Brandon Gilbert

When Ryne was first born I wrote about how all diapers were not created equal. When we were still naive and thinking about the rainbows and unicorns side of parenting, we decided we weren’t going to be picky about what types of diapers we were going to use. We didn’t want to be “those parents” that have to be so particular with their child. Then IT happened. That fateful day when everything that was supposed to stay on the inside was on the outside. Since that fateful day with the most horrible of wardrobe malfunctions, we have stuck with Pampers. A diaper has to contain the devastation…that’s its only purpose in life. Pampers does that well. Sure, we’ve had a few mishaps with Pampers along the way, but in almost every case, I can say with a good amount of certainty that it was a poor fastening job by Daddy or Mommy. Diapers are like a Dam with a Lock. They’re supposed to hold back the flood, but that only really works if you make sure to close the gate.

Then a few months ago, my Pastor, Aarron, tries to convert me. Imagine that….a Pastor trying to convert people. He tries to tell me that Target has a Store Brand that works just as well as Pampers. My first thought was that the stress of planting a church had finally gotten to him. We had seen the devastation caused by not following the  “Thou shalt have no other diapers before me” commandment from Pampers. We just weren’t ready for that kind of change in my life. Notice, I said it was a few months ago that he had told me.

Fast forward to this week. Still without a job after almost 11 months, I am looking for any way to cut expenses. Aarron has still been praising the Target diapers, so we finally broke down and decided to give them a try. At $7 less a box, we figured it was worth at least an experiment. I still was not without reservation. I was ready to try them, but I told myself that the first time they malfunctioned, Aarron was going to get possibly the worst Pastor’s Appreciation Day present in history.

Our whole family was skeptical. When we opened the box, TheBrandNewMom examined them closely to see if they even looked like they acted like Pampers. TheBrandNewSon was waaay confused. The first time I went to put it on him, he raised his eyebrows at me in a worried and perplexed look, as if to say “Hey, Dad….you realize that’s not a Pampers diaper, right?” I calmed his fears….even though I was bracing for the worst. We let him play and then he took a nap. Then he got up and ate, and played again. He didn’t have any poopies….but he did have about a quart of liquid in there. The Target diapers held their own there. But that was not the main test of concern. I can handle a small leak of liquid. It’s the other stuff that gets me. Well, that time came and went as well, and again, the Target diapers passed with flying colors (no pun intended).

So, about a week later, we’ve still had no malfunctions, though there’s been plenty opportunities for it. So, if you have a Target in your area, I highly recommend Up and Up Brand diapers.

Ready for Foam Battle

Just knocked down the MegaBlocks tower Godzilla style.

At the Park.

There’s a why to the whole concept of the book I’m writing. I purposefully didn’t share it before I shared other excerpts…though that purpose remains a mystery to even myself. I’m just weird, what can I say?

King of Kings: If you’ve grown up going to church like I have, you’ve heard this phrase tens of thousands of times. It’s one of the names the Bible gives to God. He’s the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. It’s in countless praise and worship songs, hymns, and recited prayers. This is what he is to us, but it’s hard to understand exactly what this means for a lot of people, especially in the United States or younger generations of Europeans.

I believe the Bible uses this title because that’s what people could easily reference for a relationship with God back then. Can’t you just hear Moses speaking to the Israelites, “You think Pharoah’s awesome? Well, my God is cooler than the other side of the pillow.” Ok, maybe not…but I think the thought was that everyone lived under some sort of kingdom rule. The king was to be respected, obeyed, and feared. Then, you throw in, that God is the KING of Kings, and that clues you in on just how awesome he is.

Growing up, the only frame of reference I would have for a king is one that came into power from pulling a sword out of a stone, or maybe the father of Prince Humperdinck in William Goldman’s The Princess Bride, or maybe Elvis. While Elvis died before I was born, there were reported sightings of him in supermarket tabloids well into my teens. In other words, I just don’t have a good idea of what it means to live under the rule of a king.

I have never been called to court. I have never had to work land for a king in return for living on the land. I have never had to go to my hometown for a census because my king decrees it. I have lived my life under an amazing amount of freedom. While it could be said that all of these things are done by proxy in the form of earning a wage to pay for items, and taxes paid to the IRS, I still am not commanded to do so under threat of death by the Crown.

