The Work Has Just Begun

It all had been a quick ordeal...the first of 3 children born to me. The phone call at work around noon, the rush home, the delivery a short 4 hours later. As the evening progressed, the pictures have been taken of each one's chance to hold him. Now family and friends have retired back to their homes to resume the normalcy of life.

But now I am left alone in the room with my wife. Visiting hours have come and past. I lean over and kiss her forehead, tell her how proud I am of her...how much I appreciate her being my wife. Tell her to get some rest until the nurse brings Keanan back for a feeding. I explain to her that I am going to go check on the little one in the nursery before I head back to our little two bedroom apartment that will soon welcome home a new face.

I approach the glass, raise my little badge to the nurses to identify myself, declaring that I want to see one of those with the little feet...the little hands. As a small crib is rolled to the edge of the room, a little face comforted in the arms of sleep, nested in his little cap and wrapped tightly in a blanket, comes into view.

Like a sudden storm crossing a lake, a well of emotions spring up within me, sending tears cascading down my tired face. The weight of awesome responsibility and reality sets in. This tiny gift that God has given me. How can I expect myself to raise him, nurture him? I feel so small now. Just hours ago, I was the great image of a proud papa. Now, I am a bubbling mess trying to reconcile the gift with the responsibility. The heaviness of my heart seems unable to withstand fact that now the work has just begun. The journey of parenthood and all that it entails has now hit me square in the chest. I must look after him. I must protect him at all costs. Lord, continually remind me of this moment so that it will always strike a chord in my soul...the work has just begun...

The sanctuary lights are low now...the tissue boxes placed neatly in their spots. The flowers surrounding the platform have been carefully put back in their original position. The sound system is silent, the instruments have become quiet. I look back at the altar. It looks like a place of calm and serenity now.

Just minutes before, tears of labor were shed here. Sacrifices of painful memories were laid down, a hurt caused by a friend. A prayer for a wayward daughter...anguish for a misled son. Burdens were lifted on the nicely carpeted steps. Wisdom and direction for another on the front pew. But in the midst of all of this, God, you found a repentant heart. Someone acknowledging their sins to you. You honored that, Lord. Tears of new found forgiveness streamed. Your church, through its sensitivity and because of your willing Spirit, birthed a new creature today. Friends and family rejoiced...celebration images of a new arrival etched in their mind.

Now it is quiet again. Emotions have settled and silence has once again gripped the room. Family and friends have retired back to their homes to resume the normalcy of life. Remind us again, Lord! Don't let the awesomeness of your delivering power wax cold so quickly. Rush the weight of our responsibility far beyond the newness that we witnessed today. As I recall the pictures in my mind of a teenage son with his hands raised, the tears flowing down the face of "Daddy's" girl, and the cute antics of an 18 month old boy jumping, clapping and raising his hands in imitation of those moved by a spirit he does not yet fully understand....remind me again...that the church had a delivery today...and again...the work has just begun.

This Stuff Doesn't Come Cheap

My profession is in the packaging industry designing and building displays for the point-of-purchase display world. My business card reads Design Engineer, but that is just a nice way of saying I build stuff out of cardboard. From temporary to semi-permanent, I engineer product displays that show off our client’s products in such stores as Wal-Mart, Walgreens, Target and the like.

Because of the temporary nature of what I produce, once a salesperson brings me a potential project and after we discuss the nature and intent of the display, usually the first question that follows from me is, “How long does the client want this to last?” In this arena of temporary displays the answer could be anywhere from 6 weeks to 6 months. Once this is determined, it gives me a direction as to how I will proceed in building it.

Once I have completed the sample, it’s off to the estimators and the quoting process. More often than not, the salesman then shows up in my office or on my caller ID. He usually is accompanied with a sign of disgust on his face or disappointment in his voice. It is then that I know what is coming as so many times before. “It’s too expensive, I didn’t know it was going to cost so much,” “Is there any way you can cheapen it up? Is this particular piece really necessary?” I then go on to explain that sure I could remove an integral part of the design…not a problem….of course that would reduce the capacity of the display and break down the reliability of the structure sending our client’s product to store floor after a couple of weeks of shopping cart hits. I could also remove that graphics panel in front there…but I am pretty sure the client won’t mind us removing there branding message. I usually end with the question, “How much is that going to cost us?”

How many times have we seen it? We are the proponents of the Gospel. God has designed us the perfect product (eternal life) and vehicle (the path through salvation). How many times have we seen its cost analyzed? How many times have we seen the vehicle re-engineered with flaws that remove what is vital to its integrity? I believe it is the right time to ask ourselves once again…What is this going to cost us? At what point do we stop continually reassessing the repercussions of tampering with the structure? In the process of our soul searching, when did we decide that removing seemingly non-essential (those aren’t heaven and hell issues) practices so that we can sell it cheap?

This Gospel is built strong, firm and will stand the test of all manners of trials. It needs no duct tape, not paper clips and no pruning. It doesn’t require a red tag, a blue light or a bargain basement bin. This stuff doesn’t come cheap.