boy, oh, boy

I want to take a moment to talk about what it's like to be the dad of two amazing, amazing boys.

I love these guys.

Tonight I reffed a championship football game that my oldest son played his 8-year-old heart out in. It would be obvious to celebrate how far his game play has come... because, yeah - he played well tonight. A touch down catch. A key flag pull. All of the usual stuff parents like to talk about and do a little victory dance about. And rightfully so - he gave his best. His coach even chose to encourage him on with the nickname "The Phenomenon."

But I am more in tune with the "kind" of kid he is. I saw a transformation happen over the past couple of months... from the boy who was somewhat intimidated when the football came his way to the young man who rose up and decided he would learn to face the pigskin missile with eyes (and hands) wide open. There was the new group of kids he was a stranger to, but within a short amount of time he decided he was going to make them his friends... and he did. And I haven't even mentioned the mouth guard episode - the first few days he tried to put it in his mouth he couldn't stop gagging. And yet... he kept after it and that mouth guard finally made it in.

Tonight before we left for his big game, we read from Philippians 3 which challenges to "forget what is behind" and "strain toward what is ahead." We talked about what that passage goes on to mean when it says to "press on" and "win the prize." And he got it. So much so that he walked on the field a winner, even before the first play happened, because he decided to play in a larger Story than the game... he decided to let the focus of his game be on honoring the God who created Him in the first place.

And then there is my other son. You know, it's funny to see how unique your kids are from one another, even though they are incredibly similar. In this instance, my youngest son at 5 is a music maker. Meaning, everywhere he goes he is playing a soundtrack in his head - often out loud - that gives his life a rhythm of perspective.

Case in point, this past Saturday he played a very, very tough soccer game. Normally the teams are evenly matched, but in this instance there were a couple of opposing players who just dominated. At 3-on-3, we were clearly outmatched. And even as our coach added another player to our ratio (3-on-4) and then another (3-on-5), we still struggled.

My son took a hard hit early in the game. It sent him to the ground, and I watched him look up in that stunned kid gaze that wonders, "That hurt, so can I just cry like a young child... or am I old enough where I should just push through it?" As an assistant coach, I'm out on the field as well and so I helped him up and guided him to keep on going. He wasn't sure, and for a few plays in he definitely tried to find his inner footing.

But then I watched him make the big leap over the hurdle within - the ball had gone out, and he stepped up to throw it in. Right then and there, I watched my little boy become even more of a little man... as he embraced how the story he was in was bigger than just his slice of it. And after he threw the ball toward a player, he ran back onto the field to try to kick it toward the other team's goal. Granted, he was unsuccessful at that... and yet I heard him humming a little tune as he tried. Probably the equivalent of an epic action movie song in his head.

With both of my sons, I have been so humbled to watch these shifts happen within them. The kind that says, "This is tough, but there is a good reason for me to push through it. I am a part of something bigger than me, and that is worth fighting for."

At bedtime tonight, we talked about how for many people these games are the most important things they concentrate on. I get that, and I don't mean to criticize, but when that happens it means that the losses become harder, the wins become more boastful, and the gameplay becomes more tense than it needs to be. But when God is our Coach and we play for His glory, everyone wins. He is the reason we push through the tough stuff, because He's given us the example and inspires us to do the same. And when we do, we rise up into the potential of who we really are.

So when I say that I am the dad of two amazing boys, I do so with a sense of humility. Yes, I know that they will fail. I know that there will come tough conversations in the future where we'll have a moment of disconnect... perhaps a season of disconnect. I'll love them through it, and I hope they'll do the same.

But I guess what I'm saying is that because of what I see happening in them these days - this ability to work through the tough stuff for the sake of the greater good - I am confident that any of that potential chaos in the future will become something healthier. There is something very right in these two boys that will help them through any wrong they experience or commit (which I pray against, but know I need to be prepared for if/when it happens). And I know this all tracks back to the One who is growing these changes within them.

You know, it's wild and exhilarating to see your kid do well in a sport. To catch a touchdown. To kick a ball into a goal. To do a sweet zig-zag and confuse a whole group of kids coming at them.

But I simply run out of words when I attempt to sum up the awe of seeing them grow up in front of your eyes. And by that I mean to watch them in real time choose to step forward instead of shrink back. That's a muscle and skill set that will follow them into every relationship, job, task, challenge, moral choice, and so on they will face.

And that's a "trophy" that will never fade.

So like I said, I love these guys.

a part of history

On Monday my bride and I were invited to a Cleveland Indians game, and who am I to turn down free tickets? Aside from the lip-smacking shazam that ball park food can be, it was a good chance to just chill with good friends on a great weathered night with "the home team."

