Tongue Tied

I haven't been in the gang for terribly long, but for two years I've been observing this world called the fire department as one "on the inside". The other night I watched Chicago Fire  and laughed at all its inaccuracies, and it got me thinking about the things about firefighting that I didn't know before we were on the team. A lot of the job is rather un-glamorous and not attractive, but there are also parts that are good and endearing. Here are my observations based on my own experiences and listening to Seth's thoughts. 1. Firefighters say they are like family. In truth, I still feel like an outsider, but I'm not particularly annoyed by it. Firefighters like to talk about how they are brothers and how their kids play together and their wives chat all the time. It might be true, especially when stationed together for years on end. They have parties and talk and laugh and play sports and go out drinking together. I have never had trouble talking to t...

There seems to be a lot of accusation these days that the evangelical community is oppressive towards women. A lot of it comes from outsiders who really don't know what actually goes on in a working, Bible studying church. They only know the stereotypes. But another large part of it is coming from inside the church itself. And, I'm over here like, "Wha?" At the outset, understand that I'm not saying abuse of power never happens within a church. Duh. Sin is possible anywhere and Satan likes to target those who are in leadership over believers. This post is written about the majority, not the individuals. I'm not writing off legitimate examples of abuse, but I am focusing on the bride of Christ as a whole. I will say, when those abuses happen, it is not the fault of the church at large. Man is responsible for his own sin, and abusing power is not what Christ intends. Here's what I see being brought up a lot as being "oppression" towards wom...

This is one of those posts where whenever I say "you", it's really "me". You know how before you have kids, you totally know how it will all go when you do have them? You have their names, genders, dispositions, and habits all figured out. You know you'll have a girl first and she'll be sweet, but you won't spoil her. She always have her hair done and her clothes will be cute. And later your boy will come along and he'll be rambunctious and totally boy-ish, always covered in dirt and collecting gross bugs, but he'll also be totally respectful and say things like "yes, ma'am" when you tell him to put his Legos away and go to bed. TV time, of course, will be slim to none. Same with any sort of electronics, because your children will all love reading and playing quietly with smart toys like blocks and puzzles. They won't hit or yell because though you are a loving, kind parent, you also have set clear boundaries and the chi...

They had grown comfortable. Arrogant. Unkind. And now they were paying for it. Emotion stalled thickly in his throat as he watched his son pack his belongings in the brown duffle bag. This boy was barely out of school, yet his country considered him man enough to fight a war. A war he didn’t start, but rather inherited. He thought back to the days of his own youth, to the time when the trouble started brewing. He remembered how every citizen seemed angry and frustrated, half of them one way and the other half the opposite way. He recalled how civil debate had started to become civil unrest. He tried to pinpoint when it had happened. When disagreement had turned to war. When had they stopped seeing their fellow countrymen as valuable people? When had being on the opposite side of the political spectrum reduced a person’s worth in their eyes? When did they lose respect, civility, the ability to disagree maturely? When had political dogma become more important th...