Titanic Claims! Jesus' supposed burial box!?!

Click on the title above for links to this story

The ossuary show above is claimed to be the burial box that contained the bones of Jesus. Below is the box they assert Mary Magdalene, his supposed wife, was buried along with their "son" Judah in a third box.


James Cameron, director of movies such as Aliens, Terminator and Titanic, has announced his project to reveal the burial box of Jesus, his wife Mary Magdalene and their son. As a Christian and a pastor, what is my reaction to this?

Honestly, my first reaction is to just shrug and say, here we go again with just one more attack on the person of Jesus Christ. It doesn’t surprise me or shock me and quite honestly it doesn’t shake my faith whatsoever. People are quick to embrace any unusual idea concerning the person of Jesus. However, show that Jesus did in fact rise from the dead and ascend to heaven as Scripture says and receive either ridicule or indifference.

Why here, why now? I think in part it is because the movement among liberal “scholars” has been to move towards Gnostic thinking regarding Jesus, Christianity and early church history. In the second and third centuries there was a group of people that had pantheistic leanings and strong feminist tendencies (among other beliefs, many which contradict each other) that challenged the accepted and orthodox teachings about Jesus. Although these loosely connected groups did not win the day and eventually faded from history we have much of what they have written. In fact, The Da Vinci Code book and movie (along with other books these are based on) are based on several of the ideas gleaned from Gnostic writings.

Among other things the Gnostics wanted to both humanize and spiritualize Jesus. They tried to turn him into an enlightened, spiritual man who was very “modern” in his thinking and permissive in his morality. “True” Christianity was not about morality but instead was about spirituality. Unlike the “Victorian” orthodox Christians, the Gnostics were enlightened about sex and spirituality. They play very well to the modern mindset.

So what about these burial boxes (ossuaries) that supposedly contain the bones of Jesus, Mary Magdalene and their son? It is amazing to me that people will readily accept ideas that fly in the face of all the established facts of history because they fit into their presuppositions. Find anything that confirms the Bible’s accounts of historic events and it is dismissed out of hand but reveal any “evidence” that disproves the Bible and it is accepted prima fascia.

I am not prone to believe in conspiracy theories. I do not think that James Cameron is part of any larger plot to undermine Christianity. I think that he released this 25 year old evidence because he really believes it is true (and he wants to be back in the limelight, what was his last hit movie?).

However, I do see another affect at play here. I think that all of these ridiculous claims from the Da Vinci Code to these ossuaries will have a cumulative effect of confirming people’s doubts and suspicions about the claims of Christianity. We live in a post-modern age where any Truth is questioned. It is all about perspective and opinion. Any idea purported will eventually have its counter-claim thereby nullifying it. This goes for science, history and religion. Sow enough seeds of doubt and at least one will sprout and grow.

Some, I believe, do hope that Christianity will “die the death of a thousand paper cuts.” What I mean is, most people don’t think they are going to bring down the whole structure of Christianity, however, they can continually whittle away at it until there is just an overwhelming amount of miniscule doubts that undermine belief and faith in Christ. Do I think this will actually happen? Of course not. But I do think that is the hope and intent of some. In some ways I think that is the motive behind the attempt to remove all symbols of Christianity from the public sphere. The old, “out of sight out of mind” strategy.

Here are just a few of the problems with the assertion that Jesus didn’t die on the cross and rise again.

1. There is the matter of all the biblical and extra-biblical testimony that Jesus was in fact tried, executed and buried.

2. There are the claims by Jesus’ followers of the empty tomb. The clear universal testimony of the followers of Christ was that the tomb was empty because He rose from the dead.

3. Jesus’ disciples truly believed that Jesus died, was buried and rose again. If He wasn’t and was still living in Jerusalem then why did they form Christianity and why did most of them die a martyr’s death? It is hard to follow a risen savior when he is your next door neighbor raising a kid.

4. If Jesus never really died, why didn’t the Roman authorities or the Jewish leaders just drag Jesus out and reveal the hoax foisted upon a foolishly believing people? If he was crucified and didn't rise bringing out the corpse would have quieted the rumors. If he was living down the street they could have just paraded him around the city a few times until people got their stories straight.