Little did I know we would become a part of history.

Perhaps like me, you didn't know much about the context of the game on Monday. The Cleveland Indians pitcher Cliff Lee earned his 20th victory of the season Monday night, throwing only a five-hitter in a 5-0 win over the Chicago White Sox. I learned that he was the first Indians pitcher to win 20 games since 1974, and the 34-year wait between 20-game winners was the longest in the American League. (Arizona's Brandon Webb has tried twice to reach 20 and lost both times.)

Again, I knew none of this going in. I was just there for the good time.

So there I was, somewhere on the third base line with a great view of the game. Only I was a bit distracted, laughing at how the hoarse-throated guy selling beer sounded like a wearied version of the Cookie Monster and musing about last season's episode of LOST. I was in my own world.

Suddenly the fans begin clapping, cheering, and standing up. I figured something was up, and so I set my nachos down and stood as well to stare at the scoreboard and process the rather impressive stats. Soon I started to realize that something bigger than I imagined was taking place before my very eyes.

That last inning was beyond tense. "Would he do it?" everyone wondered. You could tell the game had been a full load for Lee, and he was pulling out his last round of tricks and energy to keep the shutout against the Sox. While I grew up in Chicago and am a natural fan of its pro sports, I found myself rooting for Cliff Lee that night. And after a tremendous double play ended the game, the fireworks went off and the fans erupted.

23,317 fans were there to take part in it all, and I was one of them... even if I didn't plan on such fanfare.

After all, I was just there to have a good time.

On the way out, all the fans were handed free posters that celebrated the moment. Nothing anyone planned on getting, and yet were blessed by. Something that would allow us to remember the deeper meaning of the day beyond the nachos, bobble heads, and puffy fingers.

I ended up grabbing several to pass out to my neighbors, figuring it was just one way to share the blessing and continue building the good relationships God has been allowing us to establish. It gave me a reason to chat with people I normally wouldn't have an in-road with, and so the blessing of Monday became the continued blessing all this week.

Kind of like how this past Sunday I watched our church pull together and move from one building to another in less than three hours. While all that happened, we physically walked a cross down the road, passing it off from one set of individuals to another like a sacred sort of Olympic torch run.

No press was invited... this was just our way of celebrating God through something tangible... something that would allow us to remember the deeper meaning of the day beyond the moving trucks, bungee cords, and brooms.

That's because in just a little over a week, we will have a grand opening in a new building that we have become responsible for. Its open doors to the community will serve as a symbol of the open relationships we long to have with its people, all so that they might form one with God Himself. And so the days before and after that will involve a lot of sweat that could easily become about paint, lumber, and staging.

My hope and prayer is that it isn't... that like the poster I received Monday night, this day and this place are simple tools to all at the same time remember something Bigger than ourselves and love our neighbor.

All throughout the Bible, we find people building altars or doing something tangible to remind them of an intangible. That's because we are forgetful people, and we easily turn inward at the slightest drop of the hat. When things go right, we mentally pat ourselves on the back for our achievement; when things go wrong, we shake a fist at God for being unfair.

But there is a bigger thing happening that having a good time. It requires "for better or for worse" commitment on the part of its people, who are willing to cheer when the victory is sweet as well as when the elongated wait for "something" seems hard to bear.

I learned that it was only a year ago that Cliff Lee was recalled to the pro's from the AAA league. Here is a guy who probably was full of inward doubts, let alone outward attacks. On Monday he and Chicago catcher A.J. Pierzynski exchanged stares and words throughout the game, and even stonefaced each other at the end of the game. Later, Lee thanked Pierzynski for slamming his bat down after popping up in the fourth and eyeballing Lee as he ran to first. "I stared back," he said. "He was chirping from the dugout the rest of the game. It gave me extra energy. I appreciate that."

Then again, the night was full of congratulatory messages from Hall of Famers players via satelite on the scoreboard.

Every one of us stands poised to take part in great history every day, and yet most of us let our inward and outward opposition get to us... a moment when the scoreboard of our lives can reflect something great that everyone longs to be a part of.

But it means setting the nachos down and standing against the adversaries we feel would like to consume us - bills, relationships, work stuff, state of the world, and so on.

And it means desiring more than a good time... it means letting your time become good.

It means rolling up our sleeves, prepping for some sweat, denying ourselves, and carrying our cross.

And if we do, we will be a part of His Story...

a kind that others are encouraged by and want to be a part of... even if it happens unexpectedly.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.(Hebrews 12:1)