Somebody Up There Likes Me

Head Over Heels

2007-01-11T19:33:00.000-08:00

This is the love of my life head over heels loving on Henley.

God's Gifts

2006-12-29T14:28:00.000-08:00

I'm writing this inside a house that we found available right when we needed one, the sign being put out 15 minutes before we drove by.

Beside me on the floor sleeps a wonderful friend named Henley, a Great Dane who just happened to be available as a puppy right after we had suffered the loss of another good dog friend that devastated us.

I'm writing to friends and family, most of whom I'd never have known had I not agreed to go one night (as a mere lad of 20 years of age) with a friend I met the summer before, to the home of a girl I had never met before.

Her birthday is today.

And tomorrow we'll celebrate 33 years together as husband and wife.

Coincidences?

Yeah, people find houses all the time.
And I'm sure you can make a case for your dog.
But God has this way of meeting our needs with way more than we expected. He delights in giving gifts to His children.

And no one who has ever lived has been given a more extraordinary gift than me, in the person of my wife Bunny.

I am blessed beyond measure. How great is our God that He in His infinite mercy and grace would look upon me, a wretch of a man and give me such treasure.

We are so guilty of looking for the Mt Sinai experiences and linger so expectantly outside the tomb of Lazarus that we forget sometimes just how often God uses life in all its daily experiences to teach us about His love. Our 33 years have not always been easy as the twists and turns of God's plan rolled on, but together we've seen God work again and again and again. And I've enjoyed hearing Bunny laugh. Yes, at me, but most of all with me. She's even more beautiful on the inside. Her grace and strength have helped me grow in God's grace and served as a great help to me as I have tried to follow God and lead His people. What a gift she has been and is!

She's my forever sweetheart and love.

Bunny's not here just now or I'd never have been able to write this. But friends, I thank God for her, and for what He has done in our lives together.

And I'm on firm biblical footing.

19 Husbands, go all out in love for your wives. Col 3:19 (MSG)

Praising God for all His gifts, but especially one of them.

David
--
Visit with me at my blogs:
http://davethepastor.livejournal.com/
http://davethepastor.vox.com/
Or visit New Hope!
http://www.newhopevalp.org/

2005-07-07T20:57:00.000-07:00

Told You Someone Liked Me :)

When She Smiles

2005-06-28T07:46:00.000-07:00

Someone on a forum I frequent wrote that he had images of the mountains on his screensaver because nothing in Florida is pretty enough.

I had to disagree.

Wherever Bunny is when she smiles, that's a pretty place.

The past few years haven't been easy for us. Leaving home, leaving our oldest son, coming to a place where money is tight, where change is tough - well, we have lost a lot while we've been here.

But she hasn't lost that smile.

It warms me.

Draining the swamp

2004-10-13T20:57:00.000-07:00

Picture if you will, a woman in the middle of trying to get 17 girls to learn about following Christ, to commit the Bible to heart, and to teach them to sing praises.

That's my sweetheart... the pastor's wife extraordinaire.

She came home tonight frustrated because she couldn't see the difference she makes.

My job then, is to show her.

Friends, ministry is tough work. Many of the kids she loves are only with us an hour or two a week. They come to us from hellish households and go back there.

But they come. And my wife pours her heart into their lives.

I think I'll keep her. :)

Was there ever a doubt? Somebody up there likes me.

While One Laughs, Another Cries

2004-10-04T18:46:00.000-07:00

We took some time and went to the beach again today, and if there's a more blessed man on the planet, I don't know him. Having the ability to head to the beach with the woman you've loved all your adult life is a blessing, but just having her is amazing. You see dear reader, I'm not exactly the easiest man to live with. You see I have this job where I'm never really off, where everyone's my boss, where the compensation is more spiritual than material. Then there's just the wonder that is me - moody, irritable, too quick to speak sometimes, and stubborn.

But she loves me. We had a wonderful afternoon.

About the same time I was enjoying the pleasure of her company, a friend was coming home. In the kitchen there was a note on the table. His wife and son were gone. She had to find some space. Behind her she left one mess of a marriage, a business, and a man's heart.

While one laughs, another cries.

Think I'll go kiss my bride.

