West Cocoa Chat

Have you ever said, “I need a vacation from my vacation?” I could say that but it would be for a good reason. My friend from third grade, Bob, his son Nathen, Steven, and I have been on a rampage of activity for the last 48 hours. Yesterday we played 18 holes of Golf at the Wedgefield Golf Course. It was fun playing with our sons who are now of the age where then can occasionally out hit their Dads. Actually with Steven it was almost a 50-50 split. If he took some lessons he could probably be a scratch golfer.

This morning we met two of my good friends from church, Chuck and Tim. Both of them work at the Space Center, which as I’ve chronicled in a previous post, allows them each to take “2 guests” fishing on the unspoiled beach of the Kennedy Space Center. I could puff my chest out and regal you with the details of my valiant and victorious fight to haul in our largest Pompano of the day. I could but I can’t. I also had the biggest hit of the day, in all likelihood a shark, which dragged me down the beach as I fought to bring him in. After about 5 minutes of pulling, reeling, and walking, he bit through the leader line thus snatching defeat from the “Jaws” of victory.

One of the Pompanos I caught. Where else in the Nation can you fish in shorts at the end of December. Steven is in the background as well as the Titan Launch Tower. Another closeup of a Pompano. We had 8 fishing rods in the water. Great to see a beach without houses or condos with the occasional Launch Complex.

Steven with the ever tasty Whiting. It was kind of amazing that we were catching fish with the rough surf.

From left to right - Yours truly, Nathen - Bob's son, Bob, and Steven with his redfish.

A closeup of the same picture with the Titan Launch Tower in the background.

Barb and I enjoyed a date night. We had dinner at Longhorn’s Steakhouse and then saw the latest Tom Cruise movie, “Valkyrie.” Germany and WW2 have always fascinated me. I’m sure the facts that we lived in Germany for 4 years and that I’m an insane history buff probably have something to do with my fascination. I was also fascinated by the fact that the attempted assassination attempt chronicled in “Valkyrie,” was the last of some 15 attempts to kill Hitler. As you can guess, the cost was high for those that were part of the conspiracy to kill Hitler and no doubt that cost was as high for the other people involved in the previous 14 attempts.

Does that not say something for the German people if not humankind? You’d think after failed attempt number, I don’t know, how about #7, that folks would have felt that another attempt was useless? Yet, more attempts are made on Hitler’s life to stop a ridiculous war and to stop the Holocaust. Now, here’s a familiar theme to those in Christ – despite the failure of 15 attempts on Hitler’s life, 9 months after Valkyrie, Hitler commits suicide as WW2 comes to an end. Is there no doubt that the Pharisees and the Romans thought with the crucifixion of Jesus, this renegade religion would come to an end.

Counting the cost and still acting in the name of righteousness are the acts of flawed people trying to correct something that is flawed. I'm reminded of the words of Paul in Phil. 2:

³ Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, ⁴ not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

Within our own religious movement and heck, even within this blog family, there are those of who put others first and counted the cost and still taught, preached, and acted to correct a flaw despite the fact that you like me, are flawed individuals.

Olan Hicks is one person that comes to mind. When he came to the conclusion that the traditional teaching in our fellowship on divorce and remarriage was flawed, un-Biblical, and permanently damaging lives, he counted the cost. The cost for him was loss of a preaching job, Gospel meetings, and a damage reputation for not only him but also his entire family. Yet, he persevered and now our fellowship has for the most part, accepted his position that he stuck his neck out for many years ago.

If you feel like sharing, I would love for you to share either a personal story or one that you know of someone counting the cost in the name of righteousness. For those of you that are in the middle of counting the cost for something, go see this movie.

Some of your stories I know and my hat is off to all of you. God bless.

Hello all. I hope all of you had a Merry Christmas. Ours was filled with family and friends who are like family. This past Sunday night saw 33 people flood our living room floor for our annual showing of our favorite Christmas Movie, “Christmas Vacation.” The scene of 33 bodies sprawled out all over our living room on our chairs, couch, and air mattresses looked like a Fire Marshall’s nightmare. For those who might be thinking we must have a huge living room, we don’t depending on your definition of “huge.” But that was the fun part; kind of like the old days of seeing how many people you could stuff inside a car or phone (do they still make those?) booth.

