Repost: Following Foolishly

I am attempting to post a weekly blog for the foreseeable future. Every other week these posts will be reposts. I had been a contributor on two different sites that have since closed or changed to no longer include blogs. I will be reposting pieces that had originally been featured on one of these two sites.  

This was originally posted March 31, 2011

I heard Jerry Root speak on Matthew 18:3, 

“...become like little children…”  

He listed many characteristics of children that Jesus could have been referring to and then spent most of the talk expounding on the idea that children are not complete; that they are always learning.  Now that I have a son I’ve been noticing HOW he learns. 

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Expanding Hospitality

Now that we have moved to a new place (the beautiful PacificNorthwest) we are beginning the process of connecting to our new community. Since we live on a university campus, meeting new neighbors is streamlined a little; my coworkers are our neighbors. Soon after we moved in we went over to visit with a couple who also live on campus. Visiting new friends for the first time isn’t exactly stressful, but one generally wants to be polite and make a good impression. In our case, any good impression is somewhat complicated by the existence of our two boys. 

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Repost: Is Spiritual Growth "Limitless"?

As stated previously, I am attempting to post a weekly blog for the foreseeable future. Every other week these posts will be reposts. I had been a contributor on two different sites that have since closed or changed to no longer include blogs. I will be reposting pieces that had originally been featured on one of these two sites.  

This was originally posted March 25, 2011

Hello.

I’m new to -blogging- and unsure of how to start.  Metamorpha has graciously agreed to allow me this venue for writing and sharing some thoughts and ideas.  I’m told that experiences in life and ministry are places to start blogging from.  So, here we go….

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The Kingdom I've Received

We have now been living on the west coast again for about a week.  This is my first, and much-awaited, blog post about transitioning to Oregon from Indiana.  I know that it’s “much-awaited” because in the weeks leading up to our move several people made comments about this post.

“Of course, Jared will write all about this transition.”
“And we’ll anticipate a moving blog post about this.”
“I can’t wait to keep up on your lives through your blog.”

…stuff like that.

This may disappoint some folks. In the midst of packing in the span of a week, finding out we’re moving to Oregon at the end of that week, then driving across the country there hasn’t been much time to reflect, meditate, or introspect. It’s been a whirlwind.

Such is life.

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Taking Sides

We were wrestling as a family on the couch.  Having a tickle fight between Mama, Papa, and boy.
All were participating equally until our son, Isaiah, changed the rules.

He stopped me and loudly whispered in my ear, "Let's get Mama."
It was a conspiracy, an alliance worthy of Survivor: Blood vs. Water
I was ready to team up with my son against my wife, since usually he'll pick her side.

I counted off, "one, two, ....Three!" and we lunged across the couch, both of us trying to tickle the woman we love.

Then, just as I began to tickle my wife, Isaiah threw himself between the two of us.  He was facing me defiantly.  His arm was back, protectively guarding Candice, and he commanded me,
"Stop!  That's MY MOTHER!"

I was severely chastised for my insensitivity and he made it clear whose side he was on.
I should have known it was a ruse.  My consternation was, of course, overpowered by the cuteness of our son.  Candice and I both burst out laughing.

While we laughed, Isaiah didn't take his eyes off me, or relax his stern expression.  

Family Video

Here is a video made by Trevor Clark Digital Media.
It tells our adoption story.
It's an honor to be asked questions about our family, we don't feel like we're anything special.

Extra Help

My office is connected to our house.  It has a bathroom in it; that’s the bathroom Isaiah will use when we’re all downstairs together.

From our living room, it’s through the kitchen, turn on the light in the office, walk through the office (away from the house a little), turn on the light in the bathroom, and use the bathroom.  After two steps into we can hear him, but we can’t see him. 

My office bathroom has several posters up of movies and comic book characters, it’s not a man-cave, but it’s as close as I’ve got.  Partly because of the distance from us, and maybe partly because of the many posters in the bathroom, Isaiah developed a fear of going to the bathroom by himself.  While I love being with my son wherever he goes, I wanted to teach him that he was strong enough to go potty by himself.  I wanted to show him that he had nothing to be afraid of in the bathroom.  First, I explained to him that Mama and Papa weren’t that far away while we were in the living room and he was in the bathroom.  We could still hear him even if we couldn’t see him.  Then I told him that the people on the posters were all good guys and they would help him. 

“Look, son, that’s Batman.  He’s a good guy.  He helps people.  And that’s the Great Red Dragon.  He’s in the shadows in that picture, but he’s going to help Fone Bone find his way.  And look over there, those are cowboys, just like Rango.  They help people too.  So they’ll help you.”

After that conversation, Isaiah would go into the bathroom saying, “Papa, Batman and the Dragon will help me, they’re nice!”

And he would come out, after going potty, saying, “Batman and the Dragon helped me!”

…I guess if he already had Batman and the Great Red Dragon, he didn’t need cowboys. 

In what I think is another example of overextension, our son has applied this to several other situations, even when the posters are nowhere near him.

• Going upstairs by himself, “Batman and the Dragon helped me!”
• Heading outside to pick up his toys, “Batman and the Dragon helped me!”
• Jumping in the IWU pool, “Batman and the Dragon helped me!”
• Getting on the bus to preschool, “Batman and the Dragon helped me!”

I love it.

And it seems perfectly logical.

Think about it, if you had Batman and a Dragon on your side, you’d never be afraid either.