Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Teaching Her To Tackle

There are certain things in life every guy looks forward to: Getting married, the World Series, a good meal, and teaching his son to play catch. As many of you may know we are having a girl! Laura and I are extremely excited about having a girl but if I am honest I had to deal with the realization that I will not be playing tackle football, at least not yet. I have jokingly been saying that I suppose I will have to learn ballet'...I already know first position!

Though I joke about it I have started to seriously think and pray about how much of a blessing having a girl is for me. I can imagine how confident and dare I say arrogant I would been had the sex of our child been a boy. I mean honestly, I KNOW guys, I UNDERSTAND guys, I have EXPERIENCE being a guy, I would be a natural father... or would I? When being honest with myself I know I have a significant tendency to let my confidence grow in direct proportion to my comfort. As a newly wed and first time father I truly have nothing to be confident about except that all things work for the good of those who love God.

Perhaps God, being gracious and merciful, has prevented a Zach Hanlon fathering disaster. How arrogant would I have been about raising a son? How much more would I have depended upon my own strength and wisdom? How much less would I have entrusted my son's life to Christ? A daughter is just the most recent of many undeserved blessings in our life.

Friday, October 19, 2007

When Words Are Vain

Today I was reading an article by John Piper that was dedicated to the topic of how a father's love influences a child; the example he uses throughout is the relationship John G. Patton had with his father. In short, the effect of a father's love, especially on a son, is immeasurable.

John Patton wrote in his autobiography:
How much my father's prayers at this time impressed me, I can never explain, nor can any stranger ever understand. When, on his knees and all of us gathered around him in Family Worship, he poured out his whole soul with tears for the conversion of the Heathen world to the service of Jesus, and for every personal and domestic need, we all felt as if in the presence of the living savior, and learned to know and to love Him as our Divine friend.

When reading this how can my first thought not be about the weight of fatherhood? My son or daughter will know and understand the world through his or her interaction with me and the things I teach them,! Never has desiring to honor God and live a life I would expect of my children been so real.

The good news here is that my child hasn't been effected yet. The good news is that I have this opportunity. The good news is that I get to be a father. We are now about 15 weeks into the pregnancy and I have never been more excited because I will have the opportunity to shape a child's life like only a father can.

Paton later wrote in his autobiography about when he finally left home to go to Divinity school in Glasgow. It was a 40 mile walk to the train station and his father walked the first 6 with him. Paton wrote about that experience:
My dear father walked with me the first six miles of the way. His counsel and tears and heavenly conversation on the parting journey are are fresh in my mind as if it had been yesterday... For the last half mile or so we walked in almost unbroken silence - his lips kept moving in silent prayers for me; and his tears fell fast when our eyes met each other in looks for which all speech was vain!

Paton knew what his father was doing and why. That day was unforgettable to him because he was parting from the biggest influence of his life. Words we vain because they failed to communicate the understanding each had with the other, they failed to communicate the depth of the love they had. Thats what fatherhood is about, loving and influencing your child for the true honor and glory of God. How awesome.







Sunday, October 14, 2007

Five Fingers



I went to my second doctors appointment this week and got another ultrasound! Check out the five little fingers in front of our baby's face, hopefully there will be the same amount of toes! During the ultrasound I was able to not only hear the little heartbeat but also watch my baby arch its back and stretch its tiny arms and legs, which is one of the most exciting things about going to the doctor!

So this is what's happening this week (week 13) in my belly!
"Your belly may soon be noticeably bigger, but your baby is still tiny. He's about 3 inches long — roughly the size of a jumbo shrimp — and weighs about an ounce. His tiny, unique fingerprints are already in place. His kidneys and urinary tract are functional, and he's starting to excrete the amniotic fluid he's been swallowing. As you start your second trimester, most of your baby's critical development will be completed." (babycenter.com)

It's very exciting to see how the baby is growing, and my belly too. I still am not showing very much, and my clothes still fit but are getting very tight! I can't wait until I get to feel the baby kick, which will hopefully be very soon. Our next appointment is on November 13, which we will hopefully find out if our baby is a boy or girl! Continue to pray for us as we are going through stressful situations at work, learning a lot about each other as a married couple, and as we prepare for this new life that will be joining us very soon!

Sunday, October 7, 2007

Eugenics, Economics, and My Kid?

Perhaps this isn't a post a lot of you will read but it is interesting if you do...if you don't want to read it all you can just skip to the summary at the bottom.

Just a few weeks ago I was driving while listening to NPR and this guy was speaking with a young lady who had been subjected to a eugenics committee not too long ago (late 50's early 60's). This came as a shock to me for a lot of reasons. First, I didn't know people, both men and women, were sterilized because they were determined to be "feeble minded" by a panel from the dept. of health. Second, the interview to determine if someone was "feeble minded" lasted only about 30 minutes. The Winston -Salem journal published a series on the history of sterilization and the NC eugenics program called "Against There Will" on journalnow.com.

I realize that this may seem fairly otiose but this issue came up again this week while I was reading a magazine called First Things. In First Things there was an opinion piece written by Philip Jenkins in response to a book Gregory Clark wrote.

When attempting to explain the explosion of "self-sustaining economic growth" in England around 1800, Clark suggests that biology or eugenics more specifically was responsible for helping move past this theoretical event called the Malthusian trap. -- The Malthusian trap says that population density will always return to a subsistence-level because explosive population growth will strip agricultural development.