Our Christmas Eve started off spending the 4am Christmas Eve Mass / Children’s Program with my In-Laws. They had recently attended our “Mouse Christmas Program” so we decided to hang out with them at their church since ours was not having a Christmas Eve Service. I hadn’t been to a Catholic Mass in years and I must say I was impressed. The Priest was friendly, personable, and spoke in a “living language.” That was a little joke, a very little joke. The part I was impressed with was when his cell phone began to ring. The phone call was from Santa who actually asked the Priest to try not to be as naughty as he was this past year.

6:00pm found us at my Sister-in-law’s house hooking back up with our good friends from South Carolina. The highlight of our evening is the “Dice Game.” My Sister-in-law buys little gifts through out the year that are the prizes for each round. A round pan, a pair of (teachers are suppose to call them “Number Generators”) dice, and a timing device is all you need to play. When time starts the first person throws the dice. If they roll a 7 or 11, the gift is handed to them and the pan is QUICKLY passed to the next person. No 7 or 11 means you pass the pan QUICKLY to the next person. The next person to roll a 7 or 11 gets possession of the prize until time runs out. We usually play each round for 30 seconds to 1 minute.

Like many of you, we opened gifts yesterday morning. Steven’s favorite gifts were a bluetooth headset and a “touch” I-Pod. I’m looking forward to using my fogless mirror / C.D. / radio / hangs in the shower gift. Barb’s favorite gift was serving all of us our favorite / not even close to being weight-watcher friendly foods for breakfast and dinner.

Well family, I have to go and brave a record 82-degree day. Remember, when you’re thinking your weather is miserable, think of what I have to deal with. :)

After 38 years, Cocoa wins the Class 3A Florida State Championship in overtime, 7 to 6 over Tallahassee Godby.
Highlights are as follows,
1. After hitting the game winning 52 yard fieldgoal last week with time running out to beat Miami Pace, the Cocoa kicker missed 4 fieldgoal attempts during the game.
2. Cocoa holds on a 4th and goal to stop Godby from scoring in regulation.
3. Godby scores a touchdown on the first possession in overtime.
4. Cocoa blocks the extra point attempt.
5. For the first time this year, Cocoa unveils their version of the "Wildcat Offense" putting star running back, Chevelle Buie under center. They score the tying touchdown.
6. The Cocoa Kicker who had gone from "Hero to Zero," goes back to hero again kicking the extra point and giving Cocoa High it's first ever State Championship in football.

Update from my son at the Class 3A Florida State Championship Football game between Cocoa and Tallahassee Godby at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Cocoa - 0, Godby - 0 at the Half.

The title (“Nope”) of today’s “last day of school / post” comes from a conversation I had with one of our members on top of a roof. You might say it was a roof-top experience.

Without giving too many details and changing the names to protect everyone except myself, the roof top conversation went something like this –
(Oh, I forgot to mention it was at night – anybody scared?)

Me: “Did you ever think you’d be sitting next to an elder holding a water hose and bull horn, on top of a roof?”

Spike: “Nope.”

I know, you want details or the number of the nearest Recovery Group for “Roof Climbing @ Night Elders.” Here’s what I can tell you –

1. A local coach wanted to do something for his hard working Team to make a memory.
2. He knows me.
3. He knows my affection for microphones or in this case, bull horns, climbing roofs at night, and holding water hoses that are full on and operational.

The result was the above conversation before said “event” occurred. I needed accomplices. It also resulted in meeting some great young men and having a laugh after the event transpired.

I have to tell you, the view on top of that roof at night was beautiful but it paled in comparison to the bonding that occurred between those boys and their coaches.

Now this may be a spiritual reach but I have to believe, a Creator of Matter itself, who decides to perform His first miracle (John 2) at the request of his Mom by turning water into wine, really thinks having fun matters! May your Christmas be filled with fun that doesn’t necessarily involve climbing roofs at night holding a water hose and bull horn.

