Friday, September 30, 2005
"Sick"
My son Steven has always been in love with baseball. He’s played and enjoyed the sport since he was 4, “league age” 5. Steven’s birthday is May (feel free to send gifts) 29th which by the “old” (just changed this year) Little League rules always put him not turning his actual playing age until the season was over. So he’s always been a bit smaller than most of the other players but he’s made up for that with God-given bat speed, speed on the bases, and a good glove. The guy I coached with when Steven was “league age 12” brought in a pitching (Brian) coach (a local minor league pitcher) that worked with the boys all season long. Steven developed a nasty “football” curve ball that together with our other “#1 pitcher,” pitched our team to the league and county championships.
Steven pitched all through Juniors and last year on our J.V. team as a freshman in high school. Our varsity team went through a coaching change this year and it appears that we may not have a pitching coach. I decided to call Brian to see if he would work with Steven again. Brian has since retired from baseball and now he travels all over Central Florida working with kids for the going rate of $30 for a half hour. I knew I should have been a pitching coach!
Initially, Brian didn’t remember Steven or me. Can you believe someone wouldn’t remember me after 4 years? Any way, I took Steven to his first lesson with Brian. Brian had him throw some long toss and then he had him pitch while he caught. After about 10 pitches he gave me a radar gun to clock his speed. His fast ball was a consistent 73 and his curve was 66. On one pitch I only registered 39mph. When I yelled out that number Brian promptly told me that I need the let go of the trigger because I had just clocked his throw back to Steven! Opps.
After a few more pitches Brian stopped Steven and called me over to him. He told me that Steven wasn’t using any of his lower body. He said that fact and the fact that he was still throwing in the low 70’s made him believe that he could get his fast ball into the 80’s by the start of this season. Of course, you always wonder if the old “chiropractic / after 20 treatments you’ll be 50% better approach” (my apologies if anyone is a chiropractor or has one in the family) is being used but in this case I had a history with Brian so I felt confident in his honesty. Oh, he used a post-modern phrase to describe his curve ball. He said his curveball was “sick.” Roughly translated I believe that means “really good.” Brian said with his late-breaking curve ball he needed a fast ball in the 80’s to set it up.
It felt good to hear what you hope is an unbiased source seeing some potential in your kid. I’ll keep you updated on Steven’s progress.
Steven pitched all through Juniors and last year on our J.V. team as a freshman in high school. Our varsity team went through a coaching change this year and it appears that we may not have a pitching coach. I decided to call Brian to see if he would work with Steven again. Brian has since retired from baseball and now he travels all over Central Florida working with kids for the going rate of $30 for a half hour. I knew I should have been a pitching coach!
Initially, Brian didn’t remember Steven or me. Can you believe someone wouldn’t remember me after 4 years? Any way, I took Steven to his first lesson with Brian. Brian had him throw some long toss and then he had him pitch while he caught. After about 10 pitches he gave me a radar gun to clock his speed. His fast ball was a consistent 73 and his curve was 66. On one pitch I only registered 39mph. When I yelled out that number Brian promptly told me that I need the let go of the trigger because I had just clocked his throw back to Steven! Opps.
After a few more pitches Brian stopped Steven and called me over to him. He told me that Steven wasn’t using any of his lower body. He said that fact and the fact that he was still throwing in the low 70’s made him believe that he could get his fast ball into the 80’s by the start of this season. Of course, you always wonder if the old “chiropractic / after 20 treatments you’ll be 50% better approach” (my apologies if anyone is a chiropractor or has one in the family) is being used but in this case I had a history with Brian so I felt confident in his honesty. Oh, he used a post-modern phrase to describe his curve ball. He said his curveball was “sick.” Roughly translated I believe that means “really good.” Brian said with his late-breaking curve ball he needed a fast ball in the 80’s to set it up.
It felt good to hear what you hope is an unbiased source seeing some potential in your kid. I’ll keep you updated on Steven’s progress.
Thursday, September 29, 2005
Power
I couldn’t help but think about the concept of God’s power this past week. After our “Thank God For Kids Day” on Sunday, I took my son Steven and his friends Zack and Daniel to the beach. The surf was unusually large for our coast coming in at 6 to 8 feet. The boys attempted to surf and I went out to do some body surfing. I was reminded of God’s power when I caught one of the biggest waves I’ve encountered in my attempts to body surf. I knew I was in trouble when I could feel myself going over the lip of the wave as it broke. It literally drove me into the bottom like a piling and then continued to flip me over and over again. When I was finally able to stand up I was amazed at what I had just experienced. I’m still digging out sand from my ears. Any way, I was reminded at how little I am when I compare myself to the power of that wave. I was also thankful to God that I could still stand and dig out the sand in my ear. That’s power. And then last night I experienced another even more powerful type of God’s power, the power of His healing hand.
Greg knows Shannon from our days at Rockledge. Shannon is almost 40 and still single. Shannon is a great guy and he relates well with people of all ages on a casual basis. Shannon came up to me last night just before our classes and asked if Jeff and I would pray for him and anoint him with oil as outlined in James 5? Shannon is suffering from anxiety attacks and is getting ready to start counseling. Unfortunately Jeff couldn’t make it to church last night so I met with Shannon by myself.
Shannon talked about his anxiety attacks and his desire to be “cured” from them. I reminded Shannon that I’m not a licensed counselor nor do I believe that there’s any power in the oil that we were about to anoint him with. But there is "power" in God's Word and His Holy Spirit. So we read from James 5 and talked about one of the benefits of being anointed by the elders with oil was the forgiveness of sin. Shannon confessed that he felt sin had led him into a situation 10 years ago that was now causing him to suffer from anxiety anytime he started a new relationship with a woman.
Just before I prayed with Shannon we both talked about the “power” of the Holy Spirit and how it would be by His intervention that Shannon might begin to feel His healing “power.” When we finished with the prayer Shannon said that he could feel God’s power working in him. For me, that “power” is infinitely more powerful than any wave I might experienced in the ocean. Say a prayer for Shannon.
