For your entertainment…

I have been nursing a bad tire over the last couple of weeks. Every other morning I have had to stop by the local Quick Trip, and air up my rear driver side tire.

This last Saturday I was running a little bit behind on my way to work. As I made my way around the corner I noticed a brand new Toyota Land Cruiser was parked right next to the air machine. I could tell the vehicle did not have anyone in it. That was not such a big deal. This has happened before and the air hose reached around other vehicles just fine. I do not blame anyone for airing up their tires then running in for a drink or doughnut.

As I pulled into the parking lot I noticed that the vehicle was parked at an angle taking up two parking places. I have always found this kind of behavior annoying.

“Seriously,” I thought to myself “is anyone’s vehicle so important that they have to burn two parking places? Then, to do it right next to the air machine. What kind of selfish person must be wondering around inside Quick Trip while I am out here needing to air up my tire!”

I pulled up right next to the Land Cruiser at an angle that matched it perfectly. I got out of my van and walked up to the expensive vehicle. I looked across the hood and barked out: “What kind of selfish person takes up two parking places when I need to air up my tire!”

Just as those words escaped my loud mouth a sharply dressed man popped up from the other side of the vehicle. I was aghast and instantly my pulse shot up.

“Oh man, I didn’t see you there!” I told him, trying to figure out what he was going to say to me.

“Hey, I’m really sorry.” he told me “I can’t figure out how many pounds need to go into these tires. Will you help me figure it out?”

After being so rude I did not know what to do but get down on all fours and try and read his tires with him. We found the markings about the same time and called out, “55 pounds!” almost in unison. While he was airing up his tire I made some sheepish comment about how nice his ride was. He mentioned something about how he gets annoyed when people take up two parking spots too.

After he aired up just one tire he stood up, handing me the air hose and said: “Here, why don’t you air up your tire so I don’t hold you up any longer than I already have. I have three tires yet to go.”

He helped me feed the hose under his truck and I aired up my tire. I handed the hose back to him and apologized for being so rude with my comments. He waved it off and told me to have a great Saturday, and I left.

I do not know anything about this man and I will probably never see him again. He did teach me a little something about grace Saturday morning.

I deserved none and he gave it to me anyway.

The effort it takes to maintain balance between work, school and family is more than I imagined. Last semester I took 14 hours of classes and still managed to work 38-45 hours per week. Everything else took a back seat. I only attended church a couple of times during the sixteen week semester, and I had almost no time with my family. The result was three “A”s and one “B” and way too much time away from my family, both spiritual and natural.

This semester I have chosen a different direction. The path I have chosen will probably not result in as high of grades.

During the time between last semester and this semester I made the decision to take a full time position with my current employer. This forced me to take only evening classes this spring. The greatest benefit is I will have most weekends at home. Last semester I worked the weekends. Working weekends allowed me to have entire days during the week to study and write papers. Last semester I spent over sixty hours with the math tutors. There is no doubt that those hours were the determining factor in my ability to get an “A” in that class. This semester I will not have ten-to-twelve hours during the week to study and work on projects. This will result in lower grades.

I have to cheat somewhere. As much as I want high grades I cannot neglect time with my immediate family or time with my church family. All nursing schools in Kansas City are very competitive right now. These programs are seeing application levels around three to four times larger than previous years. They are forced to focus heavily on GPA over any other factor. This is a real step of faith. Faith that I will still be able to get into nursing school with grades closer to 3.0 than 4.0.

Last semester I proved to myself that I could achieve great grades while working full time. Too many family sacrifices were made in that endeavor. I am not willing to sacrifice that much family time for a prolonged period. In just two years Lydia will be driving and she will only be a couple years from moving out of the house. She needs me more now than ever. I have a short span of influence left.

I continue to strive to find a balance between family and the demands of a career. This is not something I will ever have completely figured out. It just is not that simple.

I will error on the side of family. I know that decision is not something I will quickly regret.

One of my biggest fears right now is the lack of time with my daughters. Being a three-quarter to full time student and working 40 plus hours a week does not leave me much time with my girls. I really need to make sure I take every opportunity to spend time with all four.

A couple of months ago Jessica approached me with a request.

“Dad, I have been selected to take part in the Science Olympiad competition this year. Will you be a coach?”

When my [almost] thirteen-year-old daughter asks me to do an activity with her, I better jump at it. It is more common at this age for our kids to want less time around their annoying parents, not more.

I was happy to say yes. I assumed that I would be paired up with the science teacher or some other adult with experience in this thing. It turns out, this is not the case. I am quite alone in this thing.

