The tables have turned! Matt of Unscrambled Eggs asked me to write a guest post on what I think a Christian’s role should be in caring for the environment. I proceeded to blog his ear off and he actually posted it!
I was honored to be asked and would be honored if you read it. Please check it out and let’s discuss it over there.
Oh, hello. Pardon me as I prepare my morning English tea. Cool Mum was thoughtful enough to purchase Bigelow English Breakfast tea from the market yesterday to help soothe my sore throat. Ah…
We are happy to introduce our second guest poster, Brody Harper of …in case you were wondering! As far as I know, Brody wears the hats of husband, father, road manager, photographer, musician, and blog extraordinaire. Please clap your hands and keep scrollin’ for Brody!
(photo: JHill)
When I graduated high school I hadn’t even thought about having kids. I had no idea where I would live, what I would be doing for a living, and no idea that one day in the near future I would be holding someone else’s feces. And more concerning than that, how it wouldn’t be that big of a deal to me.
Tonight, literally as I was thinking of something to write for this guest post I was supposed to be watching my three year-old in the bath, but was sucked in to achieving Jedi Status on the Lego Star Wars game with my five year-old. After about ten minutes of silence from the bathroom, and my wife asking if Aiden was okay in the bath, I ran into the bathroom to check on him.
I was hit at the door by an awful smell, and the realization that there had been some pooping going on in the bathroom. I asked my three year-old, who was still sitting in the tub, if he pooped.
“Yeah.” He said looking up at me.
“You pooped in the tub?!”
“No”
“Where did you poop?”
He slowly lifted his hand out of the water and pointed to the side of the tub where he had neatly piled up his “project” and continued to play with the small plastic boats floating around him.
Here’s the troubling part to me. Without much thought, I grabbed a paper towel, cleaned the side of the tub, pulled the plug in the bathtub and was washing up my three year-old. I was just about finished when I realized that it wasn’t freaking me out. I wasn’t gagging, or thinking about scrubbing my hands with soap until they bled. I realized, I am a parent. A parent of three boys. Three boys that are going to poop. Sometimes poop where they shouldn’t.
Never could I have imagined that I would be in the place where I am now. I never could have imagined that one day I would love something more than I loved myself. More than my comfort. More than my weak stomach. These little humans rely on me stepping up and being their dad. A dad that doesn’t get grossed out about things they do. A dad that’s stronger than anyone they know. And the dad that will clean up a pile of poop on the side of a tub if they need him to.
I have no idea if I am a cool parent or a crappy one, but I know that every day I am learning something new. Something new about myself. Something new about the grace of God. And something new about how to love, even if that means you might get grossed out at times.
-brody
The time is here! We are very honored to have our first guest poster, Lauren from The Ripple Effect! We are big fans.
Her story is one of life, love, death, and the undying faithfulness of God. Read her About page to get caught up, and then after reading this, go back to her blog and read every post. There, we just planned out your whole day!
Enough us, here’s Lauren!
(photo: “Flying away from home”, Mackenzie Rollins)Hi. I’m Thing #2 (see 2 Cool Things post below). Otherwise known as Lauren. Nice to meet you.
The Cool ‘Rents have asked me to do a guest post. I’m honored. And highly nervous. So please, I ask you outright, like my post. And please visit many times so their ratings go up. That would give many people joy, including myself and the Cool ‘Rents. Thankyouverymuch. Ahem…
Well then, my newfound blog friends, I find myself as of late in the business of important decision-making. I’m a single mother, and I’ve decided to move across the country. In this decision, I will be leaving the place I grew up in (Though love it as I may, I’ve tried to escape at least 10 times now, and always end up trudging back into town, smiling sheepishly at how I told everyone I was pretty sure I was going to be a French citizen for the rest of my life, or join some resistance revolution in an obscure country, or something like that), my wonderful family, my awesome church, and my beloved house to the ravages of renters. This is, to say the least, intimidating. The thoughts racing through my mind at any given moment look something like this: Lord, am I screwing up my child’s life? Lord, am I screwing up my life? Lord, please don’t let my house burn down, be involved in any drug transactions, or be completely demolished when I see it next. Lord, do you really want us to go across country? Lord, will we be happier there?? Basically, I’m freaked out about it.
So why am I subjecting myself to this anxiety and hardship, you ask? Because, I say, as I look off into the distance with glazed eyes, I’m looking for opportunity. Because change and the hardships that come with it just may make myself and my son better people. Because I’m hoping for something better. I don’t even know what. I’m living on the brink yet again. Yet again, living on the brink.
I’m sure most, if not all, of you know what I’m talking about. The brinks of life are unavoidable. I’m thinking pubescent kids walking off to their first day of high school amidst kids 3 feet taller than they are. I’m thinking moving away from the comforts of home to go to college for the first time. I’m thinking walking out of the church as the wedding bells ring, wondering what will be in store for yourself and the person you just married. Finding out that you are indeed fertile after all, and because of it, will now be caring for another human being completely dependent on you. Job changes. Big moves. Retirement. Ultimately, the biggest brink life has to offer, death. Oh, and none of these necessarily happen in that order, which adds to the chaos.
Some people love the brink. Others loathe it. And some, like old people (And unfortunately I fall into the group with old people on this one…Dang it!), are just tired of it and want to get it over with already. There’s an air of hopefulness, some excitement, some anxiety, and, oddly, some peace that ultimately, it’s all up to God anyway, so just go with the flow. I mean, I look at where I was 2 years ago, and would never, ever have guessed that I would be where I am today. There’s been some big stuff that has gone down, yo. But I’m still here, aren’t I? So I sit here and wish I could peer 2 years into the future from now to be able to say, Oh yeah, that was a good decision. In the end though, I’m not a big decision regretter. I don’t believe that life has as much to do with what actually happens to us, but instead more to do with how we handle what happens to us. After all, we all live on the brink of tomorrow.
So, I’ll move across the country. The Cool ‘Rents will start a new national trend of going to the Target cafe for dates in formal attire. My parents will get new jobs and prepare for retirement. My good friend will get married soon. And we’ll all look back at those brinks in our lives and forget that they were ever as stressful or pivotal as they seemed. But, mostly, we’ll see how God works out all the little details that seem so confusing and overwhelming from our limited earthly viewpoint. And the threads that make up the tapestry of life begin to make a grander picture. God is sovereign and He is good.
I’d love to hear about what the brink is in your life or your perspective on life changes. Perhaps you could give me advice on what the heck I’m supposed to do. Tell me. I sound creepishly like Dr. Frasier when I say “Tell me” like that, even though his line was “I’m listening.” I’d be more creepish if I had a really low voice, which I don’t. But really do feel free to advice me up, especially because if you don’t, it’ll look like I failed as a guest poster…
