Archive for August, 2009
Too Much Talk
Not related to the baby, but just something that came to my attention today that I wanted to share.
Proverbs 10:19 (New Living Translation) says “Too much talk leads to sin. Be sensible and keep your mouth shut.”
I’ve read that passage probably dozens of times in my life but this morning in my devotions it really jumped out at me. The NKJV of the same passage says “In the multitude of words sin is not lacking, But he who restrains his lips is wise.” What does this mean? Does it mean that we need to limit how much we talk and communicate so we don’t sin? Well, that depends on what the “limit” is.
See, I’ve known for a long time that I talk a lot. Those of you who know me can attest to that. I wear my heart on my sleeve and often will just start jabbering about the most random things. There is nothing wrong with wearing your heart on your sleeve, but I believe that according to Proverbs, that excessive words will only lead to sin. It may not be an obvious sin, but it can manifest in sins such as gossip and slander, disrespecting someone, or speaking ill of one of God’s sons or daughters. I know for myself that I find it all too easy when I’m rambling to start attacking people with my words behind their backs. It’s not malicious, it’s not even intentional, but as I’ve started to examine my heart, I’ve realized that one thing is very clear. When I start to just talk for the sake of talking, Proverbs 10:19 tends to become a reality and I realize that I’ve sinned and spoken hurtful or disrespectful things. And the moment it leaves my tongue, it’s too late. I no longer have control over that thought or expression because its now “in the wild” and can go wherever it wants to. Maybe this is what James is talking about when he said “It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell.” James 3:5 (MSG)
James uses very powerful words spoken against the negative power of the tongue and I find myself re-evaluating how I speak because I don’t want to be someone who speak carelessly or hurt people with my words; that’s the last thing I’d want to do.
So what are we to do about this? I think for one, we need to be aware of careless words. Jesus tells us in Matthew 12:36 “But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken.” (NIV) I ask myself how many times have I spoken carelessly and the thought is kind of scary. I know that I am forgiven for all my sins, and that regardless, I will still enter into eternity because of the Blood of Jesus, but that doesn’t mean that have free reign to be careless with how I speak because even though I am forgiven, I will still have to give an account for what I’ve said. Something to think about isn’t it?
Well, I know for myself that I am going to be praying that God give me the wisdom to shut my mouth before something careless or hurtful is said. Even if it’s about people I’ll never meet. I’m far from perfect. I realize every day just how flawed I am as a human. But every day, those flaws show me more and more about how perfect God is and gives me a deeper appreciation for his Ultimate Grace. Thank God for Jesus!
My goal today, and every day until the Lord calls me home is to give up more of my heart and my will to the Lord so that He can fill me up and make me a bit more like him. It’s an ongoing journey. We will never be perfect here on earth, but we can all strive to let the Lord change our lives so that each day we are one step closer to the ultimate goal. To become like Jesus, our Lord.
Read all of Proverbs 10 in context here
Men Should Be Pregnant
Ok, I couldn’t resist. One of my favorite Christian comedians on pregnancy, Brad Stine! Enjoy!
And another about Women and Pregnancy. I know you guys out there will appreciate this and the gals too!
Baby Gear
So this week, we’ve begun to place items on our registries. Oh my goodness, I had no idea how complex this would be! I mean, thanks to our dear friends Alejandro and Renee, we have a list of everything we’d potentially need. Thanks for that guys!
But where to start? There are about 100 items on the list that we need to have or seriously consider. To add to the complication, each item has probably 15-20 brands available on the market each saying it’s better than the other, each with reviews that counter each other, and on and on it goes. For example, and forgive me for the gratuitous use of the term “nipple” but, we were looking at the type of bottles we wanted to buy. We decided on the same bottles our friends used but we also need to get “replacement nipples” for the bottles. I guess that babies go through them pretty quickly. Strong Suckers eh!? (boom-boom-ching) So we are looking through the details on the bottles we are getting. Nothing on the site describes what kinds of nipples you need to get for the stinking bottles. So I think to myself “Just look for the same brand nipple and match up the size to the bottle.” Right? Seems logical to me anyway. Well, not so easy! There are only two nipple packs available in that brand and they are called “Level 2 wide-mouth bottle replacement nipples” and “Level 3 wide-mouth bottle replacement nipples”. Now, I’m thinking to myself, what the heck are level 2 and 3 supposed to mean? Well, apparently level 2 means they are for 3-6 month old babies, and level 3 is for 6-12 month olds. Great! So what if I need more nipples for my newborn? So the hole in the nipple is bigger for the older the baby gets right? So since they don’t provide level 1 (do they exist?) nipples, we better hope that Caleb doesn’t need suck so hard that he breaks all his nipples because then what would we do? I mean, we can’t let him drink too fast now can we, because somehow in the whole of the history of the world, only now in America have we figured out that babies have to have holes in their nipples that are only exactly 1.24375793347 nanometers in diameter… because after all, if the hole is .00000032 nanometers bigger, heaven help us he might have GAS!!
