Being an adult

Some where along the line, I become seriously misinformed that being an "Adult" would be easy.  Sort of like thinking being a "Parent" would be easy.

Sadly, I was very, very delusional about all of that.  As I sit here in bed at 6 am having been awake for the past several hours worrying about all of those adult/parent issues that I don't have any control over, I've come to the realization that being a responsible adult & parent is not exactly a bed of roses!  I realize that this may not be a news flash for any of you, but for me it's a major realization on just how powerless I am over pretty much everything in my life.

Kind of depressing, isn't it?

Luckily, my sons do put some perspective in all of this...all the one has to say is "play legos?" and it doesn't seem so bad.

Now, if I can only remember that when I think about his poor, underfunded, college fund...oh well, theirs always scholarships or the GI bill!

Here he is!

And here he is!  Introductin Aiden John Fordham, born November 4th at 4:15 pm at 7 pounds 15 ounces!  Mom and Baby are doing great!

Count down

Today, Leah is "39" weeks pregnant and we hit "one of those" events the other day that marks the start of the labor and delivery process.  As you may be aware, the first one is, GET PREGNANT, which is by far the most enjoyable part whereas morning sickness, another milestone - eh, not so much.  That said, everyone in our house is slowly but surely coming to the realization that, "OH MY GOD WE'RE ABOUT TO HAVE ANOTHER BABY!"  Strange, how that doesn't fully set in until about the time the little person is due.  So please get ready to welcome "Bean" into the world...Oh, here's a plot spoiler for you...

If we have a Boy, we're going to name him -------------- and if we have a Girl, we're going to name her --------------.  (Please check your monitor resolution, if there are problems reading this posting.)

Today - Additional Catch up & Prayer Request

Ok, so what's the good news?  Well somewhere in the spring, Leah and I got pregnant with our second child which will be making its world premier around November 3rd.  And just like the last time, we're not finding out what it is, so you'll know when we know!  Outside of this and my dad passing, it's been a very uneventful summer.  Unless you include my self induced drama in all of that.  Nothing like a little self inflicted drama to make life a little more stressful.  But more of that another time.

Oh, did I forget to mention that adopted a cat, who had 4 kittens?  Yes, because we need more animals in our house, we adopted a pretty cat who subsequently blessed us with 4 kittens.  All kittens have found new homes and momma kitty has been fixed.  Anyone want a cat?

Last but not least, the prayer request:  Over the past several weeks, all of us in our house have gotten sick.  Starting with our little one and working up to Leah and I, so while Grant is feeling great and running like a maniac, Leah and I are still feeling the worse for wear and definately could use prayers of healing tired bodies & spirits.  All the stuff that comes with being pregnant, over 40 and having a toddler are starting to take their toll. 

Catch up from the summer.

It's been some time since my last post, which was...well last year.  So what's happened:

July 22nd at ~ 11:30 pm, my dad passed away.  He had been on a downward slide for the past week, never leaving his bed, not eating.  The blessing was on Wednesday the 20th, he told me he loved me.  That meant alot to me.

August 5th dad was buriedNot much to say on all of that other than I was and still am sad about him passing.

Young and Old - Life is not always fair

Pop-Pop and Grant

When I first started this blog, my Dad (aka Pop-Pop) was doing reasonably well for 78 years old but during the past several months his physical and mental health have declined substantially.  You see, my Dad has Alzheimers and things have been getting worse and worse for him.  Things finally reached a point where my mom was no longer able to take care of him at home and she had to make the decision to admit him into an Assited Living Home.

I am very sad about this for a number of reasons but mainly, I'm sad because I love my dad very much and miss being able to talk to him.  The disease has reached a stage that while he still knows who I am he is not able to speak very well or about things that are "real".  Our last conversation was about the airplane that he was getting ready to board or that I was getting ready to board.  Funny enough, the next day, he told my mom that I had landed the plane but was unsure how I had done it.

