Category: Life

Posted in Life

My wife is going to Haiti (part 2)

Posted on by William Douthwaite

Actually she’s there. Rev. Glenn Merritt, who heads disaster response for LCMS World Relief, said in a recent Lutheran Witness article that it is too unstable and dangerous for any volunteers apart from medical teams. That is the situation my wife has stepped into with great excitement and a little fear (mostly from reports about tarantula spiders she may see there). Lisa landed there a few hours ago (as I wrote this), and as I think about her next 9 days there, I realize God’s been preparing her for this her whole life. Just consider her experience: a vicarage in inner city Baltimore, a social worker job there, labor and delivery experience, working for an urgent care provider in Daytona Beach. Eventually she’d end up somewhere like this “for just a time as this.” You can read some about it here. The amazing thing is, who would have ever seen this coming? When Lisa was going to nursing school in Ft. Wayne, the University of Connecticut, Grandview College in Des Moines, Iowa, and Graceland University headquartered in Lamoni, Iowa, who would have imagined God was preparing her for an assignment in Haiti? Not me. We didn’t even hardly know where Haiti was until today. But I’m sure we’ll never forget.

I talked with Lisa some this afternoon. It is hot there, in the 90’s. They saw about 100 patients today. In the midst of all this they are trying to get the pharmacy organized. After only drinking some lukewarm water, she said a cold Coke was probably the best she’s ever tasted. And she’s glad she went with Lutherans. The leaders went out to get some beer and wine for tonight. Tomorrow they will go to church. I’m not sure if the clinic is open tomorrow.

On a sad note, the men who founded the Lutheran church in Haiti, Pastor Doris Jean Louis was killed last night. He was accosted outside of his home and beaten. He studied at the sem in Ft. Wayne in the late 70’s – early 80’s, and was a blessing to so many.

Posted in Life

Huh?

Posted on by William Douthwaite

At Adam’s first homiletics (preaching) class this semester, the professor,  Dr. Dale Meyer, said, “Just because you said it doesn’t mean they heard it.” That’s a good thing to keep in mind. Communication seems simple enough. Preach the word, and watch the Holy Spirit work, right? Well, kind of. Jesus told that story about the different kinds of soil. Sometimes the word takes root and changes lives. But not always. Rock, weeks, birds, and whatever get in the way. Even for Jesus.

It reminds me a little of watching a movie or some TV, when someone leans over and says, “What did he say?” There’s a lot we hear that we don’t understand. We don’t understand what was said, or we don’t understand what the words mean, or we don’t understand what the speaker is talking about. I don’t understand everything I hear. I often ask, “What are you talking about?” Wouldn’t you like to ask me that question sometime? Feel free. You have my permission. How about if I leave my phone out on the pulpit and you can text me, “Huh?”

Posted in Life

My wife’s going to Haiti (part 1)

Posted on by William Douthwaite

Why not a journal of my wife’s upcoming trip to Haiti through the eyes of us who will say goodbye in just a few days and anxiously await her return from this medical mission trip? Lisa is going with 16 other doctors, nurses, practitioners, and pastors to work in a Port-au-Prince hospital and clinic with LCMS World Relief. Her nurse practitioner skills, honed over the past year in an urgent care office, will be very helpful to the many Haitians still in need of medical care after the January 12 earthquake. It’s hard to believe it’s been two months already.

After learning that she had been selected for this trip, the last two weeks have been a whirlwind of getting things together to go. From a few shots at the health department to some medical things to take along, the challenge has been to not take too much. All you’ve got is two small carry-ons for your own stuff. The big check-through suitcase is for medical supplies.

An exciting opportunity? Absolutely. Frightening? Oh, a little, especially when you starting reading about tropical diseases, looking at pictures of insects, and checking out the blogs of those who are there. The trip begins on Thursday with a drive to Miami, where she’ll meet the team.

It is so cool that she gets to go and do this. And it is equally cool that our church has gotten into sending people on trips like this with both financial and prayer support. It adds a whole new dimension to what we do.

Posted in Life, Ministry

All the time

Posted on by William Douthwaite

Do you know what I forget sometimes? I forget that not everyone’s life revolves around the church. Conversely, I’ll bet a lot of people don’t even realize that most pastors’ live do. Revolve around the church, that is.

Here’s what I mean. An average member of the church who attends say twice a month, may only actually think about the church a couple of hours on those two days. That’s it. Another member of the church, who serves on a committee, is a member of a small group, are part of a music group or participates in a community ministry may think about church a couple of hours each week. Some in positions of leadership may spend as much as 3-4 hours a week with church responsibilities. If you have a job and a family, I wouldn’t expect much more.

Enter the pastor. I think about the church every day. I think about the church most of my waking hours. I’m not always doing church stuff, but even when I’m not, I’ve got sermon thoughts running around in my head, I’ve got people on my mind who I need to talk to or visit, and I’m always wondering how those in the hospital or recovering at home are doing.

I’m not saying this is bad. After all, it is my job and it’s not yours. I just think the extremes are interesting. There was a time when I wasn’t a pastor and wasn’t thinking about church all the time, but that was a long time ago. It’s hard to remember. And those outside the role (and the family) have no idea what it’s like to be immersed in it all the time.

Wouldn’t it be interesting (and probably healthy) to walk in each other’s shoes once in a while?

