"You cannot protect yourself from sadness without protecting yourself from happiness."

​Our baby has moved from being an embryo and is now a fetus! I would detail what all that means—but I haven't read that part of "What to Expect When You're Expecting" yet.  So I'll let my wife handle that post.  

What I'd like to do is reflect on the tragedy that happened today in Boston.  I won't inundate you all with the horrific details, the news outlets already to a good job at that, for better or worse.  It is enough to say that we live in a fallen world and this is the world that Brooke and I are bringing a child into.  It's quite a scary thought  when I dwell on it.  I think about all the tragedy I have seen in my short life.  How every day we hear something worse than the day before.  I think about what this world will look like when my baby is my age and to be honest it scares me.  Yet this fear does not paralyze me because as a follower of Christ I have hope.  I have hope, which the scriptures reaffirm, that he will come back and right all that is wrong in this world.    

The scriptures also reaffirm the wickedness of men most clearly in Romans 1:18-20,​

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.  For what can be known about God is plain to them because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived  ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.  So they are without excuse.  

Two things that stick out to me in this passage. ​

1. God never condemns without just cause.  We as a whole have clearly suppressed his truth, ignored his revelations, and perverted his glory.  The tragedy in Boston clearly puts on display our just condemnation. 

2. Utter, uncompromising abandonment in man is the first preliminary to understanding the gospel. ​

I come back to the fact that we are not without hope.  The people of Boston are not without hope either.  I grieve for and mourn for them and my heart breaks for the state of humanity but my hope is ultimately rooted in the goodness of God and his infinite mercies.  We hope that justice is served, and that those who are responsible are apprehended, however true justice belongs to the only righteous judge God himself. I leave you with a prayer for the people of Boston that they may hope in our great Redeemer!  

O Divine Redeemer,​
Great is your goodness
in undertaking our redemption,
in consenting to be made sin for us,
in conquering all our foes;
Great is your strength
in enduring the extremities of diving wrath,
in taking away the load of our iniquities;
Great is your love
in manifesting yourself alive
in showing your sacred wounds,
that every fear might vanish,
and every doubt be removed;
Great is your mercy 
in ascending to heaven
in being crowned and enthroned 
there to intercede fo us,
there to succor us in temptation,
there to open the eternal book,
there to receive me finally to yourself;
Great is your wisdom
in devising this means of salvation;
Bathe our souls in rich consolations of your ressurection life;
Great is your grace
in commanding us to come hand in hand 
with you to the Father,
to be knot to him eternally,
to discover in him our rest,
to find in him our peace,
to behold his glory,
to honor him who is alone worthy;
in giving me the Spirit as teacher, guide, power, 
that I may live repenting of sin, 
conquer Satan, find victory in life.
When you are absent all sorrows are here,
When you are present all blessing are ours.  

-Ron