There is, however, another title that the Bible gives to God and that is Father. I can relate to this much better in my relationship with God. I have had a father since 1981. On July 9th, 2009, Ryne Nathaniel Gilbert came into this world, giving me the title of father. When you become a father (or mother), I believe it is in that child that God chooses to reveal Himself even more to us. Every lesson we teach to our children mirrors a broader lesson God is trying to teach to us. Often times, just like our kids do with us, we fail to listen to those lessons. I am still trying to relate to God being the King of Kings and what that entails in my relationship with him, but I am definitely learning what it means for him to be my Father.

When you spend all day, every day with a person, you usually don’t see changes in them. With your spouse, unless it’s a new hair color or something drastic, most changes seem to go unnoticed. It usually takes someone on the outside to see changes and comment on them, like a little lost weight here, or some gained weight there. I’ve learned that this does not apply to the little guy living here.

Spending all day, every day with my son is a blessing. As much as TheBrandNewMom and I would love for our circumstances to be different, we realize that having at least one of us here to take care of him is a great gift. Still, even though I am constantly with him, changes seem to come very drastically and without warning. TheBrandNewSon is a goal setter. He decides that he’s going to do something, and then he makes it happen.

When we wanted him to roll over, we would put him in the floor for some tummy time. He hated tummy time. He got to be so defiant about it, he would lay there and just go to sleep instead of actually trying to roll over or scoot a little. One day, he just decided that enough was enough. We had him laying on our bed with us, and he just flipped right over very matter-of-factly. Once he did, he felt he was accomplished. He knew he could do it, so there was no need to prove it again. It was a couple of weeks before he would do it again.

After he became a roller, we tried to get him to crawl. For weeks, he would get up into crawling position, and then he would crawl….backwards. Finally, he made up his mind that it was time to crawl, so he did…he wanted something and he went and got it. Again, he had accomplished his goal, another life skill learned and it’s been a while for us to try to get him to crawl again. He’s crawled a few times, but mostly he would kind of pout as if to say, “I did this once, you know I can do it, so why are you asking me to do it again? I am not a circus monkey.”

Fast forward to the last week. He’s been crawling whenever he wants to get around. He’s decided he wants to crawl and explore now. Today was exceptionally eventful. Today I put him in the floor and he crawled a good 4 feet away to get to the MegaBlocks he likes to eat…er, play with. when he got done, though….he crawled back to Daddy! Then, he proceeded to pull up on me and stand up (another one of those pesky life skills we’ve been working on)! I picked him up and put him in my lap. We laughed and played “Tickle Monster.” When we were done with that, he slid back down to get in the floor and crawled back over to the MegaBlocks, and repeated the whole process until he had tired himself out and it was nap time.

It seems like so much time passes, and then BAM! He decides he’s ready to graduate to a whole ‘nother level of baby awesomeness. I’ve definitely learned that I have to quit watching for milestones, though. It makes the time fly by that much faster. You keep looking ahead to the next milestone, and you miss out on all the cool little stuff that happens in between. This is advice I shared with a new Twitter friend, Chris, who’s Twitter name is @twistedxtian if you want to follow him. He’s a dad who’s studying to be a Pastor…in Canada. He has a 6 month old, affectionately called “Bean.” I see stuff he writes on his blog, and remember what it was like when we were going through those same things. While they’re only 3 months behind us, it feels like an eternity.

I remember holding Ryne on my chest a couple of days after he was born and wishing for nothing else but that time would stop and let me freeze in that moment forever. Now, if it had, I would have missed a lot of really cool stuff…like having my son look me in the eye and say “DaDa.” There are so many moments to hold onto, but they just keep fading away and are replaced very quickly with new ones. I don’t mind him growing up, but I would like it to go at a slower pace. I would like to know one thing… Who ordered the Miracle Grow?

As Ryne gets bigger and bigger, I can’t help but notice that his feeding times are resembling less and less hunger and more and more addiction. I would even say that by the time he gets ready to eat, he is actually fiending for the next fix.

It used to be that he would wake up every few hours ready to eat and it would be a cry and we knew what it meant. Now he keeps his eyes closed and starts stretching his neck looking for a fix. He puckers his lips, searching for anything that will relieve his cravings.

As I’ve written before, Ryne figures out that the pacifier is only plastic pretty quick. It’s even worse when he’s searching for a hit of milk. He will get the pacifier in his mouth and suck so hard that you think he might actually get what he’s wanting. This lasts for about four sucks and then…boom! The pacifier goes flying and all his crying fury is unleashed upon the world.

