What the Heck does “New Money” Mean?  Its cool to lie to your kid, or the pay is good?

Something really needs to be done.

check out International Justice Mission - a great organization that is working to rescue women and end this senseless horror.

The Great Depression has a name, does this deserve a name?  If it does deserve a name what should that name be?

One of the guests spoke up and said that no name would really mean anything for at least a couple of generations.  What we call it is not nearly as meaningful or as accurate as what our grandchildren call it.  The example of World War I was given.  The Wilson administration actually tried to give it the name “the war to end all wars.”  It was only a few years before that became a joke.

So what will our grandchildren call this period that we are living through right now? I was giving that some thought and the one thing that occurred to me was (perhaps as hopeful as Wilson’s name for WWI) The Great Reorganization.

Yes, we are clearly in an economic downturn.  As I write this, the news tells me that 70,000 American’s lost their jobs today.  That can’t be good.  It is certainly not good for those families, and its not good for our economy.   But all hard times are actually periods of growth.

A great religious leader once said that we should consider it to be a good thing when we face trials because this develops our perseverance and makes us better.  (yes that is a paraphrase, but you get the point).   Another saying goes, “necessity is the mother of invention.”    What I am trying to say is that some of the most outstanding accomplishments of mankind come at times of adversity.

Not only are we faced with a bad economy, but we have developed a lifestyle that destroys natural resources and pollutes our air.  Scientists tell us that we cannot continue at this pace for much longer without encountering devastating consequences.

We have a trial, but we also have a tremendous opportunity.  I really think that our grandchildren (if our civilization makes it that far) will look back on this period, not as a “depression” but as a reorganization.  Faced with our challenges we have an incredible opportunity to reorganize our economic, political, and cultural civilization.  This is an incredibly exciting time to be alive!

The real question for us is, where will the Church be in this historical moment? Will we rise to the challenge and lead in reorganizing this civilization?  Or will we let others lead the way while we follow in hopes of finding solice and comfort?

Lyra asked me this morning if I would mind taking Shea out someplace so she could have a little break and he could get out of the house.  With this cold, the child has been cooped up for several days.  At first I thought about all the email and things I had been putting off for so long.  Then I remembered some things.

a. Shea and Gage keep each other entertained

b. McDonalds has a playground and wifi

c. Lyra needs a break

d. Daddy needs to work

It was like a mathematical equation just all being put together beautifully.

So having said all that, I have been here for the last two hours working while the boys entertain themselves (and one another) in the play ground.

The occasional dirty look from the rich grandmothers is a little annoying, but it’s worth it.

Why the dirty looks?

Shea is playing with their kids and he is coughing and sniffing.  I sure hope he’s not contagious.

but there is a lingering longing in my soul. What is it? I haven’t done any real work in several days. I have been serving as hospitality director for my dad and sister. Well, to be honest i am really only the driver - Lyra is the director. She does so much better at finding fun things in town to do.

we took Tammy and dad to the science center, we ate out one night. We thought we would try a new place downtown. we won’t be going there again. it was ok, but frankly for the prices i felt like it could have been quite a bit better. the lobster was inedible and the atmosphere, well let’s just say 80’s art deco went out a few years back.

we hung out and visited for a bit. they brought presents for the boys, the volume levels and testosterone went up to a fever pitch as it can around here sometimes. but to the point - i didn’t get any real work done. yes i worked in my head as i often do at off moments. I mentally composed a couple blog posts that need to be typed out, I considered how to best promote an important launch in my industry happening soon (more on that soon at thebloggersdesktop), but i never really got anything done.

is this a longing to work since i have been off for a few days?

I don’t think so.

tonight after all the presents were stacked in the corner waiting for a cabinet or a drawer to live in for the next few months, we talked with the boys about what Christmas really is about.

I reminded them of the story of our faith. We turned off all the lights when i told them that Adam and Eve had eaten the fruit. I had a flashlight which i turned on when i told them how God had provided for them in their need and offered hope for the future. The lights got brighter as Abraham and then David were offered promises of a coming king and redeemer.

