DLmail 12/31/2008 Not For Kids

First of all, thanks go to Tim and Zach, the lone 4th/5th leaders who were able to show last Saturday night. Thanks to Susan for loaning Kimmie to supplement the shallow leader pool in the Factory. According to Susan all went well and Zach, it turns out, is a great 4 corners proctor. Thanks for serving.


Pam and I made it safely to (in the fog) and back (in the fog/rain which is ironic considering Randy's blog title) from the Celebration of Life for Randy Shafer in Jackson, MI last Saturday. There was a nice tidy contingent from Northwoods in attendance. The service was one of the most unique I had ever witnessed and yes, Randy spoke at his own funeral. But that wasn't the toughest part surprisingly. Randy spoke clearly about the importance of our personal relationship with Christ. As he experienced and expressed to us, nothing really matters but that relationship, followed by human to human relationships. Money, position, achievements...worth less than we realize. The toughest part for me and for so many in the room (and it was standing room only and the average age of the attendees was probably only 30) was when his children, Jenn, Ian and Emma stepped up to honor him in song. Each sang a verse solo, then together. Powerful. The music was loud and surprising. Randy picked it all out and he chose this as the closing song (click here). It was performed better than the original in my opinion and will forever remind me of Randy as it starts slow and crescendos to head banging levels. Quite a day. An inspiring and worthy life to celebrate.


This week we jump back on the DL horse. Kevin and Monica returned safely from their trip to see family in Newport. So the three of us and anyone else who wants to join will reconnect with the kids this Saturday. Click here to access your January small group info. Our core virtue for January is Resourcefulness. The Bible story is Taking Care of Business (A principle of work) and is found in Colossians 3:22-24. Our memory verse is Col. 3:23 "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men." If you missed last weekends message from Cal and want to catch it, click here.


There are a couple wintry photos taken within the past couple weeks in this post. Name the location of either and win a prize. Finally, whatever you do, don't let your small children see this picture (taken by yours truely before the curtains opened for Christmas service #7 of 9) below. Irrepairable harm could come and I don't need that on my shoulders right now. ****IN an act of extreme kindness and compassion, the original "Santa slightly out of costume" pic has been replaced with the one of Santa and this beautiful young 20 somethingish girl.****
One more thing, can someone please tell me the name of the first song on this skydiving video? I know the second song is Beautiful Day by U2, I am just too old to understand any of the lyrics of the first song and I really want to know the title. Thanks.

DLmail 12/26/2008 Randy's FUNeral

This will be brief. I won't be at church this Saturday. Pam and I will be trekking to Michigan for Randy Shafer's funeral. I know that Tim and Zach are scheduled to be there. Kevin and Monica are gone this weekend as well and my attempts to add subs so far are fruitless, but it will happen. This Saturday is likely to be a lightly attended service, and for once I am really hoping for low numbers of kids(odd).

I am 1/4 Croation, 1/4 German, 1/8 Italian, 1/8 Scottish, 1/16 Cherokee and 3/16 Guilt, but this time my guilty feelings of missing DL are being overridden by a sincere desire to honor Randy and support Beth, Jenn, Ian and Emma at the funeral. So I am trying to not worry, to let go. Thanks for understanding. Click here for the small group material for this weekend.

Randy was a great shepherd, mentor, pastor, father, husband, friend...and manicurist?

Road trip to Randy 12/5/2008

So maybe my trip to see Randy and the entire Shafer family with Scott Farris yesterday wasn't totally like the roadtrips of my youth. Other than the miles, it wasn't anything like them at all. So much better.

Thank you Randy, Beth, Jenn, Ian and Emma.

Pictures are included of course, Randy sitting with his front porch behind him, the woods in the back yard, the plants on the deck that will need to come in before winter arrives, Randy sandwich with Scott and Rick, the family pics (those smiles!)...thousands and thousands of unwritten words in these pics.

Randy

Please pray for Randy and all of the Shafer family right now. Thanks.