I haven’t noticed it, but I am sure there are baby equivalents of the shakes and cold sweats going on as he cries (more like a yell). Then, we pick him up to feed him and his search for that fix kicks into high gear. He bobs his head back and forth looking for anything to feed the craving. Necks, shoulders, biceps, anything is fair game as he tries to get what he wants.

When his mommy finally starts to get him into position to feed, he gets even more impatient. He knows it’s there, and he can’t wait to get it. His efforts to get it as fast as he can actually result in delaying the good stuff. He tries to help pull it in, but this actually results in him pushing it out. He bobs his head and latches on to the wrong sides. Jamie has to actually physically restrain his arms to get him to feed.

Once he’s finally got what he wants, his whole body relaxes and he assumes his feeding position. He puts his right fist up by his temple and his left arm kind of holds on to mommy. Breast milk has a sleep-inducing effect, so he gets very calm and complacent as he finishes. Suddenly, all is right with the world. That is, until he needs his next fix.

1. What did you think when you found out you were possibly going to meet the man you were named for?

Well, I have to be honest, I think it was more of a big deal to Daddy. Daddy’s told me about him, but he retired 12 years before I was born. Still, I thought it was cool how excited Daddy and Mommy were about the whole thing. They talked in high-pitch voices and forgot things they were talking about. They were acting like I do when I see food.

2. What were you thinking about while you were waiting at the gate to get into the ballpark?

I was thinking, “why are we here this early again?” I know Daddy and Mommy were excited and all that, but I’m sure there was a nap somewhere with my name on it. Somewhere that wasn’t in the Sun.

3. What were you thinking about while you had to wait for Mr. Sandberg to change into his uniform?

First of all, I was thinking, “why do I still have this dirty diaper on?” I thought Mommy and Daddy wanted me to make a good impression. Here’s a Hall-of-Fame player that shares my name, and I’m going to meet him smelling like Pig-Pen from Peanuts.
Second of all, I’m thinking, “How long does it take to change into a uniform? I know when I change into RynoBoy, it doesn’t take me nearly….wait…wait, um, never mind. He…He…I was just kidding about the RynoBoy stuff…you can’t print that!

4. What were your first impressions about Mr. Sandberg?

He was older than I expected. I don’t know why I didn’t think about it. I mean, Daddy’s old and he grew up watching him play… But he was, like, OLD…like, Papa old. He was nice, though. He better be glad he wasn’t a jerk to me. I was packing a diaper bomb, after all.

5. Are you content to be named after Mr. Sandberg?

Absolutely! I only hope to be as accomplished as he is someday. Plus it’s a freakin’ awesome name. The chicks are so gonna dig me.

6. What did you think about the singing of the National Anthem?

I thought The Oak Ridge Boys did a great job. I was slightly confused as to exactly when the National Anthem started to end with “Agiddyup ba-oom papa oom papa oom papa mow mow.”

7. What were your first impressions of live baseball?

The players were taller than I thought at first. I was glad to learn that Baseball isn’t a strange game played with 12 inch tall men. The grass was very green, too.

8. Do you want to go back to another game?

As long as I don’t have to wait 2 hours for it to begin, I’d love to. I want to go back and see the Sounds play when I can pull for them, because if the Cubs are in town, I just can’t do it. I want to go to a lot of different ballparks as well. Maybe to Wrigley Field next.

9. Is Baseball something you want to pursue yourself?

Well, it may be. I thought I’d probably knock out a few more items on the ol’ bucket list first, you know, like crawling, walking, talking in complete sentences, potty training, those sorts of things.

10. How awesome is your Dad for letting you experience all of that?

I don’t know that he let me experience all of it as much as he forced me to experience all of it. Regardless, it was a really fun night, and one I will remember the rest of my life… As long as Daddy and Mommy keep showing me pictures and telling me about it.

*Read all the way to the end for a very important announcement!

