At the breakfast table this morning, Dad held out the pinky and middle finger of his right hand, holding the ring finger in with his thumb, looked at me and said, “When you order two finger of something, do it like this.”
Good advice, Dad. But where did that come from? I’ve never seen you drink more than a glass of wine. Now you’re sharing some drinking hacks with me. I’m going to remember that one.
It’s been than kind of a morning. The night nurse told us he didn’t sleep at all last night. Sitting at the kitchen table, he suddenly began talking about his graduation from high school (1942) and then his job at the mill (loading up carpet for shipping) until Uncle Sam summoned him for service in the Army Air Corps (1943-44). He then marveled at the good education he got at Villanova after his return, courtesy of Uncle Sam.
“Yeah, I’ve come a long way since Smedley Park.” Smedley Park, now a very nice recreation are in Delaware County, PA, was the boyhood home of my dad and his family. Back then, it was where he and his brother Tommy hunted rabbit. Dad then mentioned how they got water to the house. They pumped water all the way up the hill from the spring on the other side of the railroad tracks. From there, gravity took over and carried water down to the house.
I always learn something new from and about Dad whenever I come up to visit and help take care of him. Definitely worth the airfare.
Yesterday, as many pastors do, I was out visiting people who were in the hospital. It was a busier afternoon than usual, as I had five people to visit in three different area hospitals. I drove about a hundred miles getting around to everyone. The good news: everyone was recovering and improving and looking forward to going home soon. The not-so-good news: the effort it took to find out who needed a visit and where they were. Spoiler alert: this is a rant, so you can decide if you want to read further or not.
After writing about ministry moments from the past thirty years, I thought of a few more that didn’t make the top ten list.
When a dear friend and faithful member Rear Admiral Mort Cooley died in 2005, it was at the same time as my mother’s death and two other member of our congregation. It was a busy, emotional, overwhelming and amazing time in my ministry.
I have so many Vacation Bible School memories that it is hard to pick out a favorite. But the one that always comes to mind is the one where we formed dance lines and sang, ‘Cha-cha-cha-cha-cha-cha-cha-cha-cha-cha-cha-cha-cha-cha-cha-Fiesta!” The theme was something from the southwest and with our hands on the shouldes of the person in front of us, we sang and danced to that song throughout the week.
n September 2004, we had two Sundays when no one came to church! On September 5 and 26 in 2004, hurricanes passed close enough by that everyone had either hunkered down or left town.
For many years our church’s music ministry has presented a special musical worship service during the seasons of Advent and Lent. A few years ago (2010), we went all out with a Christmas musical arranged by David Clydesdale “A Baby Changes Everything.” The production includes elaborate hand painted sets, lots of lines for actors and songs for soloists to learn, and a number of challenging pieces for the choir to learn. As part of a multi-age cast that met for many rehearsals, I had two solos of my own to learn, plus a narration. All our work was for just one night. By the grace of God we pulled it off. It was a night far beyond anything we had done before or have done since.
Waite for it... 