Knowledge v. Wisdom

1 Corinthians 1:20-21: Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.

The other day I went with my daughter's god-Drae to pick her up from summer camp. Before we left the building the camp director stopped me and asked, "What can we do for your daughter to come here in the fall?" To be totally honest I was taken back because the school is one of the better montessori schools in the area. I was really excited at the potential advantages my daughter could receive by going to this school. Yes, she is two and Yes, she will be President one day. So we all know that getting our children into the best schools is imperative because knowledge is power.

As my wife and I discussed the pros and cons of sending our daughter to Montessori vs Christian schools God reminded us that the WISDOM through HIS WORD is far better than any knowledge that the world can provide. Now, I'm not saying that Christian schools are better than other schools what I am saying is the education of our children can be an all-consuming passion. We struggle to get them into the right schools, starting with preschool and continuing through graduate school. But we must keep in mind that a great education does not guarantee success in God's eyes. Many of today's schools, consider the message of the cross "foolish." To them it is a sign of weakness, disgrace, and low standing. As parents, we must counter that message with the truth that the world's knowledge does not save. The greatest secular education misses the point - only the cross can save.

Wisdom is available when we seek God. When we concentrate our efforts on teaching our children the value of an eternal perspective, we can worry a little less about the world's view of where wisdom can be found. Wisdom means so much more than just knowing a lot. It’s a principle that affects every aspect of our lives. The foundation of wisdom is to fear the Lord – to honor and respect God, to live in awe of his power, and to obey his Word. Faith in God should be the controlling principle for your understanding of the world, your attitudes, actions and your parenting.

Make asking for God’s wisdom in your parenting a regular part of your prayer life and watch what God will do!

A 180-Degree Shift

Most people's true aspirations are to BE something. When we're kids that means BE a fireman, or BE a rock star or BE an astronaut. We don't realize as kids, many times, that we already are BEING what we end up pursuing later: happy.

As we get older, instead of asking what we BE, we start identifying with what we DO, and begin to be judged, categorized, and standardized by the labeling process called "what we DO."
We start understanding that the way to judge success - ours and others - is to decide first that we must HAVE enough of something (usually this is time or money) so that we can DO what we want so then we can finally BE happy.

If only I had learned the reverse sooner: I can choose right now to BE happy, which will transfer into anything I DO which will reveal to me that I HAVE everything I could need or want.
So the traditional model is a continuum that requires the first to obtain or attain the second and third:

HAVE ---> DO ---> BE
and the reverse is:

BE ---> DO ---> HAVE

What will you BE today? What do you already HAVE?

Go Ahead, Blame Me...

I started this blog because there seemed to be plenty of places for bitter divorced dads, Christian dads, dads with autistic children, gay dads, one-armed dads, dads with irritable bowel, dads who screwed up their first family and then got a divorce and married a young fertile hottie to start a second family, and a heap load of generic parenting advice disguised as fatherhood tips. However, it felt like there was a gap in slice-of-life, straight up, no B.S. talk about what it’s really like to raise a kid from father’s point of view. And let’s face, dads just do and see things differently.

Life, Love & Locs will feature lessons in the least helpful and coherent of all ancient parenting and life tombs "The Book of Trial and Error" and move to “The Book of All Books- THE BIBLE”

Me, I’m an employed father raising a 2 year daughter with my beautiful partner of 5 years. Yep, we waited 3 years to have a kid. Some days it still feels like we didn’t wait long enough.

I sit right in the middle of the action in our small home. I’ve been changing diapers since day one. Same with feedings, bathing and doctors appointments. Every summer I’m doing the birthday circuit and every Saturday I take my daughter on an adventure. I like to start my day really early and, whenever possible, skip work and hang out with her the rest of the day.

Not only is this good for us it’s also good for our spouses. Nothing makes your partner happier than taking the kids out in the evening so she can decompress, read, watch a bit of TV, or just stare into space without interruption.

Needless to say you’ll never hear me say “oh, enjoy every minute of it because they grow up so fast”. You know who says that nonsense? Dad’s that come home from work, spend fifteen minutes with their kids then watch television till bedtime while mom feeds the kids, washes the dishes and puts the children to bed. Trust me, if you’re fully involved in all aspects of raising your child, it doesn’t go by fast. Some days it’s excruciatingly long and repetitious. The upside is that when it’s good it’s amazing. But you gotta be there when it happens. You can’t just show up at your convenience and expect all the good parts to happen when you’re present. You gotta eat your veggies if you want dessert.

Now get off your butt and get going. Your kid’s waiting for you!

Thanks,

Go Ahead, Blame Me A Real Dad