Happy Anniversary!

Four years ago today, I stood in front of a large group of family and friends and committed my life to a young lady named Heather Jean Swilley. And today we are celebrating our four-year wedding anniversary.

As I look back to four years ago, I remember what was one of the best moments in my life. You know, those moments that are forever burned into your brain and that make you smile every time no matter how many times you think about it?

Heather and I are not traditional people, so we definitely did not have a traditional wedding. My groomsmen came down the isle to the startling lineup theme music from the classic 1990s Chicago Bulls teams with Michael Jordan for crying out loud. We also did not do the whole traditional “bride and groom cannot see each other till the actual wedding”. We took pictures before the ceremony, so we could go straight to the reception and more importantly, start the honeymoon sooner. However, we did have a special moment where I was in the church auditorium alone and Heather walked down the isle. When the doors opened, my heart skipped a beat and my breathe was taken away by her beauty. Having that moment of seeing my bride walking down the isle, dressed in white, and all dolled up brought tears to my eyes. That moment was so special because it was just me and her, nobody else. What a special moment!

Heather, I love you so incredibly much. I thank God everyday for bringing you into my life. Thank you for all the countless ways you are a servant to me. You teach me more about God than any other person in my life and you make me want to be a better person. You are such an amazing partner in life and in ministry. In fact, you are probably a better minister than I am. You are beautiful. You are my best friend.

The thing that attracts me to you the most today is the same thing that attracted me to you so many years ago: the fact that I know without a shadow of a doubt that you love God way more than you could ever love me.

I cannot wait to grow old with you, raise kids with you, go on vacations with you, experience new things with you, minister with you, and see you smile day after day.

I love you very much. Happy Anniversary, Heather.

_______________________

And, yes, we are sitting in the Yankees dugout at Yankee Stadium in the above picture.

Learn Something Everyday

We have all heard the saying “you learn something new everyday”. I am a big believer in this rule. In fact, I learned something today that I will immediately put into practice, starting with this post.

(WARNING: THIS IS INCREDIBLY RANDOM AND IS NOT SPIRITUAL AT ALL.)

When I was a junior in high school, I took a class called “Typing”. I know this will date me a little bit, but that is ok. Now when I say typing, I do not mean sitting in front of a computer and typing on the keyboard. No, this was sitting in front of a typewriter. 

One thing that this class taught me was to press the spacebar twice at the end of sentences. This method of typing has been engrained in my brain for years now. I have pressed the spacebar twice after sentences ever since that class. 

Now to fully understand me and my brain, you have to know that I notice and obsess over small things like how many times you press the spacebar at the end of a typed sentence. I have noticed when others do not do it and I have wondered if I was incorrectly typing.

Well, after some research, I learned something today. A graphic designer named John Burns says…

As a career-long graphic designer, I love your book cover and website. I have one suggestion for you, after reading a few of your blog entries. Unlike the old days of the typewriter, where you would hit the space bar twice after a sentence, the current typographic practice on the computer is to hit it only once. In the typewriter days, there was mono-spacing. Each letter, whether it was an i or a W, or even a . (period), was given the same amount of space. That lead to uneven spacing. The only way to make the end of sentences obvious, was to add two spaces. Current technology, however, has given us proportional spacing. So, now the type looks better, and the extra space after a sentence is extraneous.

There you go. I learned something today. From here on out, I will no longer hit the spacebar twice after a sentence. Be patient with me because it is tough to break 14+ years of typing habits. I am just pumped I finally got an answer.

I know…I’m such a geek.

What about you? If you learn something new everyday, that means that you have learned something today. I shared what I learned today. What did you learn today?

Happy Birthday Josh

Today, Josh Hamilton turns 27 today.  For those of you who don’t know Josh Hamilton, he is the soon to be All-Star outfielder for the Texas Rangers who is currently leading the American League in RBIs.  Now I do not him personally, but I know his incredible story.

