broken but not crushed

Oooops...Sorry for another lapse.

2006-11-16T15:19:00.000-05:00

OK, my friends, so I write for a while and then take a break – I guess that has become my habit. I apologize for the empty places, but knowing myself as well as I do, sadly, I don’t really think I’m likely to change. I learned a while back that as we age we don’t really change, we just become more of what we already are. That is an interesting concept isn’t it? If we are grouchy when we are younger we just get more grouchy as we gray. If we are sweet and kind we just get more sweet and more kind. I hope I am the latter and not the former.

I’m reminded of a list – yes I’m still making lists (I hope they are useful to you). The Apostle Peter writes in what is called guttural Greek. Not terribly polished and not exactly great literature, Peter just gets right to the point and says what needs said in simple, easy language. He was a simple man, an uneducated fisherman who understood nets and boats but probably only learned how to read and write as an adult. He was a Galilean, considered hicks and hillbillies by the rest of Jewish society. But he was anointed by God to preach, and he knew Jesus personally, so when he preached or taught, people listened.

Peter’s list of how to live a Godly life is found in 2 Peter 1:5-11. I’ll give you the PDV…

“Whatever you do, your first step has GOT to be that you have faith in God. But then you need to add – in this order – goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and love. These won’t all come at once, but once they do, you need to let them grow and grow – because if you don’t you’ll become useless to God and to yourself. But if you let them increase in you, you can’t fall and God will welcome you home with flying colors when the time comes.”

Faith
Goodness
Knowledge
Self-control
Perseverance
Godliness
Brotherly kindness
Love

As you think about this list remember that you begin at the beginning and end at the end. You can’t just jump in anywhere you want, this is a progression and each thing on the list needs done in the order given. Ask God to help you understand how to successfully make this journey. And let this list become your road map toward godliness. As you practice his presence and immerse yourself in the godly disciplines, you will see a growth and closeness to the Lord you’ve never known before – and you’ll love it!

Have a great day!
Dwight
RevPapaD@yahoo.com

Get up and Go!

2006-10-23T14:37:00.000-04:00

Dear Fellow Travelers,
We’ve been taking a look at a few habits that ought to be common to every believer. We’ve called them the 6 Basic Disciplines of a Godly Person, and what we have discovered is that these disciplines, though common, are where the Devil fights his hardest in our lives. We’ve already looked at the first 2 concerning God’s Word and prayer, and today we look at #3 - Attend a Bible believing church for worship and fellowship - and go there often.

I have heard literally thousands of excuses why people didn’t go to church. I have also heard a few real reasons, but, let’s face it, most of the time our ‘reasons’ aren’t even good excuses. We know we’re supposed to get up and go - goodness, most even know that God himself said, “Do not forsake assembling together”. But I confess, sometimes, especially when you are broken, you really have to take hold of yourself by the scruff of the neck like a naughty puppy and make the extra effort or you’ll just sit home and watch TV. Trust me, I’ve been there.

Why is going to church so important? There are two primary reasons, in my humble opinion – worship and fellowship. But the truth is that these two cannot be separated from each other. We worship the Lord with our whole heart, and in church we share that experience with other people. God’s blessing then comes on the “body” of believers and we are changed together. How amazing! Let’s look at the list …

1. We need each other. In a recent survey 80% of respondents gave “to see friends or family” as either the first or second reason they go to church. The opposite is also true: we will only stay in a church if we believe we will make real friends there.

2. Worship is better together. Yes, it is possible to worship the Lord at home and we ought to, but there is something special about doing it in a group of like minded people.
a. We sing along even if we can’t sing all that well,
b. We pray together and draw strength from touching God together,
c. We sense God’s presence as a group and for some reason it feels more authentic.

3. We learn from each other, getting insights we might never have known – two [or more] heads really are better than one! From preacher, teacher, and just ordinary conversation in the hall our brains are engaged by being together.

4. We are encouraged by each other. We all need a pat on the back now and then – and when things are going rough on us we need the strength we get from others who love us. The flip side is also true, that is, when we are strong and things are right in our world, it is good for us to share our strengths with others.

5. We touch one another – actual, physical touching has healing and strength attached that cannot be explained. A simple touch is enormously powerful, especially in our detached, sterile world. A shared hug strips away some of the ugliness from our lives and leaves us feeling loved and cared for.

6. We celebrate each other’s victories and share each other’s sorrows. When you do something good it’s nice to be recognized for it, and when you are broken or burdened its great to have someone share the load. A friend can be the difference between failing and staying the course.

The bottom line is that the church body is our “other” family – sometimes more important to us than our biological one, and we REALLY DO NEED EACH OTHER! So, find a good church where the Bible is taught as truth, Jesus is Lord of all, God is worshipped in spoirit and in truth, and you get to share your life with a few good friends.

Until we meet again,
Dwight
RevPapaD@yahoo.com

2006-10-20T16:42:00.000-04:00

Dear Fellow Travelers,

“OK, Dwight, I’m reading and I’m praying, but how do I know if I’m getting through? I mean, how can I know that what I’m hearing is really God?” I hear you, friends. This whole spiritual journey we are on can sometimes be frustrating. Really, how DO you know it’s God talking and not some figment of your imagination or even worse, wishful thinking on steroids? As you might expect, I have an answer for you, and once again, it is from “The Book”.

Might I re-mention something first – recognizing God’s voice comes with practice. When my daughter calls on the phone I don’t have to guess who it is, I know who it is. I am familiar with her voice because I’ve heard it a thousand times and I want to hear it a thousand more.

Now, to today’s list. The following are six ways we can recognize God’s voice, that is, ways we can be sure that it is God talking and not something else.

1. God tends to speak gently. What a great story you will find in 1 Kings 19:11-13. If you are expecting this big booming voice sounding suspiciously like Carleton Heston with major reverb goin’ on, well, its not likely going to be like that at all.

2. God’s voice produces freedom. Matthew 11:28-30 I don’t mean to sound cryptic here – but so much of what we hear today causes conflict, stirs up trouble, or places the listener under some kind of obligation (bondage). But when God speaks we are better off after than we were at the start.

3. God tends to speak while we are consciously seeking him. Deuteronomy 4:29 and 2 Chronicles 7:14 Interesting, isn’t it? God is the ultimate gentleman – he does not intrude into our lives if we don’t want him there. Jeremiah 29 11-13 says “For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

4. God speaks only the truth. Isaiah 45:19 as well as a whole bunch more – email me for more if you need them. In a world filled with lies and deception, political advertising and false religions, we desperately need to hear the truth, and God is bound by his own character to always be true.

5. God convicts only of specific sin. John 16:7-11 This is REALLY important. I’ve counseled so many people whose lives are short-circuited but have no idea why they feel “unforgivable” – they just somehow “feel bad” all over, like they are condemned. This is a lie from the pits of Hell itself. Yes, God does hate sin and convicts us when we are wrong, but he’s not EVER going to just make you just feel bad, or dirty, or useless. If you did wrong you will know the specific time and place, and, to be forgiven, you will need to confess and repent of specific sin, then stop doing it.

6. God does not confuse us. 1 Corinthians 14:33 Listen, if you are confused about an answer, the best course of action is to wait. God is NOT a God of confusion, but Satan is. Psalm 27:14 “Wait for the Lord, be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord”. Psalm 46:10 “Be still and know that I am God”. We can make bad decisions if we get impatient. Learn to take “what a while” for an answer and then wait until you get the assurance that you “know” God’s heart.

Well, I hope this helps when you are wondering if the voice you hear when you pray is God or last night’s pepperoni pizza. Joking aside, re-read the list and take it to heart. Study the scriptures attached to each one and find out what God has to say on the subject.

And until we meet again,
Dwight
RevPapaD@yahoo.com

Find Your Umbrella

2006-10-17T16:01:00.000-04:00

Dear Fellow Travelers,

Let me tell you, Satan will do ANYTHING to keep you from connecting with your heavenly Dad. Our daily time with the Lord will be buffeted by every imaginable kind of storm and, well, we might as well face it, sometimes we get side tracked or off track. The Devil desperately wants you to give up, but there is great value to hanging in there. So, today I’m just going to remind you of two critically important things that I call “Umbrella Principles” (because they cover everything).

First, just like any good relationship, this is going to take time.

Time is a factor that we must never ignore because it is at the root of every good relationship. Goodness knows we live in a hurried world. All week long we jump out of bed at the last minute so we can rush the kids to school and ourselves to work, and after hours of rush projects we rush home, then rush through our microwaved dinner so we can rush the kids to soccer practice. On Sunday we rush through our shower and breakfast, hurry the kids and our spouse into the car and rush to church – and once we are there we rush to talk to ALL our friends before getting to the main service where we take our first real breath of the day while jotting notes in our PDA, all the while wondering how long the line will be at Bob Evans if the preacher preaches too long. Goodness, I can feel my blood pressure rising just writing it down!

Is it any wonder we don’t get much spiritual food in church?

Hey, if you are married you know that you didn’t meet your spouse and marry them the next afternoon, now, did you? Of course not. A good courtship takes time. You go to dinner and talk about “sweet nothings”. You stroll along a side street and, literally, stop to smell the roses. I mean real roses and real stopping. Amazing that the world didn’t collapse because we weren’t in such a rush, huh?

Listen – EVERY good relationship is going to require an investment of time, and so will your relationship with God. So don’t be in a hurry. Your time with God will get better if it is nourished and fed- and given time to develop - like any good relationship. And if you don’t plan to MAKE the time, it just won’t happen. Put time with God in your daytimer and put a star beside it as a priority – then don’t ignore your daytimer!

And while you’re at it, think a moment about the second umbrella principle – hearing clearly requires quiet.

It is NOISY out there, and if we allow our souls to be disengaged by the noise of natural existence we will never be able to hear God speak. And yes, God DOES speak to us mortals and he DOES give us clear directions for living. But I guess you’ll just have to tune in next time to see that list.

So, until then, find a quiet place and spend some time with your ‘Dad’.
Dwight
RevPapaD@yahoo.com

Practical suggestions

2006-10-16T11:07:00.000-04:00

Dear Fellow Travelers,

How are you doing out there in blogland? Are you keeping up with things or do you find yourself in a rush but not quite getting everything done?

Sadly, one of the first things to be dropped by the wayside when our lives get really busy is our private time with the Lord. Because we quite often can’t see immediate results we tend to make trade offs – we trade important things for urgent and we trade the permanent for the temporary. It is a natural phenomenon, but that doesn’t make it very smart, now does it.

The problem is, though, that if we don’t keep at it, our prayers become shallow, selfish, and ineffective. Do you want a powerful prayer life? I know I do, so here are some practical truths and some suggestions for having an effective prayer life - and note, they are all based on God’s Word!

1. The length of the prayer does not determine its value. (Matthew 6:7)

2. Effective prayers come from a humble heart. (Luke 18: 9-14)

3. Be specific. God wants to grant the desires of your heart. (Psalm 20:4)

4. Ask according to God’s will and his Word. (James 4:3 and 1 John 5:14)

5. Pray in faith and with thanksgiving. (Philippians 4:6)

6. Don’t give up! Persevere in prayer. (Luke 11:5-10)

Well, give these thoughts a try and see if they improve the effectiveness of your time with God. If the Bible is true – and it is – then you should be on your way to powerful praying!

Keep up the good work,
Dwight
RevPapaD@yahoo.com

Next stop on our Journey

2006-10-13T17:06:00.000-04:00

Dear Fellow Travelers,

Let’s take another step in our shared journey into the basic disciplines of the godly person. We’ve been talking, in the last few blogs, about getting into God’s Word, the Bible. I hope and pray that you’ve gleaned some insight into new and different ways to connect with your heavenly Dad and to hear what he’s saying to you, personally.

Today we turn down a different street in our disciple’s village. As we examine the addresses on the houses we find one that is called ‘prayer’ – easily one of the most talked about yet most misunderstood of the spiritual disciplines. Though it might seem like we are getting the cart before the horse, one of the first question that comes to most people’s minds is “how does God answer prayer? So here are the “Five Ways God Answers Prayer”, according to the Bible.

1. “I love you too much to answer yes.” 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 Let’s be honest, everything we ask God for isn’t really good for us, and He knows better than to give us what we want. Remember Garth Brook’s song “Thank God for Unanswered Prayers”.

2. “No, not yet. You must wait for my timing.” Daniel 2: 20, 21 and John 11: 13-15 Hey, I get in a hurry, too! But God’s timing is always better than ours so we’ve got to learn to wait a while – ugh!

3. “I hear you, and if you insist, I’ll say yes. But this is not the best for you and you will soon discover that.” Psalm 106:15 It is true. God sometimes gives us the desires of our hearts - even when he knows we’ll be sorry for it later. These are lessons in waiting on God, realizing we aren’t as smart as we think we are, and learning to trust. Hard, sometimes painful lessons, for sure.

4. “YES, I though you would never ask!” Matthew 7:7-11 God really IS our heavenly Dad, and just like good dad’s everywhere, he loves to give his kids good gifts – and in His case, he can afford to give everything he wants to give. Now THAT’S cool!

5. “Yes, and here is even more than you asked or even dreamed you could have.” 1 Kings 2:12, 13 and Ephesians 3: 20. From his never ending supply he can even outstrip our imagination. In fact, right now God is planning for you things that are beyond your wildest dreams.

Well, as far as I can tell these are the primary ways, according to the Bible, that God answers when we call. And no, I don’t really like the “wait” or the “no” any more than you do, but they are necessary for us so they are part of God’s plan. Remember, He doesn’t do anything that is for our harm, even when it seems that way at first, and even along the way. I, too , have a lot of questions for him when he releases me from this broken body, but until then, I – and you – are asked to trust. So I do.

Well, until next time, remember discipline #2 - Pray - at first, just do it, then keep at it until your prayers are powerful and effective.

Dwight
RevPapaD@yahoo.com

Practical "Do It's"

2006-10-11T10:39:00.000-04:00

Dear Fellow Travelers,

The past couple days I’ve been in the woodshop and have had great times. But my mind has also been running over this whole business of talking to you about getting into God’s Word. We all know it is really important, but, sadly, it can also become tedious – or boring. No, I’m not being sacrilegious, but seriously, folks, if we don’t vary the approach we will, sooner or later, just stop. We both know that!

We can fix it in several ways. Yep, another list.

1. Read or listen to different versions. There are lots of them out there and lots of ways to buy them inexpensively online. Just make sure they are the real thing – some groups have generated strange “versions” of the Bible that are really off the wall. And for pity’s sake, get something up to date. One more 300 year old version isn’t likely going to change your attitude.

2. Write your own version. I don’t mean sit down with a quill pen and copy the whole thing like a monk. Rather, choose a scripture that is meaningful to you, or is complex, or that causes a question in your mind, then write your own version in your own hand. Mine is called the PDV – Pastor Dwight’s Version. It’s my favorite version to quote – in fact, I’ve used it in my blogging so you’ve already seen it.

3. Take smaller bites. Sometimes we think we have to ‘finish the chapter’ or we haven’t actually “had our devotions”. Baloney! Sometimes a few words are enough to jumpstart our thinking toward spiritual issues so don’t become personally legalistic. What a drag!

4. Remember that your attitude will determine your altitude. If every time you sit down to read your Bible you are thinking “well, here we go again” it’s not likely going to change your day much. Just think, you get to hear God talk to you – and how cool is that !!!

5. Also remember, there is one ingredient that defines every relationship – time. So plan to make the time necessary. Do not relegate your time with God to whatever might be left over – because we both know there is seldom any time “left over”, and then you are exhausted.

6. Create a sacred place where you and God meet regularly. A certain chair, a place at your desk, a corner of the basement or spot under the tree. Just pick a place and go there to read and pray every day (we’ll talk about that tomorrow), preferably at the same time every day. It’s like an appointment for dinner with your sweetheart – something you wouldn’t miss for anything.

