The Latest and Greatest, Sweet Baby Dill!

That title ought to get my daughter shaking her head. (Honestly, I only do it because I love you. And you know me!) Where was I going? Oh yeah, we got a new one! And this one is soooo coool! A new one what? Oh yeah, we got us a brand new granddaughter! And I'm going to brag a little. My wife calls her Baby Dill, although her official name is Dillon Nicole. And boy, is she precious! She doesn't know it yet and that's great because if she did, well, I'd go broke. I can't ever remember a time that I've enjoyed shopping, but now I love it. (If it's shopping for her!) She's perfect. Precious innocence, what could be better? Tiny little features and a nice head of hair. Her looks are made up of the best of her parents, and grandparents. (Hah, thought I'd throw that one in too!) And wow, does she look good in the tiny dresses I picked out for her! As an added treat Caleb is now officially a Big Brother. And boy, does he love his little sister. It's hard to kiss her because he's always running interference. This is good because some day someone outside the family is going to want to kiss her and Caleb the Protector will be there to make sure no villianous smoocher gets one in on her! Rich and Crystal, you done good!!! Caleb, keep up the good work!

Once Upon A Time They Lived Happily Ever After

I heard her say it one time. It really caught me by surprise and yet at the same time I was completely humbled. I never would have expected her to say what she said, but she did. Don't you just want to know what it was? Okay, I'll tell you. She was talking on the phone and told the person on the other line how growing up seemed so difficult and as a result she never expected much. Then she said, "But now I have this fairy tale life." Wow! Did I have something to do with it? I mean I'm no Prince Charming and she's no Sleeping Beauty... well she does like to sleep and she is very beautiful, so let me rephrase this. I'm no Prince Charming, but if a frog could be changed by a kiss, then I could... Wait, that doesn't seem to work either. You've heard of mixing metaphors, well I'm probably butchering fairy tales. And fairy tales are just that - tales, fables, stories to amuse the young at heart. Yet so many seem to find hope in them. The triumph of good over evil. The good guy wins in the end. The hero gets the girl. The dragon is slayed and the dungeon and the tower lockup get renovated into a multimillion dollar second estate. The moat gets stocked with trophy size trout and... they live happily ever after, never even worrying about how to pay the utility bill! That may work for Walt and Mickey and the rest of them but seldom does it work for the rest of us. Usually the daily grind is more than just our morning cup of coffee. It's the pattern of our life. We rise in the morning and still tired from the lack of sleep, grab a cup of coffee in our insulated travel mug, rush to get out of the house so that we can get into rush hour traffic, which is anything but a rush. Ah, then we can finally enjoy that cup of coffee. Or can we? Get the picture? Then how do we have the fairy tale life? Slow down, and let's see. In the fairy tale there are characters, each of whom is fighting something in their lives - loneliness, failure, rejection or a combination of these or other things. They have dreams but their dreams are rarely achieved early in the story. There is usually an outside force that is warring against one or more of the principle characters, but these characters are good people and we know that in the end they will get what they truly want. And they usually find it in another person. Here's the really amazing part as I see it. Fairy tales are facsimiles of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Metaphorical representations of the unseen battle for our souls. In reality, however, fairy tales are a poor representation of the love of God. We can truly achieve our hopes and dreams, but they are not because of Prince Charming. They are because God, who is love, sent His Son to ransom us. I must admit that when I heard my wife make her statement on the phone, I was truly honored that she felt that way. I smirked and thought, "Wow she sees what a great thing we have." But the smirk soon left when I admitted that if she really has a fairy tale life, it's not because of me. It's because in the only true epic tale of love Jesus fixed what was broken. He took care of our inadequacies, our shortcomings, our failings. He alone became the unifying force in what has become an incredible journey of love. Prince Charming? No, not me. Prince of Peace? Yes, He.