I don’t think that I get shocked easily. In fact through the church I’ve counseled and or met people with the craziest stories. I even tell people before I counsel them that I won’t judge them and they can’t shock me. I’ve heard it all.  Yesterday I was shocked!!!

The week of Thanksgiving we had an ultrasound that confirmed that we were having twin boys. We told our parents and family. We told our friends. We told Waters Edge Church. We told Facebook! The Dr. was sure that we were having two boys. We were even given pictures to prove it. The following is the retelling of yesterday’s Dr. appointment. To understand this story you need to know that my mother in law was with us.

This was our second main ultrasound where they double check everything in order to make sure the babies are ok.

Ultrasound Tech: “For a second there I thought there were three babies in there.”
Rob and Monica: Nervous laughter because we thought she was joking.
Ultrasound Tech: “You aren’t having three are you?”
Monica: “No. We did IVF and they implanted two in there. If one of them split they’d be in the same sack right?
Ultrasound Tech: Oh if you did IVF then there are only two in there.
Rob: Trying not to pass out.
Ultrasound Tech: (Not a direct quote because I was in shock thinking about three babies) “Oh there they are. I found your baby girl.”
Monica: Uncontrollable laughter
Rob: Silence due to shock.
Monica’s mom: You are kidding right? You’ve got to be kidding. You’re joking aren’t you?
Ultrasound Tech: I’m not joking.
Monica’s mom: You are joking. I think you are joking.
Ultrasound Tech: “No that’s clearly a girl. I haven’t made a mistake in 14 years.”
Rob: “EXCEPT FOR THE ONE WHERE YOU TOLD US WE WERE HAVING TWO BOYS” (that was my thought and it did not come out of my mouth)!
Monica’s mom: (Jumping up and down over and over again) “That’s what I prayed for. Prayer really does work. I’ve been praying that you would have a girl.”
Monica: Laughing uncontrollably.
Rob: Silence.

The ultrasound tech became so nervous by our reaction that she tried to find our baby girl a second time. This time our baby had turned over and you couldn’t see what was between its legs.  We left this appointment grateful that we are still having two healthy babies, but shocked. Here are some new pics of our now baby girl and baby boy…

So what does this mean?

• At this point we are still keeping our names. 9 years ago we picked baby names. Our dream names for twins if they were opposite genders were Reese and Reagan. We talked about going to that, but we have had Reese and Hayden in our minds for a couple of months now. We also really  like the name Hayden for a boy. Because it took us 6 years to get pregnant and because this pregnancy hasn’t been easy we may not be able to have any more kids. Combine both of those reasons and that led us to keep the names.
• The superhero room that we were going to have is now dead and gone. It will probably be replaced by something to represent both genders. I heard Monica tell someone she was thinking of pink and green. I’m now thinking purple and yellow for the Lakers. Who knows?
• Our son will have doubles in some outfits. We’ve already been given twin boy outfits. Some people have already told us that they will have to take back some outfits. We feel really bad about that.
• We are going to schedule an appointment at “Fun Fetal Photo.” It’s a 3-D ultrasound where you get videos and pictures of your baby or babies. We weren’t even considering this but now that we have been given two different answers about the genders we want to make sure. Oh and I want to make sure there aren’t 3 in there.
• I will probably freak out a little. I’m still in a state of shock. Girls scare me a a wee little bit. I know how to wrestle, talk sports, and play with action figures. I don’t have a fat clue what to do with a little girl. I’m thankful and excited, but also shocked and scared.

So that’s where we are at. We are very thrilled! The journey has been exciting and the babies aren’t even born. Oh one last thing…the ultrasound tech said that in 20 years there has only been one time where she was surprised at the delivery. Meaning she could still be wrong? That’s why we are going to “Fun Fetal Photo.” I just don’t want to get through all our baby showers only to find out that there are three babies in there.

Today is the last day of the Fitness Challenge. It was kind of a bad time to start the challenge. It went over the weekend which can be harder because we are not in our normal routine. But we’ve made it. At least I hope some of you are still with me.

