What an amazing, freaking day! Can I say that? I think I just did. What a day. Today, we had probably the best meal that we’ve served to date. Fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, cole slaw, potato salad, watermelon, a barrel full of soda pop and lots of other good stuff. This was something Robin has wanted to do for a while, but, logistically, doing fried chicken for that many people was a bit daunting. That’s a lot of chicken. The bigger picture here is that God provides. He sent a great couple our way who ended up donating a large portion of the chicken. It’s unreal how He works in this thing to provide just what we need when we need it. 500 pieces of fried chicken?!! Are you kidding me?!! And the great people from River of Life Church were back in full force. What an amazing group of people. One of the guys from River of Life, Dan was talking to me as we were loading the trailer at the end of the day. A little while earlier, he was scooping potatoes. So he asks me if I think there would be a need for dressing open wounds. Are you kidding me? I’ve seen some pretty nasty wounds on some of our friends. So Dan, as he’s handing me the empty totes that were once full of clothing, asks if that is something that may be a need? So I ask Dan the obvious question. Are you a doctor? And of course I get the obvious answer. Yes. Amazing how God works in these situations. Because I’m telling you that I’ve seen some pretty messy wounds in that park and a doctor who may be able to clean them up right there would be amazing. He’s talking lidocaine and stuff like that and I’m thinking, yeah, this will work. Amazing. A doctor on staff. How cool would that be? Well, if we had a staff…
Something else really cool happened today. I wonder how many times I’ve written that in a blog? But seriously, something really cool happened. I’ve written about our friend Wade or referenced him several times over the past few weeks. If you’ve read any of these blogs recently, you know the story. Wade left us recently and it’s been on my mind a lot lately. Partly because of all the responses I’ve gotten to a few of the blogs from family members and friends, but also partly because of the situation. So today, we had the pleasure and honor of serving alongside Wade’s sister-in-law, her daughter and son, her father, and her mother. They made a 4 hour drive in this morning to be here by noon and to serve our friends lunch in the park. I won’t try to insert my feelings here, because I’m sure I wouldn’t do justice to what they experienced in the park today. This whole thing to me is so absolutely incredible. That a family would drive 4 hours and bring a van full of clothing and other things speaks volumes. I was just thrilled to see them today. Not necessarily under the circumstances that we met, but thrilled nonetheless. I know lots of people that have mentioned to me that they’d love to come down and help. And I know that intentions are always good. But for this family to come halfway across the state in memory of Wade is nothing short of amazing. The things that God has done in this ministry continue to blow my mind. This fits the bill. That Wade ended up in what would seem to be an avoidable situation is debatable. Maybe it’s all part of His plan. Of that I have no idea. But it was so cool to spend time with them today and see the genuine love they had for Wade. It was a very cool experience for me on lots of levels. A 4 hour drive to Omaha from Beaver City, Nebraska, 3 hours on the corner and another 4 hours home (that’s an 8 hour round trip for those of us who are math challenged)? Are you kidding me?
The day started a little inauspiciously. Seems our friend Brian had a bit too much to drink and was acting inappropriately or something. I saw nothing, but apparently something happened before we arrived in the park. So I hear a bit of commotion and Robin mentions that I may need to talk to Brian. So here I go in my peacemaker role. I see that Brian is barely functioning. And frankly, in spite of the many issues we have with Brian on Sundays, I’ve never seen him in this state. So I was a bit confused that he’d be so totally out of his mind at this early hour. At any rate, I get him seated on the wall, grab him a plate of food and try to help him get situated. Just as he’s getting ready to eat, 2 of Omaha’s finest show up. Someone has called a couple of police officers to report Brian’s activities. And within minutes, he’s cuffed and in the back of a cruiser. That all happened within about 10 minutes of us arriving. I’d be speculating by mentioning what he was charged with, so I won’t do that. He’s going to need some prayer though. He just might be in a little more trouble than he realizes.
After that, things went fairly smoothly. We had a huge crowd. We purposely kept the menu on the down low because we were afraid that word would get out. Isn’t that a little odd? Us worrying about what God might be able to provide? Yeah, as if we have any control over any of this. So, besides Brian’s incident, it was a spectacular day. Great weather, great friends, great food and great fellowship. And we didn’t get off that corner until probably 3:30 or so. I have to admit, at around that time when I saw Bradley approaching the van from the distance, I was in "bail" mode. I’ll write about Bradley sometime later, but let’s just say he’s a bit high maintenance and he tries my patience at times. Calls me Joe all the time also. Joe? I don’t know. But I’d already had a couple of encounters with him and it was time to hit the road. When he saw us pulling out, he sort of half-ran to the sidewalk but it was too late. We’d made a clean getaway and we’ll surely see him next week.
