Author: Wick

(that’s a pause sign, if you didn’t catch it)

I realized I haven’t blogged for quite sometime on my incredible daughter, so here goes nothing.

Addison has turned ONE!!! She’s walking like crazy, and learning new words/sounds all the time. For a while there everything was “ball!” But now she can actually do “dadda”, “momma”, “down” (when she’s done eating), “cheese”, “dog”, “balloon” (which sounds like a slurred version of “ball”, and a few others that we’re trying to figure out what exactly they are. She is also picking up the ability to beat box with daddy…although many times it just ends up being spit everywhere. 🙂

Along with the new words are new facial expressions. Many of you have seen the “old man scrunched face smile”…or the “fake cry” face. These are both classic.

Addie has also learned how to give hugs!! These are incredible after a long day of work. She’s beginning to learn how to blow kisses, and has begun working on her ability to actually kiss.

I was talking with a teen not too long ago, and we were talking about God’s ability to know our thoughts. Sometimes as a believer, we get so busy with life…it’s hard for us to set aside, or remember to set aside time to actually speak or write words to God. He knows our thoughts/hearts after all, right? What does it matter if I don’t actually say the words everyday?

The thing is…I know Addison loves me. Everything about her life points to needing me, and her smiles and hugs communicate so much gratitude and emotion towards me as her father. I “feel” her love for me. But….I can’t wait for the day my daughter can actually look at me and say “I love you daddy”. Wow. Just imagining it gets me excited. I love that girl so much.

God created by speaking things into existence with words. (from the records we have, at least….I wasn’t there) He didn’t just zap things into being. So words must be pretty important right? I have to believe….with all of this….that me actually taking the time/effort to speak a prayer out loud, or write to God what’s on my heart…means a lot to what’s going on here.

Will I love Addison more than my second child, just because she can say “I love you” to me, and the other one is still working on it? No. Both of my children will be loved…because they’re my children.

I read an article this morning, that goes right with my latest post on the body of Christ, and our greencards.

As much as I want to show love to other members of our body….you do have to have some respect for the law, right?

Check out this story, and let me know your opinion.

I’m not so sure I would’ve debated with the government on this one. I mean…the order from the judge originally came in 1997…when she had no son. She made the decision to stay and have a child here in the US.

This woman’s story made me wonder what exactly someone must go through to become a US Citizen….so I did some checking around…

So here’s a website that talks about what is required to even apply for US Citizenship. Notice a couple of things:

1. Under “good moral character” (a very vague category), you cannot apply if you are, or have been a “habitual drunkard”. If only American Citizens would be at risk of losing our citizenship for things on this list. 🙂

2. You have to pass a test on US History and Government Knowledge. I gotta be honest here….I’m a pretty intelligent guy, and I only scored a 72% on their 25-question practice test. (I didn’t know the Civil War was also about individual states’ rights) But with a little studying, the average person who really wants it, could be motivated to know more than the average American even does.

You also have to fill out this form …which actually asks if you’ve ever actively been involved in trying to overthrow a government. Huh….guess that’s a good question.

So with a little research, studying, and time…anyone could become a US Citizen, right?

So how is this such a difficult process…..and what needs to change? Obviously this is seen as a daunting/impossible task by so many.

ps. For kicks, I checked out Canada’s requirements…..good news for the habitual drunkards…no rules against it here! Overall a much easier application process….and free medical care, right?

Reading an article this morning that discussed our country’s policies on “illegal immigrants”; I was struck by how the information was presented. More often than not, discussions like this happen with an “us/them” mentality. But here are some interesting points they made:

1. As members of the body of Christ, we are called to allegiance to Christ, above country, above lifestyle, above everything. To see anything else before we see Christ, in ourselves or another person, could be idolatry of that thing.

2. Currently, over 9.4 million of our nations undocumented residents come from Mexico, and other spanish-speaking areas.

3. Over 78% of Latino residents surveyed, confess Christian faith.

4. That means, over 8.1 million people in our Christian family are affected by our nations’ views/legal stances on citizenship, etc.

A great article about how some in the church are responding, that’s far too long to copy/paste, but a very interesting read, can be found here.

It’s hard to combine rational, “take care of our country/future/safety/etc” thinking, and the grace these writers are speaking of. I’m not sure if I’m ready to personally offer my basement bedroom to an undocumented family, even if they are a part of the family of God. (just ask my biological family, sometimes I just want my house all to myself) How does all of this combine with submitting to authority?

Maybe someday, like those in the article….I’ll be forced to decide where I stand. In that moment, may God be with me. Until then, I suppose that’s why it’s good to be thinking/praying/discussing these things. Because I doubt this is an issue that will go away ever…and the way the Church abroad responds will play a HUGE role in our communicating the gospel to the World.