If there is enough interest I might do this again. Is there a book of the Bible that would interest you if I do this again? I’ve really enjoyed. I hope that you not only built some discipline to read the Bible but that you applied what you read. Here are my thoughts on chapter five…

• vs. 3 – “You have hoarded wealth…” I don’t want to be a hoarder! Have you seen the shows with hoarders? It’s awful. People store up an excessive amount of stuff and live in misery.  How often do we do that with our finances. We have more money then we need and yet we get in debt and can’t stop spending. I hoard most of my money because I spend it on me. I want to be the type of person who is generous. 
• vs. 12 - Do you struggle with saying no? I do. I am such a people pleaser that I hate telling people know. I’ve actually gotten better at it over the last couple of years, but it’s not easy. So often others will say yes because they are afraid to let someone down but then they never show up. Let your yes be yes and your no be no or “you will be condemned.” Those are strong words from James. Now his main point is that we shouldn’t swear using God’s name or sacred objects. Instead we should just say yes or no, but I think it applies to our inability to commit.
• vs. 13-16 – This is where you can see Jame’s heart. He has the heart of a pastor.
• vs. 17 – Elijah was an amazing man and James says he was just like us. Not just like preachers. Just like us. The point is that he prayed and God did amazing things through Him. The power came through prayer.
• vs. 19-20 – This is what I want to do. I want to help those who have fallen or are far away from God find Him again.

So how did your American football team do? I have to distinguish American football because of Australia. With two regular readers hailing from Australia, they are the second leading country to read my blog. I’ve had people from England, former communist countries, and Canada read my blog but it was for one time only. I have two blokes from Australia who read the blog. Did you notice how I used the Australian word bloke? Thanks to John Finkelde I’m bilingual. I digress…like I was saying how did your American football team do?

After watching some football over the weekend I had this thought. If you want to play quarterback then you’ve got to be willing to take hits.  The quarterback gets all the glory if the team wins, but he also gets a lot of the blame if they lose. The worst part about being a quarterback is that a bunch of 300 lb grown men get paid millions of dollars to try to tackle you.  Think about it…they get hit over and over again and aren’t aloud to hit back. That stinks.  

Now I don’t play quarterback for a professional team. For that matter even when I play pick up games of football I don’t play quarterback. I can’t throw a spiral. I may not play quarterback professionally, but I do act as the quarterback in other areas of my life. There are areas where I have to take the lead. With the lead comes hits.

As the quarterback you will take hits from people. People who want nothing more than to hurt you.  They will hit you with negative words that feel like a freight train.

Now sometimes I play the quarterback, but other times I play a defensive lineman.  I love playing the lineman because I get to protect the quarterback. Try to talk smack about my pastor and I’ll flatten you. Try to hurt my wife with words and it’s on like Donkey Kong. Talk about my friends and I like being a lineman. I’ve got their back.

You may not be a leader, but I bet you are around one. If your a dad you’ve got to protect your wife from attacks. Don’t let the kids run over her or speak to her negatively.  If you are a wife don’t let anyone disrespect your husband.  If you are an employee then protect your boss. Don’t let people quarterback sneak and hit them with negative words. It’s hard to be the quarterback. Thank God for linemen who do what they can to minimize the hits.

Today is day 4 of a five day challenge to read through the book of James. Over 30 people started the journey with me. If you’ve been reading then you see how straight forward James is. Chapter 4 is like a swift kick to the face. Here are some thoughts…

• vs. 1 – Not only does James tell us where fights come from, but he also says that God doesn’t answer prayers because we ask with selfish motives. Maybe that’s why God is not answering my prayer to grow my hair back and not go bald.
• vs. 4 – It doesn’t get any more in your face then this verse. “You adulterous people.” I’ve counseled multiple people who have been affected because of adultery. It’s heartbreaking to find that someone you love is sharing the most intimate experiences with someone else. It’s worse than a slap in the face. It’s an awful feeling. I can’t imagine how heartbreaking it is to find your spouse having an affair. James compares friendship with the world to an affair!
• vs. 5 – God’s spirit is jealous. He’s jealous when we don’t turn to Him. He’s jealous when we seek the world before we seek Him.
• vs. 7 – So the Devil has ADD? Resist the devil and he will flee from you. When we resist the devil gets bored and moves on.
• vs. 8-10 – This is not saying that we should always weep and wail. This is saying that when we realize that our selfish actions are like committing adultery against God it should lead us to repent. Imagine being caught in the act of adultery and realizing what a mistake you’ve made. That’s what this is talking about. I hate it when I realize how my actions have affected God. In the moment my selfish actions felt so good, but afterward it feels awful. I’m so thankful that God forgives!
• vs. 11 In case you missed it not judging others is one of the themes of this book.
• vs. 13-16 – I think the point here is to include God in your plans? We make plans and then want God to bless them. Instead we should ask God where He wants us to go.
• vs. 17 – Ok this is a creative definition of sin. Creative and convicting. Like I said a swift kick in the face.

