I Was Mighty Turned Around...

Daniel Boone is quoted to have said, "I've never been lost, but I was mighty turned around for three days once."

Well, while I not have been "lost", but for about a year I felt "mighty turned around"! (Who am I kidding! I felt lost!)

Some of you might have wondered what's been going on in my life recently, and especially for those in our congregation, I felt like I wanted to share with you a little bit of my journey.

Last year, as I approached 40, I began to really ask myself some questions, like;

• "What do I want to be when I grow up?"
• "Where do I want to live?"
• "What do I want to be remembered for?"
• "Am I at where I want to be?"
• "Is this all that life has to offer me, or is there something more I should be pursuing?"

Well, those questions sent me into a bit of a quandary, because I really didn't know how to answer those questions. (And that's not a fun place to live.)

The only sure things I knew were;

• I want to be in the center of God's will for my life.
• I want to finish my journey with my wife, Cyndi.
• God has called me to "serve" Him.

So, to make a really long story not quite so long, I think I experienced a mid-life crisis of sorts. I began to seriously consider packing up my wife and dog and running away from everything familiar, in order to try to find the answer to some of these questions.

Fortunately for me, God is good, our church is wonderful, and my wife is wise. So, since I have enough sense not to make a major shift without my wife's 100% support, we held steady. (Which wasn't too hard since we have a great life, here in Bayou Gauche).

This past spring, (2010), it felt like God broke His silence and spoke to me.

What He spoke to me helped me to understand that I'm exactly where He wants me to be, and I'm doing exactly what He wants me to be doing... it's just that I wasn't seeing what He wanted me to see.

So, I began to ask the Lord to help me to see what He wanted me to see. And, wow. This past summer, I saw some things that I've never seen before. You can call it "vision". You can call it a "dream". You can call it "connecting the dots". But whatever you call it, it's absolutely captured my imagination!

I can't wait to get up in the mornings, I hate to go to bed, and I don't want to do anything but pursue the vision/dream I believe God has for me and our church.

So, if it seems like I'm a little different... it's because I am.

And I just wanted you to know.

Writing a Book

If I were ever to write a book, I would like to call it, "Making Peace with My Parents, Making Peace with God, Making Peace with Myself."


MAKING PEACE WITH MY MOTHER

In the mid-90's I went through a very difficult period with my mother. It was awful and embarrassing. I didn't talk about it with anybody.

Here I was, a minister, and I couldn't even have a civil conversation with my mother.

Through God's grace, the sensitivity of a godly woman, a mutually respected friend, and a very supportive wife, my mother and I were able to put our relationship back together.

It was a very emotional and important experience for both of us.


MAKING PEACE WITH MY FATHER

My father disappeared from my life at such an early age, I literally had no memory of him. It was as if I never had a father. And what I didn't have, I didn't miss.

I would watch programs where people were reunited with long-lost relatives after years of searching. I never had any desire to re-connect with my father and wondered if there was something wrong with me.

When I met my father, it was a weird experience. I never knew him, but he knew me.

We decided together to leave the past in the past and forge a relationship looking forward only. I think it was healing for both of us.


MAKING PEACE WITH MYSELF

Growing up without a father, I always looked for the approval of older men who were like father-figures. While that doesn't sound so bad, it turned into a terrible insecurity.

I became obsessed with gaining the approval of men who I thought would somehow validate me with their acceptance. It's an awful way to live.

I became aware of what I was doing in my mid-20's. When I was 28, I had a very important moment when I realized I had to stop allowing my insecurity to undermine my life.

I became comfortable being me, for me. It's a much better place to live!


MAKING PEACE WITH MY GOD

When I was young, we went to the neighborhood church, where I was baptized as a small child.
But then we stopped.
Fortunately, I went just enough to know that God was out there, and that Jesus was His son.

When I was in 10th grade, in a World History class, I learned about the Reformation.
There was more than one flavor of Christianity? That was news to me!
I went looking for God, and a church where I could ease my guilty conscious.

