Symphony in Space...

Last weekend, I had one of the truly special experiences of my life... Our family has a package of tickets to the Houston Symphony's season of family performances (3 or 4 shows). Last weekend (2-Apr) was the last show of the 2010-2011 season, entitled "Symphony in Space." It was really great. But one part of the show stood out... At about the mid-point, the conductor (dressed as an alien...yes, conductors in Houston do that for the kids) called out an actual astronaut, the distinguished Chris Hadfield (@Cmdr_Hadfield on Twitter) who will command the final shuttle mission next year and spend six months on the International Space Station as well.

In addition to "just" being an astronaut commander (what am I doing with my life) he sings and plays guitar. His brother, just by chance (WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE???), composed a song about him going up in his first mission called "Big Smoke." [FN] Cmdr. Hadield played guitar and sang the song during the Symphony's performance, along with a chorus of children from a local school. [Yes, in addition to being a Space Shuttle commander, he was an accomplished guitarist and singer.]

After the performance, Cmdr. Hadfield took questions from the audience. At first, my son Noah was throwing his hand in the air to ask a question. I immediately told him to put his hand down. I asked him if he had an actual question to ask. He did not [of course]. After about a fifteen count he told me he did have a question. He explained it to me and I told him that was a good question, and he put his hand up, way up, again.

Belive it or not (we had pretty good seats) the conductor called on "the boy in the striped shirt," -- Noah!!!

"What does if feel like to float in space?"

Noah asked that question loud and strong -- in front of about 4,000 people filling Jones Hall.

Cmdr. Hadfield ( @Cmdr_Hadfield ) proceeded to answer Noah, in detail, for several minutes. He called a little girl out of the chorus who had pig tails and demonstrated how your hair floats in space; talked about how your blood doesn't flow down to your feet without gravity so you have to do certain exercises in space; and how you eat without gravity in space.

I was floored. This was my son asking a real life astronaut -- commander -- what it was like to float without gravity in space. And the commander answered the question in such detail and with such deliberateness, yet, spoken from the actual experience.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? What a wonderful moment in my life --- and Noah's life. What a special time. I would never have guessed/expected that this would be my life. Providence!

[FN] Big Smoke refers to the smoke that emits from the launch of a Space Shuttle.

Out with the Old, In with the New...

The final hours of 2007 are ticking by, and what a whirl-wind of a year it has been.

On a personal level, this has been one of the greatest years our family has ever experienced. We started the year by finding out we would soon be adding a second child to our family. We travelled to Florida in February to attend the wedding of a close friend. We spent spring-break in Idaho skiing with Shana's parents. The spring found me graduating from law-school and us buying a new home, complete with indoor washer/dryer and a big yard for the kids to play in (and dad to grill out).

The summer was a contrast of toil and fun - I spent much of the summer studying for and taking the Bar Exam, but in August we took our first-ever real vacation as a family - spending four days in San Antonio and Sea World - and later that month, the "big-kids" spending a glorious long-weekend on an island off the coast of Belize.

Not long after, Noah started his new school for Pre-K and I started work for my new law firm. The fall saw the leaving of my brother and his family - moving from Houston to New Jersey, but it also brought a new member to our family, Kennedy Kate, and the combination of fun and work that a newborn involves. I found out in November that I had passed the Bar Exam, and was finally sworn in to the State Bar of Texas. We traveled to visit my parents for a combination Thanksgiving/Christmas. Shana went back to work in December, and her family came into town to spend Christmas here.

It's been a wild year, but a great one. So many blessings in such a short time. It seems like the year literally flew by - and I know they won't be getting any longer as the kids grow (ever faster) and careers demand ever more time. Still - this is a glorious time for our family, and I hope we are appreciating it, and I hope we hold on to it for as long as possible.

Happy New Year.

Out of Touch...

It seems to me as if life seems to come at you in waves. There are long periods of relative steadiness - then, WHAM - sudden chaos.

That's what I'm experiencing right now. Just when I felt we had been in a bit of calmness and steadiness in our lives - EVERYTHING CHANGES.




Deciding to send our son to a brand new school...

Expecting a new child...

Law School finals...

Doctorate Graduation...

Studying for the Bar Exam...

Purchase of a new home...




ALL AT ONCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It is a very hectic time, but this is life. This is the way it seems to go. It is not "easy," but it is always more than you expect.

Our family's life is changing quickly - and we are excited about our future.

There are, however, a lot of things going on that I would love to be writing about - the politicization of the Justice Department; the attempt at Immigration Reform; the Texas 10% graduates policy; the press-privilege in Texas issue; etc. Hopefully, I'll be back at it soon - but right now, it's just too much.