Hamilton was selected number one overall by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the 1999 Major League Baseball draft.  He was the first high school player to be drafted number one overall since Alex Rodriguez in 1993.  He had all the tools it took to be a superstar - power, speed, good arm, etc.  He signed his first professional contract, which included a $3.96 million signing bonus, two days after he was drafted.  His parents left packed up, left their home, and traveled with their 18 year old son, the major league baseball player.  They were his chaperones for almost two years until a severe car wreck in February 2001 forced them to return home.

For the first time, Hamilton was on his own.  He was also injured from the car wreck so he found himself with nothing but time on his hands.  He ended up hanging out in tattoo parlors, strip joints, and bars.  He quickly morphed into a full-blown alcohol and crack addict.  After failing multiple drug tests, he was suspended by Major League Baseball.  Josh Hamilton, the 1999 number one draft pick, was completely out of baseball by February 2004.

He tried quitting.  He tried rehab.  He lasted eight days at the Betty Ford Clinic.  At times, he stopped using.  That would be shortly followed by moments of rehab.  Then on October 5, 2005, Hamilton quit abusing drugs and drinking alcohol.  In a July 2007 ESPN.com article, he explains why in his own words…

Within my first week of sobriety in October 2005 — after I showed up at my grandmother’s house in Raleigh in the middle of the night, coming off a crack binge — I had the most haunting dream. I was fighting the devil, an awful-looking thing. I had a stick or a bat or something, and every time I hit the devil, he’d fall and get back up. Over and over I hit him, until I was exhausted and he was still standing.

I woke up in a sweat, as if I’d been truly fighting, and the terror that gripped me makes that dream feel real to this day. I’d been alone for so long, alone with the fears and emotions I worked so hard to kill. I’m not embarrassed to admit that after I woke up that night, I walked down the hall to my grandmother’s room and crawled under the covers with her. The devil stayed out of my dreams for seven months after that. I stayed clean and worked hard and tried to put my marriage and my life back together. I got word in June 2006 that I’d been reinstated by Major League Baseball, and a few weeks afterward, the devil reappeared.

It was the same dream, with an important difference. I would hit him and he would bounce back up, the ugliest and most hideous creature you could imagine. This devil seemed unbeatable; I couldn’t knock him out. But just when I felt like giving up, I felt a presence by my side. I turned my head and saw Jesus, battling alongside me. We kept fighting, and I was filled with strength. The devil didn’t stand a chance.

You can doubt me, but I swear to you I dreamed it. When I woke up, I felt at peace. I wasn’t scared. To me, the lesson was obvious: Alone, I couldn’t win this battle. With Jesus, I couldn’t lose.

Hamilton had his road to Damascas moment.  He got a second chance in life.  That was shortly following by a second chance in baseball.  He was reinstated by Major League Baseball and was signed by the Cincinnati Reds in December 2006.  In December 2007 he was traded to the Texas Rangers.

The difference with the Josh Hamilton now from the Josh Hamilton of the past is his priorities.  His relationship with God is first, his relationship with his family is second, and baseball is third.  Without the first two, baseball is not even in the picture.

Hamilton now has a purpose for life and that is not playing baseball.  He can often be found reliving his painful past by giving his testimony in front of churches and youth groups.  He is using the worst time of his life to point others to the power of God. 

Hamilton’s wife, Katie beautifully describes their situation this way, “God told me he was going to give Josh baseball back, but it wasn’t going to be for baseball.  It was going to be for something much bigger.  He was going to give Josh a platform to help others.  He is the most beautiful choreographer.  It’s not by accident that all the things that have happened in our lives have happened.”

I think we can all learn a lot from Josh Hamilton.  With God, all things are possible.  You are never too far and too messed up to not be forgiven.  You can use the darkest moments of your life as a testimony to point others to Jesus. 

How did Hamilton change from a chronic drug addict to the starting outfielder on the Texas Rangers?  He answers in his own words, “How am I here?  I can only shrug and say, ‘It’s a God thing.’  It’s the only possible explanation.”