7. Take a break. “Oh my goodness are you saying its OK to stop reading for a while?” I sure am. I love to eat. But I tell you, after Thanksgiving dinner and three kinds of pie, I’m not really all that interested in more - even steak or ice cream. Take a vacation that will allow your mind to hunger once again for the real soul food and water that the Bible is. And remember, vacations are short. Take a break, then get back in the habit.

My oh my, I’ve gone on longer than I figured on. Please know that these lists are intended to jog your thinking and are not anywhere near a completed essay on the subject. They are just ideas that work. The most important rule in Bible reading is well said in the Nike commercial – just do it!

Till we meet again,
Dwight
RevPapaD@yahoo.com

A list on the list in the list - huh?

2006-10-06T11:27:00.000-04:00

Dear Fellow Travelers,
It would appear that I struck a nerve with yesterday’s blog. Lot’s of folks have written or called to tell me that this “simple yet profound” list was actually a bunch of lists inside a bigger list. They are right. Tell you what – let’s take a closer look at the lists inside the list before I throw another big list at you. We’ll start today - OK?

The first of those disciplines was “Get into God’s Word - read it, study it, memorize it, think about it (meditate), share it.”

Read it. The obvious place to begin. Most people have their big difficulty starting the habit of just reading it on a regular basis. Once the habit is established it is much easier to move onto the next parts of the list. And there are lots of different ways to read the Bible, too. Wow, a list inside the first list that was in the list. Pretty cool! Here are a few ideas you might like to try.

1. Pick a book of the Bible – not the whole thing, just one book – and read it like a novel: that is, read it for ‘fun’. You will find some really good, enjoyable, engaging stories this way. Old Testament history books like Samuel or Nehemiah, or love stories in Esther and Ruth are likely ‘true novels’.

2. Read a shorter book all the way through to get the big picture. Ephesians or Philippians can actually be read in less than 15 minutes and the benefits are immeasurable.

3. In the back of most Bibles you’ll find a thing called a concordance. Pick a word and just find out what the Bible has to say about that one word. As a cabinetmaker I love searching for tree species to find out who used them and what they were used for.

4. The old fashioned “chapter a day keeps the devil away”. Be careful – you can get pretty legalistic about this and end up reading but not retaining the information.

5. Take your Bible outside and read a Psalm out loud. Um, not at your neighbor’s window – you won’t likely win them to Jesus and you might lose a friend! But out in the woods, by a stream or a pond, reading to the squirrels and rabbits – an unbelievable experience! David was an outdoorsman and reading his Psalms outside and out loud makes them come alive.

6. Jot one verse on a note card in your own handwriting and put it in your pocket and every time you run into it through the day just read it one more time. Don’t be hard on yourself – some days you’ll read a verse 20 times and others you’ll get to it only twice. And as you read, just allow it to talk to you instead of you trying to read something into it. You’ll discover a “living” word from God for you – very powerful!

These are just a few ideas to jump start your reading of God’s Word. Just remember that God desperately wants a relationship with you and this is one special way he talks to us.

Enjoy a ‘good book’ today.
Dwight
RevPapaD@yahoo.com

The Boat is Listing

2006-10-05T15:59:00.000-04:00

Dear Fellow Travelers,

Over the years I have had occasion to write lots of stuff. As a Pastor I have written somewhere between 500 and 600 sermons. As a student / studier I’ve taken literally thousands of notes (maybe tens of thousands!) which I then turned around and taught others as a teacher (where those poor people took more notes). I have written two books and a third is in the works (if I could only find a publisher for the second two!). Then you add years worth of journaling, love notes to my wife, help with my children’s homework, notes to myself so I won’t forget where I wrote all this stuff, music scores, and hundreds upon hundreds of architectural drawings of buildings, floor plans, kitchens, bathrooms, and maybe a good thousand pieces of furniture.

Yep, I’ve written a LOT of stuff!

And I’ve encountered lots of lists in all my writing, something I thought about the other day as I blogged and gave you the list of 4 things that made up “The Principle of the Harvest”. So, if you don’t mind, I think I’ll do a little searching in all that stuff I wrote and find a few important lists that might be of some help to someone out there in blogville. They might also come in handy as you try to live out your Christianity in a world that’s gotten a little rough on Christians.

The first list is very simple and very basic. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t profound. I have discovered that some of the most profound things in the world are actually very simple to say, and then are quite hard to do. This is one of those kinds of lists. I have referred to it many times over – this is surely an everyday kind of list. These are ...

The Six Disciplines of a Godly Person

1. Get into God’s Word - read it, study it, memorize it, think about it (meditate), share it
2. Pray - at first, just do it, then keep at it until your prayers are powerful and effective
3. Attend a Bible believing church for worship and fellowship - and go there often.
4. Give generously of your time, talents, and treasures (resources, money, etc.)
5. Find someone you trust who will hold you accountable - going it alone is dangerous.
6. Tell someone else about the Good News that Jesus loves them and died for them.

Well, there’s my first list for your consideration. Um, you might want to grab a piece of paper and write it down. Then, if you have the time, let me know what you think. And after considering what the ramifications of doing this list are for you, why not try it? I guarantee a better relationship with your heavenly Dad if you do..

Till next time,
Dwight
RevPapaD@yahoo.com

A Divine Point of View

2006-10-04T14:31:00.000-04:00

Good afternoon fellow travelers,
I was looking at Sam’s blog ( http://wrongcentury.blogspot.com ) and the great pictures of the incredible veggies he is growing and a thought came to mind. The Bible has a lot to say about harvesting. In fact it includes a really cool principle - “The Principle of the Harvest”. Mind if I share it with you?

FYI first: a Biblical principle is a generality from God’s point of view that applies to many situations. In short, it is God’s perspective on a given subject. Here’s the basis for the “Principle of the Harvest” (found, but the way, in all three of the first gospels - Matthew chapter 13, Mark chapters 3 & 4, and Luke chapter 8).

1. You won’t reap unless you sow
2. You reap in direct proportion to how much you sow
3. The size of the harvest is partly dependant on where you sow
4. You will reap what you sow

This simple principle applies to many different aspects of life – from whether you will pass that math test next week to how many widgets you will sell for XYZ Corp. It is the determining factor in how much you will accomplish for the Lord and how you will handle a life situation – like brokenness - which you find yourself unable to change. It is also one of the guiding principles in raising kids.

Did you know that God has a point of view about most everything? He does, and the really cool thing is that he really truly WANTS you to know his opinion. That way you can make wise decisions based on the best facts available – HIS! And the best part is that God wants us to know his opinion so much that He’s gone to all the trouble to have a whole bunch of authors write - in their own style - a book that lets us in on the secrets. Yep, it’s the Bible, a book I love and recommend without reservation to you.

Have a great day, and I’ll be back soon!

Just another beggar showing you where to find bread,
Dwight
RevPapaD@yahoo.com

I'm back!

2006-10-02T10:41:00.000-04:00

Dear Friends,
Over the last week I’ve had no less than 7 people ask me where my blog was. They then told me they and their friends read it religiously and that they all got a lot from it, and now they missed it. Truth be told, I took a break. When I started blogging I really didn’t intend to work so hard at it. Honestly, I found myself spending more time, energy, and passion writing those blogs than I was able to invest. I read other people’s blogs and it seemed they just wrote what was in their hearts and let the chips fall where they fell.

So, I decided to take a break, evaluate what I had done, get some feedback from people (a shot in the dark), and figure out why it wasn’t any fun anymore. Surely this medium of blogging was supposed to be more enjoyable than what I was experiencing – and to be truthful, I wasn’t even sure very many people even cared. So I stopped. And for nearly a month not one soul even wrote or called to ask why. Obviously that statistic has changed.

In the meantime I’ve been working in my woodshop, started an online store with Susie, and got a regular weekly program and have been interviewing political characters at the Voice Corp radio station. I’ve also been working in my studio - wrote a new song and sequenced and recorded several others. I’ve also had an article published in the September / October issue of Holiness Today called “Connecting With the Broken”. It’s published in 14 languages and over the internet and podcast – hey, I’m an internationally published author – pretty cool, huh!

I guess you could say I haven’t exactly been sitting around with my hands folded in my lap. But I really DO want to get back to blogging now that I know someone out there is reading my stuff. But it might look and feel a little different from what was there before – a little less polished and a bit more “real”, at least from my point of view. That way I don’t have to work so hard to get out what I want to say. And that way I will WANT to do it instead of it being something I thought I HAD to do.

So until next time, hang in there my friends. I really AM glad to be back…

Still learning,
Dwight

Tool Time

2006-08-04T14:37:00.000-04:00

I am so happy – the heat wave broke with yesterday’s rain and today I was able to get into my shop and spend some serious time with my tools. What a GREAT day!

Today I made a board. Not just any board, mind you, it is the first board of a new project that might turn into a Christmas present, but don’t tell my family members cause that might give away the surprise.

This board was kind of an accident. It is actually made of two different boards, just small pieces of wood used as packing materials. They were rough hewn, really thin, odd sized and definitely not square. The grain was obviously running in every which direction and looked for all the world like scrap wood, ready for the trash bin - except that I am a Master Cabinetmaker by trade. I looked deeper than the surface and saw what the untrained eye couldn’t.

So I took these two little odd sized boards to my workshop and began dealing with all the imperfections. I won’t bore you with the details, but after quite a long time and the application of skill and some talent, I now have one board. It is not yet cut to size and it has no finish on it, so its final beauty might still be lost on some. But let me tell you, even to the untrained eye it is now magnificent.

You see, I have in my possession a nearly perfectly book-matched piece of tiger birds eye maple – yes, BOTH tiger AND birds eye in one little board. This small piece of glorious, wonderful wood would have been thrown away as useless refuse had it not been for the eye and skill of a Master Cabinetmaker.

You must already know what I’m going to say next. You see, life has a way, sometimes, of leaving us feeling like we are ready for the trash heap. We feel small and helpless, out of shape, rough to the touch, and just plain ugly. And to make matters worse, it seems like we are headed in every direction at once and, as a result, we just go in circles and never get anywhere.

But there is a Master Designer that sees beyond what everyone else sees. Sure, it might take some cutting and matching, some planning and sanding and some abrasive hand work – and I can guarantee it won’t likely be comfortable or sweet. But, you are in the hands of the Master, and the Master sees even more than you can see. If you are willing to go through the necessary shaping process, you will eventually turn out as the Master intends.

And let me share more good news – even before you get to the final reward awaiting all who love the Master Designer, even to the casual observer you will be magnificent! It will be impossible to deny that you have been with the Master because just one look will reveal the handiwork of God displayed in the life of one of his broken kids who, quite honestly, doesn’t look so “broken” anymore. Anyone who casually saw my little pieces of scrap wood will hardly believe the beauty and splendor of the finished product, and the same goes for you. Hang in there, fellow traveler. We are being worked on in the workshop of the Master Designer, and when we’re done we are gonna SHINE!

Glad to be back in the shop – and God’s shop, too.
Dwight
RevPapaD@yahoo.com

Be cool!

2006-08-03T12:43:00.000-04:00

IT”S HOT !!!

Heat index readings above 100, temperatures in the 90’s, humidity levels nearing tropical – folks, it’s HOT !!!

And I confess, that when the weather gets this blazing there is a temptation to get disagreeable. Aw, come on, confession is good for the soul. When we are uncomfortable physically we can allow that discomfort to weave its way through our minds and spirits until we are unpleasant to be around. In weather like this I’ve seen people get impatient with the checker at Walmart or Krogers and tend to fuss about every little inconvenience. Even worse, we sometimes get surly and short and gruff with those we love.

Let me put your mind at ease – these feelings are perfectly natural when the weather is nearly unbearable. That’s not to say that we need give in to them, but they are very normal. Rather, I would encourage you to figure out a way to be pleasant and agreeable. Yea, I know, that’s easier said than done, but we do need to try!

Life is not going to always be to our liking. To those of us who are broken it doesn’t take a thunderstorm or heat wave for us to be uncomfortable or in pain. And that pain can cause us to be disagreeable if we allow it. As I’ve said in previous blogs, pain tends to steal our ability to be rational. We must fight our own tendencies with every fiber in us. Sometimes we win. Sometimes the pain wins. But every morning is a new chance to make the right decisions.

And that’s the point, isn’t it. It is a choice – it ALWAYS a choice. Sure, we may have a little more to deal with than others, and the whole thing might seem to be horribly unfair, but I don’t think our heavenly Father ever gives us more than we can bear or fight through. I’ve said sometimes that I think God has a higher opinion of me than I do, but He’s God and I’m not, so I just have to trust that He knows what he’s doing. It’s a choice to trust - and then to be nice, friendly, pleasant, or cheerful.

So hang in there my friends. Be positive on purpose. Look for a cool spot – even if it’s only in your mind – and do your best to be the kind of person that lifts the spirits of those
around you. Don’t let disagreeable circumstances make you disagreeable, but rise above the circumstances until you are an example worthy of following. You know, I think it’s pretty cool to be the person who makes life better for those around you instead of being as unbearable as the weather.

So, stay cool, fellow travelers.
Dwight
RevPapaD@yahoo.com

JOY!

2006-08-01T14:51:00.000-04:00

I sat down at my computer this morning to write something profound and inspiring – and nothing even resembling inspirational or even in the same zip code as ‘Profound’ came to mind. A frown appeared on my face and a wrinkle ceased my forehead. What to do, what to do?

And then I looked up. Oh, no, not a big “UP TO THE SKY”, peering into the heavens waiting for some kind of Divine intervention to shatter the writer’s block and fill me with words of wisdom and thought’s of grandeur.

No, just up about four inches. For there, just above my computer screen, one of my precious daughters sneaked in and placed a picture of my two granddaughters – Rory and Esther - with huge, magnificent smiles. A practically perfect picture, in my humble estimation. To put this simply, it is a picture of pure joy. Raw and simple, no poses or posturing or “get my good side” – just absolute unmitigated JOY!

And as I sat here just looking, I realized there was a smile on my face, too. In the middle of my writer’s frustration, on this super hot and muggy day where the heat index is over 100 and the fans are running at breakneck speeds, on a day when a frown would be easy and a furrowed brow might be considered “normal” or acceptable, these two little girls changed my office into a place of complete, fulfilling, overwhelming JOY!

(Just think, if a picture can do that what do you imagine it’s like when they come and visit their ol’ Papa!?!?)

Let me be brief: If you haven’t smiled today you need to give it a try right now. And if you haven’t given one away in a while, you need to be the bearer of GOOD NEWS and share one today. A smile is one of the few things that grows as you give it away. Do it in person. Do it one the phone. Do it in an email or do it in an old fashioned card or note. Just make someone’s day with a great big smile – who knows, you might just make your OWN day as well.

Someday I’m going to figure out how to post a picture to this blog, but for the time being you can see pictures of my little girls at Kristen’s blog at http://deubner.blogspot.com/ or at Karin’s blog at http://hennhouse.blogspot.com/.

Blessings my friends – and go ahead – SMILE!!!
Dwight
RevPapaD@yahoo.com

Sacred Moments

2006-07-28T11:01:00.000-04:00

Dear friends,

I do not use the word “sacred” lightly. I reserve this word for those times when God Himself demonstrates His presence in ways that are so far beyond our human comprehension that they can ONLY be attributed to God.

My wife is out of town on business this week, so my youngest daughter Kristen graciously volunteered to “take care of Dad”. We’ve had a marvelous time together. Kristen comes, as young mothers often do, with two little ones in tow – my grandchildren Jackson, 3, and Aurora Lilias, just 7 months old. Because of them, this week has been a virtual love fest for “Papa”.

