now, don’t just keep reading here… take a minute. What would you do if you knew Jesus was coming back in the next twelve hours? Who would you call? Who would you apologize to? What bitterness and jealousy would you let go of in an instant? What temptation or sin would you laugh in the face of because you simply had no time or desire for it anymore? What worries, stresses, problems and struggles would just dissolve into a complete joke underneath the impending return of your Lord? What kind of ‘really important’ stuff would seem trivial and stupid all of a sudden? What would you do with your money? What drama and strife in your relationships would you turn into laughter and love? What on earth would you be afraid of? You know, I bet there are a million reasons why the Father keeps Jesus’ return date a secret, but isn’t it possible that at least one of those reasons is that He wants us to think that the day is today?

Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again… maybe today. Let’s just go ahead and act like it’s today.


Okay, okay, the real reason you're on this website is to see pics of the awesome new baby boy, right? Of course right! So without further ado... Jack!






Three Generations of Younger men...

Hey! Anna's Five-years-old!! Christy made her a really sweet video for this momentous occasion and you can watch it by clicking here!



What You Really Want

Yesterday as I turned the car into our driveway I was exhausted. I turned off the car, grabbed my backpack and headed up the walk toward the house thinking about my rambunctious little girls… I was excited to see them, but also a little wary of having to referee them if their play turned into fussing and discontented arguing. To be honest, the idea of dealing with toddler property disputes after a long day of people, meetings and music seemed totally overwhelming. What I really wanted was a happy and quiet atmosphere where the day’s labors melt away underneath the haven of home rather than fester under the tension of preschool warfare…

Now, traditional wisdom would tell me that the way to get what I wanted would be to go inside the house, complain about my weariness in order to build sympathy and then quarantine myself in the bedroom for a lonesome rest. It would be quiet and peaceful… that is, it would be quiet and peaceful for me while Christy would be stuck with the natives. The other option available to me was to think of Christy first and how she had been doing this all day long… and to think of the girls first and how they wanted someone to play with. This second option was just to head into the house upbeat and energetic… ready to head into the playroom, get down on the floor and play with my kids. Well, that's exactly what I did, and you want to know what happened? Christy got a little break from doing absolutely everything, the kids were quiet, happy and sweet, I was relaxed and restful and there wasn’t even a hint of tension. It turned out that the best and fastest way for me to get what I really wanted was to put them first instead of myself.

I think that’s what Jesus was talking about when He said in Luke 9 that, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.” See, it’s not just about being a martyr in a foreign country… it’s something everyone everywhere is supposed to do everyday: killing off your personal and selfish desires and living for someone else. It’s both the hardest and the easiest thing to do… it’s hard because the selfish will is about the strongest enemy we face; but in a way it’s easy too, because you get about a million shots at it every day, and every time you choose a cross you find that you get what you really wanted all along.

Here’s the thing: you don’t have to choose death to self… you can choose self, but you won’t like what you get. Even Jesus had to make this very same choice. On the night He was arrested He said, “Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and He will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?” In other words, He didn’t have to do what He did. He could have chosen not to go through with it… at any moment, He could have snapped His fingers and the sky would have been rent open as droves of flaming warriors smote His enemies and swept Him up into safety, into peace, and into heaven. He could have done it at any point, but then He wouldn’t have had what He wanted most… you. He chose the cross because that was really the only way to get a life with you. You don’t have to make the ‘death-to-self’ kind of choices that get you what you really want, but why wouldn’t you?

The kids hung out with Aunt Jodie for the Young Life banquet on Tuesday night and as ever, she took some awesome pictures... Thanks Jo!


Tearing Off the Grumps

Look, there’s no way around it and no other way of saying it, so I’m just gonna say it: Lately Norah has been Mrs. Grumpy Gills. I don’t know if it’s because of the fact that we moved into a new house, the fact that she just started pre-school, the fact that she’s learning to go on the potty or the fact that she realizes that a baby is about to come, dethroning her from that position in our house. It’s probably some combination of all of the aforementioned major life changes, but whatever it is, she’s just grumpy. If anything (and I mean anything) happens to her, she loses control and we have had the hardest time turning off the fount of tears that erupts every time this girl stubs a toe or is asked to share. What are you supposed to do? When she goes down for a nap, she’s inconsolable. When she wakes up, she’s inconsolable. From seeing bugs to not liking her food and even thinking that she might possibly have seen a bug, she’s inconsolable.

