Like It Was Yesterday

I just got home from visiting my daughter and new grandson. I sat and held the little guy as he slept all curled up on my chest. It seems like just yesterday I fell asleep with his mother curled up in the same way and about the same size. But it was not yesterday. It was 24 years ago. There is a certain poignancy with becoming a grandfather. Watching my children leave home has been my least favorite part of getting old. I don't mind getting up to go to the bathroom at night or forgetting where I left my keys or the gray hair that keeps popping up. But does age have to take away my children? And yet today I sat with my grandson and looked at my daughter sitting on the couch across from me and I felt a joy that wrapped itself around the sadness. My daughter glows with the beauty of a new mother. She has all the markings of being a great mom. She has had a great one to watch and learn from so it really should not be a surprise. I guess it still is though. I walk into her spotless apartment and think of how her room at home always looked like a clothes bomb had just gone off. I watch how she handles her baby and changes his diaper and wonder why it was so hard to get her to put away her dishes. And yet, here she is being a mom and she is already so good at it. Growing old is no picnic. I know I sound as if I am 100. I don't mean to but I do know that an empty nest puts me past the halfway point of this race. Anyway, growing old may not be a picnic but there are certain benefits. My daughter had to grow up and I had to give her away before she could give to me the joy that was mine today. I think of the sermon I gave last week. God gave His son away those many years ago. If God was to have the joy of holding you and me to his chest then there was no other way. So He gave and because He gave I get to lay my head on his chest and sleep as soundly as little Liam did today with me.

Pictures of Liam

Grandson Arrives

William (Liam) Aiden McGinley. I won't bore anyone with pictures or much of a story. Both mother and son are doing well. It is very strange to have your baby have a baby. For the people who like stats...20.5 inches and 7lbs 12 oz. Thanks for your prayers. I will write more when I understand what all this means a little better.

No Baby Yet

No baby yet. My daughter Rachel is expecting her first child and I am expecting my first grand child. We both sit and wait. This past Saturday night she was having contractions and I woke up Sunday morning with a feeling of great expectation. It is kind of like Christmas but only better. I think of what Christmas has become. Waking up looking forward to gifts wrapped up under a tree seems a distant second to waking up wondering if my daughter has brought forth a child that already has my heart in his little hand. I think this is what Christmas is supposed to feel like...exactly. Waking up realizing that the dream really has come true and the baby has arrived. A child has been born and your heart is already his. Only this child instead of being the one who I look forward to loving will be the One I have always longed to be loved by. I expect this to be a special Christmas. This Christmas a child will be born, a son will be given and all the other gifts will seem cheap and tacky in comparison. I have a feeling that is the way Christmas is supposed to be.

A Leash and the Law and the Love of God

As far as dogs go I think mine is pretty bright. Maybe not Ivy League smart but she would definitely be college bound. She rings a little bell to go outside, freaks out when we bring out the suitcases, and can play dead with the best of them. We were out walking the other day. Walking for her is one exquisite pleasure after another. If I ever get to the place where a walk gives me as much joy then I will absolutely have it made. When my dog is at home her invisible fence keeps her out of a lot of trouble. She runs parallel with trucks and barks her little brains out. But when we are out walking I think she gets a little confused. I had her on a leash and it struck me that whenever a truck would go by she would strain and try to get to the truck. My leash is one of those retractable things (great invention)and so whenever a truck was coming I would have to start the process to reel her in and out of danger. Now my dog had no idea I was getting her out of danger. She would look up at me and I was sure she was swearing at me under her breath. She will never know how kind I was to her. It got me thinking about the law of God. The psalmist says, "My delight is in the law of the Lord". Delight is a strong word. I don't know if I have ever looked at the law of the Lord and felt my heart leap. Maybe it is because I am more like my dog than I want to admit. If my dog really knew what I know about a truck traveling at 30 mph she would delight in the retractable leash and my effort to use it. So it is with God and me. I have been reading the Bible differently lately. I read and then I delight and I thank God that he recognizes trucks that I might want to chase. So today, I walk with my dog as my God walks with me. My dog may only delight in the walk but I will delight in the Lord who is at my side and won't let me leave his.

Veterans Day

The health club I go to is a kind of a subculture. There are the kick boxing women (who scare me a little), the serious middle aged guys (I count myself as one of them), the group that has spent way too much time away from the gym but are still fighting the good fight, and the old guys. The old guys exercise a little, talk, visit, exercise, steam, and talk some more. It seems like the health club is an important part of their social life. I have gotten to know them over the years. A few months ago I went to get the towel to wipe off the elliptical machine I had just brought to it's knees and Frank and John decided it was time for me to slow down and talk to them a bit. They were both slowly biking their way nowhere. I had been watching the HBO series Band of Brothers. Karen had given the set of DVDs to me as a gift. It is the true story of the Easy Company of the 506th. It traces their story from boot camp through D-Day to the Eagle's Nest (Hitler's mountain hide away). It is an astounding story. Anyway, I asked Frank and John if they had ever seen it. I was rambling about the episode I had just watched about Bastogne where Easy Company held off the Germans at the Battle of the Bulge until they were rescued by Patton's tank division. Frank said quietly,"Yeah, I know. I was there." He then proceeded to tell me he was in Patton's tank division that cut all the way up to Bastogne to relieve Easy Company. I stood there looking at an old man peddling slowly on a stationary bike and when I finally gathered myself I thanked him. All this time I had been going to my health club I have been rubbing shoulders with heroes. They don't look like heroes any more but they are. Frank had to be taken off the line for a month so they could save his feet from frostbite. Today, on this Veteran's Day I saw Frank in the locker room. I watched him from a distance, made sure I said hi and left thankful for men like Frank who did something more than 50 years ago that made it possible for me to go to a health club today. Today when you walk past a person in their 80's look at them long enough to catch their eye and pay your respects. The heroes are all around us and today is the day to notice.

The Election

I have a couple of thoughts about the election. People feel very strongly about elections and candidates and the impact on our country. I appreciate all of that. I have been thinking and this is what I think. No political party will usher in the Kingdom of God and no political party will usher out the Kingdom of God. The mandate for us as Christians remains the same through every political change. We are to be the salt and light. That does not fall to the government. The more we impact those around us the better. If you feel our country is sliding into the night then your light should burn all the brighter. If you feel our country is moving toward the light then it is a call to turn up the wattage and increase it all around. So, that is my first point. Let's never lose sight of what God has called us to be and do. The second point is that it is an extraordinarily wonderful thing that in a country founded in liberty but with the shackles of race based slavery that a black man has been elected to the highest office in the land. That means that light and salt has had an impact. I pray that this is a death blow to the racism and bigotry that has been a plague on our country since it's inception. I don't know anyone who thought this would happen in their lifetime. The United States of America continues to surprise people and sometimes in a very good way. So it was on Tuesday night and that alone was enough to make me thankful. Now, I want to commit to praying for our country and the leadership of our country. I also want to pray for the church of Jesus Christ. I pray our country will be everything God wants it to be. I pray that the church will be everything God wants it to be. Far and away the institution that will have the greatest impact if those prayers come true is the church.

Election Day

...ONE NATION UNDER GOD, INDIVISIBLE...