Dubble Bubble

I know you know this cool little side-ball-cap wearing guy with the "thumbs up"! I know you know the amazingly powerful rush of sugar and goodness you receive from your first bite into this amazing gum! And I know you know the very enjoyable five minutes you get before your jaw locks up and you are forced to spit out this piece of gum! Right? I'm not the only one that has this experience with Dubble Bubble, right? LOL! I am being a bit facetious, but while hanging out with some friends tonight I had a conversation that has been my inspiration for this blog.

I have known some great "fire starters" in my life. You know these guys/girls... they walk up to a situation in need of a quick fire and they take two rocks and a couple sticks and begin what turns out to be something only Nero could dream of. My friend Neil is one of these guys, a college buddy proved himself to be quite useful in this area and tonight I met a guy who stepped up to the task and showed all of us hanging around the fire how a real fire is started. He huffed and be puffed and he got a HUGE fire going! It was spectacular! It was so brilliant that I had to take a few steps back just to take in the greatness of this fire (actually I got too hot and I began to sweat). Anyway, this fire was nice and big and served its purpose... SMORES!!!!

So, the sun dropped behind the edge of the earth and the fire started to dwindle and everyone around the fire was thinking that this bad boy needed to be stoked up a bit... so our host put in the last big piece of wood and it quickly took off. The night went on and the fire was almost gone again, so Shane (our host) grabbed some smaller pieces of wood (fire starting pieces) so we could have more fire. After about five minutes of brightness, he found himself dipping back into the bag to do this again, and again and again and... well, you get the point. After this routine happened a couple more times, I made the comment, "Shane, those pieces of pinewood (assuming they were pine by the intense smell of pine that we smelt the moment they hit the fire) are like Dubble Bubble. They are good for five minutes and then you got to put another piece in." There was a little laughter, but it got me thinking, so I said, "its kind of like for some relationships too huh? Good for about five minutes and then over." There was more laughter, but sadly to say this is true, isn't it?

We meet people everyday. I've met a ton of people in my life and I have liked the majority of them. But sometimes I find myself going all out in the beginning and making a huge impact and then slowly fade away. Or maybe not even relationships, what about all those "New Year's" resolutions? I don't know how many times I've started a year off in the gym and then fade away. There are so many different things in my life that I started and then, like Dubble Bubble, fade away and I throw out. I can't even tell you how many times I went to Summer Hills church camp, got all excited about serving Jesus, threw out my "worldly" music only to repurchase it a couple months later.

Tonight got me thinking a lot about my life and the bad habit I have of starting something with all my passion and zeal and then topping over and ending it. I don't do this with everything, but enough to get me thinking.

What about you? Have you seen yourself treat things in life like Dubble Bubble?

Moved to tears

This morning I was moved to tears.

When you look at this picture you might think that I was moved to tears when a 21'' long, 8lb 2oz baby was born to Julie and me @ 1:50pm yesterday, Friday, March 25, 2011, but those tears were yesterday. I held my son in my arms and wept to myself. When no one was in the room I teared up and softly spoke to my son. I said, "hi, I'm your daddy and I will love you forever and ever!"

I could also be talking about when new mommy Julie fed Benjamin Nathaniel Gurulé for the first time. Those tears were hidden and yesterday as I stood behind her watching them connect for the first time. Julie held him in her arms and guided his mouth to the food supply and spoke softly into his little soft ears and said, "hi, I'm your mommy and I will love you forever and ever!"

These tears could also have been the tears I had when so many people (family & friends) came in to show their support and love. Those tears were also yesterday as they all took their turns at holding Benji, Benny Bean, Ben and somehow introducing themselves to him with their gentle hold and gaze into his face saying, "hi, I'm ____ and I will love you forever and ever!"

Those were all very special moments and all brought me to tears, but the tears I had this morning were brought by... ...

"Come in," I said to the knocks at the door.

"House keeping", a voice came in and continued, "can I come in?"

I replied, "yes, please, come in!" I continued posting pictures and reading posts on my facebook page when a tall, big boned African-American woman entered our room. Benjamin was sleeping in his little bed and Julie was putting on the finishing touches in preparing herself for a day of visitors. This woman began talking to Benji so I perched up to observe this interaction.

"Hi beautiful! You are so good looking aren't you?" Then she turned to Julie and spoke encouragement to her, "Is this your first?"

Julie answered, "yes".

"Oh, I have two kids and I remember it so well. They are..." as she continued talking to Julie I directed my attention to the computer, because I received a new post alert on facebook. When I was done I looked up and she was smiling, pulling full trash bags and replacing them. She was cleaning the bathroom and dusting and sweeping/mopping the floor. I know it was her job, but then she looked up and said, "is there anything I can get for you three?" It wasn't her job to serve us in this capacity. Her job was to clean our room.

Julie said, "umm, I don't know if we should just ask the nurse or you, but can we get some fresh towels and wash clothes?"

"Oh, I will get it. I will be happy to get that for you." She left the room and came back in and then made sure there wasn't anything else we needed, by asking again, "Is there anything else I can do for you?"

I said, "No, thank you for being so kind to us and tending to us."

"Not a problem. I have always tried to be kind to others knowing that I want others to be kind to me." She continued, "Who knows if one day you'll be stranded, and I see you, I could help you. We should all treat each other the way we want to be treated."

"Well, thank you so much."

And with that she walked out and I was moved to tears. That truth came from Jesus' own mouth through a random woman to me. This wasn't some monumental moment, but it was Jesus' soft voice in a very exciting and busy moment in my life saying, "Hi, I'm your daddy and I will love you forever and ever!"