Orphan Sunday 2020

  

Today is Orphan Sunday. It is a day set apart to lift up the fatherless worldwide. A day of prayer, connection, and action. A day I long to see no longer needed. Currently there are an estimated 15.1 million orphans globally. I did some number crunching to give you a picture of how many children that actually happens to be. Enough to fill all 32 NFL Stadiums and the largest NCAA football stadiums right at five times. Combined the capacity for those stadiums is 3,226,166. That means you could pack those stadiums to the brim and you still couldn’t hold all of the kids that we actually know of and have a statistic to count. That total number doesn’t count children within institutions, slaves of child trafficking, or street children. 

 

If you’ve been around long enough, you know that this is a topic I write on often. In fact, I write a blog on this almost every year and have since I discovered that this day existed. This morning I was teaching the Middle School students and was talking about how God doesn’t need us, but He wants us. It didn’t occur to me while I was studying that the main point for the lesson I was teaching would coincide with today. When I thought about it this morning I told them what today was called. You see, knowing that God wants us even when we are sinful, enemies of God whom do their best to ignore the fact that we need God makes adoption all the more meaningful. Just like people who adopt or foster say we will take them, God says the same thing about us. He knows the good, the bad, and the ugly, and has way more information than people that choose this road ever will about their children and He wants us anyway. That is a huge deal. Who we are doesn’t take God by surprise. 

 

Why throw that last paragraph in when I opened with statistics? Because I’ve not adopted, fostered, or been adopted myself, and using such imagery not only evokes thankfulness to God for my own salvation but it gives me perspective for the children around the world,many of whom don’t know what it means to be loved by parents. Which is again why this whole blog post is being written. They want to be wanted, we as people want to be wanted. The question is how are we going to make sure they know they are loved? I understand that not everyone that reads this will be called to adopt or foster. But, multiple times in scripture we are called to care for the fatherless. James 1:27, Isaiah 1:17, are just two examples that tell us to seek justice for the fatherless or care for the children in need. Maybe that means giving monetarily to local and global organizations that fund adoption grants, maybe it means giving clothes, toys, diapers, formula, and a whole host of items children need to local organizations that help foster parents. It can look like many things. I don’t personally know what that looks like for you. No matter what conclusion you draw on that point you can pray for them. Pray that God would put people in their lives to show them that they are loved whether that be caretakers for a period of time or a family of their own. Pray that the Church would take seriously this command to care for the fatherless. 

 

This, for me, is a personal issue because I want to adopt one day. I’ve spent years waiting for that time to come, prayed for more hours than I can count. While most people dread the big 30^thbirthday I anxiously counted down the day that would give me the legal age minimum to adopt from China. Maybe you aren’t like me. Maybe this is the first time you’ve heard any of these statistics. I hope that whatever this post finds you in it educates a little and reminds you that this is an issue we are called to be the hands and feet of Jesus in. 

9/11 - A Legacy and Tribute

 

 

 

Today is a day of remembrance. The world changed September 11,2001. No act of terrorism at that scale had hit the United States. It would go on to launch a war as the men responsible were hunted down. It would also be responsible for bringing the nose of the dog to the forefront of the general public. That top picture and so many like it gave an eleven year old me something to understand. People don’t always make sense to me. We are a selfish, self-seeking, narcistic bunch of beings. Dogs aren’t, it really is that simple. You can look at a dog and that dog will tell you everything you need to know about it if you are willing to listen. They can’t lie, at least not convincingly.

 

Amidst the chaos and terror that 9/11 brought, where video of the pile was shot so the world could see first responders and rescue workers working tirelessly to recover those lost, I locked in on the dogs. These dogs were special. Up until that day your average search and rescue operation was for a lost child. This was recovery on a massive scale. Dogs were present at the Oklahoma City bombing and while that was the catalyst of the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation, 9/11 brought to the public eye just what dogs can do. These dogs were not searching for a child in the woods. These dogs were traversing rubble and I-beams with the agility and grace of a gymnast. 

