To say that the last few days have been a blur would be an understatement. At the moment, even though I am way behind on a lot of work that I have missed out on doing the last few days, it seems like I just can’t get my mindset in gear to do the things that need to be done. So I thought I would take a few minutes to sit back and reflect on the whirlwind that hit our world some 84 hours ago.

The way everything went down still seems so surreal. Among so many other things, it gave me an ever greater respect for the medical profession. It’s weird to think that if this had happened 100 years ago, my wife and unborn baby would’ve died… but today, some talented nurses and doctors were able to fix the problem and then send me home with a happy and healthy wife and baby. What makes this even more surreal to me is that last night Corissa and I were watching TV and the story line of this show was about a guy who lost his wife and baby to a placental abrasion, which is what Corissa went through. On the TV story, the wife and baby bled out and died… which helps explain why we had the full team of doctors and nurses tending to us in a very urgent way. I know that Corissa and I were both very scared at the time, and now seeing this story, it helps me understand the sense of urgency as well as the seriousness in the room on Saturday night… and why they had four nurses taking care of Peyton with oxygen and other things in a way that I hadn’t seen them do with Allison after the delivery. In a strange way, I almost have a little post traumatic after shock thinking how close I might have been to losing them.

After everything was alright and Corissa was in recovery, the surgeon was telling me that it was fortunate the tear was so small. She told me that if it had been bigger or if we had waited and not gotten to the hospital so quickly, it would’ve been very bad… and now having seen that story on TV, I can see just how bad it could’ve been. I’m not trying to be morbid about it, but knowing how serious that condition really was, makes me feel even more fortunate and thankful that things worked out.

And I am also so thankful for God’s hand on us as well as your prayers. What could’ve been an incredibly sad night was instead a joyous one that saw the successful birth of our second baby girl. Many of you have probably heard George Strait’s song I Saw God Today, which I wrote about in a previous entry… but it seems to resonate even more in my reflection on Saturday night. In it, he talks about how blessed we are and how if we just slow down and look around, we can see God all around us and all of His blessings and gifts. And by way of remembering His gifts in my life, I just wanted to take a minute to list just a few of the countless times I’ve seen God in undeniable ways over the last few years:

• April 26, 2008 when He saved my wife and daughter.
• November 21, 2005 when He gave me my first baby girl – which was not a sure thing given my cancer. To many people, she was a miracle baby… my nurses often remind me of how lucky we were to be able to have her… and now Peyton too.
• September 15, 2004 when He effectively cured me from cancer through Dr. McCelland’s hands in surgery.

And those are just some of the big, obvious, milestone type events. But in many smaller ways, I can see God any day that I am willing to step back from the craziness of life and look around a bit… I can see Him in:

• My baby girl’s smile
• My wife’s heart
• Kindness from a stranger
• An open parking spot
• Health of my family and friends
• The love of my family and friends
• A sunrise, sunset or rain storm

Throughout my entire life, He has been all around in so many ways, and not just in the good news times. As I wrote a few years ago, God is good even on the days that we don’t feel it. And when I step back and take the time to look around, there is no question that I am lucky man by any standard.

And if you are reading this today, I encourage you to stop for a moment, push back from your desk, take deep breath, take a slow look around at the landscape of your life and I’ll bet that you’ll see God today too.

A Father's Thoughts, Food for Thought, General | No Comments »

I’ve been to church, I’ve read the Book
I know He’s here but I don’t look
Near as often as I should… yeah, I know I should…
His fingerprints are everywhere,
I just slowed down to stop and stare,
Opened my eyes and man I swear,
I saw God today

From George Strait’s newest single I Saw God Today

It’s no secret that King George is my favorite artist. I own every album he’s released, all the way back the the first one in 1981. In all that time and in all those tapes and CDs, there have been dozens and dozens of songs that I count among my all-time favorites… in fact, even just to trim it to a top 50 proves quite a challenge to me. However amongst all those great songs, it could be said that none have had quite the same kind of impact on me as his newest single that was released today.

The chorus (which is printed above) really struck home with me. As I listened to the words, it hit me just how well those words describe me. After all, I have been to church and I have read the Book, and I know He’s here… and yet, so often I live as though He is only around in certain times and in certain places. It’s not that I ever doubt or question His existence, but so often I get too caught up in life and it’s daily events – both good and bad… and I lose sight of the fact that He is all around and in everything and every part of my life. The problem is I just don’t look.