Greg knows Shannon from our days at Rockledge. Shannon is almost 40 and still single. Shannon is a great guy and he relates well with people of all ages on a casual basis. Shannon came up to me last night just before our classes and asked if Jeff and I would pray for him and anoint him with oil as outlined in James 5? Shannon is suffering from anxiety attacks and is getting ready to start counseling. Unfortunately Jeff couldn’t make it to church last night so I met with Shannon by myself.
Shannon talked about his anxiety attacks and his desire to be “cured” from them. I reminded Shannon that I’m not a licensed counselor nor do I believe that there’s any power in the oil that we were about to anoint him with. But there is "power" in God's Word and His Holy Spirit. So we read from James 5 and talked about one of the benefits of being anointed by the elders with oil was the forgiveness of sin. Shannon confessed that he felt sin had led him into a situation 10 years ago that was now causing him to suffer from anxiety anytime he started a new relationship with a woman.
Just before I prayed with Shannon we both talked about the “power” of the Holy Spirit and how it would be by His intervention that Shannon might begin to feel His healing “power.” When we finished with the prayer Shannon said that he could feel God’s power working in him. For me, that “power” is infinitely more powerful than any wave I might experienced in the ocean. Say a prayer for Shannon.
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
Lost
First of all, props to Greg for the idea for this blog and more props to Greg for installing more links to my blog.
What is the largest or most costly thing you’ve lost in your lifetime? Let me tell you about my “lost.” Yesterday, after a day of “touching the future” (educational jargon for dealing with middle school students) I had to pick up my son Steven from weight-lifting at Cocoa High. Steven is going through the “voluntary” torture; I mean conditioning for those trying out for the Varsity Baseball Team.
As a side item, if you remember, say an occasional prayer for my son. As a freshman last year he nearly made the Varsity according to the coaches who spoke to me. They said the one thing that held him back was his size. He ended up having a productive J.V. season where he pitched and, played 3rd and short.
Anyway, I picked up Steven at 5pm. We drove home so he could take a quick shower. He had to be at guitar (sickness) lessons at 6 pm on Merritt Island. This meant I would be driving against the Space Center traffic as they headed home from work.
Then I remembered President Bush’s call for Americans to drive less. So I called my wife who was delivering the food for tonight’s church meal at our building. I told her we would pick her up since the building was on the way to guitar (sickness) lessons and she had our Honda which is far more gas efficient than my Ford Expedition. We arrived at the church building around 5:40pm. We met Barb and we switched cars to honor the President’s wishes.
I put it in “Altamonte Springs” (Ask Greg if you want more information) mode and headed off for Merritt Island. We arrived at the Guitar (sickness) Store right at 6pm. We dropped Steven off for his half hour lesson and drove off to kill some time. I wanted to see the “new” Little League fields on the Island (which thrilled my wife, not ) (you should have been with me Steve) so off we went.
We arrived back at the Guitar (sickness) Store right at 6:30 to pick up Steven. The problem was Steven’s lessons didn’t start until 6:30! That’s right; I gave my wife and son a free “NASCAR experience” for nothing. Steven’s guitar teacher had written the wrong time on the slip of paper he gave Steven last week. We switched to the new time (from 4pm) to accommodate Steven’s “voluntary” conditioning and pitching lessons. So we had another half hour to kill and believe it or not, I couldn’t talk Barb into going back to the “new” Little League fields again! I wanted to read from Eph. 5 to Barb but I don’t think she would have connected being “submissive” to her husband with a second trip to the “new” Little League fields.
So it was off to our Super Target to kill another 30 minutes. Little did we realize our stress level would rise with this trip. When it was time to leave Target, we tried to purchase some items only to find that our debit card was being rejected. This always makes you a little nervous since we live in the wonderful world of “identity theft.” So we left the items with the good folks at Target and drove back to the Guitar (sickness) Store to pick up Steven. We went from there to B.J.’s Wholesale Club because they had an ATM and Barbara wanted to check our account. She came out of B.J.’s with no answers. The ATM would not allow Barb to check our account and it usually did. So we drove back to Cocoa to use the ATM at our Credit Union. Barb was able to withdraw some money but even the Credit Union’s ATM wouldn’t let us access our account information.
We decided to skip dinner out and head straight home to check our account on line. When we arrived home we had good news and bad news.
Good news: Our account was fine. Seems the Credit Union was doing some kind of diagnostic on their system which was causing the problem.
Bad news: Ah, the subject of our Blog; It seems I misplaced a 4000 pound Ford Expedition! As we drove up to an empty driveway I asked my lovely wife, “Honey, where is my Expedition?” It was still sitting in our church Parking Lot and by now it was 8:30pm! Would you call that a senior moment, misplacing a (as they said on an episode of MASH) “motor ve-hick-le?”
O.K. my blog companions, fess up; what is the biggest (like 4000 pounds) or most costly thing you’ve ever lost or misplaced?
Come on you “senior wannabes,” lend me your memories.
What is the largest or most costly thing you’ve lost in your lifetime? Let me tell you about my “lost.” Yesterday, after a day of “touching the future” (educational jargon for dealing with middle school students) I had to pick up my son Steven from weight-lifting at Cocoa High. Steven is going through the “voluntary” torture; I mean conditioning for those trying out for the Varsity Baseball Team.
As a side item, if you remember, say an occasional prayer for my son. As a freshman last year he nearly made the Varsity according to the coaches who spoke to me. They said the one thing that held him back was his size. He ended up having a productive J.V. season where he pitched and, played 3rd and short.
Anyway, I picked up Steven at 5pm. We drove home so he could take a quick shower. He had to be at guitar (sickness) lessons at 6 pm on Merritt Island. This meant I would be driving against the Space Center traffic as they headed home from work.
