Dad Files: Father's Day Reflection

Having children has been a long time desire and goal and one that I didn't know if I'd ever have the opportunity to experience. I'm so thankful that God has blessed my wife and I with Joshua. On my first Father's day as a father, I have a new appreciation for the tremendous sacrifices that parents go through in order to raise children and have an increased respect for anyone who has brought up kids. Even though it can be really hard in the middle of sleep deprivation, night feedings, countless diaper changes, or when he just won't stop crying, I'm still grateful for the opportunity to be his father. 

Before he was born, I was nervous about the many new things to learn, the weight of the responsibility, and having very little experience with babies. Since he was born, I feel much better about the basic skills and have a lot more confidence in taking care of him. 

There is still much to learn but I've enjoyed the fun parts so far and am so appreciative to have my wife as a partner in the journey. I'm beginning to understand what it means to have unconditional love for a child. It only scratches the surface of God's love for us but there are many parallels between a parent and child relationship. I want him to be happy, safe, healthy, protected, provided for, well fed, rested, and to experience all the goodness that life has to offer.

As I think about his future, I pray that he will walk with and follow Jesus all the days of his life. That he will be filled with God's love and joy and show kindness to others. That he will be strong and healthy, smart and wise. That the Holy Spirit will empower him and guide him to do great things and to encourage others to pursue relationship with God. That God's angels will watch over and protect him. I pray for the girl he'll one day marry that God will watch over and protect her and give her parents wisdom in raising her. That she will love the Lord and that God will bring them together in His timing and bless their relationship. 

I don't know what the journey of fatherhood has in store but I'm so thankful to have the opportunity to be Joshua's dad, to love him and invest in his life, and pray that God will give me the strength and wisdom to do it well.

In pursuit of His best,

Andrew

Christmas Songs at the Plaza

The Sunday before Christmas I went down to the Country Club Plaza and played Christmas songs on the sidewalk in front of Barnes & Noble while wearing a Santa hat. It was a lot of fun and I actually made $23.85 in tips. The cash money song seemed to be Feliz Navidad. Occasionally, people would start singing along. It was interesting to see how some people deliberately tried to not make eye contact and others cast a sideways glance into my guitar case to see how much in tips was there. I was able to connect with some kids and get them to smile and sing or dance along which was a lot of fun.

Trap Shooting

This weekend, me and some fellas went trap shooting close to Smithville Lake at the trap range. I recently purchased a shotgun so this was my first opportunity to try it out. It will take a few more times to become a more accurate shot but was a fun first usage of the gun. A few clay pigeons lost their lives in the process. Shed a tear if you must but it is for the greater good. ;)

SWAT Team

If you ever decide to go postal and go up against the SWAT team, don't. You will lose.

Tuesday night, I got to play cops and robbers with the Kansas City SWAT team. They do training exercises and I got to participate by role playing the bad guy. I got a pistol with simulation bullets that had paint in them rather than lead. (this helps in maintaining the general health of the participants) The SWAT team had varying weapons including pistols and assault rifles, along with a defensive shield. We were all wearing bullet proof vests along with helmets to further assist in protective gear.

The scenario simulated was that someone had gone on a rampage and was holed up and negotiations had been unsuccessful. I hid in an apartment on a floor of an abandoned apartment complex. The SWAT team then cleared the adjacent apartment to simulate what they would do in a real scenario to prevent errant bullets from striking innocent people.

They then entered the one I was in and cleared the first part of the apartment before finding me. I was hidden in a closet and we had a verbal altercation but I ended up giving up that time. The 2nd scenario, I hid in a different apartment and was behind a kitchen counter. When they found me and said show me your hands, I did but came up firing with the SIM gun. They proceeded to pepper me with rounds of their own. My gun ended up jamming and I resorted to wrestling/grappling with them. Of course 6 well trained SWAT officers put me down in short order.

We then role played a couple hostage scenarios where I held one of them and used him as a body shield. I didn't think there would be any way they could hit just me and not the hostage but they popped me a couple times on the side of the head.

The whole adrenaline, accelerated heart rate, antsiness of waiting for them to find you, and tense muscles gave a good perspective on how a real scenario might go down. It was very cool all around. They are very good at what they do.

Photo by Granada America

Ludacares Turkeys

On Sunday, I handed out turkeys as a part of my mom's school's partnership with the Ludacares program, a foundation set up by hip hop artist Ludacris. They identified needy families in the area and we handed out a turkey, sweet potatoes, collard greens, and a lemon meringue pie to each house. My Espanol came in handy for a couple of the houses. I believe all told 500 homes received the meal.

Riding With 5.0

I spent Friday night in the back of a police car. No, not as a bad guy but as a ride along observer of the Kansas City good guys. We hit the streets around 9pm and made a routine traffic stop to get started. We then patrolled around and stopped a few perpetrators.

While going to some calls that came over the radio we had the opportunity to hit speeds over 100 mph which was an adrenaline rush. It definitely gives you a different perspective for when the police are zooming along. If you do hear/see them, get over to the side as quickly as possible. They're going somewhere for a reason.

The most exciting part of the night was when one of the squad cars was in pursuit of a vehicle and the suspect jumped out followed by the policeman. We quickly made our way to the area where the suspect was being tracked by a helicopter. The police men I was with jumped out of the car and ran to the area. I heard bang, bang, bang and then "shots fired, shots fired!" over the radio. A Rottweiler ended up attacking one of the policemen and they had to protect themselves. Ultimately, the suspect was taken into custody and the remainder of the night was spent cleaning up the area and doing paper work. I would highly recommend anyone taking advantage of this type of opportunity to see crime fighting at the ground level.