Kids Puke the Darndest Things

There has to be a first time for everything. 

So I was at church this afternoon when I got word that our Children's director, Jennifer, was trying to get a hold of me. I stopped by her office before leaving work, where I found her, her infant son Micah, and the associate Children's director Becky. Making my self comfortable, I sat down in her office next to Becky, who was holding Micah, as he smiled coyly about something as Becky held him up and allowed him to 'stand.' Jennifer asked me what she had been wondering and we talked back and forth as I made faces at her newborn child, continuing to feed his smile. 

Becky eagerly offered to let me hold the boy, mentioning that he had both puked and peed on her not long before. Logic and sound reason should have sent some kind of signal to my brain at Becky's words, warning me of the possible outcomes of my actions...but since I'm a moron, and am not surrounded by children every moment of the day, I figured: what the hay. So Jennifer, Becky, and myself carried on our conversation as I continued to hold Micah by his waist allowing him to stand upright on his legs as Becky had done before me. It was not too long afterward when commenting about Micah's previous puking to his mother, did I turn the lad around and question him about whether he was going to repeat his actions...

Micah's enthusiastic answer came in the form of projectile vomit, which spewed at an alarming rate out of his mouth. Thankfully he took the most of damage, but I did not escape the incident unwounded. Several splashes of infant vomit crossed the half arms length divide that separated his mouth from my shirt. 

Jennifer and Becky couldn't stop laughing at the timing of the moment. While I was not nearly as amused by her child's actions, I couldn't help but smile, realizing that I had passed a less than elite marker of life, having now officially been thrown-up upon by an infant. 

I can't say she didn't warn me.

- Chuck

Our Captain

C.S. Lewis was on to something. 

If your familiar with the writer, I'm sure your thinking that that comment is quite an understatement. If you have no idea who I'm talking about then I encourage you to go pick up this book, it will be a great introduction to a writer and thinker that has influenced countless with his works.  But as I was saying, C.S. Lewis was on to something. The man who dreamed in lions, witches, and wardrobes, had a way about his writing that expressed the deepest of human thoughts and ideas in the most simple terms and phrases. Since reading Mere Christianity during my sophomore year in college, I've been fascinated by the writer. In fact, several years ago I picked up A Year with C.S. Lewis, a devotional journal with exerts from Lewis' works, and I was reading it the other day.  The exert was from The Problem of Pain, a book which I am familiar with but have not read.  In this particular passage, Lewis references a verse in Hebrews 2, which after looking up the reference caught my attention: 

"For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings." - Hebrews 2:10 NKJV

I have never served in the military, but I have played enough sports to know what the role of someone with the title captain. Ultimately, they're a leader with followers. They provide help and direction for their followers, often serving with or even along side them, and most often bear the brunt of responsibility for any given situation. The author of Hebrews is talking here about Jesus Christ, saying that God the Father, allowed and made God the Son, Jesus, to be the captain of salvation through suffering, that is Christ's torture and then death on the cross. Other translations of the Bible use the phrase "author of salvation," or even the word "pioneer." But at that moment in my living room, the idea of Jesus as the captain of our salvation through pain struck the right cord with me.

A few weeks ago my cousin's husband was murdered. Our whole family is still trying to wrap our minds around the senselessness of such a violent act. We've dealt with our share of death and pain, but nothing like this. My cousin's husband was about the nicest guy you could ever expect to meet. Honestly, if the guy had ever known how to be selfish, he'd forgotten how long before I'd met him. He was a welcome addition to the family, and to me and my siblings, he was more like a brother-in-law, than just a guy who married our cousin. He was a Christian which means he is in Heaven, and that seems like the only thing that in this whole situation that makes any sense at all. It has been a painful thing. 

But in the midst of me crying out to the Lord, looking for answers for all this heartache and suffering that my family was dealing with, the Lord reminded me that the Father knew what it was like to loose His Son, a pain and sorrow that I imagine was infinitely greater than my own. And in my own sadness, that thought brought me great comfort, knowing that the Lord was hurting about this too. What God made His Son go through for us, is nothing less than amazing, and the thought that in a redemptive act, Jesus became the author and captain of salvation through such pain, is no less astounding. But even as I mourn in the loss of a loved one, I am encouraged knowing that the Lord is not indifferent to such pain, and I believe hurts along side us even as He leads us.

- Chuck

One Reason I love SNL

So for those of you who know me, you know that I'm a Saturday Night Live fan. And its usually during the election years that SNL is at its funniest and best. Let's be honest, these candidates are just easy targets and think all of us should laugh at ourselves more often. 

This past Saturday was the season premiere of SNL and this skit opened up the night. Democrat, Republican, or independent, I hope you appreciate THIS SKIT.  

- Chuck

Long time no see

So where do I start? I'm going to venture to guess that for many of you this is the first time you've checked out this blog. So how about an introduction. You probably guessed from the title of this blog that my first name is Chuck and that my last name is Pope. Get it?... "A Pope named Chuck"... I know. Its lame. But three years ago when I was still in school, it was the first thing I could think of. 

Any who, much has changed for me in the last three years since I was a young and eager college senior, ready to make his dent on the world wide web of information (ha, and then never did). I've changed jobs four times, moved housing situations just as many, and finished my MBA in marking (not for lack of wanting to quit mind you).

Suffice it to say, here I am now, with more time on my hands than I'm used to, and wanting to spend it doing something (even if that is just blogging) and finally making my first official post as the author of this blog. If you know me and your reading this I encourage you to keep popping in from time to time to see what's up with your friend or to find out what's on my mind.  If you don't know me - well, then let just say your in for a ride and I encourage you to keep checking back in to find out what's happing with this Pope named Chuck (Pun ridiculously intended). 

If I was cool I would have something 'neat' to say here. If I was eloquent, I might have some moderately cultured verbiage to spew as I signed off...But since I am neither of those things let just call it quits for now. 

- Chuck