 

The canine olfactory sense was on full display for a watching world. It was also on display for a boy whom happened to love dogs and had little understanding of the politics that would surround that day. I knew little of what would transpire because of those acts of terrorism. What I did understand was dogs. My profession isn’t a coincidence.  I truly love dogs. During those days when nothing made sense I could at least catch a few seconds of video or see a picture of one of the 100 plus dogs that were deployed throughout New York and D.C. to search for those left behind. 

 

Those dogs did a tremendous amount of work. But, as much work as they did, the closure they brought, the one thing they provided above all else was hope. A light in the darkness, a familiarity for first responders, and rescue workers at the end of shifts looking for brothers and sisters in the rubble. They went in to search, ordinary dogs that happened to be extraordinarily well trained. They came out as heroes. A testament to what it meant to be a dog. Canis Familiaris at their finest. 

 

 

Even now 19 years later the images of those dogs are seared in my brain. When natural disasters hit, when tragedy strikes, I can tell you that now I look for those dogs. The ordinary turned extraordinary on four feet with a nose that rivals anything man could ever invent. Men might have selectively bred the dog and honed instincts to create dogs for specific jobs, but God certainly gave us a gift like no other that would time after time prove its worth not only as an able partner but as a friend.  

 

 

Argos the Faithful Friend

 

 

 

It’s National Dog Day. I’m not going to skip the chance to write about one of my favorite things in the world. But this time it’s going to be a bit different. 

 

Names are important. There are whole books dedicated to parents searching for what to name their child. They’ve got meanings, they carry weight, and depending on the life they can be forever inscribed on the annals of history. I spend a long time before naming my dogs. When I named my business, I knew what I was going to call it for years. So, if you’re wondering why the name Argos, the following quotes from Homer’s Odyssey will hopefully clear things up. 

 

 

As soon as he saw Odysseus standing there, he dropped his ears and wagged his tail, but he could not get close up to his master. When Odysseus saw the dog on the other side of the yard, dashed a tear from his eyes without Eumaios seeing it,

 

So saying he entered the well-built mansion and made straight for the riotous pretenders in the hall. But Argos passed into the darkness of death, now that he had fulfilled his destiny of faith and seen his master once more after twenty years.-Homers Odyssey 

 

Ever since I read it Homer’s Odyssey has been one of my favorite books. I love mythology and there is a little of everything in the epic life of Odysseus within the pages. One of my favorite parts of the book is that passage. Most would find it rather sad, to me it speaks volumes. There are few creatures as devoted as canines. Despite his fictional existence the life of a faithful dog whom waited for two decades on his master to return left a mark on me. I knew that is what I wanted to call my business because I knew that what I wanted was to help people have that type of relationship with their dogs. 

 

There are plenty of accounts of real-life dogs waiting for years for masters that don’t return, Hachiko, Greyfriar’s Bobby, or stories of dogs that travel miles to return home and when I hear them they make me happy and usually teary-eyed. Argos, stuck for me. One day I hope to have a dog bearing the legendary name. Though, so far, none of them have fit the name, as much as I love them. 

 

Man’s best friend gets a lot of attention on this day. So, I hope as you think about your canine’s a little more today that you’ve got a dog as faithful as Argos by your side. One whom will wait decades just to see you one more time. Because without the existence of Canis Familiaris life would be dull. I would also not be who I am. 

 

From Kinder to Canine:End of an Era

Today I resigned from my job of thirteen years. It was not a decision made lightly or without months of prayer. I want you to know that it has been an honor and not a duty taken lightly, caring for, teaching, and loving your children over the years. You’ve unknowingly given me a gift that I will forever cherish. I can’t have children so it was never taken for granted when kids ran down the halls screaming my name or came up to hug me when they saw me. I’ve even had the pleasure of seeing many sibling groups come through my room. They have been years full of kids who don’t always know my name or call me things that aren’t remotely close to ‘Jared’. In fact, my first year I went by Jaro to one girl in particular and never once corrected her. Children are funny that way, and my name being correct isn’t nearly as important as them feeling comfortable to yell at me when they see me. 