The Texas Bar Exam is in late July - as much as I love Oil & Gas and Trusts & Wills, I regret that I will likely be spending more time on those topics than on things I'd like to write about. But, this is life, and there is nothing I would trade for it.

Recently, I have taken to a little ritual with my son Noah each morning. Before we go to school, I stop him in our morning preparations and first I ask him to shut his eyes and think about one thing, and secondly, ask him a question.

First, I ask him to shut his eyes and think about him being a good boy, and how proud his teachers will be of him if he listens to them and if he learns and listens to them through the day; and how he his friends will be so happy if he is nice to them, and treats them well, and puts their interests ahead of his. I also tell him how proud I and his mom will be of him if he is on his best behavior all day, and he listens to his teachers, learns as much as he can, and is the best friend that he can be to his friends during the school day.

Secondly, I ask him to tell me three things that he is thankful for that day. That is such a beautiful and wonderful question. It differs every day -sometimes it's his toy cars, sometimes his piano (a keyboard he got from his grandparents for Christmas), and sometimes it is his mommy. But the most mornings, just like this morning, it was the following:

1. I'm thankful for Jesus saving our sins and love.

2. I'm thankful for God loving us.

3. I'm thankful for Jesus rising.

Let me be honest, I have no idea how much Noah really "knows" or "believes" these things. But what I do know is that he regularly gives me these answers - in this order - when I ask him this in the morning.


Sometimes, life seems so fast and furious that we're rarely doing more than treading water. But then for moments - even if it's brief and relatively rare moments - it seems like maybe we are making progress amidst all the chaos. As much as I care about the myriad of issues and challenges that face us all these days... really all we can do is make a difference a little at a time.

I've always believed that changes are brought about from the bottom up. Family, Church, Community, City, State, Nation. That is how I have felt differences were made. In the midst of a blinding amount of upheaval and change in life, it is centering to hear your child say that Jesus is one of the things he is thankful for.

I can't seem to find the time to write everyday about all the things I think and feel about. But - I HOPE - I am imparting everyday the things that are true and important --- to my little boy and to everyone I come in contact with. That may not change the world, but it may change people.

That is enough for me.

Kids Today...

What an article from the NY Times today: Young, Gifted, and Not Getting Into Harvard

This makes me both scared, and hopeful to be a parent these days. Scared because of all the pressure to compete and exel kids are under; hopeful because I'm convinced that good kids will ultimately excel - and hopefully keep a little bit of innocence and wonder as well. Read the whole article, but here is a bit:

ON a Sunday morning a few months back, I interviewed my final Harvard applicant of the year. After saying goodbye to the girl and watching her and her mother drive off, I headed to the beach at the end of our street for a run.

It was a spectacular winter day, bright, sunny and cold; the tide was out, the waves were high, and I had the beach to myself. As I ran, I thought the same thing I do after all these interviews:
Another amazing kid who won’t get into Harvard.

...

Actually, meeting the soon-to-be rejected makes me hopeful about young people. They are far more accomplished than I was at their age and without a doubt will do superbly wherever they go.

Knowing me and seeing them is like witnessing some major evolutionary change take place in just 35 years, from the Neanderthal Harvard applicant of 1970 to today’s fully evolved Homo sapiens applicant.

There was the girl who, during summer vacation, left her house before 7 each morning to make a two-hour train ride to a major university, where she worked all day doing cutting-edge research for NASA on weightlessness in mice.

When I was in high school, my 10th-grade science project was on plant tropism — a shoebox with soil and bean sprouts bending toward the light.

These kids who don’t get into Harvard spend summers on schooners in Chesapeake Bay studying marine biology, building homes for the poor in Central America, touring Europe with all-star orchestras.

Summers, I dug trenches for my local sewer department during the day, and sold hot dogs at Fenway Park at night.

...

I see these kids — and watch my own applying to college — and as evolved as they are, I wouldn’t change places with them for anything. They’re under such pressure.

...

But I’ve stopped feeling bad about the looming rejection. When my four were little, I used to hope a couple might go to Harvard. I pushed them, but by the end of middle school it was clear my twins, at least, were not made that way. They rebelled, and I had to learn to see who they were.

I came to understand that my own focus on Harvard was a matter of not sophistication but narrowness. I grew up in an unworldly blue-collar environment. Getting perfect grades and attending an elite college was one of the few ways up I could see.

My four have been raised in an upper-middle-class world. They look around and see lots of avenues to success. ...