Friday, April 16, 2010 will go down as one of the greatest days in my life. I would hope that it would be one of the greatest days in the life of my son, but at only 9 months old, I know the only memory he’ll have of the day will be through photographs. As I told you here, we named our son after Ryne Sandberg, the Hall of Fame second baseman of the Chicago Cubs. When you name your child after someone famous, you aren’t really sure that your child will ever get to meet that person. Well, on this particular day, all the stars aligned for that to happen…

Ryne Sandberg is currently the manager of the Iowa Cubs, the Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. They play in the Pacific Coast League, which happens to be the league of….The Nashville Sounds,  our hometown team. This entire past weekend, the I-Cubs were in town to play the Sounds. This places my son, Ryne in the same town as his namesake on the same day at the same time. If this was a RynoBoy Adventure, this could possibly mean the Universe would implode…but not in this case. What it did mean was a chance for us to let our son meet the man we named him after.

It’s an opportunity that almost didn’t happen. On Thursday, the front end of our car exploded. Well, not literally, but the brakes, rotors and two front tires all needed to be replaced unexpectedly, which severely depletes funds when you’re still laid off from your job after 10 months. We got a magical little piece of paper in the mail however granting us a free ticket to a Sounds game. Lil’ Bit doesn’t need a ticket, so this meant that we all three could get into the game for the price of one ticket. Sounds like a Discover Card commercial doesn’t it?

Unexpected car repairs: $420
Ticket to Baseball Game: $10
Chance to meet person you named your child after: Priceless.

Well, it was definitely an experience worth $10. We knew we wanted to try to get an autograph, and the GOLD prize…a picture of our Ryne with his namesake. We got to the ballpark at 5:00. Gates opened at 5:30, and first pitch was at 7:05.
We waited for the gates to open and enjoyed the oohs and ahhs over our cute little Cubs fan.

When the gates opened, we made a beeline for the visitors’ side dugout. The I-Cubs were taking batting practice, and Mr. Sandberg was throwing. He looked like he could’ve suited up and played that night himself. Well, we waited…and waited. BP was over, and then they had to go change into their uniforms and come back out, so we waited some more. I don’t know if you’ve ever taken your 9 month old to a baseball game where there’s nothing to watch but the field, but Ryne handled it like a champ. Finally, Mr. Sandberg came back to the dugout, and then we anticipated our chance to meet him.

Finally, he came out of the dugout and over to the stands to talk and sign stuff. This process was not without worry and anger for me. First of all, I kept thinking, “I named my son after this guy, so I sincerely hope he’s not the biggest jerk in the world to us.” Second of all, there were some seedy people with all this crap for him to sign so they could go home and log onto eBay. I even saw one guy with an inventory sheet. Now, I understand all about making money, but that ruins it for true fans. He only has a limited amount of time to meet and sign (He does have an actual job to do, after all) and you want to fill that time with him signing your trinkets? Ugh.

Anyway, he finally made his way down to us and he signed a baseball for us. There was so much commotion that we didn’t even have time to ask for a picture. I was disappointed, but definitely not giving up. He made his way back down on his way back to the dugout, and as he stopped to sign some more stuff, I simply said, “Mr. Sandberg, I named my son after you, so can we get a picture of you with him?” He was very gracious and obliged us. Ryne was so enamored with who this guy was, he wouldn’t look at the camera, he just kept looking at Mr. Sandberg. I snapped my fingers at Ryne to get him to look at the camera, and then..Mr. Sandberg did the same thing…I thought that was funny…but Ryne just kept on looking at Mr. Sandberg. I figured that was just as awesome, and we thanked him for taking time. Such amazing memories.

It was, of course, Ryne’s first Baseball game as well. He lasted 3 whole innings. Of course, considering we had him there 2 hours before the first pitch was thrown out, I am waaaay impressed. He fell asleep before we even left the parking lot of the stadium. He then stayed asleep to a full hour after we arrived home. Meeting a Hall-of-Famer tires you out I guess:)

So, I had planned to give you Ryne’s thoughts on meeting his namesake, but we’re going to do this Q&A style. Leave a comment and ask him anything you want to know about it and he’ll answer in tomorrow’s post.

Nashville Peeps…If you ever want to  get  ticket packages to Sounds Games, give Kevin Hall a call at 615-690-4487 ext. 107  I’ve never met him in person, but he is an amazing person to deal with!

It all began with Pavlov’s dog. Ring a bell, and the dog begins to salivate. So it goes with Ice Cream trucks. The difference is, there is apparently no repetition needed to train a child to have a fit at the sound of the Ice Cream Truck. There must be a strand of DNA in babies that responds when they hear it.