Today is day 3 of the Fitness Challenge. I’ve challenged robshep.com readers to read a chapter a day of the book of James from the Bible.  I love the book of James. I’d love to have been able to hear him preach. He has great illustrations! Did you know that James’ brother was Jesus? That means that he probably didn’t believe in His brother until after Jesus rose from the grave. You can read it about in John 7:1-5 and Matthew 13:55.  Here are some thoughts on chapter 3 of James…

• vs. 1 Have you ever wondered why people who teach the Bible are judged more strictly? It’s like if an obese person gives you weight loss advice it just feels off. Or if a person with massive debt gives you financial advice. Or a person who makes poor relational choices gives you relationship advice. I’m not sure but I don’t think that a Christ Follower who teaches is judged more strictly by God. I think that they are judged more strictly by people. If you are going to teach it you better be living it.
• vs. 3-6 Great illustrations to make a point!
• vs. 9 You can’t love God and not love people. You can’t praise God and then curse humans who are made in His image. A true sign of a persons love for God is how they treat and talk about others. Including others who aren’t like them. No one can tame the tongue…without God’s help. God is big enough to help us tame the beast.
• vs. 14 If you harbor selfish ambition you shouldn’t boast about it. So I shouldn’t boast about my dreams to sell adds on robshep.com and make millions? I kid I kid. This is very convicting. It’s easy to get excited and boast about selfish ambition. It’s easy to want to make “me” the center of every conversation. It’s easy to want to boast about the things that I do. It’s easy, but selfish. Now this doesn’t mean that you can’t be proud of yourself or that you can’t take a compliment. It just means that when you boast it should be boasting in how great God is.
• vs. 16 Where you find disorder you will find selfish ambition and envy. Why is there disorder in our lives? Maybe it’s because we have selfish ambition to make much about ourselves, and or we get upset when others succeed? What would happen if we stopped saying whoa is me when we don’t have what others have. I’m so proud of Monica in this regard. For six years we tried to get pregnant and for six years Monica did not envy other women. She was great at celebrating when others got pregnant. She would spend lots of money when she went to baby showers. She would celebrate when others got pregnant. We get depressed because there is disorder in our lives. We don’t feel like we have what we are supposed to have.
• vs. 18 I’m still wrapping my head around this one. How can I sow in peace? It’s like planting a garden of peace wherever I go. Do I bring God’s peace into every situation I’m in? Do people feel God’s peace by the words that I say? It’s hard work to plant a garden. In a world that is filled with disorder we need more peace makers.

Yesterday I posted a challenge to read an entire book of the Bible together. That’s right 5 whole chapters of yummy spiritual goodness. The goal is to read it, digest it, and allow it to change us so we are not fat and lazy spiritually.  If you are participating in the challenge how was day two? Here are some of my thoughts on chapter 2…

• vs. 1-13 very convicting. How many poor people are even welcome in most churches? Not only that but it’s really hard to not judge. Ouch!
• vs. 14-17 Faith without action is dead! So you are telling me I actually have to live out what I believe? I’m so convicted by this. Last week I met a homeless women. I introduced her to someone who was going to help her. I passed her off and then didn’t think about her again. Not once did I think about personally meeting her needs. I had cash in my wallet, and cash in the bank. I could have provided something for her, but it didn’t even dawn on me. On the other hand a friend of mine went out and bought a boat load of groceries for this same lady. My friend then delivered the groceries to the woman. When I heard that I thought about this verse. I hope that my conviction can change my mindset. I want to meet people’s needs and not just pray for them.
• vs. 19 So the demons believe in God? The demons believe and their lives aren’t changed. They believe and even have a response.  If you’ve ever been to a Christian camp then you know it’s easy to get swept up in the emotion. You believe in God and then are moved by a message. Maybe you even cried. But unless your life is changed it doesn’t mean squat. Faith and actions have to work together.
• vs. 25 a righteous prostitute…interesting.
• vs. 26 Just in case you didn’t get it faith without deeds is dead. I love how straight forward and direct James is!

