West Cocoa Chat

Yes, its been a while. Since my last post we've had Bible Camp and are now here at Greg's in Temecula, CA. This week of Camp may have been one of our best! Pat Pugh was outstanding once again not to mention all the in between sessions of counseling he does with the teens. It was a week of growth and healing. It was also a week of Pat catching not one, but 3 sharks the Saturday after Camp. Now for the subject of today's post:

Ramping up for Bible Camp these last few days. Keep us in your prayers. Not part of my ramping up is cutting the grass at our Building with "the boys." It was my first time weed-whacking with the boys since last summer. Are you weird if you state that you've been "looking forward" to weed-whacking? I guess I'm weird because I love the mindless pursuit of those dastardly weeds and grass that can't be cut by a riding lawn mower.

As I've said in the past, "the boys" get together every Thursday to cut our church lawn. Thursdays always begin with breakfast at 07:30 hours but if you arrive at our local diner any later than 07:15 hours, the boys consider you late and open for abuse.

Today one of the "regulars" was missing. When our former Sargent Major of the Army asked our preacher where "so and so" was, Don told him he was working at a part-time painting job. With the most incredulous look on his face, Glenn said, "Doesn't that turkey realize that Thursdays are the Lord's Day?" :)

Of course, in this context "Thursday / grass cutting days" are something not to be missed even if you have a paying job. His comment broke up our table and it was a good way to start a "mindless" morning as I head in to a very mindful time of Bible Camp.

My weekend started off at 4:30a.m. as today was our "Angel Food" pickup day. Me and a number of other wackos, I mean committed (who may need committing) Christians headed down to Eau Gallie for our 5:45a.m. pick up of our Angel Food orders. I love the camaraderie of hanging out with the fellas and the gals who seem to not lack for sleep.

As the Sun came up we noticed a guy driving out of the Church Parking lot with 2 bumper stickers. The one on the left side read, "I Love My Wife."

Now, in this day of "friends with privileges" / throw-away relationships you have to admire a guy who publicly says to the world, "I'm a committed husband who loves his wife." Only, he had another bumper sticker on the right side of his bumper that read, "Pray Without Ceasing."

Maybe that's the secret to a good marriage? Can't hurt. :)

Many of you may remember the famous 60's film, "Cool Hand Luke." One of the most often quoted lines from the movie was spoken by the Warden towards Luke when he said, "What we've got here is a failure to communicate."

We had a guest at "breakfast with the boys" today. He was invited by the "head" of our "yard cutting crew," Glenn, who as I've said in the past was a former "Sargent Major of the Army," the highest ranking enlisted man in the Army. John told us how he served under Glenn initially during the Korean War. We asked John if he and Glenn were friends? He laughed and said, "No sir, I worked for the Sargent Major from a distance and I tried to keep it that way." This wasn't a slam on Glenn more than it was the old adage, "If I'm doing my job then the boss doesn't need to "notice" me to chew me out."

John told us years later his path crossed with Glenn at our local Air Force Base. John was wrapping up his military career by working in Base Operations. He said he was sitting at his desk when the former Sgt. Major of the Army walked in to his office. John said his desk moved about 2 feet as he rose and snapped to attention.

It seemed a certain Staff Sargent was giving Glenn a hard time about getting a base I.D. for retired personnel. John said he told Glenn, "Sgt. Major, what we have here is a failure to communicate." He then took Glenn to the Staff Sargent's Office and communicated to the gentleman who Glenn was and that a man who had served in the Korean and the Vietnam Wars, who was the Sgt. Major of the Army, and who is still called upon from time to time to consult at the Pentagon, should not have a problem getting a base I.D.!

Have you ever been on both ends of this problem? Have you had times (duh?) where you "failed to communicate" or could not be recognized for who you are? How about this for recognition- being recognized as "fellow citizens of God's people" and you won't need a base I.D. to prove it:

Eph. 2

19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God's people and also members of his household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

We have some great friends at church, Bret and Sharon. He is (as I've alluded to in the past) our Youth Deacon and unofficial "M.O.M" or in this case, "Minister of Mohawks." It was 3 or 4 years ago that Bret rewarded my son for helping him move a chicken coup with a Mohawk haircut.

Bret and Sharon have a regulation beach volleyball court in their yard. For almost a year now, there have been a group of us from church comprised of (as some say in the South) "add-dults," college, and high school kids that have met at their home on Sunday afternoons for fellowship, food, and beach volleyball. Their yard is truly a melting pot of generations as young kiddos come as well to play in their huge yard and swim in their pool. Those who do neither (volleyball or play) may be the most intelligent of our gaggle as they sit by the court and enjoy what appears to be a reasonable facsimile of beach volleyball.

