Any Day Now

My wife and I are expecting our first baby any day now. It's difficult not knowing when the baby will come. The unknown is always hard and more importantly, it moves us to trust God more. Over the last couple months, we have been preparing for this child to come...getting a crib, clothes, strollers, reading parenting books, and thinking about things we have never thought of before. We are making a lot of changes to our lifestyle and our house all in preparatin for our daughter. We have to be ready because when she comes, there is no turning back. She is coming and it's imminent. It started to get me thinking about Christ's return and how it is imminent and really how it will be any day now...especially in light of eternity. I was thinking about how intentional we are to prepare for our daughter's arrival, but how much less intentional people in general seem to be about preparing for Christ's return. We hear all about it all the time, but how often do we really live like His return is imminent. We go about our day planning for the future, saving money, being cautious about life, and thinking that someday we will do something great for God, but Christ could come back any day. When he does, all the things that were most important to us suddenly mean nothing. So what does preparing for Christ's return really look like? To prepare for our daughter, my wife and I have had to sacrifice quite a bit...we had to make purchases, work on the room, and read books...not to mention what my wife has to go through in her pregnancy. It's all for the child that is imminently coming. What sacrifices are you making for Christ? It's only what you do for Christ that will last. He is coming any day now and there is no stopping Him!

fathers

This year's father-son trip meant more to me than any past trip because I am only a month away from being a father myself. Watching these fathers express their love for their sons was inspiring to me. Here are a some things that I learned from this trip.

1. Men in general don't always express their true feelings, but this trip is a time when fathers unleash their love for their sons in a real way.

2. It is vital for fathers to be vulnerable around their sons especially when it comes to issues of sexual purity.

3. I think it's safe to say that the fathers on this trip grew way more than the sons. It made me realize that people grow more in their faith as parents than they ever did without kids.

4. The rugged camping atmosphere sets this trip up for success...men were meant to be in the wilderness, hiking through cavs, diving into rivers, and making fires.

5. This trip is only a way to start to opening up the lines of communication between father and son. My prayer is that it will be ongoing.

If you are a father and you don't do something like this with your son, you are seriously missing out. This is one of the favorite things I do with my job. I am back and I am already looking forward to next year.