Caroline ------> Pooping, Parenting & Theology

“Daddee, poo poo potty.”
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Yes, I do!

Yes.

I do.

That is an affirmative, Miss Caroline Jane Miller!

For many months, Caroline has mastered the notoriously infamous toddler word, "NO!"

Currently, she is learning the art of stringing a few jibberishly, somewhat translatable words together to explain exactly what she wants after she has said, "No!" to the thing she clearly doesn't want in a given moment. This is definitely a fun season of amazing growth with our 'lil nugget.

Here is a list of the following, "Yes! I do's" we frequent on a normal day:

- Smoothie (A daily treat)

- Snacks (Only Annie's Organic goodies!)

- Park (1 block away! Our home away from home.)

- Stroller (Her own mini-stroller, where Rufus and baby get fun rides!)

- Walk (Nightly routine before bedtime... CJ leads the way and hits up everyone's porch!)

- Pray (She fold her 'lil hands, reminds us to pray for Addie and ends with an "Amens" (plural)!

- Addie's house (The 1 and only... This is the home of the original play group that meets on Monday. Caroline makes sure and prays for Addie at every meal and before bedtime at a minimum of 30X/ day!)

- Book Babies (She's nearly outgrown this program at the library, but she still loves to go!)

- Lilly (This 4 yr. old cutie is adored by CJ. It's pretty precious.

- Taco Tuesday (Enough Said!)

-  Rufus (You would think Rufus was the 2nd coming of Jesus Christ!)

- Church (Yup, CJ loves the nursery at the church we attend.)

- Blocks (Bob the builder, watch out!)

- Daniel the Tiger (He's the new animated Mr. Rogers 2.0, but a Tiger.... only 15 min./ day!)

- "Wallow plants" - water plants (She's a fan, but only if I hold her while watering)

- Jersey (Yup. She loves her pink Ginobili jersey!)

We are coming up on 21 months, and it's amazing how time flies. I couldn't be more blessed with an awesome 'lil family. Caroline makes the world a better place. She's my nugget, and she daily stirs my soul with a deeper affection, compassion and love I never knew existed.... yup, she's 'da bomb!

Would I do it all over again?

Yes, I do!

Caroline Just Gets IT!

The sun = Awesome!

The snow = Ugh!

I love warm, spring days with my family!

I’ve come to realize in recent years that the weather highly affects my mood. Lauren is from Minnesota (They GET cold!), and she pointed out the reality of “seasonal depression” when we lived in a shoebox apartment with barely any natural light in Brooklyn. Living in Texas for most of my life, you just get hot and hot and humid as hell, HOT! The bottom line: I just like to be outside when the weather is a glorious 70 degrees. Denver is probably one of the best places to live when it comes to amazing seasons with excellent sunlight, year round. That being said, we do have a few weeks throughout the year that are difficult to handle (I don’t think I could do the Midwest! Just sayin’!). We have been having ridiculously beautiful spring weather lately, but just one week ago, Denver received an ugly hex from Mother Nature, 6 inches of snow!!! It didn’t last long, as the snow usually melts quickly around here. Still, I was NOT a happy camper on Monday morning, May 12, 2014.

Caroline, on the other hand, really loves the snow. For the past several months prior to the spring season, Lauren “encouraged” me to take CJ out in the snow and let her play while taking fun pictures on our camera. Finally, I reluctantly took the plunge and spent a few minutes with her in the snow the other day.

Boots. Check.

Snow suit. Check.

Coat. Check.

Hat. Check.

“Happy” daddy with smile on his face… err…umm... okay… checkish!

I snapped some photos on both our camera, and my iPhone. Caroline fell a few times in her stormtrooper boots, but kept getting back up to touch more white snow. Finally, I gladly held her precious cold hand and we walked back into the warm house.

Then, it hit me.

I looked through the photos, and I saw the pure joy in CJ’s face.

I re-processed those 5 minutes in the snow from her perspective.

I re-watched her cute face.

I re-analyzed her sense of awe, wonder and sheer beauty.

Caroline was awakened to something much deeper than her daddy (who happens to be a really, slow learner.).

There’s a Hebrew word for this “amazing” experience that I’m talking about, which is called, “Kavod.”

This word, “Kavod” in English is translated, “Glory!” In the text Isaiah receives his fresh vision from the LORD in the Temple, and he saw the presence of the Almighty along with some celestial, heavenly being singing, "HOLY, HOLY HOLY is the LORD ALMIGHTY! THE WHOLE EARTH IS FULL OF HIS GLORY!”