So can I get on a soapbox for a moment and ask why in the world have we made baby gear so scientific and exacting? Everything that comes out has 37 pages of warnings in 187 languages about if you don’t follow the 48-step process to strap your baby into his pack and play that he will manage to kill himself…. and then they recall every item because the instructions weren’t complicated enough and the baby might somehow manage to pull the warning tags off and eat them resulting in the most horrid condition… worse than dying…. GAS!
Ok, I think I’m done, but please, someone tell me why we’ve gone so nuts about this? I mean, I want to be safe and care for my child, but my gosh, everything everywhere can suffocate, dislocate, maim, kill, and the worst, cause GAS! I mean, human’s have been raising their children for perhaps 10,000 years. I think babies are a bit more resilient than we make them out to be. Do you that they now have knee pads for babies so when they start to crawl they don’t mangle up their knees in some unknown, unholy way that will forever scar them? YES America, we now place knee pads on children who have not even grown knee caps yet! Oh, and don’t get me started on infant helmets! My gosh people! Babies are made out of rubber! They bounce! If we can’t learn to trust in the Lord a bit for the protection of our children, then what kind of faith do we have? I think God knew what he was doing. 10,000 years of babies being born and only now in the last 10 years do we suddenly need all this junk!
PUT A HELMET ON!
…. AND SLAM IT DOWN TIGHT! (Reference Apostles of Comedy)
So Far…
It’s amazing that it has already been almost 24 weeks! 19 weeks ago we found out that Melissa was pregnant and our lives were turned upside down.
Let me catch you up on what has been happening so far.
Re-wind to sometime in late-December. Melissa and I were enjoying a relaxing time “house-sitting” my folk’s home in Monument. Without going into the details, we had a pregnancy “scare”. I say “scare” because the sudden possibility of being pregnant when you’re completely not trying or expecting it can be very disconcerting. Well, as it turned out, a few days later we confirmed that my lovely wife was not with child. At first, it was a sigh of relief… but something had been “birthed” (forgive the use of the word) in us and both of us felt disappointed that she had not in fact, been pregnant.
We began to really talk about it and decided that maybe we did want to be parents now and so after having stopped using any form of birth control when we thought she was pregnant, Missy and I started to actively try. When the next month rolled around and she had not become pregnant, there was a mixture of relief and disappointment. I, for one, was disappointed because I had gotten so worked up and excited about the possibility of being a daddy that I didn’t stop to think about how Missy was feeling. She actually had come to the place of not feeling ready again. After a few days of not fully understanding each other, we both agreed that we would wait until the next fall and then begin talking about starting a family.
Now, during this time, and in fact, before we had suspected a pregnancy in December, our friends Alejandro and Renee (click for their blog), had gotten pregnant. This excitement is what initially got us hyped up about getting pregnant ourselves. Well, after we found out that we were not pregnant, we had talked with them about their choice of using “Natural Family Planning” which is a fully natural way of preventing (or trying if the case may be) pregnancy. We both adopted this method full heartedly because we loved how much better Melissa felt not being on the pill. We began to follow the system religiously and it worked for a couple months. Read more
Welcome!
Welcome to “On Becoming Daddy”.
So many sites and books exist for women and mothers, but so little exists for fathers. I am a first-time father with my son due in less than 4 months. I decided that I needed to begin to journal this journey that I am on. My hope is that it may be a blessing to you and encouragement to know that you’re not alone in this. We’re all in a journey of life together. Some are at the starting gate as I am; some are nearing the final lap. I want this to become a place of man-to-man talk and encouragement (our women are most welcome too!)
Men, this is our time to shine as MEN. To stand up and say “NO!” to the world’s standard of abandonment or disinterest or apathy. Our God-ordained purpose is to be the shepherds of our families and it’s time for us to take on that role! Our children are an incredible blessing from the Lord. They are a gift from the God of the Ages who saw fit to give us the chance to care for and train up one of his little ones. What an amazing calling! I can’t wait to share my experiences, and hopefully hear about some of yours as well!
I pray that everything said here brings glory to our Lord Jesus. May His name be exalted… always.
- Child Rearing
- Children
- Faith
- Jesus
- Godly Parenting
- Portraits
- Engagement
- Babies
- Maternity
On Becoming Daddy
Colorado Springs, Colorado