5. If Jesus truly didn’t die but instead married Mary Magdalene and had a child, why didn’t this supposed truth come out during his lifetime or shortly after? Why did it take hundreds of years to reveal it by people far removed from the events? Eyewitnesses believed Jesus was the sinless Son of God but people hundreds of years later have proof he was just another guy.

6. Archeologists are far from lining up behind James Cameron to assert that these boxes are the final resting places of Jesus, Mary Magdalene and their son Judah.

7. Christianity hinges on the death and resurrection of Jesus. The early disciples knew this and staked their life on it. Beyond that, one has to explain all of the other attendant issues surround Jesus’ trial, death, burial and resurrection. Was Jesus ever really tried? Did he actually even hang on the cross? Was his whole life an elaborate lie and hoax? Did his disciples know that it was a farce from the beginning? Was there ever really a tomb? How much of Jesus’ sayings are actually true? How did this simple carpenter ever even have such fanciful stories told about him in the first place? If none of the Bible claims actually happened how did all the myths and stories get built up in the first place?

It isn’t enough to just make these counter claims to the biblical account of Christianity, if someone is going to make these claims there is a burden of responsibility to answer all of the other issues as well. Lets assume these ossuaries are not forgeries (no one would ever make fake copies of something like this!), that doesn’t prove that these boxes actually were that of the same Jesus as the Bible. That name, along with Mary, were very common names.

My guess is that this story will have about a one month shelf life. After the program airs we will hear people going back and forth about it until after Easter and then it will be mostly forgotten (other than the lingering questions people have who heard about the story). Have you even noticed that these stories tend to come out about a month before Easter? Last year it was “The Gospel According to Judas” and this year it is the burial box of Jesus. Interesting timing. Always interesting timing. Hmm.

Well, these are my initial thoughts on the story. The show airs in early march so don’t be surprised if this isn’t the last you hear of it.

A Sad, Tragic Life

Now that I have your attention.

I am reflecting on the media firestorm of the last 24 hours concerning the tragic death of Anna Nicole Smith. One commentator summed it up well observing that her life was a reflection of the culture, especially many of the negative aspects of our culture. Everything about her life has intentionally been public from her early career with playboy magazine, her marriage to an 89 year old billionaire (for love, not for money), her exploitive TV show, her weight gain and loss, the birth of her daughter and death of her son within a few days of each other in the Bahamas and now her death.

The coverage of her death rivaled that of President Gerald Ford in December. Perhaps that is saying something about President Ford, but that is for another blog.

What has struck me is the sad tragedy of this woman’s life both at the exploitive hands of others and through her own foolish choices. She needed to be needed and wanted and she used what she had to get what she wanted. She traded herself for security, fame and fortune. She was famous for being famous. Her outrageous behavior was not only tolerated but also encouraged because it entertained people and made for good television.

I am reminded of the words of Jesus, “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? For what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Mark 8:35-37) It is the middle phrase that arrests my attention.

As enticing as these pursuits may be there is something more to life than just momentarily pleasing our bodies or puffing our egos. What we were reminded of this week is that all of these pursuits may abruptly come to an end and the emptiness of it all is revealed. Often we don’t get an opportunity to see the end so abruptly as we did this week. Perhaps that is some of the fascination with this story. Many people living a hedonistic lifestyle don’t so publicly self-destruct.

The consequences of this are truly sad. Her 20-year-old son died mysteriously the same week her daughter was born and in the very hospital room they were in. Now several men have come forward saying they could potentially be the father including the husband of Zsa Zsa Gabor. Her daughter is without a mother and the courts will have to determine which of the many men coming forward is the donor.

I don’t know what the ultimate determination will be about how she died. What strikes me with compassion is that she tried so desperately to gain her life and ended up losing everything she tired to gain. What escaped her was the joy and contentment that could have been found had she sought first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. There was a hole in her heart that could only be filled by living relationship with God through Christ.

Life is all about choices. You can’t have it all. Every time you choose one thing you have intentionally or unknowingly said no to every other option. We put the pursuit of pleasure above all other pursuits. If you have conflicting desires we always assume that the desire for pleasure is the more base desire therefore the most pure. There are things in life more important the fame, fortune or fun.

