Closest Moments

I am a member of the 4th day movement aka cursillo community. Part of what we do is have weekly meetings with other 4th day members and we discuss our faith and actions in three areas Piety, Study and Action. Piety - what have you done to be closer to God, and what was your closest moment. Study - what spiritual aids have you used this week and Action - what apostolic opportunities have you had, what did you and what is your plan for the following week? We are an accountability group for each other and our continual walk in faith.

I bring this up because I wanted to put a little context around what a "closest moment" means. Today, my lovely bride had taken the kids to a play date at one of those jumpy houses, basically a large room filled with many very large inflatable items on which the kids can jump and play. While there the 5 year old was holding the 18 month old while they slid down one of the large slides and Jen was videotaping the memory, (probably to blog about later) while doing this she managed to step off the landing pad in such a way that her ankle twisted and it sounded like she "stepped on a bag of potato chips"

She calls me and I was, thank God, in the area, I came and picked them all up, took her to the emergency room, my old insurance lapsed, of course, as of my ending my employment on Friday. We had the forethought to get new insurance before the old lapsed you can read about that here. At any rate, thank God again.

Okay so the closest moment... I don't know about the 5 year olds you are in contact with, but mine was a shining example of the Love of Christ today. the entire time on the way to the hospital, at the hospital, on the way home, he was constantly reassuring his mother it was going to be okay, does it hurt, can I get you anything, I love you, etc. at one point she sat in a different place and put her foot on the chair he was sitting on, rather than saying something like "eww gross" he said "I like this better I can touch your foot" as he ever so gently rubbed her foot, being careful not to touch the swollen ankle.

Thank God for such a shining example of unconditional love, I was both proud and yet in awe of the Christlike example my 5 year old showed me today. it truly was a living example of what Jesus meant in Matthew 18:1-4 "At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ He called a child, whom he put among them, and said, ‘Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."

Praise God!

BTW Jen is okay it is a very bad sprain, and she is adjusting to life with crutches and ice packs for a while.

Transitions

It seems I am in the midst of two or more transitions. The first is transitioning from prayerfully considering going on the mission to Honduras again this year to having committed to go. I don't know that I didn't plan to go at any time, but I feel god has confirmed I need to attend. The second transition is from my current employer to the unknown. The end of January will bring with it the end of my employment.

Both are interesting and scary transitions, both in many ways bring to mind finances, trust in God, the future and other things. Both require my putting my trust in God to show me the way.

I am currently praying for the faith of David, Nathan told him that God said his designs for the temple were great, however the temple would not be built in his lifetime, rather that his son Solomon would build the temple. David response was not, "wait a minute God, here is MY plan!" rather his response was to praise and worship God. I don't know where the money or the energy for that mater, for the Mission trip will come from and I don't know where my next job is coming from, I do know that God has a plan, which in all likelihood is not the same as mine :-), and I praise Him for that, and walk with Him as I attempt to live into that plan.

31 for 21 challenge

October is Down Syndrome Awareness Month. There is a challenge called 31 for 21. The rules are simple, there are no rules. The goal is to post every day for the month of October preferably about down syndrome, aka Trisonimy 21 or T-21. thus the name 31 (days in October) for 21 (T-21 or down syndrome).

The real goal is to raise awareness and remove stigma and/or dogma about down sysndrome.

I am the father of three wonderful kids. 2 boys 8 and 4.5 and a 15 month old girl. My daughter, Sydney, has down syndrome. My wife and I, mostly my wife, post about how the day in and day out details of raising a special needs child in a life of faith and how we rely on God. (http://downrightfaith.com/weblog).

We started that site, when Sydney was born becasue she was in the NICU for the first 2 weeks of her life, and we needed a way to communicate to the masses that everything was okay. At first we just posted pictures and an occasional update. As time moved on we turned it into a real blog. The idea was we, both my wife and I, would post. My wife was a bit more diligent about it than I was, and now almost a year and half later I feel like I am invading her space when I post, though I don't think she sees it that way. So I thougth I would strike out on my own...

1 chose the verse 1st Samuel 16:7 as the title for the blog because I think it speaks to how God sees all of us, and it reminds us how we should see people. The world sees the outward appearance, but God sees the heart. Later Jesus tells us (Matthew 22:37-39) that the greatest commandments is to love the Lord our God with all our heart and all our mind, and the second is like it, to love our neighbors like ourselves. I believe this is what we are called to do with all people, regardless of outward apperance, we are called to love them will all our heart.

so that is my goal for October and beyond amist my ramblings and posts to bring to light the beauty that can be seen when we look at each other with the love of God.