Pain Management

The day my dog Buffy died, I shut down.


It was a summer afternoon and I was playing in the front yard.  My dog had decided a few weeks before that he would be able to catch a car tire if he tried hard enough.  He was persistent even though we yelled at him.  I'm pretty sure he would not have known what to do with it if he caught it.


A teenage guy in a jeep hit him.  I looked up as Buff flew through the air and then I ran over screaming as my dog lay in the middle of the road.  He was taking his last few breaths as he died in my arms.  I cried really hard.  It still hurts to think about it.


I don't remember ever wanting a dog again.  Even now, as my son is getting older, I think about him having a dog.  Every little boy needs a dog.  But I don't want him to have one because I don't want him to experience his dog dying.  I want to shelter him from the pain of losing something he loves.  So if I can shelter him...and me...from ever loving, then I can shelter him from the pain of losing.


That sounds healthy enough doesn't it?  Don't engage in relationships because if you do, you might get hurt.  


In my current life, I am planting a church.  I hear from smart people that this kind of thing is a strain on relationships.  "People who start with you don't stay with you," they always say.  I begin to posture so that when it happens, I can be numb to the pain.  It feels like getting a dog.  


I need hope in the gospel so that I am free to invest in people in spite of the pain and disappointment. 


And I think we need a dog.  

Waving At The Bus

Now that I am a dad, I can appreciate the fact that as my son gets older, I will become more and more of a dork.

In Utah, one dad is taking "dork" to a completely new level.  His 16 year old son's school bus comes back by their house every morning.  So Dale decided to stand outside one morning and dressed up in a San Diego Chargers jersey and helmet. Each morning of this school year, he has been creative in waving at his son and his friends.

You can read about the rest here.

(via Mark Ostreicher)

Jesus Storybook Bible

Bradens's bedtime routine is one of my favorite times of the day.  After he gets a cup of milk and his blanket, he climbs into our bed for a story from the Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones.  This is a tremendous resource for parents.  Every story from OT and NT whispers Jesus' name and points to Him as the hero of the BIG STORY. I highly recommend it as a parent who has been reading it to him from before he was born.

You can look at a sample of the book here.

You can get it HERE. 

Healing and Restoration

The tornadoes that went across the southeast on April 27th were some of the most destructive in over 50 years.

Here is a story in the New York Times today about Southern Baptist Disaster Relief teams.  I am proud to have worked with some of these folks following Hurricane Wilma in 2005.  Good people doing good work and partnering with organizations to bring restoration to hurting people.

You can give to their efforts here.

I'm Back

After some time hanging out with the folks over at typepad, I decided to come back to my blogger account.  That may or may not have to do with the fact that my church was paying for the blog over there and I am not going to pay for a blog myself.

I actually am looking forward to writing again.