The Talk

Saturday was Homecoming at my daughter's school. She is a Junior so it was crucial that she get asked. She did and so all is well. Saturday came and it was time for me to have my talk with her date. I talk to all the guys who want to go out with my daughters. I would love to do it while cleaning my guns but I don't own any. Anyway, I took him down to the basement and we talked. My daughters always want to know what I say. I don't tell them but I think they already know. I already knew this kid and I liked him. I like all of my daughter's friends which is a really good place to be. So, I started just by letting him know how important Becca is to me. I talk to him about the umbrella of protection that a father puts around his family. I feel like it is my responsibility to protect Becca physically, emotionally, and spiritually. I tell him that tonight, just tonight, that is his responsibility. That means that if she is cold you give her your coat, if she is lonely you give her company, if she is scared you give her your arm, if she is tired you bring her home. I told him I hold him responsible for anything and everything that happens to my daughter that night. She is like a Porsche. You bring her home dinged and I will ding you. It is a good talk and one I like giving. I like it because it reminds me of what it means to be a Dad and how great it is to have a daughter I would give my life for. It also, like everything else, reminds me of Jesus and His father. How much must God the Father love us that He gave his son in the greatest exchange of all?! So, I watch my daughter leave smiling and I watch the boy open the door for her and I pray and then I thank my Father in heaven for grace greater than all my sin.

Pork Chops, Pinto Beans, and Cornbread

We built an in-law suite onto our house and my parents have moved in. My wife Karen is getting her Master's degree from Kent State so she is in class on Monday and Thursday nights. Last night my Mom invited me over for dinner, so I walked through the door that joins our house to their suite and sat down for dinner. My Mom laid out pork chops, pinto beans (the kind you soak all day not the ones out of a can. she is old school), and homemade corn bread. I think every family has a signiture meal growing up. This was ours. There was something really wonderful about getting a taste of childhood again. Our conversation was different than it was 40 years ago but with each mouthful I was being transported to a time when I was a child. Forty years ago I hardly noticed that my parents took care of me. They didn't make a big deal about it. Now, it may be my turn. I hope I am as gracious so they hardly even notice when the day comes that I take care of them. We haven't made that change yet. I am still going over to their house to eat pork chops, beans and cornbread. So today I am grateful. I am grateful for the pattern they set for me and I am grateful for the signiture meal I still get to eat from my mother's hand.

Kathy Griffin

Kathy Griffin is a comedian. At a recent awards ceremony she gave an acceptance speech in which she said," Alot of people get up here and thanks Jesus for helping them get an award. Let me tell you, no one had less to do with me getting this award than Jesus. This award is now my god". Now she is getting blasted. I don't really have a problem with what she said. She spoke probably more truly than she realized. I think she just intended to make a joke. She is a comedian. This is my point. People should worship God because everyone everywhere is worshipping something. Whatever you attribute ultimate value to in your life is what you worship. I am not offended by Ms.Griffin's comment. I think what she said is true. The award may very well be her god. That just makes her like most of us who are struggling with worshipping the right thing. It may be my job or my family or success or the Browns ( at least make it the Buckeyes) but something is trying to move into the place of ultimate value. Ms.Griffin just reminded me of my own struggle, the smallness of all other gods compared to the true God, and my desire to worship. So, I worship and I say a prayer not just for Kathy Griffin but for myself. I invite you to do the same.

Becca and her Car

My wife and I gave our 16 year old daughter a car the other night. Becca had been sharing a car with her grandmother and we thought eventually that would get really complicated so we bit the bullet and presented her with a 2001 Pontiac. I don't like to give any big gift without some drama so this is what I did. I had her drive her grandmother's car to Tha Porch (the high school ministry). Karen and I drove the Pontiac up to church and then moved Nanna's car. Becca came out of Tha Porch and thought the car had been stolen so she called us. We told her to come to the front of the church so I could have a talk with her. I told her as we walked toward the car that Nanna didn't want her to drive her car anymore. I asked her what she did to get this kind of reaction from her grandmother. Becca was rocked. She finally said," I moved the tilt steering wheel. Would that have done it?" Sometimes it is pitiful how easily my kids are taken it but there is a certain sweetness to it. Finally, I said to her,"ok, Mom has to drive Nana's car home so why don't you drive this one" and I handed her the keys and pointed her to the Pontiac. She hesitated, looked at me, looked at the car, looked back at me, and then finally started yelling and jumping and overall responding just the way I hoped a 16 year old would respond to her first car. It was great. I like the curve. I liked bringing it low before it went crazy high. It is like the gospel. Joe, you are a sinner, really, serously, a sinner and it is really, really bad. Then God says, " So, since you are a sinner and in desperate trouble, why don't you take this" and God points me to the cross. Gratitude is increased when the really good news follows really bad news. So, let your heart, like mine, be like a 16 year old. Let us leap and shout and search the face of God with wonder and expectation as it slowly dawns on us how much our Father loves us. I want to love God with the same ferocity that my Becca loved me when she wrapped he arms around me in front of a white Pontiac and said," Daddy, I love you".

9/11

Today marks the 6th anniversary of the attack on the world trade center towers. I guess since this is the first time it has fallen on Tuesday it seems particularly poignant. I find myself grateful. I am grateful for 6 years of safety and 6 years of freedom. I have in the last 6 years gone to church and to malls, traveled in planes, trains and automobiles and I have done so without incident and so I am grateful. I also realize it has not been without cost. I am one who believes that the lives given in Iraq have saved lives here...maybe my own. I am grateful. Today is a sober day for me but one filled with the goodness of sacrifice acknowledged and appreciated. It is also a day that reminds me of the One who exchanged his life for mine so I could be free.

Garbage Day

Today is the day our garbage is picked up. I love garbage day. I mean I really love it. Each week I put all our trash out. Most of the time I am shocked by how much trash has accumulated over a week. This week was more than normal. Anyway, I put it out there and then...KAZAM (I really couldn't figure out a word to use there), it's gone. I mean it is really gone. All the garbage, no matter how much, no matter how nasty, is completely gone. I love coming home and seeing the empty garbage cans in my driveway. It makes me feel clean. It is like being forgiven. I think of how I am surprised when I really take the time to look at my life and how much trash accumulates. And I take it to Jesus and...KAZAM (there is that word again) I am forgiven. it is not magic, it is grace but it fills me with wonder just the same. The good news is I don't have to wait a whole week to experience the cleanness. I hope you take the time to experience forgiveness and let garbage day be a reminder of grace...amazing grace...KAZAM!

She'll Be Coming Around the Corner When She Comes

My parents are coming up this week and moving in with us. We have added an in-law suite to our house and Mom and Dad are moving up and in. My parents are doing well and both are healthy but times they are a changing. This week is the prologue to a role reversal. Nearly 50 years ago they welcomed me into their home. By doing so they committed themselves in a number of ways. They provided a life for me complete with baseball games and birthday parties and doctor's appointments. Now it is my turn to welcome them into my home. By doing so I am signing up for a life change as surely as they did 50 years ago. They never acted like it was a burden to have me in their home as their son. The baseball games and the visits to the doctor were just part of the fabric of their life. That is the way I want it to be for me with them now. I figure in the next 10 years I will take them to the doctor and help them with their medicine and drive them places. They are my parents and like I was their son we are in this together. It is a privelege not many people have. I am glad I have the chance to give to these who have given so much to me over the years. So, this Friday, I will wait for them to pull up to my house. It will probably be the last move they will make. I am so glad I will be the one to welcome them home.