One Pastor's Perspective

Yesterday was the formal graduation.  We went to the base early, to the Rudolph Anderson Hall … (Rudolph Anderson was a U-2 pilot shot down during the Cold War.  He was also a native of Greenville, SC!!)  There, Jake won three awards:  Highest scores in the pilot aspect of training, best officer, and he was one of two distinguished graduates.  I smell a career if he wants it.

Afterward, we went out to the flight line where my sister and her ex pinned his wings on him.  We took tons of pictures and we were done!!  FOR THE DAY!!  And it was 1pm!  There was a formal dinner last night, but my sister knew better than to let my dad (or ME for that matter) attend … No Clampetts allowed!!  We had lunch so late that mom and dad didn’t want to go anywhere last night.  I went to Wendy’s drive-thru at their request.  So, that left Diana and me to explore the nightlife of Del Rio!

Off we drove, into the wild dark yonder, driving fast through the terrain …  And wishing the van was armored.  Remember, we are about 1.5 miles from the border.  The hotel clerk recommended a place for my trusty iPhone took us there.  No dice.  Had Diana allowed me to bring my gun, maybe … but no dice without it.  We then hit the Urban Spoon app on my iPhone and found a place that got good reviews and high ratings.  But it was off the beaten path …

Ponchos!  It was a family owned and operated restaurant.  (Do NOT confuse this with the chain in New Orleans and other cities that is an all-you-can-eat Mexican place.  DEFINITELY NOT that one!!)  This restaurant was the authentic Tex-Mex we’ve been looking for.  And I think Mexican food is now ruined for me …  It was THAT good!!

Today, we drive back to San Antonio and basically wait on our flight tomorrow …  Would love to see the Alamo and Riverwalk.  Gonna try!!

We got up yesterday and immediately set out for Del Rio, which was almost a 3 hour drive from San Antonio.  I drove on yet ANOTHER segment of US-90, which runs from Florida to Japan (probably) and is the road New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary is on.

This segment of 90 is kind of barren and brushy.  Texans have assured me this is NOT a good sampling of what Texas really looks like.  I write this to you now about 1.5 miles from the Mexican border.  This is an interesting place, to say the least.

On the drive down there were two fascinating road signs.  One of them said “Welcome to Hondo, Texas. This is God’s country.  Don’t drive like hell through it!”  The other, in the middle of nowhere, said: “Do Not pick up hitchhikers … They are escaping inmates.”  It was a serious sign and a sobering reminder we were driving past a prison …

Anyway, Drew and I got to go spend some time in a couple of simulators.  I’ve got to say the USAF has the COOLEST COMPUTERS!!!  Then we all attended a “Retiring of the Colors” ceremony.  There I had an unexpected surprise:  I had to remind Dad that he is unable to stand when decorum would require standing out of respect for the American Flag.  He understood.  When they played “Retreat” and then the National Anthem, Dad sat up as straight as he could and held a salute the entire time.  I really wish I could’ve taken a picture, but I refuse to disrespect our flag like that.  But it was a special moment, and one I won’t forget.

After a reception at the Officer’s Club and most of us going to a restaurant in town (I came all the way to Del Rio, TX to eat at CHILI’S!!!), the day was over and we all collapsed in bed.  The end!

Why is it a mega-journey??  We’ve never tried to do anything remotely like this with Dad since he’s been in the wheelchair.  And, all things considered, the folks at US Air earned their money yesterday!! They basically transferred Dad from his wheelchair to a rolling stool and rolled him in and out of the plane.  Dad really wasn’t able to help much with the transfer … But between the US Air guys and Drew, we made it happen.

So, now I sit in one of THREE different hotels I’ll be in for this trip.  We make our way to Del Rio in a few hours and the graduation festivities begin today.  Informal stuff today, formal stuff tomorrow.  Hoping Mom and Dad are up to this!!

Life is full of them … If you are LIVING life, you will face challenges.  Tests of your mettle.  Opportunities to succeed or fail.  And if you are running from those, you are running from life itself.

I look at where both of my children are in life, and they both face great challenges.  And they seem to face them well:  With resolve and faith.  Don’t get me wrong:  I know my kids aren’t perfect.  But they both are in places in life where the challenges are coming and they are stepping up to the plate. They are, and many of their friends are in the same places and doing the same things!  And that’s good!