That day, running on the beach, I was lost in my thoughts when a voice startled me. “Pops, hey, Pops!” It was Sammy, one of my twins, who’s probably heading for a good state school. He was in his wetsuit, surfing alone in the 30-degree weather, the only other person on the beach. “What a day!” he yelled, and his joy filled my heart.

Parents gone wild...

Interesting article in yesterday's NY Times - Kids Gone Wild. It is a glipse of the problem of bad behavior among today's kids. As a parent, I am obviously interested in this topic. I often stuggle with how to raise my son to be polite, quiet, well-behaved, and respectful - when those traits seem to have flown out the window for this generation.

I think that this article overall makes an excellent point:

But what seems to have changed recently, according to childrearing experts, is parental behavior - particularly among the most status-conscious and ambitious - along with the kinds of behavior parents expect from their kids. The pressure to do well is up. The demand to do good is down, way down, particularly if it's the kind of do-gooding that doesn't show up on a college application.

It's scary - from my perspective - but undoubtably true that much of the behavior problems of children these days stems from parental behavior. Although it's not as fun to have to blame yourself for a problem instead of blaming the kids.

Most parents ... would like their children to be polite, considerate and well behaved. But they're too tired, worn down by work and personally needy to take up the task of teaching them proper behavior at home.

I like the way that is phrased - "task of teaching." The fact of the matter is it's work to teach proper behavior to a two-year-old. And so often, I find myself after a long day of work, and then night classes not wanting to "work" anymore at home - so it's easier just to be permissive...but what is easy is not always (or even often) what is best.

The article concludes:

If stress and strain, self-centeredness and competition are the pathogens underlying the rash of rudeness perceived to be endemic among children in America today, then the cure, some experts said, has to be systemic and not topical. Stop blaming the children, they said. Stop focusing on the surface level of behavior and start curing instead the social, educational and parental ills that feed it.

This may mean less "quality" time with children and more time getting them to do things they don't want to do, like sitting for meals, making polite conversation and ... picking their clothes up off the floor.

I think this is true. In order to raise disciplined kids, you yourself have to have the discipline as a parent to accept the task - the work - and see it out. :Sigh: Nothing comes easy, does it?

First Digital Camera Pics...

We finally got a digital camera over the weekend, so here are a few of our first photos...

Classic Calvin...

and Hobbes from a Slate retrospective:

In honor of Mothers

This is a great article - and very timely with Mother's Day coming up on Sunday. I am a very blessed man - I am the son of maybe the greatest mom a boy could have, am married to the greatest wife a man could have, who is also the greatest mom our boy could have. I've had incredible women in my life - and I am much the person I am because of them.

Moms at the Office
by Martha Burk, Ph.D. for TomPaine.com (excerpts)

Every year on Mother’s Day we stop to thank our moms with gifts and adoration. As individuals, we love our mothers dearly, but as a society we don’t give much of a flip for motherhood.

Close to three-quarters of all moms with children between the ages of 6 and 18 are in the labor force. ... Too much of corporate America is still operating on the “organization man” model, with the built-in assumption that someone else will take care of the kids and household so dad can work unlimited hours. It’s the same old mindset—men own the jobs, women own the kids.

When President Clinton signed the Family and Medical Leave Act in back in 1993, the United States lost the distinction of being one of the only two industrialized countries in the world without some form of leave for emergency care of sick children or elderly parents.

In purely economic terms, if someone has to miss work to care for a sick child, it’s going to be the lower earning parent—usually the mother. That further depresses her earnings and promotion potential, and further entrenches the inequality both at work and at home. And recent polls show the public believes employers don’t promote young women because they think these workers will leave their jobs to have children—but the vast majority do not.

Corporations claiming to favor fairness in the workplace should be glad to take an honest look at their pay practices and correct disparities. ... This kind of common-sense disclosure won’t bring down capitalism. Ben & Jerry’s does it every year, and they’re pretty successful, thank you.

Companies must not wait for Congress to mandate so-called “family-friendly” policies like paid leave, flextime and job sharing, either. They can do it themselves, and they can do it now. If fathers are encouraged to take advantage of these policies so that it becomes “normal” for both parents, mothers won’t be singled out as “less serious workers” and punished with lower pay or lack of opportunities for promotion. That would be a real gift for Mother’s Day.


This mother's day, let's be thankful for the moms in our lives; and let's commit ourselves to building an America where all their contributions are appreciated.

Extraordinary Times

I know...long time since I've posted. I'll try to keep this up better going forward.


