Summer is here. Not officially of course, but the practical reality reveal all the key signs. Children are out of school being the most prominent. My son is still in his Goddard preschool in Franklin, but they had their “graduation” ceremony last week. It was suprisingly touching. They sang a little song that included lyrics that were essentially “goodbye preschool hello kindergarten” which made Shannon choke up a bit thinking of the suddenness of our little boy being an official kindergartener.
Here are a few photos taken at graduation along with some candids of the kids taken at home the day of. The thumbnails are random from the particular album but select one and it will take you the photo gallery to see all of them.
As I have mentioned, Ava is starting to potty train. Generally, I put her on the potty first thing in the morning. In our past attempts, the body fluid in question very easily makes it way into the toilet. Yesterday, for some reason, it began going in directions other than the toilet. I certainly have had plenty of practice helping Jacob “direct” his potty action, but I was at a lost here. First, It surprised me and along with having a book in my hand (Ava always asks me to read to her on the potty; like father, like daughter) I was slow to react. But more challenging, I did not know how to make it “change direction.” I tried to push down, but there is really nothing to push. Ava just looked at me with this bizarre look on her face; probably the same look I had on my face. Then she started crying because I had to put the book down and perform clean-up. More troubling from my side is that I am not sure what to do differently if it happens again. Girls are just different.
I know this is borderline of “too much information”, but I wanted to share. Have a good weekend.
My favorite author is Dallas Willard, and his books on the spiritual life and God’s Kingdom have made a tremendous impact on my life. His first work in this theme is “Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship with God“. Knowing “God’s will” is a huge desire in Christian circles but one that is confusing to most believers. While it is not the same as prayer, seeking a deeper relationship with God is of the same vein, and why I am interested in writing about it.
I definitely recommend anyone to read it. Like all of Dr. Willard’s books, it has a bit of a scholarly tone, but that does not mean a difficult read. Willard often sets the table so to speak in lining up points to prove or disprove a point. Thus, it requires a bit of concentration, but I find that far better than just tossing a glib (even if it is true) spiritual statement without the background to understand and apply it fully.
This is not so much a review but a recap. I will go through each chapter and discuss some key points from those sections, hopefully to encourage you to read it and assist in understanding it. Any page references are off of the paperback book I currently have checked out from my church’s library. My personal hardback copy is backed away in some boxes awaiting the move to our home.
The preface is just a few pages long and gives a basic introduction into the book. The key point made here is Willard’s emphasis that “hearing God is but one dimension of a richly interactive relationship, and obtaining guidance is but one facet of hearing God” (pg. 10). This is important to remember that even if you perfectly understood God’s direct guidance to your life that it would not perfectly equate faithfulness to Christ’s call or the highest calling of your spiritual life. People may often state that just want to know “God’s will for their life” but even knowing that does not fully get you where you need to be.
Chapter 1 is “A Paradox About Hearing God”, and the paradox is this: we have widespread testimony and belief within the Christian church that God does “speak” and “lead” us but the Christian church is filled, probably mostly filled, with committed believers who have pervasive and painful uncertainty as to exactly how to hear and recognize God’s voice.
It is this paradox which Willard is focused on unpacking. Before leaving this chapter and starting the process of understanding and deciphering this paradox, he does give 3 general problem areas people encountering in trying to hear from God. They are summarized below but he of course goes into greater detail for each in the book, starting on pg. 26.
1.Wrong priority on the forms of God’s communication and ignoring the variety of means God can communicate with us.
2.Wrong motives for wanting to hear from God (e.g. seeking God’s voice solely for securing their own safety and comfort).
3.Misconceptions about God’s nature and intent, especially with respect to expecting hyper-level of detail and control in the “guidance”.
The flood of 2010 that ravaged Nashville affected our new home build. The home, in the community of Riverwall on the Harpeth, was a riverside lot on the aforementioned Harpeth River. It was nearly complete, and we were hoping to close by end of May. According to our neighbors, we got about 4 ft of water in the home. Here is a link to pictures of the day after with the builders going through and gutting the bottom floor. You can look at them individually or choose the slideshow option on the left. We meet with the builders on Monday to talk about next steps.