Then I remembered President Bush’s call for Americans to drive less. So I called my wife who was delivering the food for tonight’s church meal at our building. I told her we would pick her up since the building was on the way to guitar (sickness) lessons and she had our Honda which is far more gas efficient than my Ford Expedition. We arrived at the church building around 5:40pm. We met Barb and we switched cars to honor the President’s wishes.
I put it in “Altamonte Springs” (Ask Greg if you want more information) mode and headed off for Merritt Island. We arrived at the Guitar (sickness) Store right at 6pm. We dropped Steven off for his half hour lesson and drove off to kill some time. I wanted to see the “new” Little League fields on the Island (which thrilled my wife, not ) (you should have been with me Steve) so off we went.
We arrived back at the Guitar (sickness) Store right at 6:30 to pick up Steven. The problem was Steven’s lessons didn’t start until 6:30! That’s right; I gave my wife and son a free “NASCAR experience” for nothing. Steven’s guitar teacher had written the wrong time on the slip of paper he gave Steven last week. We switched to the new time (from 4pm) to accommodate Steven’s “voluntary” conditioning and pitching lessons. So we had another half hour to kill and believe it or not, I couldn’t talk Barb into going back to the “new” Little League fields again! I wanted to read from Eph. 5 to Barb but I don’t think she would have connected being “submissive” to her husband with a second trip to the “new” Little League fields.
So it was off to our Super Target to kill another 30 minutes. Little did we realize our stress level would rise with this trip. When it was time to leave Target, we tried to purchase some items only to find that our debit card was being rejected. This always makes you a little nervous since we live in the wonderful world of “identity theft.” So we left the items with the good folks at Target and drove back to the Guitar (sickness) Store to pick up Steven. We went from there to B.J.’s Wholesale Club because they had an ATM and Barbara wanted to check our account. She came out of B.J.’s with no answers. The ATM would not allow Barb to check our account and it usually did. So we drove back to Cocoa to use the ATM at our Credit Union. Barb was able to withdraw some money but even the Credit Union’s ATM wouldn’t let us access our account information.
We decided to skip dinner out and head straight home to check our account on line. When we arrived home we had good news and bad news.
Good news: Our account was fine. Seems the Credit Union was doing some kind of diagnostic on their system which was causing the problem.
Bad news: Ah, the subject of our Blog; It seems I misplaced a 4000 pound Ford Expedition! As we drove up to an empty driveway I asked my lovely wife, “Honey, where is my Expedition?” It was still sitting in our church Parking Lot and by now it was 8:30pm! Would you call that a senior moment, misplacing a (as they said on an episode of MASH) “motor ve-hick-le?”
O.K. my blog companions, fess up; what is the biggest (like 4000 pounds) or most costly thing you’ve ever lost or misplaced?
Come on you “senior wannabes,” lend me your memories.
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
Thank God For Kids
This past Sunday we held a "Thank God for Kids Day." Our focus were kids up to sixth grade. I decided to include a picture of some of our teens. My son Steven is the boy in blue on the left. He appears to be taking a break from his "ushering responsibilities.The next picture is the group of kiddos that we honored on Sunday. They practiced a few songs that they sang to our congregation. Their teachers did an outstanding job with them and they really got into it with each song. I was proud of our church family for the way they affirmed their efforts and really made the kids feel important.
The third picture is a picture of our Fellowship Room during the break between Sunday School and Worship. We moved our worship time back 15 minutes so we could have a time of fellowship and it has been a success. It gives us a time to greet our visitors as well as enjoy some "carbo-free doughnuts."
Every body of believers has it strengths and weaknesses. One of Central’s strengths is it friendliness. This has developed over time. We had an element that I would have characterized as “terrorists.” That element for the most part has left our church. What has replaced them is a growing number of young couples and singles, most with young kids. I don’t know which came first, “the chicken or the egg” but in our case as we renovated our educational wing and fellowship hall, our numbers in that age group grew as well. We held our “Thank God for Kids Day” to celebrate the re-birth of our educational wing. My good friend Sgt. Major Ray Oliver ram-rodded the effort to renovate our educational wing and he performed magnificently. Many in the church pitched in with labor as well as funds to get this job done. It was heartening to see the faces of parents and kids as they toured our new educational kids.
While all age groups in a body of believers are important, a church is doomed to die if it doesn’t contain and mentor young people. Keep us in your prayers as we attempt to minister to the young people of our community.
Saturday, September 24, 2005
Sweet Thing
Now for a theologically heavy blog. What is your favorite desert? This might surprise my brother Greg but my favorite desert isn’t something chocolate. No, my favorite desert (Randy will understand) is my wife’s world famous bread pudding! We held a desert auction at our church to benefit our youth group a few months ago. The item that brought the highest bid was Barbara’s bread pudding. It went for $50! I told my wife that she is in the wrong (kindergarten teacher) business.
O.K. guys and gals, lets here some pontification on your favorite dessert.
O.K. guys and gals, lets here some pontification on your favorite dessert.
Thursday, September 22, 2005
Crickets Please.
This past Sunday at Central we held a "Family Talk." This is the feel good name we give to our version of a Church Business Meeting. The overall tone of our Family Talk was positive as far as the congregation was concerned. The biggest complaint we had concerned our new way we were observing the Lord’s Supper. We just recently changed the look of the front of our auditorium. Because our Lord’s Table is over 40 years old and in need of some touch up, we had decided to move it to the rear of the auditorium until we could give it the loving care it deserved. There were a few people that were bothered by it’s absence from the front of the auditorium. However, they voiced their concerns in a loving way and we found ourselves coming to the end of a positive "Family Talk."
That is until a lady in our church who has been unhappy with many different facets of her life decided to sabotage the spirit of our Family Talk. She launched into a long discourse outlining all of the things that hacked her off about our church and she named people that left our church 3,4, and 5 years ago that she missed.
