A few thoughts a few days out -or- Thoughts that come from sleep deprivation

(photo courtesy of Breanna Powers)

Last night was our first night back at home. Reagan is quite a contrast with Jack. One (not Jack) slept all night and needed to be woken up for feeding. The other (not Reagan) was up kicking and screaming all night long. Here are a few things I've realized...

• Having a child is the best prescription for gratitude. I was sitting in the hospital room the other night, eating Natalie's bland stroganoff and soft cauliflower (I bought her something else... I wasn't stealing baby-momma's food!) and I was almost in tears. It wasn't the food that made it happen, for some reason at that moment it all came home that I am an amazingly blessed man.


• Having a child is the best prescription for humility. Never before have I been so aware of what a small player I am in this whole game of life. That little baby girl grew, and came togther... she was knit together in the womb (Ps. 139). We serve an amazing God who does amazing things and bestows amazing blessings on us for no reason other than he wants to.


• My son is awesome. I am so proud of the little man Jack is. Rather than being jealous or territorial, he loves his baby "Regie" (like Reggie with a hard G).


• My God is good. He is very big, and he's all over the place. Today was a great day. I'm as tired as I've been since... well, the last time... but there's an understanding that I have a Father who is pleased to give me good things.

So thanks for the prayers. Keep them coming. I'm sure there will be more analysis and all that to come, but for now, that's all I have to say about that.

The first pictures

Well, here are the first round of photo's courtesy of his own personal photo entourage (Reagan will come to know her as Ammi, or grandma). For more pics of Reagan and others, visit her gallery at pbase. Here's the 1st round...

My little cherub

Eyes Wide Open (I don't think her eyes look that light)

Her mentor and her guardian: Cousin Abby and Poppy

The happy but weary mom & dad with the newest Powers

Well there are lots more of these to come. This is really just the beginning... in more ways than we can probably even realize.

September 27, 2008

Reagan Elizabeth Powers made her way into the world in the natural way.

21 1/4 inches long



8 lbs 12 oz.



Beautiful.



Mom is resting well, basking in the glow of the joyous thing God has made in and through her.



Pictures to come sooner than later. Thanks for your prayers. Please keep 'em up.

A Day Remembered

May 8, 2008 - Rocky Mountain National Park

Lower Copeland Falls. I have never felt so much like a visitor. This amazing place sounds like the rushing voice of God. The aspens, pines, and spruce trees stand and applaud the majesty of the Creator. Father has, just this moment, sent slow flurries to kiss the back of the neck. "The Earth is the Lords, and the fullness thereof. Thank You.

Upper Copeland Falls. Every place is more powerful and mighty than the last, and every reminder of God's power quiets my soul. he is God. God of Creation, take my breath away. Beyond the power, every thing about these mountains reminds me that my strength is fleeting and limited and, like these rivers and mountains, there is a mighty power source close at hand. Only to realize and live in it!

Calypso Cascades. As I write this, there is a heavy snow falling. The entire landscape is under 2 feed of snow. The Lord whispers, "My voice is all around you. Can you hear me in the rush of water? In the wind through the pines? He is here.

The day I wrote those in my little back pack travel journal was one of those days that I knew would remain crisp in my brain forever. It was our second day there and we ended up in the Wild Basin. We passed only a single car on the way in, and they still hadn't opened the summer trail head because of the snow. There was a true sense of being alone in the wild. I remember being nearly overwhelmed by the enormity and immensity of the whole thing. There's nothing that makes me feel smaller, more humble, more aware of the grandeur and might of God than the mountains. As we hiked, it became clear that this was going to be a day that I needed to capture and remember.

Only today did I finally get the pictures from that trip into my computer. It's always good to stop and remember those times and those places where you've encountered God. That was most definitely one of those days.

Vice Potential

Politically speaking, it's always been fairly difficult for me to imagine the role of the Vice President. I always assumed it went something like this...

1. Look good and represent the head honcho well in elections, and do his angry bidding for him.


2. Be the head of the Senate.


3. Wait to become the real President.

Now I know that's a gross underestimation and misrepresentation of the true facts. The reality is that in the past 20 years, Vice Presidents have not had much good luck. George H.W. Bush (Reagan's VP) served 1 term before losing to "Slick Willie" in '92. Slick Willie, probably the most skilled politician of our generation failed to be able to seat his VP (Algore) who lost to George W. Bush's Vice Henchman, er, Vice President wasn't ever considered to even be in the running. So it hasn't been a good season to be a Vice President.

