stevievan.com

Am up early to head to team devotions in downtown Montevideo. We are staying on the outskirts of the city, in a nice, smaller hotel. Last night, our production manager, Diego, who lives in Buenos Aires, fed us at 11:00pm when we got back from the dedication service.

See, Diego is a master “parrilla” (which i think means grill) man. He set before us about 10 different kinds of meat, and had them grilled in the traditional Argentine manor. Salad, rice, tomatoes, pork, steak, livers….quite a feast. I will post some pictures later on my facebook page. Sorry, no link here.. i still gotta re-remember how to do all of that.

for now, you get my thoughts. have a great day.

Blogging is just…a bunch of work. Well, not really. But after looking at my last post (September 2008), I began to feel guilty that I haven’t written anything on this page for quite a long time. So, here I am again.

I guess most of my blogging time has been taken up w/ newer technologies like facebook and twitter. Well, facebook is almost passe, and I can’t afford the unlimited texting to make myself keep up w/ twitter. So that makes me a “dinosaur.” Or at least that’s what my kids say. Hope everyone is well, and I’ll check in later.

Her name means love, and that’s what she is
the love of my life.
Her touch brings life and rhythm to my soul:
the love of my life.
She shows her strength in the joy of our kids
the love of my life.
Our home is the refuge I long to enjoy
the love of my life.
Her kiss is the sweetest and only one I know
the love of my life.
Our love runs stronger and deeper than I can ever imagine
the love of my life.
Our kids know that their mom is the best
the love of my life.
Next to the Creator, she is the one I desire most
the love of my life.

I love you Babe.

…Alaska’s flag, what it means to you…” That is what I remember of the opening line of the pledge to the Alaskan flag. I lived there from 1973 until I left for college in 1983. My folks left Anchorage in 1991, and my sister in 1995.

As most of you know, our small frontier state is now front and center in the national spotlight (and it’s not because of Senator Ted Stevens this time!). Governor Sarah Palin has been named as John McCain’s running mate for the Republican ticket for president of these United States! Way to go, Mrs. Palin!

Now don’t go asking me questions about her politics or track record. I am embarrassed to say that I haven’t quite kept up w/ Alaskan politics in the last 200 years, except for the occasional sighting of Don Young or Ted Stevens in the news (I saw from a distance Sen Stevens at the Rotunda for former President Gerald Ford’s service. He didn’t look too good…). Now, Alaska is back on the map.

I’m guessing I’ll be seeing more of Mrs. Palin in my local Charlotte newspaper over the next 67 days. Imagine my surprise when I saw the name of Andrew Halcro, who went to my high school for a short time in the early 80’s. I remember his sister more; she was really cute! I was about 5 years too young, though. Oh well, my Amy is happy for that.

Andrew is a force in state politics in Alaska. He has a blog href=”http://andrewhalcro.com/”>http://andrewhalcro.com/ where he keeps up w/ local politics. He’s not very fond of Mrs. Palin, so I’m told.

Guess I’ll have to go and check it out myself. Nice to connect again w/ you, Andrew. Say hello to Damon when you talk to him.

This week was a shocker and a sleeper.

The shocker was my admin, Melissa, has taken another job w/in BGEA at the Billy Graham Library. It’s a promotion for her, and I’m glad that she is able to move up in the organization. The library is getting a great admin, and a great person. We will all miss her work, her personality, and her great cooking (she always brought lots of goodies!)

The sleeper was that I didn’t get much, but I’m not too upset about it. My brother in law Eric Boutieller and his family were visiting, and they love to have a lot of fun…. all the time. I’m not a night owl, and had to still work each day.

One fun thing Eric and I did was attend the Church Basement Roadshow, hosted in Charlotte by my friend Steve Knight. Doug Padgitt (who is really tall!), Tony Jones (who went to seminary!), and Mark Scandrette (who lives in San Francisco!) were entertaining and thought provoking. As I’m not an articulate writer or even an articulate thinker, that’s all I’m writing about it so far. Thanks Doug for letting me shine on the trombone. Mark, I’m probably a traditionalist that wants to be a creative thinker. Tony, I liked your comments best; especially the idea about coming down from 30,000 ft and touching the ground.

Oh, I went shooting w/ my dad and son at Uwharrie National Forest outside of Albemarle. We enjoyed a great 100yd range. I’m glad my dad taught me about firearms at a young age.

that’s all for now. Two weddings this weekend, and I love weddings…

Yesterday, my in-laws said goodbye to their cat of 16 years: Sonny Boy. He was a Himalayan cat w/ sass and attitude. Over the last years, his life became a series of spit up, late night whining, and a bladder that couldn’t hold its water. He gave my father in law a great deal of company, and was greatly loved.

