Rocking My Baby To Sleep

The room is dark, she looks around trying to focus. I drape her blanket over my shoulder and we sit down in the rocking chair and start moving

back and forth, back and forth

She pushes back and looks at a streak of light coming in through a crack in the window shades. She point and says, "Dat!" We rock

back and forth, back and forth

I pull her head down between my shoulder and collar bone, she relaxes. She moves her feet a little, pulls her head back, and then falls back into position. We rock

back and forth, back and forth

She relaxes, I feel her body melt into mine. We become one, rocking

back and forth, back and forth

The white noise surrounds us, enveloping all other sounds. Only the hum of the humidifier can be heard above it.

back and forth, back and forth

I check the clock, it has been thirty minutes. It sure does not feel like that long. We slowly stop rocking

back and forth, back and forth

I hold her close as I stand and carry her to the bed. I lay her down, she stays asleep. I gently push her blanket into her hands. I pull a pillow against her back.

She sleeps.

I turn on the monitor and quietly make my way out of the room.

She naps.

Excerpt From President Obama's Press Conference

02/09/2009

I said during the campaign that Iran is a country that has extraordinary people, extraordinary history and traditions, but that its actions over many years now have been unhelpful when it comes to promoting peace and prosperity both in the region and around the world; that their attacks or their financing of terrorist organizations like Hezbollah and Hamas, the bellicose language that they've used towards Israel, their development of a nuclear weapon, or their pursuit of a nuclear weapon -- that all those things create the possibility of destabilizing the region and are not only contrary to our interests, but I think are contrary to the interests of international peace. What I've also said is that we should take an approach with Iran that employs all of the resources at the United States' disposal, and that includes diplomacy.

...And my expectation is in the coming months we will be looking for openings that can be created where we can start sitting across the table, face to face, diplomatic overtures that will allow us to move our policy in a new direction.

...So there are going to be a set of objectives that we have in these conversations, but I think that there's the possibility at least of a relationship of mutual respect and progress.

Excerpt from "Tuesdays With Morrie"

I am currently reading Tuesdays With Morrie, by Mitch Albom and am really enjoying it. It is quite simply about... death. Some might think of death as a morbid subject for a book, but this book is anything but morbid. It is a very refreshing book. If I was to smash the whole book down into an anecdote, it would probably be, "To truly embrace life, you must first embrace death." Here is an excerpt of Morrie speaking:

"So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they're busy doing things they think are important. This is because they're chasing the wrong things. The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning."

Simple wisdom :-)

Changing The World

I had an interesting exchange with G (racist lady) today. We were talking about Glenn Beck's "We Surround Them" program which he is using to let people know that they are not alone in believing in the basic principles upon which our country was founded. It is built under the assumption that people are more likely to stand up for what they believe in if they know they are not standing alone. I mentioned how I thought it was a good thing and Gale said, "Oh, you think you will change the world, but you will not. You will just have a bunch of kids and be a father and end up doing nothing."

Wow.

Let me pose this question, "Is it more important to 'change the world' on a large scale or for a person to try in his everyday life to affect the world in a positive way?"

The latter is obviously a more reasonable goal for an individual, but I would say that it is also more effective too. If we had a whole world of people trying to "change the world" in huge ways, very little would happen. But if we had a world full of people trying to "affect the world in a positive way through their individual lives" the chances are that lots would happen.

What is my world? What makes up my individual life? My life is made up of my wife, children, extended family, co-workers, work, friends and church family. Now what if my life was devoted to raising good children who will affect their worlds in positive ways? Who knows what could come of that! And with my co-workers, treating them right and sharing the Gospel with them, who knows what could happen! I have already seen God use me to eternally change the life of one man at work! Who knows what else He has in store for me here? And my work, too. What I do here is incredible! We create instruments here that are used all around the world to glorify God. The music made by these is enough to bring glory to God, but all the more when a church uses it in their worship! That is a positive way that I am affecting the world. The same goes for my church family and extended family. If I am working to affect them in positive ways, I will make a difference, and a good difference.

Many people have "changed the world" through history and often in negative ways. Many others have spent their lives striving to "change the world" and accomplished nothing. I am devoting myself to affecting those around me in positive ways. That is how I will make a difference for good in the world, and who knows, maybe God will use these seeds to change the world on a large scale someday.