And today I read in The Telegraph about Joe Biden's (Obama's 1st mate) bad luck with the Catholic Church. A few things that I took away.

1. Don't jack with the Catholic Church. Seriously, I remember hearing Nancy Pelosi and her abortion statements, and I remember thinking how foolish they were. She basically forced the Catholic church to publicly correct her. When Biden followed suit, it defied logic.


2. That's not how they wanted to force the issue. It's important to draw clear distinctions between the candidates and force what would amount to a moral imperative. You want people to say and feel the conviction... "that stance on that issue compels me to vote this way." It's the classical liberal/conservative question... what's the best way to handle issues, stoke the fremarket and deregulate (conservative) or oversee and regulate (liberal). However, it seems unwise to make the division on things of faith. I still believe that for many people, faith trumps political issues. Even for athiests, their faith stance compels them to vote. For Biden to basically force the Catholic Church to denounce him puts faithful Catholics in an interesting place.


3. Where ever you go, there you are. I remember when he was announced as VP. Oh, the joy in conservative talk radio land! Biden has a well documented history of putting his foot in his mouth at the most public and inopportune times. He can't help being himself, only now he's doing it in the spotlight of a monumental election.

My guess, Biden isn't long for this world. I predict that he is either going to experience some sort of family tragedy, or for some reason or other have to disappear from the race, sadly and regretfully, but necessarily none the less. Under such circumstances, it only makes sense that the new Democratic Vice Presidential nominee would be... Billary Rodherson Clinton.

Can it happen? Legally, I don't even know if it can. She was quite publically NOT vetted. Would she have to go through the DNC some how? I don't know. Would it work? Personally, I don't think it would. I think it would smack of political maneuvering in a campaign that has staked itself to the rhetoric of change and doing things in a new way.

Interesting times. Interesting race. Interesting people.

The Favorite Season Is...

The favoritest season of them all...

FALL!!

That means there are a lot of happy people right about now.

Keep your money away from the moths...

The Dow Jones index dropped 500 points today. Every channel I turn to on the TV is talking about panic, recession, depression, financial ruin...

How can something like this happen in America, to a place like Lehman Brothers and AIG?

Well, it would appear that even the most stable things in the world are unstable. Even in America, even to the richest of the rich, things like this can happen. In this life, the mighty will fall.

That's why Jesus urged those who listened to Him to keep their treasures in the Kingdom of Heaven, away from things in this life like economic depression and recession. That sounds like pretty good advice today. The marvelous secret Jesus showed us... the Kingdom of Heaven is all around us. It's at hand. It's here. Now!

Investments in banks and economies are always subject to ruin. Investments in people, in lives, in stories will produce returns for eternity. People are the safest, surest investment out there because the relationships you invest in will not only pay off now, but they will pay off down the road, all the way into eternity.

I met with a group of small group leaders in my living room yesterday. Over cheap, pick-up pizza, with the sweet sound of curly headed, blue eyed children playing and running in the back ground we discussed just such investments. One couple is getting ready to release a leader they have walked with and helped train over the past weeks and months. That's an eternal return on investment. Every person those new leaders impact will be a direct credit to the eternal account of both leaders. Another of the groups has had to deal with some space issues. Creatively and almost in beautifully stubborn fashion, they fought the urge to turn inward. Another leader faced a hard confrontational issue and worked through it rather than running from it.

These two situations are a stark contrast to me. I see the pictures streaming in from Wall Street, dejection, fear, discouragement, doubt. I sit in a living room with young leaders carrying the added burden of helping people discover spiritual maturity as they walk toward it themselves, voices bouncing with hope, eyes glimmering with resolve.

I've never been so encouraged and so hopeful about every investment in the Kingdom. Every investment in another person is an investment that Wall Street can't match. I've never had such clarity about the choice of what I'm going to devote my extra hours to. I've never been more excited about little things like lunch meetings where mutual investment is the order of the day.

God, let me invest more time in people, and less time in the dollars and cents that will never add up to enough. Keep me focused on the people that you love. Teach me what it means to seek your Kingdom first. You said that if I'd do that, then I'd have what I need. Thank you for that.

Sorry 'boutcher luck Lehman's Bros. I've got some investment tips you should look into!