BTW – I love John 2:5 where Mary tells the servants, “Do what ever he tells you.” Makes you wonder what her son had done in the past? Merry Christmas!

Many moons ago when Greg (http://gregengland.com/) was my preacher here in Florida, we use to give him a hard time about using material and quoting lines from books that some of us had read. Now, to Greg’s credit and no pun intended here, he was always good about giving credit to the author of his source or in other words, the “first” place that he had read such.

I remember a time when several of us were standing in line after a lecture at Pepperdine. Yes, this was before Greg was brought over to the “dark side” by Randy (http://www.randywray.com/) / lets attend lectures out by Jerry’s Tree/ Wray. J I digress, any way all of us had purchased a book that had been written by a particular speaker who was now autographing his book. This particular speaker was one Greg would regularly quote during a sermon.

For some reason we thought it would be nice if we had this guy autograph our books. I know, some of you are thinking, “Guys, get a life!” Remember, this was before blogging, any way, we were standing in line when one of “us,” I think it was a friend of ours named Lyle, suggested that when Greg had his book autographed he should have the author write in the phrase, “You heard it here first!”

Rob Bell alludes to something along these lines in his book, “The (yes, I’m a few years behind the reading times) Velvet Elvis.” In his book, Bell refers to the Hebrew concept of “First Mention.” In other words, to really draw out the meaning of a verse or section of Scripture in the Bible, go to where this verse or subject is mentioned for the first time and you’ll gain some insight into what you’ve just read. He cites a couple of examples of which I’ll illustrate one today:

1. John 3:16 - 16"For God so loved the world that he gave his (emphasis mine) one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

A familiar verse but where is this concept of someone giving up their “one and only son” first mentioned? Remember Abraham and Isaac? Look at Genesis 22:1 – 2

1 Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!" "Here I am," he replied.
2 Then God said, "Take your son, (emphasis mine) your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about."

You don’t have to be familiar with the concept of “first mention” or the Old Testament to understand the deep meaning trying to be conveyed in John 3:16. A son dying before the parents is unnatural (ah, not to mention being killed by the Father) and adds to the concept of being done as a willing sacrifice gives this verse even more of an edge. But to me, when I read John 3:16 through the eyes of Abraham and Isaac, a son promised to Abraham and Sarah by God the Father, and not delivered upon until their advanced years, and now God is asking Abraham to sacrifice him, it gives the reading of John 3:16 a depth that I didn’t have before.

Just thought I’d share that with you and I’ll do another one tomorrow. Remember, “You heard it here first” but feel free to quote me. J

I took advantage of my planning period falling on the lunch hour (a rare 1 hour and a half hours of lunch) to meet up with my son Steven and his friend Zack. Where else would we go in East Central Florida in the midst of Christmas time temps reaching 80 degrees than to a restaurant called, “Tropical Breeze?”

Random thought warning – Do you connoisseurs of the movie, “Christmas Vacation” remember the line Chevy Chase says when he passes some rednecks on the highway?

Clarke – “It’s O.K. Ellen, I’m going to put some distance between us and them. I’m going to “burn some dust – they can eat my rubber.”

Rusty (Clarke’s son) – “Dad, that’s burn some rubber and eat my dust.”

I had one of those moments when I sent a text to my son (nothing like Trey’s http://www.treymorgan.net/) that said, “Want to do lunch at Island Breeze?”

His response was, “Sure Dad – that’s Tropical Breeze by the way.”

Island, Tropical, 220, 225, whatever it takes, right? We had a nice very non-Weight Watcher lunch which of course will necessitate the obligatory 5k run after school today down (I know this one) the “River Road.” Where’s Steven when I need him to prove that I’m not the second coming of “Clarke Griswold.”

So, there you have it. Nothing theologically astounding today, just evidence of a 50 year old trying to avoid becoming a Christmas movie cliché. Have a good one.

Believe it or not, I was going to write today’s post along these lines before I read Greg’s (http://gregengland.com/) comment on yesterday’s post:

“You just look for reasons to be written up by "the brethren," don't you?!”

