West Cocoa Chat

“Laugh and the world will laugh with you” someone once said. I have always been a big proponent of humor and laughing. In fact, this high need for “fun” has gotten me in trouble (hard to believe I’m sure) at times.

One of the reasons I became a teacher was due to the inspiration of my sixth grade teacher, Mr. McClam. He was the first teacher I had that was funny, inspiring, and he would play with us at recess. Something about this combination fired my soul and put the thought of teaching in my head. Yes, Mr. McClam was funny and I laughed at all of his jokes and apparently other things as well. I remember one day when apparently (another thing I know you’ll have a hard time believing) I was being a nuisance to my mentor with my love of humor. At one point Mr. McClam told me, “Cecil, if you laugh at another thing I say you’re in big trouble.”

Now, “big trouble” in 1970 had a different connotation than it does today. Today, when Mr. Walker tells one of his young charges that they’re in “big trouble” it certainly doesn’t involve a meeting with the “board of education” as it did in 1970. So, I tried to hold it in but I couldn’t and at some point soon thereafter, I laughed out loud at something Mr. McClam said that wasn’t meant to be humorous. Ah, but my mentor had a creative punishment to meet my crime. He took me out the back door of our classroom, which opened up to a large playground and had me stand next to a pine tree near our classroom.

In 1970 most schools in Florida were not air-conditioned. In fact, I didn’t come into contact with air-conditioning until my freshman year in high school. So, our windows were opened so all could see and hear what was about to befall me, young “Sky-Walker” or in this case, young “laughing-Walker.” You see, my punishment was to look at yon pine tree and to start laughing at it. In fact, Mr. McClam told me that if I stopped laughing I would meet the “board of education” “behind” the scenes so to speak.

So, I started laughing and kept it up for a while but then I started to get tired. As my laughing waned Mr. McClam appeared at the back door with the “BOE” in his hand. My laughing intensified. I probably wasn’t in the “how beautiful is a tree for it to laugh at me” mode for more than a half hour but it seemed like hours. When Mr. McClam gave me the “all clear” I was quite hoarse and cured of my laughing fits.

Nevertheless, I still enjoy a good laugh. After the ball game on Tuesday night, Barb, Steven, and I found ourselves around the dinner table, laughing. The game wasn’t anything to laugh about having been beaten 11 – 0 on our home field. Steven did pitch the last 2 innings giving up no runs and one hit. Yet we were laughing, belly laughs as Steven relayed some encounters he had with one of his friend’s Grandfather who happened to be a good friend of my father and knew me as a child growing up in Cocoa.

It seems that even today’s school environment with all of the high stakes testing tends to rob us of this precious commodity, to laugh and have fun.

“Church” unfortunately can be this way as well but then on the other hand some of the best and funniest times I’ve had are a result of relationships I have with those that share a common faith in the Lord. You know, I have to believe that laughter and fun had to surround Jesus as he performed his first (John 2) miracle.
May your weekend be filled with laughter.

Good morning family.
I spoke to my good friend Bob, in South Carolina last night. His family is preparing for the arrival of his nephew’s remains from Iraq. The body will be flown to Jason’s hometown airport under military escort. This is done to ensure that this American Hero’s body is treated with the utmost respect that he deserves having paid the ultimate price for freedom. There will be a ceremony at the airport in Barnwell, S.C. which will involve the community, local dignitaries, representatives of the military, and of course my friend’s family.

Tomorrow will be for the family. Jason’s wife who just gave birth to their fourth child comes from a large family herself. The funeral will take place on Thursday with full military honors. In fact, the funeral procession will be escorted from the church to the cemetery by an Apache Helicopter, just like the one that Jason flew when he made his fateful decision in Iraq to turn his helicopter around to save the lives of another aircrew that had come under attack.