Good bye, Sonny Boy.

Well, what a week. Arrive home safe and sound from Romania on Saturday, July 12; waited for my luggage for 1.5 hours. Nothing better to do when you want to get home….at least I didn’t have a connection in Charlotte. Came back to work and hit the ground running w/ a vengeance. Then, got an email that my friend Paul Hendrix’s mom had passed away. Had a bunch of projects pop up toward the end of the week, then I drove to Atlanta on Friday to attend Jackie Hendrix’s funeral, and give some support to Paul.

As the funeral ended (which was so inspirational and truly glorified God; way to go, Steven), a side door opened at the front of the chapel, and the funeral home attendees began to move flowers out of the way; I was presuming to move the casket outside, and onto the burial plot. As the pianist was vamping on the song, “if you could see me now…”, I kept hearing the words “Saying goodbye, saying goodbye..” over and over again in my head. Paul and his family were saying goodbye to their mom, who had fought a good fight and finished the race and was already celebrating w/ Jesus.

And then it hit me….I needed to say goodbye to my mom. During the week of her funeral, and even after it, I was so into “take care of Dad” mode, and trying to keep things going, that I never got to say goodbye… Tammy, Dad, and I were all by her bed when she went to be w/ Jesus, but it just didn’t seem like good bye. So, I said good bye to my mom, my wonderful, loving, awesome Mom. I feel and felt gypped, that she only moved her to Charlotte to move on to heaven. Why couldn’t she be around more? Now, I’m feeling some feelings for her, and missing her. But, I needed to say good bye, and I did.

My prayers will be w/ Paul, Patty, and the whole Hendrix family over the next few weeks. I know they will be saying goodbye to Jackie… and I’m grateful for an opportunity to say goodbye my own Mom.

I have cleared my comments awaiting moderation, thanks to Nick Ciske. Nick, you rock. Thank you Askimet.

My dad and the family are doing well. thanks to everyone for your prayers. We know that God is with us.

To all who have emailed and responded to me in the homegoing of my mom, thank you…. You’re words and letters have meant much to me and my family.

It’s hard to sum up my mom’s life; I wish you all could have known her. We tried to share a little of her personality at the funeral service, but it’s hard to cram 72 years into 1 hour.

I’d like to say a special thanks to the Rev. Maurice Henson, associate pastor at First Baptist Church, Indian Trail, for bringing such a powerful and meaningful message at my mom’s funeral. Because my parents were very new to the church, I was worried about some pastor delivering some eulogetic masterpiece about my mom without even knowing her. What I saw in Maurice was raw conviction, led by the Holy Spirit, to impart words to all of us about God’s love, His presence in our lives during suffering (”The LORD is….”), and to allow Christ into our sufferings (”be still…..”). Thank you, Maurice, for allowing God to use you to minister to me, and my whole family.

Thank you Danny Myers for ministering to my family all day on that fateful Monday of Mom’s passing.

Mark Christian, I love you like a brother. I’m amazed I know someone so talented and caring and deep. Thanks for suffering and rejoicing with us this weekend, and for being part of the family…

Finally, my mom was a forgiving person. Makes me think alot about the Don Henley song about forgiveness; that is the heart of the matter. My mom was alot happier cause she learned how to let go and forgive. That is a lesson we all need to remember. I’m remembering it even now….

Today, my mom passed away.

There, plain, and simple. I have more emotions inside than I care to articulate on the written (or electronic page). But, I also have a strange peace, as I look on my mom’s life, and see that this was all for God’s greater good.

Her cancer had come back, and was all over her body (left breast, upper abdomen, rib cage, lower back). That caused a blood clot in her lung, which sent her into cardiac arrest early this morning. She was non responsive from the time the EMT’s took her to the hospital. She died at around 4:30pm today.

I’m a little numb, and still have a bunch of people to call and arrangements to make, to help my dad. Here’s what I have felt today:

Peace….this didn’t happen w/o my Good God knowing it ahead of time.

Comfort…..God’s mercy was extended to my mom, as she was taken to heaven before she had to endure such crappy suffering w/ aggressive cancer.

Security…..Ps 73:25 and 26 tell us that many times our heart and flesh might fail (like my mom’s did), but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion forever. I know that she found that out at 4:30pm, as she went to be w/ Jesus by His side.

my emotions will rise and fall. I might not be as strong as some of you might think me to be. But the fact of the matter is:

God is good
I’m His Kid
My mom was His child
I will see her again someday.

We don’t sorrow as those who have no hope. I have hope; Jesus and His death and resurrection give me hope. Death is not what God intended; sin has screwed up the world. But God has come to earth to make it right. Thanks be to Him who gives us the victory.

more later. I love you all, and appreciate your prayers for me, my dad, and my sister.