Friday, November 30, 2007

Blue Fridays

The following email was forwarded to me the other day:


"Blue Fridays. Very soon, you will see a great many people wearing blue every Friday. The reason? Americans who supportour troops used to be called the "silent majority" We are no longer silent, and are voicing our love forGod, country and home in record breaking numbers.


We are not organized, boisterous or overbearing.Many Americans, like you, me and all our friends,simply want to recognize that the vast majority of America supports our troops. Our idea of showingsolidarity and support for our troops with dignity and respect starts this Friday -- and continues each andevery Friday until the troops all come home, sending adeafening message that ... every red-blooded Americanwho supports our men and women afar, will wear something blue.


By word of mouth, press, TV -- let's make the UnitedStates on every Friday a sea of blue much like a homecoming football game in the bleachers. If everyone of us who loves this country will share this with acquaintances, coworkers, friends, and family, it willnot be long before the USA is covered in BLUE and itwill let our troops know the once "silent" majority is on their side more than ever, certainly more than the media lets on.


The first thing a soldier says when asked "What canwe do to make things better for you?" is ."We needyour support and your prayers." Let's get the word out and lead with class and dignity, by example, and wear something blue every Friday.IF YOU AGREE -- THEN SEND THIS ON. IF YOU COULDN'T CARE LESS -- THEN HIT THE DELETE BUTTON."


The War on Terror is like all wars, unwanted and controversial. But at the heart of all wars are the Soldier and his or her family. When they are deployed into a war zone life as we know it stops for the soldier as they try to survive and their families as they pray for both survival and safe return for their loved one. Theirs isn’t a life of Geo-Political Politics but rather one of service, disruption, and prayer. If you feel so inclined to forget to remember these troops and their families and make every Friday a “Blue Friday.”


I'll leave with 2 pictures and captions from the Rocky Mountain News:


Todd Heisler The Rocky Mountain News

When 2nd Lt. James Cathey's body arrived at the Reno Airport , Marines climbed into th e cargo hold of the plane and draped the flag over his casket as passengers watched the family gather on the tarmac. During the arrival of another Marine's casket last year at Denver International Airport , Major Steve Beck described the scene as so powerful: "See the people in the windows? They sat right there in the plane, watching those Marines. You gotta wonder what's going through their minds, knowing that they're on the plane that brought him home," he said "They will remember being on that plane for the rest of their lives. They're going to remember bringing that Marine home. And they should."
Todd Heisler The Rocky Mountain News

The night before the burial of her husband's body, Katherine Cathey refused to leave the casket, asking to sleep next to his body for the last time. The Marines made a bed for her, tucking in the sheets below the flag. Before she fell asleep, she opened her laptop computer and played songs that reminded her of 'Cat,' and one of the Marines asked if she wanted them to continue standing watch as she slept. "I think it would be kind of nice if you kept doing it," she said. "I think that's what he would hav e wanted."

PLEASE KEEP THIS GOING!

"No arsenal, no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women." -- Ronald Reagan





Wednesday, November 28, 2007

The Right Man


Most of you are probably aware of the recent death of Washington Redskins Safety Sean Taylor. Taylor was killed at this home in Miami, the alleged victim a robbery. I was watching ESPN just before the Redskins Press Conference. A former player of Gibbs was being interviewed about how the team would approach and handle the death of their teammate. I was struck by what was said next.

The former (sorry – didn’t get his name) player said that Coach Gibbs was the right man to handle this situation. He then relayed how he himself while playing for the Redskins, had been injured and was going through rehab. He said one day he was at the Redskins Training Facility rehab his knee when Coach Gibbs asked him to come to his office. You can imagine the “threat level” this young man went to knowing that he was an injured player that had a high probability of being cut or traded as damaged goods.

When he walked into Coach Gibbs’ Office he noticed a board behind Gibbs’ desk. Gibbs pointed out the board and the fact that on it were all the names of the injured players, their injury, and their rehab status. Coach Gibbs complemented the player on his work ethic with respect to his rehab and then said the following:

“Don’t worry about the injury. You see this board, all the names, and your name? I come in each and every morning and I pray for all of you. I’m praying for you right now so work hard and trust in God.”

This player finished the story by saying that Coach Gibbs would bring in his relationship with God to help his team during this tragic loss. When I heard this story my heart was warmed and I want to get one of those boards.

I guess my board is my blog links. All of you are in my heart and prayers when I look at my site. May God bless each and every one of you.


Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Furniture / Thanksgiving

I wonder if anyone has ever started their blog with a picture of a couch? I thought we’d “couch” that subject today. What goes into the thought processes behind buying furniture such as a couch? Can we be a bit sexist here and say most guys look for comfort as in how does this couch feel when I’m vegging, remote in hand, switching between ESPN and the Discovery Channel while most ladies look for a tasteful blend into whatever décor matches their living room. Either way, this couch is very special to me.

It was bought and owned by my mother and father. I have images in my mind of my Dad and yes, even my Mom lying on this couch. This couch would be the last piece of furniture my Mother would “enjoy.” A week before we moved into our new home which had a Mother-in-Law’s Quarters built over our garage, we learned that Mom’s cancer had returned with a vengeance. Mom was one of those “lucky” people who had never smoked but was now stricken with lung cancer. I can still remember picking my Mother off that couch and carrying her down the stairs to make her last trip in a car as we headed for the hospital.

A few years later the couch would make a trip to our preacher’s office. We gave him the couch along with some chairs that belonged to Mom.

It was a time when we only had me and one other person for Elders. We met mostly in Don’s Office sitting on Mom’s furniture. Somehow I always felt her spirit close to me when we sat on that couch.

Earlier this year as many of you know, we went through a challenging yet rewarding time as we contemplated merging with a local conservative Christian Church. There was one particular meeting among ourselves (4 and Don at the time) where we nearly let fear and tribal instincts get the best of us. To say that meeting was heated would be an understatement. Yet, sitting on Mom’s couch gave me a peace and also a mandate to not allow our meeting to end in division. Fortunately the Holy Spirit prevailed and we walked out of our most heated meeting, united and more in love with each other than ever before. I just knew Mom was smiling and maybe even uttering a heavenly, “Cecil, you’re a good son. I knew you would listen to your heart.”

Fast forward to a few weeks ago and now the couch sits in this storage room as we have remodeled Don’s and Brenda’s offices. New furniture has replaced Mom’s couch and so it sits in this room. But just like Mom it isn’t staying still for long. Just this past Sunday a lady with 4 kids, fleeing an abusive husband from another country came to our church in need. I know she and her kids will find comfort when they sit or lay on this couch for the spirit of my parents, especially my mother will be with them.

Now for a couple of pictures from Thanksgiving:
The only way to cook turkey - fry the little sucker. That's 3 minutes per pound plus 5 at the end at about 350 degrees. The secrets we discovered this year - start early - take a half hour to bring the peanut oil up to temperature - (this is old) rub the turkey in creole seasoning - wrap the bird in reynolds wrap when done - it will stay warm for hours if need be.

Could you find a better looking pair of Turkey fryers? I'm the good looking guy on the right and my friend of 40 years on the left is Bob.






Monday, November 19, 2007

Oasis Roundup

I’m feeling somewhat weird this morning. I know, some of you are saying “you’re weird every morning.” I know my first period class would probably agree with you since I give them the strange concoction of high energy (being a morning person) and Algebra every day. No, the weird feeling is due to the fact that I’ve been to a youth rally and I’m not (as we say in the south) “dog tired.”

Kudos to our youth guy along with the youth guys from Melbourne and Jacksonville. The Oasis Youth Rally was outstanding. As with our week of Bible Camp, they were not under a leadership that was being held hostage by churches or leaders who are adept in the fine arts of blackballing or “un-inviting.” They were able to use Dr. David Fraze, the youth guy from the Richland Hills Church. He is a great communicator and gauging by the attention level of my son he was also engaging.

Kudos to the Argyle Church for hosting the event. They have a beautiful facility and a visionary leadership.

For all intent and purpose, this will probably be the last youth rally I attend were Steven is a member of our youth group. I’m so proud of the Christian young man he is becoming. No, he isn’t perfect as is his Dad but he is on the journey. I enjoyed seeing him sing praises to God, laugh, and interacting with the other teens.

We had some cool moments together. As we were moving towards the lunch line I put my arm around him and told him I loved him. His response was, “I love you too Pops.” You can’t put a price on those kinds of moments as well as believe that you’re being called “Pops” or his other favorite word for me, “Cec-so.”

I’m proud of our youth group. We had zero problems out of them and instead, they stayed engaged throughout the weekend. That hasn’t always been the case in the past as I’ve had to track down many a stray that has wondered off.

