I haven’t played wall ball in about 30 minutes, but before that it had been about 16 or 17 years. It was fun, and this old man dominated the 3rd,  4th and 5th graders this afternoon. And the game hasn’t changed much since I last played at Fitzgerald Junior High School. For one thing, apparently you can make up rules as you go. I’m pretty sure that happened back when I was a 12 year old, too. The second thing is that girls cannot win. Period. Even if you have to abide by the aforementioned notion of rule changes.

It is always ammusing to me the games that kids will come up with. Whether it’s a twist on hide-n-seek or a spin on wall ball, the guys find a way to have fun. They’re creative. Something dark inside us happens as we grow up. Creativity is often squelched because we find the need to blend in, to become conformist. When I look at Christ, I see anything but conformity. Sure, He studied the scriptures, but he challenged the status quo. And He did things that astonished the people around Him.

He walked on water, turned water into wine, defended an adulterer, challenged the religious, worked on the Sabbath, spoke to demons, healed the blind and raised the dead. Talk about a creative ministry! Basically, He did anything that needed to be done in order to glorify His Father, even if it meant breaking the rules.

Now, I’m not an anarchist, but I think it becomes important for us to evaluate the rules that we have. It’s important to ask why we do things. Why do we take our hats off inside a building? Why do we have Sunday School? Why is playing cards wrong? Why is this song ok, but this song, that says basically the same thing, not ok? Why do we close our eyes when we pray? Why do we do the things we do?

Do we just do things because that’s what’s expected? Or do we seek to allow God to lead us, even if it means that we risk being creative? If someone has a new rule that makes wall ball more exciting, then let’s go for it!

The “official” dedication of our daughter was this past Sunday morning, Father’s Day 2011. I say “official” because as soon as I knew we were expecting, I thanked God for blessing this child. I know that children are a gift from God. God has given me and Lindsey 3 wonderful children. They do not belong to us, but they are our responsibility. We made a public proclamation on Sunday, in front of our parents and friends, that we would do our best to teach and model the Christian life to Hannah Grace. We’d done the same for Micah and for Joshua.

I remember when Lindsey told me that we were expecting for the second time. obviously, I had no idea if I would have a daughter or another son, and either would have been wonderful, but I had already enjoyed a son and so I knew what to expect. (ASIDE: No two children are the same. So, I really did NOT know what to expect.) Soon enough, Joshua Jackson was named and a few months later he appeared. But during this second pregnancy, I kept having a terrifying thought. Can I love Joshua as much as I love Micah? How will I divide my love? I don’t want to love any child more or less than the other.

Becoming a father has been an eye-opening and learning experience. It has helped me understand my earthly parents and my God, my Father, a little bit better. Through this process, I’ve learned that I don’t have to divide my love. Somehow, in God’s greatness, He has given me the ability to love more than I thought I could. With each child, I find that love comes up from somewhere inside me that I knew nothing about. I can only attribute this to the Spirit of God living in me.

Though personalities are already beginning to show…Micah has to be so precise and is cautious about everything. With Joshua it’s a party all the time…I know that they are in God’s hands. And it’s my prayer that all three will “taste and see that the Lord is good.” God loves each of them completely, unconditionally, and eternally. To the degree that I am able, I want them to know this kind of love from their daddy as well.

One of the joys in my life is taking my son Micah to school everyday. His school just happens to be at First Baptist, which is our church and also where I work. Without fail, he will say something that makes me laugh. We used to sing our ABC’s or Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star…which is the same tune by the way. (Did you just sing each of them to yourself?)

Sometimes, as we pull up to the church, he’ll say, “Look, Daddy. It’s God’s house!” He’s always excited about going to church. One day, maybe two weeks ago, he noticed something, I assume, for the first time. As we were walking in the back door, he pointed up to the sky and asked, “What’s that?”

I told him, “It’s a steeple.”

He said, “What’s a steeple?”

“It’s the part of the church that reaches up to the sky. Most of the time it has a cross on the top. It helps people know where the church is.

“Well, maybe if they bring it down to the ground, we could see it better.”

I chuckled a little bit and said something like, “I guess you’re right buddy.” But as I’ve thought about it, that statement was really profound. Is that not the task with which Christians are charged? – to take that cross and present it to people in a way so they can see it a little more clearly.

I’ve often prayed, “Lord, give me clarity. I want to know you, not just know about you. I want to hear you, to see you, to feel you. Sometimes, I think that I just need to sit and listen as you share your heart with me. Far too many times I feel compelled to share my heart with you. Lord, teach me to listen. Help me to hear and recognize the voice of the Good Shepherd.”

As God reveals, may we respond with an uncalculated, all-of-life response to who He is and what He has done. Paul gives us a great word on the appropriate response to such an amazing God. In Romans 12:1 he tells us to…

…”offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, afterall, this is your spiritual act of worship.” (I think a more accurate rendering of the Greek word translated here as ‘afterall’ would be ‘duh!’)

The more my body becomes a “living sacrifice,” the more my life will look like Jesus. And when I submit my life to being shaped into the likeness of Christ, I am taking the cross and helping others see it a little more clearly.

I don’t know what I’m getting into really. There are times that I feel like sharing a word or two about life. I’ve read other’s blogs and some are quite good. They inspire me. They challenge me. They encouage me. Others? Well, they’re just posts by people who don’t have a good place to vent their frustrations. I don’t want this to be a complaint column, though I’m sure I will share my opinion on my fair share of topics.

I hope that this blog will serve, primarily, as a place to gather my thoughts. If you are at all interested in what I write, then that’ll just add to the whole experience. If something I say inspires you, then wonderful! But, if you just read this because as a friend, you want to be nice…well, I can live with that, too.