A Day at the Beach

2004-10-01T19:09:00.000-07:00

The most beautiful woman I've ever seen and I went to the beach today. It was the first time since Hurricane Ivan.

Things have changed.

The beach is different. Much of the impossibly white sand was washed off and in its place was left almost normal sand. The beach is shorter due to the erosion and signs of struggle were everywhere.

But you know what? When we were out on the boggie boards floating on the water, or walking looking for shells, and I realized just how few times days like this happen to your average Joe...

Folks, somebody up there likes me.

Whew!

2004-09-25T20:31:00.000-07:00

Today began with clean-up day at church, progressed into clean-up day at home with grass (really leaf) cutting and car washing. Then drop by at a 50th BD party at church, a 30 minute breather then men's prayer.

Do I hang around church too much or what?

Still, to hear the men praying for God to strengthen their pastor and for God to speak through him, and protect him and his family is really humbling.

Tired but it's a good tired.

Gadget revenge

2004-09-22T21:01:00.000-07:00

There's a scene in one of master thespian Jim Varney's "Ernest" movies, where he becomes electrically charged by a brush with an electric fence. For a while there, anything electric near him went haywire (he was also magnetic, but that's another story).

That was me yesterday.

Color Laser? Error code blue.
Telephones? Barking static
DSL? on line, off line
PC? Cannot read from drive C
PDA? Stuck and had to be hard reset, thus losing my data

It got so bad I got out a pencil and a piece of paper. Remember those? I got into it though, so much that I pulled a rectangular object made of cloth, cardboard and paper off a shelf behind me.

I think they used to call them books.

All things considered...

2004-09-21T20:39:00.000-07:00

So, on my 51st birthday, I...

was awakened at 1:30 AM by an insistent Great Dane with diarrhea
and again at 4:20 AM
oh, and at 6:30 too
then I went to work where I
got to order toner for the copier
officiated at the funeral of our color laser printer
observed the demise of my pc's hard drive
and bounced emails all over the planet
coming home
I got to help clean up the schnauzer's throw up
and do it again
and then the Dane rained
again

so I take stock

wife - awesome
sons - great
family - supportive
home and hearth - intact and in the same place they were before Ivan
work - meaningful - eternally so

and I remember that I'm here because my Mother put her grief away in favor of love...

and I end the day certain that Somebody up there likes me.

2004-09-20T11:14:00.000-07:00

I told you Somebody up there likes me. (The Wilson's on the Gulf - from left to right, me, Bunny, and Sean)

It's a Clean-A Cane!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2004-09-20T10:26:00.000-07:00

Well, now that the storm has passed, 1.2 million leaves have been raked into piles, and thank God the power is back on, my bride has decided the next storm to hit Valparaiso is a CLEAN-A-CANE!

I was just asked to clean the ceiling fan blades, so this might be a Category 5.

Of course when she smiled, I forgot about the storm.

Somebody up there likes me.

Why No One Used To LIve In Florida

2004-09-18T19:10:00.000-07:00

One thing I have learned in the last three days is don't let those images of the sultry South fool you. No one would live here without A/C. It's just too hot and too buggy. It's as if every insect that's been shut out of the cold FL households has decided that it is open season on people.

In our house, the beauty that is my bride has alternated between threatening us with a butcher knife, and suggesting that Gulf Power folks should be hunted down like Al-Queda.

At one point my son and I thought about kidnapping a couple and holding them until the electricity flowed. But the heat got to us and we forgot what we were about to do.

But not having power did allow us an unfettered view of the stars tonight.

Somebody up there likes me.

Safe As I Can Make It

2004-09-13T21:38:00.000-07:00

Spent today getting ready for Ivan the Terrible. Since I have never experienced a hurricane, I might be at a disadvantage. But being a male, I tried to convert everthing into a to-do list of tasks.

Tree limbs away from windows. Check.
Gasoline in car. Check.
Batteries and flashlights. Check
Canned food and bottled water. Check.
Escape money. Check.
Cell phone charged. Check.

Check track of hurricane every chance you get. Check.

Well, it's as safe as I can make it.

Commence praying. Check.

