Dr. House... A Lesson on God's Grace?

Nathaniel went to bed at 8:00 last night, so Lee and I finally got to sit down and catch up on an episode of House. Last night’s episode was about a priest who was still practicing but had somehow lost his faith along the way. After facing a slew of unforeseen events and misdiagnoses, Dr. House, of course, solves the case (I missed the first half of the episode because I was putting the little one to sleep). At the end, after having previously wrestled with the priest about the existence of God, House, a professed atheist, tells the priest, “Everything that has happened to you can be rationally explained” (or something like that). The priest, who had been near death, and who had claimed at the outset of the episode that he no longer believed in God, incredulously replied, “Still, that’s a lot of coincidences.”

Perhaps the priest's response refers to that ephemeral unspoken and quiet wonder we have whenever events in our daily lives unfold a bit too neatly and precisely. Even for the Christian, the demonstration of God’s sovereign hand in our life on any given day—disguised as a string of coincidences—can be startling—and yet, as quickly as the realization comes upon us, so has its dismissal.

I’ve enjoyed this show in the past, in part, because of the clever dialogue, the non-one-dimensional characters, as well as the sporadic allusions to religion (especially in the earlier seasons). There were certain moments when I was simply relieved to see a secular show on television point to something beyond violence and sex, or whatever meaningless junk there is out there.

Seeing last night’s episode made me recall another scene in a past season, which I’ll share in this blog entry.

In season 2, episode 1, two cases come to Dr. House’s attention—one involving a teacher and the other a convict on death row. Dr. House’s subordinates are concerned about the time he is spending on solving the case of the convict rather than the teacher. Why should someone who is guilty of murder deserve Dr. House’s time? The conversation between Dr. House and one of his subordinates goes like this:

House: Talk to Cuddy. She’s got me going to Mercer State Prison, Capital Sentences unit, I don’t know.

Foreman: Aren’t there better ways to spend our time?

House: Good question. What makes a person deserving? Is a man who cheats on his wife more deserving than a man who kills his wife?

Foreman: Uh… yeah. Actually, he is.

House: What about a child molester? Certainly not a good guy, but he didn’t kill anybody. Maybe he can get antibiotics, but no MRIs. What about you? What medical care should you be denied for being a car thief? Tell you what: the three of you work out a list of what medical treatments a person loses based on the crime they committed. I’ll review it when I get back.

I love this episode so much because House’s sarcasm in the above conversation demonstrates such strong parallels to our misconception of who is “deserving” of God’s grace. Like the workers in the vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16)—rather than looking at our own selves, we’re so busy looking at other people and judging where they're at. But in Romans 3:23, it states: “…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” How ridiculous it sounds in the context of this episode to determine whether someone deserves a chance at life based on what sins he’s committed in his past.

Later in the same episode, the convict perhaps earns our sympathy when he utters the following words to Dr. Foreman:

“Can you imagine your whole life bein’ about the worst thing you ever did?”

But with Christ, it isn’t about the worst thing we’ve ever done. It doesn't matter who we are or what kind of person we were, with Him as our Savior, we are freed from the chains of our ugly past. As it is written in Romans 10:9-13:

“If you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame."For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."

How fitting that this episode is entitled “Acceptance.”

A Mother's Prayer

Love the Lord your God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all your strength.
These commandments that I give you today
are to be upon your hearts.
Impress them on your children.
Talk about them when you sit at home
and when you walk along the road,
when you lie down and when you get up.
Tie them as symbols on your hands
and bind them on your foreheads.
Write them on the doorframes of your houses
and on your gates. ~Deuteronomy 6:5-9

Nathaniel is nine-months-old today. He has grown to be a joyful baby. Every day, when I go to his crib first thing in the morning, he waves his arms and legs in the air in absolute delight. When I put him in the bouncer in our kitchen, he jumps in it gleefully for a good half hour—as I make his breakfast, prepare dinner, do the dishes, etc. The majority of the time, when I put him down for a nap, he lies in his crib without protest. When we go out, having slept well through his naps, he does not wail (like he used to in the earlier months!). He can play on his own for a lot longer too—sitting in the Exersaucer, or on his own, exploring the different toys surrounding him.

At the same time, Nathaniel is beginning to learn how to not give in to my wishes. I see this especially during meal times—breakfast, lunch, and dinner—you might find me sitting by the kitchen table, in front of his high chair, for as long as forty-five minutes, trying to get him to eat the food he’s supposed to eat. At his eight-month checkup, the pediatrician had advised me to introduce the following foods into his diet: meat, yogurt, egg yolk, white fish, and cottage cheese. The only food Nathaniel seems to be willing to eat from this list is yogurt—only because it’s just as tasty as the fruits and vegetables I’ve been feeding him. Most of the time, feeling exasperated, I give up feeding certain foods to him and give him what he likes for fear that he might go hungry during the night. But my actions make me consider whether I am acting in my best interest or Nathaniel’s. (Last night, I tried to force feed him chicken, putting bits of chicken in his mouth even though he was whining—little did I know—I could stuff food in his mouth, but I can’t make him swallow. He began choking when the pieces accumulated in his mouth! And yes, I've tried hiding food he doesn't like in food he likes—for some reason, that doesn't work either...)