It has come to the attention of the family that Jason and his co-pilot knew that they were flying back into a trap. It seems this is the latest tactic of the insurgents in Iraq. They attempt to bring down or severely damage the 2nd or 3rd aircraft in a formation in the hopes that the other helicopters will turn around in an attempt to rescue their fallen comrades thus bringing them back into the kill zone. In my conversation with my good friend Bob, apparently there are recordings of Jason’s and his Co-pilot’s conversation where they were quite aware that they were flying back into a trap but they didn’t care. One of their comrades was in trouble and they were bound and determine to not let another air crew fall victim to our enemies despite the danger to themselves.

Today there are 4 families that are celebrating that decision but in two very different ways. Two families celebrate this act of bravery with the thought that their loved ones are alive thanks to Jason and his co-pilot. Then there are 2 other families that will also “celebrate” that decision as they start the process of saying goodbye to their husbands, fathers, sons, and Grandsons. It kind of reminds me of our approach to Communion.

For some, Communion is a celebration of joy for if it had not been for Jesus, death would still have its ultimate sting. For others, Communion reminds them of the tragic death of Jesus as he hung on the Cross. Both acts resulted in death and both acts granted life.

Remember the DeFrenn Family this week family and the next time you see a man or women in uniform, tell them “thanks.”

You can follow the link to read or watch the report about Jason which was done by a local television news station in Augusta, GA.
http://www.wrdw.com/home/headlines/5676921.html

I made one of those decisions the other day that in some ways goes against conventional Christian thought the other day. We’re in to one of those seasons of “many meetings.” We’ve met so much lately that I’ve been very scarce at our high school baseball field. I’ve always been a fixture at whatever field my son was playing at since his t-ball days.

Now my son is a junior on our high school baseball team and he just earned the starting 2nd base position and he was also tagged to lead off in our first game this past Wednesday. I told him on Monday that his mother and I wouldn’t make the game. The obvious reason was it was Wednesday night but on top of that my wife cooks for our church on Wednesdays. To top it off the game was 50 miles away in Orlando and was scheduled to start at 4pm. I could tell he was disappointed but he’s 16 closing in on 17 so I knew he could handle it.

We had another meeting on Tuesday night and then it hit me on the way home. I’ve been giving all this time to the church but very little to my son. Baseball is his passion and finally, for the first time he would be leading off in a high school game and Dad wouldn’t be there. So when I got home I reversed my decision and his face, his 16-year-old tough guy face lit up.

The game was against University High School, a 3000 plus school located near the University of Central Florida. There were 25 pro scouts, all armed with radar guns and they had come to check out their starting pitcher, a 6-foot, 4-inch lefty. As Steven took the first pitch 25 radar guys raised up. I heard one of them say, “93.” The next pitch came in to which one of the scouts said, “96!” That’s right sports fans; this high school kid hit 96 mph! The next pitch Steven lined down the right field line but it hooked just foul. 2 feet to the left and my son has at least a double against this major league prospect. He ended up drawing a walk, stole (our only stolen base) 2nd, and then was bunted over to third. We were unable to bring him in. He struck out the 2nd time up and then in his third at bat he hit one to deep centerfield that the centerfielder tracked down.

We ended up losing 8 to 0 but we had some bright spots putting the bat on the ball against top ranked pitching from a 6A school. Steven rode with me on the way home. Now, please don’t tell my wife this next detail: We drove through a Krystal Hamburger restaurant and bought 12 cheese Krystals. We split them 50/50 so there is no telling how many calories we ingested.

There will be 2 things I will always remember about my decision.
1. Our one-hour ride home which was full of eating, laughing, and sharing.
2. The hug he gave me just before he took a shower when he got home. He hugged me and said, “Dad, I really appreciate you coming to my game tonight. I love you.”
There are some decisions you regret. This wasn’t one of them. Have a good weekend family

Without trying to sound funny, “war” is a volatile subject. It always has been and always will and should be. We live in two worlds; one that says killing another human should be repulsive to us and the other that says there are times when in the defense of your country you may have to take the life of your country’s enemy. My personal feeling is that we’re in a global war on terror.