What I found was some nice people, and a nice pastor, and even some sense of righteousness... after all, I was going to church! But what I did not find was God. So, that didn't last long.

During my senior year of High School, I invited myself to church with a friend that I knew was very committed to her church.
I'll never forget walking in that building. These people, in a very not weird way, acted like Jesus was real. That really messed me up.
My friend bought me a Bible the next day, and invited me to keep coming to church with her.
I did keep going.
And one day it happened. I heard the message.
I realized that I had been to church.
I realized that I had been baptized.
I realized that I had played in the bell choir, and had been to Vacation Bible School...
But what I realized that day was that I had never made Jesus Christ MY Savior.
And when the preacher gave the invitation, I raised my hand and prayed the prayer he prayed for me, and became a believer in, and a follower of Jesus Christ.
And that is what made it possible for me to make peace with my mother.
And that is what made it possible for me to make peace with myself.
Which in turn made it possible for me to make peace with my biological father.
All because I had made peace with my Heavenly Father through Jesus Christ, the Son.

We Love Our Community!

The men and women of our church hosted an Easter Egg Hunt and invited the community! We do almost zero advertising (other than facebook and a banner in front of our church) and still attract about 300-400 people for the event!

We provide hot dogs, drinks, face-painting, games, crafts, and about 15,000 candy stuffed Easter eggs! And we do it all for FREE! Of course, it's not really free, it was paid for and provided by the wonderful family of believers we call "Life Fellowship!"

Having a little fun with iMovie...

I was doing a little video editing when I had a silly thought.

Here's the result:

I don't know why, but it's funnier every time I replay it!

(Fortunately, Melissa's a great sport!)

Ha! This is a weird feeling!

So, I found myself on YouTube.

This is the pre-game, homecoming crowning from 1987.

Alhambra High School, CA.

This video was obviously intended to highlight

the homecoming court... but I'm in the video!

Look for me at about 4:30 - 4:45 or so... and again from 5:04 - 5:08!

That's me, the drum major, walking backwards,

with the trumpet tucked under my arm, on the 50 yard line.

(Don't listen to the music at the end,

I'm sure there was something wrong with the audio...)

Oh, and congrats to our homecoming queen too!

HaHaHa!!! This is too funny! (And I was so skinny)...

iBelieve: in The Church!

From week 4 of Life Fellowship's "iBelieve" series...

D-Day & The Church

(Featuring a Tribute to Howard Savoie, WWII & D-Day Veteran, Utah Beach)

Flashing Blue Lights in the Rear View Mirror...

I had an amazing thing happen to me. Blue lights flashed in my rear view mirror. I got pulled over.

"Driver's license, registration, and proof of insurance, please. I pulled you over because your inspection sticker is four months overdue. I'll be right back."

Well, this was actually the second time in my 25 years of driving I had been pulled over for this particular offense... and I knew it was going to be expensive.

"I'm going to let you off with a warning. Your record is clean, and I don't want to mess it up. Just get your inspection sticker taken care of, and have a nice day."

What?! Kindness? Compassion? Does it really still exist?!? It did today.

So thank you, Mr. Police Officer, for your act of kindness and compassion!

So I immediately started looking for a "brake tag" service station!

The first one I came across, I pulled into the driveway, and a friendly, grease covered young man smiled and waved me in.

"Flash your high beams! Now beep your horn! Turn signals! Brake lights! Reverse lights! Windshield wipers! Ok take this inside!"

I paid my $10, and complimented the young man. "You don't mess around, do you?"

"No sir!" he said with a grin...

"I saw your red sticker from last year, and knew exactly what you were here for!"

He scraped off my old sticker, and slapped my new one in place, carefully wiping the scratchings from the old sticker off my windshield and dash.

"This is my day!" I thought, as I reached into my wallet and pulled out a $5 bill.

"Put this in your pocket. Great job!"

He grinned. And on my way I went... all in under 5 minutes.

"Where do you find service like that, anymore?" I thought out loud. I did today!

So, kudos to you young man. I have a feeling you'll do very well in life...

It was an amazing afternoon. Or maybe I'm just easily impressed.