There's All Kinds of Storms

2004-09-12T20:46:00.000-07:00

On a day after remembering 9-11, and three or four days before Hurricane Ivan might come, I'm realizing more and more that there's all kind of storms. In just our little congregation of 100 regulars, we have two sons in prison, people with cancer and other life threatening illness, at least one couple at the point of divorce. One lady lost her job, another can't find one.

Life is hard.

Yes, the hurricane may come, but there's all kinds of storms.

Praying for the God Who calmed the waters to calm lives tonight.

So David, What Do You Want In A Church?

2004-09-09T13:08:00.000-07:00

So what do I want in a church?

What I'd like is pretty normal for Acts 2. But way far distant from today's typical church.

I want to be involved with a group of people as a leader of a team that seriously wants to invest their lives in helping people find faith in Jesus. With people who expect each believer to grow in Him.

I want to not just share a common doctrine, or common tastes in worship, but our lives in community with one another. Real life - good and bad - tears and joy - with real people who love each other deeply, from the heart.

I want to be in ministry with people who are intimate with Christ, fresh with God, and directed not by money, power or career aspirations. The question my dream group would ask wouldn't be can we (because if God is in it...) wouldn't be should we (same reason), but when can we begin, and how many will we reach.

I want to help people realize that the best preaching they will ever hear may be far from church and not given by a preacher - and may not even include words. But I also want to bring the Word into their lives through the preaching event, and encounters in groups both large and small.

I want to be and work alongside people who are intentionally trying to create relationships with the unchurched - not with an ever-present agenda waiting for the time to turn the 4 spiritual laws loose on them - but with an ever-present care - genuine care - the soil that gospel seeds can be planted in.

I want to be on the journey with people who really want to know Christ better, and who aren't satisfied with yesterday's depth but press on toward deeper knowledge, understanding, and practice in their faith.

And finally, I want to work and be in an atmosphere of passion. Passion about what we have been given - the incredible honor of being involved with Christ in kingdom building. Passion such that we can't wait to come together to share what God is doing in our lives and the lives of those around us.

That's all.

And you know, the fact that God saved me and gave me a chance to work in His church among the people He loves is proof...

Somebody up there likes me. :)

The Case for a Creator

2004-09-07T21:26:00.000-07:00

Just finished reading the book by Lee Strobel again. Pretty amazing stuff, well documented. Then I pick up the newspaper and read of some astronomers claiming that some radio waves they picked up three times might be evidence of intelligent life elsewhere. Or.. it could just be hydrogen, since the frequency they heard was the same as hydrogen which is found throughout the universe.

Not sure I can make the case for intelligent life among that crowd.

Walking with the dolphins

2004-09-06T21:26:00.000-07:00

You didn't think I'd swim with them did you? No thank you. But yesterday as the BBD (big black dog) and I were walking along the levee, I hear a cough and turn my head to the water and 10-15 feet out a dolphin's fin rolls under the surface.

He paralleled us for a minute or two. Is that cool or what? I know I like the mountains, but what's the equivalent? Rambling with the racoons?

Somebody up there likes me!

David

Just Another Day At the Office

2004-08-30T07:55:00.000-07:00

Being a pastor is alternating joy and depression, exhilaration and discouragement. There are times that you are sure you can see God at work - changing lives, moving the Kingdom forward, and at others, you wonder where He is.

Yesterday, He showed up. A lady asked in small group Bible Study "Is there anything we can pray for the church about?", and I spilled my guts.

I talked about family and friends, about dreams and expectations, about what church could be if we'll share our lives together. And I think they got it. It's rare but when it happens it's as if God smiled.

Somebody up there likes me.

Summertime

2004-08-26T06:16:00.000-07:00

It's supposed to be that time when "fish are jumpin' and the cotton is high." Well, I saw one out of two this morning. 20 ft away from where the big Dane and I were walking, a dolphin rose out of the water and splashed back.

You know, I hear people pay money to see that sort of stuff.

Somebody up there likes me.

DSL DT's

2004-08-23T21:49:00.000-07:00

We've got them DSL's down blues here,
can't surf the net nor play no games.

We've got them DSL's down blues, Baby
Said, can't surf the net or play no games.

If Sprint don't get their act together quickly
Val-P cable's calling my name.

:)

Can I Have A Word?

