Christmas Lights, Inspiration & Poop

Hey, thanks for stopping in. It's late evening on Sunday night, and I'm making a go at trying to post regularly again.

This morning the Wood clan was a bit tired, cranky or otherwise engaged, so a personal appearance at church didn't happen. Thank goodness for the Big God Podcast, ALC‘s live church broadcast. Great for times when you need the Lord's message in the comfort of your own home. Jeff Manning delivered another fine sermon, and I've come to appreciate the way he delivers a poignant, educated message with such wit & humor. Truly, that man can preach. Kudos to his wife Echo for putting up with his shenanigans. Some quick thoughts from today's message–John 3:16–while many wish that the “spirit of Christmas”  would carry throughout the year, here's hoping we Christians can be mindful of our Savior more often. We should make a proactive effort to engage the spirit of Christ, instead of being the nice “gift-wrapped” Christians Jeff M mentioned today.

Aack! Only 14 minutes left before the night is through. Hurry, hurry, must type clever stuff…

Friday evening, Michelle had a well deserved night out with the girls, and I stayed home with Sydney. I have to mention that while my schedule is crazy busy, I do try to be as hands-on in the father role as possible. This means changing diapers. Now, many a comedian has joked of the experience, and honestly, I thought it was all hype after my daughter was born. I mean, I changed her diapers the first week, and I've been handling that duty for several months now. I scoffed when other dads cowered at the thought of changing a diaper, really it's no big deal… at least it wasn't until Friday night. What I didn't know is the toxicity of the poop increases with age. I dropped Michelle off for her date, and she cutely gave me words of encouragement. “You sure you can handle a night with baby all by yourself?” Uhm yeah… I got this… or so I thought. It was about an hour later that I learned smell really is the strongest of our sensory inputs. Changing diapers? Poopie-pants? Not a big deal when there's no odor. Newborn babies smell good, and hey! their poop really doesn't smell at all. But then things changed. It's one thing when you're mentally prepared for an event, it's a completely different experience when it catches you FULL ON by surprise. I swear, I almost closed the diaper back up and thought, “Sydney's not crying, Michelle can change this when she gets home.” That's when baby girl started to cry. I knew I'd have to man up, get my hands dirty, and do the doo-doo. I'm a little fuzzy on what happened next. I seem to recall feeling light-headed from the scent. The odor was so strong, our black lab Duke got up and left the room. I tried to find my happy place, but I was more concerned that Sydney would playful grab a handful of dookie and launch it up in my face. Eeeww! Work faster, work faster.

In the end, I survived the experience, but ever mindful of what my next encounter might bring.

Looks like my time ran over, so good morning to all those just checking in. In closing, earlier Friday evening the family took a holiday carriage ride through the Deerfield community where the neighbors are crazy for Christmas lights. I snapped off a few photos, and posted them on Flickr. Enjoy the photos, and make it a great week!