Because I’m Happy

Recently, World Down Syndrome Day was celebrated to bring awareness, and as an attempt at equality for those who have Down Syndrome (DS), and for those who live and work with people with DS.  I missed posting this information that day, but better late than never.

Why am I deciding to write on this topic, something seemingly distant from authentic masculinity?  I’m not the father, brother, cousin, or neighbor of someone with DS.  Why do I care?  Because, as with most social discourse, men play a vital role in doing what is right and for protecting innocent life.  In a culture that talks highly of equality, “tolerance”, and “not judging”, it’s amazingly sad to me that somehow it is acceptable to discriminate because someone looks and acts differently than you or I.

For those who may not know, Down Syndrome is a naturally occurring chromosomal arrangement; humans with 47 chromosomes (as opposed to the “normal” 46) have Down Syndrome.  Regardless of the medical side of things, we know something very important – people are people, and every human person deserves the right to life.  (Watch this awesome video giving you a tiny glimpse into the joy of life lived vigorously.  Watch it closely – it is pertinent to the discussion.)

Many (seemingly countless) pregnancies are terminated because the baby is thought or believed to have DS.  My own niece was one of these babies “thought to have Down’s” – and the doctors were wrong.  They were simply guessing, but advised the parents to terminate.  Thank God that my sister-in-law wouldn’t consider abortion. 

So here’s where the authentic masculinity comes in.  Males – be TrueMen, and stand up for life.  Defend the most vulnerable among us, and put an end to abortion-on-demand, especially for ridiculous reasons like “the quality of life of this child will not be suitable for every day living” or “they won’t be normal” or “it will be difficult to raise this child.”  If you happen to be SO BLESSED to be a father of a child with Down Syndrome, embrace the gift that God has given you.  Look at the parents of the babies in the video… they have true joy at the life and love that is their child.

It is amazing to me, how pro-life (from natural conception to natural death) our small middle-of-nowhere town is.  We have several families with children with DS, and if you asked any of them, they will tell you how radically changed they are, for the better, because of their child.  In a time in our culture where people with DS are considered diseased, sick, worthless, and/or a burden on society, we see families here embracing their gift.  A friend of ours recently told my wife, “When we first found out that our daughter had DS, I wondered what God was doing and why He chose me for this path.  Now, I realize that she’s the blessing that I needed.”

Some of you already know that I have a long-standing offer, but I will re-offer now, and certainly many more times during my lifetime.  I promise that this offer is not about me – but rather, about the babies.  The offer: if you, or someone you run into, is considering abortion, but are willing to discuss not murdering your child, even for one simple phone call discussion, I pledge to adopt your child, love them as their biological father, and pay for all of your pregnancy expenses.  This offer includes babies with Down Syndrome.  Spread the word – your baby deserves a loving family – let us help you.  I will do this for countless babies, if only to save their lives.

TrueMan up!

Tuesdays With Daddy – Times Gone By

A series of posts I used to write were called “Tuesdays with Daddy.”  [They’re in the blog archives under the Fatherhood tab.]  These posts were about my time at home, on Tuesdays, with my daughters.  At the time, I had two toddler daughters that I was lucky enough to be able to spend special time with on Tuesdays.  Today, I took the opportunity to stop working (I mostly work from home) and I went outside with them.  It was a beautiful day and I figured it would do us all some good.

Nowadays, it’s not just my two girls, I also have a one year old son, Dave Jr.  He’s really awesome, and we had a great time outside today.  (Maybe if I can get the video edited together quickly enough, I will post the video of him riding on his four-wheeler by himself!  Yes folks, he turned 1 last week and can ride the thing by himself!)  All three of them were all over our fields and sincerely enjoying the outdoors, the sunshine, and even the brisk breeze that was lightly blowing today.  I was running around with them, laughing and joking, holding them and hugging them, throwing them in the air, pushing them on the tree swing, watching them on the four-wheeler, playing t-ball, helping them ride their bikes, and showing them the old tractors.  What a way to rejuvenate!

When I came in the house, it was time to get back to work.  When I sat back down at my computer, I was so filled with joy, it was almost hard to sit still.  I took an hour out of my workday to be with the people who are the most important in my life.  Not only will they remember it, I will remember it.  Not only did it bring life to them today, it brought life to me today.  What a blessing my children are to me.