I am grateful today because he was able to meet my son and my son was able to spend time with him.  My prayer is that my son will have a warm spot in his heart when I mention Pop-Pop's name.

What made me decide to write about this today was that my wife and I started praying for advent today and today's readings focused on "waiting".  Not a passive, powerless or hopeless waiting, but an active, powerful, hopeful waiting.  A waiting for the celebration of the birth of Jesus the Christ and a waiting for the return of Christ.  A waiting for death and life.

This struck me very hard today because my wife and I are trying to have a second child and are waiting for God to bless us with one (waiting for life).  I am also waiting for my father to pass from this life to his next life with God (waiting for death).  This second part is a very difficult period of waiting for me because it's the first time in my life where I have actively prayed for someone to die.  I love my father so very much it pains me to see him on his worst days.  I call these his worst days because they are the days where he knows what his happening to his mind and that he is powerless to stop it.  These are the days that he says he is ready and wants to die.

Watching this has lead me to pray for my dad to die but also to pray that God's will to be done which has tested my faith as a Christian.  It has tested me because no where in my up bringing or in my adult Christian life was anything like this spoken of.  The "church" seemed to pass over the topic of death and dying.  So much so, that I feel akward and even guilty to tell people that I have been and continue to pray for my dad to die. 

As a Christian I believe that this life is transitory and that sooner or later all of us will die (even the son of God had to die).  So I sit here in this period of waiting, actively praying that God's will be done with my father and actively praying that God takes him home sooner rather than later.

Sunday's

A few weeks ago, I decided to take some of my own advice and have a day of rest, a Sabbath. For me, that not only meant not doing "work" for, well work, but also not to do work for me at my house. Now I don"t want you to think that I will be spending all day deep in prayer, fasting or trying to experience God in deeper more meaningful ways. I want to have those experiences but quite frankly, God didn't wire me that way. This may come as a surprise for some of you, but I am a "do-er". Yes, while I may have convinced many of you that I have the ability to sit still, silently contemplating deep, philosophical matters, I really was think about past episodes of Law & Order or a recent sci-fi book I had read. That brings us to my Sabbath.

When I brought this idea up to my wife Leah, she thought it was a great idea. No surprise there, since my wife is a self proclaimed "be-r" and has no problems just sitting and enjoying nature, sun sets or just dreaming. So two weeks go, I started implementing this new plan. To spend a day "resting". This meant no work on any of the household projects that I have. Here is how it's gone.

Week 1: A little twitchy, wanted to pull the TV out of storage in the garage and bask in it's warm glow. I resisted that urge and had a very nice day with my wife and Grant. I really enjoyed playing with him and connecting with my wife.

Week 2: Less twitchy than in week 1, no real urges to pull the TV out of storage and enjoyed spending time with my wife and son (and dog and two cats).

This may seem "easy" for may of you out there, but let me put that in perspective, that pile of logs, the above ground pool that I cut up and various piles of brick and concrete where piled up all over the back yard. So, whenever I sat out on the deck with Leah, Grant, Bevo or the cats, I was "forced" to look at these piles. The good news is that I able to ship off all the wood to the city of Houston, moved the cut of pool and allot of broken brick and concrete to the side of the house, which is my staging area for shipping it off to the dump (anyone got a truck I can borrow?). That brings us to Week 3.

Week 3: I didn't spend time on Saturday working on the backyard, so I decided to spend a couple of hours before my brother came over for a visit cleaning up various piles of brick and concrete that I had dug up earlier. Sadly, my inner squirrel kicked in and I picked up a shovel to dig up a "few" pieces of brick that were by the side fence. What I actually dug up was a more than a few bricks. I estimate that I dug up a cubic meter of brick. I am now convinced that the only known building materials in the 1950-60's in Houston where brick and concrete.

Maybe next week, I will resist the urge to work on my Sabbath!

Blessings & Peace to all.