Category: Life

Posted in Life, Ministry

Haiti in October

Posted on by William Douthwaite
I am heading down to the health department today to get a few immunizations in preparation for our trip to Haiti in October. Lisa and I (along with Gail, an RN friend) are going to be part of a medical mission team sponsored by LCMS World Relief and Human Care. We’ll be in Poto, a rural community much affected by the earthquake and storms, but far away from where most relief efforts have taken place so far. I get to be a chaplain for the team, as well as providing care and counsel for some of the patients. I am looking forward to seeing firsthand some of the affected people and places I’ve only seen and heard about in the news.

Other than smallpox, polio, and tetanus, I haven’t had many immunizations. I’m old enough to be of the generation that actually had all the diseases we now immunize against. I had measles, chickenpox, rubella, and mumps. I think I had most of them in the first grade. I also broke my ankle that year. It was a rough year, but I survived.

My international travel experience includes three days in Freeport in the Bahamas and one night in Vancouver, British Columbia. Time to expand my horizons a little. While we’re there we hope to see some of the people Lisa met last March when she accompanied a team to Port-au-Prince. Our connections to them via Facebook and email makes the world seem very, very small.

Posted in Life

Keeping in touch

Posted on by William Douthwaite
With more and more ways to communicate available to us, in some ways it’s harder that ever to keep in touch with people. Some of it is generational, I’m sure. To effective shepherd a congregation, it seems like you have to master many modes of communication.

Telephone. Ah, yes, old school. But for some members, that’s the best way to get in touch with them. Some do not even have any kind of voice mail, so it’s hit or miss, and you need to be persistent to catch them at home. If your a grandparent, you’re a fan of the phone, although some younger families prefer it, too.

Email. If you’re a parent, you do a lot of this and you’ve been doing it for a long time. Fortunately, most email clients effectively filter out spam, so it’s a lot more productive than it used to be. Plus, you can check it at work, home, or on your smart phone.

Social media. Lots of adults use Facebook updates, messages, and chats as their main form of communication. Some forget that status updates are public, so you’re sometimes updating the entire world about some personal issues. But it’s cool to see all the pics of what you and your family are doing.

Text. In high school or below? You text and you text a lot.

Mail. By mail, I mean a letter in an envelope with a stamp delivered to a person’s home. If all else fails, I will mail a letter.

In order to reach the entire congregation with information, I use all of the above. There is no one method that will reach more than half of the people. The trick is knowing who likes to use what. Once you discover that, you’re golden.

What methods of communication have you found effective?

Posted in Life

Sophomore year

Posted on by William Douthwaite

Today was the beginning of a new school year here in Flagler County, Florida. My youngest is a Sophomore this year, kind of an in-between year of high school. No freshman jitters, yet no Junior or Senior excitement yet, either. The challenges will be geometry (one of my all-time favorite subjects), honors biology (mom, you get to help with homework in that subject), and world history (there is a lot more history to learn than when I was in high school!)

I am stretching my brain, trying to remember my Sophomore year in high school (1972-1973). We had a three-year high school, so it was my first year at the senior high. I remember walking to school each day, about 1-1/2 miles (no buses for us). I had Algebra 2 with Mrs. Miller, who’s favorite phrase was “that’s good mathematics” when an elegant solution was presented. I had chemistry with Mr. Yoder (wow, pulled his name out of a hat). Somehow I got put in the advanced half of the class, which meant we were left alone in a lab to conduct unauthorized experiments which often resulted in unknown, noxious gases which forced a hurried evacuation from the room. Let’s see, Mrs. Cavanaugh taught English, probably one of the most attractive teachers we had all throughout high school. I had health the first half of the year with Mr. Schnellenbach, the wrestling coach, who taught us more about wrestling than anything about health. Und second year German with Mr. Maiwold, who made our lives miserable until winter break, when he died, and was replaced with Mrs. Carpenter, who was just slightly worse. We had Phys Ed — every year back then — and had to take showers before heading to our next class. And band, which was always fun. Back then we marched to “Get it On,” the Olympic Fanfare, “Parade of the Chariots” from Ben Hur, and jammed to “Jingo” in the stands.

