The Joys of Fatherhood

Mondays and Fridays are fun days for me. Why? On Mondays and Fridays I get to keep Maya all to myself. We do all sorts of fun things together. For example today we:

Ate cereal together out of the same bowl.

Enjoyed a five star rated restaurant for lunch - Costco.

I baby sat for her baby while she went to the mall during which she made sure I was singing lullaby's to her baby.

We went on a picnic together where she cooked my meal. She then preceded to feed me and serve me my drink.

She told we that we were best friends and that she was going to live with me forever.

We watched her favorite (and mine too) cartoon named Kipper this afternoon (well, she did because I fell asleep).

Went shopping together.

Sang songs together.

As you can see we did all sorts of fun things today. It's fun be a daddy. I can't wait for the next one so I can do more of the same.

Is It Beautiful?

I know you heard the slogan, "America the Beautiful." We say it and sing it like we mean it, do we? Is it really? We celebrate it and talk about as if it is God ordained, is it? Questions like these and many more are tough. I don't claim to have all the answers; I just want to ask the questions. These questions and thoughts have emerged in my brain because of a class I am taking. In my class, Cross-Cultural Communication, we have been dialoging about our core values. We communicate our core values, whether we realize it or not; therefore a tendency in our interaction with the "foreign mission" is to communicate “American Christianity”. We communicate that "The American" way is the right way. Are we called to be Christ's Ambassadors or American Ambassadors?

Cross-cultural ministry doesn't just happen on another continent, it happens in our county, our state, our city, and our neighborhood. As Christ followers we must be able to effectively communicate the message of the Gospel without any pre-conceived notions, a task, which is easier, said then done. No matter where we are we must be communicate "God's way" not the "American way".

Questions:

1) If you have been overseas as a missionary how have you dealt with this?
2) Do you battle with the idea of communicating "God's agenda" instead of the "American agenda"?
3) Is it even possible to do so?

When things don't go accroding to plan

I am a planner. I make a list and set goals and then proceed to check each item off one by one. I envision an outcome and work backwards to make it happen. This way I can assure (to the best of my ability) that all standards and objections are met and dealt with along the way. My planning manifests itself in all aspects of my life. I plan my semester of school out, I plan weekends out, I plan visits of friends and family out, I plan vacations and trips out, I plan work projects out, and I even plan birthdays out (especially my wife's).

This past Monday my wife celebrated her 31st birthday. I wanted to make it an extra special day for her for many reasons. I had it all planned out. I woke up early Monday morning so that Maya and I could bake cupcakes and then deliver them to her work along with a large bouquet of balloons. After we made the delivery I picked up her birthday cake and made a stop at the local meat market for dinner. I HAD PLANNED to pick up her birthday earlier the previous week but I didn't make it to the jeweler. As a result, I had to take Maya to pick up the necklace at the jeweler.

I decided to stress the point with Maya that mommy didn't know what was in the box (I wrapped it in a very large box to throw her off) and that we couldn't tell her what it was until she told us. Everything was going according to plan until Maya looked at Heather and said, "after we have cake and sing you happy birthday you can unwrap your box and see your necklace". My heart dropped, the surprise was ruined, the day was perfect until then. Or so I thought.

The main reason for all my planning was to create a memorable day for Heather. I wanted her to remember her 31st birthday and be happy because sad feelings marked her 30th birthday (we spent her birthday weekend next to my father as he was dying).

No matter how hard we plan and think we got it right there are always outside forces which are effecting what is going on. It may be a three year old in her innocence or our God in heaven who longs for us to find joy (and everything else He offers) as we pursue His heart and His ways.

The day ended more memorable then I had planned because a three year old spoke out of innocence and love.

May our lives be marked in the same way as we submit our plans and goals to God so that His heart and His ways are manifested and visible in all that we do.