At first we thought, “Well she is just in a time of great transition in her life right now which accounts for the increased fussiness, so let’s just comfort her and hold her.” Now, you would think that this would cure all ills, but the more we would snuggle and hold this girl, the more wound up she would get! We were at a total loss and didn’t know what to do when I had this little idea… I didn’t know if it would work, but I decided to give it a try thinking that if I just distracted Norah from whatever was making her sad, she would get happy again. I mean, she’s two years old, you know? She probably just needs a little distraction. So in the middle of her next fit I just asked her, “Hey Norah, what’s your favorite… cartoons or play doh?” And though the tears were still falling, she stopped bawling long enough to say, “Umm… play doh.” I immediately followed up with, “Norah, what’s your favorite… shorts or dresses?” She smiled a bit and said, “Dresses.” So I said, “Norah, what’s your favorite… ice cream or cookies?” She laughed and said, “Cookies.” “What’s your favorite… rocks or mud?” She cracked up and said, “Mud!”

Over the past week I have been developing an arsenal of fuss-fighting techniques based on the principal that all I really have to do to break the sadness is distract her. Yesterday I came up with this thing where I make the fussiest, grumpiest looking face I can, and then tear off the grumps with my hand, exposing a joyful smile and then pretend to throw away the old curmudgeon-ish countenance. Norah thinks this is hilarious and she has actually started ‘tearing off the grumps’ and exposing that one-in-a-million smile that sets my heart ablaze.

I was thinking this morning that maybe these tactics are wrong… am I just putting a band-aid on something that is much deeper than mere distraction can solve? Is it really a valid joy if all I had to do to produce it was to ask her to think about her favorite things and talk about them? Is it so simple to just ‘tear off the grumps’ like that? Then I remembered the words of the Apostle Paul in Philippians 4. He said, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” Then, a few verses later he says, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy- think about such things.” You see!? According to God’s word, joy is our choice! I think that as crazy as it sounds, we can decide to tear off the grumps and be joyful. I think it’s totally legitimate to break our melancholy by turning our thoughts off of the sad stuff and filling our minds and hearts with the things that bring us the most joy! So, what’s your favorite… the free forgiveness or the never-ending love? What’s your favorite… the new power in you, or the assured place in heaven? Doesn’t that make you want to un-grump?!


Also, back in May i turned 29 years old, and for my birthday, Christy said she wanted to take me to see one of my favorite symphonies... so we looked around at different concert schedules and I saw that the Nashville Symphony Orchestra was playing Dvorak's 9th symphony which is definitely in my top five favorites, and definitely my favorite composer. Well, the concert was last Friday and it was amazing... what's more, Tom painted me a portrait of Antonin Dvorak which is awesome and will now hang in our house until we go to our true home! Thanks Tom and Trusty, and Mom for keeping the kids!

The Real Deal

When I was in high school, I had really long hair, baggy and tattered clothes, a skateboard in the back of my truck and I played bass in a heavy metal band that was so loud we peeled the paint off of the houses in my neighborhood. I think most of the people who saw me thought that they had me pinned down at first glance. I was sort of automatically lumped in with kids who hated authority and loved marijuana. Of course, what most people didn’t see was the fact that I was doing pretty good in AP Biology II, was the president of FCA and an okay artist. I had a good relationship with my parents, I could sing every word of just about any Motown song and was pretty good friends with a bunch of old people at my church. I know it’s really stinkin’ cliché, but you can’t judge a book, you know?

Well, at some point in between the time when Christy and I got engaged and were married, I had a conversation with her dad about the first time I met him… It was after he spoke at our church one Sunday. I approached him after the service in my typically disheveled and grungy attire and shook his hand; and according to Bill, he wasn’t too pumped about me. Now, granted, I probably looked pretty shady, but I wasn’t really the kind of guy Bill always pictured would end up with his youngest daughter. Of course, we’re good friends these days, but at the time, he was just seeing the obvious: a hair farmer with clown clothes actively pursuing deafness.

One of the things I love about Jesus is that He sees right through everything superficial and knows who we are in the deepest places. He knows and cares about our real problems and needs. Like the time in Mark chapter 2 when some friends brought a paralyzed guy to Jesus and tore a hole in the roof to get him in because it was so crowded… Everyone could see the guy’s problem… it was obvious: he couldn’t walk. That’s why his friends brought him to Jesus. The whole room was waiting with baited breath for Jesus to heal his legs, but Jesus shocked them all by saying, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

It turns out his legs weren’t the problem… at least, they weren’t the real problem. Somewhere in the depths of this guy’s heart he was filled with guilt for wrong stuff he’d done in the past and Jesus saw that. But here’s the thing: Jesus didn’t just see it, but it was the first thing He dealt with. It was all He really cared about when he saw the man, and in an instant this paralytic was free from a burden that far outweighed the shackles of being unable to walk. John tells us in the very first chapter of his Gospel that Jesus came to show us who God is and what He’s like… how amazing is it to know that God sees past all the labels and clichés? He not only knows who I really am, but the stuff He cares about are all the things that really matter most to me. He sees and wants to deal with the stuff that nobody else knows about and He won’t waste time on the legs when the heart is the problem.