I have developed a habit with all 5 of my grandchildren, that before they leave to go home after a visit, I gather them in my arms and pray for them – not in a big group, but while the rest of life goes on around us, I pray for them, with them, one-on-one. I wish I’d have been smart enough to have done this with my own kids as they were growing up. Sure we had family devotions every morning before school and I prayed for and with them lots of times, but this habit of praying while in a big bear hug is a very special time for both grandchild and grandpa. These are surely sacred moments.

Because I could this week, on several occasions as Jackson would be walking by, I’d just scoop him up (giggling and wiggling all the while), give him a big bear hug complete with sound effects, we would blow air kisses at each other, we’d give each other one more growling bear hug and then I’d put him down. Talk about putting a smile on BOTH of our faces!

But for the past two days something new has been added. I still scoop him up wiggling and giggling and we still give bear hugs with sound effects, but Jackson has begun to ask, “Papa, will you pray for me?” Are you kidding! We stop the world so Papa can pray for Jackson, then we blow air kisses at each other, give each other one more big growling bear hug, and off he scoots. I prayed for him at least 6 times yesterday. Sacred moments.

But last night, as they were preparing to go home and we went through our little routine, somewhere in the middle of my praying for Jackson I heard him whispering. So, while words and thoughts were coming out of my mouth I listened, and Jackson was saying, “Yes, Jesus … [pause] … yes, Lord”. Apparently, he had heard either me or his Mom, or maybe someone at church, agreeing while someone else was praying, and he was practicing praying as he had heard it done.

Tears welled up in my eyes as I continued praying, and when I got to the end, I laid my hand on Jackson’s head, as I do for all my grandchildren and as I have done in countless dedication services through the years, and prayed the blessing of Almighty God on him. That’s when I heard him whisper “And bless my Papa, too, Jesus”. I barely squeaked out “In Jesus’ name” and we said simultaneously “Amen”. I got my bear hug and air kisses and off to home he went.

Sacred moment indeed! It was as if the Almighty Himself had come to stay in my little house in Columbus. Ever since last night I get the strange feeling that if I go through a doorway too fast there will be a couple angels around the corner hugging each other with happy tears in their eyes. Or if I should go to the kitchen without warning there might be a couple of them dancing the jig in front of my refrigerator while high fiving each other.

Even at this moment I sense that if I turned around quickly right here in my office that I’d find a small band of angels kneeling with arms and hands raised in praise to the Almighty One whose presence fills this place. It would appear to me that Almighty God, Maker and Creator of universes, Sustainer of life itself, and Ruler of all that is, listened when a 3-year-old prayed His blessing on a fellow in a wheelchair. Yesterday I dealt with nearly unbearable pain, but I slept better last night than I have in months. While eating my bowl of Special K this morning I had the wondrous sense that I was wrapped in the arms of my Savior and it was going to be OK. Special K never did THAT before, so it must be the blessing of God because of the prayer of a child.

“Oh, God, make my prayers that effective when I’m praying for them!”

And my prayer for you is that somewhere along this road you are traveling God will pull back the curtain that separates mortal from immortal and that you, too, will experience a truly “sacred moment”. It will transform the mundane into the magnificent, the ordinary into the extraordinary, and your pain into praise.

Basking in God’s blessing today,
Dwight
RevPapaD@yahoo.com

Opposition

2006-07-26T14:58:00.000-04:00

Dear Fellow travelers,

Opposition. For most people it is something we would like to avoid but usually can’t. It comes in many forms and occurs with a wide variety of intensity, but it is almost always a pain. Sometimes it is naturally occurring and sometimes it is on-purpose and defiant. Either way, opposition is no fun at all!

And it comes with a regularity that is almost predictable. I’m reminded of a sculpture dedicated to church governing boards. It’s a mother duck swimming on a lake followed by three ducklings, two of which are swimming behind momma duck without a problem. But the third is headed the opposite direction as fast as those little webbed feet can take it. The title of the sculpture is “There’s one in every crowd”. Everyone who has ever served on one of those governing boards knows exactly what I’m talking about – in fact, you can probably either name the person or can see their face right now no matter how long it’s been! “Whatever it is, I’m against it!” is their motto.

No matter your station in life opposition sometimes comes from unexpected places. But for the broken this hostility is especially painful because it is often people related, and therefore not only unexpected but unjustifiable. A person you thought was a friend suddenly – but underhandedly - opposes your inclusion in a group because your brokenness is an inconvenience. A leader or superior on the job whom you thought you could trust now ignores you as if you no longer existed – and then passes you by at promotion time. Later you learn you didn’t get the job because they didn’t want to have to deal with your handicap – but, of course, you can’t prove it. I could go on, but we know what we’ve faced. These injustices can be annoying, frustrating, humiliating, and demoralizing. And they can make you want to quit.

Oh, my dear, broken friend, hang in there. Opposition is a fact of life for nearly everybody, and especially for the broken ones. You are different and there are some people who are frightened and hostile toward anything and anyone different. There are going to be people who don’t understand and, frankly, don’t want to understand. There are going to be obstacles you will need to face that others around you take for granted. And you will be frustrated, turned away, and unjustly treated –

But that’s no reason to quit. Granted, it’s kind of stupid to just keep trying with jerks who don’t want to try, but there are good people out there who DO care and DO try and sometimes they just need a little time to come to terms with the new you. I’m not telling you to roll over and play dead, but I’m also not telling you to “shake the dust off your shoes” too soon. Yes, YOU are going to need to learn patience, not just the folks around you. YOU need to develop a sense of fairness and rightness and justice even when it seems you are the only one. RISE UP to a new level, become what you expect of others, demand of yourself a level of excellence that will either encourage and inspire - or embarrass - those around you.

Because you are already a winner! You have faced down brokenness and you are winning the battle. It is very possible you might need to be the teacher, the leader, the example for others to follow so that their attitudes can be changed and their actions can become fair and just. Don’t expect others to do all the adjusting – YOU be willing to go the extra mile, walk a while in their moccasins, and set a standard of excellence higher than anyone expected of the “crippled guy”.

RISE UP, broken friend, and let’s change our world in spite of opposition – and maybe even because of it!

Kicking and screaming – nicely, of course,
Dwight
RevPapaD@yahoo.com

"UP"

2006-07-24T11:19:00.000-04:00

Fellow travelers,

I appreciate feedback from readers – this one came about a week ago and I have been formulating an answer ever since. It went like this: “Dwight, you always seem so ‘up’. Are you always ‘up’ or is that just what you show us on the blog? Really, no one can be that ‘up’ all the time, can they?”

My first thought was “Wow, that’s brutal!” But then I got to thinking about it and I began to understand where the questions – and the emotions - were coming from. When people hurt they go through an amazing transformation from what they used to consider ‘normal’ into something they would love to run from but can’t. If you were caught of guard, like I was, then these changes are literally thrust on you all at once, and they can be hard to take, even years later.

I have a new friend who is blind and has been since birth. He is heard, every once in a while, saying “OK, I’m tired of being blind. So I quit! Whatever lesson I was supposed to learn I think I’ve learned it - so, can I go back to normal now?” He has such a good humor about it and is such a card the rest of the time you aren’t entirely certain if he’s being honest or just joking – but I think it might be some of both. Broken is a pain in the neck, and there’s no reason to deny that fact.

And please, I do not EVER want you to think that I am minimizing your brokenness. I would never insult you that way. But let’s be real for a minute. If you are hurting, or disabled, or broken in some other way, it does us no good to simply bemoan our plight over and over and over again. I refuse to fall into the universal pity party and ignore the hundreds – yea, thousands - of broken people making a substantial and significant contribution to society. I know people who could have quit, who had every reason to sit still and wait to die, but instead are making an impact on their world in ways that astound and impress. And quite frankly, I want to be one of THOSE people!

To be fair, I am a positive guy by nature, so, yes, I am ‘up’ more than I am down. I also believe that what I write is very honest and authentic. But I don’t rely on my nature to keep me ‘up’. Rather I read good books, work hard at my music, tinker in the workshop when the weather allows, write something every day whether it gets published or not, and CHOOSE to be positive about life.

And that is the bottom line, isn’t it? How we approach life is a CHOICE. I can play the victim and bemoan my situation, or I can grab myself by the scruff and the neck and change my situation. I can fuss about how much this brokenness has taken from my life or I can get up and get going and do whatever I can with whatever is left. It is a choice, and to NOT choose is still a choice – the wrong one!

And no, this isn’t an easy choice all the time. There are days when the pain wins, and I sit sometimes for hours and just weep because it hurts so badly and I’ve already taken all the drugs I’m allowed to take. Thank God that doesn’t happen much, but it does happen and I have to recognize that life isn’t always going to be a bowl of cherries – sometimes it’s just the pits in a broken shard of pottery.

But successful living is not judged by how many times you are knocked down, but by how many times you get back up. Some folks are fortunate that life only knocks them down a time or two. But if you are reading this you might be saying “Life has knocked ME down a hundred times and I’m tired.” OK, rest while you are down there – shucks, you’re horizontal anyhow so you may as well take a nap. But then get up the one hundred and first time and refuse to play “poor pitiful me”.

So, to answer the reader who asked, yes, I choose to be ‘up’ most of the time. I choose to write about how to get back ‘up’ - about how to fight and win. I choose to encourage you to strive and push and struggle and wrestle with your brokenness and sometimes even come out on top of it all.

One of my heroes: Franklin Roosevelt. No, I was born after he was gone so all I have is books. And I don’t know much about his politics. But this man ran a country, brought it out of the Great Depression, fought a war, formed successful international alliances, made the peace, and changed the world from a wheelchair! From my wheelchair I want to be like him – I want to make an impact that makes a difference.

So, yea, I’m ‘up’ and intend to stay that way.

Dwight
RevPapaD@yahoo.com

2006-07-24T10:46:00.000-04:00

"It"

2006-07-21T13:48:00.000-04:00

Dear fellow travelers,

I got an interesting email the other day and in it there was a question that many of you might be asking. It went like this: “Pastor Dwight, you keep telling us to hang in there, keep trying, and to ‘go for it’. If I might be so bold – what is ‘it’, anyhow?”

Hmmmm? Good question. Truth is, there is no simple answer that fits every person. Today we are going to discuss the principles involved, but each person will need to fill in the details for themselves - because every person on earth is different (just look at your fingerprints) so, every answer will also be different. “It” can range from discovering a cure for cancer or founding a multinational multibillion-dollar business to making sure your journal is up-to-date or just making it to the end of today without allowing the pain to stop you in your tracks.

“It” is both large and small, long term and short term, life changing and daily sustaining – but it is always looking forward, for though it learns from the past it is never paralyzed by it. It is always a choice not an accident. And it can be judged and evaluated in both qualitative and quantitative ways.

Sometimes ‘it’ is a CALLING - a sense that you were placed on the earth, in this particular time and space and in your present condition, for a purpose bigger than just you. It is, in every sense of the words, doing what you were meant to do and knowing God smiled.

I have had the unbelievably humbling experience of knowing God’s call on my life more than once, and when the chips are down and things are going haywire, sometimes “the call” is all there is to hang onto – but it is enough! And ‘the call’ is not just to church-based ministry. I’ve known successful God called businessmen who ran their business as if God were the senior partner. I’ve also known God called public school teachers who felt called to teach in an otherwise Godless place - and felt His blessing when they obeyed.

‘It’ also involves your own GOALS. The simple fact is that real goals are powerful tools in the struggle for and attainment of success in ANY venture. They become the road map with directions to a specific place. They are the guidance system and wise council for making smart decisions. A goal is NOT a pipe dream that you’d like to “get to someday”, but rather is the clear and decisive target on which you set your ambitions and actions. I expect we will address this issue many times in the future – stay tuned!

‘It’, though, is not just “something out there”, but always involves the PROCESS - and the process always involves ACTION on our part. I could say all day that it would be nice if I wrote a blog today, but if I never discipline myself to sit down, type a draft, throw out the junk and write another, and another and another until this is readable and helpful, then this short essay would never happen. It would be a pipe dream without substance or usefulness.

And I would have failed to follow my own advice to “Go for it!” I desperately want to encourage you to DO “IT”. Only you know what ‘it’ is for you. But don’t allow yourself to be lulled into setting goals that are too small just because you are broken. God calls us to things we cannot do sometimes just to prove He is still God. I can’t walk, yet I climb five steps every Sunday morning - in God’s power - so that I can be a God called Pastor of music and worship in my church. Is it easy? No way! Is it logical? Not quite. But is it what God expects of me to fulfill my calling? Absolutely! So every Sunday morning I climb those stairs and a fine young teenaged man named Jonathan carries the chair up to the top of the stairs for me and I lead worship as God has called me to do.

‘It’ involves a call, a goal, a process, action, and a finally PASSION. A passion is a single minded sacred obsession to work harder than you have to, reach further than you can, accomplish more than is expected, and stretch yourself until you have re-created ‘you’ into something better and more like what God’s deepest desires are for you. It is not just “making do” with what you have, but it is applying your creativity and resources and energies into striving for more, bigger, better – all the way to outstanding and unbelievable. It is delight in becoming, and not just in existing. It is wanting and choosing to THRIVE and not just survive. It is joy in the journey and not just the reward. It is excitement and enthusiasm in taking action to accomplish something you were meant to do, and becoming who you were meant to be.

And so, one more time, and with all the gusto I can muster ---

GO FOR IT !!!

Dwight
RevPapaD@yahoo.com

From the Workshop...

2006-07-19T10:09:00.000-04:00

As I write this blog I am working at a computer neatly tucked into my “dream desk”. Since before I can remember I have wanted a huge, finely crafted, cherry roll top desk. When I was working as a professional cabinetmaker I never had the time to make one for myself – you know, like the cobbler’s kids going barefoot. But a little more than 10 years ago, through a series of good fortunes I won’t bore you with and my wife who knew my dream, I became the owner of this wondrous piece of fine furniture. It weighs well over a hundred pounds and takes “three men and a boy” to move. I simply LOVE my desk!

I was sitting here a few mornings ago, looking at the beauty of the finely cut decorative edges, and the writer/cabinetmaker/philosopher in me thought “I wonder what this desk would say if it could tell it’s own story? I wonder what the parts would say about the whole? And most importantly, would it say anything of value to MY life – or yours?”

Let’s see. The cherry tree might tell of its longevity, of a century or more of good growth and the drought of 1923. It might speak to us about the lover’s initials long since incorporated into the very fiber of it’s existence. And then it would probably talk of its death. Chainsaws cutting it off from life giving roots and stripping it of branches and leaves. Then, while it was still conscious, it would speak of large saws ripping it into pieces, huge planers shaving off what it took a century to grow, and giant sanders creating so much friction and pain that it was beyond words.

The wood planks themselves would speak up next. They would chat with us of strength and structural integrity, of character traits and reliability. And they, too, would talk of saws and planes, but would add the sharpness of drill bits and the shearing and shaving of routers. shapers, and joiners. And finally a discussion would arise about perfect finishes that were made of caustic and deadly chemicals sprayed on - and the fact that after the finish is applied, no one would actually touch the real wood ever again.

Now, the wood made into moldings and cut into decorative edges speaks up about what was lost in the process. Making an edge is as much about taking some wood away as it is about what is left behind. Razor sharp blades whirling at speeds up to 25,000 RPM tear away decades of growth rings and make mountains of sawdust and shavings in the process. Then more sand paper and more caustic chemicals, and finally even more rubbing and friction and stress.

The sawdust would just sigh, knowing that unless it was burned as fuel in the furnace or pressed into manufactured wood, it would be called “waste” and would just be tossed out with the garbage or thrown on a pile to rot.

