"Help! I'm A Parent And I'm Scared!"

Gary's "New Home"

Neal Pollard

Author Jeramy Clark has written, "The tragedy of our age is that we're at a crossroads, but all the signposts have fallen down."  He was writing about teen and young adult-related matters, and we could talk specifically about any number of signposts.  The question is, "How do we, as parents, react to this tragedy?"  

We could be apathetic, but how could we dare fail to care?  We could be dismissive, saying that sinful actions or habits are a phase or inevitable, but how could be cavalier when souls we helped bring into being are in the balance?  We could be helpless, but how could we abdicate our God-given roles?  Under-reaction is not the answer.

We could become protective, smothering, and paranoid, but that could easily stunt the emotional and spiritual growth of our children.  We could become fearful and irrational, but that is contrary to the spirit we are to possess.  Overreaction is not the answer, either.

As the father of three teenage boys, I realize how scary the process is.  I made my first "college drop" last week, leaving my oldest son at his dorm 1,400 miles from our front door.  I remember how scary it was when we started the driving process.  We are in the middle of that with our middle son.  Driving is dangerous.  If it is done incorrectly, it can be deadly.  But, what is the answer?  Don't let them drive until after they graduate, get a job, and get married?  Is it to turn let them behind the wheel without rules, guidelines, and plenty of practice?  No!  It is to train them, trust them, and turn them loose.

It can be scary, difficult, and overwhelming, at times, to do the job God bequeathed to parents (cf. Prov. 22:6; Eph. 6:1-4).  At best, we will repeatedly stumble and fail.  There will be a measure of regret.  Our work is to instill, by example and teaching, the mind of Christ in them, and then give them grace and accountability to put it into practice themselves!  I just wish it was easier!

Why Giraffes Don’t Have Brain Damage

 

If you have ever done a handstand or hung upside-down, you know the feeling of the blood rushing to your head.  This is not a big deal for people, but it should be a problem for giraffes.  Think about it.  The giraffe is the tallest animal in the world (up to 20 feet) and has a neck about 7 feet long.  Your heart pumps blood up about a foot.  A giraffe’s heart has to pump blood up 7 feet!  A normal person’s blood pressure is 120/80.  A giraffe’s normal blood pressure is around 240/180, which is the highest of all animals (Jakhariya).  If our blood pressure gets up to just 180, it is called a hypertensive emergency and must be lowered immediately or it can result in permanent organ damage and death.  The question is, why doesn’t a giraffe damage its brain or kill itself when it bends down?  The answer is found in a number of uniquely designed parts.

1. An Enlarged Heart.  To get the blood to its head in the first place, the giraffe needs a large and powerful heart.  Your heart is about the size of your fist.  A giraffe’s heart is about 2 feet long and can weigh over 25 pounds (Prothero).  Its heart is also very powerful.  “For blood to reach the head, the heart must beat strongly enough to overcome the significant downward pressure caused by gravity” (Bourton).  Its heart also pumps 16 gallons of blood per minute.  The giraffe certainly has the right heart for the job.

2. Valves.  When a giraffe bends down, there are two problems.  (1) The increased blood pressure from the heart, and (2) blood that has already passed through the brain being pulled back by gravity.  To correct the issues caused by gravity, the giraffe has special valves in the main veins of the neck (jugular veins) which automatically close when the giraffe bends down and open when it lifts back up.  This significantly reduces the pressure in its head when it bends down.

3. Blood Vessels.  The walls of these vessels are extra thick and grow thicker as the giraffe’s neck grows and the blood pressure increases (Bourton).  The thick walls keep the vessels from rupturing under all the pressure.  Besides this, the giraffe’s blood vessels have elastic qualities.  So, the giraffe’s vessels will expand and contract to change the volume of blood flowing to the brain when it bends down.  Doing so decreases the pressure in the brain.

4. The Sponge.  At the base of the giraffe’s brain is a complex maze of small blood vessels (called the rete mirabile).  When the giraffe bends down, the rete mirabile acts like a sponge by expanding the blood vessels and containing the extra blood coming to the head (Jakhariya).  Doing so lowers the blood pressure and controls the amount of blood entering the brain.  When the giraffe brings its head back up, the rete mirabile pushes out the blood it was holding into the giraffe’s brain so it doesn’t get light headed on the way up.

It takes all of these features just for a giraffe to bend down to get a drink of water and raise back up!  This puts evolution in a difficult position.  If the giraffe did not have a strong enough heart, it could not get blood to its brain and would not survive.  If the valves in the blood vessels did not contract and close off, too much blood would rush to the giraffe’s brain and it would not survive.  If the giraffe did not have the sponge like maze of blood vessels and did not have special vessels that could expand and contract and control blood pressure, the brain would be damaged and it would not survive.  So, which evolved first?  Every one of these parts has to works together flawlessly in order for the giraffe to survive.  Taking any one of these qualities out would drive giraffes to extinction.

Giraffes are proof of intelligent design and of a God who has the knowledge and power to make every single part work flawlessly.  David was right when he said that all of our creation declares God’s glory (Psalm 19:1-6).  Certainly the giraffe is one of the many parts of creation announcing God as Creator and Lord!

