The Real Iron Man

(I haven't seen the movie yet. But I'm going to!)

Despite the picture to the right, this is a rather serious post about a real "iron man" in my life.

I had the privilege of being confronted by one of my friends last night. And when I say "privilege", I really do mean it. You see, other than Megan and my family, I really don't have that many people who call me out when I'm wrong... and when I'm at work, there's no one to watch me - but me!

I am a blind, sinful, and often fickle man, and so I miss out on seeing my own shortcomings sometimes, and a loving friend of mine may have just interceded for me before I got in too deep... The issue was my pride. And in a job that is 100% commission, it doesn't take too much imagination to see where it's easy to go wrong, either in the direction of pride, or the direction of discontent.

But thankfully, I have a wife who prays for me, and who - earlier this week - prayed for God to protect me from any sins I could fall into at work. And God provided an answer to that prayer through the urgings of a friend... an iron man.

Proverbs 27:17 tells us that, "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."

I am thankful that my friend listened to God's prodding, and warned me not to get too tied in to the things of this world. While rebuke sometimes hurts, it can result in our becoming more like our Savior. I am saddened and crushed by my own sinfulness, but delight in the fact that God has given me those who are willing to make me a better man.

A Plate of Fresh Perspective

If you've ever watched the Disney movie "Ratatouille", you'll remember the scene in which the terrifying food critic demands a plate of "fresh perspective". I believe I've received my own plate at work tonight.

I was working at one of our mall locations where the kiosk is right next to a small play area. There were about 20 kids running around screaming at the top of their lungs. Normally, I hate this... especially when I'm trying to help a customer. But tonight, I was okay with it. (No, that's not my "fresh perspective".)

There was a young girl running around, and I could see she was different. She has Down Syndrome.

Normally, my first reaction is pity for the parents. What a tough time they must have raising a child with Down Syndrome... Tonight was different. My first thought was, "Wow. She and her family look SO joyful!" And they were. They were smiling, having fun, and they were watching her run in circles with the rest of the kids, squealing out her life's delight. And I thought, "Thank God... Thank God they didn't abort her."

I heard a staggering statistic a couple days ago: 90% of parents who find out their yet-to-be-born infant has Down Syndrome schedule them for an abortion. I mean, folks, ARE YOU LISTENING?!? For every 100 children who have Down Syndrome, NINETY of them are killed before they're even born!!! What a tragedy. What a loss...

For the 10% who keep their child, they have such joy in the life of their child. Sure, they are fraught with fragility of life, with complications, and with stares from the ignorant... but they have such joy. And the 90%, though they have convinced themselves that they did what was "right", they live with an emptiness that they can never have restored or replaced.

God bless that little girl tonight, for reminding me that life is beautiful, despite it's not being the "quality of life" that so many people demand. I often wonder if we --mankind-- think that somehow our quality of life is better than the life of these. Come on. You've got to be kidding me.

- 50% (and climbing) divorce rates
- 70% of people saying that they could be happy if they had just 30% more income
- just a meager percentage of those who are married still saying that they are HAPPY in their marriage
- a generation of teens who rule over their parents

And then there was the family I saw tonight. The parents had their arms around each other as they sat watching their daughter play. They were smiling at her. The girl's sister was playing with her just as much as the other kids, giggling and laughing and screaming joyous sounds. They walked out of the mall holding hands.

Huh. Yeah, we're so much better of just getting rid of the girl.

Fun in the park

To appease all of you Emma fans out there, here are some fun shots we got in the park yesterday. It's a lot easier to take pictures of her now that she's sitting up on her own. In other news, she finally has two cute little teeth! Her funny, bubbly personality keeps me smiling at home and we're looking forward to a great summer together as she blossoms even more! Enjoy the cuteness!

A Preview of the Cuteness to Come...

Last Man Standing

There are three agents in the world who can demand the respect of any man... and unfortunately for me, Mr. T. Abe, the common denominator between the three of them seems to be their initials: J.B.