On a side note, I had spent 2 hours (starting at 4pm) with her, her daughter, and our Youth Minister that same day, in an attempt to re-engage her daughter who can be one of the leaders of our youth group. It took us a while to get her daughter to see that her despondence was due to the fact that she felt like she didn’t have any input into the direction of the youth group. Our youth minister brought up the idea of an Advisory Council and she immediately began to re-engage. And then to my horror her mother decides to bring up a dislike about our church just as we’re all smiles and about to close with a prayer. The classic thing was her own daughter told her mother that her timing was terrible. I thought to myself who is the adult in this relationship.
So, about 2 hours later her mother is exhibiting the same "terrorist" like behavior in our Family Talk. And at the end of her tirade she says, "I know there are other people (about 70 were in attendance) that feel like me. Let’s let the elders know how we feel about the direction of the church."
It was at that moment that I wished I had one of those sound effects machines. I would have pressed the button that makes the "cricket sounds" because not one person spoke up to join her. In fact, one of our newer members mentions how the attendance for the last 2 Sundays has been over 300. Enough said, let the crickets begin. Could the Lord have some great things in store for our church? Perhaps we took a big step this past Sunday night.
That is until a lady in our church who has been unhappy with many different facets of her life decided to sabotage the spirit of our Family Talk. She launched into a long discourse outlining all of the things that hacked her off about our church and she named people that left our church 3,4, and 5 years ago that she missed.
On a side note, I had spent 2 hours (starting at 4pm) with her, her daughter, and our Youth Minister that same day, in an attempt to re-engage her daughter who can be one of the leaders of our youth group. It took us a while to get her daughter to see that her despondence was due to the fact that she felt like she didn’t have any input into the direction of the youth group. Our youth minister brought up the idea of an Advisory Council and she immediately began to re-engage. And then to my horror her mother decides to bring up a dislike about our church just as we’re all smiles and about to close with a prayer. The classic thing was her own daughter told her mother that her timing was terrible. I thought to myself who is the adult in this relationship.
So, about 2 hours later her mother is exhibiting the same "terrorist" like behavior in our Family Talk. And at the end of her tirade she says, "I know there are other people (about 70 were in attendance) that feel like me. Let’s let the elders know how we feel about the direction of the church."
It was at that moment that I wished I had one of those sound effects machines. I would have pressed the button that makes the "cricket sounds" because not one person spoke up to join her. In fact, one of our newer members mentions how the attendance for the last 2 Sundays has been over 300. Enough said, let the crickets begin. Could the Lord have some great things in store for our church? Perhaps we took a big step this past Sunday night.
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
Miami / Katrina Pics
Yes, more pictures from this "Windows 98" guy. This is a picture of our group from Cocoa. We left on a Sunday morning at 5am and drove 3 hours to help out the good folks at the Sunset Church of Christ. In this picture we're taking a break from the tropical heat of Miami. I'm the good looking guy in the yellow and my 15 year old son Steven is sitting behind me.
In this next picture, Steven is dragging some branches to a pile that we tied a rope around and then dragged behind a truck to the road.
The big tree in the next picture could have been a phicus. If it was, it's the biggest one that I've ever seen. You can tell from the picture what nice grounds the Sunset Church has.
The gentleman in the middle of the brush is Billy. Billy is a former world champion arm wrestler. He was recovering from a pretty severe auto accident. What a way to spend your recovery.
The gentleman in the picture with the chainsaw is our Deacon of Youth, Brett. I’ve given Brett a new title, “The Deacon of Pain.” Brett organized the trip to Miami.
The boy holding the two sticks is Steven's good friend and Chuck's son, Matthew.
I also have a picture of Monty and Zack, Brett's son taking a break.
And finally, I have a picture of Monty and Chuck putting some chain saws to work.
It is nice to get out of the "church building" and help folks who need help.
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Orphans
Strike the band and let the birds (flying kind) fly. I have finally uploaded a picture unto my blog. This is a special picture of two "orphans." That’s what Greg called us as he posed for this picture in front of his sister-in-law’s (Pam) home. We’re now parent-less having lost both our fathers and mothers. This past Sunday was the seventh birthday that I have experienced without my parents. Although my family treated me well I can say that they’re empty days without one’s true advocates beaming proud in your presence. Perhaps that’s why I treasure friends like Greg as much as I do. To all the “orphans” out there, this one is for you.
Busy Weekend
I had one of those busy weekends that one needs a week of work to recover from. It started out when I tried to leave school Friday afternoon only to be welcomed by a dead battery in my Expedition. I found a colleague to give me a jump and I made it all of 100 yards down Fiske Blvd. before my Expedition died again, this time in front of the school. My good friend Monty came by and was able to put a meter on my battery to confirm it's demise.He gave me another jump and away I drove to “Wally-World.”
I left my car running outside of WW and went in to buy a battery. To borrow a term from Greg, the Automotive Manager looked at me like I was “from another planet” when I asked him how long it would take for them to install the new battery? His response was, “Sir, it’s Friday night.” Needless to say I took the battery home with me to install myself the next day.
Friday night my son went to the Cocoa High vs. Space Coast High football game Friday night. Steven rode with some friends to the game while Barb and I took advantage of a free evening to get some Mexican food. When we came home I started on my study guide for my “Mayberry Bible Class.” Steven called around 10pm to ask if he could bring 3 friends home to spin the night. What we didn’t factor in to his request was the 3 boys having to go home and get their baseball gear for Saturday’s 8am “voluntary” workout. Steven and his posse walked through the door around midnight.
Saturday morning started out with the almost next to impossible task of waking 4 teenagers up in the morning, making sure they had all of their gear, and getting them to the ball field by 8am. Actually, the boys got up rather easily. They all seem pretty motivated to make the varsity baseball team this year. I drove the boys to practice. I decided to hang around to see how Steven hit in the cages. He did quite well.
