Time With The Senior Adults

Just about every Friday during the year a group of older members of our church gather in our fellowship hall for lunch and a “program”. The program part is presented by a member of the group or a special guest. The program can be a bible study, a testimony, singing or playing an instrument.

Last Thursday afternoon I got a call from my pastor asking me to be the guest speaker at the Sr. Adults meeting the next day. The scheduled guest had to cancel at the last minute. I’d been thinking about asking to go do something for the group for a while but hadn’t taken the initiative to set it up. The pastor suggested that I sing or give my testimony, or a short Bible devotional. I decided to do a combination of them all and more.

The next morning I took my old man puppet, Sherman, my harmonica and my Bible to the church. First thing I did was a ventriloquist sketch with Sherman. Because I was asked to speak with such a short notice I asked the group’s indulgence as I used a printed script for the performance. It’s the first time I’ve ever done that. The sketch had jokes about being old and the stock market. I used the old “look at that bunch of cows/not bunch, herd” joke. If you’re not familiar with that one ask me and I’ll let you in on it. I got quite a few laughs and everyone seemed to enjoy having Sherman there.

I played 2 of my favorite hymns, “Sweet Hour of Prayer” and “Fairest Lord Jesus” on my harmonica. Finally I gave a testimony in which I about talked about 5 things I have learned over the last year that have helped me be a better Christian. They included: the fact that Jesus still has a physical body today, the importance of living with a Godly perspective, the evidence and components of true salvation, looking for God’s creation of the fruits of the spirit in your life, and God’s sovereignty. I ended by thanking the group for their help and encouragement in my walk with The Lord. I stayed and ate a delicious lunch of roast beef and vegetables with some black forest type pudding for dessert.

I enjoyed my time with the Senior Adults and look forward to going back and speaking to them again. The experience of being up in front an audience of older people exclusively for the first time helped me realize that I am now ready to go to a nursing home to do a show. I’ve wanted to do that for a long time but didn’t think I was ready. Now I know I am. God used my fellow church members to help me take one of the next steps in my ventriloquism ministry.

James Goes Back To Iraq

This morning the last of our family's big events this month came to an end. I'm talking about my son James' leave from the military. His time away from his duty in Iraq was over about 8AM this morning when his fiance and I said "goodbye" to him at the Nashville airport.

James squeezed a lot of things into the 10 days he was home. He spent a lot of time with his fiance and his friends. He got together with his high school buddies a couple of times. When one of his friends was involved in a extremely serious motorcycle accident; James gave support to his friend's family by going to spend time with them at the hospital an hour away.

He went to church each Sunday morning he was home and attended the Hallelujah Hoedown; a special event and chili supper held at our church each October. He even roasted a hot dog over the campfire for me that night.

He spend a couple of evenings with his mom and I; watching movies and playing the game "Scatagories" and carving jack-o-lanterns . He and his fiance went to look at a house they were interested in buying and they announced their wedding date: May 16, 2009

In my opinion the 3 most important things James did while he was home are these. He attended his brother's wedding; he went to see the movie "Fireproof"; and he gave us an opportunity to spend time with his fiance, Brandi.

Michael and Heather's wedding was the main reason James came home on leave when he did. He requested the time off even before he left for Iraq back in April. It was really important for him to be here for the biggest day in his brother's life and he was. The picture at the top of this post was taken at the wedding.

The movie, "Fireproof", currently in theaters is the 3rd film produced by the Sherwood Baptist Church in Georgia (see September 27 post for more about this wonderful film). Because of their plans to get married before the middle of next year we highly recommended that while he was home, James and his fiance go to see it. Although it took them several attempts they did see "Fireproof". Without going into detail let me just say that God's timing in regard to when they did go to see it made it a very effective tool in growing their relationship.

I'm ashamed to admit but until this visit home for James I really didn't know much about his fiance. I hadn't been very nice to her until now and I am very sorry for that. However, the amount of time she spent here at our house with James and visiting with my wife, my family and me gave me an opportunity to see her for the person she really is. I made an effort to develop the kind of friendship and rapport with her that I should have had all the time.