Posted in Life

Lunch date

Posted on by William Douthwaite

Today, after tying up some loose ends at church, I headed out to Gainesville to meet my daughter for lunch. Time’s flown by; I hadn’t seen her since Christmas! We sat, ate, and talked at a burger place (Cafe Gardens) near the University of Florida campus for a couple of hours. She’s twenty-two, about to graduate from college, and is actively looking for a job during her last semester. An exciting, uncertain, and hopeful time, both looking forward to being on your own, and yet wondering if you are really ready for that.

Could I possibly remember being that age and in that situation? Actually, I remember it vividly. I typed up dozens of cover letters to go with resumes, and sought out computer programming jobs anywhere and everywhere. I struggled to stay focused on the last few classes I had to finish up and enjoyed being among the seniors in the frat house. I was so ready and so anxious to be out on my own. My job search didn’t come to an end until about six weeks after my last final. Those were a long six weeks at home, but eventually the interviews and then the offer came and I was off.

Unashamedly biased, I know my kids have much more going for them than I did, and I can’t wait to see where they’ll end up. I can’t imagine anyone not being drawn to their talents, creativity, and character. I have a lot of hope for the future when I see them about to step into theirs.

Posted in Life

Band boosters

Posted on by William Douthwaite

One of the things I’ve been doing in the community is volunteering with the band boosters at my daughter’s high school. It began as volunteering to help out at football games during marching season, then developed into coordinating some of the volunteers, to now coordinating a whole winter percussion show.

I’ve enjoyed doing this and have really learned a lot, not just about how much band has changed since I was in it, but about people and myself. First, it’s been an adjustment to be at and run meetings that don’t begin with prayer, like the multitude of church meetings I’ve attended. Not a negative, just a reminder of the secular world we’re in. Next, secular organizations have the same problems as the church does. A shortage of leadership, volunteers that don’t show up, and the constant challenge of communication within an organization. Third, these folks are hard-core fundraisers. They think of everything. Everything has a money making angle. Granted, this is what they mostly exist for, but they go for it. Finally, they are a nice bunch of people. Moms and dads supporting their kids in band and colorguard. Too often we assume that people outside of our church are evil. No so. They are committed, friendly, creative, caring, hard-working, love their kids, and are nice to be around.

Since my job involves a lot of church stuff with church people, I don’t get to be in that world very often. It’s been good for me, has kept me grounded, and I like it.

Posted in Life

Rats the size of dogs

Posted on by William Douthwaite

My wife may have the opportunity to go to Haiti next month, helping with earthquake relief through Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod World relief. She recently received some descriptive information to help her prepare for the trip: there are rats in Haiti the size of small dogs.

In response, she reflected on our home in Baltimore, MD, during our vicarage year. Married three months, we moved into a row home in  the inner city which had been through some pretty rough times and refurbished on the cheap. The home included a shower where the bathroom tiles were held to the wall with a plastic garbage bag duct taped in place, a basement which I only dared venture into once the entire year, bars on every window, and rats in the backyard which we initially mistook for cats. “Is that a cat out there on top of the garbage can?” “I don’t think so. Cats don’t have skinny, hairless tails, do they?”

Twenty-five years ago it was pretty hard to figure out why God had us live in a place like that. Now, my wife’s reaction to “rats the size of small dogs” is, “been there, done that, bring it on.” So God was acutally preparing us for future ministry we never dreamed of.

Oh, one more thing: we also used to have a small dog the size of a rat.

Posted in Life

Hey, who filled up my calendar?

Posted on by William Douthwaite

Uh-oh. I smell trouble. My schedule is getting out of control. Yesterday, I got out of a meeting because it would have meant being out eight days in a row. Tonight, I was trying to figure out a meeting time with a few people and couldn’t come up with any time in February. I know that sounds exaggerated, but now that we are into high school lacrosse season and winter percussion competitions, the majority of my evenings and weekends suddenly have commitments. And I was just congratulating myself on my time management skills. Down the drain, just like that.

It’s not such a bad thing, though. When my schedule is filled with time spent with family rather than meetings of dubious necessity, it appears that I’ve got a handle on at least some of my priorities. No self-congratulations here. Just thanks for the chance to be at games and events.

Posted in Life

Studying earth science

Posted on by William Douthwaite

Tonight is Earth Science study/review night with Olivia. The chapter is on the geologic periods of the earth. Now a lot of the material sounds familiar to me, but either I don’t remember it, or we just didn’t study it in the same depth as students do now.

Let’s see, I did biology in 9th grade, chemistry in 10th grade, physics in 11th grade, and didn’t take a science in 12th grade. So what did we study in eighth grade science? I don’t have a clue. But I remember my eighth grade science teacher, Mr. Smith. And all I remember about that year is combining hydrogen and oxygen in a metal tube and putting a static electric charge to the end to make it explode. Cool stuff. He also got our school an electron microscope from somewhere.

Anyway, it occurred to me that some might wonder how I can blend my belief in the six day creation account of the Bible with the chapter we’re about to review. For me, it’s never been a problem. Both look at how the world came to be, and if there are some things that don’t match up, we obviously have more to learn. I look at science as a gift from God to study and learn about the world and life he created. It doesn’t have to be a matter of proving one right and the other wrong. I learn a lot from both and appreciate the Creator even more. Math and physics are other disciplines that help me understand it as well. A lot depends on your assumptions. With a belief in God as Creator, I can see his handiwork in fossils, equations, and graphs. And I think that is really cool.