If you’re a father, and you’re like me, you often get bogged down in the “stuff that has to get done.”  Work, helping your wife, chores around the house, helping your wife, this meeting and that meeting, taking care of the vehicles, oh yeah don’t forget prayer, helping your wife, going to the bank, making money, helping your wife… on and on.  The “stuff” never stops.  But without a doubt, your kids grow up more and more each day.  Every once and a while, just drop what you’re doing and take your kids outside.  If your kids are anything like mine, and they probably are, they really don’t care what they get to do with Daddy, they just know that they get to be with Daddy!  Don’t let another day go by without spending this invaluable time with your kids.

Last thing… I have been really frustrated lately.  I plan to write more on this in a coming post.  My frustration stems from things that I see in our society, in the government, the 2012 presidential election, things that are happening in and to the Church and so on.  I have to remember, and ask you to consider, this… our world isn’t doomed.  Our world is set for joy, as long as we teach our kids how to live joyfully.  Once we and those who die before us are gone, our kids are in charge.  If they know how to live with joy, our world will be just fine.

TrueMan up!

Black and Pro-Life – Awesome Video!

I just saw this awesome video from the National Black Pro-Life Coalition (BlackandProLife.org).  Take 60 seconds and watch it.  It is true and profound.  Just because I am not black does not mean that I cannot stand up against this blatant racism and extermination of my fellow Americans.  Let our voice be heard, ABORTION MUST STOP!

Black men – I want to direct your attention to something.  You can play a vital role in the end to abortion!  Your role may be THE most important.  The statistics do not lie.  Stand up for women and children and fight to stop abortion now!

TrueMan up!

Catholic Eucharistic Flash Mob

Did you see this?  A Eucharistic “Flash Mob” put on by some Franciscan brothers and volunteers on Ascension Thursday.

Very courageous and SO NEEDED!

Let us not be afraid, let us not cower, let us not be afraid of theculture.  Jesus is the way, the truth and the life!

Thank you to Brother Paul, Brother Loarne and to those who courageously stepped up and stood strong for the Truth!

TrueMan up!

Self Evident Truths

Representative James Lankford from Oklahoma, just last week, proved to be a great man of virtue, a TrueMan.  He successfully stood and presented an absolutely dynamic oratorical argument to the right to life for all humans.  For it is self evident, as he and the founding fathers stated, that all humans have these unalienable rights.

His courage to stand and speak these truths, even in the House of Representatives where we all know truth is not something they hold to hard and fast, is a great example.  Although most of us will never have the chance to stand and speak in this sort of forum, we do have the chance to stand and speak in the small situations.  When confronted with the issue of abortion, we, as men, must stand and defend those without a voice.

Good on you, Mr. Lankford.

“Lately, Life Has Been a Roller Coaster”

Do you ever have those periods of time when life is, well, crazy?  When EVERYTHING hits the fan, deadlines are coming, stressors are numerous, money is constantly on your mind?  When you’re trying to live life to the fullest, be a great man, attend to your responsibilities and give everything your all?  I’ve had a few straight months of living like that.  Where life wouldn’t seem to slow down, and you’re always looking ahead to see if there’s an oxygen break coming soon.

Over the past two months specifically, I have been experiencing a lot.  LOTS of uncertainty and unknown.  Lately, life has been, as they say, a roller coaster.  TrueManhood.com Blog has been the recipient of a serious amount of neglect from me, and to my passionate readers and daily-blog-followers, I apologize.  I have some great stuff planned, that should be coming your way soon.

When life gets like this, I try to do a few things.  For instance… when I have uncertainty, I tend to pray more.  I try to listen harder to what God wants from me.  I try really hard to be aware of what’s happening in my life, taking an objective view of what is going on and what it could possibly mean.  I also tend to be better with money, realizing that only because we’ve been good with money when it’s fruitful and abundant can we make it when things are, let’s say, tighter.  I try to spend as much time with my family as I can, when life gets crazy busy.  The more time with them, the more focused I can be when I’m working – always remembering that work is work and home/family is home/family.  To name a few.