The following is a list of some awkward things that will definitely happen if you work with other humans. DISCLAIMER: I cannot confirm or deny that I’ve ever done any of the things on this list, nor can I confirm or deny that any of the WEC employees have ever experienced these awkward things that will definitely happen to you if you work with humans.  

1. If you work with humans you will hear one of them fart.
2. If you work with humans you will walk into some one’s office right after they have farted. If they are your boss don’t say a thing. If you are their boss then it’s ok to call them out. If you are an equal then it’s up to you.
3. If you work with humans you will hear some one’s stomach digest out loud. I hate when this happens to me. It’s so embarrassing. It’s not a fart but it’s like your stomach is preparing other employees for what is about to come out.
4. If you work with humans you may not see London or France, but it is a guarantee that at some point you will see some one’s underpants. Be careful when you bend down to pick something up unless you don’t care that your office mates know the style and color of your under garments.
5. If you work with humans you will catch or at least think you catch someone picking their nose.
6. If you work with humans you will regret it when someone cooks stinky leftovers in the microwave. You will smell it for the rest of the day. No one knows why, but for some reason food cooked at work just stinks more then when you nuke it at home.
7. If you work with humans you will catch someone on Facebook. When you get caught you can either pretend that they won’t see your screen or you can try to quickly click on something else. No matter what you do people will catch you.
8. When you work with humans you will discover that not all people think the same candles/room deodorizers smell good. In fact some people appreciate things that just plain stank.
9. If you work with humans you will catch someone wearing the same pair of jeans two or sometimes three days in a row.
10. If you work with humans you will know who has stinky breath.

So that’s my list. Did I leave anything off?

I almost didn’t post today’s blog entitled “So You Want To Be Fat And Lazy?” I don’t know if I was feeling insecure about it or just scared. I had Monica read it because I was afraid no one would take me up on my challenge. 24 people either left comments on the blog, Facebook, or email and said that they wanted to take the challenge. As promised here are some thoughts on chapter 1…

• vs. 2 - I hate trials! According to this we are to consider it all joy. Like exercising for the first time in a long time it’s painful to go through a trial. No one likes it, but we are stronger then we give ourselves credit for. In lifting weights, if you want to gain muscle you have to tear it first. It hurts and it makes you sore. Going through a trial hurts and it makes you sore, but you will become stronger.
• vs. 11 - I’m glad I’m not rich. Oh wait…compared to the majority of the world I am. Oh dang.
• vs. 14 – Temptation comes from our own evil desires. So maybe the devil didn’t make you do it?
• vs. 15 – Imagine conceiving a baby. For nine months that baby lives inside of you. When that baby is born it changes your life. You love it with all of your heart. But instead of turning around and loving you back this baby grows up and tries to kill you. This is the process of sin. It is conceived with an idea from within. We birth it because selfishly we think it’s what is best. We even tell ourselves that we love it. In the end though sin kills. No matter how great the sin feels in the moment it always leads to death. I wish I could remember this before I’m about to sin.
• vs. 19 – Great advice! This is basically the opposite of the Jersey Shore.
• vs. 21 – Get rid of all moral filth and accept the word that is planted in you.  Great advice but how do we do that? James is about to tell us…
• vs. 22 – You accept the word planted in you when you do what the Bible says to do. This verse is so challenging to me. It’s kind of like my relationships with food. I’ve been on and read about almost every diet out there. I know a ton of information. In fact I could write a book on all the weight loss info that I know.  And yet I’m still over weight. The truth is that just because you know something doesn’t mean squat unless you are willing to put what you know into practice. There are too many Christians who are fat with knowledge and not willing to apply or obey what the Bible teaches.
• vs. 27 – Have you ever wondered what type of religion God likes? It’s the type that helps those that can’t help themselves. In James time women could not work. If they lost their husband and weren’t able to marry again they couldn’t survive. Helping a widow or orphan means you did something for someone who had no way of paying you back. Kind of like what God does for us huh? God loves us even though we have no way to ultimately pay Him back. No wonder God likes this type of religion. 

So if you read chapter 1 what is one thing that you will take away?

Have you seen commercials for the TV show “I Used to Be Fat”? While eating some reheated pizza, I found myself watching this show. You would think that watching a show like this would inspire me, but that pizza was about half a day away from growing penicillin. I needed to eat it before it went bad, right? On the episode that I saw, a teenage girl, who weighs 250 lbs, gets a trainer and loses 90 lbs. It was amazing!