The Culture of Death

For decades our culture has been in a battle over the sanctity of human life. Following Roe v. Wade in 1973, all pretenses have been removed that there is a conflict between two opposing worldviews. One worldview believes that there is a God who created us and placed His image upon us so we have intrinsic and extrinsic value from the moment of conception until we breathe our last breath. The other worldview asserts that we are a random accident of matter plus time plus chance, and our value is determined by what we can do and our perceived quality of life.

This conflict came crashing home last week when I had to fly home to Wisconsin for an emergency visit. My mother fell down several stairs and broke both of her legs. Fortunately the accident, although severe, was not life-threatening. However, while we were in the hospital with her keeping her company the day following the surgery, my oldest sister was brought into the emergency room due to severe dehydration and malnutrition.

A brief explanation of my sister’s condition is in order. She struggles with long-term depression. Additionally, she was diagnosed with diabetes about 15 years ago. During the first several years with the disease, she was in denial about it and refused to take aggressive steps to control her sugar levels. As a consequence, she now has cataracts and glaucoma and is almost completely blind. Her kidneys are functioning at approximately 30% and will slowly continue to deteriorate. She also suffers from borderline paranoid schizophrenia. About a year and a half ago, the courts determined that she was not mentally fit to make medical or financial decisions concerning herself, and the court appointed one of my brothers and one of my sisters as guardians.

At times, my sister can be very difficult to treat. She will refuse medicine, or not eat because she thinks the food has drugs in it. This isn’t far from the truth however, because the nursing home did try to put her medicine in her food and she was able to quickly figure it out. She has some serious medical problems, but all of them are treatable and she does not have a terminal illness.

At the hospital she ate at least three meals a day, while I was there, did take her diabetes medicine (but refuses the antipsychotic medication), allowed an IV, and did drink a healthy amount of liquids.

On Friday morning of that week, the doctor, discharge nurse, and another nurse met with my brother, sister, and the rest of the family to talk about an “alternative” to our present treatment strategy. They recommended that we allow my sister to decide for herself if she wants to eat, drink, or take her medicine. They would put her in a facility called “Comfort Care” because they know that her refusal to do this will quickly lead to her death. They would keep her comfortable, but not force any food, water, or medicine on her. They are asking us to allow a mentally incompetent person to make medical decisions we know will quickly kill her.

This suggestion is both morally reprehensible and unethical. Although they are not advocating active euthanasia or even assisted suicide, our doing nothing will quickly have the same effect. I would call what they advocated as “passive assisted suicide.” They know that sitting by and doing nothing will lead quickly to my sister’s death. Fortunately, I was there to confront them on their recommendation and they had no ethical basis to suggest this route.

They tried to argue that her quality of life is lower than many and that she will never have the type of life that she used to have. My sister is able to order her own meals, go to the bathroom on her own, give herself insulin shots, talk about the news, carry on conversations with the family, and laugh at my stupid jokes. She is not in a persistent vegetative state or terminally ill.

It is a scary world when we start evaluating people’s worth based on quality of life. Who will determine if our life has sufficient quality? Who will decide if we should live or die? As more baby-boomers age and we have an insurance and Medicare crisis, will the criteria continue to drop based on available finances? By denying God we have also cheapened the value of life. Ideas that were once considered outrageous and impossible to happen are now being advocated in a small Wisconsin hospital. If this is how far we’ve come in the last three decades, where will we be three decades from now?

Protect the sanctity of all human life; someday the life you protect may be your own.

We are Expecting!

Some of you may have heard already but in case you haven't I wanted to pass on the good news.

Jenn and I are expecting our second child! The due date is August 24, 2007 but if our first child Grace is any indication it will most likely be before that.

Here are some things to keep in mind and be in prayer about. The heart block that occurred with Grace is a possibility again. If it does happen it will occur between the 18th and 20th weeks of pregnancy. We are taking every precaution but there are circumstances that we have no control over.