I know that if I could slow down and take the time to look, I would see God so much more often… and I can only imagine how that would change my perspective on so many things and revolutionize my attitude and the way I live my life.

The song closes with yet another verse that I must comment on:

Got my face pressed up against the nursery glass,
She’s sleeping like a rock…
My name on her wrist, and tiny pink socks.
She’s got my nose, she’s got her mamma’s eyes.
My brand new baby girl, she’s a miracle…
I saw God today”

I can say without a doubt, the day that I saw my little baby girl for the first time, I most definitely saw God that day. And in a way, she still plays that role in my daily life. There are so many times that I get worked up about something and then she comes to me with those big eyes and beautiful smile, with her arms raised up in the hopes that I will sweep her up and give her a big bear hug… and I am reminded of my priorities and the miracle that she is… and God uses her and those moments to remind me of Him and His blessings in my life.

In that way and many others, I definitely saw God today.

Food for Thought, General, Scripture | 1 Comment »

It’s been a while since I’ve had the time to add to the blog world… but this morning I came across a good thought that I want to share:

“We must daily soak ourselves in Scripture. We must not just study, as through a microscope, the linguistic minutiae of a few verses, but take our telescope and scan the wide expanses of God’s Word, assimilating it’s grand theme of divine sovereignty in the redemption of mankind. ‘It is blessed,’ wrote C.H. Spurgeon, ‘to eat into the very soul of the Bible until, at last, you come to talk in Scriptural language, and your spirit is flavoured with the words of the Lord, so that you blood is Bibline and the very essence of the Bible flows through you.”

From Charles Swindoll’s Strengthening Your Grip

That certainly seems like a worthy task to undertake and a noble aspiration to aim for. Beyond that, I’ll just let the quote speak for itself.

Food for Thought, Scripture | No Comments »

Socrates once said that the unexamined life is not worth living, and I wonder just how often we step back and examine the lives we are leading. I know that all too often, I just get sucked into the day to day of living without taking the time to take a look in the mirror at who I am and what I have become or am becoming. As is probably true with most of us, there are always going to be things we like and dislike about ourselves when we take the time to examine our lives. And while I don’t subscribe to much of Socrates’ positions, this is one where I think he was on the money.

I was listening to a sermon from Willow Creek in Chicago online a few months ago, and in it the pastor suggested a pattern of behavior he had heard suggested to pastors many times by Rick Warren, the author of the Purpose Driven Life (Short Version / Long Version) He stressed that we all need to do the following:

1 – Divert Daily – take some time each day to unplug and take a breath.
2 – Withdraw Weekly – take at least one day off from working each week.
3 – Abandon Annually – take a vacation, and really get away.

I know that I haven’t been good at doing any of those things. At best, I divert daily, but that is usually just when Allison comes to distract me from what I’m trying to get done. And while I love taking a break to spend time with my little girl, sometimes it only adds to the stress level if there is a pressing deadline, and it certainly doesn’t count for personal unplugged time. And as far as an annual vacation, I can honestly say the closest thing I’ve had to that was December of 2004, when the family went to the 2005 Rose Bowl… before we were even pregnant with Allison.

Sometimes it seems like taking a step back, taking a breath and occasionally taking the time to evaluate my life would just be counterproductive to the bottom line of getting things done. But more and more I am coming to see just how important it is to make that kind of activity a priority.

Food for Thought, General | No Comments »

I was talking to some friends last night, and one of them mentioned that an email I had written about a month ago about fatherhood had been forwarded to them (That’s My Job). Normally, I wouldn’t think that much of it, but it was about the 8th time in just the last few days that I had heard that from someone. When I sent the email out, I had no expectation that it would be forwarded around the way that it appears to have been. And the comments I’ve gotten back about it have been amazing.

Clearly, it was a message that God wanted to get out to my sphere of influence and beyond. I am amazed and humbled by the path that simple email seems to have taken and by the effect it seems to have had. As I penned those words, I had no idea that God had such a wide audience in store for those thoughts. Now I can see such a clear purpose in Allison being awake all night and giving me the quiet time to sit there in the darkness of her room and let God teach me and inspire me to write that email. It’s truly amazing to me how God works in our lives… and as many times as I’ve seen it, it never ceases to amaze me.

Food for Thought, General | No Comments »