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What is one of your fondest childhood memories?

It took me a few moments to decide my fondest memory.  Partly, because I have so many!  I don’t mean to say that boastfully, but in a world where people are abused and neglected at such an early age I really can only dwell on the wonderful family and friends I had as a child!  This may not be my fondest memory! It is, however, one that has stayed with me through the years.  It is one of those events that even when it happens you appreciate it, and as you grow older it becomes even fonder!

My generation was taught to write in cursive in the third grade.  I struggled all year long to master the art of cursive.  Every other subject I made A’s and B’s without a lot of struggles.  Penmanship, however, was at best a C.  

All year long I struggled to improve, but C was the best I could do.  Fortunately, I had a very kind and gifted teacher, Miss Guinand!  I think it was her first-year teaching.  She was young and enthusiastic. Also, she was the first teacher I had that didn’t look and act like my mother or grandmother.  I confess, she was my first crush.  I remember daydreaming about how beautiful and sweet she was and hoped she wait for me to grow up and marry me.  She cared about all of her students and through the year she noticed my efforts and gave me some extra help to improve. On my last report card for the year, she gave me an A in penmanship!  Notice, I said she GAVE.  I knew I didn’t deserve it!  

It would be almost 20 years later, as I began to learn about how God’s Grace is shown to us in Jesus Christ. Paul writes in Ephesians 2:  8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God. The A in penmanship was gift!  I didn’t deserve or earn it.  At best she gave it to me because I put in the effort, but it was mostly because she cared about me.  She cared about her students.  I think she actually loved us!  
That’s how God’s love works!   We don’t deserve it!  We can’t earn it!  It is a gift!  That gift, however, was paid for by Jesus Christ!  It cost Him his life!

My fond memory of Miss Guinand’s act of Grace has been repeated over and over by family and friends.  I have lived in a state of Grace.  As a recipient of Grace, I have tried to show Grace and unconditional love to people with whom I am in contact!  You are surrounded by that Grace as well.  Your family and friends are motivated by the Grace of God they have experienced in Jesus Christ!  Live in it!  Share it!

To this day, my handwriting would best be described as sloppy.  There is something in my brain that tends to get ahead of my hands, and I am just not able to concentrate on what I am writing and how to write it at the same time.  (I am very grateful for word processors!)  I seriously doubt there will be any improvement during your lifetime.  There will be cards and notes I will write to you and if you find them hard to decipher, please know that they were written to tell you how much I love you!  I love you not for what you have or haven’t done, but just because you are my grandchild!

The world needs more people like Miss Guinand!  You need people like her!  My prayer is that you will follow her example.  Actually, my deepest prayer is that you will know the Grace of God displayed through the life, the death and the resurrection of God’s Son, Jesus of Nazareth.  The savior of the world!  Only by His Grace can you know abundant life!

As you get older, always remember and celebrate the people who have shown you Grace and unconditional love!

Have you pulled any great pranks?

When it comes to pranks, I don’t have any really great ones! Quite frankly, pranks are a slippery slope. They often backfire and people can get really embarrassed and even physically hurt. I would like to tell you that I was always sensitive to this, but I am afraid I probably did some damage with the pranks I played. Fortunately, I have repressed the memories of the pranks that have been done to me, but I am sure I have emotional trauma that possibly cripples me at times!
Probably the prank that I pulled the most was hiding in the shadows or behind a corner and waiting for your grandmother to come around the corner and jumping out at her or hollering BOO to see if I could scare her. Even that lost its luster after one memorable occasion. Shortly after we were married, we lived in an apartment that had a separate laundry room. By the time you are old enough to read and understand these notes, you will probably have learned that I have an obsession with keeping cars, houses, etc locked. Your grandmother does not share that obsession. One night as she was doing the laundry, I had heard on the news that there had been a lot of burglaries in our areas and reminded her to keep the door locked. I went on an errand and when I returned the apartment was empty and the door was unlocked. I remembered she was going to do some laundry. Not too long after that I could hear her coming up our entrance stairs. So, I ran down the hallway and hid behind a nook. As she walked down the hall, she passed me, and I reached my hand around her mouth and grabbed her shoulder. I am not sure whether I remembered my warning about the burglaries, But She Did. She fell to the ground and began to cry and for about 5 minutes she could hardly breathe and all I could say repeatedly was, “I am sorry!!!!! The good news is our marriage survived!

During our years doing youth ministry, we used an assortment of crowd breakers to create a fun atmosphere. Games, skits, and funny songs were used to help create a fun atmosphere. There was one prank we used quite often. We would choose 4 or 5 volunteers who would have to leave the room while we set up a table of several balls. Each ball was covered by a large napkin or towel and the volunteer would be brought back in the room and told they would be timed to see how fast they could uncover and identify the ball. Each would come back with great enthusiasm they would start to uncover the ball and shout out the type. As a part of the prank of the prank, the last ball was actually a carefully chosen person sitting under two tables with their head sticking up, covered by a towel. We usually picked the youth pastor or the most popular male adult counselor. When the towel was removed, they were instructed to scream at the top of their lungs. (There must be something wrong with me that takes so much joy in scaring people.) The reactions were always pretty funny.