Please be in prayer that none of the issues that occurred with Grace will happen again. The doctors are taking a very aggressive approach and will do all they can in the midst of this pregnancy. Right now Jenn and baby are doing great and the nausea is slowly starting to subside.

More in a few weeks on this.

Love,

Dave

Puerto Vallarta Vacation

Two very dear friends gave us a week of their time-share to vacation in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. We landed in Jalisco Airport to encounter some of the most stifling heat we have ever experienced in our lives. We were about a month early for the “tourist season” where the humidity drops and the temperatures are lower. This was the first time I was ever warned to “not walk under the wing" and "be careful for the turbines" when disembarking from a plane.


The placed where we stayed was called Villa Del Palmar and was a wonderful all-inclusive resort. There were three pools to choose from, two restaurants and several shops to buy things you needed for your stay.



These are views of the inside of our place. We had our own kitchen, dinning/living room and bedroom. They brought out a nice crib for Grace to sleep in. By the way, we did drink the water! The resort had a full purification system that supplies the entire facility. I was skeptical at first but not once did we have to take Imodium AD! Of course we only gave Grace bottled water. The last thing I wanted to find was a pediatrician in Mexico!




Did I mention the crib they brought in for Grace was huge?


These next two pictures are actual views out of our balcony to the ocean. One is taken from the balcony in our room, the other is from the front balcony where we enter the place. Unlike our Hawaii trip, the balcony actually opened and we could look out. Of course it was 95 degrees out with 100% humidity so we stayed in the cool air conditioning when not outside.



This is a famous location down the coast from Puerto Vallarta called Los Arcos which you may surmise means "The Arches." It was spectacular to see. We didn't rent a boat to take a close look but as you can see some people did.


The high chairs in Mexico were hilarious. This was just one example but it was generally stable and usable. One we had was so ghetto that we decided to just keep Grace in her stroller. Somehow I doubt they worry about being sued for a faulty high chair. My favorite high chair had a plastic tray screwed on to two pieces of wood.


We thought this was a good opportunity to teach Grace water safety. Every time she would stick her hand out we would say, "Don't pet the crocodile." I was glad we had this teaching opportunity because you never know when it will come in handy.


Don't ask me. But for some reason there was a giant chicken or rooster in front of this shopping center. I can't figure out the theme. If you have any guesses please let me know.


It's amazing the things you find in other countries. Here Jenn is posing with the original cheesehead. Being from Wisconsin myself it made my heart warm to know tha they have Packer fans way down here.


This was one of many beautiful seaside restaurants that we visited while in Puerto Vallarta. This was a bit of a drive but once again well worth the trek. Of course we also got suckered into buying several trinkets from merchants along the beach. Drat!


We took a two hour drive to visit San Sebastian del Oeste in the interior of Mexico. This is an old mining town that at one time had 10,000 people living in it but now has aproximately 600 full time residents. There are tour busses that trek up here occasionally. This was the one place that my two years of Spanish came in handy!



On our way back from San Sebastian we were stopped for a few hours by road construction. Unlike the US where they will worry about making a detour or some other provision, they just blocked the entire dirt road for several hours while they worked. If things had gone badly were would have been staying in San Sabastian for the night. Anyway, there was this guy there dressed in white boots and a West Coast Chopper shirt. He was like a Mexican Bono with a West Coast flair. It took me about 20 minutes to take his picture (without his knowledge) while everyone in the car just sat there laughing at me. Well, I got my picture!




This was along the boardwalk one of the days we traveled down to tourist area of the town. If it wasn't for the oppressive heat and unrelenting humidity it would have been a perfect day. Of course that's like saying if it wasn't for the bullets the Normandy Invasion would have been a beautiful walk on the beach.


This was one of the many, many restaurants our friends recommended. It is called PiPi's Comida Mexicana (which is Spanish for PiPi's Mexican Food). They make the Guacamole right atthe table. Once again the food was wonderful. I keep wondering why my clothes don't fit anymore but that is a discussion for another blog.


Don't worry, this is not a picture of Grace being attacked by a killer whale it is just her playing in the water with her Dad. I think this is actually the first time she has gone into the "deep" water!