Back on Wednesday, October 27, 2004, I logged a post I entitled "Extraordinary Times". It was about how sometimes I lose sight of the blessings that God surrounds me with because I make them everyday. Those thoughts sprung from the baptism of a man at our church. I highly recommend that anyone reading this jump back to that post and read it. That man was in Houston being treated for cancer, and spoke no English. Go read that post...


Today, God shared with us another extraordinary moment that left my wife and I in tears. After the lesson this morning, several people came forward (including one lady desiring to be baptized and her friend that had been studing the Bible with her). There was also a group of three ladies that came down together - two asking to be baptized, the third a translator.

It turns out that the gentleman who was baptized at our church back in October had lost his battle with cancer, and had passed on to be with God. But here were his wife and daughter, who had sat in on his Bible studies with our minister, choosing to put Christ on in baptism. Their lives had been touched through those studies, and through the example of their husband/father who had committed his life to Christ, and spend the final months of his life in God - and ministering to them - as much as they to him. So, they had made the trip back to Houston from southwest Texas to be baptized at our church by our minster, just as he had. The wife/mother spoke no English, so the confession and baptizm was again interpreted. It was such an amazing time - and truly showed that God indeed can do anything, far above what we could even ask or imagine. It brought much of our body to tears, and it showed us once again, that God is alive...working...and blessing us with extraordinary glimpses of Him.

Bue Kismus

Hope that you and your's had a wonderful holiday season. Obviously I haven't posted in a long while, primarily due to the holidays.

We had a really wonderful week for Christmas - we even had a snow while in Dallas on Wednesday that gave us more of a seasonal feel. And Noah received so many wonderful toys and books and clothes. We've been packing up loads of older stuff to take down to goodwill to make room.

One small anecdote from our Christmas season. On Dec. 17th Shana had to go up to Dallas, so Noah and I had a boys weekend together. That Friday night, I decided to take him up to Hermann Park to see the Holiday Festival of Lights display. On our way in I had the Christmas music station on, and while we were parking, Elvis' Blue Christmas was playing. When I got Noah out of the car and he and I were walking up to the park Noah was singing/shouting over and over:

Bu-bu-bue Kismus

He really couldn't say blue or Christmas...but it is one of my best memories of Christmas 2004!!!

Clinton Presidential Center

Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Holidays!!!

I haven't been able to post as much of late. I've been spending most of my waking free time writing a paper or prepping for my final coming up. In addition, the holiday time has been very hectic for the family, so I haven't had the time to sit down and crank anything out.

We spent the Thanksgiving holiday in Arkansas with family. Since we were reasonably close, Shana and I decided to take Wednesday morning, November 24, 2004 to drive over to Little Rock and visit the William J. Clinton Presidential Center and Park. The Clinton Presidential library was dedicated on Thursday, Nov. 18 - and I had been reading quite a bit about it in the lead up so we were excited at the opportunity to visit. This was the first Presidential Library complex that either of us had visited.

To start with, it is much smaller than what I expected. Now, the location is beautiful, just on the bank of the Arkansas river, bordering on Little Rock's downtown. Several of the architectural reviews of the building I had read had described it as either a "metaphor for a Bridge to the 21st Century" or a "trailer park home". Personally, we felt it looked much like a railroad car - boxy and rectangular, and much smaller than expected. When you get into the building, however, you are struck by how much room there really is - either the outside is very deceptive, or the interior's design makes an excellent use of the space, there is more to see than would be expected.

After you arrive, clear security and pay your fee, the initial display on the ground floor deals with the Secret Service and the Presidential Limosuine. From there you proceed up a flight of steps to the second level. There you find a display related to the 1992 election - the Comeback Kid, Perot, etc. Looking back, it's almost hard to remember, but Clinton's election that year was an absolute stunner...kind of a shock the world type of moment. As popular as he was to become, and as much as he was to accomplish in office, it's strange to think this was a guy who came - almost - out of no where to win the nomination, then unseat a relatively popular sitting President. An election for the history books truly.

There is a video presentation of the 'Clinton Story' - telling an overview from birth to declaring his candidacy on Oct. 1, 1991 to the White House to the present. It's pretty neat, and has several goosebump-type moments (it got a little dusty in there, if you know what I mean), but much of the info was in My Life, if you've had a chance to read that.

From the video, you move over to the first display - a recreation of the Cabinet Room. This was actually one of the most interesting parts of the entire Center. In fact, on the drive home, Shana and I both agreed that the Cabinet room was the "best" or our favorite part of the Center. The room is recreated in detail, and inset into the Cabinet table were interactive touch-activated computers that enabled you to sit in the same chairs that Clinton or his officials sat in and read detailed histories of the Administration and very interesting timelines of three of the more interesting and challenging decisions that were made by the Admin - Welfare Reform, Kosovo and the Budget Crisis. A really informative and interesting set up. The Cabinet Room was added to the White House by Teddy Roosevelt and in Clinton's term included portraits of TR, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln.