We came back home minus 3 boys to get the house ready for 6 more boys. Steven invited most of the boys in the Youth Group over to spin the night at our home. Barb had me busy getting the house ready which raised up a foul smell, literally. Our septic system began acting up which meant it was time for this big boy to go dig a hole to look for hair! About every 4 to 6 months I have to pop the cap off our septic tank, pull out a filter that is meant to catch hair, soap, and other foreign objects from going into our septic tank, and relish in the aroma as I hose off the filter. I don’t know why my next door neighbor Monty, would get upset with me as I was washing off the filter downhill towards his yard.
After this cleansing experience my next task was to install my new battery. This task doesn’t require an engineering degree unless you have a Ford product. I quickly discovered that Ford’s better idea was to put a different size bolts on the positive and negative terminals. The designers who work at Ford are cruel people.
We left Steven and his 6 friends at our home to attend our “Newcomer Dinner” for our new members at Central. We had almost 60 new members attend the dinner. It was one of those few times as an elder when you get to hear people say mostly positive things about the church.
The Sunday morning worship was good for the 2nd week in a row with our attendance going over 300 for the 2nd week in a row. My afternoon was cut short by a 4:00 meeting with one of our teens, her mother, and our Youth Minister. The daughter had fallen off attending church and she had been a leader in our youth group at one time. The meeting ended on a good note despite the mother’s attempt to sabotage my efforts at the end of our meeting.
We had a “Family Talk” following our Sunday Evening service. Again, most of the comments were affirming with a few folks bring up some concerns but doing it in a Christ-like manner. That is for this mother who for some reason tried to sabotage this meeting as well. She quickly found out that she was in a group of one. I plan on talking with her today about this disturbing behavior.
I’m just glad to be back at work where I can take it easy!
I left my car running outside of WW and went in to buy a battery. To borrow a term from Greg, the Automotive Manager looked at me like I was “from another planet” when I asked him how long it would take for them to install the new battery? His response was, “Sir, it’s Friday night.” Needless to say I took the battery home with me to install myself the next day.
Friday night my son went to the Cocoa High vs. Space Coast High football game Friday night. Steven rode with some friends to the game while Barb and I took advantage of a free evening to get some Mexican food. When we came home I started on my study guide for my “Mayberry Bible Class.” Steven called around 10pm to ask if he could bring 3 friends home to spin the night. What we didn’t factor in to his request was the 3 boys having to go home and get their baseball gear for Saturday’s 8am “voluntary” workout. Steven and his posse walked through the door around midnight.
Saturday morning started out with the almost next to impossible task of waking 4 teenagers up in the morning, making sure they had all of their gear, and getting them to the ball field by 8am. Actually, the boys got up rather easily. They all seem pretty motivated to make the varsity baseball team this year. I drove the boys to practice. I decided to hang around to see how Steven hit in the cages. He did quite well.
We came back home minus 3 boys to get the house ready for 6 more boys. Steven invited most of the boys in the Youth Group over to spin the night at our home. Barb had me busy getting the house ready which raised up a foul smell, literally. Our septic system began acting up which meant it was time for this big boy to go dig a hole to look for hair! About every 4 to 6 months I have to pop the cap off our septic tank, pull out a filter that is meant to catch hair, soap, and other foreign objects from going into our septic tank, and relish in the aroma as I hose off the filter. I don’t know why my next door neighbor Monty, would get upset with me as I was washing off the filter downhill towards his yard.
After this cleansing experience my next task was to install my new battery. This task doesn’t require an engineering degree unless you have a Ford product. I quickly discovered that Ford’s better idea was to put a different size bolts on the positive and negative terminals. The designers who work at Ford are cruel people.
We left Steven and his 6 friends at our home to attend our “Newcomer Dinner” for our new members at Central. We had almost 60 new members attend the dinner. It was one of those few times as an elder when you get to hear people say mostly positive things about the church.
The Sunday morning worship was good for the 2nd week in a row with our attendance going over 300 for the 2nd week in a row. My afternoon was cut short by a 4:00 meeting with one of our teens, her mother, and our Youth Minister. The daughter had fallen off attending church and she had been a leader in our youth group at one time. The meeting ended on a good note despite the mother’s attempt to sabotage my efforts at the end of our meeting.
We had a “Family Talk” following our Sunday Evening service. Again, most of the comments were affirming with a few folks bring up some concerns but doing it in a Christ-like manner. That is for this mother who for some reason tried to sabotage this meeting as well. She quickly found out that she was in a group of one. I plan on talking with her today about this disturbing behavior.
I’m just glad to be back at work where I can take it easy!
Thursday, September 15, 2005
Precious Math
When we adopted our son Steven, there weren’t too many people more proud or in love with our son than Nanny. Nanny (Jean) was what my son called my Mother. Nanny was one of those Grandmothers that every kid needs. She was Steven’s un-yielding advocate. He could do no wrong in her eyes. She gave him the greatest gift any “Nanny” could give their Grandson; she took care of him at her home until he entered school. It wasn’t unusual for me to drive over to my Mom’s house to pick up Steven after school and catch them in the middle of his favorite activity, a sock fight! Oh do I miss those times.
And as Greg said in his excellent blog the other day, when you lose your parents you lose the source of those special memories that Mom’s and Grandmothers carry with them and preserve for the family. Those of us (like Greg and I) that have been orphaned by death know the sting of this loss.
As I said earlier, Steven’s Uncle Greg has passed on the “sickness” that causes one to lust after multiple and better guitars to my son! Steven is learning on an acoustic right now but he wants an electric and a better acoustic guitar. So he started the “Steven Guitar Fund” as he calls it. Last night he was on a “recon” mission that would have made any Sergeant Major in the infantry proud as he swept our house, vehicles, dirty laundry, and any other animal or person for loose change to put in an empty bottled water container. As he was pouring change into the water container, he noticed a piece of paper at the bottom. He poured all of the change out to get out at the paper because it held something precious to him. As Steven called it, it was “Nanny’s writing.” She had helped him years ago add up the contents in the bottle. On the paper was her precious math. In my eyes were tears as a memory came back to life for a brief moment. Those of you that still have your parents or parent, give them a call today. They won’t be around forever, trust me.
