Embarrassing Moments

A few days ago we brought my 3 month old son Ethan to JCPenny to get some pictures taken. After his rock star photo shoot (pictures to come in a week or so) we were waiting to see the proofs and Abby was playing with some blocks in the waiting area.

After a few minutes Abby moved onto something else so I (trying to be the good dad) asked her to go and pick up the blocks that she literally dumped all over the floor. Of course, Abby didn’t want to do that so she said no. I told her she had to and we went back and forth a couple of times before I picked her up and made her put them all away. This only happened after a rather loud and attention getting temper tantrum. I felt like a horrible parent.

Not only did I feel terrible that my daughter was having a meltdown, but I felt horrible that I couldn’t get her to do what I asked her to do and I couldn’t take control of the situation. Needless to say, I was totally embarrassed.

It got me thinking about my relationship with God. What does God feel like when I totally and completely disobey Him? Not just when I say no God, I’m not going to read my Bible today, or I don’t feel like praying. I mean when I really disobey him, like when I disregard the feelings of my wife for what’s easier for me, or when I keep my mouth shut instead of speaking up when I see a student or another person alone in the corner not being talked to.

Do I embarrass God?

Genesis 6:5-6
The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.

When God first created the earth, He created such a beautiful world with such potential for living a life of perfection with Him. Then sin entered the picture. Sin corrupted this perfect world that God had created. As humans continued to sin, sin took over mankind and this is what saddened and possibly embarrassed God. When we sin, we make God sad, essentially embarrassing Him.

So what can we do?

As a parent all I can do is talk to Abby, discipline her and help teach her how to strive to do what is right, because I love her and want to see her live the best life she can. It’s the same way between us and God. All God can do is teach us what is right and love us with his unconditional love and grace. All we can do is strive to follow Christ to the best of our ability, relying on His grace, mercy and love to forgive us when we make Him sad and learn from what He is teaching us.

Who knew that his whole parenting thing would teach me about my relationship with God.

The Importance of Being Present

I’m on my way to Phoenix, AZ today. Why you ask? I would love to tell you that I am going down to watch the San Francisco Giants or some other baseball team during spring training, man that would be awesome. Unfortunately, I am on my way to funeral. The funeral is for my cousin, Sgt. Mark Wells. He was killed on Sunday, March 6 while on deployment in Afghanistan. I don’t know all of the details of went on, but I do know that Mark was part of the bomb squad. He we diffussing a bomb and somehow set off another hidden bomb. He leaves behind His wife Danielle, son and his unborn daughter. It’s a sad story to say the least, but I am honored to have known and been related to Mark.

When I first heard about Mark there was a sense of shock and sadness. That’s still how I feel now, but now I have regret. In the last week I’ve thought about the times that Mark and I have had. You see, when we growing up, we were pretty close. Some of my best memories are spending the night at each others’ houses and watching The Goonies every time. I also remember playing video games on the Apple IIe, (yep, green monochrome screen and all). I remember spending holidays together and playing in the backyard (Mark always wanted to play G.I.J.O.E. go figure). Anyways, we had a good time hanging out together. As we got into junior high we spent less and less time together, until we didn’t talk at all. It’s actually been years since I’ve seen or talked to him and that’s where the regret comes in.

When I think about how Mark and mine relationship went in our lives, it makes me think about the importance of being present with the people around us. I don’t like the feeling of regret that I have, i know that God doesn’t like it either. So here’s what I’m doing about. I refuse to feel regret about anyone else in my life. I don’t want to live my life in regret, but live a life that is present with those that God has put into my life. I challenge you to do the same. Find those in your life that are close to you. Talk to them, share life with them, know them, be present with them.

So, I’m on my way to Phoenix to pay respect to a great man who gave his life for my freedom. A man that I had the privilege of growing up with even though I have the regret of not knowing him better. I look forward and continue in hope that I will see him again for eternity in heaven. My prayers now, are not for me, but for his wife, children and parents who will need to find the new normal in their life without Mark and I pray that God will help show you what that is.