This is one of those fun shots with Jenn and Grace. What is actually amazing is that I got into so many pictures. Some of our trips I am going to have to convince Grace that I was actually there because I am always behind the camera.


I saved the best for last. You may not be able to tell from the picture but we are actually on a mountaintop restaurant overlooking the entire bay. Of all the restaurants we visited this one had the most spectacular view! Of course we took the time to make the most of it!

Most used spanish sentence: Hablo espanol muy poquito.

(To save any pictures to your computer just click on the picture. When an enlarge picture comes us, use your right click button on your mouse and click on "save as." Pick the folder you want to save it in and then click on "save." If the picture is not saved by doing this don't worry, it is probably under heavy conviction.)

Next Blog: Loosing all the weight I gained on two trips!

Hawaiian Excursion

First of all, why were we in Hawaii? Oh yeah, this was the District Conference for the South Pacific District of the Christian and Missionary Alliance. Is Hawaii a part of your District? Opps, well actually it isn't. But it sure beats going to Bakersfield (all the California people get the joke).


This was actually the only time we got to go to the beach during the week away from Waikiki Beach on Honolulu. If you are familiar with Hawaii you realize that 80% of all the people who live in the state of Hawaii live on the island of Oahu. It was nice but VERY much a big city.


I just love this picture. She just loves to put her face up to mine. I guess just practicing for butting heads with me later in life.

We were about two blocks from the main beach on Waikiki. This was taken one of the nights we walked down to the beach to watch the sunset.


I celebrated my 38th birthday in Hawaii. Actually however this woman is not there to sing happy birthday to me but to serenade Grace (and look for some easy tips from the parents). I was actually surprise that Grace didn't freak out. The lady was loud. Yeah, I broke down and gave the ladies a tip (drat!).

She doesn't do this too often but it is an amazing feat (pardon the pun).

On our final day in Hawaii we visited Pearl Harbor and took the tour out to the USS Arizona. How easily we forget that we were attacked and brought into the war. We were there just days after the 5th anniversary of 9/11. I wonder how many of us see a parallel?

Random shot of Jenn and Grace with torpedo.

We didn't make it to an official luau but we walked on the beach and the local club was having a dance special on the beach.

Jenn made me to do this, I swear!

Finally, this was a shot taken off the balcony. We actually had a great deal on the hotel for two reasons. First, they gave us a special rate of $99 a night because we were part of a conference. Then they cut it in half because our balcony was closed and they were doing repairs from 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM. We paid $49 per night to stay at the Radisson. Not too bad. Two of the days they weren't even working!

COMING SOON: Pictures of our vacation on Puerto Vallarta Mexico!

Forget the spots on my apples, use the DDT

Just a quick note, the World Health Organization (WHO) has finally lifted its 30 year ban on DDT. Was there new evidence that DDT is now safe? No, the evidence has been there for over 30 years. Was there proof that DDT will not kill people? DDT has never been proven harmful to humans. However, tens of millions of people have died from malaria from the 30 year ban of DDT particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.

The banning of DDT was one more case of junk science and politics trumping common sense and the evidence. I wish it weren't the case. I wish we could look back on the evidence and say that we can logically understand the ban. Some have argued that it is better to err on the side of caution if we don't know for sure something is safe. That is a reasonable position. However, there was never conclusive evidence that DDT was anything but safe. However, we knew that malaria would kill people if we didn't find an effective way to combat it. With the removal of DDT from the insecticide arsenal we were left to lesser means such as mosquito netting.

Why comment on something as controversial as the use of DDT? It reminds me that ideas have consequences. We can argue issues like global warming, the use of pesticides, or other "controversial" issues. In the midst of the debate we must remember that there are practical consequences to thousands or millions of people. We need to balance the importance of the environment with the human cost of a contrary decision. Further, it is important to wait until the evidence is in and it is dispassionately evaluated before making policy decisions.

Let me comment on a related issue. Personally I am not convinced of the science of global warming. Partially from practical experience. I grew up in Wisconsin with the constant message that we were on the verge of another ice age and that we would soon be frozen under tons of ice. They also told me that by 1995 we would have to wear SPF 5000 if we wanted to go outside. When you grow up under the fear of impending doom only to hear the opposite arguments later you tend to become a skeptic.