But the decorative edge itself, only conscious of itself since it is nearly the last thing done, would speak only of beauty and intelligent design. It would talk of ogees and half rounds, of mating ship-laps, eased edges and custom finishes. It might wait longingly for the hundreds of people who will caress its edges and admire its loveliness, and might speak of traditional or modern or Shaker design influences. It cares nothing about structure or strength or time or waste – its only thought is for the magnificent splendor of perfectly finished furniture. Its very existence is the stuff of beauty and excellence.

My friends, God desires to make of each of us a thing of beauty. Oh, I don’t mean superficial “movie star” pretty or artificial particle board with phony plastic wood-grain attractive. Those things are a dime a dozen, and are, frankly, just not worth the investment.

Rather, God sometimes allows life to bring us to our knees. We face pain, stress, great loss, and frustration on the way to understanding strength, wisdom, reliability and integrity. Like the wooden plank our character is forged in the fires of adversity and in the cutting and shaping of our struggles.

But that’s the way it works. It’s the struggle that creates the strength that allows us to stand in the face of brokenness. Reliability is more than words or promises, it is proven on the battle fields of time itself. We don’t stand the test of time by wishing it so, we stand by standing – and, as the Bible clearly states in Ephesians 6, when all else fails and there is nothing else we can do, then stand!

And so, I close with three important questions:
1. What beauty can be seen in you? Adversity can make us bitter or better, and the choice is ours and ours alone.

2. Have the fires purified us or have they singed us? Fire can do both – the choice is ours and ours alone.

3. And after all the cutting and sawing and planning and drilling – would you be considered a beautiful, useful, durable piece of furniture or a just pile of sawdust? The choice is ours and ours alone.

Please, choose “beautiful” today!

Dwight
RevPapaD@yahoo.com

Terry's Story

2006-07-18T09:39:00.000-04:00

Today I want to be completely honest with you – and then I would ask that you be completely honest with yourself, too. Last week we talked about storms - and it is so very true that storms come; they come hard and fast and deadly, and they leave behind damage. These life storms come unexpectedly, seemingly without reason or purpose, and an honest look at the situation often shows there was absolutely nothing we could have done to prevent them or even to slow them down. They just come.

But what should we do about a storm - hard, fast, deadly, and destructive – that really IS our fault? I mean, we’ve blown it - and we find ourselves in the middle of a storm that is the direct result of our own failure. What then?

May I introduce you to one of my dearest friends in this whole world? His name is Terry, and in my humble opinion Terry is one of those truly good men – you know the kind: Smart, good natured, a quick sense of humor, friendly, compassionate, well informed and well educated – the kind of guy you just expect to “make it”. He was in ministry, the pastor of a medium sized church in a nice community, was married with children and was dearly loved by his congregation and community. He was seemingly settled in for the long haul in this assignment. For all intents and purposes nothing could stop him from being a huge success – well, nothing except himself. I’ve asked and received his permission to briefly tell you his story. In respect for your time, I’ll hit only the highlights.

To put this as gently as possible, Terry blew it. He made some really terrible choices that led him down a path of utter destruction. He lost his ministry, his wife and family, his home, his self respect and the respect of nearly everyone he knew and loved. He found himself in a neighboring state, alone and broken – and when I say broken I mean completely broken. He, by his own choices, had failed his family, his church, his friends, and most importantly, his God. The storm had come with a vengeance, and to be blunt, it was all his own fault.

When I first met Terry he had just faced another round of rejection. Many years had passed since his “failure” but he was pulling his life back together again. He had come in humility to his Heavenly Father and God had forgiven completely. He had married a very special lady who is my dear ‘sister’ in every way except blood, and he was trying to find his place in ministry once again. But since his original failure was done while he was in the ministry, the church-at-large was basically unwilling to welcome him back. Just between you and me, I’m still pretty ticked at this religious “judgment call”. Who better to show the way out than someone who had already been there? Their logic is illogical, to me. Anyhow, this latest rejection was extremely painful. Rejection usually is. And it also seemed to be the final blow, with no recourse and no more appeals.

Let’s be real blunt for a minute: Terry could have decided that, "Hey, if the church doesn’t want me, then I quit. Why keep pounding on a door that just isn’t going to open, especially when it is the religious leadership holding it shut!?!" It would have been logical for him to walk away and not look back. Face it, hundreds, yea thousands, of people have done just that and are still outside the church because of the pain they found there. God forgive us for our lack of compassion and for the additional damage we’ve caused already broken people.

Be that as it may, God had a hold on Terry’s heart and Terry had hold of God’s – and God had plans bigger than the church’s narrow focus would allow. Terry and I became best friends and soon he and I were working together in the church where I pastored. We became prayer partners, and believe me, there is nothing in the world that can draw two men closer and more intimately tuned in to each other’s lives than to regularly, seriously pray together. Our lives became irreversibly intertwined. He was working as a counselor with seriously troubled teens – so troubled that this was in a locked-down residential facility with rules and lifestyle similar to a prison. These kids were abuse victims, drug addicted, gang members, physically damaged, crime infested, throw away kids that society had deemed too dangerous to their world and to themselves to be out on the streets. Talk about broken!

God broke Terry’s heart for these discarded kids. In turn, and because of Terry’s passion, God began to break mine. God’s plan, though, was big, bold, and, to be honest, a little brazen and from a practical point of view, impossible. You see, God wanted us, as a team, to start a brand new kind of church inside that “prison” for messed up kids. Now understand - this was a facility with government funding, ‘secular’ counselors, and “separation of church and state” issues galore! You don’t just start a Bible based, blatantly Evangelical Christian church inside a government funded facility. Oh, it took some time, but it happened, and the end result is that more than half the residents of that place – these discarded, abandoned, damaged, broken kids - came to know the Lord personally. Dozens of kids had their lives turned around and were changed completely because of what God did in that place.

The facility closed down a year or so ago, so, obviously, the church also closed. Truth is, that’s the only reason we can even talk about it now. But God, through a man others had rejected because of his own mistakes, dramatically and significantly changed the lives of more people in two years than he might have reached in a lifetime of “church” ministry. Terry is now in the final stages of earning a doctoral degree in theology. Not bad for a failure, huh! Never quitting, never allowing the circumstances of his own bad choices to determine the outcome of his life, never listening to the discouraging words of those he thought would be his support group. Terry’s life is a shining example of what God can do through a man, broken by his own design, who simply refuses to quit trying.

And that brings us to you and me. What if the mess you’re in right now is your own fault? What if you blew it and when the damage was assessed it was beyond fixing? What if your own stupidity has resulted in brokenness that has left behind raw and painful wounds?

First, turn to the Lord for forgiveness. Forgiveness is an essential part of healing. And as part of that forgiveness process allow yourself to be forgiven. The worst thing you can do is seek forgiveness and then reject it when it comes. God said he would forgive if you asked, so trust Him and accept it.

Second, know that failure is not final. It is usually painful, often life changing, and hard to admit, but it is not final.

Third, own it. If you blew it don’t try to blame something or someone else.

Fourth, refuse to listen to discouragement. People are sometimes cruel and heartless, and the ones who are the most vocal are often the most guilty themselves. Simply REFUSE to accept that you are a “failure” and ...

Fifth, know that failure is an essential step in the process of success. H. Stanley Judd says, “Don’t waste your energy trying to cover up failure. It’s OK to fail. If you’re not failing, you’re not growing.”

Finally – GO FOR IT!!! Like Terry, after the healing and forgiveness has done it’s vital and important work, refuse to stop, refuse to quit, refuse to “lie down and wait to die”, instead, get up and get going.

Thanks for allowing me to introduce you to a man among men, and my friend, and more importantly, God's friend. Please learn from Terry. You will not be sorry you did.

I expect we’ll revisit this topic for more insights some other time,
Dwight
RevPapaD@yahoo.com

Just No Comparison!

2006-07-17T15:04:00.000-04:00

Dear Fellow travelers,

I understand there are commonly accepted standards that serve us as benchmarks and criterion for achievement in certain fields. I’m sure I wouldn’t want even the most professional blacksmith doing heart surgery on my family members, nor would I accept the very best preacher in the country mixing my drugs at the pharmacy. Standards are useful and give us a point of reference for certain tasks.

As a Master Cabinetmaker there were certain practices that were simply requirements of my profession. For example, within my specialty as a designer and builder of specialty, custom casework, I was required to know dovetails. What is the difference between a French and an English dovetail? What angle is best for a hand cut dovetail that will be seen? How do you set up the machinery to make production machine cut dovetails? How, where, and why do you use them in a particular piece of furniture? Dovetails are a minimal, acceptable, elementary requirement for being a cabinetmaker specializing in casework. A person simply should not be called a cabinetmaker if he or she does not know dovetails.

All of life has standards that we are required to meet if we are going to be a productive part of society. Without them life would be chaos.

But when it comes to success and failure – both of which are required elements of a productive life, I can think of nothing more unproductive than comparing myself to someone else. Oh, sure, the temptation is there because so much of our society is trying to keep up with the proverbial Joneses. I even heard one the other day that said “Forget about keeping up with the Joneses, just drag them down to your own pitiful level.”

We are walking a fine line today. While there are normal standards by which we must judge our finished product, whether we are successful or not is not dependant upon that comparison. One could look at an Olympic soccer player and say that he or she had reached a high level of expertise in that sport. That person could go professional and make a considerable amount of money playing soccer. But in reality, that person might not be as successful as they might have been because - what we don’t know - is that they have settled for playing well enough to get a paycheck and no more.

But if we compared that professional who is just riding the gravy train of his natural skills to a 24 year old soccer player in the Special Olympics who is giving it all they have, we might easily say that the professional, though playing at a much higher level of expertise, is far less successful than his considerably less skilled counterpart. That fellow running at about 1/10 the speed and kicking at only 5% of the velocity might be the most successful person playing the game today.

And the reason is plain to see: success is not judged by comparison to others, but in a face-to-face comparison with ourselves. Stewart B. Johnson puts it this way, “Our business in life is not to get ahead of others, but to get ahead of ourselves – to break our own records – to outstrip our yesterday by our today.”

Dear fellow traveler, when you are broken there is often a tendency inside us to make unfair comparisons with other people. Let me tell you that you need not compare yourself with anyone but YOU! You know if you are trying your best. You know if the effort you are making is worthy of respect and admiration. Only you can say how hard you are trying, how much you are sacrificing, how far you are prepared to go to make it through. Only you can count the cost of your own struggle, and can understand the energy required to go that one more step, do that one more thing, or reach just one more inch.

Hang in there, friends, and don’t allow negative thinking or unrealistic expectations steal your joy and wreak havoc on your attitude. Go for it with all you’ve got and try to break your own records, and outstrip your yesterday by your today.

See you tomorrow,
Dwight
RevPapaD@yahoo.com

Dealing with Storm Damage - part 4 in the series

2006-07-14T11:43:00.000-04:00

Over the past several days we’ve been dealing with the unexpected “life storms” that come our way. Because they usually come in hard and fast and deadly they also, as a general rule, leave behind a path of destruction that we are left to deal with. We learned on day two that we need to give ourselves time to heal and time to assess the damage in the light of day without foolishly plowing ahead without a plan. But then yesterday we also added that it is critical that after we’ve honestly assessed the damage, we need to start to deal with it and do something productive!

Today, as we continue to address this issue of storm damage, we’re going to get more personal than we’ve tried before. There is no question that storms come and that when they come unexpectedly there is produced a profound shock to our system. It often sends us reeling out of control. Our stunned minds feel violated and our broken bodies shudder in sympathetic vibration with the shock wave of trauma that attacked us. No part of us is left unaffected. Every feeling, every relationship, every plan, hope and dream, every expectation is instantly tossed aside like a rag doll in a tornado.

And as soon as we can begin to make sense of it all, that’s when ‘it’ hits us. This overwhelming wave of anger and resentment that starts to permeate the very fiber of our being and then rushes in to assume control of our every thought. Our fist slams into the pillow in a blind rage that threatens our sanity and drives our hatred of this crushing intrusion.

Be honest, now. Hey, you may as well be honest – EVERY person who has had to deal with devastation goes through a period of anger - and if you don’t there really IS reason to call the men in the little white coats. Oh yea, some of you are going to say “Oh, that’s just life and we have to take what we’re given…” and any one of several other mamby pamby psyco-babble answers to life’s toughest questions. But if you have just been through a life storm that has left behind devastation and destruction that you might never, ever, be able to clean up, it is perfectly reasonable to be angry. It is right and proper for you to want to go hit something; to feel this small rage building inside yourself at the unfairness of it all. Come on, it really ISN’T fair, and you really ARE damaged beyond repair, and there’s NO ONE on earth that can fix what’s broken. It’s just plain wrong!

And what’s worse, some of your closest friends are going to get very distant because they don’t know what to say. Your job may be in jeopardy or be gone altogether. Your finances are probably going to take such a hit that may take years or decades to repair. The pain will steal your ability to produce and that’s going to try to destroy your self confidence and self esteem. No, fellow travelers, there’s nothing nice or sweet or joyous about the feelings of utter destruction you feel in your soul, and no amount of pats on the back for doing “so well” is going to change the fact that you’d just like to go smash something into smitherines.

God knows how you feel. He got so angry at mankind’s sin that the first time he destroyed the whole world with a catastrophic flood, save for a few men and women. Then he got so angry with Israel for there sin that he sent them into exile for generations. And finally he got so disgusted with man’s sin that he sent his only Son to the earth and allowed him to pay the ultimate penalty by dieing on a cross. Oh, yea, God knows what angry is.

And he tells us it’s a good thing to go ahead and get mad. Go ahead and lash out at that pillow or the empty room. Go ahead and ask Him the tough questions and even question His existence and his love for us. God is not threatened by our frustrated anger any more than he is caught off guard by our brokenness and the circumstances surrounding it.

But, fellow traveler, we need to keep the whole thing in perspective. While it is quite OK to get angry, it is something entirely different to stay angry, and then to allow the anger to possess and control you. Anger expressed and “let out of the box” is healthy and cleansing. Anger kept and nurtured becomes bitterness - and bitterness left unattended turns to poison – a dangerous life threatening poison that threatens to destroy us more than anyone else.

So go ahead and get angry – and then, with time and attention, get over it and move on. The raw emotion of anger can cleanse your mind and allow you to deal with the complex unfairness you may face for the rest of your life. This is also a great time to allow God to help you through the anger and then on into a healthy, productive life. Prayer is a marvelous way of connecting us to our Creator, and I recommend Him to you without reservation.

Until next time,
Dwight
RevPapaD@yahoo.com

Storm Update - part 2 in the series

2006-07-13T17:15:00.000-04:00

When the TV stations all broke into normal broadcasting last night with the news of the tornados hitting south west Ohio my heart went out to those in the path of these storms. It is a terrifying experience to be in a twister. When our children were young and we lived in a mobile home we were faced with just such a disaster. While our tornado was quite small and only moved the house off it’s foundations and ripped trees from the ground in the neighborhood, it was terrifying none-the-less. I could only imagine what it must have felt like when the sirens went off and the news people said not one, or two, or even three, but up to six tornados on the ground at the same time. Utterly terrifying!

TV stations from Columbus sent crews to the area to survey the situation. Since the trip takes about an hour and a half, the reporters got to the area after sunset. One called in to say, “It is so dark we can’t really see anything. The power is out and the lightning has passed, so … I think we are going to have to wait until sunrise to see the extent of the damage.”

She was simply stating a fact of life. We can’t see in the dark no matter how hard we try. But what a profound truth for us to consider today.

Yesterday we talked about another fact of life – storms come. We can’t stop them, or move them, or make of them anything less than what they are. Many times the storms in our lives come in hard and fast and deadly. They show up without warning and without mercy. And they often leave a path of destruction behind them that takes a long time – sometimes a lifetime - to clean up or deal with.