Outside the Cabinet Room, there is an enormous video wall dedicated to the 1992 Inaguration - one great quote from that speech:

There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be fixed by what is right with America.

Bill Clinton - Jan. 21, 1993 - 1st Presidential Inaguration Speech

Next there is a small wall dedicated to the State of the Nation under Clinton - statistics related to Employment, Crime, Education, AIDS, Police, Technology and Health Care are listed and visually displayed.

The rest of the second level is a long room - the outside walls are dedicated to kiosks related to specific issues important within Clinton's two terms in office:
The Economy
Making Communities Safer (Crime)
Protecting the Earth (Environment)
First Lady
Global Community (World Leaders, etc.)
Making Peace (Mideast, Ireland, etc.)
Prosperity Abroad (America's ecomomic involvement overseas)
Preparing for New Threats (WTC1 and terrorism)
Fight for Power (Impeachment)
Science & Technology
One America (Race Relations)
Learning for a Lifetime (Education)
Putting People First (Health Care and Welfare Reform)

In the center of this narrow room is a series of eight small walls with displays on each side - one side was a rundown of world, domestic and economic event during each of Clinton's eight years in office. Included in this was the President's daily schedule for every day in office - pretty cool. The other side was dedicated to various things - the State of the Union address, with 'in-progress' drafts with notes to the final speeches; and Letters to and from the President and First lady from the likes of Fred Rogers, Mother Teresa, the Dali Lama, Paul Newman, etc. Some were funny, some really touching. It was a really nice display.

Next, up another flight of stairs to the third level. This level is open in the center - so you can look down upon the 2d level (similar to a mall), with displays only on the outside walls. Along one wall you see displays dedicated to State Events at the White House, State Gifts given to Clinton during his time in office, Making the White House home for the Clinton's, Holidays at the White House, public gifts to the Clinton's, etc. The other side contains personal memorabelia of Bill, Hillary and Chealsea from birth to present, including Chealsea's birth announcement, items from Clinton's failed bid for Congress, Democratic Nat'l Convention speeches in 1980, 1984 and 1988, among other things.

Finally, on the third level is the exact replication of the Oval Office. Unfortunately, you can't walk through, but they have windows in, and you can step into the doorway. It is interesting to see what the office looks like in 'real-life' and how connected and dedicated to history Clinton had it - almost everything in the office had some historical connection.

It was a really intersting couple of hours - definately worth the trip and the $7 entry fee. If you are interested in history, specifically Presidential history, it's an absolute bargain.

I was and am a big fan of Bill Clinton. In my mind, he is the embodiment of the American Story. A poor boy, single mom, raised in large part by family from a tiny town in one of the smallest, ruralest states in the nation - becomes the President - the Leader of the Free World, not through connections or family name or money. But through hard work, committment to a cause, and a dedication to public service. I am not ashamed to list Bill Clinton as a hero. Sure, the man has many flaws - and Shana and I discussed how revered and honored this great President really would have been if he only could have controlled himself. He embarrased himself, his family and in some ways, his supporters. And his Presidency will be forever somewhat tainted because of that - there is no question. But all that given, Bill Clinton had a dream of one day making America a better place for the next generation - and he made that dream into reality. Flaws or no flaws. That's pretty incredible, and it is something that I admire more than I can put into words.

There were certain words or phrases that stood out in our tour of the Clinton Center, either because they were used over and over, or because each display tended to whisper or shout them:
Optimism, Prayer, Change, Peace, Respect, and finally and most of all -
A More Perfect Union

That is a great legacy, if you ask me.

Ball. Game.

I rock my son almost every evening. He's almost two now, right at 21 months, so I know that this time is quickly coming to an end, but I love it - without a doubt my favorite time of the day. We've got a routine.

Either Shana or I will give him a bath, change his diaper and put his PJs on. But then, I get to rock him and put him in bed. He and I go through the same routine pretty much every night:

We read two regular books together in the rocking chair. They can be anything, tonight it was Grover Dresses Himself and Hungry Little Caterpillar.

Then we read our three night-night books - first New Baby's Prayers, then Sweet Dreams, and finally Pat the Bunny Sleepy Bunny. Then we put our hands together and say a prayer, and turn the lamp out.