I don't claim to have the answer. What I do know is that it is impossible to let politicians and scientists who are paid by Exxon or the Sierra Club evaluate and interpret the evidence. In any other area of science we would allow an open debate, double blind studies, and other practical steps to remove science from politics. I don't think we will make wise or informed decisions on these important issues until we do. If Global Warming is true we need to do everything in our power to stop it. If it is not true we need to not use fear to promote a political agenda.

A Bit of Irony-The Pope and Islam

I have been watching the latest controversy unfold between the larger Islamic community and Western Civilization particularly the growing hostility that has been caused by the pope in his comments last week and the call for his apology.

Here is the opening paragraph from the Reuters article dated September 18, 2006:

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Al Qaeda militants in Iraq vowed war on "worshippers of the cross" and protesters burned a papal effigy on Monday over Pope Benedict's comments on Islam, while Western churchmen and statesmen tried to calm passions.

Let me sum up the situation for those who haven't been following. The pope was in Germany last week giving a speech to a group of academics among which he formerly belonged. He was talking about the relationship between faith and reason and discussing the deficiencies of western culture. During the speech he used an illustration from a dialog between a 14th-century Byzantine emperor and a Persian scholar.

His quote from Emperor Manuel II Paleologus - "Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached"

What is ironic here is the fact that his comments concerning the muslim faith about it being inherently violent generates a violent response by muslims! If I tell you that you have a problem with your temper and you slap me across the face and curse me out might not that actually prove my point? To date churches have been firebombed, a nun in Somalia has been killed, the pope burned in effigy and there have been violent demonstrations around the world.

One other question that has been raised is how a quote from a stayed academic speech was dissected and disseminated to the muslim world almost overnight? It would seem that the news services would not intentionally put out this quote (out of context of the speech I might add) knowing it would inflame tensions between muslims and Christians, would they? It strikes me that however this was leaked to the muslim world and media sources that it must have been known the violent and vitriolic responses would result.

Obviously I do believe there are great and irreconcilable differences between Islam and Christianity. They teach differing ideas about God, Jesus, man, sin, salvation, the future and judgment. Beside being both monotheistic there are great divergences in thoughts and beliefs. As I have read this weekend on this issue many have argued that these two groups should begin a dialog to minimize their differences and focus on their shared beliefs.

Although I do not think that violence is the way to resolve these deep differences neither do I think minimizing them is the right approach either. Further, I do think that studying the history of religion can shed some light on belief systems. Interestingly neither the Catholic church nor Islam are innocent when it comes to the use of violence to promote their faith. However, there is a fundamental difference between the two. When the Catholic church attempted to convert people through the use of force it was going against the teachings of their leader Jesus, whom they claimed to follow. When Islam has attempted to convert people by force they are staying in line with the teachings of Muhammad and the Koran.

What is sad in today's cultural situation is you cannot state your observations without the fear of violent reprisal which only buttresses the initial argument but often at great personal consequence. Please don't misunderstand my reason for writing these observations. I am not saying that I support all that the pope stands for and believes. I am not Catholic and I am not writing to defend the belief system of the Catholic church. Even as I write this there are some within the Catholic church that want the pope to recant of what he has said and embrace a more egalitarian view of Islam and Christianity. That may momentarily calm the storm but it will be at the expense of faith and reason, the very topic the pope was trying to address.

(For a decent article on the controversy click on the title above. Also, the quote from Emperor Manuel II Paleologus is taken from this article.)

Happy Birthday Grace Rose Monreal

September 15, 2006

Dear Grace,

Your mom and I walked into your room this morning after you woke up and sang “Happy Birthday” to you. It may have been slightly off key but I don’t think it could have been sung with any more love. When I picked you up and held you in my arms my eyes welled up with tears. I began to think of the day of your birth just one year ago today.

It’s hard to imagine all that you have gone through in your young life. Just six weeks after you were born you had to have surgery to take care of your heart problem. We cradled you in our arms and tried not to imagine you having to go through that at barely over six pounds. If I could have taken your place I would have in an instant. But that is just one of the many memories I have of you.