2004-08-20T16:32:00.000-07:00

Had a friend come by this week, and he asked "can I have a word with you?"

He didn't just want one.

An hour later, he had delivered his message, challenging me and making me examine just what I'm doing and what I'm about.

Funny thing about it was that I had heard the same message from two other people that same day.

You know, even when it hurts to hear what He has to say, I'm convinced...

somebody up there likes me. :)

Home Is Where The Heart Is

2004-08-18T18:53:00.000-07:00

Went back to my birthplace for a couple days this week. You really can't go home again, or at least I can't. It was a shock to realize that. Home to me is my wife's embrace. It's where I can relax and be me.

It's here.

Disclaimers

2004-08-15T14:18:00.000-07:00

Well, I went to the blog to see what yesterday's post looked like and it looked good, but the banner above it didn't.

Titled "Positive Thinking", it stated that you could "learn how to change the polarity of your thoughts to change your life."

"Polarity of your thoughts?"

Sounds a lot like Wayne Dyer's "Power of Intention". You know,the idea that somehow by thinking really hard you can change reality. Yeah, right.

I can remember being 12 years old, standing on the roof of my Father's tractor shed clad in my makeshift Superman cape. I had just finished watching TV, and thought that I should be able to do that flying thing too. (Hey, I was young, okay :)

Gravity.

It takes power outside yourself to overcome it.

Reality. It takes power outside your ability to change it. I don't care how often you think positive thoughts, the real struggles we have are with forces beyond our ability to change.

"The Polarity of your thoughts". And they call Christians gullible. LOL!

As for me, it's enough to know that no matter what,

Somebody up there likes me.

The Calm Before

2004-08-14T19:43:00.000-07:00

Saturday night for many people who do what I do is a very stressful time. I'd confess that it has been for me on occasion too. After all, when your task the next day is to say a word for God, there does tend to be a certain tightening up.

But sometimes just the opposite happens. This week has been a blur, with the death of one of our members, and care for those left behind basically consuming most of the week. Great honor to be invited into their lives to help them walk through the valley of the shadow though.

So when tonight rolled around, the preparation factor wasn't what it usually is. Normally, I can write a sermon after researching it, sketching it out, and gathering all the ingredients - in two hours.

Tonight, after very little prep during the week - a lot of reflection, just not a lot of scholarly work - 1 hour.

Now I just have to pray I deliver it well.

It's the calm before..

Family Matters

2004-08-13T18:56:00.000-07:00

No, I mean really. Family matters.

Went to a funeral today for a woman of 80. Married 61 years, children, grandchildren, great grandchildren.

It was stunning to see the impact of one life lived well.

Frankly, I'm used to seeing just the opposite. Being a pastor today is like being am ER doctor. We are so used to dealing with families in crisis who have been living anyway they chose and are paying the price. I look at a Father whose disregard of responsibility in his rush for whatever pleases him. Or a mother in no sense of the word save biological. It's what's normal today.

So when I can pull back a family's curtain and find someone who laid her life down for her family, it's pretty special. Why should it be a shock?

If a butterfly's wings movement can affect the world, why not a mother's love?

Ironies

2004-08-10T17:26:00.000-07:00

It's ironic that the young man who avoided church, hated funerals, and basically just wanted to be left alone has wound up smack in the middle of all of those. Who says God doesn't have a sense of humor.

But you know, it's in those areas that I find myself bumping into God most often.

Today it was with church people at a funeral home. (almost called it a parlor - wouldn't that mark me as old :) ). While I helped them through making the arrangements for their mother's service, I was struck by the honor they had paid me by inviting me into this most personal and private world.

I knew who to thank.

Somebody up there likes me. :)

It's not all good, but it's pretty darn close

2004-08-09T19:27:00.000-07:00

Just sitting here listening to my wife and son go over a worship song. Her voice warms me still after 31 years together as a couple. It was 31 years ago on August 6th 1973 that a very scared young man asked a young woman to be his wife.

She said yes.

Nothing has ever been the same.

I hear some people say "it's all good." I can't say that, because in those years there's been some real heartache. My mother dies too early, our first grandchild is stillborn, people have wounded us...

But listening to her, thinking back on all the time we've spent together...

It may not be all good, but...

It's pretty darn close.