And as Greg said in his excellent blog the other day, when you lose your parents you lose the source of those special memories that Mom’s and Grandmothers carry with them and preserve for the family. Those of us (like Greg and I) that have been orphaned by death know the sting of this loss.
As I said earlier, Steven’s Uncle Greg has passed on the “sickness” that causes one to lust after multiple and better guitars to my son! Steven is learning on an acoustic right now but he wants an electric and a better acoustic guitar. So he started the “Steven Guitar Fund” as he calls it. Last night he was on a “recon” mission that would have made any Sergeant Major in the infantry proud as he swept our house, vehicles, dirty laundry, and any other animal or person for loose change to put in an empty bottled water container. As he was pouring change into the water container, he noticed a piece of paper at the bottom. He poured all of the change out to get out at the paper because it held something precious to him. As Steven called it, it was “Nanny’s writing.” She had helped him years ago add up the contents in the bottle. On the paper was her precious math. In my eyes were tears as a memory came back to life for a brief moment. Those of you that still have your parents or parent, give them a call today. They won’t be around forever, trust me.
Sunday, September 11, 2005
The Real World
Today was our first "post summer" worship at Central. Everyone was back from vacation as well the group of teens and adults that attended the youth rally "Sonquest" in Orlando this past weekend. The spirit was really good during Sunday School, fellowship time, and worship.
Today was also the first time a family of 10, the Martin’s, worshiped with us. The Martin family consists of Dean (no joke) and Michelle, their 3 children; Michelle’s Grandmother, Aunt, sister, and her two kids. They’re from New Orleans and their home was next to one of the many levees that failed. Their home is now completely covered by the contaminated floodwaters of Lake Pontchartrain.
Dean works for a construction company who is building a new bridge over the Indian River in our area. The company told Dean that he could work on the bridge until the conclusion of the project. So the Martins (all 10 of them) have been living in 2 hotel rooms just north of our church in Cocoa.
The Lord brought them to our attention through a relationship between a receptionist at the hotel and one of our members, Lori Melzer. Don (our preacher) and I visited with Michelle this past Wednesday night. Several times we asked Michelle what could the church do for her family? Her eyes watered each time as she explained that it was tough for her and her family to accept this kind of help. Seems the Catholic Church they were members of was very involved with helping the poor of New Orleans. The only thing she came out and asked for was some "normalcy" for her teen daughters. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that God doesn’t perform miracles anymore. Just kidding. Anyway, we told her about our church’s youth group and invited her to bring her daughters to Sunday School. We assured her that our teens would lovingly accept her girls and help them to feel good about being with teens again.
You would have thought being Catholic she would have asked about the differences between Churches of Christ and the Catholic Church. The only thing she asked for was the time of our services.
It was quite encouraging to all of us when they showed up today. Central has already surrounded them with love. In fact one of our members, Pat Rust, a real-estate agent worked on finding them a home to rent. Well, he did more than "work on it." You see Pat couldn’t find them anything that they could afford to rent. So he took care of the problem himself. He bought a house with his own money and is now renting it to the Martin’s.
And that brings me to a comment that Don made in his sermon today. He said one of the results of tragedies like Hurricane Katrina is that for a moment, we get to see what God really intended for the Kingdom. During 9/11 it was a picture of the Congress; Republicans, Democrats, and independents arm in arm on the Capitol Steps singing God Bless America. Doing what we should be doing all along as an united people. And now people like Lori and Pat (and thousands of others) laying aside our petty differences that separate us throughout the denominational world, and ministering in the name of Jesus to people without regard to race, creed, or religion. That my friends is the "real world."
Today was also the first time a family of 10, the Martin’s, worshiped with us. The Martin family consists of Dean (no joke) and Michelle, their 3 children; Michelle’s Grandmother, Aunt, sister, and her two kids. They’re from New Orleans and their home was next to one of the many levees that failed. Their home is now completely covered by the contaminated floodwaters of Lake Pontchartrain.
Dean works for a construction company who is building a new bridge over the Indian River in our area. The company told Dean that he could work on the bridge until the conclusion of the project. So the Martins (all 10 of them) have been living in 2 hotel rooms just north of our church in Cocoa.
The Lord brought them to our attention through a relationship between a receptionist at the hotel and one of our members, Lori Melzer. Don (our preacher) and I visited with Michelle this past Wednesday night. Several times we asked Michelle what could the church do for her family? Her eyes watered each time as she explained that it was tough for her and her family to accept this kind of help. Seems the Catholic Church they were members of was very involved with helping the poor of New Orleans. The only thing she came out and asked for was some "normalcy" for her teen daughters. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that God doesn’t perform miracles anymore. Just kidding. Anyway, we told her about our church’s youth group and invited her to bring her daughters to Sunday School. We assured her that our teens would lovingly accept her girls and help them to feel good about being with teens again.
You would have thought being Catholic she would have asked about the differences between Churches of Christ and the Catholic Church. The only thing she asked for was the time of our services.
It was quite encouraging to all of us when they showed up today. Central has already surrounded them with love. In fact one of our members, Pat Rust, a real-estate agent worked on finding them a home to rent. Well, he did more than "work on it." You see Pat couldn’t find them anything that they could afford to rent. So he took care of the problem himself. He bought a house with his own money and is now renting it to the Martin’s.
And that brings me to a comment that Don made in his sermon today. He said one of the results of tragedies like Hurricane Katrina is that for a moment, we get to see what God really intended for the Kingdom. During 9/11 it was a picture of the Congress; Republicans, Democrats, and independents arm in arm on the Capitol Steps singing God Bless America. Doing what we should be doing all along as an united people. And now people like Lori and Pat (and thousands of others) laying aside our petty differences that separate us throughout the denominational world, and ministering in the name of Jesus to people without regard to race, creed, or religion. That my friends is the "real world."
Thursday, September 08, 2005
Easy Come, Easy Shed!