As I said she rode with me to take James back to the airport and on the way home it was just the two of us. I don't think I've ever had a more pleasant conversation while driving on I-65 than I did with Brandi. I don't know how she feels but over the last 2 weeks I've come to feel that she is already part of my family. I won't go on much more than that because I don't want to get over emotional or corny about it. I am just happy that we are now friends. I'm thankful to God that he has changed my heart and allowed me to show kindness and a caring spirit to Brandi.

So James' visit is over and by the time I post this on my blog he will be well on his way back to Baghdad. He will only be gone a little over 3 months this time. Still I would like to ask that you continue to pray for his safety and emotional state. This will be the first time he will be away from his family during the holidays. He'll probably be very lonely come December. Paula and I both appreciate your prayers as does James.

Free Cell Update

163 days ago, on May 11, I started playing the Free Cell solitaire game on my computer. There are 1 million different games to be played. I started at game 1 and have played them in order until I have won them. As of the writing of this post I have completed 463 games. Do I know how to have fun or what?

I have averaged 3.5 tries to win those games. 212 of them I have won on the first try and 89 of them on my second try. The game I had the toughest time winning was game #169. I had to play 84 times before I won. So of all the games I’ve played so far 65% of them I’ve won in 2 tries or less. I have averaged playing 2.8 games a day. At that rate it will only take me 912 more years to play all 1 million games. I guess I’d better get busy.

Mr. Anonymous Update

Several of my blog readers have asked me about what has happened between me and “Mr. Anonymous” after the post I wrote a couple of weeks ago.

I have exchanged a few emails with “Mr. Anonymous,” Even after challenging him to come out from “behind the curtain” of anonymity he sent me emails as “Mr. Anonymous" with an email address created on Yahoo that doesn't have a profile; so I still don’t really know who he is.

His emails were just as vicious and insulting toward me and Christianity as his comments on my blog. I wrote back to him each time and explained some of the things he didn’t understand about God’s truth. I shared with him as best as I knew how the gospel and God’s plan for salvation. I challenged him to evaluate his own life and decide what god he was serving and what the purpose of his own life might be.

I also told him that I would continue to use our correspondence as an opportunity to share and explain God’s word to him. I also told him I would never stop telling him emphasizing the urgency with which he needed to consider the fate of his own sinful state in regard to the brevity of his life and his relationship with God.

The last email I got from him, after my 2nd lengthy email back to him, was just one word: “Hallelujah” underlined.

I replied to that email letting him know that during this week of revival services at our church my prayers for him would take top priority in my heart and mind. So that’s where things stand with “Mr. Anonymous.”

Finally I just want to say “thank you” to those of you who have expressed concern and supported me during the time I’ve been corresponding with him. At first his insults and expletive littered opinions about me bothered me a lot. Then I read a booklet by John MacArthur called “Found: God’s Will.” In one chapter he wrote about the boldness with which the disciples, Peter and James, initially preached the gospel despite being persecuted and threatened by the Jewish leaders.

Realizing that God wants me to continue to preach the gospel every opportunity I get no matter what the circumstances I did my best to continue my consistent message to my email “buddy.” I stopped taking the insults and angry statements personally and saw them as the opportunity to share Jesus with someone who so badly needs it.

That’s the update for now. I’ll let you know if anything else happens. Thanks for your support.

Monday Morning Departure

All too quickly the time for my family from Pennsylvania's departure arrived on Monday morning, October 13. In the past they have stayed a total of 5 full days during the summer. They made this trip in the fall in order to attend my son's wedding. Because of school and job responsibilities they were only able to stay through the weekend.

At 10AM a group of 9 drove from the small hotel in our town to a Cracker Barrel restaurant about 30 miles north. We chose to eat our breakfast there because it was the direction the family had to travel anyway.

For about an hour we sat and ate and talked. We laughed and remembered the last 4 days together. When our meal was over we gathered in the parking lot and said our "good byes." Hugs and phrases like "I'm gonna miss you" and "wish it could have been a longer stay" were exchanged. I was so caught up in the moment I forgot that I wanted to say a prayer of blessing over my family before they left.