Trying to define this word, “glory” is like trying to define God. It’s highly complicated. It’s like trying to catch the wind with your bare hands.  You can feel it and know it’s there, but it’s ridiculously mysterious – yet very simple for a child. Glory literally means “weight” or “significance”. You know when you’ve experienced glory, something with true weight. For some, it’s like watching Kevin Durant or LeBron James play basketball (For me, it is when the San Antonio Spurs are playing lights out, team basketball!). For Caroline, it is when she experiences AWE….. SOMEness as a toddler delighting in the snow!

One of my favorite stories in the Bible is about a man named, Jacob. His father sent him on a journey to find a wife in a country about 600 miles away. That’s a long, lonely journey. One evening, he found himself alone, in the middle of the desert. He pulled up a rock for a pillow (Ouch?). And, he had a psychedelic dream seemingly written by Hunter S. Thompson. A stairway to heaven… angels were ascending and descending on “Jacob’s Ladder.” A fresh vision from the LORD came, and God reminded Jacob of his future blessing, reminding him that he would never forsake him.

Listen closely to the end of this story with the line that changes everything … “When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.”  - Genesis 28:16-17

Did you hear that?

HOUSE OF God!

That’s what “Bethel” means, “House of God.” So, that’s the name of this place on the literal map. This was epically mind blowing to Jacob. God revealed His awesome-ness, and Jacob realized it AFTER the fact.

Did you hear the language he used in this scene, “Surely, the LORD IS in this place (That’s present tense… He’s HERE!), and I WAS not award of it (past tense). Oh, the beauty of amazing things happening all of the time, all around us, and like Jacob, we just aren’t aware of it! So often – and sadly – we have to learn this in hindsight.

Listen to the truth found in this passage. This earth is God’s home!!!

This is a belief that began to influence Jacob and his descendents who would become the nation of Israel. The prophets in the Bible were deeply influenced by the understanding that the entire earth is soaked with the presence of the Almighty God! According to the worldview before, during and after the time of Jesus, God is not found somewhere else! He is right here! It is HIS world. He made it. He’s always in it. God owns it, and God’s beauty is manifested everywhere, even on snowy days. Thus, God is ever present within every portion of it… 24/7! You cannot put God in a box.

Imagine if we really lived with the understanding that the world was saturated with the divine. Heaven on earth… Imagine if we saw the world in the ways in which a toddler sees fresh snow?

Artist Robbie Seay, wrote a song years ago called, “Breathing Air Again.” The lyrics are filled with glory! He writes the following:

Take the time to start anew

Maybe it's in front of you

Take the time to walk down your street

And heaven knows who you might meet

In another line, he says, “Take the time to stop and stare… Heaven's beauty everywhere.”

This is so true, and we know it when we have the eyes to see and the ears to hear! I have many Christian/ church pet peeves, and one of them is when pastors and leaders say things like, “Dude! Today was awesome! God showed up.” Really, I wonder… so, God wasn’t here at all… ? You gave him a ring, invited him and he showed up? Waaahhh???? He suddenly decided to show up? That's just bad theology!

God simply waits for us to show up. He desires for his children of all ages to WAKE UP,  rain, snow or shine!

Kids do this waking up thing really well, but adults somehow become bitter and cynical. We get picky, petty, panicky and pathetic. Way to often, we are looking ahead to what’s next, and we neglect to see the glory in the present world, all around us. We often do this in church, at home, in our activities, with sports, the entertainment world, and within our jobs. And, while the next thing might be great (i.e. spring over winter, the warm sun over the cold snow) often, we simply neglect what is right in front of us. The gift of GLORY is today! Blink, and you might miss it.

This reminds me of a favorite quote from the 80’s classic, “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.” “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

Special thanks to many19-month-old geniuses who simply "get it"!

So, this week... 

Become a child.

Wake up.

See the world with eyes of wonder.

Seize heaven today, and even, right now!

MillerTime Update!

What's up with the MILLER tribe?