Most of you know the close relationship Greg and I have with each other of which, humor plays an important part. I’m sure Greg was referring to the fact that we moved our worship time to 5pm this past Sunday to accommodate our children’s play which was presented during church. I think there are some interesting aspects to our making that decision:

1. “We” asked ourselves (believe it or not) “can we do that?”
2. We thought about the impact, positive and negative to our church family.
3. We wanted to give our children’s play the best possible atmosphere to convey it’s important message, the miracle of the birth of Jesus.
3a. “They” (sponsors, children, support staff, and the adults in the play) deserved it! The number of hours they put in to present this special message in our opinion, needed to be honored!

Factors we did not consider:
1. Will Brother or Sister “so and so” be offended by such a decision? It is our conviction that the “weakest link in the chain” should not drive church decisions but rather they should be loved, taught, and inspired to maturity in both Spirit and Word.
2. We never consider if one of our fellow Churches of Christ would be offended. Why? (Naivety warning) Why should they? I know, unfortunately in many fellowships, Satan will distract us with being caught up with issues and what a neighboring church is doing with their on flock.

I can tell you that although far, far from being a “perfect church” or a model to strive for, the one thing I do love about our church is their confidence and support to allow us as church leaders, to function as I’ve illustrated above. If there is any gift I’m thankful for, its this one.

I’m also thankful for my fellow elders, Javier and Curt. We are different in personality but we’re unified in as I’ve said so often before, to just “be us.” I can’t write that without also thanking our ministry team of Don – Pulpit Preacher and so much more, Chad – our youth guy and like his Dad, so much more, and Brenda – our Church Secretary, Don’s wife and Chad’s mother as well as being so much more to our church. I’m convinced that God has had a hand in bringing all of us together at this point in time to show what He can do through and in spite of all of us.

Happy Tuesday family.

My weekend started with a 5k run down the River Road. It was my first run with a rising full moon over Merritt Island as 6pm approached.

We met some good friends at our favorite Mexican Restaurant. You can’t beat their “Arroz Con Pollo.” We ended up back at the church around 8 for a night of decorating our Fellowship Room, washing potatoes, rubbing down the potatoes in olive oil and sea salt, and an 11pm run to Wal-Mart by Chuck and I in search of paprika. I’m convinced that it was our selection of just the right (Wal-Mart brand) paprika that saved the day.

Saturday was spent as “Barbara’s boy” as I like to call it when she is cooking for 126 people. The expertise that I bring to the table (no pun intended) is an uncanny ability to stuff prime rib with garlic. My philosophy is the more garlic, the better the taste. I’m also an expert in wrapping bacon around chicken filets destined to become Alice Springs Chicken. Barb’s fare of prime rib stuffed with garlic, Alice Springs Chicken, baked potato, corn, green beans, salad, and bread pudding to die by and for, was a hit!

Our annual gift exchange with no limits on the number of times a gift can be “stolen,” was a hit. We have some very creative people when it came to the gifts they brought. We also have some very, well, I won’t go there. J

We were able to sleep in on Sunday. Did we skip church? Nope. Our church held worship at 5pm due to the presentation of a Christmas Play, “A Mouse Christmas.” This was a great production about the birth of Jesus from the perspective of a family of mice. The couple that put this production together accomplished something that should be the goal of most ministries – involved as many people as possible.

Several weeks ago they had asked if we could move the start time for services back to 5pm for 2 reasons –
1. To take advantage of the evening light and our new lighting system.
2. To be able to invite friends and family that could attend their own church services and still attend our “Mouse Christmas.”

We ended our weekend with a group of friends at our local “Outback Restaurant.” The food and company were great. Wish all of you could have been with us.

An old preacher of mine would sometimes say at the start of his sermon, “I’d like to share a FEW thoughts with you today.” A FEW thoughts would usually turn in to close to an hour or so it seemed. Hopefully my few thoughts won’t take nearly as long to type or read.