As everyone got into their vehicles and were about to leave I turned on the radio in my car. The song "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" was on the radio. I thought it was rather ironic so I drove up to each of the vehicles my sisters were in and made sure they heard the song playing.
With that we got back onto the interstate heading south and the six from Pennsylvania headed north.

Our family visit was over and there was a bit of sadness in the air. But there was also a spirit of joy in my heart. That joy stemmed from both the chance to once again spend time with some of the people I love the most and the hope that I would see them again, God willing, next spring. That's when they plan on coming back again to help us celebrate yet another family wedding.

A Super Sunday

For the second time since they have been coming down to visit on their vacation my Pennsylvania family went to church with my Kentucky family today. It was really cool that there was so many of us we filled one pew and part of another.

What was really special for me was that I got the opportunity to perform a ventriloquist sketch for my family for the first time. I did a sketch I had written a while ago using Cecil the Turtle as my puppet. The biggest laugh I got was a joke I wrote myself about “Reynolds’ Wrap.” My brother in law, Bob, was very complimentary to me telling me that after just a few minutes he really felt like he was watching two different characters having a conversation.

After church we went back to our house and had lunch from the Subway restaurant in our town. Since this was the Pennsylvania family’s last full day with us Paula and I decided to make them a special dinner. As I wrote in my post a couple of days ago my wife did most of the work for this meal.

About mid afternoon my niece, nephew and my two brothers in law and I went into town to do some food shopping for dinner. We went to Sam’s Club and Wal-Mart. Also on our trip was a stop at a couple of local book stores to get my niece and nephew belated birthday gifts. They each found books they were interested in reading. After about 3 hours or so shopping we went home so we could begin preparing dinner.

On the menu for the last dinner of the family visit were: grilled chicken breast and pork tenderloin (James did another wonderful job with the grill), southern style green beans, deviled eggs, Mexican style and regular corn bread with Chess cake for desert.

After dinner we relaxed for a while to let our food settle. Some of us sat at the kitchen table drinking coffee and relaxing. Soon we divided up into teams (women vs. men) and played a game called “Cranium.” It was a game that was a combination of charades, Pictionary, Name That Tune, and more.

The game was fun but everyone grew tired as it got later. I believe everyone was a little relieved when the woman finally won the game.

Soon it was time for everyone to start thinking about the PA family’s pending departure the next morning. As we gathered the things they had here at the house, including their dog’s crates and some things I had given them, we made plans for breakfast the next morning.

We would leave our little small town and go to a Cracker Barrel in a town just north on I-65 for our final moments together as a united family.

As the evening came to an end and I was very grateful to have had such a Super Sunday. As I went to be that night I realized that within 12 hours our much too short visit with my sisters would be over.

Going To The Chapel

The most significant event in my family in nearly 6 years happened at 2 PM on Saturday October 11 at a small chapel in Nashville, Tennessee. My son, Michael and his fiancé, Heather, became husband and wife.

The chapel was the Bridal Path Chapel just off Briley Parkway in Nashville. If you have ever driven to the Nashville airport you have seen the sign for the chapel on the left a few miles after you passed the Opryland hotel and Opry Mills Mall complex. It was a simple but lovely ceremony. About 30 guests attended and the bride’s grandfather walked her down the aisle.

After the ceremony the chapel photographer took a series of posed pictures. Then all the guests showered the newlyweds with bubbles as they exited the chapel.

Although there was no formal reception planned a group of about 20 or so guests, mostly family members from both sides went to an Olive Garden restaurant, just outside the city for a very nice late afternoon meal together.

The waitress’ service and the food were terrific and made for a memorable ending to the day's events. It was great to be a part of this wonderful day in my son’s life. Having, James home from Iraq, and my family from Pennsylvania here made it very special for me.

The newly married couple will spend their honeymoon at “The Happiest Place On Earth”, Walt Disney World in Orlando Florida. I pray God’s blessing on their lives and on their marriage.