Brush, Brush, Dust, Dust

So it's been a while since I've blogged. Life with two little boys is fun, crazy, and an adventure always...but it hasn't always helped me find time for writing. There have a been a lot of great things that have happened with us in the last few months, not least of which is the birth of a new little boy Elison. I also had my book published, Sacred Hope.

My good friend Stephen is going to be trying to blog once a week, and I thought that would be a good, and healthy goal for me too. I have a lot of things that I'd like to write about as a way of processing thoughts, and I thought that by writing regularly, it would be a really good discipline and way to cultivate those thoughts. I will try to be brief and playful at times, but more than anything, I just need to write.

This week have had two special moments for me with my oldest son Rowan. One happened today, I took him with me to get a haircut, his first done done at the hands of a professional instead of Shey. I didn't know what to expect, but he did a really great job, didn't cry, and was super excited for his slurpee prize afterward! At one point I look down and realize as he's sitting in the chair, how much he's grown, and crazy it is to be a father. Rowan is my son. My SON. As I watched him squirm with the clippers and give his hair stylist a high five when it was all done, I just kept thinking about how fast he is growing up and how humbling it is to be a part of helping him grow up.

The other thing that happened with Rowan, was that while I was giving Eli a bottle one day this week, Rowan sat on the couch and we watched an episode of Clifford the Big Red Dog together. During the episode one of the dogs had a best friend that moved away and was coming back for a visit. And for a while, the show centered around the two dogs being friends, and all the great things they did together, and ways they played. Then, one of the dogs moved away. And I look over, and my two-and-a-half year old has tears running down his cheeks. And as the show continues and the dog friends reunite, his tears continue to roll down. It was a beautiful moment to watch him learn and feel empathy for others. It broke my heart to see him recognize that kind of life lesson, but it brought tears to my eyes to witness his response of kindness, empathy, and joy when the friends were reunited.

This parenting thing is certainly one of the most humbling endeavors I have ever been on, but it is also one of the most insightful times of my life as well. I hope that I can find the strength to help Rowan grow up well, and help him live in that space of hopeful empathy and love for others, especially when he sees others hurting.

boo-yah baby!

And by that I mean the Hayden's are having a baby!

Ushering in the new life Shey and I are blogging together over at The Family Hayden Blog and hope that you'll join us there if you are into that kind of stuff. There will be baby talk (inexpressible sounds that make no sense but sound amazing), heartbeats (we recorded the first time we heard the heart beat), pics (we got the baby's first pic up already), ramblings from Shey and I, and other general family news that we deem appropriate, fun, or irritating to Seth.

Many of you have already heard the good news, but we wanted to wait until the end of the first trimester to go totally public.

We are really excited, scared, and thrilled for the new adventure, and look forward to sharing more with you over on the blog.

not since third grade...

Well, not since third grade have i gotten poison ivy. And even then i didn't get it bad...well, after my visit to the doctor today, i learned that as you get older, your body becomes less capable of fighting off attacks compared to the younger years. And thus, I have for the first time become a walking, swollen-legged, puss-ing, poison-ivy getter. Below, you can see the fun...it's kind of gross, just for a heads up!

Sorry for the lack of blogging. These past six weeks have been some of the craziest since Shey and I have been together...and that is saying a lot considering some of the hardships we've been through with family and friends in the last couple of years of marriage, and dating. There has been some hardships with some friends, finals and final papers for seminary, my grandfather passed away, and my mother-in-law broke her ankle on Memorial Day. Which normally wouldn't be a big deal, but Shey's only sister was in a car accident almost seven years ago now, and she requires full-time care. So Shey and I have been trying to wrap up school, recover from the busy-ness of the end of the semester and my grandfather's passing (which there will be some posts to discuss in the future) and now caring for Shey's great family, which means her sister Emily and mom who now is the proud owner of seven screws and a metal plate in her ankle. It's been bananas. But you know, things have a way of working out. It's not easy, and a lot of times it isn't fun, and i certainly don't think "God brings us through this to teach us a lesson" or to "understand the hope of the future in heaven when things will be OK" but rather that when walking with God, we find strength to keep our heads up when they only seem to want to fall, and we find friends and community who will walk through the hardships with us when all we feel is alone. And most of all, we see that God has never left us.

Don't get me wrong, I hope things calm down soon. I hope that I can get my 25-page paper done on time. I hope that Shey or I don't have some sort of grand mental break-down. I hope that Shey's mom heals quickly. I hope my brother's graduation goes well this weekend. I hope this disgusting poison ivy goes away soon. I hope for many things, many things unseen...it's funny, that in getting this poison ivy again for the first time in years (and I grew up in the country where we used to play in poison ivy and not care one bit and I never got it) sometimes I feel like I have come back to some of the same mysterious wonder in my understanding and view of God that enraptured me as a child. I don't always understand how or why this stuff happens, and sometimes I'm pissed about it, but this mystery wraps me up and brings me in even when I want to run away.

On a lighter note, and McCarty's if you're still out there reading...the garden is blooming and alive! (So far of course!) Thanks again for the seeds! I'll post some pics soon of the garden that has been a safe haven of joy for me, and a blessing to share with Shey as we endeavor to live more simply and sustainably. mmmmmm...squash, corn, zuccini, tomatoes, watermelons, cantelopes, and more!

figuring all this stuff out

So after creating this blog, I quickly realized that I had a lot to learn, and that I should've signed up for Blogger's beta version of blogging. So after messing around with a lot of stuff, I am now switched over to the beta version, have a profile pic up, and am messing around with stuff to figure out how i can make things smoother, look how i want, and give me the most options for types of posts and links that i want to have...

i have to say, messing around with html and all this junk is kind of fun (as long as i keep saving my current stuff so i won't lose it). anyway, technology can be a pretty sweet thing (though of course it causes just as many problems often times than it solves, and can often have a costly effect on our lives and community (thanks Wendell Berry), but today i like it).

anybody want to come pack up my apartment for me?

Finally (can I say finally in my first post?)

So I'm finally doing more than blogging on other people's sites and lurking without having a blog of my own. Though I finally am starting a blog, this is my first post, and I'm probably supposed to say something sentimental or of some profound sense of why I'm starting to have my own blog or whatever. To be honest, we probably don't need another young, white, middle-class dude saying stuff and filling up the world with more words...but I thought it would be fun, and would keep me honest and open for a bit, and I miss the practice of writing out some of my thoughts...

Thus, "Moments of Recognition" has been born. (or insert whatever lame introduction to a blog you'd like) A good friend of mine had written about this notion that maybe faith and belief are wrapped up in simple and beautiful recognition of God. This was something that Shey and I had been talking about for weeks, this idea and notion that prayer, faith, and belief are centered in moments of recognition where God is seen or heard, touched or whispered, abundant or close. And sometimes these moments, especially when they happen in community, when God is recognized, a simple and yet wonderful beauty is found.

So I hoped that this blog would provide a time to share and reflect on some of these moments, and some of the absences of these moments too. Of course I hope these moments will also include some insights into the culture, church, theology, seminary, and community that I find myself in these days...so I've finally arrived to only begin...here's to another new blog to distract me from studying...

peace...
Josh