Behind on the blog, I know!

Had several comment lately that I had let my blog kinda go. I have no real excuse except to say that we've at been home very little over the past 3 weeks. We went to Pepperdine for week, then back home, to Oklahoma for some family time, my dad's 80th birthday, and you know we had to stop by and see little Noah and his family. Then we took a week in Galveston. It wasn't the very best timing, having been out for the better part of two weeks prior but that's when Kim had the time so we went. Then we came back, me for an LTC Board meeting, and to take Kami back to the airport, then back home to preach for our Elder Ordination service this past Sunday. As elders, we're excited to have some additional shepherds to help keep watch over the flock at Lakewood. Harold Allen, Bo Cox, and Bill Hanna were installed and prayed for on Sunday.

Then to add to that the church surprised us with a 20th year thing at the potluck lunch on Sunday. It was a complete surprise and I guess easier to get together since we were out much of the time before then. There was a huge cake, some cards, a book signed by several in the congregation, and a gift for me and one for Kim and a few jokes by Mike Miller. It was really special to be recognized in such a way. I posted some pics on my facebook page for those who are interested. I promised to post some pics from our trip north but just haven't done it yet. Well, I've got to get caught up now. I try to blog again soon.

Thanks to everyone who said such nice things on Sunday!

Cohen is coming soon!

de

Here's a freebie!

Home Bible Study Requires a Permit in CA

According to a report on FOX News this morning, home Bible study is under fire in California. Pastor David Jones and his wife Mary, who live in San Diego, got some friends together at their house for a Bible study. However, when the county of San Diego found out, the couple was told they needed to either stop the Bible study or purchase a permit because they had too many people in their home.

Back from the Weekend!

Boy it was a busy weekend in the Efam. Friday morning I headed north to Forney where Kami had landed on Thursday. Spent a few hours with my favorite grandson and his parents and headed to DFW to pick up the bride on her way back from Florida. She finished her first full 5 day week in...well I can't remember when she had a full five day week. She was pooped but excited to be going to see Noah. We got up on Saturday, waited for the girls to go to a baby shower for Allison, loaded my girls and Noah in the car and headed for Duncantown.

There we spent Saturday and most of Sunday seeing family, my parents, my sisters, and their kids and related others, too many to mention. Everyone was together at worship Sunday morning for my dad's 80th birthday, day. Actually its, today but mum decided Sunday would be the day to have the party. We all went back to the house for lunch, some time together there, and then back to the church building at four for an awesome reception for my dad, put together by my sisters and mum. They have Sunday evening services at 5 so it made it convenient for folks to come by and wish his happy birthday and a ton of people did. It was a lot of fun.

Aaron, Kami, & Noah then headed back south to Forney, closely followed by Kim and myself to spend the night Sunday night and then drove back to H-town, with Kami, on Monday. Lord willing we'll spend a few days in Galveston later this week, just winding down some. Maybe I can post some pics of our trip, our grandson or my dad's party. Thanks for wishing him well. We are blessed to have him still with us and celebrated it so.

de

Lots On the Brain Lately

My brain is running on overload lately. Some of it is not really all that important as life goes, the Rockets playing Jekll and Hyde, hopefully is not Hyde again Thursday. Which Astros team to expect the next day. Will anyone really ever beat the Celtics. Does God really prefer Boston all that much. As I said, not really of that much importance.

Our church building is getting ever so close to being finished after hurricane Ike, just about in time for hurricane season to start again. Whoohoo, we all can't wait for another season. Lord willing, I'll never see another one like it, ever. Yes, its been a long haul. Yes, we have some incredibly talented and persistent folks who keep at it to get it all done. I still have trouble getting motivated to really get my yard back in shape after all that. I'll just keep plugging along on it.

Headed to my original hometown Duncan, Ok, this weekend to help my dad celebrate his 80th birthday. What a blessing that is for all of us to have him still with us. There were a couple of occasions recently during our elder selection process that I was ever so grateful to have him on the other end of the phone to talk to and bounce some things off of him regarding the process. He spent years and years as an elder and I valued beyond words his counsel. Happy Birthday dad. I love you.

Oh yeah, we have new elders. We have some who were given the high approval they felt they needed from the congregation and some who were just short of that. I think daily about both groups and their future impact on the family here at Lakewood. Lord willing we'll make an annnoucement soon as to who they are. Oh yeah, gonna have a new grandson in 37 days. Oh yeah, this past Sunday was the day my family planted ourselves officially at this congregation 20 years ago. Wow, some days it seems as it were yesterday, well, you know the other side too. The Lord has blessed us in so many ways. It's a lot on the brain lately.

cya,
de

Back in H-town!

The bride and I flew back into Houston on Saturday evening past and were glad to be back. Unfortunately for her she got to go back to the airport after worship on Sunday and won't see our front door for another 10 days or so. But we really enjoyed our 6 days just me and her and California and Pepperdine. Honestly we didn't prefer LA freeways, their drivers, Lakerfan, wildfires, tarballs on my feet, but there was much to enjoy. It sure was good to be home, back preaching at Lakewood, and enjoying those amazing Rockets yesterday. It just goes to show, you never know. As Forrest Gump's mom said, "you just have to do the best with what cha got." Amen.

I especially enjoyed this column from the LA Times. Here's a couple of quotes.

"I know you're expecting a full column effort, but the Lakers' opponent was only the devastated Houston Rockets, so why should I have to work hard to write about them?

Why should I put passion into describing a game that the Lakers didn't show passion in playing?"

