Fathers in the Small Things

This is a post that I thought I would not really post up because, well, things have not always been the best with me and my father.  When I was a teen I had a hard time connecting with my father because of some family things occurring at the time.  But yet, here I am posting something about my dad.  Something that I am grateful for.

I am not often at home since I am in college and in my final year (nose to the computer screen for papers).  And that means that I only get, maybe once a weekend a month, if that.  And I usually don't have much time to get a good chat with my parents as I would often like to.  Now, I have been at home for Christmas break and have found something that has been a mind blow to me lately.  My father is a blessing to me in my life.

One of theses ways that he is a blessing in my life is that he is a guy that I can joke around with.  The other night I was with my fiancee and my parents watching a movie.  At one point in the movie my father and I just start laughing together at a joke, but it was like we would not stop.  That is one thing that throughout my childhood and teenage years I did have with my dad, I could joke and laugh with him.  Yes, at times, we both make terrible jokes (my fiancee and mother can attest to this), yet that was our thing.  And it was not just our thing, but it is almost simply just like a Wilson Men's thing.  It is our connection in the family, our way of blessing each other.

Another form of blessing that has been huge for me as a college student is that he was willing to help me out with some of the necessities that I use when I am at school.  My dad has very graciously allowed me to drive the van at school and use it as I need it.  Not only that but he has helped out with a majority of the car expenses and contributed to gas money every once in a while.  There are many other blessings that he has brought to me in this way.

One final thing that has been a huge blessing to me has been that he has always sought to make me feel welcome and heard at home.  This past break, I have talked with my dad over many different things that I have learned at school, which is really refreshing to show my knowledge of things.  He has been willing to accept my opinions and come to acknowledge them when we talk in other conversations.  This shows that he is wanting to know what I have learned and is willing to learn from it as well.

I bring about a challenge to you my followers and readers, look for where your dad is bringing you blessings.  It may be hard at first if your dad is distant or if you have not really put thought into it at first.  Yet, there is probably something or sometime where your dad has blessed you in some form.  I know it is not Father's Day yet, but do we need a special day to to be thankful for a our father's in the small things?  Not only take time to appreciate the blessings your father has been to you, but place it somewhere in your heart to hold on to, to be proud of your dad in how he is there for you, his child.

This another thing that needs to be understood, just putting that blessing from your father in your heart is not the only thing you must do, but you need to be a blessing to others.  I say this because an even greater father has blessed you with the blessing from your father.  It was through God that you have a father, period!  Now what is needed is that you should be a blessing to others.  When you ask for blessings from God and He delivers, you need to then bless others through your blessing.  Blessings are reciprocal to all people and are meant to be given to others.  Be a blessing.  It can be in the small things or in the big things, but be a blessing to someone.  Be like a parent to someone.

(Matt 7:10) So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him. NLT

Forlorn Realities - Weddings and Friends

Yesterday, I attended one of my close friend's wedding.  Now this wedding was different for me, this one had a bit of a shock that came along with it, even before the actual event itself.  This shock was not at all a bad one, but simply a moment of reflection and a realization of reality.  My friend who was getting married was my small group leader back when I was in Junior High at Hanover Missionary Church Youth Group (HMC Youth for short).  I had grown up with this man as a bit of a mentor throughout my life in different relationships with women, times at school, and a challenging voice in my development  musically in a band.  We had different opportunities as he would drive me home from band practice to have deep conversations and be able to, at times, simply joke around.  I really valued those times, sometimes it was the one thing that I looked froward to on Thursday nights.

Now I have just shared with you my past feelings and thoughts of this person and you may be wondering, "Well, then what is the problem?  What is the reality check?"  For me, I think what was hitting me was that after that time, we didn't have a lot of communication between us since I had gone to school and he had work back at home, yet he still invited me to his wedding.  Here I was going to one of my mentor's wedding and was able to see the blessing from God that we had prayed about different times in his car after band practice.  I got to see and be a part of this special blessing in his life.  I got to see a major transition happen in his life and have promised to be there for him through this major transition.  It was really touching that he was willing to allow me to be a part of that change in his life.  Me, one of his small group boys!

During the reception, I was able to hangout and party with one of my small group boys from back in the day when I was a Junior High Youth Worker at HMC.  Here he was working as the videographer at the wedding and was a close friend of the groom as well.  As I was there having fun with my little bro from small group, it came as a reality shock to me.  I have a similar connection with this young man as I have with the groom.  My small group boy could talk to me about anything and we would try and catch up as much as we could.  We were interested in each other's lives and were willing to be there for each other.  In eight months, we would be in a similar situation as I was in with the groom at the wedding.