I referenced a film (The Obsession) that was advertised on the Glenn Beck Show a few months ago. I believe as the movie postulated that we are facing the threat of extreme Islam. Some of the images of “goose-stepping” Islamic Extremists are very reminiscent of the “goose-stepping” “Brown Shirts” of Nazi Germany. The only difference is that the Nazi’s were following a man (Hitler) who was bent on world domination while the Islamic Extremists feel that they are following “God” and they are bent on the destruction of our country, our people, and our belief in Jesus Christ.

What ever your view is on war there is no denying the events of “9/11” and you must also conclude that there will be more “9/11’s” on our soil unless we are vigilant and proactive. That equates to war, which equates to young men and women volunteering in defense of our country. Sadly this also equates into some of these brave young people dying in defense of freedom and our country. Until a few days ago I did not know any of these brave American heroes. That was until a few days ago.

This past Saturday I received a call from my good friend in South Carolina. He called to tell me that his nephew, Jason, and his co-pilot had been shot down in their Apache helicopter and killed in Iraq. I knew Jason as a young child. While he was still a toddler his family moved away to South Carolina. I saw Jason one other time when he was in high school. I knew his father and stepmother far better than I ever knew him. I did know that like many teens, Jason went through some rebellious years.

This rebellious teen later joined the United States Army where he would become a helicopter pilot and rise to the rank of Captain.

On February 2, 2007 he became a hero in the War on Terror. Jason was the lead pilot of a formation of Apache Helicopters. His helicopter took some fire but he made it through the “kill zone.” The helicopter behind him wasn’t so lucky as they took on more fire. Jason was slated to come home in 2 weeks. Jason was serving his third tour in Iraq. Jason’s wife was close to delivering (she delivered a baby boy safely yesterday) their 4th child. This father of 4 who was scheduled to come home in days to see his family and his new born son made the decision to turn his Apache around. He opened up with everything he had trying to cover for his fellow aircrew and their wounded helicopter. Through his heroic decision the 2nd aircrew made it back to base. Jason didn’t. His Apache was shot down with a Stinger missile or an Iranian clone killing both him and his co-pilot.

I ask that you pray for Jason’s family as they have lost a father, son, and Grandson. If you want to see a picture of Jason you can go to the website below. Just move your cursor to his name but remember this, behind all of the names listed are husbands, sons, and Grandsons. We owe a debt of gratitude to all of them.

http://www.armyaircrews.com/apache.html

I thought I’d end the week on a “light note” talking about the subject of “sin.”
I did wonder when I posted “Sin” as the title of today’s post how many of my “un-commenting / commenting” readers would smile and think, “Well, the boy is finally coming clean.” Of course we all know that it is impossible to “come clean” without the power of God’s Grace to cleanse us of sin.

Our church is engaged in a church-wide daily reading of the Bible using the “The Daily Walk Bible – New Living Translation.” Today’s reading was out of Leviticus 4 – 7. I was struck by the fact that God no less than 7 times instructs Moses on how to deal with the different types of sins through sacrifices. I don’t know why but it reminded me of when I used to take my son Steven to my Mom’s to watch him during the day.

We had the same routine as we rode together. I can still see his 3 year old face smiling and laughing at me as I told him “it’s time to go over our “Inventory” as we headed to “Nanny’s.” I would ask him:
“Do you have your brown bear?” He would answer, “Check.”
“Do you have your Clifford the Red Dog?” “Check.”
“Do you have your (what we used to call his blanket) baby’s?” “Check.” We laughed together but it was also my way of signaling to my young son that Daddy loves you and I want you to be happy.

In Leviticus 4 – 7 God seems to be doing an inventory / checklist on how the people are to deal with their sins. For some God’s requirements in this section of Scripture might seem harsh, tedious, ridiculous, and indeed bloody. What spoke to me this morning was God’s love for us. He wants his people to be in a covenant relationship with him but he knows that we sin and that is something that separates us from him. So God, the loving Father provides a “vehicle” to provide a way for His people to deal with their sins and to have access to His Grace.

Praise be to God that Jesus became the ultimate sin offering for all of our sins. Be encouraged family for God the Father truly loves us.