O.K – are you ready for some pics? Here we go:
Oasis had a good balance of serious with fun. Here is our youth guy, Chad, running a game in the Fellowship Room. Notice the plastic on the floor. When Chad is doing a game you always want plastic on the floor. The seated person on the far right is from our church. He had been hypnotized to act like he was drunk.
Son in the middle listening to Dr. David Fraze.


What would a bunch of picture be like without the coveted group picture in front of our bus.

We were given instructions for Steve-o to act like a "gangster" and I was to act like a Cop. How did we do?
Have a great Thanksgiving.





Friday, November 16, 2007

Oasis

I had one of those weeks again. Busy at school, busy at church, and busy at ministry. I praise God for the latter but it took me out of the blogging mode.





Son had his next to last Fall Ball Game last night. He played 2nd and went 0 for 3 at the plate. He hit the ball hard, in fact his last at-bat he hit one to deep leftfield but our latest (don't laugh) cold front came in around the 4th inning bringing a strong wind out of the North. The wind kept his ball from going out. Hard to believe his last Fall Ball game as a Senior is next week.





The good thing about that game is his Uncle Bobby will be down from South Carolina and we’ll get to see him play. I’d like to ask for prayers for Barb. She is experiencing severe pain in her sciatic nerve.

I'm driving our church bus right after school today as I take our Youth Group to a youth rally in Jacksonville (http://www.oasisyouthrally.com/) called Oasis. Our youth guy was involved in conceiving and putting together "Oasis." I would ask that you pray for us to have a safe journey and that the teens will grow closer to God this weekend. I would ask that you pray for my ability to get some sleep as well but, I'm hanging out with a bunch of teens this weekend - don't bother.

Have a great weekend family.


Monday, November 12, 2007

Weekend Roundup

Weekends – Don’t you just love them? Mine started on Friday (as I’m sure most of yours did) at church. I met up with my father-in-law, the Chuckster, Phil, and Don to lay laminate in our Secretary’s and Minister’s Office. Except for a couple of “science projects” (phrase used at Chuck’s work to describe any task take copious amounts of time) around some steal door jams, we finished both rooms in about 5 hours. This also included a visit to a local Mexican Restaurant that had a Mariachi Band. When they came to our table we requested “Ring of Fire” and “Tequila.” That is the “song” variety.

It was also great to have my father-in-law there helping us. His knowledge and problem solving skills proved us wrong no less than 3 times when we came to issues concerning walls or door jams.

I spent Saturday morning going from the “hippie” look to the coveted “high and tight” look with my diminishing mane. I also found time to get my “Expo” cleaned. The afternoon was taken up with cleaning our pool and it’s filter as well as doing some last minute preparations for the 30 some odd people that will be having Thanksgiving with us in a couple (yikes!) of weeks. We went out to dinner with our next door neighbors and good friends Monty and Sally to round out the evening. Oh, almost forgot - Monty asked me if I wanted to drive out to the Causeway and park beside the Banana River to view a launch of a Delta Rocket. We took advantage of a clear, cool night to see a spectacular launch with the River reflecting the flume of the Delta but even more impressive was the thunderous roar that took a few minutes to travel from the Rocket Gantry to our location a few miles away. It is one advantage of living on the Space Coast.

Sunday morning found me teaching a class on “Incarnational Theology.” The vast majority of my class we spent in Ephesians 1 and Phil. 2 talking about being the “the Body of Christ” and having the humble spirit of a servant. God must have heard us talking for right after class he sent us “David.” David had been riding his bike across Brevard County and according to him, was a homeless Veteran who hadn’t slept for 2 days.

After we got him some food and drink, we asked him what he wanted. He told us he wanted to go to the Veterans Hospital in South Florida. We told him he was in luck because there was such a facility in Viera, just a few miles away. Dave, who told us he was bi-polar, told us that facility was only a clinic and wouldn’t be opened on the weekends. He had a terrible cough and needed some medical attention. Did I mention that Dave was rather big? Having this in my sight and the bi-polar in my mind, I asked 2 other brothers if they would go with me on a Sunday morning “road trip.”

So we loaded up Dave and his bike in my Expo and headed off for the VA Hospital in Viera as Dave continued to tell us it wouldn’t be opened. Guess what – our first signs that Dave was right were the closed gate and the big sign that read, “Closed on Weekends and Holidays.” Go figure. Dave trumped one elder and 2 deacons. So we drove Dave to our local ER and it was a “God – moment.” It was the first time in my life that I walked into our local hospital’s ER to see no one in the Waiting Room and the nicest guy working the Desk. We left Dave in their care and made it back to church just in time for Don’s “take home” slide. Some would call that a serendipity.