It is amazing to realize that we can impact people in so many ways that we may not realize the full impact until we have experienced it ourselves.  All of us have impacted people in such a way that we have people who look up to us, but yet we may just think they are hanging out with us because we are the leaders.  There are some that are following you and will follow you in their hearts because you have done something for them or have impacted them in a way you didn't realize.  Your actions, your words, your leadership, is all an example for others to be guided by.  We are all leaders in action.  We are all grand speakers in someone's life.  We are all a huge impact to someone.

You are an impact in someone's life.

Cartoons and the Man

So, I am sitting in my theology class and I was confronted with a perspective in mind. That men are becoming lazy in their pursuit of manliness in the means of focusing on video games for 6-7 hours in the day. Now, I am not saying that this is incorrect. I would actually tend to agree with this perspective in a certain regard. Men today are getting a bit more lazy to take on the world and find the adventure in their lives. But may I ask the question? Can men truly be adventurous if they have never seen what it is?

For me, being the nerd that I am, I love comics. As of late I have been focusing on the anime series Bleach. I personally get a bit excited when things in the series get to heated battles amongst great opponents with the main character. Personally, I am a huge fan of the character Ichigo, who is the main character in the series. The reason why I find Ichigo so amazing is because, in some ways, he gives an awesome illustration of what being a man is about.

Throughout the series, Ichigo goes into battle against evil forces not for himself, but for his friends that are in need. He is willing to drop everything to protect or rescue his friends that are in trouble. This is the virtue of loyalty, that a man is willing to stick with his friends through any circumstances. Ichigo also has an identity that is developed in the series known as a "Soul Reaper". This identity is about fighting evil spirits to protect our world. Being a man is in trenched with the knowing one's self identity and to have a battle to fight for. In the series, Ichigo has a mentor figure that is the spirit of his sword and through this spirit, he is taught how to fight and how to gain strength for fighting. To me, this shows that manliness is about mentorship with other men who know more than I do as well as to receive my identity and trust from God as my teacher. One final thing that I find is substantial about Ichigo is his need to stand for what is honourable. He does this while he fights. He fights for the oppressed, he fights for the weak, and he fights for justice. These are some of the traits that I have found very profound in Bleach through Ichigo's manliness.

Clearly, to me, this particular animation speaks volumes in what manliness is and helps other young men to know what manliness is, in an extreme example. These examples of manliness are not found in this animation series alone, but in many others on t.v. In my perspective, everyman has, in some way, seen an example of manliness in the media through this medium. What I feel is part of the problem is that men are not taking these principles that are noble which they see and apply them in their lives. We as men, sometimes just shrug these cartoons simply as fantasy and that there is nothing to be taken from it since they are too extreme and unrealistic. Yes, I would agree that most of the things are unrealistic in the animations. However, I would say that men need to be looking for the battles in their lives that they feel passionate to fight for. That men need to seek the honour that is missing in our messed up world and fight for it. Men need to find a person to be mentored by, to build a strong sense of who they are. Men need to be risky and adventurous in their life style and to invite a partner on the dangerous journey of life.

So, can men truly be adventurous if they have never seen what it is? I would say no since men need to see manliness in action. Yet, I would say they have seen it all along, they simply need to take initiative and take the lead from these examples to apply it into their lives.

Men, be daring, be risky, be adventurous, be honourable, be loyal, be warriors, be lovers, and be men that seek your identity in God. Then you will truly be on the adventure that you were made for.

Why does it seem that the rain always comes when it is not needed and the sun never comes out when we want it?

Heaven and the Shower??

As part of our lives, we all (in general) take showers, but there is something that particularly come to mind for me as I was taking mine yesterday. After cleaning myself and having washed my hair and turned off the faucet, I came to a question. Is heaven like a long shower that we stay in? I ask you to please try and follow me as I try to explain myself. See, when we are outside of the shower, we get dirty, sweaty and start to smell (hence the reason for having a shower). We might also use the shower to relax a bit more and be able to take time for ourselves to breathe from the stresses of life around us. Yet, once we hop in that shower, we start to clean off our dirt body and start to relax from the strain of life. We start feeling a lot more like ourselves. We are also exposed as who we are in the shower with nothing to hide and are at peace with that in a warm, greenhouse like environment.

However, there is a problem, as I figured out once I was done my shower. We need to get back out of the shower and get dirty or stressed out by the world again. We need to get out of our warm climate where we are fully exposed and relax to face a world that is cold and where we often at times hide who we really are. We feel self conscious and dirty by some of the things we have done for ourselves in our life or things we have done just to survive.