Our Deacon of “Pain” (Brett) has a grandson named Tyler. Tyler is about 2 and a half and cute as a button. His skin coloration reminds me of my son Steven when he was young.
His Mom Laurie is trying to complete her A.A. Degree while raising Tyler. She’s taking several classes online. The other day Laurie was working on the computer when Tyler came up to her holding a $20 bill he had gotten out of her purse. Tyler said, “Look Mommy,” as he proudly held his prize. Laurie was busy and said something like “that’s nice” and kept on working on the computer. The next sound she heard was the shedder being turned on. She quickly put two and (or twenty and zero) two together and ran to the shedder. She found Tyler with a huge smile on his face as her $20 bill was being shredded to pieces! As she said, it’s a good thing Tyler is so cute!
Don’t kids do the “darn-dest” things as Art Linkletter use to say. Do you have a memory you’d like to share about something your kiddos did that made you want to shake (figuratively of course) and hug them at the same time?
Share them here. It won’t cost you a Twenty.
His Mom Laurie is trying to complete her A.A. Degree while raising Tyler. She’s taking several classes online. The other day Laurie was working on the computer when Tyler came up to her holding a $20 bill he had gotten out of her purse. Tyler said, “Look Mommy,” as he proudly held his prize. Laurie was busy and said something like “that’s nice” and kept on working on the computer. The next sound she heard was the shedder being turned on. She quickly put two and (or twenty and zero) two together and ran to the shedder. She found Tyler with a huge smile on his face as her $20 bill was being shredded to pieces! As she said, it’s a good thing Tyler is so cute!
Don’t kids do the “darn-dest” things as Art Linkletter use to say. Do you have a memory you’d like to share about something your kiddos did that made you want to shake (figuratively of course) and hug them at the same time?
Share them here. It won’t cost you a Twenty.
Wednesday, September 07, 2005
Strange and Uncertain Sounds
Being spurred on by my Brother Greg’s recent “hair” blog, I was reminded of something that happened (this could add to our downward spin in blog subjects) in my hotel room this past Saturday night at SonQuest.
My son Steven and his friend Matthew (the Chuckster’s recently baptized son) were bunking in my room this past weekend. After Chuck drove from Cocoa to baptize his son Saturday night in our hotel pool, I invited him to spin the night with us so he didn’t have to drive home at midnight. It was almost 1am before we finally turned off the lights and tried to get some sleep. It was at that point our two wonderful sons began to fire away with their best impressions of methane gas escaping a human body. You know, a fluff, a fart, or as we call it in our home, popping a wheelie. Chuck and I assumed (and prayed) the noises are sons were making were reasonable facsimiles of the above mentioned and not the real thing.
At some point in the night, Chuck and I decided to join this “talent show.” I was generating the sounds artificially however I can’t speak for Chuck. What I can speak to was the fact that Chuck and I were laughing like little boys with our sons, ages 15 and 14. It seems to be a theme with me, trying to hold on to the last vestiges of their childhood. I know one thing, for a moment, two men and 2 teenagers were acting like little boys and it felt good.
My son Steven and his friend Matthew (the Chuckster’s recently baptized son) were bunking in my room this past weekend. After Chuck drove from Cocoa to baptize his son Saturday night in our hotel pool, I invited him to spin the night with us so he didn’t have to drive home at midnight. It was almost 1am before we finally turned off the lights and tried to get some sleep. It was at that point our two wonderful sons began to fire away with their best impressions of methane gas escaping a human body. You know, a fluff, a fart, or as we call it in our home, popping a wheelie. Chuck and I assumed (and prayed) the noises are sons were making were reasonable facsimiles of the above mentioned and not the real thing.
At some point in the night, Chuck and I decided to join this “talent show.” I was generating the sounds artificially however I can’t speak for Chuck. What I can speak to was the fact that Chuck and I were laughing like little boys with our sons, ages 15 and 14. It seems to be a theme with me, trying to hold on to the last vestiges of their childhood. I know one thing, for a moment, two men and 2 teenagers were acting like little boys and it felt good.
Monday, September 05, 2005
Full Circle Backwards.
My family spent the weekend in Orlando at the Omni Rosen Hotel attending a youth rally named "SonQuest." Our weekend was spent in the close company of about 2000 teenagers and I couldn’t think of a better group to be with. The teens of this generation (for the most part) worship the Lord without the "time" boundaries that we adults place on ourselves. If the invitation lasts for over an hour they don’t complain. In fact, when one of our teens goes forward during an invitation he or she is never alone. Our entire youth group goes forward with them to hold their hand, to pray with, and to cry with them. This past Saturday evening was no exception to this practice.
We had several teens answer the Lord’s invitation this past Saturday night. One of them was Matthew. Matthew is the 14 year old son of "our" (Greg, Randy, and myself) good friend Chuck. There was nothing unusual about Matthew’s response. He was crying and saying that he wanted the Lord in his life. When our Youth Minister asked Matthew who would he like to baptize him into Christ he didn’t hesitate for a moment. He said, "I want my Dad to baptize me."
To me this is the full circle coming backwards. You see for years Chuck (Matthew’s Dad) wasn’t a Christian. And for years it worried his sweet wife Lee that the love of her life, the father of their only child Matthew, wasn’t walking with the Lord. When Matthew came along and began to learn about Jesus and the need for Him in our lives, he began to question Chuck himself. In later years he would even ask Chuck, "Dad, why haven’t you been baptized?" "What are you waiting on?" Matthew was asking Chuck the same questions that we periodically asked him as well.
It’s been about 2 years since Greg and I asked Chuck those same questions on a rock over looking the campus of Pepperdine (voted by some group as the most beautiful campus in the United States) University. And it was a few weeks later that Chuck was baptized into Christ.
I couldn’t help but think about that "rock" and a little boy who questioned his own father as we waded into the hotel pool to watch a father give life to a son for the second time in his life. Indeed the family of Chuck, Lee, and Matthew has come full circle backwards.