Careless

Lately Norah has seemed kinda zoned out. Christy thinks she isn’t getting enough sleep which is probably true because she and Anna in the same bedroom equals one mol of laughing, singing, goofing off and oftentimes crying until the parental police squad descends upon the room with swift and terrible justice… as a result, Norah is weepy, fussy and out of it during the day. I’ve watched her walking around the house dreamy-eyed, quietly humming an unknown tune while pouring apple juice all over every inch of upholstery. When I flipped over the pouring of the juice, she just looked up as if snapped out of a trance. I’ve watched her poke family members with sharp objects without any apparent intent to harm… like she was innocent and being mind controlled by Lucius Malfoy or something. Getting her to clean up at the end of the day has been almost impossible because she just can’t focus… it’s like she hasn’t a care in the world.

You know, being careless gets a pretty bad rap. On the one hand, it seems really irresponsible and maybe even selfish, but lately I’ve been thinking that in the spiritual realm, it might not be such a bad quality to have after all. I read a familiar story this week about a man who went out and scattered seed on the ground… some of it grew and produced a great crop, but most of it didn’t. I’m sure you probably know this story inside and out, but in reading it again and just taking some time to think it through, I realized something kinda cool that I hadn’t really thought about before. I realized that growth is all about being careless.

In Jesus’ story, the seed falls on different types of soil, which represent different types of hearts… He said that some seed fell on the path and didn’t grow because birds ate it up… see, the soil on the path was too hard for seeds to grow in. It had been walked on too much. Some people have been walked on too. The things that have happened to them in the past have left them bitter and angry. Their hearts are hard like the dirt on the path and so the devil steals the word before it takes root. Jesus then said that some seed fell on rocky soil and that although it grew, there weren’t good, deep roots so it withered when the sun came up. He said that there are people who believe the word but then can’t handle ill treatment and the persecution that comes. They whither instead of grow. Then Jesus said that some seed fell on soil that was crowded with weeds that choked out the word… these folks want to believe, but they want other stuff more… like money and the things of this world.

It struck me that these unproductive soils represent the hearts of people who have too many cares. Some folks care too much about this world and its stuff. Other folks care too much about what people think of them and still others care too much about the things that have happened to them in the past. Overwhelming cares leave a heart hard, shallow and crowded, but Peter said to cast “all your cares upon Him, for He careth for you.” It is not a bad thing to have a carefree heart… to let go of the past, to let go of trying to impress people and to let go of desires for things that are passing. That’s how you keep a soft, deep and un-crowded heart. That’s how you grow… letting go of cares you shouldn’t have and giving them all to Him. After all, He knows how to properly care for you. It’s not a bad thing to be careless.

Turning Loose

Today Anna started a pre-school program and next month she’ll be five-years-old. I’m smart enough to know what happens next: I turn around good and she’s off to college, an independent, grown-up, full-sized human… I know, I know, I’m overreacting. Look, it’s just that she’s going to school twice a week now for five hours at a time with a back pack, a lunch box and a binder filled with phonics worksheets! Today when she got home from school, she was so pumped… just flitting around the room like Tinkerbell and when I asked her for a hug, I didn’t get one… (pause for dramatic effect)

Sorry, I’m a bit emotional as I type this… it just feels like I’m already losing my little girl. I mean, she’s not so little anymore. She’s getting tall. She’s not so much adorable anymore as she is just really pretty. She has real-live knuckles on her hands instead of those little pseudo-knuckle dimples that babies and toddlers have. She’s got attitudes, opinions and tastes. She has favorite songs that are different from my favorites, and she has started to ask really hard and really awkward questions! I can’t believe she’s almost five! I just can’t believe it! Where did all those years go? And, did I do okay? Did I mess her up? Does she know how crazy I am about her?

