Some close friends of mine recently had their first child. At 11:30pm the other night we were texting back and forth. I could tell that the stress of a newborn baby was wearing on them. My last text was, “I’ll call you tomorrow. Don’t worry, it gets easier!”
Fast forward to 2:00am in the morning (or, depending on how you look at it, the middle of that same night). My wife and I were awakened to the horrifying sound of our 7 year-old daughter screaming for us, “Daddy! Daddy! Mommy! Mommy!”
We ran into her bedroom only to find her vomiting profusely into her High School Musical trash-can. My wife was able to quickly get her to the bathroom, as I began to clean up the mess. Man, I hate that smell! It made me want to throw up! Anyway, as I was cleaning the carpet, I thought back to the text I had sent my friend earlier that night, “Don’t worry, it gets easier!” That was a stupid thing to say. Because the reality is, it doesn’t get any easier. It just gets more complex. As our children get older, our love for them deepens, and the complexity of that love increases immensely.
As I continued cleaning up the mess, I found a little humor in recalling that line from Wayne’s World, “Here. If you’re gonna spew, spew into this!” But laughing just made me open my mouth and inhale the awful smell, so I quickly put the kibosh on that. I then found myself singing “Crazy Train” by Ozzy Osbourne. There’s nothing quite like the guitar riffs of the late Randy Rhoads to get you through a tough moment in time. Check out these lyrics:
Crazy, but that’s how it goes, Millions of people living as foesm Maybe it’s not too late, To learn how to love, And forget how to hate, Mental wounds not healing, Life’s a bitter shame, I’m going off the rails on a crazy train
After getting the situation under control, I knew my daughter was going to be upset over the desecration of her High School Musical trash-can. She is very neat, organized, and greatly attached to that item. If you’ve ever watched the TV show Friends, my little girl is very much like the character Monica. So, at 2:15am, in 30 degree weather, I was outside, in my pajamas, cleaning the HSM can with a water hose (and speaking in tongues). As I was freezing my you-know-what off, it was all I could do to not vomit from the odor. I thought to myself, “This really is a crazy train! This really is crazy love!”
Of course I would do anything for my children. I would take a bullet for them without even thinking about it (though on some levels, taking a bullet would be easier for me than smelling puke). I would gladly take any hurt they experience upon myself, so that they wouldn’t have to go through it. As a parent, that comes natural; it’s a basic instinct. That’s what real love does; it sacrifices. Jesus emphasized this very principle in John 15:13, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”
God took sacrificial love to an entirely new level by allowing His son, Jesus, to be executed on a cross for the sin of humanity. This very fact proves that His love for us is both crazy, and quite complex. How does a Father allow His only child to suffer for the sins of humankind? Since the beginning of time, the world has openly rebelled against God. To quote Ozzy, “Crazy, that’s how it goes. Millions of people living as foes.” Yet God still loved us enough to give up His Son. That’s crazy!
I’m reading the book, “Crazy Love” by Francis Chan and it’s changing me for the better. Chan has widened my perspective of God’s crazy love for us. He is inspiring me to fall more in love with Jesus than I ever have. To some, the idea of being in love with God is crazy. After all, how do you love something you’ve never seen? It’s interesting that people can use that question as an excuse to avoid getting to know God, but then contradict that very line of thinking by joining an internet dating service. Some spend hours chatting on line, and dreaming about a future with someone they’ve never even met [in person] nor seen. And according to the latest statistics, more than 90% of people who date on-line lie about some aspect of themselves. God has never lied about who He is.
Knowing that God is that crazy in love with me has inspired me to fall more in love with Him. I’m doing this by simply spending more time with Him, which allows me to know Him more intimately; just like I do with my own family. Sure, there are days when I wake up and don’t have “the feeling” but true love is not just based on feelings; it’s based on actions. Simply put, love is a verb; it’s something that we do.
God has done so much for us. He has demonstrated His crazy love by giving up His only child so that we could have a love relationship with Him. One of the most famous verses in the Bible is John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only son, so that whoever believes in Him should not die, but have eternal life.” It’s radical that the God of the universe is so in love with humankind that He made the ultimate sacrifice for them. Can you imagine giving up your only child for people who constantly reject you? I can’t. It seems crazy to me! But then again, that’s the Crazy Train of Crazy Love!
Crazy, but that’s how it goes, Millions of people living as foes, Maybe it’s not too late, To learn how to love, And forget how to hate, Mental wounds not healing, Life’s a bitter shame, I’m going off the rails on a crazy train
I would have to say that it doesn’t get easier, it actually gets harder. Or maybe the physical stuff gets easier but not the emotional and mental stuff! But what I experienced last week with my 14 year old son (on the same night you all were dealing with your infants and 7 year olds) gives me even more reason to love our God like crazy. I agree with you about the taking the bullet for your kid. I would have taken his place in a heart beat if I could but we needed to go through that experience to see how much God loves us. What’s even more crazy is watching your kids fall more in love with God. Just when you think your heart can’t get any fuller…
It is a crazy train and I’m definitely going off the rails!
Thanks again for putting it all into words Danny, you are a great friend and a crazy disciple!
Yeah it is crazy alright. I imagine sometimes how we would handle the way we show our love for God if in all of our created glory we were God. You cleaned up a mess that your daughter couldn’t prevent. It was beyond her control to not bless you with that lovely aroma. Just think how God feels when we do the sensless, shelfish acts we do that are totally within our control. Still loves, still cres, still counts His son’s death as sufficient to cover our sins. That is crazy. Think about how crazy it is that God loves you the next time Carrie does something to hurt your feelings or your daughter blows you off for another episode of Suite LIfe. Still love, still care, still provide the forgiveness of their sin
My college roommate laughed out loud as she caught vomit in her hands from her newborn baby boy in Golden Corral one evening. Her husband was obviously upset and asked how she could laugh at such a thing. She said that she had remembered what I had told her soon after my baby girl was born. I had said, “you’ll be amazed at what you’ll do for your children”. Whether they’re babies, children, teens or adults, it is a crazy kind of love.
What’s so cool is how it comes full circle. The crazy love that you have for your newborn infant multiplies and morphs as they grow. Sometimes the love I have for my teenage daughters gets in the way. It’s a crazy love that wants the best for them but cannot control every move they make; they have to learn and make decisions on their own. Now, I find myself in the living room of my step-daughter her husband and my grandson awaiting the birth of their baby girl. I can’t wait to love my little granddaughter with the same crazy love that I loved Jaime with from the moment I met her 20 years ago.
But even that pales in comparison to the Crazy Love of God for each and every one of us. Whether we realize it or not, He loves us still.
Danny,
One thing I really appreciate about you is how you help me to keep things in perspective. You help me to remember that my faith has practical applications. I read a lot of different material, study a lot of theology, and it really helps to be reminded that underneath it all my relationship with God is made real by the way He impacts my now. It is greatly beneficial to study God and the different thought that has arisen over time to describe Him and better understand Him, but to experience Him daily in the moments of this crazy life is transcendant. Thank you for helping me to remember that.
Love the Ozzy reference, of course! I don’t think I’ve ever heard that song (one of favorite riffs) put in comparison with John 3:16. My son is 16 days old today – i was hoping to hear things will get easier. I suppose some things will, at least from a sleep aspect, but I imagine the depth of the difficulty will change drastically.