Now, let’s just talk for a moment, OK? Like it or not, storms often leave us in the dark. Our human power is exhausted or maybe even knocked out by the intensity of the storm. We know there is damage but the darkness hides the full story from our minds, and we simply can’t see well enough, or think clearly enough, to make sense of the whole thing.

This is an incredibly difficult time. Unfamiliar pain or brokenness is suddenly, alarmingly, and profoundly a stark reality. We were caught off guard – blindsided, if you will – and the darkness feels like it’s sucking the air out of our chest. Your mind races and wants to fix what’s broken, but the path is unclear and the answers unspoken. It is a terrifying experience.

It’s time to wait. Oh, fellow traveler, I didn’t say waiting was easy. But we must wait anyhow. To plow ahead and make decisions or plan strategies would be foolish and reckless. Even though you feel like you are alone in a lifeboat and adrift in an endless ocean and you want to do something – anything! - we’ve simply got to wait. When it’s dark it is impossible to survey the extent of the damage – or the dangers still waiting. Darkness also hides possible solutions we might miss if we ignore the mandate to wait for the sunrise. What if in the darkness you rowed that lifeboat like your life depended on it, and in the process you rowed out to sea while shore was only 20 feet the other direction?

In the darkness following the storm it’s time to find a friend who will just hold you and wait with you till morning. Quite often the wait is a short one. Sometimes it takes much longer. But time has a way of healing wounds that can heal, and time also gives us the recharged stamina to deal with the ones that won’t.

So, when the power is out and the lightning has passed, wait until sunrise. The Bible does say “Joy comes in the morning.”

Hang in there, morning is coming.
Dwight

Storm Damage Cleanup - part 3 in the series

2006-07-13T17:05:00.000-04:00

Storms come. We didn’t need to make that discovery on paper, most of us have been in the storm and we know that they come without warning, without mercy, without asking permission. They just come. And often they come in hard and fast and deadly. We also established that storms usually cause serious damage and that we need to wait till morning to assess that damage in the light of day. We dare not make foolish decisions nor should we rush into the darkness in some attempt to fix what’s wrong. Rushing in can be as deadly as the storm itself.

But today I want to make sure you understand that it is just as foolish to just keep waiting …

and waiting …

and waiting …

and never doing anything about your own storm damage. Yes, life’s storms can seem to “knock the stuffing” out of us. They can leave us hurt and hurting and wandering if we even CAN get up again. They sometimes leave behind such a massive amount of destruction and debris that we might be convinced there just isn’t even a reason to try again.

But you will never know until you try, and that is the point of this short blog today. Far too often I have met and counseled people who have faced a personal storm and are now afraid to pick up the pieces and start again. The storm scared them into indecision and fear paralyzed them into inactivity. And the longer it goes on like that, the less likely they are to ever want to try again. Instead, they are like a ship without a rudder – aimlessly adrift on life’s sea, without purpose or direction.

The biggest problem is that those in that state of indecision get used to it. The storm’s destruction that looked so stark and terrible in the light of day begins to look less and less terrible, until we rationalize it into acceptance. “There’s nothing I can do about it so I might as well get used to it” are the usual words we hear. We even convince ourselves that we really have tried to take care of it and we “just can’t do it”. And the longer the storm damage is ignored, the more it becomes just another part of the landscape of our character.

So what do we do to make sure this does NOT happen to us? As we found out yesterday we must first give ourselves time to heal and time to get used to the new realities. It took me at least 18 months before (a) the damage had healed and the terrible side effects of the healing drugs finally wore off and (b) I felt confident enough to be regularly in public in a permanently broken state. It has been almost four years since the accident and I am still, almost daily, making new discoveries and trying new ways to accomplish things better. Hear me – this is usually NOT a “flash in the pan, its fixed, let’s get on with things” kind of storm damage cleanup. It is hard work and is incredibly time and energy consuming.

Sometimes people around you will not understand the amount of effort you are exerting and therefore won’t understand why you are so tired (and sometimes irritable). In my case, not being able to walk is a real nuisance, and chronic pain robs me blind. There are reasons they call this thing a “disability”. On those days forward progress is a matter of sheer will power.

But, my fellow travelers, to do nothing is simply unacceptable! I refuse to just curl up and wait to die. It is the coward’s way out of cleaning up the storm damage. No, I may not be physically able to do what I once did though I demand a lot of myself along those lines. But what I can do I intend to do, God helping me.

And that’s what I want to encourage you to do as well. Refusing to do what you can do is a waste of your God given gifts, skills, talents, and graces. I would encourage you to reevaluate the damage your own storm has left behind. In the clear light of day be honest with yourself and then, with a clear head, make a decision to do something – anything! – to begin the storm damage cleanup in your life.

By the way, if you are well along on your way to the end of damage control, then try something new. Talk to a friend or read a good book and find fresh and exciting inspiration to go for something you’ve never tried before. And if you find someone who IS trying something new, lend your encouragement so that they keep trying and continue to grow. Though the storm has probably placed limits on what we might have done had the storm never arrived, there is NO LIMIT on the possibilities ahead nor is there any reason to not try.

So, fellow traveler, go ahead and wait for daylight so that you can heal and get used to the new you, but then do something productive with your life.

Your friend and fellow traveler,
Dwight
RevPapaD@yahoo.com

STORMS !!! part one

2006-07-11T10:30:00.000-04:00

WOW!!! I am glad I don’t live just north and northeast of Columbus. Yesterday, in Mount Vernon and surrounding areas the storms came and left behind up to 6 inches of rain. In a little town called Jelloway the little creek in town rose six FEET in just a half hour. That puts new meaning to the term “flash flood”. The evening news showed herds of cows swimming for their lives, people being carried to safety, and lots of destruction.

I’m reminded of a story found in the Bible. Jesus and the disciples had just completed a really rough day of ministry – thousands of people and almost as many needs met – and they were really tired. In the PDV I can imagine Jesus saying, “Hey, guys, I’m bushed. Take us to the other side while I go catch 40 winks.” Then he went down to the forward cabin, climbed into the hammock, and fell fast asleep.

Then the storm came. The disciples were, by and large, experienced boatmen. Most of them were professional fishermen who spent the biggest part of every day on the water, so a storm was no big deal. But this storm was a big one. In some ways, it might have been THE big one if Jesus hadn’t been in the boat. Try as they might, they simply couldn’t make it right. They lightened the load, threw out the anchors, trimmed the sails and rowed for their lives, but the storm was bigger than they were and they honestly expected to die.

Most of you know the rest of the story. Peter woke Jesus who came on deck, told the storm to be quiet and it did, and then he scolded the disciples for their lack of faith. Amazing story of an amazing man.

But the part of the story that speaks to me is this: the disciples had done everything right! They obeyed to the letter every single thing Jesus told them to do. They sailed, rowed, and steered the boat right. They were in the right place at the right time, and they were going exactly where Jesus told them to go. They were completely surrendered to the ministry of Jesus, who they firmly and rightly believed was God’s Son. They hadn’t done anything to make God mad - and they had not sinned to take away the blessing of God on their lives.

But the storm still came. Oh, fellow travelers, it not only came, it came with a vengeance. This was a seriously life threatening storm. It came fast and hard and deadly – the boat was nearly swamped and these professional boatmen were at a loss as to how to save their own lives. I can imagine in the middle of taking care of boating business they were praying for their souls that they fully expected would be standing before the Almighty within the hour.

It’s at this moment the story becomes my own. I can’t think of anything I was doing wrong - I could recite the details but I’ll refrain. Instead I’ll just say this: the storm came anyhow. Just like the Bible story, in the middle of doing exactly what I still believe was the center of God’s will, the storm came that nearly took my life, and at the very least left me changed and broken – at least physically - forever.

And it is at this moment this story becomes yours. Some of you can’t think of a single reason why your storm came. The simple fact is that storms come. Storms are no respecter of persons. They don’t care if you are good or kind or faithful or even fruitful in your profession or ministry – storms just come. And sometimes they come in hard and fast and deadly.

And just like the storms in central Ohio yesterday, they often leave behind a path of destruction and devastation that takes a long time to clean up. In our lives, sometimes the storm leaves behind damage that will take the rest of our lives to clean up. And unfortunately, sometimes we will never get it done. Just like in New Orleans after Katrina, there is some devastation that will simply be left alone as a silent and permanent reminder of the storm.

Tomorrow we’ll discuss what we do next. But for today I want you to know that you can be doing everything right, you can be in the right place at the right time, you can be living in obedience to the Lord and every Divine command you can think of, and sometimes the storm will still come. We can try to do everything in our power to prepare for the storm, but most of the time they come in hard and fast and deadly - and there absolutely nothing we could have done to prevent the damage. And if you find yourself in that place, don’t allow anyone to try to turn you into a criminal or say you did something wrong or even worse, that God’s mad at you and it’s all your own fault …

… because sometimes, storms just come.

Know you are loved,
Dwight
RevPapaD@yahoo.com

Normal?

2006-07-08T10:31:00.000-04:00

Dear Fellow travelers,

I had an interesting thing happen to me yesterday. I was in my woodworking shop when a friend stopped by just to talk. After watching me work a few minutes he said “Dwight, do you realize that in this space you have completely redefined “normal”?

I just looked at him with what must have been a quizzical look on my face. He added, “Think about it. You have done more than adapt a place where you use tools to build things. You have so completely transformed every detail that a normal person - you know, someone who can walk - is as uncomfortable in this environment as you must feel out in the rest of the world. The only way I could work in this shop would be to get in a wheelchair and chase you around in circles! You have, at least in this small part of the world, redefined ‘normal’. Out there (pointing outside) normal is one thing, but you walk through this door and it is something completely different.”

Wow. I really didn’t intend to rewrite a part of the dictionary. And surely I didn’t plan on friends or family feeling uncomfortable or out of place in my shop. But when I think about it, he’s right. I really have redesigned the interior space of my workshop to fit a man in a wheelchair, and I’ve included every detail – the height of things like the front door lock, light switches, the workbench and the operational area of every single power tool. And it’s not only the height of things. I’ve redesigned the tools themselves – new tables, fences, stands and stops – all made so that a man in a wheelchair feels right at home. It would be backbreaking for a person of normal mobility to enter my little world. Truth is, I can’t imagine they’d last long - all the bending would likely cause such pain that it would force them to stop.

Redefining “normal”. That’s a pretty good definition of a broken person’s lifestyle. All of those details like light switches, thresholds, door widths, and stair wells are monumental challenges for those with mobility issues. And for those of my friends who are visually impaired you must just adore those folks who feel the need to move furniture around just for fun. That must simply drive you crazy! Within minutes of my first wheelchair arrival I came face to face with the need to redefine normal - and there’s hardly a day goes by that I don’t need to continually redefine it again and again.

We all do. May I congratulate you on your ability to change the very definition of such a commonly used word in your own world. Erma Bombeck notwithstanding, normal really IS more than a setting on your dryer. It is the very “stuff” of living.

And if you haven’t done the legwork (an interesting choice of words for a guy in a wheelchair, don’t you think) to change at least a small piece of your world so you can feel right at home – get busy! Don’t just sit there with your teeth in your mouth, go change something. Make it work for you, make it ooze with your personality –put simply, make it your own. Try to get along with the rest of your world, but you know, it really doesn’t matter if the rest of the world is not completely comfortable there. Face it, we’re not all that comfortable out in the “normal” world either. Go find a spot and transform it into YOUR spot.

Then settle in and be at peace, if only for a few moments at a time.

Carpe Deum!!
Dwight
RevPapaD@yahoo.com

Shade Tree Counsel

2006-07-07T10:32:00.000-04:00

Fellow travelers

I’ve seen too many people quit. Every time I hear of a good person broken by life’s unexpected dark side who has chosen to just sit down and wait to die, a part of me wants to scream “NOOOOOOO!!! You have so much to offer, so many gifts, so many people who love you ... why quit, why stop, why now?”

OK, let’s dare to be honest: the temptation is there for every broken person. Some days the mountain seems to grow right before your eyes, and when we decide to sleep on it the grade looks steeper today than it did yesterday. Anyone who tells you that you’ll get used to it is lying – you never get used to brokenness. True, it becomes more familiar, less intimidating, and the way through becomes easier to find over time, but you don’t “get used” to being broken. You deal with it, you fight through it, you make adjustments and refinements in your routines to make things a little easier, and you learn the hard lessons because you have to – but I’ve never met anyone who gets used to being broken. Broken is still broken. And we can just, plain get tired of it - tired of the struggle, tired of making the inevitable mistakes, tired of trying one more time to do something the rest of the world takes for granted. Or, if your brokenness came later in life like mine, what I, myself, took for granted for 50 plus years.

But come on, do you really want to quit? Or would a nice stretch of R&R serve a greater purpose? If there is one thing I’ve learned in this strange journey through brokenness it is that God really does help us compensate if we will permit his help. The broken people I’ve had the privilege of meeting are some of the most creative people on the planet. Not so much because they are creative by nature or birth though many are, but because they HAVE to be creative to make it through the day. Knowing you makes me proud to be a part of the community of the hurt and hurting.

Please, my dear fellow traveler, if you’ve been tempted to stop trying, let me encourage you to run as fast as you can away from that temptation, then stop and take a breather.

I’m reminded of the story of Elijah in the Bible – he had just won the biggest battle of his life. It required everything he had physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually - and when God came through for him he became the winning-est man alive. Then he was confronted by yet one more challenge, and he just couldn’t do it. He ran off into the desert and begged God to kill him so he didn’t have to face tomorrow. He was exhausted and couldn’t take one more step - and he just about quit. But God said, “Hey, buddy, go over there by the brook - yea, under that shade tree - and take a nap. God had birds bring him food and Elijah, the great winning prophet, rested for weeks until he regained his strength. From there he moved on to do his greatest ministry ever.

My fellow traveler, hang in there. Take some time and rest those aching bones, relax your weary mind, and allow time – and God – to soothe your stressed out emotions. Who knows, the best times you’ve ever known might be just around the corner if you just hang on a little while more.

Life is strange with its twists and turns
As every one of us sometime learns
And many a failure turns about
When he might have won had he stuck it out
Don’t give up though the pace seems slow
You may succeed with just one more blow.

Be encouraged!
Dwight
RevPapaD@yahoo.com

Grrrrr!

2006-07-06T09:32:00.000-04:00

I’ve learned to growl.

No, it’s not the menacing growl of a Rottweiler or the fearsome growl of the German Shepherd. It’s not even the “Do Not Enter” growl of a Terrier who thinks he owns the house. Mine is more like the under your breath growl of the big old cuddly English Sheep Dog who knows he put that bone out there somewhere but just can’t seem to find the thing.

Yes, my growl is the growl of frustration. I’m convinced my growl is a good thing, though, because when I vocalize the “grrrrrr” it helps me get past the initial irritation of the moment and allows me time to think of a solution to the problem at hand. My growl is very useful to me, and though it isn’t exactly socially acceptable in public places, I kind of like it. I scared a couple kids the other day when my wheelchair got stuck in a crack in the sidewalk, and while trying to figure out a way out, I growled. You should have seen the look on their faces! I’m still giggling under my breath.

Really, though, I am a person who thinks more clearly out loud, which I do acknowledge, isn’t always the easiest on those around me. I think my wife is learning to growl too, except her growl of frustration is at me growling! When I growl out loud she usually rushes to help me fix whatever is wrong, or at least calls out “what can I do for you?” Bless her heart, she is really trying to be a great wife, and she does a pretty good job of it. But truth be told, most of the time I’m just growling to help me think more clearly and her coming to help really doesn’t help. I don’t want to think about answering a question, I just want to solve the problem.

