The Greatest Privilege

I have known Steve for close to 20 years. We have been through a lot together. Ups and downs. He was the best man in my wedding. I was the best man in his. Our friendship has survived over time and distance. He is the person who, next to Missy, probably knows me the best.

I have prayed with Steve and for Steve. Over the past few years, our friendship has grown spiritually as well. We have had numerous talks about God, the Bible, who Jesus was and is. I have seen Steve grow spiritually by leaps and bounds. I have been amazed at the spiritual maturity he has shown already. Quite honestly, it has surpassed the spiritual maturity of some "lifelong" Christians that I know.

So when Steve asked me to baptize him a few weeks ago, my initial reaction was to get choked up. After I got off the phone with Steve, I cried. For me, this was one of the greatest privileges I could ever have. To baptize my closest friend.

So this past Sunday, I had that privilege. Aside from getting married and having a child, this was the most incredible thing I have been able to be a part of. I know that sounds heavy and deep. But I mean every word of it. To me, this was the culmination of a lifelong friendship. To play a part in this very important and life-changing event with someone I consider like a brother is something I will cherish the rest of my life.

First Time Long Time

I know I'm getting older. My body hurts more than it used to. I go to bed earlier than I used to(though not by that much). I like spending my weekend nights watching the Food Network. But the big thing that finally moved me into the "older" class actually occured a few years ago. I started listening to sports talk radio.

Now I had some motivation. My favorite radio station - a modern rock station - went off the air and was replaced by all rap all the time. So out of desperation, I started listening to sports talk radio. I am a huge Philadelphia sports fan (I just watched the Sixers upset the Pistons in Game 1 of the playoffs) and I thought it might be interesting to listen to. Now I listen to it all the time.

So I was on my way out to Harrisburg for a three day training for work and I was listening to Jody Mac on 950ESPN (http://sr950.com/Roster/JodyMac/Bio/tabid/70/Default.aspx). They were talking about the Eagles schedule and how many wins they would have this year. I, like any true Eagles fan, had an opinion on this and I, like any person driving on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, had nothing but time to kill and no great scenery to look at. So I called into the station.

Now, I have never really done this before. I have heard countless people call in and voice their opinions. Several (I think they are all old, retired and have nothing else to do with themselves) call in everyday. I didn't want to come off sounding like an idiot. I also didn't want to have my call drop which tends to happen if you have Verizon and are on the phone more than 3 minutes.

So I waited on hold. And waited and waited. Finally, Jody told "Mike and Ryan to hold on and he would get to them (us) after the break". So finally Mike gave his two cents on everything Philly sports and I heard Jody say, "Ryan, what'cha got?" and then a violent CLICK. And I was on the air; ready to share my opinions with everyone listening within a 75 mile radius of Philadelphia.

My key insight was that the Eagles ALWAYS lose their first game of the year AND the game before the bye week. I then shared my thoughts on whether I agreed with Jody's picks or not. Most of them I agreed with. We talked briefly about whether the Eagles would win back to back games against the Bengals and Ravens. (we both agreed that they would split). Then I said something about the Eagles ending 7-9 or 8-8 and that would be the end of the McNabb era and the beginning of the Kevin Kolb era. I then heard another loud CLICK and realized that my time speaking to the greater Philadelphia area was over.

I quickly turned up the radio and heard the last part of what I was saying -they ask that you keep your radio turned down so you don't kill the host with feedback and you are on a delay so they can bleep out any profanity that may come up- and then Jody said something about it being too early to talk about Kevin Kolb (I disagree) and that he wanted some OPTIMISTIC Eagles fans to call in. Personally, I think the term "optimistic Eagles fans" is an oxymoron but what do I know?

I'm just a caller.

Perspective

Once again, it have been three weeks since I posted. And once again I wish it were less. But now, once again with adult beverage in hand, I am posting on my blog.

We have begun work on our house. Serious work on our house. (pictures to follow) We are replacing our porch. It is - or should I say, it WAS - rotten. Termites had come and gone (even THEY couldn't handle how nasty it had gotten). Good solid wood had been reduced to literal powder. It was a desperate situation. But thanks to a lot of work and the legend that is J.D. Delp Carpenty (my dad), things are starting to turn around.

However, that takes times, hard work, commitment and specifically WEEKENDS. So while our weeks are crazy as usual, now our weekends are crazy too. Missy and I looked at our schedules yesterday and we have "stuff" (for lack of a better word) from now until the middle of June. Straight. And then I think we only have A weekend open. Then I think we are busy until sometime in 2019.

All of that to say, our lives have been nuts (hence the gap in posting). And will be nuts (hence the likelihood of another gap). However, amid the tempest that is our lives is one beautiful innocent child. Riley.

Right now he is teething (again). And he is getting over a cold (again). And he is living HIS life oblivious to the stress and busy-ness of our lives. And unintentionally, he is constantly reminding us that our lives are more than meetings, projects and porches.

All of this came to light for me in a pure moment three weeks ago. Missy and I were spending our nights (after Riley went to bed) staining the floor boards in preparation for the big day when we were ripping out the old and putting in the new. Riley was in the midst of his teething/cold. That meant Riley (and consequentlythe whole family) wasn't sleeping well. Riley had started to cry pretty hard and so Missy went up to comfort him. I, of course, needed to keep staining because D-day was fast approaching. However, Riley's cries didn't subside after Missy got up there. I kept waiting for them to go away. I kept staining. He continued to cry. I continued to stain.

Finally, I reached one of those small moments where a decision needed to be made. Work or family. Porch or child. This wasn't a life or death moment. But I had to make a decision between continuing to stain or joining the rest of my family and leaving the project and delaying its completion.

I joined Missy and Riley in his room. We all held each other and sang "Jesus Loves Me" about 20 times in a row. It was a Delp family moment.

Eventually Riley fell back asleep and we went back to staining. However, I think we had a renewed perspective. If the porch didn't get done this weekend, it wasn't the end of the world. We bought this house in large part because we wanted a place for our son, and our family, to grow. We (or at least I) lost sight that the reason we were doing all of this work didn't care if the porch got done or not. He just needed to be held and comforted and loved.

So Riley, once again, thanks for giving me perspective. Thanks for reminding me that a porch is temporary but memories of marathon sessions of "Jesus Loves Me" will last forever. Thanks for reminding me. Now please get the rest of your teeth ASAP.