I don’t have too many really clear memories from before Kindergarten, and now it seems that all those years from Elementary school through marriage just zoomed by so fast! How fast are these years going to go with Anna? Today, when I asked for that hug and didn’t get it, I realized something: For the rest of my life, I will be letting go. I am going to spend the rest of this thing turning loose of hugs and kisses, tickles and story time. Before I am ready I’ll hear that question dreaded by all daddies of little girls… “Who gives this woman to be married to this man?” Whoa, I know I’m jumping the gun here, but hang with me…

At first, when faced with the fact that my baby is almost five, I freaked out, but I’m okay now because this is actually a good thing. It’s good and it’s right. I want her to grow and to move on into whatever is next. I am okay with letting go of this life. I am okay with turning loose my daughters’ hands, my metabolism and (maybe one day) my hair. Life is about letting go. For the Christian, life is all about turning loose. It’s actually how we gain everything. Jesus said, “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.” Real life comes from turning loose all the stuff that would keep me rooted in this world where I am just a pilgrim passing through… letting go of my pride, my rights, my love of things and my dependence on money… letting go of anger, fear and independence.

As scary as it seems, I think I’m ready to turn loose. I’m ready to let my little girl grow up, (as if I could stop her) and become the woman God is making her into. After all, in just a little while, we’ll all be letting go of this life to enter the eternity we were made for where I won’t really be Anna’s Daddy anymore… in those happy days, I’ll have the incredible honor of just being Anna’s brother, forever.


Well, at least one of 'em is still just a little baby girl:

Christy found a big canvas, so we went out in the back yard, loaded down with paint and collaborated on a homemade piece of art for the new baby... Norah mainly covered her hands in blue paint.


Trailer

Have you been “rickrolled” yet? A few weeks ago my boy Graham got rickrolled while trying to watch a trailer for the new Harry Potter movie… by the way, if you don’t know, rickrolling is the ridiculous internet phenomenon whereby you click on a link you think will show you a certain clip, but actually takes you to the 1987 music video of Rick Astley’s song, Never Gonna Give You Up. The actual Harry Potter trailer wasn’t due out for a few more days, but Graham got sucked in by some all-caps title… “Exclusive Harry Potter Trailer” or something like that… One reason this rickrolling thing has become so big is that people want to be the first to see those movie trailers. I can remember being in college when the first Star Wars prequel was about to come out… I watched that trailer a kabillion times online, so excited about R2, Yoda, lightsabers and a young Obi Wan Kenobi!

Christy and I love to get to the movies early so we can catch all the trailers… although sometimes you can tell that the funniest jokes were crammed into the previews… and sometimes the trailers are way more dramatic and way cooler than the movies they advertise! I just love sitting in a dark theater and seeing that huge preview screen wash the whole room in a sea of green. Sure, it’s fun to go into a good movie with absolutely zero knowledge of what’s going to happen, but it’s almost irresistible to watch and get a sneak peek.

I was thinking about movie trailers because of something that happened in the first chapter of Mark. It’s a pretty familiar story… you know, the one where the guy who had leprosy came up to Jesus, fell on his knees and begged to be cured? He told Jesus, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus was overwhelmed with compassion for the guy and touched him. He was immediately cleansed but Jesus wasn’t finished dealing with him… Jesus looked at the now cured and very excited man and said, “See that you don’t tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.” Well, you know the rest of the story… the guy totally didn’t listen to Jesus. He went all over the place telling everything that moved about what had happened to him… but what if he had listened to Jesus? Why did Jesus want him to go through the old-school priestly rulebook anyway?

Well, it turns out that the sacrifice Jesus told this guy to offer is in Leviticus 14 and it’s really very cool. If you were cured of an infections skin disease, you were supposed to take two birds, a bowl of clean water, a scarlet string and a piece of cedar wood to the priest. The priest would then tie the string around one bird, binding its wings and kill the other bird, pouring its blood into the bowl of fresh water. Then he would take the piece of cedar and the living (but bound) bird and put them down in the blood and water. Then he would sprinkle the cleansed man with the blood seven times, cut the string binding the living bird and release it. The healed man would get to see that blood-covered bird fly off into freedom.

What an awesome moment that would have been for this guy if only he had listened to Jesus! It was like a movie trailer for all Jesus would do to set us free… like a not-yet-rated sneak preview of the cross… There is blood, water and wood. One is bound, the other is free. The free one dies for the bound one. The bound one is covered in the blood of the free, its bonds are cut and it flies off into freedom. Coming soon to a hilltop near you… You know, I bet there is so much freedom out there just waiting on us to simply pay attention to Jesus… so much He wants to reveal to us, if we’d listen and just do what He says.

