Calling Home

Last month I wrote about my father on Mother's Day. I promised to do the same on father's day and write about my mother. Well, I'm gonna keep my promise. The problem is my mother is still living. Well, her being alive is not a problem. That's actually very nice ;-) But I have to be careful what I say because she's still here to react to it ;-)

On this Father's Day, like the last four or five, I woke up at camp. The church camp where we take our kids every summer always begins on Father's Day it seems. While I was lying in the bed for those last few minutes before forcing myself to get up, I thought about all the kids who will be here this week. Some will get homesick. Many more Mom's will get "kid sick". They will worry about their child. They will call. They want their children to call. They want to come out and check on them. Dads don't do that. Only Moms.

I actually began to understand the phenomenon a little better when I thought about my relationship with my wife. There is a bond there that is not easiily broken because we have become one. We are part of each other's flesh. When a child comes into this world, it has to literally separate its flesh from the flesh of its mother. Yet despite being two totally autonomous beings, there is a bond there that is not easily broken.

I remember going on a trip to Washington DC with my class in middle school. Before getting on the bus, my dad told me to call home. I did not want to. I insisted I would be okay and would not need to call home. He looked at me very seriously and said, "Your mother needs you to." I've never forgotten that. Yet I don't much better at calling home enough. Sorry Mom.

So, what about our faith journeys? There is something inside of us that calls out to somebody. Something that leads us to begin or continue our journey. There is someething inside of us that yearns to call home to somebody. It's an urging that is not instinctual nor programmed. It's not a psychological need. It's a reality of having been connected to someone greater than ourselves and now wanting to reconnect.

On this Father's Day, think about the connection you have to your mother. Then give a thought to the connection to the Father on your faith journey. Give him a call. And Mom, I'll try to call this week.

Just a thought

The Long Haul

One of the four people who read my blog reminded me this weekend that I went almost a month without posting. In fact, he just quit checking and assumed I had stopped. I've done the same with a blog that I used to check regularly. I got tired of finding nothing new, so I stopped checking.

Life is like that. At least we live it like that. If something doesn't have some new upgrade or feature often enough, we abandon it. Our children are growing up believing that everything happens in 3-5 minute multimedia segments.

Last night my family played Monopoly. Because our boys are young, we set a time limit. We may have played for an hour. And the game ended up the same way it always does. I came in last because I spent all my money on property. And they were the good properties too. I had all these properties lined up but my oldest son had twice as much net worth in the end because he never spent his money. We talked about the outcome of the game and how my strategy would probably pay off if we played a longer game and I had the chance to enjoy the fruits of my purchases - collecting rent. But my son won because we played the short and sweet version. The strategy needed to be make as much money as you can in as short a time possible.

In my relatively short life, I have noticed that if I just sit back and let things play out, they usually turn out better in the end. Sometimes I am too quick to intervene with plan B. Things in the business world are the same. Think about the fast food resturants out there. Which ones are doing the best? Are they the ones that have stuck to one or two things or the ones who are constantly changing? A few of these resturants change their marketing campaigns every 3-6 months. And when I drive by their establishments, the parking lots are fairly empty. Their competitors right next door who stick with something have a full lot. Hmmm . . .

And yes, you guessed it. Our faith journeys fall into this same trap. We love our journeys in the beginning when it is exciting and new. But then things settle down and it's just enjoy the ride for a while. We wonder if God really is out there somewhere. When no new gadgets or upgrades come along, we begin searching for another way or checking out plan B. We need to look at our faith journeys as investments that need the long haul to mature. There will be short quick turnarounds, but by and large, the long haul is where the money is. And staying on your faith journey will bring the biggest payoff possible. Just a Thought.

Changing my reality?

Well, I've been very disappointed with my reality lately. At least my reality tv. First, Chris Daughtry got voted off American Idol and Taylor Hicks won. Then, Terry Dietz did not win Survivor. IMHO, these guys were the best and should have won.

My "real" reality hasn't been all that great lately either. I was struck by an extended period of introspection while watching the Survivor finale a few weeks back. Everybody who has ever been on that show talks about how they have been changed forever. They will never take things for granted again. They will really appreciate life.

I listened to all these comments and wondered if I would say the same things and if I would really stick to it. I thought about it in the context of my family. I would LOVE to give Survivor a try, but honestly, 40 days away from my family is not appealing to me, especially since there are at least 15 other people who could win the $1 million. If I came home empty-handed in that way, I would be extremely disappointed.

So as I listened, I thought to myself, why do I have to wait until I've been stranded away from civilization for over a month to change my life? Why don't I enjoy life more now? Why don't I focus all the energy on my family like I would like now? Why isn't permanent change possible (if it's possible) without going thru such a crisis?

My life is definitely too busy. I've not posted in almost a month because of it. Four years ago I was crippled emotionally because of job-related stress and burnout. It took several months to recover. I never want to go back there again. About three weeks ago, I recognized the signs of the same thing coming around the corner pretty soon unless I did something about it right then. I took a day off for the first time in months. I knew I needed to change my sleeping, eating, and exercise habits. They haven't. Life just got busier. So whatdya do?

Yes, I typically make spiritual applications to our faith journeys in all my posts. And there certainly are plenty to make with this one. But I'll leave that up to you. Right now I'm going to try to survive my reality so I can hopefully change some of it after the storm has passed.