To make it even more interesting I was given the “Keep The Heat” event. In this event our team will build a box designed to hold a 250ml beaker of warm water. This experiment consists of measuring the heat loss over a specific period of time. The goal is to build a container that will ‘keep the heat’ for as long as possible.

It was completely perfect that we were given this science project to perform. Since my dad owns a cabinet shop I got on the phone with him right away, and recruited his services for the construction of our device. He was more than excited to help us out.

It took two evenings to build the box. Both evenings my dad brought cookies and juice for snacks. We fired up the shop full of tools and built quite the capable box.

Here is a picture of the girls stuffing it with sawdust for insulation.

Here is grandpa and the girls.

Of course, being girls, they had to paint the box.

Next, we will be putting together a binder full of information on Thermodynamics, something I do not understand at all!

I have no idea how well we will do at the competition. Regardless of how we do, we are making some great memories together, and I am thankful that she even wants to have me around her school friends and teachers.

Jessica is a great kid and I am very grateful for the opportunity to be her dad.

I started my second semester last week. I am taking Human Lifespan Development (HLD) and Anatomy and Physiology (A&P). Both classes are three and a half hours long. A&P is Tuesday and Thursday and HLD is just on Mondays. I am so glad that I decided to take less hours this semester. I actually have two days each week with no classes and will not have to work every single weekend this semester like I did last semester. I cannot believe how much easier this feels already.

I am glad that I took so many hours last semester. I pushed a lot of stuff off my plate, and I should be able to enter the nursing program of my choice by spring of 2013. I am perfectly fine with that plan.

I could feel the anxiety in the room during our first A&P class. For many students this is the first class that really feels like healthcare. We will be studying the human body, and everyone is curious what kind of instructor we are getting.

About three quarters of the way into class he was explaining to us how the ‘anatomical position’ is described. Out of the blue he barked:

“I am creation, not evolution! After taking this class I do not see how in the world you can be an evolutionist. I have never purchased a car that got better over time. Things do not get better over time. Things do not go from disorder to order with the passage of time. Show me an example of that anywhere!”

A few days later we were in the middle of a class break during my HLD class, and I was walking by another A&P class. When I looked through a window into the room an evolution presentation caught my eye. At the bottom of the slide on the screen there was a bullet point that stated, “Species evolve, but organisms do not”. I found this statement to be in direct contrast to the idea of evolution. I asked myself, “How does evolution know the difference? How in the world can you have entire species evolve but individual organisms not evolve?” Even at the cellular level evolution is contradicted. The only way a cell can divide successfully is if it makes an exact replica of itself. If there is even the slightest difference the new cell will die. How can you possibly have evolutionary change if every cell has to be identical right down to the very DNA structure for successful replication?

Humans like to make simple things complex, and that is why evolution continues to be taught so widely. Creation is just too simple. It takes five minutes to explain creation and five hundred hours to explain evolution.

With creation comes purpose. Because I was intentionally formed then it stands to reason that I also have a specific purpose. I like the idea of that. I like knowing that my life has meaning.

I will proudly proclaim, as my instructor did: “I am creation, not evolution!”

A couple of weeks ago I updated my Current Hard Work page and added the goal to have prayer and bible reading time each morning.

I have never been an early morning person. My plan all along was to get up around 6:15 or so for my quiet time. I have done that each morning since my journal from January 9th.

Previously I would get up around 7:00 and have just enough time to get dressed, and have a cup of coffee before leaving at 7:20am to drop the older girls off at school then head to work.

With this earlier schedule I have been given quite the surprise. My two youngest girls, who normally do not get up till around 7:30 each morning, are coming out of their room around 7:00 to sit with me in the living room while I wait for the time to leave. Julie even pointed out to me that they are actually setting their alarm for 7:00 so we can hang out for a few minutes.

These events have left me to consider a few things.

1. Not all the benefits of spiritual activities are spiritual in nature.
Certainly it is spiritually healthy to start the day with prayer and reading. It is not just about getting prayers answered or growing in my understanding of the bible. It is about making myself available for what God wants to do. What if God wants me to be up early so I can have more time in the mornings with my family?

2. My kids are watching me.
Like many parents out there I am constantly trying to teach my kids how to be responsible people. Sometimes I get weary trying to get a particular point to stick in their heads. I really did not expect the two youngest girls to notice my new plan. I certainly made no announcements to the rest of the family. Still, they noticed and have adjusted their own schedule to have time with me in the mornings.

3. I am not the only one who benefits.
My spiritual obedience is not just about me and my needs. There is a bigger picture that may not be revealed until after I obey.

This new practice I am following has reminded me of something. My obedience is not always just for my benefit. There are others in my sphere of influence that need me to be more on task with my obedience to God’s word. The challenge is being willing to try.