So I growl again – no, that’s not a good plan. But frustrations can really weigh down the thinking process. When I’m working in my woodworking shop and I’ve got a handful of ‘project’, I don’t want my chair’s wheels to get turned against each other. I have to stop cold, put down whatever’s in my hands, wiggle the chair until the wheels line up, move back to where the stuff was I put down and pick it up again and then try to maneuver across the room to the tool I was headed for in the first place – GRRRRRR!!!

My friends, I’m not going to try to tell you that you need to learn how to growl like me. It just so happens that a simple grrrrr works for me. But what I AM going to tell you is that if you keep every frustration bundled up inside you they will grow and fester and eventually explode sometime, somewhere, on someone - and from my experience, those occasions are not pretty. We all need to find ways to release those seemingly petty every day frustrations into the thin air so they can blow away without hurting us – or worse, causing pain to someone we love. We dare not allow an accumulation of nuisance aggravations grow into life defeating roadblocks that make us ineffective and unproductive.

Please, PLEASE learn to growl, or some other form of release that suits you, and refuse to allow frustration to paralyze your mind, freeze your soul, and stop your progress.

So, just for fun, why not try a good "Grrrrrrr!!!"

Growling along,
Dwight
RevPapaD@yahoo.com

The Choice

2006-07-05T11:42:00.000-04:00

Welcome friends,

“Life is what it is - and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

That is a quote from an email I got recently from a fellow broken person and I think I know what he was trying to say. There is a level of truth here that is a little frightening to us all. Life can throw some pretty ugly curve balls our direction sometimes and there really IS little we can do about what comes our way. It is what it is, whether sunshine or rain, good times or pain, financial security or the plant closing down. Life simply doesn’t ask permission of us – nor does it ask our opinion – about what happens that is beyond our scope of influence. It happens. Period.

But I’ve given some serious thought about this and, though I confess there is a big temptation to accept this without question, there’s something that bothers me about its resolution. Sure, I agree that there are things that are simply beyond our ability to have any impact upon. The car accident; a medical malpractice; a legal attack; the store moving to Georgia; or a Mom taking the drug the doctor prescribed and finding out 5 years later it caused the birth defect. Beyond our control, outside our jurisdiction, farther that our limited reach.

But we DO have control over our reactions to these things. We can allow them to defeat or destroy us, or we can make the choice to fight with all that is in us. Winning or losing is not the question here – fighting and hanging in there is. Sometimes the battle is won or lost before we even take our stand, but is that a reason to not try anyhow? Is not life the journey and not just the destination? Is it not true that I have to look at myself in the mirror and ask, “Did you give it your best shot, or did you just fold up and give in?”

Now, I do understand that we need to choose our battles widely. For me, to constantly beat myself up over not being able to walk would be a waste of energy. But to continue to live, to strive, to win and lose, to ever challenge myself to higher goals and greater victories - with all of the challenges and failures and rewards - is my choice, and I choose to thrive, not just survive. When it’s all said and done I want my life to count. I want to have made a difference and a contribution. I choose to refuse mediocrity and leave my mark. And I encourage you to do the same.

Life might be what it is, but I CAN - and I WILL - do something about it. Will you? The choice is yours and mine – choose well!

One ship sails east and one sails west
By the self same winds that blow
Tis the set of the sail, not the force of the gale
Which determines which way they go.
-- Unknown

Set your sail and catch the wind. Bon Voyage!!!
Dwight
RevPapaD@yahoo.com

Rough days

2006-07-03T12:29:00.000-04:00

Dear fellow travelers,

Today is a rough day. When the weather takes a turn for the worst so do the pain levels. My body –like many of yours - becomes less responsive to what I want from it. It’s harder to move the wheelchair, especially on carpet, and harder to move when I need to adjust my position. And as the joints begin their unrelenting downward spiral of pain I’m reminded that there is a reason we call this state of being “broken”.

For the longest time I tried to explain what was going on inside. People who live with only occasional pain don’t understand that it takes an enormous amount of energy just to stay sweet when the pain is constant and merciless. I was reading a Times magazine recently (in a doctor’s office, no less) and I came across an article on chronic pain that began with a short explanation that I wrote down and have shared with those who ask why I tend to wear out toward the end of the day. It was written by Claudia Wallis, and it goes like this:

“Chronic pain is a thief. It breaks into your body and robs you blind. With lightning fingers, it can take away your livelihood, your marriage, your friends, your favorite pastimes and big chunks of your personality. Left unapprehended, it will steal your days and your nights until the world has collapsed into a cramped cell of suffering. And it takes more than a prescription pad to really bring relief.”

That is the best explanation I’ve ever read, and I pass it on to you in case someone asks you, or, unfortunately for some of you, berates you, for needing to take a rest or a break, or wonders why you are not able to do what they want you to do at 8 PM.

My friends, I have no great answers, only this truth – if you are anything like me, the sun will shine again and the good days will come back. Psalm 30:5 says "Your weeping might last all night long, but don't be discouraged for joy comes in the morning" (PDV) Hang in there. Be encouraged even when the pain is trying to rob you blind.

I leave you with a few lines from my favorite poem, “Don’t Quit”:

When things go wrong as they sometimes will
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill
When the funds are low and the debts are high
When you want to smile but you have to sigh
When pain is pressing you down a bit
Rest if you must, but don’t you quit!

Hang in there, my friends, for joy comes in the morning!
Dwight

Best Friends - FINAL PART in the series

2006-07-01T10:23:00.000-04:00

Dear Friends,

Well, we’ve come to the end of this short series of blogs on making and keeping good friends. Thanks for joining me on this journey.

What if I told you I have, totally by accident, discovered the cure for aging.

Yes, I was working with my little chemistry set in the workshop when I dropped one of the beakers on the floor where it broke. It spilled on a mixture of sawdust from various species of wood and also some from plastic I had cut on the bandsaw. The whole thing went PUFF! And there was this amazing looking gel on the floor of my shop. I picked it up and accidentally got some on my hands. Almost immediately my hands began to look younger, and the strength I had years ago began to come back. Within an hour or so a complete transformation had taken place on my skin. I was ecstatic!

But then I did a dumb thing. I came in to eat lunch and just forgot to wash my hands. I fixed my ham sandwich and without thinking licked the extra mustard off my fingers. Man, does that stuff taste terrible! But within the hour I began to feel my leg muscles strengthening and a strange warm feeling in my spine. Listen, over night I am now back on my feet – and it also seems the diabetes is gone, too. I’ll check with the doctor but I think my blood pressure is doing fine on its own as well. I’ll have them check my cholesterol too, it’s only a guess but I think it will show a marked improvement, thanks to my little accident.

If this little tale were true, what would you think of me? Would you be happy? And more importantly, after checking it out with the medical professionals do you think you might like to give my little accident a try? I don’t know too many who would say “no”. There would be great joy around the world at this breakthrough discovery. People would be patting me on the back and telling me how wonderful I am.

But then, what if I went on to tell you that I think I’ll just keep this to myself. Come on, people are going to ask how I made it—everyone would want a piece of me! What are the chemical formula’s? How hot was the reaction? What kinds of sawdust were on the floor? All those questions I can’t answer. And people are going to want me to talk about my great discovery and I really don’t want to do that. And the medical and pharmaceutical people are going to make demands on my time and energy – so I think I’ll just share this discovery with my immediate family and a few close friends and let the rest of the world have their own accident.

NOW, what do you think of me? Am I being fair with the rest of the world? Might you ask yourself “Am I one of his close friends - is he gonna share this with me?” Would you think that I was being selfish, uncaring, unconcerned with the plight of people in general? Would you tell me I was being self-centered and egotistic and that I needed to share this great discovery with the rest of the planet?

Well, this little story is NOT true, as you expected. But wait! Not so fast with that dismissal. You see, I DO have the answers to the greatest challenges of this age. I hold in my hands, every single day, the answer for divorce and hatred. I already know the solution to the problems of discrimination, murder, rape, and filled prisons. I can also tell you where to find these answers yourself, and give you directions as to how to solve these challenges in your own life.

No, I cannot force you to accept my help, nor do I have the right to insist that you accept my solution, but since I am absolutely sure the solution I found works, every single time, in every single case, don’t you think I have a moral mandate to share that information? I mean, if the above cure for aging were available, or a cure for cancer, or Parkinson’s, or heart disease, or AIDS - don’t you think I would have a moral imperative, an ethical obligation to share that wisdom with you? Surely it would be the proper, decent, honorable thing to do, right?

Absolutely! I would be considered the most selfish man alive were I to keep such a thing to myself. And yet, at the same time, I am told by some to keep silent when I have, in a complete package, the proven, confirmed, and experientially verified answers to life’s greatest challenges.

Bottom line?

Observation #5: True Friends care for each other spiritually

1 Samuel 23:15,16 “While David was at Horesh he learned that Saul had come out to take his life. And Saul's son Jonathan went to David at Horesh and helped him find strength in God."

I have purposely saved the most important quality of true friendship for last.

> Yes, it is true that true friends have a relationship that is more than skin deep and will stand the test of time and stress.
> It is true that real friends are unselfish and generous with one another and that the people involved are willing to take the time necessary to nurture and grow the friendship into something valuable.
> And yes, it is true that friends willingly place themselves on the line in defense of their friend.

But there is no more important sign of friendship, no other act that expresses just how real and true and important a friendship is to the other person than someone willing to risk their friendship to make sure their friend makes it to heaven.

Please understand, friendships that are based in earthly things are important and good, and have incredible value to us as people. But there is a friendship that reaches beyond the earthbound stuff of ordinary living. This friendship is one that has an eternal point of view, a mindset that transcends human need and understanding because it cares about the other person’s never dying soul.

This old body is going to someday fade away. Oh, my friends I’m glad of that. No more sickness or pain. No more drugs that take away one problem and leave you with another. No more brokenness, emptiness, frailty. Because one day all of this will end. Please hear me, this is not all there is. There is a heaven to gain and a Hell to shun. There is hope for the redeemed, rest for the weary, and wholeness for the broken. There will be an ultimate healing where every tear is dried and every disease is forgotten. Praise God, this is not all there is.

And a real friend, one who cares for you and loves you and wants the best for you, will make sure you know about the Lord. They will not keep silent about the cure for eternal damnation. They will refuse to be quiet about Jesus, about being saved, about the redemption of our souls that only Jesus could buy and only Jesus did buy. They will want you to know joy unspeakable and full of glory. They will want you to be introduced to the Savior.

This is the great mark of the best friendships. Your REAL friend will risk your anger and your rejection to make sure you know about eternal, abundant, joy and love filled LIFE! Why? Because it is the difference between life and death for your eternal soul. It is the difference between really living and trying to make it on your own and failing miserably.

And so, at the risk of my friendship with you, I offer this truth …

Jesus loves you. He loves you so much that he came to this planet and paid the penalty for your wrongdoing even before you were born. He wrote the contract for your eternal life in paradise and signed it in his own blood. It is free for the taking, as a love gift from the Creator of the Universe.

But it will never be put into effect until you accept it for yourself. Like a Christmas gift you leave under the tree unopened, you can’t have this gift until you accept it and open the box. God has made this provision for your soul and mine, and it requires that …
(1) You realize you can’t get rid of your own sin on your own and that you need a Savior,
(2) You accept that Jesus is the risen Son of God and that he IS that Savior you need. When he died on the cross he paid for your sin with his own blood. When he rose from the dead he proved he had the power to do everything he said he would do.
(3) Finally, when you accept this for yourself you believe that you are clean from the inside out.

That’s it. No hocus pocus, no magic formulas, no special incantations, no hoops to jump through – just honesty about yourself and your sin, belief that Jesus, God’s Son, is the answer, and acceptance of the answer for yourself.

If you need to talk or if you’ve made this most important decision about your future, please contact me. I’d be glad to part of your new life!

Love in Christ,
Dwight
RevPapaD@yahoo.com

Best Friends part five

2006-06-30T11:26:00.000-04:00

Dear Friends,

We are nearing the end of our short series of blogs on the art of making and keeping best friends. We’ve been making some observations on the incredible example of two characters we find in the Bible, Jonathan and David. These two guys are tied together in their hearts – they are what we today call best friends.

We’ve seen that friendship is more than skin deep, and that true friends are generous and unselfish within the relationship. Yesterday we found out that friendships, as well as every good relationship, requires time to grow and develop.

Today, though, our observation has a dark side. We live in a world that sometimes takes aim at us with cruel and harmful intentions. There are days, especially for us who are broken, when it seems that at every turn life is conspiring against us. Pain overwhelms. Personal challenges become nearly unbearable. Even the weather is bleak. And then it happens – some unthinking, sometimes uncaring, usually rude person attacks us.

It happened the other day at Lowes. Susie and I had taken an opportunity to restock the lumber racks in my woodshop, and after two doctors appointments and pushing my manual wheelchair through the big store, I had just about come to the end of my endurance. As a love gift to me Susie went to get our truck from the parking spot quite a distance from where we exited so I wouldn’t have to push myself to it.

She got there and was about to enter the truck when two women, who had parked in the handicapped space beside our truck, walked by and started complaining – very loud, very rude, and without giving the circumstances a second thought - attacking Susie for being in “their” handicapped parking space. The attack was obviously unfounded and uncalled for, but it happened anyhow.

If you are broken you know this kind of unexpected rudeness happens. People, with their own agenda and, selfishly, without giving others a second thought, just attack without provocation. Sometimes it is face to face, but most of it, like our encounter at Lowes, is cowardly. They just talk real loud and make a scene that is intended to hurt and damage.

David and Jonathan teach us an important lesson with their lives. We will call it …

Observation #4: True friends defend each other

As we’ve seen, Jonathan is a great example of unselfish friendship. He could have been pretty put out by the knowledge that God had taken the reigns of power from Saul’s family and given it to David. Think about it – knowing your best friend will probably take your job, your power, your position, your financial benefits, your titles, your future – that could but a damper on things, don’t you think!?!? But Jonathan was a true friend, willing to suffer loss to defend David’s right to be the king of Israel instead. What a true and noble friend Jonathan is. He shows us how its supposed to be done.

But this friendship went even one more extra mile. In more than one instance Jonathan saved David’s life by warning him of his father’s unholy intentions. Saul absolutely hated David. Several times Saul would chase David down in an attempt to kill him. This could have put a strain on Jonathan and David’s friendship, but because they were committed to each other at a deeper level, Jonathan became David’s defender. Jonathan was willing to stand up to his father at his own peril just to make sure David would survive.

That example is for you and me to follow. Now, I don't expect that many of us have an insane king chasing us with murder on his mind. But rude people can be cruel. Unthinking people can be crass and mean and not even know it. And sometimes it is up to us to defend our friends against these kinds of folks. No, it is not always easy, nor is it even without it’s built in dangers, but sometimes it is necessary and it is YOU and ME that God calls to defend the defenseless. It might mean you are going to have to put your own comforts on the line, but if that is the way it goes down, then I, for one, choose to go down fighting. Oh, maybe not physically, but a word, chosen carefully and spoken timely, can carry great weight in defense of a friend.

And I’m not just talking about the rudeness we encountered at Lowes. I’m also talking about stopping gossip and bad-mouthing in its tracks. I’m saying that we do NOT join in when another is being criticized or berated, but we enter the conversation in defense of the other’s character. We choose the high road less traveled and stand, sometimes at our own emotional peril, in defense of those we consider friends.

Yes, it requires action on our part, and yes, it means we are putting our own selves on the line, but it also means that we do the right thing, the good thing, the Godly thing, and take our stand in defense of the weak and broken among us. It might also mean taking local government to task for its lack of wheelchair accessibility. It might also mean taking a stand in a business, a sporting arena, or even at your church in defense of those who otherwise would be defenseless and left out because of their brokenness. It means taking a stand, and then standing there – even if its in your wheelchair – unflinchingly defending what is right.