The Nugget is growing leaps and bounds, and Lauren and I are always amazed with the developments that are taking place each week with such a ‘lil person. Caroline is nearly 16 months old. She’s communicating more and more, and she even pretends to read her books by herself, which is quite the silly and awesome sight. Of course, her favorite words lately have been, “No, No, No, No,” which can mean a lot of things she just doesn’t want to do at any given moment. She is a willful booger. We’ve also noticed that she takes after Lauren in the CAUTION department. Lauren is not a risk taker, whereas I would love to go skydiving tomorrow! Caroline processes a room, reluctantly moves forward and often gives newbies a “mean mug” and stiff-arm. Still, she has a tenderly beloved spirit once trust is built. She loves to cuddle, kiss and love on Hercules and Maggie, our 10 and 11-year-old dachshunds. She loves to see her friends in the neighborhood and at playgroup. She even says some of their names. It’s precious – beyond words – when she notices another buddy on our walks down S. Pearl St. or treks to the park. Caroline enjoys stacking blocks, putting stickers on daddy, dancing, destroying the living room like a Tasmanian Devil in 30 seconds flat; she loves Elmo, Cookie Monster and always enjoys eating, eating, eating and eating!

Dr. Lauren is doing well in her intern year at St. Josephs Hospital, which is always the most difficult year of residency. She only gets 2 elective months the first year (elective month, meaning, a  “normal” job with 5 days and weekends off!) In fact, she’s halfway finished with her 1^st year. Woo Hoo! However, she is working such long and tiresome hours that her main goal for ’14 is simply to survive and enjoy time with her family when she is at home. We were able to take Caroline to the Denver stock show on Monday. If you ever see Lauren out in public and she exemplifies a Zombie, please, know her schedule is to literally “die for”… . Lauren completed her last night shift rotation of the year (brutal), and switched to a new month of daily ICU shifts today. This means that we get to see her at nights for dinner (sometimes) before Caroline goes to bed, and she gets 1 day off a week (or 4 days/month). Needless to say, we long for the day when we will have a social life with friends again. All of this being said, we knew this season was going to be difficult, and I’m really thankful that we have 12 year of marriage under our belt as this is definitely a team effort! I’m very proud of Lauren on many levels! She's an awesome doctor, excellent wife and a great mother!

I’m beginning a new season as well. As some of you know, my days consist of changing diapers, laundry, a bit of cleaning (Cleaning is relative to me. Just ask my wife or mother!), cooking and keeping Caroline on a good schedule. We try to make it to 2 play groups/week, 2 library “book baby” groups/week and have our weekly Taco Tuesday routine and now, Sexy Pizza – Hump Days (Yes, as awkward as that sounds, we DO have a $1/slice place called “Sexy Pizza” in our ‘hood that we frequent with another Stay-at-Home dad on Wednesdays/ Hump Days! 

A new hobby I am really stoked about is learning how to home-brew. I bought my first brew kit and aim to get my first batch of IPA started Wednesday night. I only wish I paid more attention in Mrs. Carrie's Chemistry class. In addition to my full time, Stay-at-Home dad gig, I’ve enrolled at my alma matter, Denver Seminary, for another degree program (6 year plan, at best! No rush...). I’m only taking 1 online class/ semester, and I thoroughly enjoyed my experience last fall. 

I’ve also finally committed to a church for this season (New Denver Church, a smaller community that values missional communities and shared leadership – See 3DM model!), which was a big decision considering the fact that I’ve never gone “church shopping” and haven’t chosen a church outside of pastoral work since college. I’ve become friends with one of the pastors and have committed to a small group with him and a few other guys; something I realized I needed. New Denver Church has, what I feel, one of the healthiest leadership structures and philosophies of ministry I’ve seen within the local church. If you are interested, I'll tell you about it on the side. Amway,  I received an email from my new friend in December, saying that their part-time youth pastor left for a full time ministry job, and they needed an interim they could trust for a season for this small youth group (literally, 8 students max). After prayer, conversations with some trusted friends and nailing out some details, I’ve committed this season working only 5 hrs./ week as a consultant-mentor-pastoral-youth guy, so to speak. My ultimate goal is to train up a young, Denver seminary student and hopefully give him the reigns at some point this year. Please, if you pray for us, be in prayer for this element of our journey and the families we will come to know as well. Also, I’ve been asked to speak again at a local Christian high school next week (It’s always a good sign when someone invites you back to speak! For those that know me and have heard my messages, what's your favorite message? They've already heard the Rabbi/ discipleship "Follow me" and the "Other Side" bit BTW. Email me.). In all honesty, there are times when I do miss local church ministry and teaching every now and then, but I have really embraced this special season for a number of reasons. Some days I get misty thinking about Caroline growing up and sending her off to school. She is my 'lil buddy, and I love her like crazy. I wouldn’t trade this season for the world!

 

Lastly, my latest crowning achievement as a parent is that I taught Caroline the beloved, “Hook “Em Horns!” Yup, she a smart one, indeed!

Peace