God bless Grandfather with a pool

Last Sunday was a blessing for me.
In addition to Mass, which is always a blessing each time, I woke up with a text message on my phone. At 3:57 a.m. my sister JoBeth wrote to me to tell me that she had gone into labor with her second child. I talked to her on the phone, hopped in the shower, and in that 20-minute span of teeth brushing and a shower that I wished was a bubble bath, my second nephew was born.
I immediately felt this bond with the child. He shared my birthday, 26 years later. I had been petitioning my sister for the duration of her pregnancy to name the child after me, but she declined: maybe the two of us having the same birthday is God's way of saying she should have listened to me.
It's amazing: Without even knowing this child, born 1,500 miles away, that family bond is all I needed. Just to know we shared the same bloodline made me smile, made me realize that I was tied to this kid for the rest of my life.
Last week, the deacon giving the homily made it a point to say that we should encourage and lift up children. They are, as he said, the future of our Catholic church. The things we say to children now, even the things we don't realize we say, are already shaping and molding our church in 20-30 years. It is an amazing gift: take it seriously.
When Christ said "Whoever does not accept the Kingdom of God like a child will not enter it," I think he knew that that child-like faith he wants us to have is a faith we can learn from.
I hope that I can do everything I can to embrace and bless the life on my new nephew, now a week old. But in order to do that, I have to deal effectively with my own sins. Sins I struggle with daily.
Sometimes I struggle with bitterness toward my Father. There are many times that I don't remember to pray for him. But a few weeks ago, I listened while my nephew Brent said his prayers at night. My nephew, someone my father also decided to walk out on, should be more angry than I am: I can at least comprehend the situation. His 5-year-old mind can't. But every night, his prayer would always include, "God bless grandfather with a pool."
Christ was right. We need faith like a child to enter into the kingdom. And my faith can't grow in God, unless I pray for those that I'm angry with.
There's a grandfather with a pool in all of our lives. Make sure you keep him in prayer too.
That's having faith like a child.