Then while he snuggles against my chest, I rock him and sing four songs. (Yes, it's the same three books and four songs in the same order each night. I'm compulsive like that...) I sing Jesus Loves Me, Take Me Out to the Ballgame, Jesus Loves the Little Children, and the Star Spangled Banner while we rock together. Yes, I know - those are odd choices for night-night songs. I'm not exactly sure how it happened - the church songs, okay that makes sense and I know I added Take Me Out to the Ballgame in the middle of the baseball season. I remember thinking about wanting to make sure that as Noah grows up I instill in him the right kind (my kind) of patriotism - and I guess that's how the national anthem got thrown in. But somehow this is what has evolved, and it's been this same routine for about six months now.

Suddenly, over the past three or four days, Take Me Out to the Ballgame has become Noah's favorite. It's become a request. I always sing it twice, once with - root, root, root for the home team; once with - root, root, root for the Astros. Between the verses he's taken to saying, "ball game, ball game, ball game" to let me know he wants me to sing it again. Of course, his daddy is stubborn, so after I finish the second time, I move on to Jesus Loves the Little Children. Noah just been continuing to say, "ball game, ball game, ball game" for a while, then gives up when he realizes I'm not going to start singing it again. But tonight, he was a little more adamant. After insisting for a bit while I continued on with the next song. Well, he finally couldn't take it any more. He sat up, looked me dead in the eyes and said firmly, "BALL. ... GAME." I couldn't help but laugh.

And I couldn't help but think - That's my boy!!!

It's really all too easy...

Texas published the list of those who passed the July 2004 Bar Exam yesterday - and Shana passed! We are both just thrilled.

Personally, I never felt it was in doubt, but she had been nervous about actually seeing the results nonetheless. Probably a large part of that concern is the way that Texas publishes the results. They set a date, and the names of everyone who passed are published on a website. So anyone who knew you were taking the exam can search to see if you passed or not - so there is a fair amount of public pressure in the procedure.

This was a difficult summer for us, due to her concentration and study for the exam. I am so thankful that God blessed her to get through the grueling two month long study ordeal; with the discipline, ability and knowledge to pass the exam; and most of all to NEVER HAVE TO GO THROUGH THAT AGAIN!!! The bar exam is as much about attrition as it is about a testing of legal knowledge - and she persevered.

She will be sworn in at a formal ceremony in Austin, TX on November 15.

Top 5% of her class, Magna Cum Laude, Law Review and now member of the Texas bar. Congratulations to Shana, or should I say, counselor!!!

Extraordinary Times...

I was fortunate enough to go to school for a semester in Florence, Italy. It was one of the greatest experiences of my life. Everything about those four months was amazing - but just being in Florence was one of the most magnificent. Absolute, bonafide treasures of the world around every corner. It was truly amazing. After our first tour of the city my neck was sore because I was always looking up or around at the next cathedral, monument, statue, etc. Everywhere you looked was something else extraordinary.

At least for a while.

At some undefined point, the extraordinary becomes the everyday. I distinctly remember walking to meet up with some friends at one point toward the middle of our stay. I jumped off the bus, rushed past the Santa Maria Novella, sped past San Lorenzo, hurried through the crowds at piazza San Giovanni between the Baptistery and the Duomo and as I was walking the road between the Duomo and the Uffizi, I all of a sudden just stopped. These wonders that had kept me in awe just weeks ago, I was now just rushing past - because I saw them everyday. At some point it time, Brunelleschi's Duomo became just the duomo. I changed my plans that day and went back to appreciate some of my favorite spots in Florence by myself because I knew that I wasn't going to have the chance for very much longer. Over the next few weeks, the extraordinary in Florence would again become the everyday to me - but on occasion, I would stop to appreciate it, even if for only a moment.

It's amazing to me how the extraordinary can be come the everyday. I've been thinking about that a lot this week because of what happened Sunday during morning church service. There are a handful of extraordinary church worship experiences that I will never forget. I remember on that semester in Europe, sitting in a church in Athens, Greece where the service was being conducted in Greek, translated into English, and in the back of the room there were two small groupings of people where the service was being re-translated into two other languages. That day I was struck by how universal God's body truly is. I think about that moment often on Sunday's, and how all around the world on the same day, but in a variety languages and in various formats, God's body comes together, and how much bigger it is than I can imagine. Sunday, I was blessed with another of those unforgettable corporate worship moments. We had a man come forward after the lesson to be baptized. He is in Houston being treated at a local hospital, and he has been meeting with our minister and studying for a time, and had decided to put on Christ in baptism. Our preacher was telling us how they've been studying, but the man doesn't speak English and our minister doesn't speak Spanish - so they've been using translators. And we used a translator to take the confession and for the baptism itself - and I was blown away by how God doesn't care about our barriers, languages or borders or class or anything else we try to use to segment ourselves. His gospel is a whole lot bigger than that. It was an extraordinary moment and I was left in tears.