 

Some days were long and others not long enough. I’ve seen your children grin ear from ear as they successfully wrote their names, or letters, or recognized a number or shape. There is a chance they learned a great deal about space, and animals (two of my favorite things). If you ever question the retention of a child just read them a Bible passage and then have them request it repeatedly and then at four give profound insight that even as an adult surprises you. They are far smarter than you think, more capable than most assume. They only require a chance to be children and to learn their way. The world could do with a lot more childlike learning ability. But, the thing I wanted them to learn the most was who Jesus was. Over the years technology helped bridge the gap between the Bible and children and brought to life Bible passages in a visual way that kids can understand, Daniel and the Lion’s Den, Elijah and the prophets of Baal, David and Goliath, and the paralytic man whom Jesus healed as his friends lowered him through the roof tended to the be the ones they liked the most. 

 

I had never planned on being at MDO that long, I took the job assuming it would be a pay for college gig-it did but it also lasted until I was thirty. Funny how God works, life rarely unfolds as it is expected to from a human standpoint. This is the end of era but the beginning of a new adventure, a next step I’ve waited for most of my life, and to date the biggest decision I’ve made as an adult. As I relinquish teaching duties of children I pick up the teaching and training of canines. I am now the owner of Argos K9 LLC a dog training company. Children and dogs are some of the few things that make natural sense to me. I don’t need them to be explained, being around them is just normal. The step from teaching children to training dogs although a big one is as natural as breathing. It’s also incredibly exciting and a childhood dream being realized. 

 

So, I say thank you. Thank you for years of memories. Thank you for trusting me with your children. Thank you for letting me love them and watch them learn and grow. 

 

The Big 3-0, Half A Life, Looking to the future.

Just an FYI:This post is going to be a bit like watching a ping-pong match. In that it will bounce all over the place but it will all fit together, hopefully. Come on in, give it a gander. 

Today I turned 30. The big 3-0. The birthday most people dread and like to call the first anniversary of their 29^thbirthday. I’m not most people. I’ve been waiting for this day for quite literally half of my life now. I’ll explain the reason in a moment. First I’ve got to take you back in time a bit. See, I was born prematurely. Like two months premature. I weighed a 1.3 oz or something like that and looked like an alien (I was going to attach a baby picture to this post but don’t have any at my disposal so you’ll need to trust me on this). I had an odd shaped head that was not quite E.T. more like cartoon alien shaped (if you’ve seen the Strange Planet strip by Nathan Pyle you’ll understand)  but I wasn’t green. I was however severely jaundiced to the point that I was orange for a period of time. I’ve got a scar that runs the width of my stomach from a surgery to figure out why I happened to be orange and my liver wasn’t functioning properly. It was supposed to shrink, it didn’t, it basically splits my stomach in two. If I ever get abs it’s going to look gnarly. 

  Why did I tell you that? Well you see I’m a small guy and for most of my life my prematurity was considered the contributing factor. Then my parents got worried because I wasn’t growing properly and at fifteen I was diagnosed with Kallman’s syndrome. A hormone disorder that in a nut shell means my body doesn’t produce testosterone and a few other chemicals that it should because my brain is basically broken. Long story short, whereas most kids hit puberty around 13 I didn’t even start until I was 15 and then I kind of hit it all at once with the help of testosterone injections. Did you know that testosterone is provided to the body for a number of medical reasons that don’t actually involve puberty or men just being men and trying to see whom is bigger and badder? Well if you did than you knew more than I did at 15. Turns out testosterone is important for your whole life and you need it. So I get injections of the hormone every other week. I can’t say they feel good but after fifteen years of taking them I don’t feel them so much anymore. 

