Expanding my family.

Adoption. I have friends who have adopted children and I have thought to myself, “How cool.” I’ve read about the spiritual application of adoption. The fact that in essence we are all lost children who have the option of being adopted by a loving and caring God. Tonight it all came together for me and my “family”. We decided to catch Shaun Grovesin concert tonight. I guess I should say I saw my brother in concert tonight. He talked   about the fact that as Christians we are all brothers and sisters. He even made us act like it for a little while as we prayed for each other. My brother also hit me upside the head with some truth. Truth about who I am and who God is and why he sacrificed his son to an offensive and undeserving death. It’s the kind of truth that really as family we should be challenging each other with. I’ve gotten to know Shaun’s heart through his blog over the past few months and tonight it was all confirmed and I really, really got a lot out of it. And it wasn’t all just about me. You see our family decided to sponsor a child tonight as well. So yeah, we have another addition here at the Gerbrandt house. Her name is Gaymae. She is a beautiful little girl from Ghana. We haven’t officially met yet, but she is already impacting our lives. As Shaun was making his pitch for Compassion I asked my daughter (scratch that, my other daughter) if she would be willing to help make this happen (it costs $32 a month to sponsor a child through Compassion Internationl) and she excitedly shook her head. She heard the same thing I did tonight. We are saved and blessed so that we can save and bless others.

I’m so glad that my family is growing. There is so much need in this world I could really use the support!

How’s your family life?

PS I know some folks are offended by the Simpson’s and I understand that, but I just want to be honest here that sometimes as a family we (Christians) can be just as dysfunctional as everyone else.

A different miracle that really makes a miraculous difference.

Alright. I’m raising the ante. I’m raising the bar. I’m raising the stakes. Whatever you want to call it. Today I was challenged to think about being a miracle in someones life.I have always thought in terms of making a difference in someones life not a miracle. But I like this thought, what does it mean though? According to Ninjawords.com a difference is defined as:

(n) : the quality of being different; a characteristic of something that makes it different from something else

“you need to learn to be more tolerant of difference.”

(v) : to distinguish or differentiate

It defines miracle as:

(n) : a wonderful event occurring in the physical world attributed to supernatural powers; a quality that is wonderful, or surpasses the expectations of the physical world

So here is the important distinction that I am walking away with. When I want to make a difference it is something nice and beneficial and distinct. But being a miracle requires supernatural help (God) and it results in something beyond what is expected here on earth. So a life directed by God that in hindsight is lived beyond the “norm” of what we expect here on earth. These are all things that I would be happy to hear describe me at my funeral.

What else? What differentiates a miracle from just making a difference?

Palin

I’ve got some thoughts (serious ones) about Sarah Palin. My thoughts are particularly critical or supportive of her per se. I am more interested in the attention and energy that her nomination has received. Here are a couple of the more interesting points in my view:

1. A NY Times article subtly questions the ability of Palin to serve as Vice President and mom. Are you serious? Now without addressing that actual material of the article at hand I am quite astounded that this article is even printed to begin with. This is a classic example of issue reversal. What if Hillary Clinton was nominated as Vice President and she had a newborn baby with special needs? I seriously doubt that any major news organization would even dare to question the ability of her to be both a mom and a Vice President. Give the article credit as they seem to focus on the irony of social conservatives being so quick to run to Palin’s defense. The real irony lies in the fact that this is exactly the stereotype that the modern women’s movement has fought so hard to tear down. And now Democratic women are going to openly question Palin’s motherhood (womanhood) because she has chosen to run?

2. Socialy conservative Republicans have been vocal in their defense of Sarah Palin and her 17 year old daughter’s pregnancy. Here again is a classic case of issue reversal. Where Republican’s traditionally have been the party of family values (remember Dan Quayle’s fateful comments regarding the TV character Murphy Brown which would again highlight the irony of issue #1 above) they are now bending over backwards to use this issue as an example of how “normal” Palin and her family are and worthy of public support. So now teenage pregnancy is appearantly a new issue for the Republican party? 

Honestly, these are only a couple of my current thoughts about this. As I write them down and think about them more and research them I am further disheartened by the entire political process. Republicans are hypocrites when it comes to their beliefs. Democrats further the hypocrite cycle as they question and attack the Republicans on these issues. Does anyone really care that our government has grown so large and powerful? Does anyone really care that our tax codes need a serious overhaul? Is there anyone out there who REALLY is interested in solving problems like illegal immigration, energy costs, subprime mortgages? Each candidate TALKS good game, but show me the candidate, neigh the political party, who will ACT to bring change. THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DEMOCRAT AND REPUBLICAN ANY MORE! They may use different words. They may argue different philosophy. But their actions are all the same.

What hope do we as humans really have? 