That’s a professional athlete I want to cheer for.  

Happy Birthday Josh.

 

 

Breathe, Just Breathe

My life has been extremely busy and hectic lately.  Ministry this time of the year is always by far the busiest time of the year.  My life has been consumed lately by Bible studies, Growth Groups, Sulphur Springs Workcamp, IMPACT, China meetings, fundraising, the Awakening, preparing for summer interns, and much more.  This time of the year I feel like a horrible husband because I am away from the house more than normal on top of the fact that Heather and I’s wedding anniversary is May 22 and I always seem to be busy on that day.

My mind becomes consumed with maintaining my schedule and keeping track of meetings and planning sessions.  I get anxious just thinking about tackling my to-do list.  I get so busy that I tend to forget the essentials in life.  

Sometimes I need to remember to just breathe.  Take a step back from life and breathe.

After a busy meeting full of meetings and things on my agenda, this afternoon I was listening to one of my favorite bands, The Cost.  One of their songs, “Breathe” (you can listen to it on their myspace page), began to minister to me and my busyness.  Let the chorus of this song spoken from the perspective of God minister to you today…

Breathe.

Just Breathe.

Take a breath.

And breathe in me.

Sometimes we need to just take some time to step back and simply breathe.  Breathe in life.  Breathe in God.

Genesis 2:7 (NIV) says, “the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.“

We are not alive without the breath of God.  We are not truly living until we are breathing in God.  The time that I am most susceptible to forgetting that fact is when I am busy.

If your life is really busy and hectic like mine is lately, let me encourage you take a step back for a few minutes and reconnect with God.  The work will still be there in a few minutes.  The best thing we could probably to do to most efficiently tackle our to-do lists is to take a step back, engage our Heavenly Father, and breathe.  

Breathe, just breathe.

 

Is Sleep Spiritual? (continued…)

After being bugged all day by not being able to remember where I first heard the idea of sleep being spiritual and after doing a lot of research (with the help of Heather), we finally found where we first heard this (we think).  It is from the book The Life You’ve Always Wanted by John Ortberg.  Here’s the exact chunk of the book I was thinking about:

I was surprised to find that the Bible has much to say about what John Ballie called the theology of sleep.  Sleep is a gift from God:

I will both lie down and sleep in peace; for you alone, O LORD, make me lie down in safety. - Psalm 4:8

It is an act of trust; I am reminded when I go to sleep that the world is in God’s hands, not mine.  The world will get along very well even though I am not awake to try to control things.  At the appropriate time, my eyes will open and I will receive the gift of wakefulness once again.

I lie down and sleep; I wake again, for the LORD sustains me. - Psalm 3:5

Have you ever tried to pray when you are lacking sleep?  Before Elijah was to spend a prolonged time in solitude and prayer at Mount Horeb, the angel of the Lord had him take not one, but two long naps.  Contrast this with the disciples at Gethsemane, who could not pray because they kept falling asleep.  Sleep is a gift from God.

It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives sleep to the his beloved. - 1 Kings 19:1-9

For some of you reading this book, perhaps the single most spiritual thing you could do right now is to put it down and take a nap.

I find it hilarious that as I am typing and re-reading over this challenging section of this book, it is 12:30am.

Is Sleep Spiritual?

“Taking a nap may be the most spiritual thing you do.”

That was the quote that I remember hearing at one time.  I am frustrated because I cannot remember if it was something I heard in a sermon or lecture or if it was something I read in a book.  Either way, the point is that I did not have this original thought.

Last night, I did something I have not done in years - went to sleep early and got a good, long, full night’s sleep.  I woke up this morning without yawning and without hitting the snooze button five times.  I feel good.  I feel focused.

