How I Got My Heart of Stone
September 24, 2008 by Ryan
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No one quite knows the reason.
It could be perhaps that his shoes were too tight.
It could be his head wasn’t screwed on just right.
But I think that the most likely reason of all
May have been that his heart was two sizes too small.
- Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas
I have been indoctrinated.
I admit it. From the time that I was born, I have been raised with a specific worldview. Primarily, I believe what I believe because I was raised that way and I vote the way I vote because I was raised to vote that way.
Have my ideals been challenged? Definitely. Have I defended my views? Absolutely. But being challenged and defending a worldview when it has been so thoroughly ingrained doesn’t necessarily indicate that you have evaluated and internalized those values. After all, “talking points” are called “talking points” for a reason.
Why do I believe what I believe? Maybe it is because my shoes are too tight! Or worse! Maybe, because I have been raised in such a callous, greed-driven, privileged environment, I am actually heartless? Let’s look at the factors that contributed to my values. Which elements give credence to the criticism that I have been brainwashed, or at least, have a very limited perspective on the world?
NY Times: Messiah Resurrection May Not Be Unique to Christianity
July 7, 2008 by Ryan
Note: At first I was just going to put this on my “What I’m Digging” page or on Twitter, but I just kept writing and decided it needed to be a whole post.
Dominic Buettner for The New York Times
Some Christians will find it shocking — a challenge to the uniqueness of their theology — while others will be comforted by the idea of it being a traditional part of Judaism,” Mr. Boyarin said.
The New York Times reports of a discovery of a tablet that predates Jesus Christ by decades and speaks of a Jewish belief that “a messiah will rise from the dead after three days.” What baffles me is how this could be shocking for Christians or “a challenge to the uniqueness of their theology.” This only confirms the idea that Christ fulfilled the Law of Moses and was in fact the anticipated Messiah. Read more
Pray for Jeremy
November 27, 2007 by Ryan
It’s hard to describe the emotional rollercoaster my family has been through this last 2 weeks. For those of you who have not heard, we have some concerns for our little boy, Jeremy Michael. He’s due in early March. I’ve waited to write about this until my wife had and she did a good job of explaining what we’re up against.
We’re Pregnant!
When we found out we were pregnant it was a pleasant surprise: we weren’t trying, but we weren’t not trying. It actually was about perfect because the baby would be about two years apart from our daughter Kimberly. I really did not care whether it was a boy or a girl. If it was a girl, Kimberly would have a sister right close to her age. If it was a boy, hey! it’s our first boy!
Saying Hi to Jeremy
About two weeks ago, we went in for our doctor’s ultrasound. I just Twittered…
Just saying hi to Baby Jeremy @ my wife’s ultrasound!
After the ultrasound, I went to take care of Kimberly as Beth went to go talk to the doctor. The doctor called me in. She said us down and told us they saw some things that concerned her and that we’d need to go see a specialist. Needless to say we were in quite a bit of shock. I think I had always assumed everything would be okay. I think most parents in general think that way.
We went to see the specialist the next day, which was nice to not have this unknown hanging over our heads for too long. He did another ultrasound and then sat us down to talk about it. Again, I’m not going to rehash all the details, Beth did a good job in her post. From that discussion we were faced with that reality that our little boy had Spina Bifida and the possibility of worse. The doctor explained that there might be a chromosome defect and we then spoke with a genetic specialist. She told us that the most likely of the rare problems we could have would be Trisomy 13, which would most likely mean we wouldn’t have him for very long.
Perspective
I was going to write that it “hit us like a ton of bricks” but, honestly, we were fairly calm about all of it. There have been things that have come up in the last while that, I believe, happened to prepare us. We’re very blessed to have the perspective that we do. We know that whatever happens, in the grand scheme of things, we’ll be okay. We know that if he was only with us a short time, we wouldn’t be losing him forever. If we do get to have him, whatever challenges he’s going to have we can do it. Not on our own, but with the Lord’s help. We have wonderful families that will be there. We know that we’ve been seal as a family, and that we will be together after this life.
The Results
As it turns out, I have been writing this post here and there since that time and we found out that there are no chromosome problems! And we are so grateful and happy that there aren’t. I want to thank all those that prayed for us. One of the first thoughts that I had was to call my family and ask them to pray for Jeremy. And we still need those prayers and that faith. Now we know that Jeremy will be with us for a long time and now we are praying that he will be able to walk and not require a shunt.
I am so excited to have him. I love him already. Knowing how much I love Kimberly, I can’t wait to have my little boy!