Yours truly continues a tradition that has been part of my sports competitiveness since my younger days. I was always known for being the "dirtiest" player of the bunch and that doesn't refer to any comparison to former Detroit (anybody remember the "Bad Boy" teams) Piston, Bill Laimbeer. No, if the game is played on grass or in this case dirt, there would invariably be more of that material on my person than any other player on the field or in this case court.

In fact, one of Steven's good friends coined a phrase that is usually used when they're on the court with me, "E.D." Yes, usually when I step on the court Zack will usually mutter, "Hey, looks like we have "E.D." again." BTW - "E.D." stands for (sorry Randy if you're reading) "Elder Diving." How about that for a moniker?

I don't know how many "E.D.'s" I have left in this ever aging body but I do know this - when they end I'll still have fun just being with "the Body" on a Sunday afternoon, just as the early church enjoyed and looked forward to times of fellowship.

I hope you had a great day of fellowship with your church family even if you didn't get as dirty as I did.

Saturday morning after Game 2 - I knew it - its my fault through writing this post that Lebron hit Cleveland's version of "The Shot" win Game 2.

Being a old school "superstitious sports fan" I almost hesitate to post this but I'm typing with my toes crossed. The Orlando Magic gave the Cleveland Cavaliers their first playoff loss of this season in Game One of their Eastern Conference Series the other night. "King James" and the Cavs had swept their 2 previous series 4 games to zip with most of the games being blowouts.


Game 1 of the Magic series started off the same way with the Cavs well on their way to a blowout over the Magic. The Magic had just finished a 7 game series with the defending NBA Champions, Boston Celtics, winning the Series in Boston and making history. The Celtics had NEVER lost a Game 7 win leading a Series 3 games to 2 in 17 straight series. To say the Magic had been tested in the NBA's version of "war" would be an understatement and it prompted the title of today's post.


As the Magic were coming back on the Cavs in the decisive third quarter of Game 1, going on a 30 to 18 run, Cleveland called time out in an attempt to slow the Magic's momentum. In the Magic huddle, the Head Coach, Stan Van Gundy exhorted his players by saying, "Keep it up - they haven't been here and we have!" Van Gundy was reminding his team that they had been tested and inferred that the Cavs had not.

Is there a lesson for all of us in those words? Through his statement Van Gundy was reminding his players that they had been tested in their 3 losses and their 4 wins against Boston. You know the time between the loss of game 5 which put Boston up to an insurmountable / historic lead of 3 games to 2, and Game 6 in which the Magic won forcing a Game 7 in Boston, must have seemed like a million years for the Magic players. There was plenty of time to reflect on their 3 losses and for doubt to creep in, heck, even history was against them. But if you know the story, the Magic came back to win two straight games, Games 6 and 7.

Wait - can "losing" build strength and fortitude for the future? Can being behind in a game or life build perseverance for the future? Van Gundy believed it so and apparently his players did as well.

James had something to say about having "been there" when it comes to being tested. In James 1 he writes:

2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Joy is not the first thing that comes to my mind in the middle of a trial and shame on me for not understanding that. Maybe I "haven't been there" yet or if I have, I need to call a timeout and remember.

The tickets had been bought for weeks. 15 of our high school and college kids were celebrating the beginning of summer by going to the Skillet Concert at the Northland Church in Orlando this past Friday. Barb and I along with 4 other adults drove our church bus from Cocoa to Orlando. The concert was sold out so the kids were unanimous about leaving as early as possible to get a "good seat." We pulled out of our parking lot at 4:30 and arrived in front of the huge Northland Church around 6pm. The kids were excited as we dropped them off and they were able to get near the front of the line. The tickets were "open seating" which should have been their first clue.

We drove 8 miles to the Cheesecake Factory Restaurant in Winter Park. If you've never been to a Cheesecake Factory Restaurant there's almost too much to talk about - the 20 something page menu, the variety, the ambiance, the huge portions, and the multiplicity of cheesecakes!

We had a great evening of a/c, good food, quiet and dark ambiance, and plenty to eat.
The teens, that was a different story - when the 7pm show ended at 10:30pm, they came out of the Northland Church drenched in sweat. Seems the A/C couldn't handle the overflow crowd of people and open seating meant no seating and 3 and a half hours of standing.

Yet, who do you think was more excited about their evening? The teens could not stop talking about how good (yes - there were girls in our group) the concert was as well as sharing the experience together. Do we lose something as we get older?

I know, some of you will say they're "young and dumb" but are they or do we get to a point in life where standing for 3 and a half hours, praising and sweating for God just loses its luster? I guess its why I like hanging out with our young people, of course, provided I can have my cheesecake.