I normally do not sleep that much.  I usually stay up pretty late and I usually wake up fairly early.  I seem to function really well despite my lack of sleep.  I normally think that is another reason why I am doing exactly what God wired me to do (ministry).  However, I understand that my sleeping patterns are normally not the most healthy of habits.  I wish I was more self-disciplined when it comes to sleep.  

After my long, hard night of sleep I began to remember the earlier quote.  I began to ponder, “Is sleep spiritual?”  Why did God create us with the natural need for eight hours of down-time each day?  God put us down here for a limited number of years; and approximately one-third of that valuable time is spent dreaming rather than producing.

If sleeping is spiritual, we are not very good at it.  According to the National Sleep Foundation (by the way, very interesting website), the average adult sleeps 6 hours and 58 minutes per night during a normal work week.  Compare this to 100 years ago - before Thomas Edison’s marvelous invention - when the average adult slept about nine hours a night.  Indeed, we are a nation of people who are chronically sleep deprived.  Sleep specialists recommend that we need eight to ten hours of sleep nightly.  I do not do well with that recommendation.  Do you?

More importantly than the physical effects of sleep, what about the spiritual effects of sleep?  The person who made the sleep being spiritual quote explained that when we go to sleep, we complete surrender all control and place our unfiltered trust in God’s hands.  The idea is that God will take care of you and the world while you sleep and that you trust that he will wake you up.  This makes sleep spiritual.  

Lauren Winner, a writer for Catalyst, explains that “to sleep, long and soundly, is to place our trust in Him without whom we labor in vain.”

So what do you think?  Is sleep spiritual?

Sermon Online

Yesterday, Mark Jobe preached at Shannon Oaks.  He hit a homerun.  His sermon was entitled “Two Trees In The Garden”.  Genesis 2:9b (NIV) says, “In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”  Mark does a great job of breaking down life lived eating from both trees.  His sermon was challenging and pushed me to look at myself through a spiritual mirror to see where I needed change in my life.  It is worth the time to listen to it.  If you have an extra 30 minutes in your day, check it out.  

Click here to listen to the message.  (Make sure to click on the sermon entitled “Two Trees in the Garden”.)

Results From the Fall

When God created the earth, he made man to have a perfect walking and talking relationship with God.  It took all of three pages in my Bible for humanity to screw that up in what is commonly referred to as “the Fall of Man”.   

When that happened, Scripture talks about or consequences that resulted from the Fall.  For women, God greatly increased the pains while having a baby.  For men, God greatly increased the difficulty to grow crops and live off the land.  For both, clothes were another result of the Fall because for the first time they realized that being naked was for some reason wrong causing shame and insecurity for the first time.

I have been thinking about this lately because I believe there have been some “unspoken” results from the Fall.  Somethings that you and I have to deal with in this fallen world that are here as a result of Adam and Eve eating from that “no-touchy” tree.

One of those unspoken results from the Fall has to be ACNE.  Think about it.  If I were a betting man, I would put my money on the fact that Adam and Eve probably never had one zit until the day after they ate from the “no-touchy” tree.

This has been on my mind because I have had a pretty tough, extremely busy week that has been filled with stress.  I woke up the other day and had a massive zit on my forehead.  It was so big, I had Heather take a picture of it so that I could share the massiveness.

In one month I will turn 27 years old.  Seriously, how much longer am I going to get zits?  Any readers that are older than me, please give me some insight.  I thought this whole adulthood thing took away things like that?  No, acne is like the ultimate piece of humble pie.  Have you ever thought at a time in your life that “hey, I look good” and “I pretty much am the best things since oxygen”?  Then it always seems like the next day (normally a big date, a very important meeting or presentation, the one time of year school professional pictures, etc) there is a huge pimple that is so big you thought it just winked at you when you looked at it in the mirror.  

Zits have to be a result from the Fall.  So does the QVC channel, rising gas prices, and the WNBA.  

What else do you think could be a result from the Fall?  It is a fun question to kick around.

Jesus Sightings

      

Have you ever seen those news reports about people who claim to have seen the face of Jesus miraculously appear in random objects?

