Stories of Grace

I was surfing here and there today and came across this story. It just struck me how powerfully prayer is working to sustain this family through tough times. We all have roles to play in each others’ lives. Sometimes it’s the little things we do — mowing someone’s grass, offering an encouraging word — that makes all the difference. Grace in action.

I know, I pretty much stole the title from Peter King’s Monday Morning Quarterback. I think he’ll forgive me. After years of writing about football, he’s an expert on that topic. I think after eight weeks of fatherhood, I’m an expert on mine, so here’s 10 things I think I think about the subject. They’re not groundbreaking, but they’re true.

1. Infants cry. A lot. They cry in the morning. They cry in the evening. I’m not sure why they do it, but sometimes I wish I could find the switch that would make Grace stop.

2. Television shows are put on at 2 a.m. for a reason. No one would want to watch them at any other time. You won’t want to watch them either, but you will.

3. You’ll only get enough sleep to survive. And that’s less than you might think. Probably less than five hours a night. At least you’ve got that 2 a.m. t.v.

4. An evening out ends at 8:45 p.m. You get 4 hours of sleep in the next two days as punishment for your wild and crazy ways.

5. The day your child is born is the second happiest day of your life. It falls right behind the day she is potty-trained. I don’t know this for sure, but I have a pretty strong hunch.

6. No matter how cool you were, the moment you change your first diaper you lose any chance of anyone looking up to you.

7. Babies use cuteness as a weapon. You can try to fight it, but you’ll lose. Nothing is more embarrassing than a 3-week- old breaking your will. Except maybe changing her diaper.

8. You’re child is the cutest in the world. This may not actually be possible (Grace is actually the cutest baby in the world), but you’ll think it’s true.

9. Don’t attempt a Ten Things I Think I Think list after eight weeks of fatherhood. You haven’t figured that much out yet. I don’t care how smart you are.

10. It’s all worth it. There’s are struggles and difficulties, but seeing her smile at you will make every tough moment fade from your memory.

My mother always wanted our family to feed the homeless on Thanksgiving. She thought it would be good for us to give back, I guess. We never did it, but it seems like a good idea. I was reminded of this when I heard about a large effort to feed people on the other side of El Paso. 

It made me start thinking about holiday traditions. With my expanded family, I should probably start some sort of holiday traditions. Something we do every year. This seems pretty easy for Christmas, but my family doesn’t have much in the way of traditions for Thanksgiving. We get together, eat and fall asleep watching football. I’m not sure that qualifies as something that is passed on from generation to generation. It’s just what happens when you get full of turkey and the football game grows tiresome.

Maybe I should revisit the idea of feeding the needy for Thanksgiving. I honestly don’t know where I’d start in my community. Or maybe there’s other options. If you have any traditions you’d like to share — whether it be for Thanksgiving or Christmas, I’d love to hear them. If I try them, I’ll let you know.

Today is the anniversary of the Kennedy assassination here in Dallas. Every year it creates discussion around here. The conspiracy theorists come out of the woodwork and get air time on one station or another. This morning on the way to work, I was listening to two sports radio djs discuss what they believed happened that day. Ultimately, they both confessed they believe Oswald did it, or at least was the major culprit behind the plot.

But in the process of the discussion, one of them said something that I think is applicable to the spiritual life. He said the evidence creates a clear path to Oswald as the killer. All conspiracy theorists try to do is cast shadows of doubt upon that path. When one conspiracy is shot down, another shadow is cast. The conspiracy never dies, it just changes shape and continues to mislead people.

I don’t know a lot about the Kennedy assassination, but the statement made me flash back to C.S. Lewis’ Screwtape Letters. Screwtape tells his nephew Wormwood that he doesn’t have to disprove the truth of Christianity, he simply has to distract Christians slightly. He says Wormwood can let Christians go to church. He should just try to distract them during the service. Have them look at a spot on the ceiling. Let them focus on a religious icon. Simply cast a shadow on the clear path. When one shadow is lifted, lay another down.

It’s a simple, but profound truth. The Truth doesn’t need to be discredited. People just need to be distracted from it.

Grace, people will cast shadows of doubt upon what you clearly see to be true in your life. They will try to divert your attention from what you know to something that isn’t. I pray that you hold to what you know to be true. I pray that I can help dissolve those shadows. I pray you remove those shadows for others.

This afternoon I noticed a teaser for this article in the Morning News. It’s easy to forget our health is something to be thankful for, but obviously it is.

When I stop to think to think about the physical issues my friends are going through, my cough and Grace’s cold suddenly don’t seem so menacing.

The holiday season helps put things in perspective.