A few years ago I said something really stupid. To head off the “comments piling on,” I’ll admit that particular statement wasn’t my last stupid statement. A fellow elder’s wife had just passed away. A dear lady who had the overflowing gift of encouragement, even when cancer prevented her from attending services, she still wrote notes, and made phone calls to encourage folks.

At the first elders’ meeting he attended, this brother told us he knew it was time to resign. In my best imitation of Peter, I immediately “spoke up” and told this brother there was no need for him to resign. Now, you’ll love this next statement – I said that even though his dear, sweet wife had passed on, the good qualities that made him an elder were still there, inside him. Why would you want to resign? O.K, all at once, lets say it, “Cecil, what were you or not thinking?”

It wasn’t long until this brother told us at our next elders’ meeting that I was wrong. For although he was still with us, he had lost an important part of him, the part that always examined things with a different point of view, that thought with feelings and wisdom, and was devoted to making people feel warm and invited if you will – his wife.

It was at that moment that I had my epiphany
. Although I knew intellectually and to a degree, emotionally that my wife contributed to who I was and how I thought, I did not realize how much until this brother made the above statement.

Barbara, where do I even start with defining her role if you will, in our relationship as well as the church’s? I’ll attempt to do so by giving you an outline of her day, yesterday, and the coming weekend.

For approximately the 28th time, Barb went to work with 20 or so 5 and 6 year olds and gave them the gift of love in the form of making “Gingerbread Houses.” This group of kindergarteners is one of her most challenging but as many teachers; her job is more than just that, it’s a ministry. For not only does she attempt to meet the ever increasing standards that our age of accountability continues to heap upon, yes, get this, even, 5 and 6 year olds, she also provides for them a safe place, a mother-figure, and a model of a responsible, loving adult many of these kids either never had or have lost.

She arrived at our Church Building around 4 yesterday to start preparing her weekly meal for our church. She is the “Dinner” part of our Wednesday night “Dinner and a Devo.” She takes great pride in preparing, serving, and cleaning up after the meal despite the fact that she battles the early signs of arthritis. She has trouble with a bone in her foot and she has some difficulties of late with her left hand, yet, she is a Warrior! Puts me to shame!
When we arrived home together courtesy of no elders’ meeting last night, did she get to sit down and put her feet up? No – instead she began to make enough relish to feed the approximately 125 people that will be coming to our annual Church Christmas Party.

Early in our marriage, my Dad who was a deacon then, asked Barb if she would cook for our Church Christmas Party. I know that she carries this ministry out after over 20 years at the helm, as a gift of love to not only our church, but to me, and the memory of my Dad. I am so like him in deriving pleasure from when people get together and have fun. I think Barb sees my Dad asking her to cook for the party every time she does something in preparation for it as well as being a conduit to what I enjoy.

She is taking off this Friday so she can make enough prime rib, Alice Springs Chicken, potatoes, salad, and bread pudding to die for, in time for 6pm on Saturday. I write this post to partially brag about my wife to be sure. But moreover, I write this post to say to all of us guys who have a mate that has been sent to us by God, to take some time to say thank you to Him and to our wives. For as I learned in an elders’ meeting not too long ago, we are only half the men we are without them.

Received word from Greg that the babies, Logan who was born at 6:22pm, weighing 4 pounds, 13 ounces and 18" long along with Lillian who was born at 6:23 and was 4 pounds, 10.5 ounces and 17.5" long, are here and doing well for "pre-me's." Keep Heather, Josh, Jackson, and his new brother and sister, Logan and Lillian in your prayers.

We received a call from Greg (http://gregengland.com/) last night or rather Barb took the call. We have a habit of saying something out loud to make the other guy laugh, whenever one of our spouses answers a call from one of us. I can’t remember what I said to make my friend laugh but I could tell by the look on Barb’s face that this wasn’t your standard, “Hey, how are you doing,” phone call.

Greg called to ask for prayers for his son, Josh, and his daughter-in-law, Heather. Heather has been pregnant with twins and has had some difficulties. She was being closely monitored by the hospital and had gone in for a checkup. Apparently a shot or an I.V. was administered and she immediately passed out.