I guess my memory hasn’t totally let me down yet. Things we didn’t have: smart phones, Internet, texting, AIDS, airport security, hand-held calculators, digital cameras, bike helmets, microwave ovens, cable or satellite TV and DVRs. We did have Converse Chuck Taylor All-Stars, curable STDs, classic rock before it was “classic”, pot, great high school football and $.29 McDonald’s hamburgers. It wasn’t such a bad year.

Posted in Life

Another step into the grown-up world

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Over the past few days, my youngest daughter who just turned fifteen has taken a couple of giant steps into the grown-up world. She got her learner’s permit to drive and she opened some bank accounts. Suddenly, she’s driving me around. Money isn’t going out as fast as it comes in, but is being saved and budgeted. Real world stuff.

I think I was younger when I opened my first bank account, a passbook savings account. One where the teller wrote in what you were depositing or withdrawing in a little book. A far cry from the online banking world we’re in now where you don’t ever actually see your cash.

I learned how to drive in driver’s education class in high school. I remember cruising along in a car with a second brake pedal on the passenger side which the instructor seemed to use quite often, and two classmates in the back seat either heckling or praying.

Even though we’ve passed these milestones with our two older children, it’s no less exciting or rewarding to share these moments.

Posted in Life

Happy Birthday, Bill

Posted on by William Douthwaite
This seems like a good day to reflect on my 53 years of being around on the earth. At first, it’s about the numbers. Married 26 years. Three kids. 24 years in the ministry. 14 years in Florida. 35th high school reunion later on this year. Milestones that are significant.

As I’ve often written before, though, I certainly don’t feel like I’m in my fifties. How old do I feel? In many ways, like I’m still in my twenties. I think that’s because I am still doing many of the things I did then. Running. Trumpet. Church. Kids. My size and weight are pretty much the same as then. Ok, I know, my hair is much grayer, but apart from that, I feel much younger than my years announce.

But life was very different when I was in my twenties. No blogs. Few had personal computers. Cell phones? Nope. Social media. No. Now, however, everything about me and everyone I know is out there for the world to see. Experiences, pictures and opinions — they’re all there. Life has become a very shared experience. I received at least 100 birthday greetings today, many from people I haven’t actually talked to in decades. Some of whom I barely remember from my childhood. So my party each year gets bigger and bigger. And all without one invitation!

Seriously, though, 53 doesn’t feel too bad. I can still keep up with most of the church’s youth group. I can still remember most off the things I need to recall. I enjoy my work. And I love my wife and family. Not bad. Not bad at all.

Posted in Life, Ministry

LCMS National Youth Gathering part 4

Posted on by William Douthwaite
On Tuesday night, we had pizza in our hotel for supper, then headed out to the Superdome for the evening mass event, which was a worship service with Holy Communion. We sat in the upper deck. The event was an interesting mix of contemporary and traditional, praise songs and liturgy, drama and preaching. For me, the most impressive part was the youth choir and band. What voices! What a sound! What a talented group of young people!

Wednesday was our last day of the gathering. We loaded up and the van and drove up to the Superdome, parking nearby for a quick getaway. The final mass gathering included different colored “boom sticks” that made different notes and provided endless entertainment for us. Heading out about 11:30 am, we got home about 12:30 am Thursday morning. Thankfully no traffic, and a nice supper in Tallahassee (much to Adam-nole’s delight).

It was on the ride home that I saw the group bond the best of all the days. Lots of conversation, laughter, sharing, and support. Guys who had been pretty quiet for days were suddenly conversant. It took that long for our group to really come together. And then it was over.

Cleaning out the van was disgusting. Food, drink, bottles, gum, candy, money (I kept it), playing cards, electronics, books, and food wrappers covered the floor. Ew.

The best part of the gathering: spending extended time together with the youth. Talking with them, learning from them, watching them interact was an opportunity to see their personalities and faith.