 Sources:

• Bourton, Jody. “Supercharged Heart Pumps Blood Up A Giraffe’s Neck.” < http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8368000/8368915.stm>
• Jakhariya. “The Amazing Giraffe” <http://www.komindia.com/komkids/the-amazing-giraffe>
• Prothero, D. R.; Schoch, R. M. (2003). Horns, Tusks, and Flippers: The Evolution of Hoofed Mammals. Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 67–72
• Sharp, Douglas B. “The Revolution Against Evolution.” <http://www.rae.org/revev5.html>
• http://terranaturals.com/giraffe-facts-a-23.html
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giraffe

Please Help Us Pursue The World!

In Jack Hoagland's prayer yesterday morning, he said something that struck me!  While I will not be able to quote it verbatim, in essence he said, "Please help us to pursue the world, not that we would be like it but that we would make it like Jesus."  What a beautiful, biblical thought.  How many times have we preached and taught that we should not pursue the world.  In one sense, that is definitely true.  Some pant and long for the world.  They pursue its ways, its praise, and its gaze.  Thus, it is wrong to pursue the world in order to be like it.  But, at least as far back as Jonah, we find God commanding His servants to pursue the world to bring the world back to Him.

We need a revival of Christians pursuing the world in order to make it like Jesus!  We need to create and foster relationships with non-Christian co-workers, neighbors, and friends, with whom we can share Jesus!  That was what the early church did.  Even when scattered from their homes, they "went about preaching the word" (Acts 8:4).  They even managed to "turn the world upside down" with their teaching (Acts 17:6, NKJ).  Their pursuit led to the gospel being preached to every creature under heaven (Col. 1:23).

A couple of weeks ago, CHP officer Roman Gardia was sitting at his desk in East Los Angeles when he heard about a speeding motorcyclist who refused to pull over for police.  The pursuit went several miles, through multiple jurisdictions.  When he heard that the speeder was coming into his area, Gardia jumped on his motorcycle and went out onto the highway.  He slowed traffic, waiting for the suspect to approach. The suspect wove into the right lanes and Garcia positioned himself on the shoulder with his own motorcycle in the bike's path. The suspect had to stop and get off the bike, and Gardia jumped off his own bike and tackled the suspect.  Dramatically and even heroically, Gardia pursued his man in the name of the law.

We are not police officers, trying to coerce or strong-arm people into following Jesus.  Yet, should we not imitate the spirit of this man, going after the lost with the same energy and determination?  May our daily prayer indeed be, "Please help us pursue the world!"

Alaska Airlines Flying With A Damaged Wing

Movies about plane crashes and problems have struck fear into many hearts.  As a result, some dread looking out the window in fear of noticing a problem with the plane.  In July, a passenger on an Alaska Airlines flight looked out the window and noticed that a chunk was missing from the wing!  Even worse was the little note written above it which read, “We know about this.”

Apparently the wing had been damaged during a previous flight and the mechanics trimmed off a piece, according to FAA standards, until it could be repaired.  Since the damage was small, the plane was cleared to take off.  At each stop the plane would go through a safety inspection where a report would be filled out about the damage.  Tiring of all the reports, the mechanics wrote the message on the wing to inform the inspection teams that they knew of the problem.  One expert was interview and admitted that he wouldn’t have been comfortable flying the plane with the damage to the wing unless he had been sufficiently assured it was safe (CNN.com).  Though everything turned out alright, this seemed like a risk, even if it was small, that didn’t need to be taken.

We encounter risks every day.  Some are avoidable and some are not, but surely we can agree that it is not wise to put ourselves in unnecessary danger.  The most dangerous situations are those that put us at spiritual risk.  Sometimes we tolerate “small sins,” but these sins tend to grow into much larger problems.  We tolerate bad influences from school, work, and friends, but these influences also tend draw us away from the Lord (1 Corinthians 15:33).

Not only should we pray as Jesus did, “Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil” (Matthew 6:13), but we should also have the courage to make the necessary changes (Psalm 37:27-28).  Are you at risk spiritually?  If so, then it is time to make some repairs.

Sleeping Through the Storm

“A young man applied for a job as a farmhand. When the farmer asked for his qualifications, he said, ‘I can sleep when the wind blows.’  This puzzled the farmer, but he liked the young man and hired him.  A few days later, the farmer and his wife were awakened in the night by a violent storm.  They quickly began to check around and see if all was secure.  They found that the shutters of the farmhouse had been securely fastened. A good supply of logs had been set next to the fireplace.  The young man slept soundly.  The farmer and his wife then inspected their property.  They found that the farm tools had been placed in the storage shed, safe from the elements.  The tractor had been moved into the garage.  The barn was properly locked.  Even the animals were calm.  All was well.  The farmer then understood the meaning of the young man's words, ‘I can sleep when the wind blows.’  Because the farmhand did his work loyally and faithfully when the skies were clear, he was prepared for the storm when it broke.  So when the wind blew, he was not afraid.  He could sleep in peace” (Tim Shin Illustrations).

The moral of this illustration is simply, be prepared.  Anyone can put forth the effort when it is necessary, but by then it might be too late.  This idea has so many applications for today.  We must work hard so we can feed the family, keep up with bills, and live with less stress.  We must save money for emergencies.  We must prepare for retirement.  Surely there are others to mention, but above all else, we must prepare for eternity.

Matthew 24:42-44 warns, “Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming.  But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into.  For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.”

Are you prepared to meet with the Lord (Matthew 6:21-23)?  If not, then today, while the skies are clear, is the time to get ready.  The judgment storm is coming.  Let’s do whatever it takes to be prepared.