I know this sounds like I’m waxing militant today, and maybe I am. But we all know people who, without someone to stand up for them, would find themselves on the outside, with burning tears in their eyes, looking in. Those of us who are strong need to take up the cause of the weaker. Because if we don’t, who will? And if not today, then when?

True friends defend each other whatever the cost. Decide to defend today.

Standing tall in my wheelchair,
Dwight
RevPapaD@yahoo.com

Best Friends part four

2006-06-29T10:32:00.000-04:00

Dear friends,

If you have been following this short series of blogs about friendships, you know that I’ve been encouraging you to get out there and make some friends, and maybe out of the process you might find a really good friend, or maybe even a best friend.

But today, I want to focus our attention on the most important way to help develop a friendship that you already have. Maybe this is a ‘new’ friend, like someone you’ve just recently met and the chemistry is right. Or maybe you have a friend that you care dearly for but you haven’t had much time to devote to that relationship. Or possibly you have a friend that is just plain special to you and you want that friendship to flourish even better.

Well, in these cases as well as others there is a one sure way to improve your friendships. It’s found in today’s edition…

Observation #3: Friends spend time developing and sustaining their relationship

Friendships don’t just happen, they are made.

Let’s just be very practical for a moment – we've been talking about friendships, but this is good advice for marriages, family relationships, neighborhoods, church relationships: The bottom line is this – if we are going to have good relationships of any kind they are going to require that we take the time to make them good.

Husbands and wives - it means you are going to have spend time together, growing this thing called love. No, I don’t mean just watching TV in the same room or going to a movie where you sit quietly in the dark and watch someone else’s life, but spending uninterrupted time actually communicating.

Parents, it means you are going to have to take the time to be with your kids, doing things together, learning their likes and dislikes, and sharing their lives. The TV commercials that say that involved parents are the best anti-drug are telling the truth. Actually, in their hearts kids spell love T-I-M-E.

Neighbors, it’s going to take more than a “Howdy” over the fence once a week. If you want to turn an acquaintance into a friend, it’s going to require a time component.

It is this simple: Time is the master key to relationships. If you want a better relationship with your kids, your spouse, your friends, your co-workers, your church family, with anyone – spend time together. Developing the relationship requires time, and nothing else will be an adequate substitute..

And, as a Christian, if I might add one more simple truth as well – if we are going to have any kind of relationship with our heavenly Father it means we are going to have to spend some time with him as well. We need to read the Bible because that is God talking to us. We need to spend some time thinking about what we read so that we understand what it is that God is saying to us personally. Then we need to pray; that sacred conversation between a person and their God.

Relationships are built on time spent together – David and Jonathan knew that, and we do too.

"But Dwight, I don't have that kind of time!" If that is you talking then I have only one thing to say - you are too busy! If your schedule doesn't include time for developing friendships then you need to adjust your schedule. when it is all over for us - and that time comes for everyone - we won't look back and say "Oh I wish I would have closed that deal" or "Aw shucks, I didn't make it all the way to a million dollars", or even "Boy, I wish I'd have spent more time at the office". No, when we face the end of days on this planet the only thing that will matter is "who do I love, and who loves me".

Yes, my friends, this is THAT important! Do whatever it takes to develop a really good friendship with someone you will learn to love if you don't already. Talk face to face, write an old fashioned letter, make a phone call and plan to spend more than two minutes talking about the weather, spend some time composing a REAL email, not just a forward, and actually say something of value.

And please, don’t just plan on spending time with a friend, MAKE the time to do it – and you’ll be glad you did! Maybe right NOW would be a good time to start...

Until we meet again,
Dwight
RevPapaD@yahoo.com

Best Friends part three

2006-06-28T07:40:00.000-04:00

Hello there, friends,

Well, today we get to take a look at one of the wonderful benefits of having a good friend. Remember, we have been looking at this topic through the eyes of a couple guys who became best friends in spite of the surrounding circumstances. What a great example Jonathan and David set for us to follow. So here is today's ...

Observation #2: True friendship is generous and unselfish.

It is highly probable that David, a poor young fellow from an ordinary family, didn’t even have decent clothes to wear. He had been in the field with sheep when his father asked him to go take some bread and cheese to his brothers in the battle with the Philistines where, as history tells us, David killed Goliath and was not allowed to return home by order of the king. David didn’t have normal fighting clothes - which is why Saul tried to have him wear the kings armor - and more than likely he hadn’t even brought along a single change of clothes. David was between the proverbial rock and a hard place!

So what happened? Jonathan literally gave David the clothes off his back. His friend needed something and he didn’t give it a second thought – he took off his robe that was probably made of better cloth than David had ever even touched and he included the tunic so David would not get cold in the night.

And then Jonathan did something unheard of. David had come with a sling, a common shepherd’s weapon, and Jonathan recognized that David would need more than that if he was being forced into military service at the kings right hand, So Jonathan gave David his sword, his bow, and his belt.

Now understand, swords were very rare and were reserved for leaders and kings. This is a most significant gift for the sword was the symbol of power. 1 Samuel 13:22 says “So on the day of the battle not a soldier with Saul and Jonathan had a sword or spear in his hand; only Saul and his son Jonathan had them.”

In simple terms, Jonathan gave David a gift that ONLY Jonathan could give. His generosity was compounded by the addition of the bow, a weapon that could save David’s life.

The belt is also significant and the most practical of the gifts. Weapons could get very heavy, especially when they were NOT being used in warfare. A belt was where the sword’s scabbard was attached and the sheath for arrows for the bow – this was a simple yet completely necessary part of the weaponry Jonathan gave to David.

Finally, one last important detail – Jonathan did not give David A sword, bow and belt, he gave him HIS sword, bow and belt. These were not just some run of the mill gifts scratched up from the guys in the field, these were royal weapons, designed and made for the kings own son. This was unselfish generosity at its highest level, brought about by the deep friendship one man had for another.

Hear me – true friends are unselfish and generous. Not just with the leftovers, but with the things that are most precious to them. True friends share time, finances, worldly goods and resources – whatever their friend needs, if it is within their power to do so, they provide.

Are you a true friend to someone? Over the years I have been on the receiving end of many people’s unselfish generosity. My life has been enriched and my soul fed from the great bounty of good people’s love that has sustained and held me when I needed it most. Most of the time it was simply impossible for me to reciprocate. I wanted to, but it was just not possible. But these friends of mine didn’t do what they did so they would get something in return, they did it out of love and care for me. I am blest beyond measure by the love and generosity of good people down through the years. I am better equipped today to help others because of how I have been helped.

Have you ever seen the movie “Pay It Forward”? Not exactly a world class movie, but what a concept! Do something generous for no reason except that it needs done. If the truth be told, these things many times do come full circle. Oh, maybe not the same people, or the same circumstances, but you know as well as I do that a generous spirit inspires generosity in others, and that kind of attitude is something we call ALL live with.

When was the last time you showed your friendship by being unselfishly generous with a friend? What skills do you possess that you can share with those around you? What gifts have been given to you by your Creator that maybe someone else could use?

Why not give generosity and unselfishness a try today. Do a random act of kindness and who knows, you might end up with a life long friend out of the deal! As my Mom used to say, “Ya never know….”.

Till tomorrow,
Dwight
RevPapaD@yahoo.com

Best Friends part two

2006-06-27T10:13:00.000-04:00

Good day, my friends,

Yesterday we began a series of blogs centered on this idea of “Best Friends”. Many thanks to those of you who have already written with notes of encouragement – they are much appreciated.

We figured out yesterday that real friends sometimes require serious effort on our parts to make them work. But we also made a clear determination that we NEED good friends, and that life on this planet is not healthy unless we have one or more of them.

And finally, we took a look at what the Bible has to say about a couple guys who were best friends. An unlikely friendship at best, but, hey, let’s just take a look at my …

Observation #1: True friendship is more than skin deep

David and Jonathan’s friendship was born deep in their spirits. It involved their emotions and their intellect, it was based deep inside their very souls. It’s a good thing, too, because if you took a look at the outside trappings there couldn’t have been two more different guys. Let’s take a quick look at their …

Financial standing. Jonathan had at his fingertips all the resources of the entire kingdom of Israel. He merely spoke and his every wish was granted. He lacked for nothing, and was showered with abundance. David, on the other hand, didn’t even own clothing fit to be seen in the kings court. He would have been offered the least in compensation for his efforts, would have inherited the least from his father, and would have had to work his entire lifetime just to survive.

Family birth order. Jonathan was the Prince of Israel, the king’s first-born son and first in line for the throne. David was the last born of 8 sons, and in line to tend sheep.

His families place in society. As stated, Jonathan was the first son of the first king of Israel. There could be no higher standing in the nation. David’s family was an ordinary, tax paying, garden variety farming family. David was the least favored of the whole family of least favored folk.

David and Jonathon were complete opposites. There was nothing visible that would have drawn these two men together in a lifelong friendship.

But obviously, everything is not visible. The story we read last time stated that these men “loved each other like real men” and that they “made a covenant” between them.

These two guys, as opposite as humanly possible, became best friends in spite of their obvious differences. They completely ignored the externals and focused on their hearts, and in their hearts they were brothers.

What’s holding you back from making a real friend? Could it be your financial picture? And by the way that goes two ways! Some feel they are too good for the other guy because they have so much more money, and then there are the ones who believe they aren’t good enough simply because the other person has made more money over their life time.

Could it be that you feel like the other person is above or below you socially, and it just wouldn’t be right to associate with that person who might one day become a friend?

Let’s be real for a minute - none of that really matters! Oh yes, I am fully aware that there are some very real barriers to making friendships, especially when you are broken. For example, I have never met the people who live across the street from my house. Because of the architecture of my home and my access ramp direction, I have only been in my own front yard one time since we moved in. And since my "across the street" neighbors have no reason to come out to the back alley behind my house, I’ve never met them.

But I HAVE met the people that connect to the back of my house, and they are good people, and I’ve made some very good friends among them.

What am I telling you? That YES, there are barriers, sometimes insurmountable and impractical ones that stand in the way. But we dare not allow them to become an excuse. We must not foolishly build artificial barriers that we then hide behind – hey, it’s so easy to make excuses based on things that just don’t matter. And when we are feeling down and out already, possibly because of our brokenness or some of its related issues, we could tend to want to hide away from the world even more. But it’s those times you need a friend more than ever.

Make provisions for your friendships. Take the time necessary to go deeper than “skin deep”, and refuse to allow yourself to become the victim of friendlessness. Whatever you do, think through this issue for yourself. Then DO SOMETHING about it.

You’ll be glad you did!

Till tomorrow,
Dwight

Best Friends

2006-06-26T16:07:00.000-04:00

Hi there friends and neighbors,

This morning Susie had on the morning news. The lead story was about study just completed that said Americans have fewer real friends than we have ever had. How sad! The news report said that there are lots of reasons people don’t have good friends, but that not having them is very unhealthy. It also went on to say that 70% of those who DO have friends say that their only close friend is their spouse.

So many of you had something to say last week when I posted the blog about friends. The comments, and especially the emails, were filled with your own stories. I heard your success stories and I also heard your struggle. The general consensus is that it is really tough making real friends, and that best friends take a lot of work. But some of you also said you would do almost ANYTHING to have just one person on this planet who really cared.

It seems God created us with the inborn need for the sound and the touch of another person - not just any person, but someone you could call a friend. As most of you know, I am a former pastor – former because of brokenness, and a Christian. Therefore, when I am confronted with a major dilemma, like this issue of so many people hurting for a real friend, my natural bent is to turn to the Bible for answers.

What I find there is that people are God’s passion. We, for reasons known only to our Creator, are incredibly important to God. And because of that truth, he absolutely loves it when WE love people, too! It is our Creator’s deep desire that we have healthy, growing friendships.

In addition, I believe that best friends are a very special gift from God. I think God sometimes uses his own, great power to create situations where we can make strong, special, lifetime friendships. It wouldn’t be the first time…

The Bible talks about a couple guys who became the best of friends. David and Jonathan had a most unlikely friendship. Truth be told, the very real challenges they had to overcome to be best friends would have made most people just quit trying. I’ve heard of parents not liking their kid’s friends, but Jonathan’s Dad, King Saul, hated David so much he was trying to kill him – actually sent a whole army to hunt him down! Not exactly the best beginning for a lifelong friendship, huh. My parents didn't like some of my friends, but they never sent out the militia to kill them off!

Let's talk - Over the next few days I want to make some observations about the kind of friendship that stands the test of time: good friends, REAL friends, lifelong BEST friends. I want you to think with me and talk with me. What you have to say is important and significant. That's why we are revisiting this hot topic issue in the first place. And to help us understand God's point of view we are going to use a small paragraph from the Bible about David and Jonathan to help us get a good grip.

So you don’t have to look it up I’ll just print the PDV (Pastor Dwight's Version) here. But if you want to read the whole story in your own version, it’s found in the Old Testament, in the first of two books called “Samuel” (my son’s name!) and the 18th chapter. David just killed the giant Goliath and had instantly become a national hero. Saul was entertaining the ugly little bug of jealousy. The story goes like this…

“After David had finished talking with Saul [the king], Jonathan and David became best friends, and they loved each other like real men. But from that day on Saul kept David at the palace instead of letting him go back home. Jonathan made a covenant (an absolute promise, a binding contract) with David because he loved him as himself. Now David hadn’t even packed a suitcase, so Jonathan gave David one of his favorite robes and his tunic, and even his sword, his bow and his belt.”

Think about the implications of that kind of friendship, and tune in tomorrow for my first observation in our serious look at Best Friends.

See you then,
Dwight

DANCE!

2006-06-20T11:33:00.000-04:00

Let’s get the truth out there right away – I can’t dance! You say “But you are in a wheelchair, Dwight, no one expects you to dance.” Nice try – I couldn’t dance pre-chair. It’s amazing to me that God gave me so many musical gifts – singer, songwriter, keyboardist, instrumentalist – and I've had so many jobs in the music field – concert artist, worship leader, choir and orchestra director, college professor – and I just can’t dance. For some reason my feet have never been connected to my brain when it comes to dancing.

I’m reminded of a somewhat painful story. Fifteen years ago I did quite a bit of local theater. I’ve played some really fun roles – The Wizard in the “Wizard of Oz”, ship’s captain in “Anything Goes”, and my favorite of all, the Ghost of Christmas Present in “A Christmas Carol”. Once, when auditioning for a role there were three separate auditions, one for speaking voice, one for singing voice, and one for dancing.

I went to the first audition - speaking - and the summation on the clipboard said “Wonderful voice! Deep, resonant, very pleasant to listen to. Should be cast in a leading role”. I kind of liked the sound of that review.

I went to the second audition – singing – and the review sounded even better to me. “Amazing voice. powerful delivery - excellent technique – well trained, should be hired to teach others. Easily the best voice in the house today.”

Reviews like that can make one’s head swell a little.

Then I went to the third audition where we were asked to just move on the stage. Not dance, mind you, just some ordinary, flowing stage movements within the rhythms of the music. I will never forget the blunt, two-word description of my attempt. “No hope!”

So there I had it. The official proof, a professional judge’s two-word opinion of my abilities – “No hope!” I thought they could have done away with the exclamation point, though I was well aware that I deserved it. Because I just can’t dance.

But I like the idea of the dance. I celebrate the joy of a body flowing to the rhythms of good music and the art of telling a story without words. I applaud the dedication and single mindedness of the prima ballerina. I watch “So You Think You Can Dance” and, like many of you, giggle at those who dance like me, and then I am utterly amazed at the skills of some of the best.