I recently had a very in-depth, heart-felt, and emotionally demanding conversation with two of my coworkers, and we discussed the possible answers and explanations to the question, to which you must now decide the answer:

I Love Being a Dad...

"Good morning, Daddy! I LOVE you!"

That's what I hear every morning when I go in to wake up Emma. She's usually covering her eyes with her tiny little hands, and as if she were in a classic Disney animated feature film, she rubs her eyes with curled up hands and yawns her tiny little yawn. And then she sees me.

It's the HUGEST grin that shows up on her face once her eyes connect. It's like she's all ready for the new day and excited to learn more and more about the world around her and this funny family she's become a part of. She usually flails her arms about and kicks the bed in efforts to get up, waiting for me to stop tickling her and finally pick her up. Wide-eyed and wondering, she looks around to make sure that everything in her room is as should be, that the lights are still on her little tree I made for her, that the rocking chair is still in the right corner, and that Annabelle is treading underfoot as I try to carry her to the changing table.

She is beautiful. My smiley-faced chubby-cheeked bunch of love and energy. She makes every morning fresh and new. While I know that many things in the world remain the same, Emma gives me a clean start every morning. She looks at me as if I hadn't ever been in a crabby mood the night before, as if I'd always been the strong, courageous man that she calls "dadadadadaaa". My love for her grows more fierce by the day, and I want nothing more than to love her and protect her like I do her mother. Of course, I know that one day I will have to let her go... but for now, I continue to cherish every moment with her... even if it involves a shirt and face full of sneezed pureed green beans.

BIG Answer to Prayer

Some of you may have heard about our medical coverage fiasco that we've run into for our family. After Travis left UPS, we applied to several different private health insurance plans and were denied by ALL of them because of pre-existing conditions. We were finally able to get a medical sharing plan for Emma and Travis but I was initially denied by them as well. I've begun most days with a silent prayer for no Emergency Room trips for myself and God has been so good to prevent me from having any major illnesses during this time.

The great news is, after a letter from another doctor, I was finally able to join the same plan Emma and Travis have! Praise God!! We are trying so very hard to pay off all of our debt and have been concerned about the financial ramifications for us if something major happened to me. We will worry no longer! Phew! Thanks to all of you who prayed with us for God's provision and protection.

The Last Time

Yesterday was a sad day for Emma and I. I nursed her for the last time. Travis didn't really understand but almost every mom out there who has breastfed remembers the last time she nursed one of her babies. Emma and I have had a tumultuous nursing relationship. After receiving heavy doses if antibiotics post-delivery we developed azole-resistant thrush and painfully battled it for the entire 7 months I nursed her. It's frustrating when multiple doctors admit they can't help you. I'm hoping that with weaning I will finally heal. When I worked for 2 months after Emma was born, I pumped three times a day at work and washed countless bottles and pump parts every night. It has been a very long journey that has ended sooner than I hoped but has been worth everything we've battled. I not only saved us a ton of money (formula is so expensive!) but hopefully gave Emma some good immune protection as well. I am so grateful that God gave me the endurance to make it as long as we did.

Emma Update...

Thank you so much for your prayers for Emma as we went to her appointment yesterday! She was in a good mood for the visit and the doctor was able to observe some of what she is struggling with. (Don't you just hate it when you go to the doctor and your child appears fine?) Praise God the doctor does not feel that her delay is due to anything neurological! Phew! We are going to have an evaluation with a physical therapist in the next few weeks that will hopefully shed some light on how we can help her.

Another Funny Conversation

Today, I had another great conversation with a young woman who was interested in starting a line of service with Verizon. I must say, this conversation was a show-stopper. Read on:

Me: What's your work telephone number?

Customer: 502.___.____

Me: And where do you work?

Customer (quietly): Oh, right now I work at Deja Vu.
(Attn Reader: Just FYI, Deja Vu is a local -- shall we say -- Club of Ill Repute.)

Me: Oh... umm... well, I guess you're probably not eligible for a, uh, corporate discount on your monthly bill then...