But...there's always a but, huh? But, in class after the service, I started thinking about what a great experience that was, and remembering some of the more special church services I've been blessed with and it hit me - shouldn't every Sunday be that special? Shouldn't every Lord's Day be extraordinary? I mean, come on, I am gathering with the body of Christ, opening my heart up before the throne of God, literally partaking of the body and blood of my Savior, reveling in his Word, singing praises to His name - and it's routine? Doesn't it seem like every time should be extraordinary - but somewhere along the way (at least for me) it becomes everyday.

God's gifts of salvation and the church body are remarkably wonderful, and I hope that I will live everyday life with more appreciation of how extraordinary He really makes it.

Whew...

[Deep sigh...]

I think we can officially call this 'Kids Weekend'. Do you ever have weekends that tire you out more than the work week? That's this weekend - and it's only Saturday night.

We spent Friday's dinner with Noah's cousins (our niece and nephew). Saturday, after Shana's run, we picked up the cousin's again and went to the Fall Festival at the West University church of Christ. It was raining in the morning, but they made the best of it inside, and the weather eventually cleared enough to have some outside activity as well (a train and a big jumping thingy). It was a blast for all the kids. (And I even ran into a Law School classmate who is a member at West U - I had no idea - and a couple of people I recognized, or recognized me, from Harding - that was pretty wild.)

Tonight we had some friends over we hadn't gotten together with for too long - a couple who are expecting and a friend with a little three year old boy and a girl about Noah's age. We made dinner and caught up. But it's amazing how things have changed - we all became friends almost six years ago when we were working at the same place. Our careers have all led in different directions (I'm the only one at the same place), we're all married, some with kids, some expecting, and those kids have become so much of our lives - playing with them, feeding them, making sure they are killing each other!

But days like to day let me know I'm getting old. All those kids wear me out! When we left the Fall Festival, I could have called it a day. This evening, everyone was out of here by 9:30, and I would have sworn it was 2AM I'm so tired. Those kids must get their limitless energy by sucking it out of me! But it is is an incredible feeling seeing Noah so happy - chasing his cousins, trying to throw a ball at target just like the big kids, playing with his toys with his friends. Tomorrow is going to continue the trend - we teach the 4-year old class at church and then to our Sunday evening life group which has a number of kids. Yep, it's 'kid weekend' and it's been an exhausting treasure!

So what, exactly, is a coincidence, anyway?

I spent my pre-school and early elementary years in a tiny town in northeastern Arkansas. If you ask my wife - or my mom - they'd tell you I have the world's worst memory. But there are some things I still remember vividly from those early years:

I remember learning the song 'He Paid a Debt' on our car porch. I remember tornado drills, where my little brother and I would learn what to do in case of dangerous weather. I remember my dad's garden in the back yard, and the horse named Lucky that lived in the pasture across the street from our house. I remember listening to a song named 'Kansas City Lights' on the radio as a vaporizor hummed late at night in our bedroom.

And I remember 8-track tapes. In our car and at home, we'd listen to 8-track tapes. The Gatlin Brothers (All the Gold in California); the Oak Ridge Boys (Elvira) and Paul Simon. I'm sure there were many more, but those really stuck with me. Especially the Paul Simon - 'Me & Julio' and '50 Ways to Leave Your Lover'. It's kind of weird the things that stick after all those years...



My son, Noah, was born on February 18, 2003. We went to the hospital the night before, expecting to induce the next morning, but Shana went into labor while we were in the lobby waiting for a room. We had brought a CD player with us, and when we got in the room we were playing some music. As the night progressed, I put on Paul Simon Anthology. And it was funny what happened after that - everyone who came into the room, a couple of different nurses, the anesthesiologist (sp.) and our doctor, each made some comment like, "great music". It was almost a running joke, because everyone that stepped in the room made some comment. At around 2:15 (if I remember correctly) Noah was born - I still remember amdist all the confusion of that moment - seeing my son for the first time, holding the hand of my wife, and hearing Paul Simon singing "me & Julio down by the schoolyard". I can remember that moment vividly. And I can remember such an odd feeling - because as I was becoming a father, I remembered sitting in that old station wagon as this little kid in the 70's singing along...

20k is a long way...

