the link between child rearing and terrorism

at first glance, there does not seem to be many connections between parenting and say osama bin laden. i mean, sure, at times the high pitched whale-like whine of a 15 month old may be classified as torture, but that doesn't mean you are going to shock and awe them with military muscle. recently, however, i have realized that both lead to a heightened sense of awareness. like a constant amber alert, i have become far more keen to certain things in our world simply by my association with isaac:

1. things that fly. the mystery of flight constantly intrigues my son, be it birds, planes, or even the moon (i know, technically the moon doesn't "fly", but it is visible in the sky and that is fair enough). any one of these things will instantly grab his attention, and typically keep it for as long as it is visible. now i often find my eyes tracking with these things when i catch them out of the corner of my eye.
   
2. noises. whether the ones associated with the aforementioned flying things, or the squawks and screams that come over the baby monitor, i seem to have developed go-go-gadget ears, often hearing things that aren't even there. perhaps i will find i am like that guy in a beautiful mind, and discover that any comments that have ever appeared on this blog are actually by my own hand.
3. a complete lack of control. both of annie's pregnancies have been very lucid reminders that i am powerless in the ultimate sense . by far the scariest part of our trip to the hospital two weeks ago was when they were hooking annie up to the monitor and it took them about a minute to find ryder's heartbeat (a task that usually takes about 5 seconds). annie had recently felt him move, so she was not concerned, but i was not privy to that information, so i stood there realizing that there is absolutely nothing i could do to make my son's heart beat. sure, i could pray desperate prayers, but as i heard ben patterson comment several months ago, "prayer is not black magic". just cause we ask for something doesn't mean it we will get it. when it comes to plans of the Divine variety, there is either submission or rebellion, but never control.

during this season of gratitude, we are acutely aware of our reasons to give thanks, as we are continually and currently infested with people who care about our family. not a disgusting type of infestation where we are going to start swatting things with rolled up newspapers before calling pest control, but the good kind where we are overrun at every turn with meals and company and support. hopefully soon i will be able to leave my shoes on when going through the metal detectors at the airport.