All you got to do is google “Jesus Sightings” and you will come across some of the most bizarre, yet entertaining stories of people who see Jesus pretty much everywhere.  I have recently come across websites where people have seen Jesus in all kinds of places.  Check out this website which gives a top ten list of Jesus sightings which includes seeing Jesus in a fish stick, a x-ray, a pancake, a couch, a tailgate, and a tortilla (among others).  Other websites have other Jesus sightings in objects such as a tree, a fence, and my personal favorite, a Cheetos Jesus.  

Most of us tend to dismiss these claims, and we usually enjoy a good laugh at their expense.  But this topic brings us a serious question: WOULD YOU KNOW JESUS IF YOU SAW HIM?

Obviously, I am not talking about recognizing the Son of God in a potato chip or a fish stick.  Rather, I am talking about knowing Jesus well enough to make him a part of your everyday life.  

A large scale study of thousands of teenagers by Abilene Christian University found that “only 28% of churched teens report that they willingly and naturally turn to Jesus for assistance for daily problems.”  Being a youth minister, that number staggered me.  This study was not talking about unchurched teenagers.  This study was talking about the churched teenagers.  If that number holds true in the student ministry that I lead, it basically means that for every ten teenagers, less than three know Jesus well enough to count on him daily.

I wonder how or if the number would change if the study was directed towards adults.  Would it change?  Would it be a greater percentage or a lower percentage?  In adult world, we have more education, life experience, knowledge, wisdom, tools, resources, and money to face our problems alone.  Adults also tend to carry more pride that limits them from receiving and asking for help during difficult times.  Do you count on Jesus daily?

I believe the problem lies in our knowing Jesus because the more we know and learn about Jesus, the more we will count on him daily.  It is of utmost importance that each of us continue to grow in our relationship with Jesus and that we continue to pursue intimacy with our Saviour.

Think about it this way: whenever something good, something bad, or something pretty normal happens in your life, you probably have a person you go through everything with.  That could be a best friend, a sibling, or a spouse.  That person knows everything that is going on in your life and knows you intimately.  Why can’t we have that kind of relationship with Jesus.

My prayer for us today is not that we miraculously see Jesus in a Cheetoh or a tortilla, but rather that we reach a level of intimacy with our Saviour where see him in our everyday lives.  That we grow in our relationship with Jesus that goes beyond our church walls and beyond Sundays and (if you are a good Christian) Wednesdays.  

Pray Philippians 3:8 & 10 (NIV) with me today, “I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord…I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death…“

Middle School Lunch Observation

Earlier today I had the chance to go to the Sulphur Springs Middle School.  A lot of the local church youth groups get together once a semester (twice a year) for a big night of combined worship in a service we call The Awakening.  For marketing purposes and showing a sign of unity all the youth ministers go out to the Middle School the day before the event to hand out fliers and personally invite all the students to the event.  We then go the day of the event to the high school and do the same thing.

We go to three different lunches in one day - first, the 6th grade lunch; second, the 7th grade lunch; and third, the 8th grade lunch.  It is amazing because we see a room full of students that are generally in the same stage of life (Jr High) but there is such drastic differences between the grades.

I wanted to share one small observation I have made over my years of going to middle school lunch that cracks me up every time.

And that is how the students enter the lunch room.  It is incredibly entertaining to watch the differences of how the different grades enter the lunch room at the start of their lunch break.  Like the caterpillar becoming a butterfly, it truly is a transformational event that takes place within the students. 

Let’s start with 6th graders: 6th graders are like starving cheetahs sprinting in for the kill.  The bell rings and it is like the Olympic gun going off on the 100 meter dash.  You better pray that you are not in their way in the hallway because like going head-on against a stampede of buffalo, you will get trampled.  The 6th graders full-out sprint as hard as they can to be the first ones in the lunch line so they can eat their salisbury steak of whatever mystery meat the hair-net ladies are serving that day.  No matter how many times teachers and lunchroom aids yell commands to walk, they cannot be slowed down.