I love my wife!!  She is the perfect compliment to me.  It’s as if God put US together in the Garden of Eden.  She helps make my strengths stronger and she shores up my weaknesses.  She celebrates my victories and picks me up when I fall into the pit.  She is my best friend and my most serious voice of reason … and I trust her words.  She really is like Wonder Woman.

Don’t believe me??  We are almost at the end of a two-week stint of keeping her 19-month-old nephew.  Long story, but she is helping her mother out who had hip replacement a couple of weeks ago.  And she has taken this task on with great resolve and done well.  And it makes me proud.  Proud that she has such a love for her family and is willing to do all that she does.  I see the love of God and the heart of Christ in her all the time.  She does more than talk about it … She LIVES IT.

Neither one of us is perfect (yeah, y’all KNOW I’m not).  But she’s pretty close!

That is how I feel this weekend … Raw.  I don’t write that to elicit pity, or any other kind of response really.  But that IS how it feels right now.  (LET ME MAKE THIS CLEAR:  Don’t worry about ME.  I’ll be fine.  PRAY FOR THESE FAMILIES PLEASE!!!)

Funerals are like novacaine.  They numb me a little.  And for the past couple of weeks, I’ve done / attended too many.  This weekend I had two very different funerals:  A huge, community-wide funeral for Philip Kennedy and a small, private, family funeral for Don Belcher.  I consider both men to be friends … So this weekend, I had too much novacaine.

I pray for the families of these, and others who’ve lost loved ones in the past few weeks:  the Singletarys, the Watfords, the Smiths, the Carrolls.  We as Christians have some understanding of what happens after death because Jesus TOLD us.  But that doesn’t stop us from missing those we love.  The void has to heal best it can.

So, we as a church spring into action and help in any way we can.  And in EVERY one of these situations, I’ve watched you, Ebenezer.  And you are doing the Kingdom of God PROUD!!

Let’s pray for healing for each other this week … and especially for these families!!!  Love you guys!!

Twenty-one years ago … TODAY … Kristin Elaine Wike graced the world with her presence for the first time.  And the world, as we knew it, would never be the same!!

Yes, I am bragging about my oldest today.  I can’t believe she is 21.  It seems like only yesterday when Diana told me we were expecting our first child.  I went a little numb.  Suddenly, there was a lot more at stake and we were going to be responsible for much more than we’d ever been …  Honestly, it seems like only yesterday when I held her for the first time in Greenville Memorial Hospital.  It seems like only yesterday when I would come home from work and she would hear me and yell “Daddy!!” and come running from wherever she was in our tiny apartment in New Orleans to jump into my arms.  And, it didn’t matter what I might’ve had in my hands.  She would be airborne and I’d better catch her.  And I did!

I often remind my friends who are parents of young children to enjoy every minute of it, because it will be over before you know it!!  It seems like only yesterday when I dropped her off at Delmae Heights Elementary School for the first time … then Moore Intermediate …. then Sneed Middle … then West Florence High … then I watched her drive off for the first time … then (gulp) we left her at Clemson University.  And it all went by like a flash of light!

I’ll never regret the hours I spent catching for her as she practiced pitching.  Times when the ball would jump and hit me in the leg … in the chest … even a time or two in the face.  Oh, how those hurt.  And, oh, the words she heard her preacher-daddy say.  And I’d love to be back on that bucket right now.

Now I find myself with gray hair, a daughter who is a pre-med student in her junior year at Clemson, a son who is a junior at West Florence (he was 1 month old when we moved to Florence), and a wife who apparently made a deal with the devil because the years have changed her very little.

Life is a precious gift.  Enjoy every minute!!  Happy birthday, Sweetheart!!!  But, it is hard to believe …

Anyone that knows me well knows I’ve been going to Easley almost every other week since Christmas 2009 when Dad’s health took a significant turn for the worse.  In the past few months I’d noticed Dad on a down-swing, seemingly getting worse every time I called or visited.  And then … the Great Fall of 2011 occurred.  And what has happened with Dad is unexplainable.

I’ve talked to Mom and Dad every day since December 2009.  And that holds true, even through my misfortunate accident.  One thing I’ve noticed has been a real clarity when talking to him.  No decline … no great improvement … just steady.  And steady is good!  I finally got to go to Easley this weekend.  We had a great visit (albeit a short one) and I confirmed with my eyes what I’d been hearing on the phone … Dad is doing okay right now!!

There is one viable explanation for all of this:  It’s a miracle!!  And that, friends, is what it is!