Despite the harshness of the world, we need to take time to get cleansed from the stuff going on in our life. This is where I see the heaven scenario coming out in this perspective/analogy. Time to take these stressors and dirty that we have piled up and give them to Jesus to clean us and make us look and feel new. Throughout our life we have small shower times, in these times we are fully exposed to Jesus of who we are and then He does something when we surrender to Him. We are cleaned by Christ's righteousness, blood, and resurrection in which He takes away the sins in our lives and helps us in time of trouble. It is noted in Revelations 22 that heaven is a place where sin will no longer be around and where we will be perfectly clean from everything that has happened. Which leads me to my question...

Is heaven going to be like a shower that we stay in for the rest of our eternal lives?

I would think so....

Tis the Season...

Well, it is that time again. The time of hustle and bustling of crowds in the store, looking for that perfect gift for that special someone. A time of reflection and connection with others around you and sharing the great Christmas Spirit. But what does that term 'Christmas Spirit' really mean? Is it something that we have as a society have forgotten, do not understand, or have simply ignored all together?

Lately I have been stretched in looking more in depth as to what this 'Spirit' really is, through the difficulties that my father has been experiencing medically this week. In this past week I have been looking in the actual act of being there for a family member for support as a means of spreading the Christmas Spirit. We, often look to the presents or the blessings of gifts in this season as a means of spreading the Spirit of Christmas. Yet is there something more that we have not recognized?

I have herd from different people as to what is the one thing that they are not looking forward at Christmas and most of them have said that family is the thing that they least look forward to. For me, this was a very difficult thing to get a grasp on, this is a season where we are to be looking to others and seeking to be closer to one another and to God through the blessing of His Son's birth. This is often the form of sacrifice that most people are 'willing' to suffer for Christmas. To spend time with the in-laws or see family you only see once a year that you really don't want to see at all.

Sorry, if it may seem like a I am preaching and may be stepping on something that you yourself are not agreeing with me on, but I have been really pushed in my personal experience. Yes, this season we do get to spend time with family and that is a way of blessing, but where do we really give more at Christmas? It was 2010 years ago that we were given a gift from God, the birth of Jesus Christ. Yet, this is not the only thing that should be remembered in this time of year. We need to remember His purpose and His change in culture that is the true reason fro being here. Jesus brought us into a servanthood mentality that we need to live everyday. Seeking all opportunities that are around us and to serve others in all we do for the glory of God.

This past week has been my challenge, that instead of looking at Christmas simply as a break from the school work and to focus on revitalizing my personal needs. I need to be looking at the needs of others above mine and be able to serve them first. Christmas is part of the movement of serving humbly for others and seeking the will of God in all circumstances. Seeking in all ways to be a lowly servant for others, even if we are not rewarded after with gifts or with a simple thank you. We need to act as blessings and gifts to others in our actions to others, not only in gift giving, but the giving of ourselves for others. This is the 'Christmas Spirit' that I believe is what the season is supposed to be conveying. Tis the season to be the active gift of service for those who are around us and abroad. Tis the season to be challenged to give of ourselves to those in need. Tis the season to be the example of the true servant that lived on earth before us and is calling us to act in the Holy Spirit that is called by God. Tis the season to be practical and real in our faith, not only living it out in our words but in our actions.

Tis the season...

What about the Superheroes?

I, being the nerd that I am, have a really weird liking of superheroes. I find them quite appealing, even something to strive to understand more of. This is not an obsession, but trying to find out what it really means to be a hero.

Personally, I can't really say that I completely understand what the definition of a hero is. I wonder at times if even our society can even really define it for us. My concept of a hero is someone who stands out for the greater good of all people. That they are able to make some form of nobel cause for everyone to look up to and to get hope from. Someone who is able to look at impossible odds and say that there is a chance, who is willing to do anything to make that chance into a reality. Someone who is sought after for their strength and is looked up to when there are times of utter chaos.

As I look at these list of traits for a superhero I wonder, am I matching what I wish to strive in my own life. I am not trying to be down, but at times wonder where have I gone in my fight to save the world? I know who is the leading lady that I am going off to save, but I question something, am I strong enough to save here? A hero can look like he is amazing with the suit on in front of others, but is his strength able to fight for and protect the one he loves?

I guess that is where the super powers come in right. However, what is my superpower. I wonder, is it something that I must for master myself, or something that I have to discover on my own? Quite frankly, I don’t think it is something that I can find on my own or build on myself. I personally believe that my superpower is God. Though I don’t feel like I am strong enough at times to save my leading lady, God is there giving me strength. However this is not the only thing, since I am at times the one who is need of rescuing, my leading lady is actually a superheroine, that saves me with the same superpower. It is through our superpower that we have a purpose in helping the world, in saving one another. We do not need to do it alone or have to struggle with it by ourselves, if we depend on our superpower.