His theory is boiled down to this: Over the previous thousand years richer people in England had tended to have far more children than the poor because they could afford to do so, therefore, their genes dominated the population. This "elite stock" proliferated and the result was that this group of people, around 1800, developed cultural patterns that favored enterprise, thrift, and the peaceful resolution of conflict. Essentially, because the rich populated the land they were inherently smarter and had a better chance of succeeding.

Is this pattern crazy to any one else? The idea that we have the ability control the advancement of society by either not allowing more "feeble minded" people to procreate or by attempting to proliferate more "elite" genes is absurd. These two events, the radio and the article, are not the first times I have even seen this theory. A recent economic thriller, Freakonimics, implies this very same theory in the last chapter entitled "The socioeconomic patterns of naming children". Here the authors outline the socioeconomic and cultural implications of naming children. Apparently if I name my daughter Jasmine she is less likely to go to college than if I name her Jennifer!?

This is absolutely crazy! Thomas Paine made a pithy statement full of sarcasm when he wrote Common Sense. He said "male and female are the distinctions of nature, good and bad the distinctions of Heaven; but how a race of men came into the world so exalted above the rest, and distinguished like some new species, is worth inquiring into, and whether they are the means of happiness or of misery to mankind." Sometimes it appears as though society as a whole is a lot like Oedipus and we're living on the edge of an argument about right-of-way. Thank God we haven't killed Laius, yet...

I suppose ultimately I have two points:

First - The eugenics committee stuff seems pretty terrible but I realized that every individual has performed some action they are ashamed of. Every person has at some point be rude or disrespectful. Everybody has failed to meet expectations at some point. In a world where absolute truth has been relegated to second class by the postmodernist movement we need something that unifies us so that we do not boast in our own ability at the expense of others]. What unites us and what should keep us humble is the fact that we have all failed at some point. In absolute terms we are no more successful or valuable than anyone else because the standard by which we will be judged is not our own but Gods. Romans 3:23 rings very true today when Paul writes that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Sin is not the failure to adhere the a list of commandments or laws, it is much more encompassing than that, it is any time we fall short of God's standard of perfection and holiness.

Second - I thank God for Galatians 3:28 - "there is neither Greek nor Jew, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ." This verse is important for 2 reasons. First, our failures are not seen by God when you have faith in Christ. This means there is freedom not to live your life in total rebellion against God but freedom to live FOR God with out feeling that He is disappointed in you or that you are not worthy of His love because you are not condemned by Him. Second, because there is neither Greek nor Jew, no one should be elevated or demoted below another because of who their parents are. I don't doubt the ability of the lower class to raise children, contribute to society, or change the world. You shouldn't either.

I wrote this post mostly because I have been thinking about the fact that my child could change the World. Who knows? He or she may take the Gospel to the ends of the earth or be the Secretary General of the UN...

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Week 11 - With Arms Wide Open

Our baby is officially a fetus, which means everything that he/she needs for life has formed! This has truly been a whirlwind of emotions for me, the mommy of our little child. When this unexpected event happened, which will changethe rest of my life, my first reaction was "what am I going to do, I don't want this!!" But then I prayed, realized I must trust the Lord with what has happened and remind myself that His plan is what's best, and what I want. I was driving to work yesterday morning (before the crack of dawn) and the song "With Arms Wide Open" came on. That song says exactly what thoughts I should be having about this baby, Creed definately knows what he's talking about:

"Well I just heard the news today
It seems my life is going to change
I closed my eyes, begin to pray
Then tears of joy stream down my face

With arms wide open
Under the sunlight
Welcome to this place
I'll show you everything
With arms wide open
With arms wide open

Well I don't know if I'm ready
To be the man I have to be
I'll take a breath, I'll take her by my side
We stand in awe, we've created life..."

I should be estatic about this baby. Just like Zach said in the previous blog, this baby is a blessing from God. As I have been reading all the "baby news" with the pictures and descriptions of my pregnancy week by week, I realized this baby is a miracle, I should "stand in awe"... Zach and I have created life! It also makes me wonder how could any mother think that there is no God as the watch this life form inside of them... what do they think, that a baby grows inside of you "just because"??

The Lord has amazing plans for me, and this baby is one of them! What a joy this child will bring me, and hopefully the world! I get to be a young, energetic, healthy mom and although I might not have much materially, I can share so much joy and happiness and wealth with my baby through Christ! I am so blessed that the Lord has blessed both me and Zach with a child!

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

A Quiver of Arrows

Today it is our (me & Laura) distinct pleasure to announce that we will be having a child. This is a tremendous announcement and we are pleased that we can share it with all of you. Over the past 10 weeks we have gone through and full mélange of emotions but we are confident in the Lords plan and satisfied in His lasting word. I have taken particular comfort in Psalm 127:3-5

3 Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD,
the fruit of the womb a reward.
4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior
are the children of one’s youth.
5 Blessed is the man
who fills his quiver with them!
He shall not be put to shame
when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.

Our initial thoughts consisted of shock and confusion because this was a particular gift we were not actively pursuing but those thoughts were quickly replaced by excitement and joy. As many of you know Laura is in her first year of teaching, this in its self can bring excessive amounts of stress and anxiety but because of this discovery she will not even be able to finish the school year. This isn't completely bad though if you consider some of the days she has had and some of the students she has encountered. I have worried about my ability to provide both financially and emotionally but I assure you that all of those concerns we mitigated by the sound of my sons/daughters heart beat.














Laura and I look forward to raising our child and building a home together. We are very excited about striving together to provide and raise our child in the ways of the Lord as well as experiencing the adventures and the struggles we know will be associated with it. We will continue to update this blog with progress and developments as we get them. We also thank you all for your excitement and hope you will continue with us in prayer.