Long story short – she had gone in distress and the doctors were taking the babies. When Barb got off the phone we gathered our family in the kitchen, held hands, and prayed. I did not like the reason behind why we were praying for we wish Heather and Josh nothing but the best. Still, there is nothing more comforting when your family can go to our Father in prayer for a loved one.

About an hour later we received a call from Greg’s wife, Janice. She said the babies (yes, I’m a guy and totally forgot to ask what sex they were or any of the vitals) had been delivered and were having problems “exchanging gases” but for the moment, that seem to be their only problem. Heather according to Jan, seem to be “well” for the moment.

So family, take a moment and lift this young couple, Heather, Josh, their baby, Jackson, and the 2 little ones that just arrived in prayer.
God bless.

So, how was the weekend? Trust me, as a Nole, I feel your pain Bama fans. If you’re a Florida Gator (which I root for when they’re not playing the Noles) fan it was a banner weekend. I think you have to agree with one of the ESPN Announcers who said something to the effect of, “Tim Tebow (Florida Quarterback) is one of those players that comes around once in a lifetime. He combines talent, performance, and leadership abilities.” Another guy said, “Tim Tebow is a fullback playing Quarterback.”

Rarely as I saw in the game on Saturday, can a Quarterback run up to the Captain and chief “head-hunter” of the defense, in this case, Brandon Spikes, and challenge him to “man up his defense” after scoring the go-ahead touchdown in the 4th Quarter. Most linebackers would tell the Quarterback to go away but Mr. Tebow is a special player.

So, if there are any Sooner Fans out there who now find themselves ranked Number 1 and facing the Tebow led Gators in the National Championship, I have 2 words for you. These 2 words have come to haunt me in my Seminole dreams of glory in the 90’s – “Gator Bait.” No, I’m not doing the “chomp.”

I hope I didn't scare anybody off by the title. A colleague sent me the following pictures which I thought might accomplish 2 things:
1. Get you singing the 70’s song, “And The Sign Said …”
2. Make your Friday a little light-hearted.
Enjoy.

Make sure you read this sign carefully.


Should honesty be rewarded?


This sign reminded me of one of my cousins whose last name is Guy. He married a girl whose first name is Gaye. Get the picture.


Is this sign like, in Southern California?


Could be a sign here in beautiful downtown West Cocoa.


Goes without saying. Have a good weekend.

“Rut-row” was right for me last night. I had my Wednesday after school all set up or at least I thought so. First, there would be my “short” (hard to believe I think of that distance as “short”) 5K run after school. Next would be the obligatory and “must-a-tory” shower after the run. This would be followed by “Dinner and a Devo” at our church in which “Taco Soup” loomed on the horizon. All of these activities were to be topped off by our annual “Deck the Halls.” This is where we muster the church up, assigned the duties, and then decorate our church for Christmas. Oh, I forgot to mention that I was slated to leave church to drive the 5 minutes to BCC to pick up our blind keyboard player who was nice enough not to consider driving himself from night class to Praise Team practice.

I was looking forward to my yearly specialty of hanging icicle lights in our Fellowship Room in preparation for our Christmas Dinner. That is, until I was walking down the stairs to our Fellowship Room and was met by an older (than me) gentleman who called me by name, held out his hand for a shake, and I had no clue as to who he was?

My mind raced, who is this guy that knows me by name? A new member, a familiar (at least to himself) visitor, an “old” friend, or an Amway (apologies to anyone out there that sells Amway and is now independently wealthy or at least you were) Salesman that I had somehow gotten away from at one time? Nope, none of the above. Anyone want to guess?

“George” as I’ll call him let me off the hook when he saw the blank look in my eye. As we were shaking hands he said something to the effect of, “Thank-you for “YOUR” (that’s right – it was my rut-row) invitation to come to your Elders (which we weren’t having at the point) Meeting tonight. I’m excited to talk about the Mission work in (name changed to protect this work from being hampered by folks who do not like us – sad but true) “blah-blah.”

That’s right 50-something fans. I forgot to write it down thus making it hard for me to share with my fellow elders since it went in and at some point, exited from my reasonable facsimile thereof of a brain. To my brothers’ credit, they rearranged what they had planned for the night, graciously met, (so I didn’t look like a complete idiot) and listen to this brother talk about his work.