You see at 15, being told your brain is broken and your body doesn’t work quite the way it should is a lot to take in. The thing is not being tall bothered me because I’ve been short my whole life and my brothers are not. My youngest brother has been taller than me since he was nine. I’m just under four years older than he is. But even a lack of height is something I could deal with. I’ve grown several inches in all these years thanks to that jumpstart to puberty. I discovered much like the fictional Wolverine my body was younger than my actual age, three years to be precise, I’ve not had a bone scan done in some time but when I had my first at sixteen my bones looked like that of a thirteen year-old. It has also screwed up my sense of smell. I have almost no olfactory ability. Don’t ever ask me what you’re smelling, unless your face is over a plate of strongly scented food ( or an occasional candle) I can’t help you. That lack of smell which to me never really seemed odd was actually a clue to the fact that I had Kallman’s. Of the many things this disorder has taken the one that is the hardest to deal with is the ability to have children. Kallman’s nullifies my body’s ability to create LH hormone which is required for a man to produce fertile sperm. Case in point I found out shortly after I was diagnosed that Kallman’s had succeeded in taking the one thing I’ve wanted more than anything since I was about eight years old, kids. 

   

  I love kids. I’ve been around them my whole life. Next to dogs (which I’ll get to in a bit) they are what I’m the best at dealing with. I’ve pretty much wanted to be a dad my whole life. While many people find out later in life after trying and failing to have kids that it won’t happen, I found out much earlier. Most people tend to think such a thing has a stronger bearing on a woman. That might be the case when it is the woman that such news is delivered to, but I’m not a female. When many people find this out they are married and deal with such news as a couple. I was quite literally just starting puberty and having the future I’d dreamed of being crushed under the feet of a diagnosis that even now isn’t exactly common. There was no wife, it was just me. When most guys my age were worrying about making a JV team I was watching my future fade before my eyes. 

How does this all fit with my turning 30? It just so happens that thirty is the minimum age required to adopt from China. While most people dread this day I have been anxiously awaiting the birthday I was never supposed to reach in the first place. Medicine has advanced a great deal in all these years but when I was born at my rather tiny size I wasn’t suppose to live very long. The past several years if you’ve paid attention to my social media posts on my birthday you’ll have seen the countdown to my thirtieth birthday. I’m currently lacking a few of the other requirements needed, namely a spouse but let me tell you, this birthday, this age is one that feels good to have finally reached 

  Half of my life has been spent dealing with the fact that kids will never come naturally. Believe me if I could make it happen then I would. I won’t lie and say it doesn’t still sting every once in a while. But, after all these years I can say joyfully I wouldn’t change having Kallman’s. Having to live around getting injections puts a serious hamper on doing many things I want to, not being able to have biological children isn’t always easy, but nothing in my life has pushed me closer to God, and grown my faith like dealing with this. Joy and happiness are two totally separate things and Kallman’s has taught me that well. Happiness is based on circumstances, joy is different, it’s not a feeling it’s a fruit of the Spirit, produced through trials. 

Now to the dogs. Exactly one year ago today after spending a fantastic night with my friends trying new food and throwing axes at wooden planks, I enrolled in dog training school. Like I said in the blog post that mentioned my acceptance into said school, dogs were always the end game for me. A year ago I dipped my toe in the formal waters of dog behaviors, training, and all that gaining a certification entails. Within a few months I will have gained that certification in half or just over half the time  allotted to complete my courses (I’ve wanted such a thing since I graduated high school but it didn’t exist in the capacity that technology has allowed it to now) so I’ve done as much as I can as quickly as I can. Thankfully I’m a quick reader and after a lifetime of dealing with dogs the things required of me to complete school has mostly just consisted of absorbing as much information as possible and then playing with dogs to see how it works. Now instead of jumping into the waters of formal schooling I stand on the precipice that is owning and operating my own dog training business and all that entails.

  You see, many people look at thirty as a death sentence. It means getting old and not having anything to look forward to. Thirty isn’t a death sentence it’s an open door to something I’ve waited to get to for a long time. The past thirty years have certainly not looked like I would have planned them to if I’d written out this thing called my life. But that is the great thing about God, He’s had it all planned out. He’s always been faithful and he’s always been there even in the pain and the hard times. 

Here’s to thirty. May I take every step glorifying the God who has carried me all the way and telling others about His love and faithfulness. 

"And all my life you have been faithful

And all my life you have been so, so good

With every breath that I am able

Oh, I will sing of the goodness of God"

-Bethel music Goodness of God