If life is throwing high-heat, curve balls, screw balls and spit balls at you, call time out and gather yourself.  Rely more on God.  Listen to Him more.  Step back for a moment and see what’s important and urgent.  You’ll make clearer decisions, reduce your blood pressure and overall, be a better man.  Oh yeah, did I mention that this sort of behavior is like working on growing in virtue?

TrueMan up!

LIFE Group – Runners Run, Christians Pray, LIFE Runners Do Both!

One of my favorite things to witness is when people figure out what they’re passionate about and use their passion for the greater good.  I hope that comes across here on TrueManhood.com – my passion of helping men grow into authentic masculinity in the image of Jesus Christ, the TrueMan exemplar.  As I often say, “I do this to help men who are where I was get out of that place, or if possible, help a man to never go where I was.”

One such group of people that are passionate about something and have put their passion to use for the greater good are my comrades in prayer and in the fight against the culture of death who founded The Living Faith Exchange (LIFE) Group; Pat Castle, Rich Reich, Steve Castle and others.  (LIFE Group, which can be found on the web at www.LIFEgroup413.org.)  Here’s how they got started…

FAITH JOURNEY: The Living In Faith Exchange (LIFE) Group seed was planted by the Holy Spirit during faith conversations between running partners Pat Castle and Rich Reich, while they were training in the mountains around Colorado Springs in preparation for the Pikes Peak Ascent and Air Force Marathon in 2006.  That seed grew into more faith sharing/prayer time while reading the Living Faith devotional together before work, while serving as chemistry professors at the Air Force Academy.  When Rich moved to the Univ of FL for his PhD in 2007, that morning devotion continued over email.  In Dec 2007, Pat began sharing their morning devotion emails with family and friends.  In Jan 2008, Pat’s brother Steve suggested starting a blog…Rich set it up and came up with the name…and Pat took off sharing the LIFE Group Devotions with everyone he could reach.  The name, Living In Faith Exchange (LIFE) Group, focuses on the Christian’s calling to live the faith by sharing and defending our faith.  The name also points us to the greatest of causes, LIFE, to save babies (and families).  In 2008, Pat and Rich co-founded the LIFE Runners half/full marathon team, feeding into and from the LIFE Group and focused on actively raising awareness/funds for ProLife.  Steve Castle joined as author #3 on 5 Aug 2009.  With Steve’s encouragement and Rich’s activation, on 22 Oct 2009 we began posting our devotions on Facebook.  On 10 Jun 2010, we began selecting our own verses from the daily Mass readings.  On 5 Oct 2010, Rob Rysavy sent out his first devotion as weekly author #4.  On 30 Sep 2010, we started posting a guest author devotion on Thursdays…our weekly author #5 to round out the weekdays.  On 15 Nov 2010, the authors launched our current website…and included Phil 4:13 in the name (http://lifegroup413.org).  What began as a faith conversation between Pat and Rich during a long mountain run…is now a Living in Faith Exchange between over 600 ProLife Christians!

If you’d like to get involved, visit the site and subscribe.  The devotions are great – and, if it’s not already part of your day, it might be a great way for you to start praying every day.  Another awesome thing they do, which you will see if you visit their website, is run half and full marathons in the name of saving babies and families.  What an awesome project!  Their goal for 2011 is to raise $25K for a pregnancy bus that gives pregnant women free ultrasounds.  87% of women who see their unborn child on ultrasound don’t abort.  LIFE Group runners are doing great work in decreasing the number of abortions in America.  “Runners run, Christians Pray… LIFE Runners do both!”  (You can follow LIFE Group on Facebook too.)

I want to highlight something here.  It’s how I started this post, when I spoke about passion.  When you are passionate about something, it becomes what you live for, what you put your efforts toward and an awesome way to witness to others.  Pat and Rich did this.  By remaining disciplined and devoted, they have now brought great meditations and prayers, especially prayers for the unborn and the end to abortion, to thousands of people, and brought them all to the foot of the cross and laid them down at Jesus’ feet.  Do you have something you’re passionate about?  Does something really get you going?  Can you use it for the greater good of society?  I challenge everyone to think about that and make it happen!

TrueMan up!

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