Hello From Iraq

My brother, Jon, arrived in Iraq last week. I have not heard from him but I did receive this photo from his wife, Teresa. He is thankful for your prayers. I am proud of him and proud that he is serving our country as a civilian in a warzone. Of course, I am concerned for his safety as I am concerned for the safety of all our men and women over there as well as the Iraqi civilian population. War is not a good thing.

Please continue to keep my brother and his family in your prayers as well as everyone over there.

Walking With God

I am deep in study of the book of James right now. It seems that my life in the last years has really needed the wisdom and the practical knowledge that James shares from our Lord Jesus Christ. I am often challenged with patience and perseverance in my day job. I feel called to ministry and am in fact deep in ministry. I live each day to cross paths with someone who needs Christ. I wake each day with a thirst for His Word…and a few hours just doesn’t seem enough time. I walk each day seeking the lesson that God has for me. And one of those lessons is patience and perseverance. I want to finish “school” now! Have you ever been there? I don’t want to wait. Yet I know that it is best, truly best, to trust in God’s timing and not my own. Yet, as I feel this way…..I truly must admit that I understand what it means to have “joy” in our trials. I am enjoying the walk . There is always something new around the corner, often a mountain to climb or a river to cross, and it sure does feel good each time I get to the other side. I gain so much in each challenge. Of course, there are also many beautiful fields to walk through and pastures to lie down in, many people I meet along the way that enrich my journey. It’s not all mountains and rivers (challenges).

Sometimes walking with God is like going through boot camp. Having been there (in the Army), I look back and realize that I was truly strengthened by the experience and have musch admiration for my Drill Sergeant. I guess God is my new Drill Sergeant!

Thank God for the path He has YOU on and look for HIS leading around each bend and on every stop along the way!

Happy Birthday America!

Had a great day in the sun! Happy Birthday America! Pool fun, Bar-B-Q Ribs, a knock down drag-out laughing game of “Mad Gab”, then fireworks at the river in Sanford. All in all, quite a day!

PIC RIGHT: Loretta (hiding under the pink raft) Shane, Kelly and Autumn

PIC LIFT: Airen, Joey, Shane, Autumn and Loretta

PIC LEFT: Joey and Autumn

PIC RIGHT: Gary and Joey

 Joey’s brother, Gary, was down from Jacksonville where they were in port for a short while. Gary is in the Navy and leaves soon for Panama! Have fun Gary   We hope to see you back soon!

PIC LEFT: Jessi, Ellen, Kelly, Shane, Sam and Chris

PIC RIGHT: Jessi, Kelly, Shane, Sandy (The furry one on the bottom) and Sam

PIC LEFT: Chris and Ellen

Not in any Pictures: Jessi’s friends Matt and Andrew, and Jillian.

HAVE A HAPPY 4TH OF JULY! WE DID

My Brother, My Hero

This is my little brother, Jon……actually….he’s allot built like a horse, he’s always been allot bigger than me. A few weeks ago he accepted a job with a company in Iraq. Of course, it was a shock to our family. However, while I fear for the danger he will be in, I am proud that he felt called to go.

Jon has worked as an electrician on the Atlas program at the cape for, I believe, 12 years now. Recently he felt called to go to Iraq to help the people there. It’s quite a sacrifice, one that I am not sure I could voluntarily make.

PIC LEFT: Jon and his wife Teresa
PIC RIGHT: Jon & his daughter, Kaitlyn
PIC BELOW: Jon and his son, Eric

He left yesterday, it will be quite an adventure. He’s not able to tell us where he is going, only that every 4 months he will have 10 days with his family in a nearby country.

Please keep my brother Jon and his family in your prayers. Keep all of our soldiers, airmen, seaman, marines, civilian contactors, and volunteers in your prayers. They serve our country with honor.

Many of you know someone serving there. I would love to hear about them. I would be greatful to know their names so that I could pray for them.

Today is quite a day! It was pouring rain outside which caused me to realize that God even loves us through the rain in our lives. After work as I always do on Monday nights, I went to the Retirement home to sing, play and pray with my friends there. We had a great time! It’s funny, I often feel and see that God is teaching me and showing me what He wants from me. Tonight He took me to class……..