Now compare that to 8th graders: In two short years, 8th graders have transformed to the exact opposite of the cheetah.  The bell rings and for a few minutes the silence and anticipation messes with your mind.  You begin to ask yourself, “Was that the last lunch?” or “Is there an 8th grade field trip?”  After the tumbleweed passes through the lunchroom, the Night of the Living Dead-zombie-sloth-like creatures begin to shuffle in the lunchroom.  These students act like they could care less about lunch as they lethargically and nonchalantly stroll into the cafeteria.  What happened to the salivating, sprinting cheetahs that were there two years previous?  The same students transform into zombie-sloth-like creatures in only two years time.

As for 7th graders: they are in pretty much in between the two extremes.  Some are still in the cheetah stage, while others are already entering into the sloth stage.  Basically you see all the guys sprinting in and all the girls nonchalantly stroll into the cafeteria.  

Just thought I would share one of my middle school observations.  Remember, I am a professional so do not try to recreate or attempt to reenact what you have just read about.  It is dangerous if you aren’t trained.  Cheetahs and sloths are not creatures to be taken lightly.

You have got to love those middle school years!

Another Happy Mother’s Day

On a normal work day, I really enjoy going home to eat lunch and hang out with all three of my girls: Heather and my two dogs (Gaby and Kate).  When I was there today, Gaby and Kate secretly pulled me over to the side and wanted me to share a Mother’s Day letter they wrote for their mom - Heather.  They had been on the Internet this morning and read my letter to my mom and they were inspired.  They told me that they wanted to write a letter to their mommy.  Here’s their letter to Heather:

Dear Mommy,

We just wanted to take the time to thank you for being the best mommy ever.  We know that we are pretty much the most spoiled, diva dogs on the planet, and a lot of that responsibility comes down right on you.  Thanks for giving us the lives we want - and frankly, we deserve.  We have come quite accustomed to our way of life and you play a large role in that way of life.  Frankly, we are completely dependent on you - largely because we have no thumbs.  Anyways, we wanted to thank you for…

• Giving us treats every time we go potty - something we would do anyways.
• Giving us treats every time you leave the house - something you would do anyways.
• Giving us the yummy pieces when you cut an apple.
• Helping Gaby up on the bed when she’s too tired to make that big jump.
• Taking us for walks where we pull you like a rag doll.
• Letting us cuddle and act like 60+ pound lap dogs.
• Picking up Kate’s poo when she can’t hold it any longer.
• Grooming, bathing, and maintaining our hotness.
• Putting up with Gaby’s slime.
• Buying us trendy, cool collars.
• Giving Gaby her weight-loss medicine everyday.
• Giving us the occasional chicken bone.
• Giving us the occasional Denta-bone.
• Playing rope with us.
• Giving in like a sucker every time Gaby sits pretty.

Honestly, where would we be without you?  It wouldn’t be a pretty site.  We love you, Mommy.  Happy Mother’s Day!!!

Love,

Gaby & Kate

Happy Mother’s Day

Mom,

I thought you deserved your own personal post on the blog (If you are reading this and you are not my mom, that’s ok, but the intention is for my mom.)

I just wanted to thank you for being such an incredible mom.  Your unconditional love and support means more than you will ever know.  There are a few things in this world that I have never been able to doubt and my mom loving me was one of those things I could never doubt.  That feeling was completely confirmed this past December when I surprised you by showing up at your school.  The look on your face showed that it was the best thing could have ever happened to you and pure happiness.  It was incredible.