On a personal note, this has been the first Labor Day weekend in a long time that I won’t be able to call my Dad and talk college football. This is really one of my favorite weekends of the year. Fall is right around the corner. College football, which is definitely one of my favorites, is in full swing and it’s been a time that I’ve been able to share with my Dad. Well, Dad did a post pattern into the great beyond in May. He’s gone now. I watched a few highlights last night and realized that I couldn’t call him and talk about his team or my team this year. It seems surreal. But it’s reality. I’ll figure it out. Not on my own though. The nice thing is I’m guessing Dad had the best seats in the house last night and has all weekend. I'll sign off here how I used to end my weekly notes to Dad. "War Eagle Dad and Go Big Red!"
…as for my family and me, we will serve the Lord. - Joshua 24:15
Peace and have a great and blessed week.
Go out and make a difference.
…it matters to that one… :)
Something else really cool happened today. I wonder how many times I’ve written that in a blog? But seriously, something really cool happened. I’ve written about our friend Wade or referenced him several times over the past few weeks. If you’ve read any of these blogs recently, you know the story. Wade left us recently and it’s been on my mind a lot lately. Partly because of all the responses I’ve gotten to a few of the blogs from family members and friends, but also partly because of the situation. So today, we had the pleasure and honor of serving alongside Wade’s sister-in-law, her daughter and son, her father, and her mother. They made a 4 hour drive in this morning to be here by noon and to serve our friends lunch in the park. I won’t try to insert my feelings here, because I’m sure I wouldn’t do justice to what they experienced in the park today. This whole thing to me is so absolutely incredible. That a family would drive 4 hours and bring a van full of clothing and other things speaks volumes. I was just thrilled to see them today. Not necessarily under the circumstances that we met, but thrilled nonetheless. I know lots of people that have mentioned to me that they’d love to come down and help. And I know that intentions are always good. But for this family to come halfway across the state in memory of Wade is nothing short of amazing. The things that God has done in this ministry continue to blow my mind. This fits the bill. That Wade ended up in what would seem to be an avoidable situation is debatable. Maybe it’s all part of His plan. Of that I have no idea. But it was so cool to spend time with them today and see the genuine love they had for Wade. It was a very cool experience for me on lots of levels. A 4 hour drive to Omaha from Beaver City, Nebraska, 3 hours on the corner and another 4 hours home (that’s an 8 hour round trip for those of us who are math challenged)? Are you kidding me?
The day started a little inauspiciously. Seems our friend Brian had a bit too much to drink and was acting inappropriately or something. I saw nothing, but apparently something happened before we arrived in the park. So I hear a bit of commotion and Robin mentions that I may need to talk to Brian. So here I go in my peacemaker role. I see that Brian is barely functioning. And frankly, in spite of the many issues we have with Brian on Sundays, I’ve never seen him in this state. So I was a bit confused that he’d be so totally out of his mind at this early hour. At any rate, I get him seated on the wall, grab him a plate of food and try to help him get situated. Just as he’s getting ready to eat, 2 of Omaha’s finest show up. Someone has called a couple of police officers to report Brian’s activities. And within minutes, he’s cuffed and in the back of a cruiser. That all happened within about 10 minutes of us arriving. I’d be speculating by mentioning what he was charged with, so I won’t do that. He’s going to need some prayer though. He just might be in a little more trouble than he realizes.
After that, things went fairly smoothly. We had a huge crowd. We purposely kept the menu on the down low because we were afraid that word would get out. Isn’t that a little odd? Us worrying about what God might be able to provide? Yeah, as if we have any control over any of this. So, besides Brian’s incident, it was a spectacular day. Great weather, great friends, great food and great fellowship. And we didn’t get off that corner until probably 3:30 or so. I have to admit, at around that time when I saw Bradley approaching the van from the distance, I was in "bail" mode. I’ll write about Bradley sometime later, but let’s just say he’s a bit high maintenance and he tries my patience at times. Calls me Joe all the time also. Joe? I don’t know. But I’d already had a couple of encounters with him and it was time to hit the road. When he saw us pulling out, he sort of half-ran to the sidewalk but it was too late. We’d made a clean getaway and we’ll surely see him next week.
On a personal note, this has been the first Labor Day weekend in a long time that I won’t be able to call my Dad and talk college football. This is really one of my favorite weekends of the year. Fall is right around the corner. College football, which is definitely one of my favorites, is in full swing and it’s been a time that I’ve been able to share with my Dad. Well, Dad did a post pattern into the great beyond in May. He’s gone now. I watched a few highlights last night and realized that I couldn’t call him and talk about his team or my team this year. It seems surreal. But it’s reality. I’ll figure it out. Not on my own though. The nice thing is I’m guessing Dad had the best seats in the house last night and has all weekend. I'll sign off here how I used to end my weekly notes to Dad. "War Eagle Dad and Go Big Red!"
…as for my family and me, we will serve the Lord. - Joshua 24:15
Peace and have a great and blessed week.
Go out and make a difference.
…it matters to that one… :)
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