At 2:30 we had our Lifegroup Meeting. Please pray for Myra as she receives her 6 month cancer checkup results today.

At 3:30 I drove Steven to the Batting Cages in Eau Gallie and even took a round myself using his wood bat. I had forgotten how much a wood bat vibrates when it hits something. I guess you could call it “old school” father – son time.

I wrapped my weekend walking 3 miles with my next-door neighbor and I’m about to head off to school.

Have a restful “week” family.


Thursday, November 08, 2007

Special Needs

What a week it has been! Between Steven’s Fall Ball games, church, trying to meet with a drywall guy to repair some damage in our game room, and Parent Conferences last (Thursday) night, I need a break. Oh, I forgot that my good friend Chuck and I are going to lay laminate in the newly renovated offices of our Church Secretary and Minister tomorrow after school. It’s a good thing I’m a “young man.”

I had to miss Steven’s game against Titusville last (Thursday) night. Steven started at 2nd again. He hit a double off the left-centerfield fence. He told me he could have had a triple but he thought it was going out. In baseball jargon we call that a “rut-row.” He also stole both 2nd and 3rd before scoring on a wild pickoff throw to 3rd. While I’m being the proud Papa let me add that he closed out the game striking out all 3 batters. The best part of it all was watching Steven’s enjoyment and confidence grow as he talked about how our Head Coach told him to try out his glove when he went to the mound. It is a welcomed sight to see Steven being coached by a coach that believes in him. I could go on but on to my main subject.

In the past couple of weeks I have attempted to minister to folks who I’ll say have “special needs.” These special needs include mental illness, drug abuse, and for lack of a better phrase, limited mental capacity. To say that some of the behaviors I’ve dealt with have been somewhat bizarre at times would be an understatement. Some of these special needs have included an attempt to persuade individuals to “behave” in their small group as well as instructions on personal hygiene. All have been approached from a non-judgmental attitude. None of us are perfect and we all have areas that need suggestions and improvement.

Yet I’ve found myself being put in a position of acting as a surrogate parent for adults. It is not something that I relish nor do I wish to shrink from doing the right thing in the name of the Lord on behalf of the individual or our church. But I do have a question that I don’t know if there is an answer(s) for:

Is there ever a point at which the needs of folks with “special needs” outstrip the ability of those in ministry and church leadership? Is there a point at which folks in church leadership have to tell someone, “I’m sorry but I’m not qualified to help you.” As I think about our question I’m flooded with feelings of a “cop out.” One thing we are fortunate in is that we have a trained, licensed counselor that attends our church and is now currently engaged with some of these folks. As to the ones she isn’t helping, for the most part they have chosen to not accept our advice.

Isn’t that the fun part of ministry? You can spend hours with someone and in love, give them what you feel is the best advice to help them with their problem. Then you see all of those “hours” largely ignored as the individual seems locked into a pattern that has been established for years.

I guess I’m feeling a bit drained for more reasons than just my hectic schedule. Feel free to chime in and have a good weekend.


Tuesday, November 06, 2007

"Re-Pitcher-ized"

As always, I want to thank all of you for your comments on my previous post about Steven going “muddin,” I mean running. I like Brady’s comment, “It takes wisdom to make those decisions, I think.” Those kind of decisions as a guy I used to coach with in Little League would say, “You can go from “hero” to “zero” just like that.” Speaking of “wise” decisions I think one was made last night at Steven’s game.

When Steven was a Freshman he pitched quite a bit. There was one doubleheader he had in which he relieved in both games. I don’t know how smart that was but it did say something of his value as a pitcher.

When he made the Varsity as a Sophomore his pitching was very limited. In the beginning of last year’s Junior season he was told he would be one of the main pitchers and early on he pitched quite a bit holding on to the team’s lowest ERA as in “Earned Run Average.” As the season progressed for some reason his frequency of pitching decreased and came to a stop.

After going a month without seeing any time on the “bump,” he was brought in against one of the arguably best hitting teams in the Space (threw that back in for you Steve) Coast, Eau Gallie. Our starter had given up 8 hits, a number of walks, and 6 runs in 2 innings of work.

Steven pitched 2 innings striking out 4 and giving up no hits with no walks. Mysteriously he was taken out after showing no signs of fatigue. There were still about 10 games left in the season and yet it would be the last time he would see the mound for the rest of last season. In fact, in a fit of frustration and wanting to help our team out as we slumped at the end of the season, he asked the Head Coach just before the playoffs if he could pitch because he felt he could help the team. Steven told me the Coach looked at him and said the following words, “You’re not a pitcher!”