Before I end this letter, I want to thank you for…

• Changing my diapers when I was a baby.
• Tucking me in at night.
• Leaving the door cracked or the nightlight on when I was scared.
• Buying me Dinosaur and baseball sheets.
• Reading Bible stories to me before bed.
• Letting Dad buy all those baseball cards.
• Letting me get my big sister in trouble.
• Watching all those soaps so that I had to go outside, play sports, and be active.
• Making incredible fruit salad and sweet potatoes at Thanksgiving.
• Christmas stockings!!!
• Cleaning up my messes.
• Letting me use you as the reason I couldn’t do something when I really didn’t want to anyways but didn’t have the guts to say that.  You never minded taking blame in that situation.
• Letting me read to you after taking Lesley to SSMS.
• Letting me go on my first date even after the Cutlas was wrecked and we had a rental.
• Not letting me have a TV in my room.
• Our Thanksgiving trip to Ensenada.
• Always getting me what I needed and most of what I wanted.
• Not making church optional growing up.
• Loving and accepting my wife as your own daughter.
• Being an awesome grandma to Gaby and Kate.
• Most importantly, thanks for leading and pushing me towards to God.  By far the most important thing you have done for me is laying the foundation of faith that has completely transformed my life.

I love you, Mom.  Happy Mother’s Day.

I Can’t Believe I…

I have a confession to make.  If you went to my iTunes and looked up the “purchased” section, you will find that my latest download is an (gulp) Enrique Iglesias song.  I know, I know.  To my credit, when I started to look up this song to download, I didn’t know it was an Enrique song.  However, I still closed the deal after finding that out.

Why did I buy an Enrique song?  Well, I was sitting in a Lowe’s yesterday waiting to talk with a manager about their contribution to an in-town mission trip and I heard the song over their loud speaker.  I liked it.  I felt the Enrique passion.  However, the real reason is because of this hilarious scene from Rob & Big (an MTV reality show):

Ladies and gentlemen, I can’t believe I downloaded Do You Know by Enrique Iglesias.

What’s the latest song you downloaded off iTunes?

Super Powers That Moms & Dads Develop

            

When it comes to the subject of parenting, I personally bring a lot of humility into every conversation.  The last thing I am when it comes to that subject is an expert.  Please know that before reading any further.

However, I have in my almost 27 years on this planet come to realize a pretty amazing fact about what happens to people when they become a parent.  Something transforms inside of a person when they become a parent - kind of like developing super powers.  Just like when Peter Parker transformed into having incredible powers after being bit by a radioactive spider, Moms and Dads develop super powers when they have a child.  I have observed one specific super power for both Moms and Dads.

Let’s start with Mom:

Moms spit transforms into some bleach-like, super-cleaning solution.  This transformation that cannot be explained scientifically.  However, it is true because their saliva becomes stronger than Clorox bleach.  Most of us have been somewhere as a kid where you spill something on your shirt or have two-day-old crusted spaghetti sauce on our face when Mom comes to the rescue armed only with a tissue and her saliva.  The embarrassing always in public spit-rag seems to work every time.  It seems to get up anything.  What an unbelievable super power!

As for Dads, Dads develop this unbelievable ability to know everything and the ability to fix anything.  Amazingly, it seems Dads receive some type of knowledge that downloads directly into their brains.  My Dad is a great example of this super power.  My Dad seems to know everything and everything.  My Dad also seems to know and can actually fix anything.  Washing machine is broken - I call Dad.  My car is acting funny - I call Dad.  One of my dogs is acting like they do not feel right - I call Dad.  You name it and I have probably called my Dad asking advice.  He has cleverly nicknamed himself “SUPER-DAD“.  It fits him to the “t” - even though there is no “t” in the name “SUPER-DAD”.  I personally am excited about one day receiving these super powers so that I can become more manly and know how to fix stuff.  

There you go.  Two specific super powers that I have observed Moms and Dads getting.  Any super powers I have missed?

Rubik’s Cube Video

To continue today’s Rubik’s Cube theme, check out this unbelievable video of a six year old completing one in 37 seconds.  This little dude truly may be Spiderman (check out his amazing shirt).

There are other cool videos of people doing rubik’s cube (some even faster than Spidey here) on youtube.com if you are interested.