June 20, 2011

Issues... Pt. 3

My pastor, Brady Boyd, came to New Life in a foreboding environment filled with scandal, culture shock, and pain.  

Since then, he has helped to transform New Life into a growing church family worth being a part of - a church family grounded on the basics: worshiping God, connecting with one another, and serving our community.  We're all still figuring it out, and like any family we have our hiccups.  But the future is bright and we're looking forward - not back.

About 10 days ago, Brady went in for open heart surgery to replace a damaged valve.  It was a "routine" procedure - but far from routine!  This is what places him in a different category in my mind - though energetic and passionate on the platform he's dealt with this core physical defect his whole life - facing various surgeries, exhaustion, and no doubt some of his own internal struggles with things like 'fairness.'  

The operation was successful, and doctors expect a full recovery in a few months time.  Read more here.  

The apostle Paul described his own struggle in Second Corinthians, chapters 11 and 12.  According to him, he was given a 'thorn in his flesh' to keep him from becoming conceited.  Although he pleaded for it to leave, it remained and God said, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."  Paul goes on to say he now delights in his weakness so that "Christ's power may rest on [him]," and proclaims:

"For when I am weak, then I am strong."

I'm reminded of a scene from Pixar's "Incredibles," a movie about superheroes.  At the height of the villain Syndrome's monologuing he reveals his plot to give super powers to the whole world - saying something like "[soon everyone will be special, and then no one will be.]"

At the heart of my desire to be a mutant superhero was wanting to be special, set apart, looked to for hope as a hero, and able to offer that salvation.  But in this world, I must embrace both sides of the coin; I am both - mutant (on the 'extra bone' level anyway) with special "out-of-alignment back abilities" - and one of the 'more unfortunate' as well.  In a way I wasn't before I'm personally aware of the state of things in our fallen world, with a physical body that is bound to its fate.

But in a way, I also get to be the hero.  As a Christian, I am set apart, able to give hope to others in the good news of Jesus, and let him do the saving.

I've so admired Brady's candor and strength as he prepared for and went through the surgery.  Like him, but to a lesser degree, I have an issue that causes discomfort with some potential physical limitations.  And like the apostle Paul, we all share a measure of the thorn that reminds us to "delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.

For when [we] are weak, then [we] are strong."


**please continue to pray for Brady's recovery in these next weeks and months.

June 16, 2011

Issues... Pt. 2

The pragmatic side of me vanished and the emotional side took over.  On the outside I was calm, taking the news well.  "Wow, you don't say."  Under the surface, I think I gulped something to the effect of "This can't be.  I just spent a ton of money getting into this sport - and I've been having a blast!  I've been looking forward to this for months - Take it all back and buy two iPads, and I wouldn't have half the fun!!"

I find myself caught somewhere between "Wow, I'm a the mutant I always wanted to be," and "Blast!  If only I were normal I could do more of what I love" and leaning towards the latter.  To make matters worse - I ask, "If this is something genetic, some sort of recessive trait, what are the odds that my little girl will have it, or develop it?"

Whoa there big boy, step back.  I'll admit there's a fatalist tendency there I need to keep in check.  Overall I'm an optimist, looking at the bright side, glass half full.  But this is a doozy.  There's a feeling of defeat, of powerlessness.

Talking to Joanna about this, who is no stranger to back issues (see part 1), we faced the harsh reality that we may indeed pass things on to our daughter, and that we might face further limitations as we age.  But we also discussed the fact that chiropractic care has only been around for a hundred years, and prior to this advancement people still walked the earth with various difficulties and physical struggles.  And we also talked about the 'degree' of our own difficulties.

Think of the 'more unfortunate' folks you know.  The world is full of people who have "real" issues: cancers, cerebral palsy, victims of polio, malaria, and other rare and destructive diseases.  These are the faces we see on Sunday morning infomercials in Africa, and many times, on Sunday mornings in church.  I won't go too deeply into his story, but it turns out my pastor is one of those people - a person I place in the 'more unfortunate' category…


To Be Continued...

June 13, 2011

Issues...

I just discovered that I have an extra vertebrae in my spine.  Under normal circumstances, you might think this was cool.  I did for a few minutes myself.  Turns out 7% of humanity has an extra vertebrae, and when I saw the x-ray I thought, if only for a brief moment -

"Wow.  I really am an X-Man."