This next picture is one Anna took of Norah at the zoo... we think it's a really cool picture and that Anna has a very stylish eye for composition:



Shoelaces

Well, it’s finally over. Yesterday we closed on our new house making it totally official that we’ve moved. Actually, the first thing we did was close on the old house… the house we sold and then, without getting out of the chairs in the lawyer’s office, we closed on the house we bought. It was pretty cool… we were actually homeless for forty-five minutes without ever leaving our seats. And so, after signing my name and initials so many times that I sort of started to forget how to spell my name and initials… you know, like they were just a bunch of strange, abstract shapes rather than actual letters that formed words… after doing that 1.5 million times, we were once again home owners! It was awesome.

Well, after taking Christy back to the house, I went to Nancy’s to get the kids… they were not happy about having to come to the new house only to take naps. They pretty much whined about it the whole way home, and here’s the thing: they’ve been whining for days! I mean, just the other day I took them to Target to let them pick out brand new sheets for their new beds, which I thought would be a pretty cool thing. They were excited about this prospect for a while, but in no time they had dissolved to complaining about something. Later that day they begged us to go to a restaurant, which we had to do because we were basically homeless and when we got there, they complained like crazy! Never mind the fact that they were getting a new house with a big, fat play room. Never mind the fact that they were both getting new beds, new sheets, and some awesome food from McAllister’s… they were whining it up about everything! It was like a barrage of selfishness and take, take, taking without the slightest moment of gratitude. I felt like saying, “Hey! Chill out for a second and look around you… you’ve got it pretty good!”

Then I read this verse in Mark chapter 1 and put the shoe on the other foot… John the Baptist says, “After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.” You know, there have been so many times during this whole house buying process that I have freaked out and dissolved into a mass of blubbering complaint. I have whined and fussed time and again, wondering what’s going to happen and trying so hard to work the angles just to get what I want. I have freaked out, lost my cool and have had those feelings of “this just isn’t fair…” over and over again… the whole time forgetting something very important.

Jesus has been so ridiculously good to me. He has been so good, and here’s the thing: He doesn’t have to. I mean, I have been forgetting the fact that He is the Creator and sustainer of the universe. He commands mighty angels and even Satan must ask His permission before making a move. Jesus sees the faraway explosions of nebulas and He sees the blooming of wildflowers where no one’s ever been. He calls the stars by name every night and sets the sun on its course every single day. He is so high and holy, so absolutely exalted that I am lower than His shoelaces… whoa. And sometimes I forget that even though I am lower than His shoelaces, He spilled His blood for me. He gave His life until it was gone and He did it for me. I did not deserve this, and yet it’s true. I have nothing to complain about, nothing to whine about and nothing to freak out about. I have been loved and provided for beyond my wildest dreams by Him who is higher than all. I’ve got it made in the shade.

Live it Up

What a month… We are currently boxing up our house to move into a new one, the new baby is kicking harder than ever, Justin and Grace are about to get married, my little eight-month-old buddy Dylan has got some rocking new teeth, five awesome kids just got baptized, another awesome kid just met Christ, everyday I am more and more excited to come home to the girl I love and Michael Phelps just dominated water (which, let’s not forget is one of the elements) for like the millionth time. Whoa. My head is still spinning!

I guess it just feels like life is all around me. Everywhere I turn there seems to be this excitement and activity. Every night after the kids are in bed I can’t wait to tune in to the Olympics and watch greatness on parade along with the rest of the eyes in the world… just amazed at what humans can do. Pretty soon we’ll be sitting up on the hill on Friday nights cheering on the Wildcats underneath stadium lights and forgetting that we’re not in high school anymore. Then folks will be gathering at a neighbor’s house on Saturday afternoons to grill out in their orange t-shirts and watch the Vols, including themselves in this team of elite athletes by referring to them as “we.” I just love this time of year… school is back in session, which means that for those of us in Young Life, it’s go time. We’re back at the school too, just looking for folks who need Jesus and haven’t yet heard about this great love.

It’s weird. I feel like a little kid… I feel like Anna seemed to feel the other day when we told her we were going to the zoo! I mean, she was over the moon with excitement. She couldn’t have been happier if I had told her that we owned the zoo! I just feel like I can’t wait to wake up tomorrow and see what it is that God has for us… I’m actually so worked up that I can’t sleep… see, as I type this it’s almost 11:00 PM and I should be in bed, but I’m all filled up with I don’t know what! Excitement… expectation… life!

In John 10 Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” All around us God is doing amazing things… just this month a really hardcore guy met Jesus at the Anderson County jail because of Tom’s preaching and even though you didn’t know about it, all of heaven was having a party! All around us there are new marriages, new heartbeats and fresh new starts. Sure, there are tons of not-so-happy things around us as well, but God reigns over them and is working them all out for good. We’ve only got this one life to live in joy. We’ve only got this one ‘fall of 2008’ to wake up excited and live expectantly. We’ve only this one day to trust God and live life to the full. It’s why Jesus came… it’s what He paid for and all around us, it’s happening. Life… real life, new life and full life is coming at you. Why not decide today to live it up?