Yesterday morning Shana ran in a 20k race here in downtown Houston. Wow! 13 miles - she finished up right at 2:00. I cannot even imagine running that far - but she does it and enjoys it. She loves to run - it keeps her calm and at peace. It is great for her. Yesterday, during the run, she developed a blister on the side of her toe. She told me that she wanted to stop running somewhere in the middle because it was hurting so bad - but she was running with her sister who encouraged her to keep pressing on. The competitiveness between the two of them pushed each to run one of the strongest races they had ever run.

Anyway - Congratulations to Shana. Next up is a 25k in November - that's right at 16 miles. She's going run that one and make a decision on running the Houston Marathon in January. She ran the half-marathon (13 mi.) last year, and is considering the big one. (By the way - due to school and family commitments, she had run only once in the month leading up to the half-marathon, and that was only a 3 mile run - but she got out there and ran the whole thing. She is an absolute superwoman, if I do say so myself.)

Servant?!? Who, Me?

My wife and I attend a small group Bible study on Sunday evenings with a few other couples from our church. We’re studying through the Rick Warren book The Purpose Driven Life. Last night, the topic of conversation was service/ministry. And an interesting point of conversation centered on why is being a servant so difficult - what makes it hard. Let's face it, for most of us service is hard. There are those special people that we all know who seem to revel in meeting the needs of those around them, standing in the gap before it's even called upon, and truly loving every moment of it. I am so appreciative of those people - but they are a rare breed. Most of us struggle with the servant heart. Why is that?

Our discussion brought up two, and I've been thinking of a third reason why service is not natural to most of us. First, it is inconvenient. What does service mean? Usually, it means going the extra mile, performing the unheralded task, taking the hand of the homeless guy on the street, etc. If you’re like me, you live in a hectic world where you always have something else you need to be doing, or want to be doing. It’s a whole lot more convenient for me to justify to myself that my plans are more important, more urgent, more of a need that must be met. But it’s rarely the truth. The truth is I don’t want to be bothered. I want to get out of the parking lot quickly, instead of taking the time to talk to a brother who has been going through a rough time and I know will want to talk for a half hour. I want to get my son home and in bed before he gets fussy, instead of hanging around to put up chairs and tables and take out the trash. I want to get my lunch and get back to my office, instead of stopping and getting lunch for the homeless man on the corner next to the sandwich shop.

A second factor that makes service difficult is fear. The unknown is everyone’s biggest fear, and there are aspects of service that hold that unknown quantity. You consider stepping in to help a sister in her family’s time of need – but exactly how much is this going to cost in terms of time and money? You consider stopping and offering help to someone looking for work – but can you trust that person? Am I putting myself at risk physically, financially or with time constraints? Anytime we take up a ministry we are opening ourselves up to the unknown, this holds us back from meeting the needs that need to be met.

Finally, we live in a society that programs us with the desire to be served – not be servants. Look around at the images of success and power – it is the people who are being served, not doing the serving. I think one of the basic hindrances to service is that we view it as a sign of weakness. Aren’t people who take time to open up to the people around them showing vulnerability? Can’t we pay someone to perform the ‘menial tasks’? Isn’t the person who helps the homeless gullible? I mean, come on – I’ve paid my dues, I work hard, and I take care of my family and myself. I deserve a little more of the being served and a little less of the service. That is the attitude of our communities. But that is not the attitude of a servant.

But these reasons didn’t seem to stop Jesus. Was it convenient for him to touch a leper? Or how about the unknown that was involved – should there not have been some apprehension in serving someone with such a disease? What about the classic example of Jesus washing his apostles feet – if Jesus had commanded those apostles to serve Him, would they not have jumped at the opportunity? Was there ever a time when the service of Jesus seemed to be convenient for Him? Was there ever a time when he refused to meet a need out of fear? Was there ever a time when he put His own needs above those of those He was here to serve? And yet we do.

I tend to choose what is easy for me. Hmmm, sounds like self-centeredness, huh? Oh, no – I can list off all the wonderful “service projects” that I get involved with (occasionally). But it’s funny how those projects tend to “fit-in” to my plans. I’m the leader, or it involves a group of friends, or any number of other situations when the “service” is right for me. Selfishness is the foundation of each of these reasons not to be a servant – I choose my convenience; I want my security; I desire to have others serve me. But there is no selfishness in Christ:

Phillipians 2:4-11
4Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death--
even death on a cross!
9Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

To be a servant our attitude should be that of Christ Jesus – if we model ourselves upon him – the self-centeredness falls away – and what is left is the heart to meet needs…the heart of a servant.