I've wanted to be a mutant superhero for as long as I can remember.  From watching Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, sneaking occasional episodes of soap-opera-styled X-men cartoon of the mid nineties, or enjoying the recent batch of Hollywood superhero blockbusters over the last several years - there has always been a glimmer of hope that I would be one, or even the one; first in a new wave of "human evolution."  Without knowing it, I guess I'd bought into some version of an Old Earth theology...

It was my first appointment to the chiropractor, thought not my first visit, or adjustment.  Joanna has a condition in her lower back that somehow allows one of her vertebrae to hang almost halfway off the one below it.  Sounds crazy - but if she keeps her core strong and watches what she lifts, she's fine.  She visits every so often in order to stave off inflammation, and I've accompanied her several times.  I visited the same doctor last week, and I'll see him again today.  Prior to this, I was informally adjusted by a friend's dad at a wedding, and since then had begun the sticking habit of "self adjustment."  

That was the reason I made the appointment; cracking my own spine started to creep me out.

But as he began to explain what had happened (and I filled in the blanks with my imagination), I realized this wasn't the mutant power I was hoping for.  It's sorta like discovering you're playing a role like Bruce Davison from the original "X-Men" movie - a regular person who is transformed into a mutant, against his will, only to later be slowly and painfully destroyed by it.

The news sank in sorta funny.  I could tell by his tone that it was fairly serious.  The pragmatic side of me could understand it fairly easily: I had a misaligned spot that was causing a rough pinch on a disk - along with inflammation and limited mobility.  Further, he said there was nothing he could really do since the bones seemed to have fused together!  Then the real blow, "you should probably pull back from cycling for a while…"


To Be Continued...

June 08, 2011

The [New] Way to my Heart

I've discovered that Joanna isn't the only one experiencing a shift in body composition as she becomes 28 weeks pregnant; I've discovered that the myths are true: sympathy weight gain in husbands is as real as a tight pair of pants.

The last few weeks have been hectic.  Hosting a graduation ceremony for 60 families, wrapping up a paper that has taken 2 years to write (another story), sending a team to Africa and life have been keeping us busy.  Our routine of regular exercise has taken a hit as Jo is more limited in what she can do, and I find myself preferring to hang with her (fun and easy!) instead.

I was a runner for years.  5k's, 10k's, 15k's, a half marathon up the side of Pikes Peak - three times, and a road race up the side of Mt Evans - twice!  I was the captain of the cross country team my senior year in high school after running 3 seasons prior.  2 mile records, an ORU Fun Run victory and such.  I was and have been 'that' guy.  There are traces of interest still left.  I could still run a full marathon someday, and I would still love to climb all 55 of Colorado's 14-ers.  That's really just a matter of time.

But cycling.  Cycling offers not only the chance to get in shape (if you're diligent), but also to see [more of] the world around you, feel a 100 year-old continuous feat of engineering beneath your feet, strut proudly in the tightest of spandex, and boast of 40 and 50 mile rides!  And it's different.

Conveniently, in the midst of this inertia embracing season, my birthday happens to be - today.  Yes, I'm a year older, and I can truly say that 27 feels lovely after about 5 conscious hours of it.  But along with the loving embrace and celebration of family, cake and hot dogs; today I'll enjoy gifts.  And this year, Joanna and my parents were especially generous.

My new [to me] 2010 Bianchi ViaNirone.  Fast.
At just the moment I needed a little help in sparking my personal fitness, Joanna agreed to the most extravagant present I'm likely to see for a decade.   I've considered this sport switch for a number of years - and today - I inaugurate it.

And as I do - I've remembered something important: To do things that make me come alive.  The list is fairly long.  Adventures, dates with Joanna, skydiving, leading worship, writing and reading... Cycling is just one more piece of it all.

In the hustle of life, it's easy to let your schedule dominate you.  There will always be demands, even when things seem slow.  If you're addicted to motion and action, you can always find things to do.  The trick is doing your part to keep the fires burning on the inside.  Find whatever that is for you, and schedule it, if you have to.

As the New Life School of Worship takes a break for the summer, as the other two thirds of the staff are in Africa, as I celebrate the passing of one year and the beginning of another and as we enjoy the brief lull before our first baby comes - I'm taking time to enjoy it.  I don't feel guilty for an instant - for I know the time I spend will greater invest itself into my future.

May those moments of coming alive (as John Eldredge might say it) come as often as possible.