One of the workers at Pattie’s Retirement home, Becky, had gone to the hospital the day before. They still are not sure why. Early yesterday morning, I got a call from my wife telling me that another dear friend of mine was being rushed to the hospital, they were not sure why. And my brother-in-laws elderly mother, to whom I am very close, her name is Sema (she is Muslim, from Iran) goes into the hospital Teusday for a mastectomy.

So, after the retirement home, I set out in the rain on a trip of prayer. I stopped off the hospital and visited my friend Becky from the retirement home. We talked and we prayed.

Next I went to the emergency room to visit Jillian, we also talked, laughed (I told her to be nice to the doctors!) and prayed. Next, it was getting late (9PM……but it is never to late to pray!) I went back out into the rain and went to Sema’s house to pray with her and Baba, her husband. Though I am Christian and they are Muslim, we still love and respect each other very much. We prayed fervently with tears in our eyes and God in our hearts. I love these people deeply and pray daily that they will see that Christ and God are one and the same. When I departed their house, as I was walking to my truck in the rain, I just wanted to fall to my knees in a joyful exhaustion as well as praise for God for the opportunity to pray for and with people in my life that mean so very much to me as well as people I only know in passing.

Finally, I went to Walmart (don’t we all go to Walmart?) to get baby food and snacks for the house full of kids that Kelly will be watching tomorrow due to these hospital visits. I have to say that my wife is such a loving and great person in my life. As I was driving on my rounds of prayer I talked to her on the phone, she was so supportive of my late night, so understanding. After Walmart I went home and sat in my chair, exhausted from the day. I still needed to put some finishing touches on this Sunday’s sermon. Kelly and I talked and shared with each other, the night was over. Tomorrow another adventure will begin.

I learned alot today, about alot of things. I learned alot about myself and alot about others. I like it when Jesus is at the front of the class teaching……..let me be a good and faithful student. I sometimes think that Jesus gives us each opportunities to grow, to learn, to love and to share. It’s not always easy……but in many ways, it is always rewarding. I only hope that I take advantage of every opportunity. How often do me miss these opportunities to learn from the Teacher?

Another Hero in my Life

Shannon, we call her “Shane”, is our youngest daughter. At eighteen……she is full of spirit, kindness and love. She has always been “Daddy’s Girl”, very independent, headstrong, and stubborn…..well, those are the traits she get’s from me. She also has an incredibly kind heart…which she got from her mother. Last year she got a job at McDonald’s and had a friend that was seventeen that really had a tough home life. Shannon helped her get a job. Her friends mother and step father refused to help her or even give her a ride to or from work, and so Shane volunteerd to be her ride even thought they did not always even work the same shifts. I was proud as all get out that she would be so kind.

PIC Right: Shane at her Senior Year Band Banquet, 2005

Two years ago she announced that she wanted to go into the Air Force upon graduation from High School. This is a decision that she made on her own (it was a surprise to us) and I must say, she has stuck to her guns. Last year for months she woke me up 2-3 times a week at 4:30 am just to go running and exercising with her so she could get in shape. While Kelly and I will both be sad to see her leave on September 13th this year, we are incredibly proud of her decision to serve her country. The one thing that I told her that she had to remember was a question that she is to ask any male friend that she meets before accepting a date….”Are you from Florida?”. If the answer is yes, then she can go out with him, if the answer is no….well the answer is no…sorry. You see, She is going to make some man very happy some day and when she does, I want her back home with us so we can see our grand kids!

Shannon’s sense of adventure, her kindness and her spirit make her my hero! God has blessed us with two wonderful children that are loving, talented and kind. Shane plays the flute, the picolo, loves kids, country music, and like her old man……COFFEE! One of our favorite things is to go to Starbucks for a Mocha Frappucino with an extra shot of expresso!

Lately (the last few weeks) I have been a little remis in my study plan. You see, I truly love to get up early and to spend time, just me and God…..in prayer and in study. Lately, as things began to pile up in my life, as situations that I had to struggle with came into my life, as the pressure mounted, I started to sleep in a little more and found myself falling away from what God told me to do….at this point in my life, it’s to study, not for knowledge, but for understanding. I realized this last week, and am happy to say that I am back on track. What’s funny is that when I picked back up where I left off a few weeks ago…..in James chapter 2, God was really talking to me……in conversation…….the words flowed from Him out of James and into my heart addressing so very much of what I have been struggling with lately. Thank you God, for your patience and love. I never cease to be amazed at Your wisdom and your unfailing love! I hope I always stay a child in this way. I never want to “grow up” and set out on my own. The times I have tried that, I have felt a-lone. It’s great to be a kid!