Of course there were problems even after these promises. The people were living under the rule of a foreign empire. They had been stripped of their national sovereignty, they had to wonder if all that God had promised them really meant anything at all.

Then, late one night, in a field outside the town of Bethlehem, some angels came to deliver another promise. A king had been born. A king who would bring peace. the lights brighter all of a sudden.

What could these poor shepherds have thought when they heard this news? what must it have been like to live in a generation when everything you had ever been taught was that you were a special people, destined for greatness, chosen by the creator of the earth to bring restoration, but somehow you are eeking out an existence under a foreign government, unable to do what you know you are called to. then all of a sudden, news of a king. No more would Cesar be Lord, they were told. Now instead, Christ was Lord. Who was this baby?

The baby would grow up to become a man who brought good into what was bad, he restored what was broken from the curse and he promised that he would finish the job one day.

I think the longing in my soul tonight is the hope that he would just finish the job. He isn’t done yet. There is still brokenness, though it is getting better. there is still fighting and death and disease and loneliness and heartache. But we have a greater hope even than our sheep herding ancestors on that ancient hill outside that village on the first Christmas night. We don’t wait for a baby to be born, we are waiting for the return of a king!

When I told the boys that this king would come back soon, we turned on the brightest ceiling lights. I wanted them to see that even though Jesus has come, and even though it is brighter that it used to be, it will be so much brighter still.

Even the corners of this world where darkness still reigns, light will shine and all pain will end. He will wipe away every tear. Not just the small tears we cry over a broken toy, but the big tears we cry over genocide and famine. All this evil will end and our king will make things the way they are supposed to be.

I think the longing i feel this Christmas is a longing that he will come and establish his reign forever.

There are certain things about the whole thing that are nice.  I don’t get to take it easy and lay around the house with the family much in the first place.  Today I am chilling on the couch (just like MY dad used to do when we decorated the tree) while the kids decorate.  Right now they are putting together a train set around the tree that my good friend, Alex, gave them years ago.  There is some good stuff in these sorts of memories.

And did I tell you that my pregnant wife is looking particularly beautiful today?  she is…

You might ask why I am thinking about Pluto on this snowy Monday morning in St Louis.  Well let me try to explain.  You should know first of all, that I am not a morning person.  I have tried.  All my life I have tried to become a morning person, but it doesn’t work.  I prefer to sleep and have no human interaction for as late as possible in the day.  But my preferences are insignificant.  You know why?  Because I have kids.  I learned quickly that if you have kids, what you want doesn’t matter.  I was reminded of the reality this morning at 7:00 when my son woke me from my wonderful stage four REM sleep to tell me that breakfast was ready.

Just a word of introduction to this point might be helpful.  A couple of days ago, we were sitting on the couch flipping the channels and we stopped at the food network.  Do you know the food network?  Its a cable network all about cooking and making food look as nice as possible.  It is porn for food.  They do all this stuff that looks so good, but in the real world you can’t do it yourself and even if you did it might hurt you.  But like all porn, it makes some people think and believe that they can live like actors on TV.  After five minutes exposure to a chef slicing an Orange, Gage thinks he is a Gourmet Chef.

So at 7am when I am awoken and told to come to breakfast, I am presented with four french toast sticks (from the freezer to the microwave) on a bed of Syrup, garnished by 8 mini pancakes (again from the freezer).  I gotta tell you it was good for a freezer breakfast, and he did a great job on the presentation (except my fork laying sideways across the plate soaking in syrup), but 7am just isn’t the time for me to eat alot, nor especially to be terribly enthusiastic about anything at all.

I did eat it all though, and I tried my best to be supportive and encouraging, though at times I found myself having to pause to let the blood come back to my brain.

As a part of his gourmet meal, Gage also brought out his old planet place mat.  It is one of those vinyl rectangle things kids eat on.  This one has the planets on it.  He looked at it at one point and exclaimed that a trillion of our moons would fit into Jupiter.  Of course most of the reason he said that was because there was a lull in the conversation.  If you know Gage, a lull is an opportunity for speech.  I look at the place mat with him and noticed that at the furthest point in the solar system was a planet called Neptune, and it reminded me of something that has been lost from my own childhood.  I miss Pluto.