Fast forward to last night’s game against Rockledge. Steven started in Left-field last night and as the pattern has been for Fall Ball, the starters were pulled in the 4th to allow the under-classman a chance to play and show their stuff. The first 2 pitchers had giving up 6 runs and 11 walks “helping” us to a 0 to 6 deficit.

We have a new Head Coach this year that is a former All-American pitcher from UCF and pitched at the AAA Level in the Yankees Organization. Steven said in a fit of frustration the Head Coach looked in the dugout and said, “Is there a f-*@#$**!! (censored by the Blog Master) pitcher in here who can throw strikes!!?” Steven said he raised his hand and said, “I can Coach.” The response from the “NEW” Head Coach, “Get in the bull-pen S-Walk.”

Long story short, Steven threw the final 3 innings striking out 4 with no walks and no runs. The new Head Coach congratulated him on his pitching and said, “You’re going to be doing a lot of “that” this year.”

Amazing what someone with knowledge can observe. BTW – the Dad with the Juggs Radar gun clocked one of his fastballs at 88! That’s the fastest he’s ever thrown.

Well, that’s all from the State where we play baseball in the Fall. The next post will be about the challenges of churches ministering to folks with special needs.


Friday, November 02, 2007

"Running like Crazy"

Yesterday evening started out as one of those rare evenings for our family. We were all home around 6 and planning to eat some yummy grilled turkey burgers. Does this beg the question, does it take one to eat one? Pardon the chasing of the bird, I mean rabbit. We decided to include our upstairs companions, Anthony and Phil as well. Following our meal together we decided to watch “We Are Marshall.” Phil had never seen the powerful movie. For me, the most powerful part is the end when vintage footage of the 70 team is shown along with photos of the actual people portrayed in the movie.

Steven received a call about three-fourths of the way through the movie from his friend Zack. He and Zack are seniors in our youth group. As Steven was talking to Zack his answers went something like:
“Hello.”
“Yes”
“Really”
“Are you kidding?” (That one concerned me)
“That’s crazy” (Red Alert!)
“I’ll have to ask my parents.”

I’ve been privy to many of Steven’s conversations but I have to admit when I heard the words “really,” “kidding,” and “crazy” my level of concern was elevated to Code Red. It was about 9:15 in the evening at this point.

Steven first asked, “Dad, Zack and I want to for a run.” Innocent enough, yes? You have to admire a couple of young men who are trying to stay fit, yes? Of course it begged the eternal question of parents with teens, “Where?” The answer:

“The Power Lines.”

Clarification: For us, the “Power Lines” is an area under high voltage (In So Cal people actually live there, in homes.) lines that is un-developed, very wet, and a haven for folks who want to take their 4-wheeled vehicles (or Ford Contours – see earlier post) as we say here in West Cocoa, “Muddin.”

I was quite sure this was the first request for jogging the Power Lines. As I looked at Mom her reaction was predictable, “Are you crazy – No.” Me, being whatever a leader is in a church and of course, a major fun-miester I inquired further with a “W” question of my own, “Why” I asked.

Steven’s answer, “Zack wants to do something crazy.” In a moment my mind which I believe may be faster than a “Mac,” went into overdrive and do you know what I came up with? If that is the “craziest” thing these boys want to do in a world that teens can do some “crazy” things, I found myself say, “O.K., but please be careful!”

As my wife looked at me with a "Linda Blair" gaze without the head spin, I flashed back (cue the theme from "Kung Fu") to a sermon Terry Rush delivered at Long Beach. He told of being faced with a similar decision from one of his sons who wanted to drive 90 miles with some of his friends to some event, while still in High School I believe.

Although everything inside him told him to say "No," he chose to say "Yes" and he told his son that he trusted him. "Time" is fleeting with our boys as in a few months they will be off to college. I guess I held on to my part of "making a memory" for these young men.

Of course my wife reminded me that if they got hurt it would be my fault. I knew that but perhaps it's an advantage (I'm sure the ladies would say "disadvantage") we Dad's should have with our sons. We should never forget what "fun" feels like as we to were "boys" once.

Steven made it back home, muddy, wet, appreciative, and I'm sure with a memory he'll never forget.

My advice family:
1. Have a good weekend.
2. If you do go "muddin," go in a vehicle but avoid the use of a Ford Contour.

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