Ryne has never had Ice Cream and there is no possible way he even knows what it is. Saturday an Ice Cream truck came through our complex. He heard the siren call oh so faintly and began jittering and reaching towards the door and generally pitching a fit to go to the door. It could just be that he liked the music, but there are a dozen things around the house that make music and he doesn’t react like that to any of them.

So…a mystery remains until the next time an ice cream truck comes through.

Great Sidekicks come around only so often. Great friends come around even less. So, imagine my horror and anger when my best friend, and keeper of my Super Hero secret was kidnapped right from my own base camp. Jimmy and I go way back. This was not only an attack on Jimmy, but it was an attack on me…and I took it very, very personally.

I searched the scene where he was taken. There was some kind of paralyzing agent sprayed on Jimmy to allow them to take him. I found the residue in the camp. I know they had to use it because Jimmy would never allow himself to be taken alive. I also knew immediately who had taken him: The Evil Dr. Daddicus and his Partner, The Baroness Mommy Von Milkstein. They’re always trying to take over the world. I have yet to figure out why they taunt me so much. I always win. At that moment I made the decision not to wait for any ransom demands, but to instead fly immediately to their Lair and get Jimmy out. He was going to be free and I knew I couldn’t sleep a wink until that happened.

I must admit that the thought did cross my mind that I was flying into a trap, and that they expected me to come right away, but I wasn’t worried. They aren’t the brightest villains in the comic book, if you know what I mean. Well, having said that, I was in for quite a surprise when I got to their Lair. They had moved it offshore and underwater.. There was no way to get to it except by a submarine, of course, unless you’re a super hero and you’ve got the friends I do. My friend Sally Seahorse (who is a fantastic singer) came to the surface, created a bubble for me to ride in, and then escorted me down to their Lair.

I busted in and searched until I found where they were holding Jimmy. Actually, they weren’t holding him at all. They were all having some tea as I walked in (prepared to kick some hiney). They apologized for keeping him so long and that he was free to go. I was very curious as to the nature of their visit, as this seemed all to easy. At that moment however , I didn’t care. I raced to hug Jimmy, thankful for his survival, then with the help of Sally we rushed back to the surface and back to our base camp.

Will RynoBoy find out the true nature of Dr Daddicus and Baroness Mommy Von Milkstein’s plot?
Will Jimmy remain the same friendly, care-free giraffe he’s always been?
Tune in next week. Same Rynoboy time, same RynoBoy Channel!

TheBrandNewDad epilogue: What had happened was… One evening last week, Ryne’s dinner didn’t completely agree with him, or it agreed with him too much. Either way, when I went to check on him in his crib before I went to bed, he had thrown up some of his dinner. He had avoided most of the catastrophe, having moved to a different part of the crib. Jimmy, however, didn’t quite make it. He was soiled, to say the least. Well, we had to wash him in the washer, but Ryne also had to be woken up so we could change his sheets.

I took Jimmy and put him in with the dirty clothes then went back to change his sheets while Jamie changed him. Then came time to put him back to sleep. Ryne doesn’t like to sleep without his friend Jimmy. It was hard to get him calmed down without his best friend around. So his other friend, Sally the Sea Horse sang him a song (which she does every night…Sally’s a sea horse that’s kinda in the same vein as a Glow Worm). And we comforted him as much as we could. He finally fell asleep…but the look on his face said he wasn’t happy about it.

The next day when Jimmy was finished being washed and dried, Jamie brought Jimmy for me to see if I thought he was clean and dry enough. Ryne was in the living room, and caught a glimpse of Jimmy. Now, he’s still not walking, but I believe at that very moment, he could have done one of those cheesy scenes of he and Jimmy running towards each other in a field. He kicked his legs, reached out his hands and started yelling (not crying or screaming, but kind of a whooping) for Jimmy. Jamie handed him to Ryne, and Ryne clutched Jimmy to his chest and squeezed him so hard, I would sware I could actually hear the thing wheeze. Ryne and Jimmy were finally reunited.

Why can’t we keep a friend like that as we grow up?

¹¹ We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. ¹² In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! ¹³ Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. ¹⁴ But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
Hebrews 5:11-14 (TNIV)

Mark and Paul attend the local First Baptist Methodist Assembly of the Catholic Nazarene. They love God with all their heart. They decide that the best thing they can do for their community is to go witness to their neighbors on Monday nights. One Monday night, they go visit Steve. The three of them would never be the same.