Nathaniel can shut his mouth completely when he sees food he doesn’t like approaching his mouth. He can resist my putting him in the high chair or car seat by firmly straightening out his body. He can whine if he is not pleased with any given activity we are engaged in.

As Nathaniel is entering this new stage of his life, I, as a new mother, am also entering a new stage—my becoming anxious about whether I’m making the right decisions on a day-to-day basis. Is what I’m doing today going to somehow impact his behavior in the long run—in a negative or positive way?

Much prayer is needed. That God give me wisdom to make the right choices. It is so needed—because the difference between the wrong decision and the right decision seems so subtle in these rather mundane tasks. Although Nathaniel’s resistant behavior at the moment is minimal in proportion to the many hours of the day that I spend with him—I can’t help but think about the degree of discipline I will soon have to exercise as he grows older. And honestly, if trying to feed him some chicken wears me out—just imagining the work involved in training him in other areas has me letting out a big sigh.

In the hundreds of moments that I interact with Nathaniel, I can easily forget my responsibility as a mother—that is, that which is commanded in Scripture. This means that I have to think twice about giving in to Nathaniel’s wishes simply because I am too tired or because it is just easier to do so. More importantly, down the road, I know it is not merely his behavior that I am trying to affect, but his heart—that he develops a heart that will come to cherish and love the living God. As I heard Rev. Charles Price once mention in a sermon—we can’t force Nathaniel to accept Christianity, but our job as Nathaniel’s parents is to be an example and live godly lives that will make it easy for him to put his faith in Christ. As it is written of the role of the wife and mother in Proverbs 31:

“She is clothed with strength and dignity;
she can laugh at the days to come.

She speaks with wisdom,
and faithful instruction is on her tongue.

She watches over the affairs of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.

Her children arise and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her.”


When I spend my quiet time with God, I don’t just pray for me and Lee, I pray for all the new parents in my family, my social circle, and my church. All these little tikes running around us will one day, God wiling, have the power to influence this world in a way that either honors or dishonors God. There is enormous weight on our shoulders as parents—and I hope that in these tiny moments we spend with our children, we never forget the task before us.

The All-Knowing God

As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Isaiah 55:9

The company that laid Lee off on January 9, 2009 went bankrupt last week. Though the company was clearly not doing well financially, it surprised us that it went down so quickly. Of course, this meant that the “two months’ severance” that Lee was promised on his last day of work is no longer available.

God’s sovereign care of our family has, again, caused our jaws to drop. Lee got a job the same week that the funds from the last company came to an end.

We can’t help but wonder:

Had Lee not begun looking for jobs immediately upon his layoff, he would not have found a job so quickly. (Had he rationalized to himself, “I’ve got two months—let’s take a break for a few days…” I’m so blessed to have a hardworking husband.)

Had Lee not been laid off, he would have lost his job anyway, three weeks later, but without any severance pay. The short-lived payments we got in early January helped tie us over until Lee got another job last week.

Had Lee not begun looking for a job in the time that he did, he would not have landed his current job. The window of opportunity was extremely small—and he submitted his résumé at the precise time necessary to secure the job.

Had Lee not quit his job last May to join the company that just went down, he would have never been laid off, and thus would have never found his current job, which is a much more stable company to work for (with amazing perks—he gets a 407 transponder from the company—no more expensive toll bills to pay, and the company is going to invest money in training him!).

And to imagine our earlier devastation when we received the news that Lee was going to be let go! Fast forward, exactly a month later, and we have gone from devastation to relief!

O Lord, You have truly opened our eyes to Your awesome power and omniscience.

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life,
what you will eat or drink;
or about your body, what you will wear.
Is not life more important than food,
and the body more important than clothes?

Look at the birds of the air;
they do not sow or reap or store away in barns,
and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.
Are you not much more valuable than they?
Who of you by worrying
can add a single hour to his life?

"And why do you worry about clothes?
See how the lilies of the field grow.
They do not labor or spin.
Yet I tell you that not even Solomon
in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.

If that is how God clothes the grass of the field,
which is here today
and tomorrow is thrown into the fire,
will he not much more clothe you,
O you of little faith?

So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?'
or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'
For the pagans run after all these things,
and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness,
and all these things will be given to you as well.

Matthew 6

Men are from Mars...

I bought this spring green hand towel for our first floor bathroom four years ago. It has a horizontal bar of white flowers on the front. Every time I wash my hands and use the towel, I make sure the towel is back in its proper position. It has always bugged me that my husband never did this. Every time he uses the towel, it’s always arbitrarily tossed back onto the towel rod, or he positions the towel backwards so that the pretty flowers aren’t visible.

Yesterday, after I heard him wash his hands, I finally hollered, “Hang the towel back in its proper position, please!” He peers out of the bathroom door and says, “What?” I said, “You know, with the white flowers facing forward.”

He then replied: “There are flowers on the towel?”

Need I say—we’ve been using the same towel for FOUR years!