Two of my most priceless moments in time were when I danced with my two daughters at their weddings. Goodness, they knew I couldn’t dance – I mean, they knew I had NEVER danced! But they wanted to dance with me anyhow, so I walked out there in front of all those people, held my daughters close enough to hear them breathe but far enough away so I wouldn’t step on them, and I danced. To this day my eyes fill with tears at the simple remembrance of those nearly sacred moments in my life.

I think the thing I like most about the dance is that it speaks to my soul of the freedom to express ones self in spite of any other circumstances. Several years ago there was a country tune called “The Dance” sung by Garth Brooks that told the sad story of love lost, and concluded with the line “I could have done without the pain, but I’d have missed the dance”.

I live there in my everyday life, just like many of you. Let’s face it, no one likes to hurt. But I don’t want to miss the dance either. The worst advice I ever got was from a doctor who told me “If it hurts, don’t do it.” The results of following that advise was that I just sat in a chair because everything hurt. For a few months I did nothing, went nowhere, reached no one, and couldn’t have cared less because I was following the doctor’s orders.

My favorite book besides the Bible is a small volume by Tim Hansel titled “Ya Gotta Keep Dancin’”. I’ve read it no less than 9 times and I recommend it without reservation to anyone who is hurt or hurting because it describes the journey to joy in the face of the pain. Let me quote a short paragraph that literally changed my life. “Sometimes you have to choose the pain. If you want to accomplish anything in life, you have to choose the pain and then get on with it. Not that you celebrate the pain or the agony. This isn’t a sadistic choice. But if you want to really live your life you sometimes have to decide it’s worth it to hurt.”

And so I have adopted that advice, and many times over the years I have been heard repeating the phrase “I choose the pain.” And it has been worth it! By the way, I danced at those two weddings, pastored a church for 10 years, and played those roles at the theater AFTER my first accident, after the onset of the pain and the birth of the disability. I dare not even begin to imagine what I would have missed had I not chosen to live in spite of the pain.

My desire for each of you is this: no matter how much you hurt, no matter how many obstacles you face each day, no matter what challenges life has thrown at you, I WANT YOU TO DANCE! Choose to live! If you haven’t done so already, decide that today will be the beginning of your quest to make something worthwhile of whatever life has left you. If you are already doing it let’s celebrate together! I can’t say it loud enough nor can I express it more emphatically – DANCE, my fellow traveler, DANCE!

Spinnin’ in my chair,
Dwight

Finding Simple Freedoms

2006-06-19T13:50:00.000-04:00

Dear friends,

Last week I had a most free-ing thing happen to me. I went to a local establishment to buy a pair of shoes. Now, because I’m in the wheelchair and have diabetes my legs and feet have done some fairly strange things, so I was getting one of those “prescription” kinds of shoes. The shoes I had been wearing were beginning to look a little worn and were getting snug across the tops of my feet. So I thought a new pair of shoes might be in order.

To make a long story short, after going through the process of being “fitted” for these shoes, and waiting six weeks for them to come in, and then going back for a second fitting, I can’t wear them. The soles are so thick, supposedly for my comfort, that they drastically changed my balance while sitting in the chair. If I wear the shoes, my feet are supposedly safer – but I get saddle sores in unmentionable places because I’m not sitting properly in my chair anymore. I’m sticking to the old shoes.

While getting the second fitting I mentioned to the shoe technician that these new shoes were the ugliest things on the planet. That’s when it happened. He looked me in the eye and said “So what?”

“Excuse me?” I responded.

And he answered “So what! If they fit and are comfortable, and if they help you live better every day what does it matter if they are ugly or the most beautiful shoes in town?”

I looked at him and a flood of thoughts raced through my head. “He’s right” was my final conclusion. What was I afraid of? And what really was my problem with ugly shoes? Was it pride? Or maybe some screwed up sense of self-esteem? All I know is that at that moment something in me broke – broke in a really good way!

Goodness, those of us who are broken already know that we sacrifice our pride early on in the process. We get poked and prodded by any number of health care professionals in some pretty “unmentionable” places. I’ll never forget being in the hospital in nearly unbearable pain, almost out of my mind in fear, and wishing I could just die and go to heaven - when what I just knew was the entire population of female nurses on duty at that hour gathered at my bedside to put in my very first catheter. I swallowed my pride and silently let them do their job – which wasn’t really that much of a deal when you think of it, and probably didn’t phase the one or two that were really there one bit.

Back to the subject, I looked at my old shoes when I got home. They really weren’t all that bad after all. So I took out a cutting tool and with a little snip here and a tuck there I solved the snugness problem. What incredible freedom I experienced when they just slipped back on my feet after my limited version of shoe surgery. No, I didn’t make them beautiful, and they are still the same old shoes, slightly worn and now with a visible nip and tuck. But they “fit and are comfortable”, and they help me live better every day. So really, what does it matter if they are ugly or the most beautiful shoes in town?

So what lesson have I learned that I can pass along to you? It is simply this: Our dignity and self-respect do not depend on whether our shoes are in style. These really important things depend on my character and the quality of my moral fiber. I need to look at myself like God does – more concerned with who I am, rather than on what I own or look like.

When you are broken, personal freedom comes in small packages, and we are grateful for each gift of freedom along the way. Don’t let pride or an exaggerated sense of self get in your way of having a better life. The freedom I experienced when I put on my old, altered shoes was like a breath of fresh air on a hot, muggy summer day.

I intend to apply the same principle to other parts of my life. “Pride brings about destruction, and a know-it-all attitude will make you fall flat on your face!” the Bible says in Proverbs 16:18 (PDV)

My hope for you is that today you will enjoy great freedom - from self, from pride, from unrealistic expectations, from fear, and from worrying about silly things. As a child of God, though, my greatest hope is that you will experience freedom from the enslaving guilt of sin that causes all of the above. If you have questions about how to do that, please email me and we will talk. I’d love to help you find ultimate freedom.

Till next time,
Dwight

You are not alone - the incredible value of friends

2006-06-17T11:20:00.000-04:00

Hello there, fellow travelers,

I have been reading your responses in the many emails, blog comments, and even a few telephone calls and I have discovered one giant, glaring, nearly overwhelming truth – I have, over the years, made some pretty incredible friends. Some would say that it’s because I’ve been pretty friendly myself, and there might be some truth to that since I just plain love people. But I am the recipient of so much love and friendship that it must have something to do with YOU as well.

I confess, the temptation at this point is to start naming names. In fact, this is the fourth or fifth version of this article because I have succumbed to the temptation in the first several drafts. The first draft just flowed – but when I began to approach 50 names and the list was only getting started I realized that not even I would read something like that – except to find out if MY name had made the list. Oh come on, be honest, the thought crossed your mind too, didn’t it?

But there is a greater truth here. It is my friends – starting with my wife Susie (yes, I did name one name – sorry, couldn’t help myself) and then dozens of good people (and you know who you are) – that have brought about my emotional healing. I can hear some of my Christian friends telling me that it was God, first, who was my help in time of trouble, and I agree. But let’s be real here, it was my friends who prayed for me, who wept with me, who sat with me, who visited me in the hospital, who helped me up and down the stairs and who even built the ramp that made it possible to come home. It was my friends who were the hands, feet, and mouth of God during my darkest days.

Truth be told, there is a two month period of time, right after the intensive drug treatment at the Cleveland Clinic that probably saved my life, when I don’t remember very much of anything. Between October and Christmas everything is a blur. I kept a journal in my laptop and there are pages and pages of gibberish – I knew what I was writing at the time, but it sure made no sense in the light of day. But hear me well - the one thing I DO remember are the visits from Bill & Donna, and Fred & Gigi, and Terry & Sandi, and a few others who refused to allow me to slip into oblivion but held me up emotionally, physically, and spiritually. It was my friends who made those unselfish investments in a broken guy they loved. I will be forever grateful! I am able to help others today because of their love and commitment to me when I needed it the most. Yea, I named a few names – hey, it’s my blog, isn’t it?

Which brings us to the point of today’s installment. It is my guess that most of you find yourselves in one of two places today - either you are hurting and alone and in serious need of a friend; or you have healed or are healing pretty well – at least emotionally - from your own personal brokenness and you can be a friend.

If you are in the first category, allow me to be your friend, at least from a distance. I can assure you that, no matter how you feel, even if you feel like you are all alone, know that you are never alone. I serve a God whose Word says simply “I will never leave you nor forsake you”. And having served the Lord for over 45 years and having been in desperate need of help myself, I can guarantee with certainty that what God says He will do, He does. You can take it to the bank!

Also, take a look around. Most of us have invested ourselves in people through the years and it is likely some of them would be willing to return the favor if they only knew you needed them. Push your pride to the back for just a short while and reach out for help, and it is my hope that in your own circle of friends you will find it. In the Bible, in Proverbs 18:24, it says that “if a man wants to have friends he must BE friendly” (PDV – that is, Pastor Dwight’s Version). Please don’t expect people to instinctively know you are hurting – I can’t read minds and neither can you. But people DO respond to sincere calls for help.

On the other hand, if you have healed, or are doing pretty well – at least in the area of emotional healing - then it is crucial that you make yourself available to someone who is not so far up the road. There are some cliffs that are simply impossible to climb without someone letting down a rope and helping to pull you up. Sometimes we are at the bottom needing the rope, and sometimes we are at the top and can let down the rope. Choose to become unselfish, choose compassion, choose friends and stick by them through thick or thin. Look for someone you can help and do it on purpose. It is my belief that you will never make a wiser investment than the investment you make in a friend.

I will never be able to repay the debt of gratitude I have for my friends and their love for me. But then again, they never asked to be repaid, only that I be their friend – and I am!

Till next time,
Dwight

2006-06-16T10:32:00.000-04:00

Some changes are in order.

After posting my first blog ever just yesterday I got so many wonderful comments, questions, and new ideas from so many of you that I went back into the "creating" area of this and made some changes in an effort to make this a better place to visit. Who knows - this process might go through several evolutions before we get it all right, but my desire is to make this blog as interactive as possible within reason.

First, thanks to my son's suggestion, I have removed the blockage on annonymous comments. He pointed out to me that sometimes the things that we need to talk about are too painful to put a name on, and that there might be some who REALLY need to be included but are afraid to do so for fear of having their name out there in cyberspace. So, we are going to give this a try. If you are reading this and you are a spammer, please don't muddy up the waters. There are people already who have emailed me with deep brokenness who really need to talk and I don't want to shut the door on them because someone want's to sell a condo in Zimbabwe. So spammers, go somewhere where you are wanted, please.

Secondly, I have included the link to my email address in my profile and after my signature for the same reason as above. Sometimes people want to talk but need to do so in private, so I've included my email address so we can communicate. My promise is that I will try to answer as many as possible. If this gets out of hand I might have to figure out a better way, but for now we'll just give this a try. But please know this: I must refrain from too much giving of counsel to those whose lives I do not know. Every one of us is different and every one of us has special circumstances we are facing that may or may not be unique to us. There are going to be the big issues we all face, but then there are some thing that are simply unique to us as individuals, and when we get into those areas counseling would need to be much more involved than we have time for in this medium.

Back to changes, I wish there was some way to eliminate the silliness of astrological signs and chinese calendar stuff off my profile - anyone who has an idea how to get rid of that stuff please let me know. I don't believe in that foolishness and I really don't want any part of it, but it just kind of "showed up". Any ideas?

For those of you who wonder what right I have to give advice I have this say in my defense. First, I am a God called, ordained Pastor who, because of the accident and subsequent brokenness, is serving in a support role as Worship Leader (and newsletter editor) at my church. Second, I am a certificated Christian counselor, having taken the necessary course work from the Center for Biblical Counseling and have been a member of the AACC, the American Association of Christian Counselors. I have many years of practical experience in the role of Senior Pastor of a growing church and practicing Christian counselor. Furthermore, I have been a husband to my wife for 34 years, a Dad to three fabulous kids, a Father-in-law to three pretty incredible spouses of my kids, and now a grandpa to 5 of the most beautiful children the world has ever produced.

But maybe my best credential is that I am, personally, broken - and yet still living successfully and abundantly in the face of that brokenness. Oh no, that does not mean I am always happy and that life is a bowl of cherries. Far from it! I face the same kinds of stuggles and challenges and debilitating pain many of you do. But I have decided that living abundantly is so important to me that I will choose the pain and get on with it.

And I have discovered that there are a lot of people out there willing to do the very same thing. Who push themselves and strive with all their might to be and do everything and anything they are capable of doing, and then living with the fact that there might be some things they will never do again. I give you a standing ovation - well, as close to standing as my wheelchair will allow - but I'm applauding REAL loud! I am constantly amazed at the power of the human spirit and the just plain grit and vinegar of some people who refuse to consider their disability disabling. Hurray for you!

So, there you have it. I have attempted to open the door a little wider for you to be part of this ongoing discussion. If you have any ideas that might help the process even further, please become part of the group. Have a wonderful day and I'll see you next time, here in Broken but Not Crushed.

Blessings,
Dwight
RevPapaD@yahoo.com

2006-06-15T11:29:00.000-04:00

Good morning friends, family, and, apparently, fellow bloggers,

As you might be able to tell, this is my very first blog ever, and as you might expect, I'm just a little apprehensive about what I'm doing. But if you don't try, well, then you never grow and learn, and I intend to grow AND learn, so here goes!

Here's the bottom line - My goal is to create a place where we talk about living successfully while dealing with brokenness. My particular "brokenness" is the result of a spinal cord injury that utterly changed my life only 4 years ago. One week after shooting my best game of golf ever - actually had my first birdie on the par 5 sixth hole - the accident occurred that put me in a wheelchair for the rest of my life.

And I thought my life was over. Two weeks in two different hospitals, two years of physical therapy, and two legs that just don't work so well anymore and I thought that was it. But that wasn't "it". That was a new beginning of a new kind of life. Not exactly the kind I envisioned when I was younger and making plans for my life, but it was 'life' - sometimes difficult, constantly painful, at times tearful, and often frustrating and maddening - but it was LIFE, and I intend to live it successfully no matter what ugly stuff it throws at me.

So, this 'blog' is going to talk about how I go about living this broken life with success and vigor. How to face down the temptation to quit, how to fight through debilitating pain, how to make waves even if I'm stuck in the wading pool - frankly, how to LIVE ABUNDANTLY while playing the cards I've been dealt.

This tool called a blog is for everyone who has either been told they are broken or that a loved one is broken. And brokenness is what we call it. Mine happens to be physical, but it has involved my emotions, my intellect, my relationships with everyone I love, and my faith. The stressors involve my wife and kids, my church and my friends, my way of life and goodness, even my sanity.

Your brokenness might be in some other way. Maybe you've been told you have cancer or that your spouse is going to die within the week. Maybe you have faced down the brokenness of financial ruin or blindness or being hearing impared. It could be that you brought this brokennes on yourself or, like me, this new lifestyle came as a complete surprise, out of the blue and with no warning. It doesn't matter HOW you were broken, but it maters to me that you ARE broken and you would like to deal with it as successfully as possible. Most of us who are broken know we can't fix what's busted, but there is alot more to life than just the broken pieces of what we had planned or hoped for.

We'll talk about faith, and stress, and family, and joy, and sorrow, and anger, and frustrations galore. Well address good days, and not-so-good days and even worse nights, but we will talk. I want you to respond as often as you wish. I want to know your story, how you are doing, how you cope and what tools you use to live successfully while dealing with being broken.

But in the end, I want to press this issue of living successfully, living abundantly, living above and beyond the ordinary, living better than the brokenness seems to demand - I want to make sure we LIVE! and not just make it - to THRIVE instead of just survive.

So here it is, blog number one. What do you think? Can we talk? Let me know.

And I'll see you next time ....
Dwight