Catch Up

I can't believe it has been since November that I have posted something.

I have been really busy and also have had a nagging illness. I finally went to the dr yesterday and am on the road to recovery. Here are some highlights of the past weekend

Low light: Friday night Oceans 12 was sold out...went to Alexander...Don't see it. Most boring 3 hours of my life.

Saturday: I ran in my first race. My official time was 37:03. I thought for sure it was in the 36 range but oh well. I had also thought I was the last male, I was not! There were some others behind me. So out of 84 runners I placed 56th. Not bad for my first race.

Saturday for lunch was Jones' Christmas. It was wonderful to see Chuck, Jane and Brent and my Uncle Zane and Betty.

Saturday evening I went to the Commanders for the annual Gigerbread house decorating. It was a wonderful evening.

This week has been rough I have had a headcold and sporatic fever and some trouble breathing. I hope to be over this soon.

And then they return

Since Auburn is on semesters the pace between Thanksgiving and Christmas is frantic. Students are cramming for finals and writing papers. I had an ok week. Great lunch with parents and grandmother (Jones) and a wonderful dinner with some church friends. God has blessed me to have another birthday. I am the big 29. I thought I had matured enough not to be upset that my family could not be down to celebrate it but I am not. I missed both of my brothers and their families immensely. Oh well...maybe 30 won't matter.

A Ghost Town

Well Thanksgiving break is here and all the college students have left so traffic is back to a medium-sized town. Tomorrow the city schools are out so even more people will leave. While I love the quietness that surrounds holidays here in Auburn, I miss the presence of all my friends. This year for Thanksgiving our family will be small in number, so I think my parents, my grandmother and I are going to go to Cracker Barrell for T-day lunch. I am looking forward to it.
This blog does not have much substance but oh well.

Grace & Mercy Revisited

What is the difference between grace and mercy?

One Small Word & The Sins of the Father

So, I am the church office manager. I create, print and copy the Sunday Bulletin. I don't think I have ever not made a mistake in the bulletin but the one this past Sunday had to be the most funny and embarrassing. I blame it on my father and in some ways my brothers. It is there humor that made me type it, I am sure. So the huge mistake I made that was printed in the pewsheet and up on the screen was......."Walking alone with Eve" It is amazing how much difference one word makes. Though I did get one comment that they would enjoy that song a lot more than the true version.

Moving through the Hurt

Experiencing hurt hurts. It makes me sick to my stomach. I lose motivation to do things that either have to do (work) or love to do (play). It is amazing how much God's comfort can be present but yet the pain is still there. I know God is helping me through this but he is not taking it away from me. My friends can offer no words of comfort, really only their presence seems to help. Just to know I am not alone. Life's hard lessons are a tough pill to swallow. But I guess it is true what doesn't kill us, makes us stronger.

Grace & Mercy

A group of my friends and I recently have been going through personal battles in which we have given or received Grace and Mercy. I was once asked the question can one really give grace if they have never accepted it from God. I don't know how to answer that question, but I do know it is easier to give grace to those who give grace to others but it is difficult to give grace to those who seemingly appear to refuse to give grace. Caedmon's Call has a song that has been in my head for about a week.


I am the woman at the well, I am the harlot
I am the scattered seed that fell along the path
I am the son that ran away
And I am the bitter son that stayed

My God, my God why hast tho accepted me
When all my love was vinegar to a thirsty King?
My God, my God why hast thou accepted me
It's a mystery of mercy and the song, the song I sing

I am the angry man who came to stone the lover
I am the woman there ashamed before the crowd
I am the leper that gave thanks
But I am the nine that never came

My God, my God why hast thou accepted me
When all my love was vinegar to a thirsty King?
My God, my God why hast thou accepted me
It's a mystery of mercy and the song, the song I sing

You made the seed that made the tree
That made the cross that saved me
You gave me hope when there was none
You gave me your only Son

My God,My God,Lord you are my God.
My God,My God,Lord you are my God.
My God,My God,Lord you are my God.
My God,My God,Lord you are...my God.

Thank God for Praying Parents

This past weekend, I was privileged to meet the parents of one of my close friends. They were the type of people who made you feel like family before the first five minutes had elapsed. But more important than that was their language when talking about their son's move to Auburn 750 miles from home. "We prayed every morning for him to find a church home and Christian friends." God not only answered their prayers but blessed me and the others this guy has befriended. I remember as a child my parents praying for us every morning. If I had a problem or was upset, I would crawl into bed with them and Dad or Mom would pray.

