  Have you ever seen a baby pinecone? I was at Cumberland University today, trying like the dickens to sell some phones so that I can buy fun stuff for our 17-week old... and maybe a little sump'in sump'in for me (ncaa 2005 on the ps2). I was walking out with my boss after a so-so meeting and there it was - a tree full of baby pinecones. Who knew? I remember playing with them as a kid, my mom sitting them beside the fireplace... even kicking them around the yard (a poor man's soccer ball, if you will). Never, though, do I remember seeing baby pinecones. Baby pinecones are plenty cool, but they are nothing compared to my little man.
As I said, he is seventeen weeks old and is changing every day. His smiles are radiant, his eyes are as big and bright as the sky and his laugh is infectious. He is the coolest thing in the history of ever, period. Here's my fear, though: It has taken me the better part of seven years of marriage to figure out how amazing and beautiful my wife is, and I am learning that more every day.
How can I, working 40+ hours a week, stressing over sales numbers and bills, insure that I will not look up years from now and be shocked to find my little man... well... a man? How can I not glance up from "keeping my head down" or "my nose to the grindstone" years from now and not find that I missed everything?
Final part of this thought: the same thing has happened in my walk with God. I lived 20+ years of life singing songs and attending services, all the while missing the bright, shining face of my Lord looking down on me - His child... his chosen. I was so busy watching for His hands to move that I never stopped to look up into His eyes. I love it when Jack looks at me and his face lights up in a huge smile. I love coming home in the afternoons and seeing my wife at the back door, babe in arms waiting for me to come in and give her a "hoogle" (better known as a hug).
I love the notion of the God of creation singing over me and smiling as he watches me rock my son. My prayer is that my eyes will seek out the precious things God has put in my life and take them in fully. I kind of like the fact that at 27 I am amazed at the sight of a baby pinecone... it makes me wonder what new sight awaits me tomorrow. 
