Things We Never Get To Do...

Short post today... well my brother and his wife and daughter arrived here yesterday! We are planning on taking a trip into the Chicago this morning and into the early afternoon. It should be a great time!

We are going to head down to Navy Pier and check out the sites in and around the area... it's kind of funny the things you DON'T do when you live in or near large cities like Chicago or New York...

i grew up in New York City and as far as i can remember..

• never went to the Empire State building
• never went to the Statue of Liberty
• never crossed the Brooklyn Bridge
• never went to the World Trade Centers
• never saw a Broadway musical or play
• never went down to the Financial district

but since we moved away and i have started my own family... about every time we get a chance to go back... we DO go to one of these places and enjoy the city....

Where ever you are today get out and enjoy it... you'll be pleasantly surprised, i guarantee it!

Have a great weekend!

Sibling Rivalry?

My "little" brother Ken and his family are coming to spend the Memorial Day week with us... this will be the first time he has been to our new home near Chicago since we moved back to the area a few years back and the first time our families have been together since we spent a few days at Disneyworld last Spring (my brother works for THE Mouse. i am looking forward to him being here for a number of reasons... most of all because i really like Christy (his wife) and my niece (who calls me "the other" uncle Bobby) Julia is a hoot!

My brother and i are several years apart in age but when we were kids we still spent a ton of time together. Probably the funniest thing i remember about my brother is the fact that as a kid i didn't even know that my mother was pregnant with him until the day she went to the hospital to deliver him! Seriously... i was clueless!

Neither of us had a "dad' in our home growing up and so consequently (even though i didn't realize it at the time) since i was older, i sort of became like a dad... at least for the time i was at home before going off to college. i must admit i was clueless about that too!

i think i can honestly say, i never considered or thought of Ken as a "pest" or as a "hindrance" to my cool-ness factor. He was (and is) my brother and it was simply accepted that if my mom or one of our other aunts or uncles couldn't be around to take care of him... i did.

That's just the way it was.

My mom was real clear about another thing too... she made it real clear that under no circumstances was i to ever lay a finger on my brother! No matter what he said, no matter what he did... i was to never hit him. Truthfully though... i think he had my back on that one most of the time... because i remember there being a couple of times, i clocked him!

i can honestly say that in spite of me, he turned out to be a fairly normal person :) Which just goes to show just what God can do despite what how much we may mess things up!

The right place, at the right time....

For most of my growing up years i lived in a town called Park Forest, Illinois. In many ways it was an idyllic little suburb to grow up in.

We had a great Park district program, every summer, on the 4th of July you could go to the hill behind Freedom Hall and watch the fireworks. The Aqua Center was where all my friends and i spent every day during the summer trying to impress the girls (and yes once upon a time i went swimming every day, sometimes once in the morning and then again at night)! The "craters" right down the street from my house was a BMX cyclers' dream come true. And of course you could go to the shrine of authentic south suburban pizza by visiting Aurelio's flagship store over in Homewood, it's just THAT good!

My mom never... and i mean NEVER drove me anywhere... if i couldn't get there by walking then it was obviously too far and i really didn't need to go there in the first place!

In the south central area of Cook county with portions of the village in Will county, it in many ways just didn't seem to "fit" this part of Illinois. But since a significant portion of what is now Park Forest was once a stop on the Underground Railroad for runaway slaves in the 19th century perhaps, growing up in that town makes sense after all.

It was here that i had the lesson reinforced that the color of a person's skin did not make them more or less valuable as a human being...
It was here that i had the lesson reinforced that should i never allow anyone or anything else to take my personal dignity away from me....
It was here that i had the lesson reinforced that if i thought i could achieve it, then nothing could stop me except me.
It was a town where whites lived next door to blacks who lived next door to Hispanics who lived next door to Asians who lived next door to people who had no real clue what their ethnicity was... and looking back on it now, i never thought too much about it but the experience of growing up in that town has left an indelible mark on me...

Perhaps that is why i have long sought to be part of another community that creates that same sort of atmosphere... but this time not for me but for my children and my children's children.

And i believe that community is THE church... my prayer is that i can be part of a movement that will see this as part of its' destiny... to truly become a house of prayer for all nations... or more literally all people. It's just who i am.

Dreaming... again?!?

Sorry i am a bit late with this blog but there is a pretty special reason why...

If you have been a long time (dare i say original) reader of this blog you may recall this Pinch me... i must be dreaming! Hard to believe that was well over a year ago but it was...

There is a great line from a favorite movie of mine (well, the truth is the movie is "okay", the music and the scenery were the killer) called Out of Africa. At one point in the movie one of the characters makes a remark to another character and says... "God is great Saboo, God plays tricks on us..."

But this week after long months of prayer, wise counsel, research and much more prayer, it was announced to our staff and our congregation i have assumed the duties and more officially the title of Executive Pastor (believe me... it sounds more "high and mighty" than it is) here at Westbrook. It's actually a very funny story about how this all came about which perhaps one day in another blog i will share with you all. But suffice it to say i am still amazed at how God's timing works!

The staff here at Westbrook is an incredible group of Christ-followers and leaders in their respective areas of ministry and i am thrilled to have the opportunity to serve them in this capacity... it also an humbling thing to have been asked to serve this church in this capacity.
It's extremely rewarding to be in a place where i absolutely love, getting out of bed every single morning. As to the specifics of the position, in addition to my responsibilities as Pastor of Spiritual Formation, i will take on oversight of several of the church staff and daily operations of the office operations of the church...(and anything else that Mont would like for me to take from "his plate" ;)

Speaking of Mont, here is the bottom line (and i really do mean this part), there is one guy around here who plays an immeasurable part in my love for this place... and that is my Senior Pastor, Mont Mitchell. Don't misunderstand me, he doesn't need me to make him feel extra special, he is truly a very special and godly leader and i am blessed to serve him in this capacity as well.

