One Pastor's Perspective

Got an email from my pal Flossip that I thought I would pass along, especially to all of my Florence friends:

Please pardon the brief interuption in your email inbox. I am trying to get everyone to forward this email to help McLeod Children’s Hospital– no money out of your pocket, just a quick click of the mouse to vote for them to win! Help Mcleod Children’s Hospital win an upgraded gameroom!Visit the Vote Now page and Login to vote for the Children’s Miracle Network hospital of your choice to receive an upgraded gameroom. The top three hospitals with the most votes will win. You are allowed 10 votes per day until the contest closes at 11:59pm EST on Friday, October 16th. Mcleod Children’s Hospital is currently in 37th place… we can do better than that! The website to enter is: http://xbox.childrensmiraclenetwork.orgPLEASE forward this to all of your friends. — The Flossip

Had an extremely interesting thing happen to me yesterday. But first, I must tell a story …

A couple of years ago, I was driving on one of the roads that cuts through between Second Loop Road and Third Loop Road to get home. Its a road I’ve driven on since 2001 on a DAILY basis. You know how you can just tell when someone is a few cards short of a complete deck?? There is this man whose house is on that road. One day, out of the blue, I am riding on this road and he comes running to the edge of his yard. And with this intense, crazy look on his face, he starts using a full-armed POINT at me. As I drive by, he angrily points ten times at me. I couldn’t tell if he was putting a hex on me or if he’d watched too much WWE the night before …

I wondered what on earth he was doing?? What would stop him from walking into my neighborhood (which is at the end of his road), finding my car, and continuing his little fit?? Then I started thinking, “All I need is ANOTHER crazy person out to get me!” (Remember, I am a pastor and from time to time this happens)

I certainly told Krissy and Diana to be careful when riding by his house, not knowing if the next time one of us would receive a brick or rock or something more …

Over the months, I wondered what I would do if he did it again. I’ve probably seen him a hundred times since then, and nothing … UNTIL YESTERDAY. A long time ago, I decided if he did it again I would wave at him. He pointed … and I waved. Then he waved back and turned to walk back to his house.

WOW!!! I’d worked up this crazy guy in my mind. And all he was doing was waving!!!

So send the men in white lab coats on over … I’m ready for my straightjacket now.

I was wrong!!! HA! Anyone who knows me knows that is not true. I make mistakes daily. Sometimes I am a train wreck waiting to happen, a bull in a china shop. And I know it. I guess that is one positive in all of this.

One of my biggest shortcomings is in my focus. I get so caught up in what is ahead that I forget to encourage those beside me. And I have some of the finest people on earth beside me in the staff at Ebenezer. We share common goals, fight the common fight, and all of us bleed, sweat, and shed tears over what is ahead. And I forget to encourage them. And that is very, very bad.

And if they read this, and I hope they will: I love you guys and appreciate you more than you could ever know. I know things have been tough lately, but we will make it through!! And if you don’t read it, I’m gonna tell you in person!

Yes, I know. I haven’t. There is a reason for it, and I guess I need to tell you. I do blog from my heart. I try not to force it or just write something for the sake of writing it. And, to be honest with you, these last few weeks I just haven’t had the heart too blog much.

There are some things going on right now that are just too personal to blog … That sounds like an oxymoron, huh?? Diana reads my blog and edits it, at times, when I write too much (or too ridiculous).

What can you do?? Pray for me!

This weekend actually got off to a rocky start. I have learned there are some people, who I consider to be good friends, that become absolutely unreasonable during football season. And, although I’ve never been one to get ugly about the Clemson/USC rivalry, I’ve lost respect for several diehard Gamecocks who’ve said some ugly things to me about Krissy going to Clemson. MY DAUGHTER CHOSE THE SCHOOL THAT WAS RIGHT FOR HER and I think she made the right choice. END OF STORY. DEAL WITH IT, PEOPLE, and stop being so obnoxious. (Sometimes I am very surprised by the things people will say and do to their pastor. And if they only knew what these last few weeks had been like, they wouldn’t dare.)

With that said, we left for Clemson as soon as Drew got out of school. Diana, Drew, Lauren Kirven, and I drove straight to campus and picked Krissy up. It was so good to see her standing there waiting for us!! She is doing well and loves it! She broke a nail pitching the other day, so we tried to go to the nail place to get it fixed. The little lady in the nail place didn’t want to fix it, but wanted to re-do them all, so it was a no-go … We ventured back into Clemson to go to the First Friday parade.