So, memo to self:
First, make the Memo!

Happy Thursday. It is Thursday?

I love the following Rebecca St. James song, “Breathe.”

“This is the air I breathe
This is the air I breathe
Your holy presence
Living in me

This is my daily bread
This is my daily bread
Your very word
Spoken to me

And I, I'm desperate for You
And I, I'm lost without You
Oh Lord, I'm lost without You
I'm lost without You”

I have had a couple of “holy ground” experiences with this song. The first one was 5 years ago when my son was about to enter high school. We were visiting Greg (http://gregengland.com/) at Long Beach. Their church had started having monthly or thereabouts, evening instrumental praise services. As luck or planning would have it, Greg had planned one of those services on the week we were visiting.

That visit is special to me for a number of reasons. I knew it would be the last visit in which all of our kids would be in “school” albeit Josh and Jessica were attending college at the time while Steven was getting ready to enter High School. Man, where did the time go? Any way, Josh was commuting at the time and living at home. Steven who considers Josh a big brother, enjoyed the time hanging out with Josh.

For some reason Greg had asked me to run the sound for their service. It was the occasion of doing this that this song brought back to my mind this past Sunday. Greg’s Praise Band and Worship Team were practicing for the evening service. His sweet daughter Jessica was singing a solo on this song. For some reason after several attempts she just couldn’t make it through a certain part in “Breathe” without messing up. At one point she became emotional about it as she was singing. One of the elders’ wives, Carol, put her arm around Jessica, mothered her, and suggested they turn the song into a group effort.

As they practiced singing the song as a group, Jessica was still emotional and Carol was still mothering. There was something about that moment – Jessica growing up to be a beautiful young woman being ministered to by a shepherd’s wife and knowing that this visit was an end to an era of sorts for me and my family has made that song become very special to me.

This past Sunday our Praise Team sang that song. My son now sings and plays (yes Greg, the sickness continues) guitar on our instrumental praise team. Hearing him sing “Breathe” in our church has given that song a “home connection.” If you’ve follow the story of our church, you know our journey hasn’t been without attempts from the outside to stifle and punish us and there has been some pain inflicted. But that pain pales, I mean PALES in comparison to where we are now as a church. No, we haven’t arrived at any kind of perfect status. That will never happen as long as I’m a member. But as we sang that song, I could see it in the eyes of everyone around me. We’re desperate for Him, Jesus. Our focus and my focus isn’t to worry about keeping people happy but to try and instill a need to be “desperate for Him.”

And I, I'm desperate for You
And I, I'm lost without You
Oh Lord, I'm lost without You
I'm lost without You”

There were several “high moments” for me during Thanksgiving. First and foremost is the annual arrival of my good friend Bob, his wife Shelby and their son, Nathen. It was touch and go as to their visit due to Bob’s father, Edwin, being very sick and battling cancer. Please keep him in your prayers. I will admit by the way that I would have pouted or at least moped around a bit had they been unable to come. Bob and I have known each other since the Third Grade or as I’m fond of saying, many moons.

Shelby and Barb usually pair off and go shopping on “Black Friday.” Steven and Nathen will hang out together and usually Bob and I get in a round of golf. We were unable to do that this year as Bob left right after our Thanksgiving meal to head to Lehigh to be with his Father.

But Friday was not uneventful. I know Randy (http://www.randywray.com/) will be a bit jealous since I went fishing with my good friend Chuck from Church. Once again Chuck took me out to the Space Center to do some surf fishing on the Space Center’s restricted and unspoiled beach.

It goes without saying that Chuck is the consummate fisherman or hence the term, “Varsity.” Yours truly, although I love to fish am anything from an accomplished fisherman, hence the term, “J.V.” I must say that although Chuck is a self-admitted competitive fisherman, he was very patient with me or so I thought.