He Made Time For Me

One of my absolute favorite Jesus stories from the Gospels occurs right at the beginning of John’s account… John the Baptist had been telling his followers that Someone was coming who was greater than he, and when Jesus finally showed up at the Jordan one day, some of John’s guys started to follow Him. They were seekers; interested in spiritual things… searching for God, looking for eternal life and wanting righteousness. They started walking behind Jesus. He realized He was being followed, so He turned around and asked these guys what they wanted. They asked where Jesus was staying… basically inviting themselves into His day. Jesus didn’t dodge them or blow them off. He looked at them and said, “Come and see.” Then follows one of my favorite verses: “So they went and saw where He was staying, and spent that day with Him. It was about the tenth hour.”

I love that verse so much because John, who wrote the Gospel, was one of those two guys following Jesus around like some kind of star struck tourist. The fact that he told us what time it was is very significant… When people have an important story to tell you, they always include details as a way to emphasize that this isn’t just another thing that happened… this is something they’ll never forget. By mentioning the time of day, John is basically saying to us, “I’ll never forget the day Jesus made time for me… it was 4 o’clock in the afternoon.”

I bring this up because I have a similar story that I’ll never forget. I was in high school and was troubled, confused and seeking like crazy. I had a lot of teenage drama all mixed up with a bunch of theological confusion and I felt like no one in my church really wanted to listen to me. A friend told me to call this one pastor in town who wasn’t even my pastor. Well, I did and I’ll never forget the next day. He asked if he could meet me for lunch, so the next day, we ate sandwiches his wife made for us on some park benches and he just listened to me unload my emotional and spiritual baggage for a long time. Then he caringly gave me this seemingly tender advice that wound up cutting right to the heart of my problem.

I was just a random kid with a bunch of petty and trivial problems who didn’t even go to his church, and yet he made time for me. I’ll never forget that. It was about 12 o’clock…

Not that I’m saying this guy was Jesus or anything like that, but he loved me like Jesus and he showed me who Jesus is, and who Jesus needed to be in my life. Nowadays, he is my pastor, and he earned it. I am writing all this because he just left for Spain and I already miss him. I am writing this because I want to say to the rest of the folks in our little church that God has given us a treasure in Tommy. He is the kind of guy who makes time for people. He’s the kind of guy who gently speaks loving truth into the midst of confusion and hurt. He’s the kind of guy who loves like Jesus, and I’ll never forget the day I met him.

Does anyone else have a good story about Tom Job? Leave your story as a comment!

New Song!!

Here is a tune I wrote this week about how this world is not our home, but sometimes we want to try to make it just that... we want to be comfortable, and we want to have a lot, but that's not really what we were made for. The Apostle said that if we have food and shelter, this will be enough... that's because we're just pilgrims and we're just passing through.

By the way, it was long believed that the last hymn sung on the Titanic before it went down was "Nearer My God to Thee." Well, as it turns out, the last hymn was actually an episcopalian hymn that some folks called, "Autumn." I used the last lines of that hymn for my chorus here.

If you follow this link, you can listen or download this live performance of the song for absolutely free... enjoy.

The World to Be

Fill my hands or break my heart
It’s the way I’ve lived and how we’ve been taught
Give me more than I’ll ever need
It’s how you say that you love me
But these hands weren’t made to hold onto this world
They were made to hold up and out

To give and give and give again what God has given me;
To spend myself and not count the cost
To serve right gloriously
The God who gives the world to be

I’m just a stranger passing through
And when this life ends I’ll fly to you
My pilgrim days are almost done
Til I reach my home in the Son
So what have I to do with all I can see,
Since I cannot take it home with me?
(CHORUS)

Made For This

Last Tuesday night I was in Chicago with some of our high school and college folks on a trip to serve some of our missionaries. We spent the whole day serving... working in the hot sun on people’s houses who needed help, and then we went to Mission:USA’s weekly service called “The Bridge.” Our kids welcomed and met folks who had spent their lives on the streets and in jail. They listened to their stories and worshiped God with them. When the service was almost over, our kids slipped out of the back door and got ready to serve them all dinner. They served, talked to and prayed with folks they had never met and they had the time of their lives. Shortly after we arrived back in Tennessee one of the moms of a kid who went told me that her daughter had not stopped talking about The Bridge. She said it was the greatest trip of her life!