The worst part of the gathering: the crowds. In the dome, in the restaurants, on the sidewalks, just so many, many people. Yes, I expected it, but so much time was spend negotiating a sea of people. Sometimes bigger isn’t better.

Overall impression of the gathering: what an effort by so many people who gave so much of their time and energy! From parents who came along to those who worked the booths to those who made sure we crossed intersections safely, a lot of adults care deeply about the next generation of believers. What would Jesus have though of it? I believe he would have loved spending time with the people, both young and old, who came and served and made a difference in New Orleans.

Posted in Life, Ministry

LCMS Youth Gathering part 3

Posted on by William Douthwaite

Monday at the gathering was our late start day: we didn’t have to be at bible study until 10:30. Some of us made the trek to the French Quarter to get some beignets at Cafe Du Mond. After a good study of John 4, most of us had lunch at the hotel which was OK but nothing special.

The group I hung out with then went to a couple of breakout sessions. One was called “Questions you can’t ask your Mama” (sexuality). The other was about how to help a friend who gets pregnant. Both were good speakers. After supper at a restaurant not too far from the hotel we hustled to the Superdome and just missed Megan on stage talking about Hong Kong. But she was able to save us seats in row 4 on the floor. It’s fun to be up close one night.

Our Tuesday began with our servant event. We took buses to the ninth ward and painted a house and cut a lot of brush from some vacant lots.

The gentleman whose house we painted had lived in the house since 1973. He was just getting done making repairs from Katrina. He left before the hurricane, but it took him 10 hours to go 100 miles. I don’t think they came home for about 6 months. A lot of houses were still in disrepair and vacant.

On the bus there, a couple sitting in front of me said, “You look familiar.” I played trumpet for their wedding 20 years ago in New Britain, CT. Unfortunately, I don’t remember that event, but we had a great conversation about friends from New England.

When we got back we grabbed some lunch and got to two afternoon sessions. One was a band called Ives. The other was about telling your story.

Tonight is the mass gathering divine service with holy communion. They’ve promised it will be awesome.

Posted in Life, Ministry

LCMS Youth Gathering day 2

Posted on by William Douthwaite

First thing this morning was a pretty good Bible study on John 9. Only about 4,000 people there.

After that we went to all the booths in the exhibition hall. From what I can tell, every district, ministry, and university in the LCMS is here. Lots and lots of free stuff!

We then went to see Megan’s Hong Kong presentation. Fairly well attended. They did a very good job.

Subway sounded good for lunch. 90 minutes later we were eating, lines for everything!

We went to a Lost and Found concert and got to sit up front on the floor. Funny and entertaining. Lots of the kids got T-shirts.

Supper at Huck Finn’s. Then off to the mass gathering at the Dome. We sat pretty far up top. Great music and presentations tonight. But the walk back seemed longer. Everyone’s pretty tired tonight.

Posted in Life, Ministry

LCMS National Youth Gathering part 1

Posted on by William Douthwaite

After about 10 hours of driving yesterday in a van and a car, our group (13 youth, 3 adults) arrived in New Orleans for the national youth gathering. Pretty easy trip, little traffic, just long.

It took me a while to find a place to park the monster van. I found a lot about 5 blocks from our hotel. Praying it’s still there in a few days.

We then had a little free time. Most wanted to go swimming, but changed their minds when they saw how small the pool was. So while Adam and Gail went to some orientation meetings, I and the youth split up and found something to eat nearby.

We then hiked up to the Superdome, about a mile away. Huge crowds were waiting to get in. We sat on the floor this time. Great band, good, familiar songs, impressive multimedia and good presenters. The theme is “We believe.”

We then hiked back to our hotel, ate some pizza, and crashed.

Sunday morning came quickly. Chris, Thomas and I got up at 5:30 for the gathering 5k run. The organizers were anything but. Finally they gave up on registering and just started the race. Thomas ran about 20:00, me about 25 and Chris about 28.

We are supposed to meet in about 5 min. More later.