We were mainly fishing for Pompano but the Black Drum were hitting as well. For some reason and I know it was due to Chuck’s expertise, we were in a hot spot. The folks fishing to our right and left were doing a lot of standing. Chuck and I were doing a lot of running, grabbing a rod, and reeling in fish! Now mind you, all of this was not happening due to anything I had done or was doing. In most cases Chuck would see the pole bend first and tell me to get it. Except for one time.

We had gone through the routine that I just described. I was reeling a fish, a pompano, in when all of a sudden “Hurricane (nickname my son gave him after a day of shark fishing) Chuck” ran up to me with another rod in his hand. He said emphatically, “Here, trade with me,” as he handed me the other rod.

At this point my feelings were not hurt in the least bit. I understand the nuances of sports. When the game gets tight again, you take out that J.V. guy and send in the “Varsity starters.” I figured Chuck didn’t want to lose this one and I was O.K. with that.

I decided my best course of action would be to reel in my line and make Chuck proud of me by re-baiting, and, or re-casting the line. It was soon after I took a couple of turns with the reel that I realized “I too” had a fish on my line. I thought, “Hey, Mr. Varsity guy, the J.V. guy has a fish as well. The fishing gods have smiled on this rookie.”

So I yelled back to Chuck, “Hey, there’s a fish on this line too!” My joy was met with laughter. You know, when your joy is meant with someone else’s laughter, its hard to look cool. Chuck’s response to me was, “Why did you think I switched poles with you?” I said, “I thought you were switching out the J.V. with the Varsity.” Chuck being the kind, patient, and in awe of my lack of fishing ability said, “No, I switch poles with you so you could fight a bigger fish.”

I wonder if God looks at us sometimes and smiles and laughs in the same way when we, through the power of His Spirit, persevere through a trial that we thought we could never make it through to come out on the other side with greater faith.

BTW – Chuck is as good a cook with fish as he is at catching them. Happy Tuesday.

First, I want to thank everyone for their “name” input. You generated some interesting names to be sure.

Second, I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving happens to be my favorite holiday. You don’t have to worry about gifts, decorating (that is if you’re not my wife), or putting up a tree although ours is already up and decorated in our living room. You just eat, watch some T.V., and if you’re in our area and know the right people, you can go fishing for Pompano and Black Drum on part of the Space Center beach. More about that in my next post.

James Rutz wrote a book called, “The Open Church.” Fascinating read that Greg turned me on to back in the late 80’s or early 90’s. Our church is not an “Open Church” as Rutz describes it in his book but at times it’s close. It is not unusual for Don, our preacher, to engage the congregation during one of his sermons. For that matter, it isn’t unusual for the church to engage him while he’s preaching. To me, those events take church from “easy listening” as Rutz describes it to actively being the church. Such an event happened yesterday.

Our keyboard guy, I’ll call him Joe to protect the innocent and because I didn’t ask him if I could blog about this. Hey, now I see the rush you preachers get when you turn some poor unsuspecting (of which I “are” one) soul into a sermon illustration but yes, I digress. Back to our “exchange.”

First, Joe, our keyboard guy, is legally blind. The fact that he can play keyboard, guitar, sing, and is a computer whiz is amazing. Joe also has a great sense of humor and will make fun of the fact he’s the “blind guy” on a moments’ notice. As the case would be, Joe can hear extremely well and was listening to Don’s sermon from James. You could see Joe really perk up when Don made the following statement:

Don: I know every person in this auditorium when they got up, went into the bathroom and looked into a mirror.

As you can imagine, Joe saw an opening and took it. Joe began waving his hands back and forth trying to get Don’s attention and when he did the exchange went like this:

Don: Yes Joe.
Joe (w/ huge smile on face): I didn’t “look” into a mirror this morning to get ready for church.

Don: (to his chagrin) Yes Joe, you’re right. I didn’t think about you so my whole illustration is blown to pieces.
Joe – no answer – smile getting larger as the church breaks up into laughter.

Don: Oh, by the way Joe…..
Joe: Yes Don?
Don: You were waving in the wrong direction!

I love it when “church” becomes family. Remember, like Joe and Don, never be afraid to laugh at yourself. Happy Monday.