BST's Blog

The doctor appointment went well yesterday. Sheryl is really not as far along as he would like. Apparently, white boy babies struggle with lung development and he's afraid that if Sam comes too early, he might not be as developed as he needs to be. SO--it's a wait and see game. If Sam does not come by June 6th, then we will check into the hospital that morning. It's hard to imagine Sheryl going another two weeks, but we're both really ok with this. We want him to be fully ready and not have to leave him in the NICU. Please pray for Sheryl over the next two weeks.

Attention! For all of you who plan to have kids one day one of the best pieces of advice I have to offer is to polish up on your spelling expertise. It cracks me up how many words, and sometimes now sentences, we end up s-p-e-l-l-i-n-g.

"Should we go to the p-a-r-k today?"

"What day is that p-a-r-t-y happening?"

Now, a word to the wise--some spelling can be tricky. For instance, one has to get creative when spelling things like z-o-o or p-o-o-l. Our kids, 2 and 3, get those right away. Do any of you have stories or thoughts related to spelling or code words in front of kids?

Ella and Maddie are truly my children, for they love to say the word, "poop". Please, Lord, help me. Sheryl finally put her foot down and said that "poop" is a word that can only be used in the bathroom and is definitely not appropriate for the dinner table. (Maddie and Ella would sometimes just look at each other during dinner and say, "poop!!" and then die laughing.)

For the most part, they are complying. However, they've now discovered ways around it. For instance--last night in the van on the way home they began to say "poop!" and we reminded them that it wasn't appropriate. It was like there was a period of processing for about 30 seconds and then Maddie exclaimed,"Well, I actually (yes, "actually") have to go poo-poo, so that means I can say it. I have to go poop!"
I mean, how can you argue with that? Oh my.

One more sort of random thought today. Back to my post on Sunday about people struggling with their faith and spiritual life in general...it strikes me as interesting that many people who read and deeply soak in the writings of McLaren end up at this crisis of faith. It makes sense to me. I LOVE his books and they've caused me to have to think and process my faith. Honestly, it's something we should have to go through. However, for some, it's been this paralysis that seems to take over--not sure what they believe about church, not sure what they believe about Jesus, not sure what they believe about anything. Again, in my opinion, that's probably extremely healthy. I just wonder about those who seem to camp there without moving through it. The reason I wonder is because if we are to know people by fruit, what does skepticism , bitterness, confusion, anger, apathy, etc say about us? (I'm talking about people who stay in those emotions for years--not "visit") Those are all emotions I've dealt with at different times on this journey and still do, depending on the day. When I look at Brian (McLaren), I see a man who has the ability to ask questions and grow in his understanding without abandoning the joy of the Lord. The man is bubbling with the fruits of the Spirit. Why do so many people reading his writing not reflect that same fruit? I wonder if it's just that McLaren is way down the road in this discussion. I wonder if it's his spiritual maturity. I wonder if it's his connection with a local church, and all it's messiness that helps him balance things. I wonder, since he interprets scripture as a narrative, if he also is able to view his life and faith journey in that way--allowing for the times of serious questioning and doubt while still holding on to the anchors of faith. Just things I am thinking about today.

I am grateful for the freedom to explore what being a part of the Kingdom of God in Jesus Christ really looks like. Certainly, there are less walls than we imagine. Certainly, it's more about heart and less about form. Certainly, God wants us to care for the poor and struggling much, much more than we do. I can't wait to see how these things take shape. The Kingdom of God is much bigger and probably spreads in spite of (IMHO) what we do on Sundays. It's the hands and feet of those out in the work place. It's the lunch discussions that happen every day. It's the water cooler and coffee break encouragement that happens in office buildings around the world. It's people like David and Sarah Wilson giving up a high paying lawyer's job to live in Kenya and work with street kids for 6 months. It's people like Sheryl's cousin Kim going back to teaching in order to make a difference in the lives of kids. It's striking up conversation with other parents at the park and showing you care. It's caring for your neighbors and asking them into your house. It's how you treat your employees. There are so many things that seem to be Kingdom related that often go ignored. We think that if we could only get them into our church building on Sunday then, praise God, they'll be saved. I'd say that it's much more about what happens outside of that time that has a lasting impact in the lives of those around us. For those of you in the secular world, my heart, respect and prayers go out to you. You are making a difference. Praise GOD for you! Here's a part of a liturgy we did Sunday morning. It's my prayer for all of us today as we are light to a very dark world.

"O Savior of the world, who redeems us by your blood, we believe in you.
Shine your holy light upon our hearts, forgive us for our sins and loosen our tongues to speak of your glory."

PS: I liked Stephanie's idea--any guesses on day, time, weight, etc? Now that tomorrow's induction is off this could get really interesting. Let's see--the winner gets a free ZOE CD mailed to you by me.