Baby Grayson is here!

Okay, okay...perhaps it was a bit presumptuous of me to assume I knew when our baby boy was going to get here. On March 24th, I wrote a post on this blog titled, "Two Weeks." Well...SIX DAYS LATER, Grayson arrived! I'm perfectly fine with being wrong about this one. I was so anxious to hold our little guy. Both he and mommy are healthy and doing great...it's a true blessing! Grayson Troy Glenn arrived at 9:18am on March 30th, 2009. He weighed 7 pounds, 7.3 ounces and was 19 inches long. If you'd like to see more photos, check out my facebook page. I've just uploaded an album of photos there. God bless! And thank you to all who were praying for a safe and healthy delivery! tim

Two Weeks

We are two weeks away from having a new baby in the house. The question I've been asked more than anything is: "Are you ready?" Well, the baby's room is done. (I'll post pictures in a day or so.) We have the diapers, the clothes, the lotions and all that stuff. But preparing for a child is much more than that, isn't it? In some ways, I don't think you can ever fully "prepare" for the arrival of a baby into your life. You just don't know what to expect. So yeah...we're ready...but in some ways, we're not. But that's part of the excitement too...to see what this beautiful gift from God is going to be, once it's "unwrapped." I am amazed at this plan of God's. I'm in awe of His design to have a baby grow in a mother's womb. This tiny little life, with a beating heart, a functioning brain, a circulatory system, lungs and other vital organs...all working in harmony...inside another human body. It's amazing to me. I keep asking Jen what it feels like to have him inside her. She says she can't fully describe it. Oh, what a tremendous blessing that must be! I can't wait to see what little Grayson Troy Glenn is going to look like. I can't wait to hold him in my arms...to run my fingers across his tiny little face...and count his tiny little fingers and toes. Two weeks. I just can't wait.

Lip Syncing

"The times they are a' changin'..." Dylan sang. And indeed the are. It used to be, that if a musical artist was caught lip-syncing it made them a laughing stock. Think Milli Vanilli, 1990. When it was revealed that they never even sang their hit songs, it ruined their (pseudo) careers. Girl, you know it's true. But now flash forward 20 years and lip-syncing is no longer a career killer. In fact, some say it's the norm. What?

Jennifer Hudson's powerful rendition of the Star Spangled Banner at the SuperBowl...lip-sync.

But rather than calling it a controversy, some "journalists" dared call it a "non-troversy." "People expect it these days", they say.

WHAT???

EVEN SPRINGSTEEN'S BAND faked it at the SuperBowl. (Although he apparently really sang--but the band wasn't really playing.)

It's been reported that Britney Spears' entire Circus Tour is lip-synced. (But then again, when you start off with no talent, lip-syncing is a logical progression.)

Good grief...even hardcore rapper 50 Cent got caught lip syncing.

Maybe I'm getting old. Maybe it's old fashioned to think that vocalists should be able to...well...vocalize.

Is it possible that all we care about these days is seeing a pretty face, or a sultry body in a revealing outfit, gyrating and grinding on stage...and oh yeah, if she can sing, that's a bonus?

Look, I know that it's tough to run all over stage and dance and sing at the same time. I do. But I'm willing to forego 8 costume changes and watching you grind your hips on every dancer on stage, if you could just sing the song!

But that's the problem. So many arists CAN'T sing the songs. In the studio, they autotune their vocal tracks til they hardly sound human anymore. And when it comes time to perform live, there's no way they can recreate it.

It's time we got back to artists performing live...really live. It's time we expected singers to sing. I don't mind if you miss a note or two. Just be real. Just sing.

Everyone Eats

What did you have for dinner last night? I had chicken tacos. And they were delicious. But as I was sitting at the dinner table with my wife and son, somewhere a child was going to bed hungry. Somewhere, a mommy had to tell her children, "I'm sorry, there's just no food tonight." There's enough in this world to make sure no child goes to bed hungry. NO child should starve. Everyone should eat. Today is Compassion International's Global Food Crisis Day. To learn more, and to do your part, click here.

"Honoring God"

What's in a name? No, seriously...what does your name really say about you? In the Old Testament, people were known by the meaning of their name. For example Abram, in the original tongue, meant "father of many."Abram later changed his name (well, technically God changed his name) to Abraham, meaning "father of many nations." This week, my pastor pointed out that Abraham carried these names when he wasn't even a father yet. Imagine how odd it was to be called "father of many" when he was just a young man. Wouldn't it have been weird, when he was 8 years old, to be called "father of many?" Or when he grew older, and got married--imagine the pressure that must have been on him! Especially he found out that he married a woman who was considered barren. She was told that she would never have children. Of course, we know the rest of the story, that Sara did end up having children...and Abraham DID become a father but not until he was in his 80's. Yeah...80 plus years of bearing that name without children. But God also fulfilled his namesake and made Abraham the father of many nations.

"Father Abraham...had many sons...many sons had father Abraham!" the old song goes.

My name is Timothy. Broken down in Greek, it's Timo Theos...or "honoring God." I don't know if I ever realized the burden that name means til now. I can honestly say that I have not spent much of my life "honoring God." What pressure that is! I'm so glad that we don't use names the way they did in Old Testament days. Imagine me introducing myself as "honoring God." "Hi! My name is Bob. What is your name?" "Honoring God." Man, I'd really have to live it, to be able to say that in public, huh? I take solace however that, in time, God fulfilled Abraham's name. I hope He'll do the same with me. I hope He'll help me get to a place that, when people think of me they think, "honoring God." But I'm so far away from there right now. I now know what Abraham must have thought each time he heard his name. "Honoring God." Wouldn't it be nice to be able to live up to that name? What does your name mean?