Father’s Day—–Another Hero!

I want to tell you about a mentor in my life, another super hero that I am blessed to know! This is my step-father, otherwise known as “Harry”, “Harold”, or, most affectionately……”Boss Moss”. Harry came into my life when I was 20, and in the Army for the first time right after VietNam. He and my mother married while I was in Boot Camp. I remember coming home, as an adult, and meeting my “new dad” of sorts. What impressed me most about that Boss Moss was that he wanted to get to know me, this hard drinkin, soldier type that was young and dumb, wild, wounded from a broken family and quickly on the road to ruin. Still, he didn’t judge me, he just wanted to get to know me and be a friend. We went out to a couple of bars and had a few beers (he doesn’t really even drink). HE came down to where “I” was and really cared to get to know me. It’s funny, my real father never even made that attempt until I got back from the Gulf War, twelve years later.

PIC: Harold “Boss Moss” Baily and my daughter, Shannon

After my first three years in the Army I got out and came home to go to college. By this time I was becoming addicted to drugs, and I moved in with my mother, he and my brother and sister. I horribly managed the Family Record Store (Bailey’s Records in Melbourne Florida). Much of my drug use was hidden, yet he suspected and was firm but loving. He spent TIME with me, teaching me to work with wood as we made all the store racks and fixtures. He  spent TIME with me, talking, and working as we swept the walks at the shopping center and mowed the grass and took care of all the maintenance. He spent TIME with my little sister and brother, loving them and being a father to them. He spent TIME….he never judged, he was always honest, he always cared. As I look back at that period in my life I realize that the Boss Moss influenced me through his true love. He even understood and encouraged my relationship with my father, who was pretty distant to us. He understood that it was an important relationship in my life.

After college I moved to Daytona Beach to escape my “druggie” friends in Melbourne, only to continue the lifestyle there….DUH! Harry was still always there for me….firm….but loving. To this day, Harold always has TIME for us, and in many ways, is the father I never had, at a time I needed one most. After a couple of years in Daytona I finally gave up, found the strength I needed in Christ to get off the drugs…….and Harry was still there, with open arms.

I owe allot to this man. God put him into my life. He has the capacity to love, to laugh and to just be real, he never judged me, he tried to understand me. He’s firm, understanding, tough but always loving. He’s my hero, my sisters hero, and as far as I know, he’s a hero to all that come to know him.

Thank you Harry for taking me into your life and steering me to do the right things in my life. You’re a mentor, a friend and …..well most af all….you’re my Dad! Happy Father’s Day!

I would love to hear about someone in your life that is a “Hero”, someone that God put into your life in a mighty way.

This is my daughter Jessi. We don’t always see eye to eye…..but I believe we see heart to heart. Jessi graduates from SCC this month and will go on to UCF next year. At nineteen, she is incredibly talented, incredibly passionate about the things she believes in and incredibly kind. Yes, I am her father, and yes, I am biased. I am also proud of who my daughter is. Last year she was going to school full time, working at Disney as a character, and working at the movie theater (our old church before LifePoint moved to the YMCA) all at the same time. This year she dropped Disney so she could concentrate more on her studies.  She pays for her car, her insurance, her cell phone and is putting herself through college (she is a psychology major, I assume so she can figure out her old man…that be me).  Kelly and I are just so incredibly proud of her responsibility, her drive and the heart that I have come to see that is so kind and warm. Yes, we have our squabbles, but when I see her taking care of children, when I see her nurturing other children as if they were her own, I well up inside and rest comfortably that we did something right.

As we are raising our children we often wonder if what we are doing is the right thing. Are we teaching them to love? Are we teaching them to care about others? Are we teaching them to be responsible? We have raised our children using the Bible method, we raised them in the way that they should go. I am confident that Jessi will find her place and find a heart deserving of her love. In many way’s she is my hero. She also keeps me well dressed and young at heart…dad….don’t tuck in your shirt, that color looks good on you…that one doesn’t…..this shirt would look cool on you….and the one I really hate even though she is right…dad! you can’t buy clothes without trying them on first!  I’m kinda like…what? They have the right size printed on them, do I really have to try them on? I have learned just to say yes…maybe with a little fuss, just so it seems like I’m getting my way.