"The Lakers lost as if they didn't care that the series was now two games apiece. The Lakers lost as if they know they can turn it on this week and still survive.

Good point. I'll write better columns then. This one, like them, I'm sitting out."

No blood, no one being thrown out, no flagrant fouls, just a gutsy effort from the Rockets. Boy, that was fun to watch. I'm guessing the next one will be a bit more competetive. Glad I'll be watching from friendly H-town instead LA.

de

Interesting Week So Far

It's been an interesting and enjoyable week so far in LA LA land. We spent Tuesday prior to the opening of the Pepperdine Lectures driving up the Pacific Coast Highway. It was sunny but pretty cool as we drove northward. We stopped periodically where there was beach access to put our feet in the water. Nice sun, pretty beaches, but cooold water. We did get our feet in the water but it was just too cold to enjoy any swimming. We stopped near a town called Carpenteria, a quaint small town on the coast. We walked a long nature trail down to the cliffs to see the ocean and down a longer path to see the seals. The bride stopped counting at about 200 seals who were for the most part laying out, enjoying the bright sun. Just off the coast you can see the Channel islands which apparently are home to 1000's of the same kind of seals. We headed on north to the Santa Barbara area where we could see a massive smoke cloud coming from the mountains. It's a big city and we again headed for the coast and enjoyed the beautiful view and large eucalyptus trees. Posted below are a couple of pics. Just north of SB in the Mts it was burning hot, smoke rising upward and coming towards the coast, fortunately the smoke was rising high up into the sky. It was all over the news with many homes threatened and not much to do but let it burn.

The Lectures have been outstanding. There are many of the well known speakers in the brotherhood and the theme is "The Lord of Creation" messages from the book of Colossians. There's Walling, Cope, Atchley, Harris, Keith Lancaster and many more, all very challenging and encouraging to hear. It has been a much needed boost to hear others struggles and encouragement. As at all lectureships the singing is one of the highlights. There's Zoe, Hallal, and all the best singers and leaders in the brotherhood.

Last night we left out a bit early and ventured to downtown to take in the Lakers/Rockets game. Thanks to son J, we had his GPS which led us downtown and even rerouted us around bad traffic so that we got there in plenty of time. The game, well, it was a knock down drag out kind of affair. We really had little expectation that the Rockets would take two in LA but it was enjoyable nonetheless. We both really enjoyed wearing red and representing the Rockets. We were certainly way in the minority in "Rockets" gear. Just walking around brought us a constant chorus of boos and other negative reactions. I personally enjoyed that until it got uglier as we entered the arena. Maybe if we had seats closer to the floor those folks would have been more hospitable. Where our seats were, two rows from the top, well...many of those folks were downright ugly. I think they may have been handicapped because many of them could only lift one finger on their hands. You can guess which one. Not only that but several of them expressed the words that go along with that gesture. And we thought it was just a game! By the time the last 2 minutes of the game came around and the outcome was clear we went ahead and headed out. It just felt safer. No one was happy we were there, except us. Oh yeah, did you know that most everyone in the Staples Center is certain that "Houston Sucks?" That was a constant throughout the game. By the time we were through it was time to get out of there. By the time got back to our motel, it was time to shower and get that 'dirty' feeling off of us.

All in all it was quite a contrast going from the high of the lectures to the low of all those people who were full of profanity and derision. Truth is, we shelter ourselves from what a great deal of the world is ready to give us. I guess for good reason but everyone needs the love of Christ. Given the choice I have to keep my feet and mind centered on why God put me here and here this week in California. Rockets lose, believers win.

cya back in H-town soon,
de


game pic eucalyptus tree

coast pic seals


nature trail flowers

A Week in LA LA Land!

It's been a few years since I took in a sermon seminar or church lectureship anywhere so this year, Kim and I decided to attend the Pepperdine Lectureship. We've thought about going and said we were going to do it, so here we are, spending a week in LA LA land.
Yesterday was pretty much for travel to LAX, find the car, make our way to Westlake Village, CA, about 15 miles from the campus. There's not much lodging in and near the campus and dorm rooms are really not our preference so we opted for a bit of drive to stay at the Residence inn and drive. Breakfast and evening snacks are served everyday so we can forgo trying to figure out much about food. We checked into the hotel, found an Albertsons and bought us a few essentials, water and such, then settled in for the night.

Our first highlight besides getting upgraded for the flight, thanks to the bride, was staying awake to see the Rockets win and win they did. I think we may have disturbed the rooms around us yelling as they closed out the Lakers on their home floor but, really, who cares about that. They
played one heck of a gutsy game and took to the home boys. We had a hard time going to sleep even though it was almost 1 am home time by the time we got into bed. Then its wakey, wakey, Texas time. Oh well, it was a lot of fun. The Lectureship doesn't kick off until this afternoon so we're headed out that way to find our way and then up the Pacific Coast highway for an afternoon drive. The weather looks to be fantastic. My bride has been to CA dozens of times I'd guess but never for pleasure. Its always airports, hotels, work, and back to the airport. We're looking forward to an enjoyable week. I'll try to post a pic or two as we go along. My last time to to the West Coast for any kind of trip was the summer of 1975. (I think) A close friend in HS and i decided to travel west and headed for CA. We did officially make it to the coast but didn't stay long. We were running out of money and he wouldn't sleep in the car! Imagine that. Thanks Steve! What is that 34 years. Hopefully, we'll see more of it this time.

Thanks for checking in on us!
de & ke in the land of fruit and nuts