We had several teens answer the Lord’s invitation this past Saturday night. One of them was Matthew. Matthew is the 14 year old son of "our" (Greg, Randy, and myself) good friend Chuck. There was nothing unusual about Matthew’s response. He was crying and saying that he wanted the Lord in his life. When our Youth Minister asked Matthew who would he like to baptize him into Christ he didn’t hesitate for a moment. He said, "I want my Dad to baptize me."
To me this is the full circle coming backwards. You see for years Chuck (Matthew’s Dad) wasn’t a Christian. And for years it worried his sweet wife Lee that the love of her life, the father of their only child Matthew, wasn’t walking with the Lord. When Matthew came along and began to learn about Jesus and the need for Him in our lives, he began to question Chuck himself. In later years he would even ask Chuck, "Dad, why haven’t you been baptized?" "What are you waiting on?" Matthew was asking Chuck the same questions that we periodically asked him as well.
It’s been about 2 years since Greg and I asked Chuck those same questions on a rock over looking the campus of Pepperdine (voted by some group as the most beautiful campus in the United States) University. And it was a few weeks later that Chuck was baptized into Christ.
I couldn’t help but think about that "rock" and a little boy who questioned his own father as we waded into the hotel pool to watch a father give life to a son for the second time in his life. Indeed the family of Chuck, Lee, and Matthew has come full circle backwards.
Friday, September 02, 2005
Community Control
I received a call from our Deacon of “Pain,” I mean “Youth,” (Brett) last Thursday. He asked me if I had any “big” plans for Sunday. I told him other than getting the house in order to my wife’s satisfaction for Randy’s impending visit, and then recovering from said activity, not really other than going to Worship. Bad answer. Brett asked me if Steven and I would be interested in going to Kendall, Florida which is just south of Miami to help his former church (Sunset Church of Christ) clear out some fallen trees from their visit from Hurricane Katrina.
So 10 of us in two Ford (dual wheel) “pick-em-up” trucks left Cocoa at 5am for the 3 hour ride to Miami. My son plus two of his friends (Zack and Matthew) went along with us. Getting a 15 year old up at 4:30am usually isn’t that easy but the boys got up and away we went to Miami.
After stopping at MacDonald’s for a quick breakfast, we arrived at the Sunset Church around 9am. We found out from one of their elders that several of their men had worked most of the previous day to clear out their parking lot of fallen trees and branches. In his words, they were “whipped” and very appreciative that another group had shown up to finish their job of clearing out their Christian School Playground as well as the rest of their grounds.
I’ve practically grown up in Florida and visited Miami on several occasions. However, I’ve never physically “labored” in Miami. I quickly discovered how much more “tropical” the climate in Miami is vs. ours in Central Florida. In fact, several of the fallen trees were next to Cocoanut trees. This fact fascinated our boys who enjoyed cutting up some fallen cocoanuts to enjoy their contents. I think we adults enjoyed the “show” that they put on in trying to break into the cocoanuts as much as they enjoyed the fruits of their labors.
The good people of the Sunset Church came by several times to encourage us and show their appreciation for our efforts. It was during one of these encounters that I received my idea for this blog. A lady asked Brett what possessed us to come down in such hot weather to work so hard for them? Brett answered by asking her if she was familiar with the phrase “Community Control.” I guess we looked and smelled bad enough to be mistaken for a “chain gang.”
After finishing up at the church we went to the homes of 3 different families to clear out debris and finish cutting down trees that Katrina had damaged. We ended up back at the first home that we had worked at earlier to take advantage of a kind offer. The older couple that lived at the home invited us to come back and take a “dip” in their pool once we finished our efforts. I don’t think I’ve ever felt more refreshing water in my life.
We ended our efforts at a Cracker Barrel Restaurant in Boytan Beach. Only the fellowship we enjoyed was better than the food (and chocolate cobbler) we consumed.
Let’s keep our prayers going up for the folks of the Gulf Coast and the efforts to help them recover.
So 10 of us in two Ford (dual wheel) “pick-em-up” trucks left Cocoa at 5am for the 3 hour ride to Miami. My son plus two of his friends (Zack and Matthew) went along with us. Getting a 15 year old up at 4:30am usually isn’t that easy but the boys got up and away we went to Miami.
After stopping at MacDonald’s for a quick breakfast, we arrived at the Sunset Church around 9am. We found out from one of their elders that several of their men had worked most of the previous day to clear out their parking lot of fallen trees and branches. In his words, they were “whipped” and very appreciative that another group had shown up to finish their job of clearing out their Christian School Playground as well as the rest of their grounds.
I’ve practically grown up in Florida and visited Miami on several occasions. However, I’ve never physically “labored” in Miami. I quickly discovered how much more “tropical” the climate in Miami is vs. ours in Central Florida. In fact, several of the fallen trees were next to Cocoanut trees. This fact fascinated our boys who enjoyed cutting up some fallen cocoanuts to enjoy their contents. I think we adults enjoyed the “show” that they put on in trying to break into the cocoanuts as much as they enjoyed the fruits of their labors.
The good people of the Sunset Church came by several times to encourage us and show their appreciation for our efforts. It was during one of these encounters that I received my idea for this blog. A lady asked Brett what possessed us to come down in such hot weather to work so hard for them? Brett answered by asking her if she was familiar with the phrase “Community Control.” I guess we looked and smelled bad enough to be mistaken for a “chain gang.”
After finishing up at the church we went to the homes of 3 different families to clear out debris and finish cutting down trees that Katrina had damaged. We ended up back at the first home that we had worked at earlier to take advantage of a kind offer. The older couple that lived at the home invited us to come back and take a “dip” in their pool once we finished our efforts. I don’t think I’ve ever felt more refreshing water in my life.
We ended our efforts at a Cracker Barrel Restaurant in Boytan Beach. Only the fellowship we enjoyed was better than the food (and chocolate cobbler) we consumed.
Let’s keep our prayers going up for the folks of the Gulf Coast and the efforts to help them recover.