It is is legacy, I am still striving to uphold. My brothers have also strived to continue the legacy. They pray with their children every night.

Thank you God for praying parents.

Pumpkin Carving

This evening after Auburn beat the Arkansas Razorbacks, a group of my friends came over for some enchilladas and fellowship. We ate on the deck just laughing about life and quoting "Princess Bride." Then we carved pumpkins. God has blessed me with friends who know how to laugh at themselves but also can be so dedicated to their beliefs. It is amazing how you can find out about someones heart just by watching them carve a pumpkin. Or maybe in the grand scheme of things it is not what we did other than spend time together. I think back to my family, the night of Christmas carols around the tree, the Friday night Game night. Even when I was too young to play Rook or Scrabble, I was still spending time. I wonder how much better relationships in the church body would be if we spent more time in just normal life rather than looking at the back of their head for an hour.

From "At Home in Mitford"

“Father Tim, I'm dying.".... “I'm asking you to help me find something to make the rest of my life worth living.”

When I read this passage of the book, I just sat and thought for a moment if I was really living as if I was dying. Not in an urgent way but do I realize that God is using me right now. Even when he is preparing me for something in the future he still expects me to serve him. Not take a break or wait. I don’t know if this makes sense but it has really made me think eternally instead of temporally.

It's A Family Thing

This past weekend my entire immediate family went to Stone Mountain Park in GA. It was a great time. It is times like these that I appreciate what family means, even when it means you have inherited your father's humor. For me our family is more that just blood related. We have a connection that goes beyond physical blood because I love my sisters-in-law just as much as my brothers. We all care for each other and give each other a hard time. So often I think we miss the boat when it comes to church family. There are times where I can't stand to be around my biological family yet we think that the church family should be immune to that feeling. And the antithesis is true as well. We should rejoice with a church family member just the same as we would with a biological family member.

Get out of the Boat?

I recently asked myself if work in ministry was really the way I was wanting to go for my life. A good friend said that it is ok to be safe...but there are also times where you have to get out of the boat. So I have been praying for God to help me know when to get out of the boat and when to stay. It is a difficult thing because even being safe has some dangers and disappointements.

Marriage Wisdom

The past Sunday for class we had a marriage panel. 3 couples spoke on the ups and downs of marriage. It was wonderful to listen to so much life wisdom. I am afraid they painted a very different picture of marriage than what we see on TV. They all said marriage was hard work. To quote a singer/storyteller David Wilcox "Yeah but it's good work, if you can get it!" While I am no closer to getting married than a snail is to beating the world's record in the 100 yard dash, I do value learning about marriage. It helps me realize what the foundation is for all relationships, including my relationship with God. It begins with love. That enigmatic word that is really not a feeling at all but an action. It is how people will know we are Christians, it is how family and friends know we belong to each other. It is the tie that binds.

Change

The constant in this world is change.

I sometimes wonder what exactly a butterfly remembers. Does it remember when it was land-bound? Does it realize how different it is now?
Does it sometimes take a cocoon to bring out the beauty in us? Perhaps that why Jesus went to pray alone, those were his cocoon moments.
Even a social butterfly needs to retreat sometime.
~DD

Prayer

I have been taught my entire life that prayer is powerful. Yet I still doubt that my prayers matter or can be effective. I still fall into thinking that prayer is only acknowledgement but it is still my problem to fix.  In other words...I can leave things at the foot of God, but later I will run back and say..."Nevermind about this God, I can take care it"  Perhaps one day, I can give my worries, petitions and requests to God and forever leave it with him.

Ok so up till recently I was not sure what to "blog" about. But something happened this past weekend that changed me. I was a part of a wedding where the groom had no family. His father had been absent from his life since around 12 and his mother, aunt and grandmother, all of whom were primary caregivers through adolence and college years had all passed away. He has a sister who is mentally challenged and their relationship is more guardian/child than family.For all practical purposes, he had no family. There was no place to go for Christmas, Thanksgiving or other holidays that are typically the norm for most people. So I saw his bride coming down the isle. I knew that he would never be without a family again. He would always belong to someone.
And then i understood a little bit better about the analogy of the church being the bride. Marriage is something that creates a bond. We are bonded together in Christ. We will always belong.
~~DD

Greetings! Welcome to David's Blog. You may or may not be excited about this but I sure am.