This has been and continues to be a crazy but thrilling adventure... i can hardly wait to see what He has in store around the corner for all of here at Westbrook!

For all the things that i did that i shouldn't have done when i was a kid, got caught for and was rightly punished for.... there was this one time i got caught doing something and was going to be punished for it.... only i really didn't do it and only one person believed me... my mom.

And for almost forty years the memory of that days' events is as fresh as ever.

As a kid i attended...(you'll love this..) the Academy of St. Peter Claver in Jamaica, New York. i don't remember a whole lot about that experience except that Milo used to wet his pants at least once a day, Wendy was a naughty girl who picked her noise all day long, my kindergarten Mrs. Hendricks, is still my favorite teacher of all time and like i said my mom believed me one time when no one else did.

Here is the deal, Grover was an older boy who i used to have to hang around with because his mother and my mother were friends and after school while my single parent mom was still at work, Grover's mother Mrs. Fanell, would keep an eye on me until my mom picked me up. i loved when my mom picked me up because the truth is, the only person meaner than Grover... was his mother.

Anyway, Grover and i both were students at St. Peter Claver and one winter morning before school began Grover promised to beat me to a pulp if i didn't go to a little store around the corner from the school with him. Grover knew it was against the rules but did it anyway. Not only that but he proceeded to steal candy while there... i saw him do it. Grover then told me if i told anyone he'd beat me to within an inch of my life (if you haven't figured it out yet... i was pretty sacred of Grover... actually i was pretty scared of everything). Soon enough along with the stolen candy, we went to school.
It didn't take long before i was called down to the principals' office and told that soon my mother would be along to take me home for the day. When i asked why, i was told that the owner of that same small store around the corner had come in and described two little boys who had been in his store earlier that same morning and stolen candy. Uh-oh.... Yes, i had been in the store i confessed (which was against the rules) but as far as stealing candy (definitely against the rules as well)... i didn't know anything about that.... of course Grover was right there the entire time... all he had to do was look at me and i clammed up.

Soon my Mom, who i think at the time was teaching public school for the city of New York (and still does to this day), showed up and wanted to know what had happened. When it was all explained to her, she looked at me and asked... Bobby (that's what i used to be called before i grew older and became much more sophisticated)... Bobby, she asked, did you steal candy from the candy store? i knew this was beyond serious, as the principal, the store owner and Grover looked on... my answer was "No mommy, i didn't steal any candy".

The store owner couldn't believe it! He had seen me in the store, he had seen little hands take candy without paying for it, of course i had stolen it, the principal (who knew that Grover was a bad kid and a bad influence on other kids) couldn't believe it either... why in the world was my mother asking me if i had stolen any candy?!?
But for my mother the issue was settled, she was not about to force a confession out of me... and i will never forget what she said that day in that little principals' office... even as other adults looked on and expressed disbelief in my truthfulness, my mother said... If he says he didn't steal it, I believe him... he never lies to me.

Now my friends, that is the kind of thing that makes you never ever want to lie to your Mom again! Did i never shade or stretch the truth the rest of the time i was at home... no, i did a fair amount of fibbing in my time but having a Mom who believed me and in me at a time when no one else did... well let's just say the experience stays with me to this day.

For that and so many other things i say thank you so very much Mom and Happy Mother's Day!

NO ICE CREAM!

You know... i really love hangin' out with people that i love... take for instance the staff of the church where i serve... several of us had the chance to spend last week in Orlando, Florida at a conference. The conference was called Exponential... it was all about planting or starting (and in some cases re-starting) new churches.

The speakers were top-notch, the music was powerful, the workshop we led together was a blast and the time away with my partners... well let's just say they had a great time at my expense :)

Ever been to Midway Airport... or any airport for that matter? If your answer is yes... then you know that to buy a 1/4 pound bag of pecans can run you about $12.56.

Anyway, after our group of six guys arrived and had a quick bit to eat in the little food court... i happened to notice the Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream about the same time that Pastor Amado mentioned that he was still hungry and could go for some dessert. Now if you know me one of my biggest weaknesses is ice cream and Ben & Jerry's is about as good as ice cream can get... relatively speaking. The thing that jumped out to me was the price for a single scoop of ice cream in a waffle cone at this Ben & Jerry's... $7.95!!??!!
I then proceeded to let the group know how stupid a person would have to be to buy a scoop of ice cream for almost eight dollars!

That was a mistake.

For the remainder of our time away, i was essentially known as the ice cream nazi...

Everyone in our group took great pleasure of mocking me because i wouldn't let them buy ice cream.

Whenever they had the chance, my cohorts would take the opportunity to make reference to my "Grinch" like manner when it came to ice cream... to the point where someone in our group lied to our server in a restaurant behind my back (actually to my face... i just wasn't paying attention) about it being my birthday and asking the wait staff to sing some fake Happy Birthday song and bring a scoop of ice cream to me*.... it was actually pretty funny when some complete stranger who happened to be in the restaurant at the same time, then stood up and sang the real Happy Birthday... especially since my birthday is really in January!

The funny thing is, i don't think there is another group of guys i'd rather be with than those guys last week and even though they mocked me relentlessly... it was actually pretty funny.








*The server totally misunderstood and brought a chocolate muffin with a single lit candle instead... it took some of the edge off of the joke at that point.