Mark knocks loudly on Steve’s door.
Steve gets up and opens the door to see who it is.

Mark: Hi sir, this is Paul, and I’m Mark. We’re from the First Baptist Methodist Assembly of the Catholic Nazarene up the road. We’d like to come in and tell you about Jesus. Is that OK?

Steve: “It’s Monday night, I was watching “Chuck,” but I guess I can TiVo it.”

Paul: “Great! So, have you ever heard about Jesus?”

Steve: “I went to Vacation Bible School a couple of times when I was a kid.”

Mark: “Did you pray the prayer of salvation?”

Steve: “I’m not sure I know what that means.”

Mark: “Well, then, I have a very, very important question for you.”

Steve: “What’s that?”

Mark (in his best T.D. Jakes voice): “Do you believe that the Lamb was slaughtered so that His blood would cover you so that you would be washed white as snow and not perish?”

Steve: “Huh?”

Paul: “Are you sure that if you were to die right now that you would not be thrown into the lake of fire?”

Steve (wondering whether or not they want to kill him and/or teach him about white supremacy): “Ohhhhhhhhhh….you meant THAT prayer of salvation. Oh yeah, I prayed that years ago.”

Mark: “Wonderful! Would you like to come visit us this Sunday at The First Baptist Methodist Assembly of the Catholic Nazarene? We have 3 services for your convenience!”

Steve (ushering them quickly toward the door): “Oh yeah, that sounds interesting, I think I have to work, though” (he doesn’t).

Mark and Paul leave very satisfied with themselves, that is, until a few minutes later when they’re picked up by local police on suspicion of Arson and Animal Cruelty as a result of a quickly placed call by Steve. Steve, meanwhile has reaffirmed to himself his old rule of not opening his door to strangers.

There was a time when the majority of Americans knew who God was, or at least who He was taught to be. Through many different transformations in our culture, this is no longer the case. You can go almost anywhere (even within the so-called “Bible Belt,” and find people who do not know who Jesus is, and may not have even heard the name before. These people are the people who need to hear about him the most, but we as Christians have forgotten what the Bible tells us about reaching these people.

First of all, when someone doesn’t speak your language, you have to communicate in theirs. This is what I would call “watering down the Gospel.” I know that phrase has a negative connotation, but I want to reclaim it for a different concept. In the above story, Mark and Paul started with a genuine passion for seeing their community come to know Christ like they knew Him. The only problem is that Steve didn’t speak their language. As  mature Christians who’ve been taught within the Church, Mark and Paul knew who The Lamb was, why He was slain, and what it meant to them personally to be covered by His blood. To Steve, it sounded more like a rational reason for the existence of PETA. Steve needed to hear a simplified, un-churched version of what Mark and Paul wanted to tell him.

When my son was born, the only thing his stomach could handle was his Mommy’s milk. As he got older, we introduced solid foods, but in a watered down, pureed form. As he continued to get older, we didn’t water his food down as much. We let it keep getting bulkier and bulkier. Can you imagine what would have happened had we given him some grilled chicken and vegetables when he was just born and new to the world? He would have choked! He was too new. Not only would he have not had a clue about what it was, he wouldn’t know how to process it. This is the case with Steve. He not only wasn’t sure of what Mark and Paul were trying to tell him about, but he was unable to process it because it wasn’t simplified enough for him.

One thing to be sure of when telling people about Jesus is that it’s hard to tell someone about Jesus without showing them the love of Jesus. If someone you don’t know comes to you and tells you about something you’ve never heard of, you’re going to be thinking, “why do I listen to you about this?” “Why should I take your word for it?” What if Mark and Paul had gone to Steve’s house and asked him if he needed any help with anything around the house. What if they just walked up and introduced themselves just to meet him and get to know him? As time goes on, and Steve sees a difference in the lives of Mark and Paul, he will ask them why, and they can tell him about their relationship with Jesus. They can tell him that while they still have struggles, and not everything in life is even close to perfect, that relationship gives them hope.

As more believers come into The Church, it’s important to disciple them and teach them so that they can move on to solid food and move away from the milk. However, it’s important that in order to introduce them to Jesus and to who He is, we’ve got to simplify the story a bit. We’ve got to water it down.