The un-audacity of living the dream

I re-read my first ever blog. 2 years later, the group that spawned my thoughts has morphed and grown to where my role is basically a supporting one. It's a totally different entity than I could ever have imagined, better in most ways.

It's a funny thing though, the passage of time and the reality of perception. I think if you had told me 2 years ago that I wouldn't be attending the gathering, that there would be another guy who was heading it up and giving it direction, that it would look the way it does... honestly think I would have been disappointed, or at least bothered, maybe even ticked.

But what did I know back then? I knew what I wanted, I knew my heart to see something happen, and I think those were good things. I don't think I was sinful in desiring that group to grow and flourish. I just didn't have all the information at the time. My peception of best back then, and the reality of best right now are barely comparable.

The principle I keep running into is best summed up by the great poet and theologian Billy Joel, "The good ole days weren't always good and tomorrow ain't as bad as it see-ee-eems." If I pause long enough to let that truth do it's work, it should drive humility deep into my core. My dreams and ambitions and hopes and prospects keep waking me up to face the day. They give me something to look forward to. They allow me to dance hopefully and rage wildly into the night. They're important...

But they're best held loosely.

I wouldn't trade one thing about my life, knowing what I knew then and knowing what I know now. I wouldn't do it differently. I'm grateful that God, the one I was listening for on that day, is in control. He knows best. Even better me. If you can believe it. It's a hard lesson to learn. If anything seems to be truly rooted in my own best interest, it's my dreams. They seem so shiny and bright, so tantalizing and sweet. Honest reflection gently convinces me, however, both of the necesity of large dreams, and the humility of letting them age well. It seems when I do that, they are always becoming what they were intended to be... images and reminders of God's sovereign goodness and provision for me.

Quenching a drought

I dry up easily when it comes to the blog-o-sphere. I've commented on it before and I'll probably comment on it again since I'm commenting on it here. I think I've discovered the reason.

I'm an incredibly selfish blogger. I want to put out the goods, but I rarely take time to take in the goods. That's a great model for producing incredibly selfish and shallow stuff.

So it's been a grueling 2 weeks emotionally and mentally, and today was no different, so I decided to take a 10 minute mental holiday, and what I ended up with was a 10 minute excursion into inspiration land.

It all started with my lovely and talented wife, Natalie. She always inspires me. Most recently because she's pregnant, and I'm no professional but it seems like it would be REALLY hard to have another person growing inside of you. None the less, she's been a trooper and the picture of grace. Hopefully the time is almost up.

From there I went to my brother's page. I've long contended that he's the funniest guy I've ever personally known. His blog only cemented his position, as well as provided some wonderful thought fodder about big bangs, body odor, french people, and cosmological physics. Not necessarily in that order.

From that point on it was pretty much one amazing thing after another. First I found Lauren's Blog, Brittany's Blog, Ryan's Blog, Bre's Blog (not my sis-in-law who's pretty cool her self), Joel's Blog and David's Blog. I was challenged, and forced to ask myself...

"Jason, why you so dang SHALLOW and why don't you love JESUS?"

Seriously, when Paul challenged Timothy not to let anyone look down on him because he was young, but to set an example to the believers... that's a challenge these students take seriously. I really needed that. I needed to see that the bar is set high and that there are people, people much younger, but much mo bettah than I am, reaching for the highest goal.

My hats off and my heart goes out to all of you who unknowingly challenged me today. Thank you. That's what the Body of Christ is all about. Keep on keepin' on.

Processing Politics in an Election Year

I'm in a tough place... I'm a pastor and a Christian, given a responsibility to reach out and help people be reconciled to God who loves them and calls them. I'm also an American, given the freedom and privilege to elect those that I believe will govern this great nation toward prosperity.

As a Christian, I find in the scriptures that Jesus was decidedly not a political Messiah, much to the chagrin and dismay of many of his followers. He had lots of opportunities to be a political Messiah. During his tempting in the desert, he could have worshipped Satan and been given the whole of creation. He could have been born to a Caesar and risen to power that way. In meeting with Pilate or Herod He could have either compelled them to follow Him or called down one of His legion of angels to overthrow them. Instead, he makes cryptic remarks to Pilate about truth and He says nothing to Herod. To the Pharisees trying to set him up, he only says, "Give to Caesar what is Caesars..." I fundamentally believe that the key to a changed government is a changed heart. The best way to ensure that we're governed fairly is to make sure that every person on earth is a radical disciple of Jesus.