PIC: Jessica in the JamminStation…she writes awesome songs!…sings, plays guitar, flute, clarinet, piano and a little violin.

Soon I want to tell you about someone else that I am very proud of……

Pattie’s Retirement Home

Every Monday evening Larry, Ellen, Sandy (she’s the little furry one), and I go to a retirement home in the area and sing, talk about the Lord, pray and bring joy to the residents. We’ve been doing this for over two years now. We play and sing a mixture of old hymns and new praise and worship songs.

Ever since I was a small child I have had a warm spot in my heart for the elderly. So much so that I continue to age at what sometimes seems like a rapid rate. At 4 and five years of age I used to spend many days keeping company to elderly men and women that lived on our street in Peru, Indiana. I just loved to hear their stories. They really seemed to enjoy my presence too.

Patties Retirement Home is in Altamonte Springs. I have known Pattie for two years now and have always been impressed by her love and care for those that are in her care. It’s easy to spot a true love for what you do and the people you serve.

PIC (top right): Joe, Larry, and me

Ellen (the pic in the right) also brings her little puppy, Sandy. The folks just love to pet her and sit with her on their lap. Dogs are special. They have an unconditional love that in many ways in not unlike the unconditional love we have from God. They long to be near us, they just want to be loved . I might note that “dog” spelled backwards is “God”. Anyway, Ellen is our Community Outreach Coordinator at LifePoint and I have to say that I have seen a heart that burns with passion for others less fortunate in our community. She just finished organizing  our new “Animal Angels” Outreach at church. Thank you Ellen for all that you do!

This is Dana and Helen. Dana has a beautiful and loving heart for God that shines through each and every time we meet to sing. She shares stories about her walk with the Lord and just brings smiles to the time we have together. Of course next here is Sandy. At 5 years old, she is the sweetest and most loving little puppy I know. Helen is on the right. I love to share a hug with her and to see her warm smile.

PIC (left): Dana, Sandy and Helen

Pattie is sitting here on the left. Again, I have the deepest respect for the love I see in caring for these folks. She is warm, loving and full of hugs and kisses. Pattie gives these friends more that just care. She gives them her heart! Her favorite song that we sing is “Rocky Top”. She brings joy throughtout the room when she get’s up and starts dancin’ as we “get on down” that tune!

Larry is sitting in the chair. Actually, he is my friend that moved me to start playing in retirement homes years ago. I have known Larry for over seven years. At 97 he is one active man. At 95 Larry was still driving, had his own home, played organ at his church twice on Sunday, played for another retirement home (Village on the Green) every week, played for his lodge monthly and still had time to lead a kitchen band! Having no family, I as well as other friends he had from different circles, helped him in the yard and around the house. He has been a big mentor in my life in many ways. Two years ago he decided to quit driving and move into an assisted living facility. After my first visit that first week, he asked me if I would bring my guitar and play for him. On the way home I felt God nudging my heart….no….pushing ever so firmly but gently……and I have hardly missed a Monday since. Our friendships have blossomed and my life has been enriched by the relationships I have made. Joy is truly a good feeling…and we get joy in obedience to the Lord!

Next, sitting in the recliner here on the right, is Mildred. Her favorite song is “How Great Thou Art”. I can often hear he singing it when she is in her room.

Becky (On the right in the red shirt) works with Pattie at the home. She is gentle and warm and, like Pattie, has a beautiful heart. She recently asked me to write a song using her lyrics. Becky is a wonderful writer. The words she wrote touched me. It was an easy task with words as beautiful as hers.

Joe is one neat man! He’s funny and kind! I talked to hes daughter a couple of weeks ago and really enjoyed the stories of his life and his hard working spirit. Joe is very special to us!

So, there you have it. We are so blessed in life to have friends, young and old. And I have been blessed a hundred times over in so very many ways.

I reminded of a John Prine song, “Hello In There”:

Ya know old trees just grow stronger, and old rivers grow wilder ev’ry day.
Old people just grow lonesome waiting for someone to say, “Hello in there……….hello.”

So if you’re walking down the street sometime and spot some hollow ancient eyes,
Please don’t just pass ‘em by and stare as if you didn’t care, say, “Hello in there……….hello.”