Stay tuned…

Home School v. Public School

There’s a guy that I respect a lot who has posted recently why in his opinion home school is better than public school. I feel that these issues must always be dealt with from a balance point of view, so I have created my own list of reasons why public school is better than home school.

1. Public school children don’t always make you feel so ignorant with their robotic knowledge of obscure facts.
2. Public school children know how to conduct themselves with very little sleep. (Especially useful once the child begins to attend sleepovers, camps, etc…)
3. Public school children tend to lack decisiveness because they have been trained to weigh EVERYONE’s opinion and not to leave anyone out.
4. Public school children tend to be short but not necessarily to the point.

I went to public school.

(Please note that this is all in fun and that I am not a Democrat…I don’t think…unless it offends someone.)

Happy Constitution Day

Have you read it lately? It’s got a lot of really cool stuff. Just as relevant today as it was over 221 years ago.

Young, Loud and Proud

I’m sitting here in the Fireside Lounge on campus between classes. I came to this sanctuary to catch up on emails, read some killer blogs and just listen to some music. Well, actually music wasn’t part of the plan until I couldn’t help myself from evesdropping on the conversation of two young ladies behind me. (Yes, I am afraid that they are looking over my shoulder right now watching me type this out!) As if hearing about their underage drunken exploits were not enough they have now attracted a larger, louder group. So i have been formulating in my mind a conversation involving me (an adult) and them (just young’uns). But as I play out the conversation I realize that I am only talking to myself when I was their age. Believe it or not, I was the loud, obnoxious type in college.

Just this week an old college friend posted video of some college pranks and seeing some friends as they were as freshman and sophomores is sad and depressing. But why? Is is the realization that our behavior then was immature? Or is it the thought that the time passes so quickly?

Here’s my question:

How do we balance the brevity of life with enjoying it and getting the most out of it?

It seems that we spend alot of time and energy trying to make rules for young people to live by and all the while warning them to enjoy their youth because it will soon be gone. I’m not at all for promoting illegal behavior, but really, how much unnecessary stress do we put ourselves under trying to control and dictate?

I’m also asking myself this as a parent…

The Truth vs. Bureaucracy

An interesting side story to the tragic train crash in the LA area last week. According to the Wall Street Journal, the spokeswoman for Metrolink (the rail agency that manages and runs the train involved) has resigned. Why? Because she spoke the truth and spoke it too soon. It seems as though the NTSB has put some pressure on Metrolink regarding its investigation of the accident. Ms. Tyrrell, the spokeswoman at the center of the controversy, apparently spilled the beans too early confessing that the engineer had missed a red signal light warning the train to stop. I guess that government bureaucrats want their face time unfettered. According to the article:

At a Sunday evening briefing, the NTSB confirmed the Metrolink engineer ran through a red signal, which led to the collision. The engineer was killed in the accident. The safety agency is investigating reports that in the minutes before the crash, the engineer was exchanging text messages with a few teenage railroad enthusiasts nearby.

So was the NTSB simply smarting because THEY  didn’t get a chance to be the ones to break the news? Or was the actual investigation seriously jeopardized by Ms. Tyrrell’s statement? Seems to me that the cause of the accident was pretty evident as soon as it happened.

What if…

Money wasn’t as valuable or important as we make it?

You had enough time?

There was such a thing as world peace?

Someone handed you keys to your dream car or dream house?

For one day all the news was good?

You didn’t have to tie your shoes or make your bed ever again?

The phone never rang or the emails quit coming?

You met every deadline this week by the end of the day today?

Sonic quit putting so much ice in their drinks?

Do you think you’d really be happy?

A champions lifestyle.

This weekend we celebrated not only Labor Day but also the much anticipated opening of the new BOK center here in Tulsa. It was alot of fun as we got to walk around the facility and experience that “new arena” smell. And don’t forget the $1 concessions (probably the only time I’ll ever eat there). But for me one of the biggest highlights was the Dallas Cowboys trailer parked outside.

Getting the opportunity to see 5, count them FIVE, Lombardi trophies was quite a treat. It got me thinking about what it means to be a champion. And well, here are a few thoughts:

1. Being a champion requires an organizational wide mentality. When you think about the Dallas Cowboys one thing that crosses your mind is Superbowl Champion. And you get a sense that when the Cowboys do things they do so from a desire to win championships and not just succeed. What needs to change in your thinking when it comes to life?

2. Being a champion requires teamwork. Obviously, none of those trophies were the result of a single players hard work. Though there have been many players throughout their history who have made their own mark, no one has ever won a championship on their own. Are you trying to do it on your own?

3. Being a champion can create more opportunities. The Cowboys not only win on the field, but have more opportunities off the field as well. Jerry Jones can demand higher advertising contracts because of the tradition and loyalty that many Cowboy fans attach to the organization. Are you capitalizing on your “wins”?

These are just three that I have time for right now. Perhaps we will visit some more of these down the road. What else separates a champion from “the rest”?