On the other, much of the tone of political discourse bothers me. There's a lot of banter back and forth about whose right and whose wrong. I've actually heard people say that they don't believe someone from one party or the other could possibly be a Christian. That seems totally out of character for a people who Jesus prayed would be united... one, even as He and the Father are one.

So I wrote and re-wrote this entry about a thousand times trying to get it right, trying to walk the line between realizing that the government Jesus came to set up wasn't based on any elections (it's a radical theocracy scripturally referred to as the Kingdom of God), and realizing that all authority on earth comes from Him and He's given me a role to play. I need to play it.

So here's where I'm at. I believe both candidates are doing what they believe is best for the country. I believe both Barak Obama & John McCain think that their ideas and ideologies are what is needed to move this country forward. I also believe that whatever the outcome on November 5, my ultimate allegiance is not here. So as I cast my vote, and even engage in boisterous discourse between now and then, I'm compelled to remember that the person on the other side of the aisle isn't just a Democrat, they are a person who Jesus loves and wants to spend eternity with. Starting now. I want to see them as someone who cares passionately about the environment and personal freedom, even if I disagree with how they go about assuring and protecting those. As a reconciler (first), if my political convictions cause me to drive away someone from "the other" party... or even to simply SEE THEM primarily as someone from the other party," I've missed it. If I am right, politically, and I destroy a bridge to future conversations about ultimately important things... eternal things... then being right has never been so wrong.

The golden rule says to do unto others as you would have them do unto you. I want people to see me not as a Republican (Libertarian Republican is probably closer to the truth). I want them to see me as Jason, Natalie's husband, Jack & Reagan's dad, Astros fan, and ultimately and most gratefully... child of God. If I'm going to do that, I have to stop "seeing" them as Democrat, liberal, whatever.

So if you're voting Republican this year, join me in setting the pace in affirming the person in our political conversations. See the humanity and Image of God in the person across the aisle. If you're voting Democrat this year, I love you anyway, and hope you feel the same. I hope I'm able to convey that I know you're more than a political affiliation. More than that, I hope I'm able to go to sleep at night actually knowing that you're more than a political affiliation.

Now I know why they don't talk about Politics in polite company.

Bullet Points & Changing Seasons: or two for the price of 1/3.

It was cool outside today...relatively, of course. The soft breeze whispered through the tasseled oaks keeping the shade-worthy day from becoming a here's-a-cloth-to-dab-your-forehead kind of day. I like those days. Let fall arrive. I feel like I come alive in autumn. It's got me thinking...

• I'm totally energized by the RNC. Sarah Palin gave what may be THE political speech of a generation. There are good ideas and hope flying around the twin cities for the first time in a long time. I didn't start out as a McCain guy, and I still don't think he's as conservative as I like... but I trust him, and I believe he wants what's best for the country.



• Every time election season comes around, I dream about being a speech writer. My good friend Daniel Espinoza said the same thing while we were watching Palin deliver the goods. A dear lady in our church told me the other day, "you know, Tony Snow was only 31 when started working for Bush 41." I asked her if she knew anyone in the upcoming administration that I could get in touch with. She didn't. It's all good. I've got a pretty good gig.



• We're less than a month away from Baby #2. The votes were in, and it looks like we're going to name her Reagan Elizabeth Powers. Thank you for your votes. I'm sure she'll appreciate all your input in the years to come.



• I'm listening to "Subterranean Homesick Blues" on iTunes. I love Bob Dylan. If we had a boy, I was pushing to name him Dylan.



• Natalie didn't want to name our boy Dylan.



• I'm slowly starting to recognize the gentle rhythms of life. This week has been through the roof nuts, but the weeks before were slow, even boring (aside from the recurring bout of bubonic plague we had to deal with). I felt guilty during those times, rather than capturing them and using them to refresh, recharge, and be ready for this season of activity. As my life grows and fills out, those are the things that I'm increasingly drawn to think about.



• Life happens. I believe the Cosmos were created with order, reflecting the One who breathed them into being. The more I step back, the more I'll recognize the rhythms and accept them, whatever they may be.



• I read about St. Francis, walking through the woods, breaking into song at the life and wonder that was crushing in on him, threatening to swallow him whole. I'd like to be in the moment enough to be dazzled at the wonder of the Kingdom at Hand.

It's amazing what a change in scenery can accomplish. If only the Astro's would make the playoffs... then life would be great.