Honestly, the parade was nothing to write about. Not bad, but not that good, either. Jesse White met us there and we then got to meet his aunt (Mel’s sister) and her family. It wasn’t hard to see that she was Mel’s sister, either!! Several of Krissy’s friends walked up and we got to meet them. That was good. After the parade, we went out to eat in Anderson, to a couple of shops, and before we knew it Friday was gone.

On Saturday, we went back over to Clemson around 1pm. It was already packed with people. As we waited for Dwayne, Mel, and Lee to arrive (we were tailgating with them), we walked around and happened into Scott and Kim Webber. The Webbers were longtime members of EBC who moved to Anderson several years ago with a job transfer. It was good to see them again. To make a long story shorter, we eventually made it over to Dwayne and Mel and the tailgating was great!! Again, a bunch of Krissy and Jesse’s friends came by and Mel and Diana had plenty of food for them. It was a good afternoon!

We made it into the stadium just in time to see kickoff. To see CJ Spiller run the opening kickoff back for a TD!! Now, if I am to be honest in this recap, here is what I saw in the game: Defense looked tough. Special teams looked really good. The offense was moving the ball, but stalled too much in the red zone. I mean, c’mon, this was Middle Tennessee State. They should’ve been able to punch the ball in EVERY time they were down there, but they didn’t. They’ve got several things to work on before GT on Thursday.

I rode back with the Whites and Diana stayed until late Sunday. Yesterday was an awesome day at church, although I missed A BUNCH of people. Labor Day weekend …

So now I sit here, watching the NCIS marathon on USA and wondering what I will do today. Hope you have a great Labor Day!!!

Yep, thats right … You read it here first!! Looks like THE BUCKET is coming out of retirement!!

To make a long story short, the Club Softball team at Clemson asked Krissy to come try out. She is ecstatic! She has practiced with them a couple of times and pitched once. She hadn’t pitched since April, so it was a little rusty, but said it went well. The adjustment to 43 feet (high school pitches from 40) takes a little work to get speed back up and get the pitches to move at the right distance.

Therefore, Krissy called and said “When you come up this weekend, you need to bring the bucket!” Yeah, I can’t wait to see her this weekend. And neither can the Bucket!!

(www.mikeysfunnies.com)

A lady died this past January, and Citibank billed her for February & March for their annual service charges on her credit card, and then added late fees & interest on the monthly charge. The balance had been $0.00, now it’s somewhere around $60.00.

A family member placed a call to Citibank: Family Member: “I’m calling to tell you that she died in January.”

Citibank: “The account was never closed and the late fees & charges still apply.”

Family Member: “Maybe you should turn it over to collections.”

Citibank: “Since it is two months past due, it already has been.”

Family Member: “So, what will they do when they find out she is dead?”

Citibank: “Either report her account to the frauds division or report her to the credit bureau; maybe both!”

Family Member: “Do you think God will be mad at her?”

Citibank: “Excuse me?”

Family Member: “Did you just get what I was telling you . . . the part about her being dead?”

Citibank: “Sir, you’ll have to speak to my supervisor” Supervisor gets on the phone.

Family Member: “I’m calling to tell you she died in January.”

Citibank: “The account was never closed and the late fees & charges still apply.”

Family Member: “You mean you want to collect from her estate?”

Citibank: (stammer) “Are you her lawyer?”

Family Member: “No, I’m her great nephew.” (lawyer info given)

Citibank: “Could you fax us a certificate of death?”

Family Member: “Sure.” (the fax number is given) After they get the fax …

Citibank: “Our system just isn’t setup for death. I don’t know what more I can do to help.”

Family Member: “Well, if you figure it out, great! If not, you could just keep billing her. I don’t think she will care.”

Citibank: “Well, the late fees & charges do still apply.”

Family Member: “Would you like her new billing address?”

Citibank: “That might help.”

Family Member: “Odessa Memorial Cemetery, Highway 129, Plot Number 69.”

Citibank: “Sir, that’s a cemetery!”

Family Member: “What do you do with dead people on your planet?”

Yes, I am feeling it. Gettin old. Pulled something in my back while at the beach with my family, carrying a basket up the stairs for my mom. (I don’t see how on earth she got it into her car). Moved my firstborn to college, three hours away. Turned 43. Many issues involved with all of that.

Krissy seems to be doing fine, but she does have her moments. And we lose a little sleep. Drew is having a good year, so far, at West Florence. The rollercoaster of the new school year has started at Ebenezer. Again, so far, so good.

The school years come faster and faster every year. I walk through the halls at the Ebenezer Kindergarten/Daycare and the kids seem to get smaller and smaller, younger and younger. And I just get older.

BUT … Gettin old is much better than the alternative!!! 🙂