Among my busy life and natural disasters, another excuse for not updating my blog is I have been having problems getting my picture album software to work. It is working now, and I hope it will stay that way.
My first niece, Lucy Kate Hagerman, came into the world last week on my birthday, May 6. Here are pictures of her and rest of extended Meadors’ family on Mother’s day.
I really do like the idea of writing in my blog, but this season of life is busy, busy busy. How about a quick round up in case I don’t write again for another 6 weeks.
Jacob had a wellness check up this week. Measures 3’11″ and 50 lbs. Very healthy and “normal” for his age. Playing soccer which he enjoys. He shows good instincts out there. He is in 4-6 age group with most kids on his team 5 and 6. Makes a HUGE difference from the last 2 seasons with 3s and 4s. It actually resembles soccer.
A funny, maybe not ha-ha, laugh out-loud funny but amusing, cute funny, is that Jacob’s has discovered the old He-Man and the Masters of the Universe cartoons I use to watch as kid through Hulu. So he will ask me, “Daddy, can we watch He-man” and I am happy to oblige. I do have to admit that looking back at these cartoons 25 years later puts them in a different light. They are really not that good. The super-hero cartoons of today are just better in terms of plot and dialogue, but I will always have a soft spot in my heart for He-Man.
Ava is now on allergry medicine after her 2nd ear infection. It was due to having so much mucus drainage that we thought allergy medicine would help, especially since Jacob and I take it regularly. She has been on it for 1/2 week. Hope it helps.
Good news on the potty front. Ava has peed in the potty 3 days this past week. Either after her nap or after waking up from the night, she was dry, and I then put her on the toilet and she did the rest. Definitely not ready for underwear, but good steps.
This week we are heading to Panama City for a vacation. Our family loves the beach, and I looking forward to getting away.
Both my work and Shannon’s at the church is very busy. Busy is good, but busy is busy. Thus, limited time and energy to write on the blog. Maybe the vacation will help give me a boost.
Sweet little Ava Lauren turned 2 this Saturday. She is my little princess. I get so much joy just looking at her. She is so fun too. She loves to sing songs and is quite advanced in verbal skills for a 2 year old. Here she is singing happy birthday while eating her chocolate birthday cake.
We are nearly half way through with the Prayer of Jesus study. Dr. Hemphill outlines the Model Prayer into 4 parts: The Address, The Committment, The Petition, The Benediction. Last week we focused on the Address. He emphasized that the “Father” part of the prayer and made the statement it is similar to our modern expression of “Dad” to our earthly father. In fact, Hemphill often referred to God as “Dad” through out the video.
Needless to say, a majority of the group participants struggled with this phrasing. For most in the group, I would categorize it as at best uncomfortable and at worst disrespectful and wrong. I definitely understood their point, and I don’t think I would be comfortable using that term in prayer. “Father” is much more natural for me. Once a word or phrase establishes a contextual meaning in our minds, it is hard to change that meaning. In this sense, tradition matters.
I definitely don’t think Dr. Hemphill was trying to be disrespectful or “cute” in using this term. He was just trying to convey the intimacy we are to have in our prayer life. The fact is that Jesus use of “Father” was a radical concept in His day. The Jews considered this phase disrespectful as well. We certainly must not be caught throwing stones here.
But as I said, I do understood the concern. The best advice here it to follow Jesus’ response to John who questioned what they should do about the man who was driving out demons in the name of Jesus but was not part of Jesus’ disciples. “Do not stop him,” Jesus said, “for whoever is not against you is for you.”
Today, two great reminders of this special season of life. First, Ava, who has recently developed into an excellent kisser, wanted to kiss all of the parts of my head. My eyes, my ears, my nose, my chin. I gladly let her. Her wet lips on my cheek and the pop of her smooch are still fresh in my mind.
I then drop Jacob off at preschool. I stand by the window watching him put up his lunch box and jacket. He turns and looks at me. Gives me a big thumbs up and blows me a kiss.
It won’t last. The days will change and so will my children. Those new days will be special in their own right. But this morning will be tough to beat.