What fascinated me was how her personal trainer pushed her. She was a lazy, whiny, spoiled brat. She would cry at the thought of working hard. She was so stubborn that most people would have let her be. Not this trainer. When she cried, he’d get in her face. When she would cuss him out, he’d say, “Cuss me out all you want, I’m not leaving.” He tried multiple ways to motivate her. At one point, after she yelled that she hated him, the trainer got her to turn her yelling towards her work out. The girl ends up yelling the words that people used to call her. I felt really bad for the trainer.

After watching the show I had two thoughts…

1. I would like to have a TV show pay for a trainer who could help me lose weight and keep it off. I exercise a lot, but I don’t manage what I eat like I should. I also don’t like to push myself when it comes to lifting weights.
2. We are capable of a lot more then we give ourselves credit for. The girl on the TV show wasn’t used to being pushed. She did what she wanted to do when she wanted to do it. The trainer pushed her to accomplish something that she wasn’t willing to do without his help. I’d like to expand on this second thought…

I’d like to push the readers of robshep.com. I’m not fit enough to give a fitness challenge, so I’d like to give a spiritual one. What if we read through a book of the Bible together? I know what some of you are thinking…I’m too busy, I don’t have time, or I just don’t want to.  It’s those type of excuses that made me think about this challenge. The girl in “I Used To Be Fat” had lots of excuses. She wanted to change, but failed until someone pushed her. She didn’t want to be fat and lazy but it was easier then working out.

So here’s the challenge…today I’m starting to read James in the Bible. James is one of my go to books of the Bible. I love James because I can understand it. He’s straight forward. The book is five chapters, so for the next 5 days let’s read James together one chapter a day. If my calculations are correct that means we’d finish on Jan. 17th. If you are interested leave a comment. If there is enough interest then I’ll post a challenge each day to go along with the chapter. If there isn’t any interest then no harm no foul. So who’s with me?

There is something awkward about public men’s locker rooms. At a local YMCA in order to get to the racquetball courts you have to walk through the men’s locker room/showers. Wet naked men are everywhere. I keep my eyes down and I pray I don’t slip on the wet floor. I don’t know what would be worse for me…A. The slip that would land me on a wet floor and would really hurt. B. The fact that I’m now laying on the floor in a men’s locker room. How many germs would I collect as I laid there? The thought alone is gag nasty. C. The fact that when I opened my eyes the only people around me would be naked men. I say all that to say I think this is the reason guys don’t have showers for significant events.

This month my wife is getting her first baby shower. She’s almost as excited about the shower as she is about the babies. Girls love showers. They have showers for weddings, and babies. Now granted the shower for the baby is more about the baby then the mom, but moms love the shower.  Guys on the other hand don’t want or get showers. The closest we come is a bachelor party. Now for some this might be an exciting thing, but being a Christ Follower mine consisted of dinner with friends. It was good, but it wasn’t that different than a typical night out and it wasn’t a shower.

I motion for a shower for guys who would like showers. In order for that to happen a few things would need to take place…

1. Change the name. As mentioned in the first paragraph there is nothing but grossness at local places where guys shower. The name would make too many cringe. I say we change the name to BACON. What guy doesn’t like bacon? I was trying to think of another name that would describe most guys and this was the best I could come up with. My other thoughts were smelly, jock itch, and hairy…none of those would draw guys to a man shower. Bacon on the other hand would.
2. Get rid of all the girly games. Instead of girly shower games we could play Black Ops, beat the mess out of a pinata stuffed with stuff that guys like, and watch movies that guys like. You know…Rocky IV, Tombstone, Gladiator, Die Hard, and Predator.
3. Gifts. For gifts it should be stuff that guys aren’t allowed able to buy for themselves. You know things like motorcycles, video games, tattoos etc. There are certain things that guys want and they aren’t allowed able to get. They can’t get them because either they can’t afford them or because their wife won’t let them has other plans with the money.
4. Food. Food should consist of wings, burritos, nachos, and energy drinks and it should all be eaten by using their hands.
5. Etiquette. This will be up to the guy that the shower is for. If he likes to burp then Burps R Us it is. If he’s not then they should at least have a burping competition.

Ok so my idea is pitched. What would you add to a Guy Shower Bacon?