Now, I knew that hauling it up to Chicago, seeing the sights and loving on folks up there was going to be a fun trip for these kids, but it was much more than that… some of these kids have been snow skiing every winter and on the beaches every summer. They’ve been to Europe and Asia and had all kinds of amazing experiences and yet going to a little church in a rough neighborhood in a big city to serve up fried chicken and hang out with ex-offenders was the best trip of their lives… What is up with that?

Well, after we served at The Bridge, I asked the kids to answer some questions by writing about the experience they had and here are some things that were written on those pages… “I loved it. I felt like we were doing what we were intended to do.” “You just feel right at The Bridge.” “Serving and praising are the only two times I find myself letting go of me” “Serving comes so easy, not like work… like that’s how it’s supposed to be… like we were made that way.” “It’s amazing to serve, there is nothing like it… I felt like I was flying.” “I felt free… I know I always want to do this” “My heart was overflowing with love for those brothers… I wish we could go every week.” “It’s an incredible feeling to put others before yourself, because that’s how God intended us to be.” “God taught me that I was made for something much greater than myself…”

In Psalm 4 the Lord asks, “How long will you love delusions and seek false gods?” See, the reason those kids would call this 'the trip of their life' is because they were so incandescently happy. They were happier in Chicago with thugs from the halfway house than they’ve ever been soaking up the sun in Hawaii or hitting the slopes in Aspen. Why, because we were made to know God, to love Him and to share His love by caring about people and serving them selflessly. God programmed us in such a way that if we realize the purpose of life, we’re happy. If we don’t, or if we focus on stuff we weren’t made for, we’re not happy… How long will we love delusions and seek false gods?

In verse 7 of Psalm 4 David says to the Lord, “You have filled my heart with greater joy than when their grain and new wine abound.” We were made for God and to be used by Him. When we live there, we are filled with the assurance and satisfaction of fulfilled purpose. When we spend all our energy, time and resources on ourselves, we become miserable and confused. Our kids found themselves in Chicago. They found that they were made to love and serve Jesus and they absolutely loved it. It was the trip of a lifetime because they discovered what life is really about. Are you happy? And if the answer is no, is there a good reason why you’re not?

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New Song...

Here's a new song I just finished... it's about how Jesus wants our whole life and how we can't serve Him and other stuff... and by the way, just what would happen if we decided to give Him everything?

You can click here to listen to or even download the song for free.


Here I Am

Here I am, where should I go?
These open hands are yours to command, should You say so
What would You do with a life fully given to You
Does anyone really know?

I’ve spent so much time holding on to this life
Just grasping for my piece of everything
But You gave it all
And You’re calling me to follow You in the same way
(CHORUS)

He took the wisdom we thought was sound
And turned it right upside down
He said the last will be first, love of money’s the worst
And the greatest is the slave of all
What if you gain the world but lose yourself instead
Wouldn’t you have rather said:
(CHORUS)

Cleaning Up

Potty training is hard stuff. By the way, before we go any further with this, I realize this isn't the world's most pleasant subject. I know, you probably don't need to read all about this fairly awkward subject, but I assure you, I'm going somewhere with all this, so bear with me... As I said, Potty training is hard stuff. It's one of those parenting things about which there are seven million opinions and everyone is an expert. It's one of things as a parent where you're constantly second guessing yourself and never fully convinced you've got it right. It's one of those things parents quietly compete about... Like, “Well one day little Jimmy just tore off his diapers and never looked back, and he was only three months old...” yeah, right, whatever. Our experience has been that potty training is a difficult and long process rife with successes and setbacks, anxiety and applause.

Right now Norah is smack dab in the middle of the storm. She has good days and bad days. Sometimes she’ll wake up dry as a bone, and use the potty all day long, staying dry right up until bedtime. Other days, we use every single pair of panties in the house and have to do laundry twice just to keep her clean. Some days you’re thinking, “Man, this girl has got it down! She’s totally potty trained!” and then the next day you’re like, “Just give me the ibuprofen and get outta my way!” It’s like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde or something… we go from Potty Pro to Suzy pees-a-lot in no time… and if you ask her anything related to the potty, no matter what her state, the answer is always, “No.” If you say, “Do you need to go potty?” She says, “No.” If you say, “Are you dry?” She says, “No.” If you say, “Well then, are you wet?” She continues to say, “No.”