You were so precious when you were born, I remember giving you a bottle and watching you fall asleep in my arms. I would look into your face and wonder all of the things you are going to do in your life. Will you like to fly kites or chase butterflies? Will you want to go fishing or will you think that worms are gross? Will you want to grow up to be a doctor, lawyer or musician?

This may seem so silly to you but I remember the first time you rolled over. It was upstairs in our bedroom. Your mom and I were cheering you on telling you that you could do it. You were struggling so much and you were so frustrated but you kept trying. When you finally made it over I was so happy that I screamed for joy. That scared you so much that you started crying, but that’s okay because tears of joy were streaming down my face too.

I’ve been so amazed watching you grow up this past year: seeing your first tooth start to poke through your little gums; watching you go from a bottle to baby food and starting to feed yourself; looking at you roll over, crawl and start to stand up all on your own; hearing you say your first word, “Oh, oh”; and seeing the childlike wonder when you find something new to experience.

I want you to know that I love you. I love you more now than ever. You will never stop hearing me say that as long as there is breath in my lungs. You are my precious little girl, you are my princess, you are the apple off my eye, you are my pride and joy. Of all the little girls in the world you are most precious to me. I never want you to wonder if your daddy loves you or if other things are more important to him. When you cry I want to be there to pick you up and hold you. It doesn’t matter if it is next week or in 20 years. I will always be there for you.

I want you to know now and forever that you are still Daddy’s little girl. I pray for you every day and I know that God has His strong and tender hands holding you. Good night Grace Rose Monreal. Sweet dreams my princess. When you wake up I’ll be there for you.

Love,

Your Daddy

Look who's 11 months old!!! (Also, Packer's Game)

As you can see by this first picture, Grace has a toothy grin that just won't stop. She is one of the happiest babies I've ever seen. She loves to smile, giggle and laugh her little head off. Right now she just loves to clap and scream at the top of her lungs (and I do mean scream!).


Her other favorite pastime is saying Uh oh! I don't know exactly when it started but when she gets going she can say it clear as a bell. She knows we get a kick out of it so then she smiles and claps for herself. I think she's got my "shy gene."


Here's a shot of her munching away at a cookie. Already posing for the camera. I think we've taken so many pictures of her already I need another hard drive to store them.


This was taken a few weeks ago at Grace's cousins' birthday parties. Also known as Christmas in July (or early August, I forget). This is Grace with her Great-Grandmother! There is a special bond between these two.

Jenn and I attended the Green Bay Packer Game here in San Diego. Or as I refer to it, "Behind Enemy Lines!" The game wasn't much of one but it was Pre-season and the first one at that. It was cool seeing Favre on his "farewell tour part 2." He's almost as bad as The Who.

This was obviously early in the game before Favre was taken out for his own protection. All I can say is that if he doesn't get a better front line it is going to be a long, long season.

Of course I was wearing my Favre jersey also known as a TARGET. I've never been heckled so much in my entire life, okay there was that one sermon... Seriously you would think that because the Chargers were winning that they would cut me some slack but I had a whole section mocking me because I was sitting in the front row of our section. About one-third of the people were Packer fans but I took the brunt of it. It must be my kindly face.

The most intense part was the guy who tried to start a fight with me in the bathroom during half-time. He lived. He was in a drunken tirade and was about to spit on me when I gave him a stare of death (for you Christians reading this I mean, I was about to introduce him to Jesus face-to-face). He walked away and was arrested moments later for starting a fight with a guy just outside the bathroom.

Speaking of arrests this guy gut arrested right in front of us. i was a little slow to get the camera out. At least this guy wasn't driving a Hyundai in L.A., but I digress. I don't know how it started but I saw beer flying and fists swinging then the cops swarmed in. If you look closely it was a female cop that is escorting him out. The saddest part was that a six-foot-two, two hundred pound "security guard" sat around doing nothing until she and others came to break it up. I think his name was Barak. The comedy came a few seconds later when a couple came up confused saying, "What do we do, he's our ride?" My thought, get his keys.