Q Moments

These are some of my favorite moments with my son the past few weeks.

It's not my fault if he wants to play football when he gets older.

"But dad,  I don't need a rag."  BTW, this had nothing to do with football.

Quinn loves joining me for kids' games.

That night he did not want to leave the field.

This is at our favorite hiking spot - Friedrich Wilderness Park.

Baby Mae

Last Wednesday (9/21) Tammie and I went to the midwife to check her progress.  The midwife said Tammie had at least 3 or 4 more days before Mae would be ready.  About 12 hours later we were back at the San Antonio Birth Center ready to go to work.  While labor kicked in around 2pm, we did not go back until 10:30pm.  Since we went the natural route the only thing we could do to sooth the pains was to get into the large tub.  Once Tammie got in, there was not getting out.  Mae was born at 1:33am on 9/22.  All went very well.  We got home by 8:30am...just in time to get Quinn to school.  

Words cannot describe how excited the Q man is. 

He is a great big brother.

Here is a shot from our room at the Birthing Center.

Here is where Mae was born.

Just minutes after entering the world.

By the way, if you are looking for a place to give birth and you live in the San Anotnio area, you have got to look into the San Antonio Birth Center.  Tammie's midwife was Alisa Voss.  She runs the birth center.  The midwives are amazing and the facilities are top notch.  Our experience going natural was a billion times better than last time.  That's right, a billion times.

Home Brew

About a year ago I tried to roast my own coffee beans.  I failed miserably.  Yesterday I tried my hand at brewing beer.  I have two kits: one that is labor intensive because it uses raw materials and another that is made from some sketchy concentrate (Mr. Beer).  They are both Hefeweizens. I will do a taste test.  I will say, the beer that took me 4 hours to prepare was much more fulfilling than the Mr. Beer kit.  The taste test will happen in 4 weeks when the beer is finished.  Meanwhile, feel free to send me empty beer bottles that do not utilize twist off caps.

a bag of wheat and a gallon jug

heat the water to 170

cook the wheat at 150 for an hour

strain the wheat and pour bowling water over it

bowl the "wort" for an hour, add hops and yeast, and let it sit for a few weeks

Preaching 2 Samuel 23:1-7

Back in August I was given and opportunity to preach at my church. The text was 2 Samuel 23:1-7. I only get to preach about once a year. There are four pastors that are in line a head of me on the preaching rotation because of my position as a director. This particular service was the 8:30 a.m. traditional service. Later I preached the contemporary service.

Here is a picture of the sanctuary. I preached from the elevated pulpit located on the right side of the photo. I'm not going to lie, every time I get up there I feel a bit like Jonathan Edwards.

An Intruder

I do not know about women, but every man has played this scenario through a million times in his head. Every new location creates the possibility of at least a dozen new scenarios. I am not talking about hitting a grand-slam in the bottom of the 9th of the World Series or making an unlikely tackle to save the Super Bowl. I am talking about something a bit more serious. What would I do if somebody tried to break into my house?

Tonight I kind of got my chance. For once, my dog proved to be worth something when he started barking around 12:30 a.m. As usual, I ignored the barks and responded like Napolian Dynamite - "Shut up Frodo! Gosh." When I got up to get water I noticed some voices outside of my bedroom window...then I saw flash lights.

IT'S GO TIME!

I did not really think. I ran to the window, banged as loud as I could, and yelled. The men were about six inches from where my wife and I were sleeping. We were separated by single plane glass from the 1920's. They started running towards the backyard. I ran to my son's room who has windows facing the backyard and repeated my banging, yelling combo. Then I noticed something...they were cops...and there were at least 4 of them.

I ran to the backdoor and cracked it open - which I now realize was dumb. The cop yelled, "Shut up guy!" He was talking to me. In that very moment I thought, "Well, we are not going to be any safer than we are in this moment." So I started enjoying the show. Tammie urged me to call the police office to see what was going on. Apparently "four perpetrators were on the loose". They happened to head to my backyard.

I walked around in the darkness and quietness of my house from window to window. At one point I saw a cop run by with a police dog. The dog found a dude under our van. I cheered him on in my head. The cops left my house around 1:15 but returned from time to time during the night. The helicopters stopped flying around 1:45.

In reflecting upon my response I realized that my football instincts are still intact. My first reaction was to run as closely to the quarterback as possible to disrupt the play. And it worked. I guess it is time to fix my porch light that has been busted for a year or two.

UPDATE: I was about to click "PUBLISH POST" when I saw another cop car pull up to my house. I watched the guy search my yard with his flashlight. He noticed me and came to the front door. He apologized for the commotion. He told me they were chasing four taggers. You heard me correctly...TAGGERS! I nearly took out somebody who turned out to be a cop simply because four teenagers thought it would be cool to spray paint somebody's house. If San Antonio police send in the dogs and helicopters for graffiti artists I'd wonder how they respond to dangerous crimes. The dress rehearsal is over so I can put away my knife. I'm going back to bed.

Relinquishing Power

I just finished reading White Privilege by Paula Rothenberg for my American Church History class. My prof asked us to pick something that stood out to us and write a brief essay on it. This is what I came up with.

On page 123 Peggy McIntosh writes, "[Men] may say that they will work to improve women's status, in the society, the university, or the curriculum, but they can't or won't support the idea of lessening men's." I thought about two books that have been very influential in my understanding of the church: Body Politics and The Dangerous Act of Worship. This quote and these books talk about the power struggle in humanity. We know that in Christ there is no male or female, Greek or Jew, slave or free (Gal. 3:28). The Christian baptism should create a new social reality where power is not used to abuse, manipulate, control or force. In this reality, power is used to empower. And the only way those in power can allow for those who do not have power to be empowered is for those without power to have the ability to empower themselves. This only can come with creating space by having those in power relinquish power. Relinquishing power is the ultimate act of selflessness.

An Original Song

One night a few weeks ago I started strumming on the guitar right before it was time for my son to go to bed. He walked in the room, sat down, and started reading. It was a sweet evening. This song came out of my time sitting there with my son. I wrote it to be simple enough for a 3 year old to understand yet profound enough for him to keep learning from it as he grows up. I plan to record it officially in a few months. For now, you have to deal with a computer microphone and a video where my lips do not match the words.