The problem is that you’re not allowed to freak out, fly off the handle and tear your eyeballs out of their sockets while inventing new ways to cuss under your breath. Day in and day out I watch my amazing wife just keep her cool and continue this steady stream of relaxed encouragement; so as not to plague Norah with ‘potty accident guilt’ and I’m just mystified… How does she do it? When Norah has an accident, (especially when it’s about the fourth one in an hour) my brain feels like someone is shoving bamboo shoots up my fingernails and I want nothing more than to lose control! I’m thinking, “Are you joking me?! Again!? I have to clean this up again?”

This morning was one of Norah’s bad days and as I was soaking and scrubbing some undies with a steadily rising temperature, I remembered something… My Father never loses His cool on my bad days. That’s right, I have good days and bad days and sometimes; like Norah, I’m not even a good judge of whether or not I’m clean, but my Heavenly Father never flies off the handle… nope, He just cleans me up, and that’s because of Jesus. Precious blood was spilled for me and because of that, I’m clean; and if I mess up in some way, I’m cleansed again. 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” This is not some kind of carte blanche for more and more sin; no, it’s because of His loving tenderness and forgiveness that I want to grow. Now, if I can only learn to be more like Him for my sweet little Norah…



Here are a couple pics of the girls c hillin' at church, playing the piano and just being cute:

Our House... officially 'on the market.' By the way, Christy may have designed and planted the window boxes, but i hung them on the house with all of my handy skills.


A Sign in the Yard and Tears in the Eyes

This week our house officially went on the market. We’re praying that it sells quickly and that just the right place is ready for us… we’ve even got the kids praying about it. Anna always asks me if we’re going to get another house and I always tell her that we will if the Lord gives us the money. As a result, I heard her pray this yesterday: “Dear Lord, oh please give Daddy money so we can get a new house and an orange van!” Yeah, for some reason she not only wants to get a van, but an orange van. I told her that I didn’t think they made orange vans and she told me, “Dad, they can make whatever color they want,” which I suppose is technically true.

Anyway, when I drove home from church yesterday, I rounded the corner and saw the realty sign in the yard, complete with a name and phone number on it. My stomach lurched when I saw it. I had known for months that this day was coming, but it made me sad to see that sign. I was sad to leave this awesome neighborhood… sad to leave our incredible next-door neighbors Jack and Jo. Not only that, but all our best memories are there. Years ago, before college, Christy and her sister rented that house. It was grey then, and we used to call it “Stonehenge.” It was in my car outside that house that I first kissed Christy… And then we were married and bought that house. As I’ve said before, we brought our newborns to that house… that’s where all the sleepless nights, baby teeth, first steps and bubble baths happened. It kinda tears me up to even type this stuff…

Well, a few weeks ago Christy told Jack and Jo that we would probably be moving away… We love Jack and Jo. They are the sweetest neighbors anyone ever had; just a precious old couple who love to walk around our quiet circle two or three times every day. Mrs. Jo makes the best fried chicken and pinto beans with cornbread on the planet, and she always brings it over to us at just the right moment. They always loan us everything and they always bring fresh watermelon. Our kids absolutely love Jack and Jo… (Norah always says “Jo Jo”) and it’s honestly hard to imagine life without them being right next door.

As I was saying, a few weeks ago Christy told Jack and Jo that we would probably be moving away… Jack began to nod his head and say that they figured we would need more space now that the third baby was on the way, but Mrs. Jo just began to weep. In fact, she sort of fell apart and ran into her house. It was the news she dreaded to hear, and even now, weeks later, she still cries when she thinks about Christy and our girls leaving. I saw Jack and Jo yesterday when I needed to borrow some Tylenol and after Jack remarked about the sign in our yard, Jo became upset and told him not to talk about it because it made her cry.

There is a place in Acts 20 where Paul is leaving a group of believers who loved him so much that as he turned to go, Luke tells us that, “They all wept as they embraced him and kissed him.” The scene actually spills over into chapter 21 where Luke tells us that in order to leave, they had to “tear” themselves away from these people. They loved him so much that it broke their hearts to see him go… One time Tony Campolo quoted his pastor saying this in a message to high school graduates: “When you were born you were the only one who cried; everyone else was happy. That’s not important. Here’s what’s important: When you die, will you be the only one that’s happy while everyone else is crying?” I want to live the kind of love-filled life that will make people sad to see me go. That’s the way Jo feels about Christy, and it’s the way you’re going to want the people in your life to feel about you when there’s a sign in your yard.


Bonus pic: Here's Christy giving Norah her first haircut!

Baby Pictures!

Ultrasound that is... Christy's Aunt Jodie gave us a sneak peak of our baby boy in 4D! 

Here he is resting his chin on his elbow like a GQ pose: