"life will never be the same..."

Last week Jules and I broke the big news that we are having our first child, and the outpouring of congratulations has been overwhelming. From family and friends, to people at our church, to high school and college friends I haven’t seen in years - everyone has been so happy for us.

After the congratulations, of course, comes the sage words of wisdom from people that have gone before us - people who have braved the world of parenthood and lived to tell about it... and while everyone has been helpful, and I really do appreciate the advice... most of it boils down to one thing: “Your life will NEVER be the same…” (insert deep ominous music here). People then usually add something like, “Oh but it’s great!” That got me thinking about just what that means “your life will never be the same…” The same from what?

Before I got married I had never lived with a girl before, and anyone who is married will tell you your life is never the same after that. Jules and I bought our first home a little over three years ago and, at least from a stress vantage point, that is very different than living in a rented apartment with a maintenance staff on-call - again our lives were never the same. When I went from high school to college I had never lived away from home, had to buy my own food, pay my own electric and phone bills, and basically been responsible for myself, and my life has never been the same… And all those things happened just in the last 10 years.

Now, I know what you parents are thinking, “Oh Zac, but you don’t know… this is way different.” I have no doubt that it is... I mean God has allowed Julie and I to partner with him in creating a human life... I know this is major. But the question I have is - should that really surprise us? I mean, God is a God of change and adjustments. Now, God himself does not change, but he has set up the world so that it is in a state of flux constantly.

The seasons - spring, summer, fall, winter - are all radically different (unless of course you live in Florida where it never drops below 50). The same human being at age 8 looks and acts vastly different than they do at 80, though it is the same person. Mountains rise and fall because of the movement of the Earth itself. God is a God who has ordered life so that we are accustomed to change. All of it, though, has its proper place and time.

The Byrds recorded that famous song Turn, Turn, Turn based on Ecclesiastes 3 which says,

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.

God has designed everything to have its place, he has designed everything to be in a state of change for a season. But the great news is that God prepares us, and in the fullness of time he makes us ready for those moments when "life will never be the same."

nature shows... and the start to a good day...

One of the things that I often wonder about is, just exactly what makes a good day a good day? I mean, when I think about the course of my 29 years I have had over 10,650 days... what made the good ones good, and the bad ones bad? Is it how things start? Is it how the day ends? Does it matter who you are with? Does it matter what you do? Does it matter if you eat, exercise, sleep enough? Is there a formula that can separate the good days from the bad ones?

Well, I don't really think there is a formula, but there is a key... at least in my experience that helps keep bad days from becoming bad days... perspective.

Of all the things that I find relaxing there is one thing that really helps me start the day in a relaxed frame of mind: nature shows. There is one that comes on the Discovery HD Theater that I particularly love called, "Sunrise Earth." Now, for those of you that find nature shows boring, this one is a sure-fire tranquilizer dart, because the entire show consists of scenes and sounds of sunrises from a given location. No music. No commentary. Nothing but nature. I love this show when I am getting ready in the morning because it reminds of the beauty and grace of the natural world... the world God created. It helps me have some perspective about what is going on around me.

God knows we have a tendency to forget the greatness of who He is and what he has done... Certainly Job had had a series of extremely bad days, but when Job questions God about all that he had gone through what does God remind him of? That he is God...

1 Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind:

2 “Who is this that questions my wisdom
with such ignorant words?
3 Brace yourself like a man,
because I have some questions for you,
and you must answer them.

4 “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?
Tell me, if you know so much.
5 Who determined its dimensions
and stretched out the surveying line?
6 What supports its foundations,
and who laid its cornerstone
7 as the morning stars sang together
and all the angels[a] shouted for joy?

8 “Who kept the sea inside its boundaries
as it burst from the womb,
9 and as I clothed it with clouds
and wrapped it in thick darkness?
10 For I locked it behind barred gates,
limiting its shores.
11 I said, ‘This far and no farther will you come.
Here your proud waves must stop!’

12 “Have you ever commanded the morning to appear
and caused the dawn to rise in the east?
13 Have you made daylight spread to the ends of the earth,
to bring an end to the night’s wickedness?
14 As the light approaches,
the earth takes shape like clay pressed beneath a seal;
it is robed in brilliant colors.[b]
15 The light disturbs the wicked
and stops the arm that is raised in violence.

16 “Have you explored the springs from which the seas come?
Have you explored their depths?
17 Do you know where the gates of death are located?
Have you seen the gates of utter gloom?
18 Do you realize the extent of the earth?
Tell me about it if you know!

19 “Where does light come from,
and where does darkness go?
20 Can you take each to its home?
Do you know how to get there?
21 But of course you know all this!
For you were born before it was all created,
and you are so very experienced!

22 “Have you visited the storehouses of the snow
or seen the storehouses of hail?
23 (I have reserved them as weapons for the time of trouble,
for the day of battle and war.)
24 Where is the path to the source of light?
Where is the home of the east wind?

25 “Who created a channel for the torrents of rain?
Who laid out the path for the lightning?
26 Who makes the rain fall on barren land,
in a desert where no one lives?
27 Who sends rain to satisfy the parched ground
and make the tender grass spring up?

28 “Does the rain have a father?
Who gives birth to the dew?
29 Who is the mother of the ice?
Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens?
30 For the water turns to ice as hard as rock,
and the surface of the water freezes.

31 “Can you direct the movement of the stars—
binding the cluster of the Pleiades
or loosening the cords of Orion?
32 Can you direct the sequence of the seasons
or guide the Bear with her cubs across the heavens?
33 Do you know the laws of the universe?
Can you use them to regulate the earth?

34 “Can you shout to the clouds
and make it rain?
35 Can you make lightning appear
and cause it to strike as you direct?
36 Who gives intuition to the heart
and instinct to the mind?
37 Who is wise enough to count all the clouds?
Who can tilt the water jars of heaven
38 when the parched ground is dry
and the soil has hardened into clods?

39 “Can you stalk prey for a lioness
and satisfy the young lions’ appetites
40 as they lie in their dens
or crouch in the thicket?
41 Who provides food for the ravens
when their young cry out to God
and wander about in hunger? Job 38

Here's the thing, I don't always get to have mornings where I start my day like that - remembering the creativity of God. I mean, there are times I have to rush, there are times I don't eat breakfast, there are times I forget things going out the door, there are times where the most important thing to me as I head out the door is the thing I am trying to get to. That's the opposite of having perspective. I, too question God's goodness, his wisdom, his justice... the questions aren't the problem unless I forget the answer he gives himself in Job 38.

Good days or bad, God is God and my only control in life is what I do with the day he has given me and how I approach him in the face of circumstances.