There was, however, a twist! The person under the table usually enjoyed the process of surprising their friends. The last person who came in was told about the last ball being a person. They were given a plate full of whip cream and when they pulled the towel off the head, they would push the plate into the face of the screaming prankster. There was a moment of justice when the prankster was pranked!

It’s important for you to know that there are some criteria that you should follow if you are going to pull a prank. Don’t use pranks vindictively. Don’t pick on the weak. If you are going to prank someone, find someone who has a lot of confidence and can take a joke! Not always easy to know this for sure. Be careful pulling pranks. You will understand this better after you have been pranked. Ask yourself how you would feel having this done to you!

Still, after all that, be careful. Even the strong and popular are easily embarrassed, and no prank is worth hurting someone’s feeling. I used this prank on a young man that I had known and who I knew was very popular in his youth group. He seemed like the perfect choice. He was great at scaring the people, but when he received the pie in the face, I could tell immediately the prank went a little wrong. He was very meticulous in his grooming and might have even been wearing a brand-new shirt. At that moment, I felt terrible and did my best to apologize. Fortunately, he rallied, but that prank was never as much fun! Let me reiterate, BE CAREFUL WHO YOU PRANK!

Also, if you are going to be a prankster, be ready to be pranked. In life we quite often reap what we sow!

Chances are one day you are going to be pranked. Here’s a little advice.
Maybe you were picked because you are strong and popular. Enjoy the notoriety. If you were picked for vindictive reasons, shake it off! Be strong! I hope you never have to go through this, but you will learn to be a lot more sensitive to the world of people who are victimized and hopefully you will become a champion for those who are picked on, made fun of, alienated and persecuted!

One of my favorite paintings is Jesus laughing! My mother gave it to me when I was in High School. I think she wanted me to know that Jesus had a sense of humor and enjoyed life to the fullest. Another thing she taught me about Jesus comes from Him: Luke 6:31New International Version 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you. Here’s my point, don’t ever pull a prank on a person that you wouldn’t want pulled on you! Learn to laugh at yourself and not take yourself too seriously.

Here’s the good news! That young man that I pranked, is our good friend Wade Thigpen. Somehow, he found enough inner strength to forgive me and we are as close as family, FRAMILY as they say! His daughter Charlotte loves you like younger siblings. That’s no prank!

This week Hannah has asked me, “At what times in your life were you the happiest, and why?”  This question requires a little background information before I actually answer.

It was an eye opener for me when I discovered there is a difference between Happiness and Joy.  As my relationship with Jesus Christ matured, I realized Joy is a fruit of that relationship.  A person can find Joy even when they don’t feel Happy.  Happiness depends on circumstances; Joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit of Jesus sustaining a person even in tough times and circumstances.  I am certain in the weeks to come I will have a chance to expand on Joy!

For the most part, the circumstances in my life have produced many seasons of happiness.  There were times in my life when the circumstances weren’t what I had hoped, but every day I felt like God was giving me a chance to choose happiness.  To be honest, there were days I didn’t make that choice and I choose self pity, anger, bitterness, just to mention a few negative emotions circumstances will produce.  So it is very important for you to know Happiness is a choice.

One of the Happiest periods of my life was during the time I was getting to know your Grandmother “Sassy”, dating, being engaged and married.  As I write this we are about to celebrate 43 years of marriage.  Anyone who knows her knows Happiness.  She lives to make others happy!  It, however, is  even more than knowing her!  During those early years of our relationship, my happiness was the result of knowing someone really loved me and was ready to commit to a lifelong relationship.  There is something very settling in your life when you feel loved and learn how to love and commit!  There are a lot of people in your life who have made that commitment!  Some you may not even remember as adult.

Probably the next great season of happiness was the early years of ministry at Lakewood UMC in Jacksonville.  Part of the circumstances making me happy were being at a church excited to have a young couple serving together.  There were lots of young single adults and recently married couples in the early stages of careers with whom we had so much in common.  The staff with whom we worked, lead by our mentor and friend, Jack Taylor, had a unique love for each other.  Every day felt like a new day!  Being a part of a team that loves each other and loves to serve together is a great recipe for happiness.  Another circumstance producing happiness for me, were the older adults, who were my parents age.  There was an affirmation they gave I may not always have felt from my parents.  Not to fault my parents at all, because parents have to be parents.  It what was special feeling valued by people my parents age.  Here’s a take away, don’t expect your parents to be your friends, but cherish and seek the wisdom of the people who are older than you!  Don’t settle for grumpy old people, but seek out the fun loving adults around you!

The next event ranking high on the happiness scale was preceded by over 6 years of increasing sadness and struggle for Sandy and me.  The light at the end of the tunnel was the adoption of your mother Hannah.  During those years it was hard to choose happiness and quite frankly sometimes I choose hopelessness and levels of bitterness.  During those years I really exercised and strengthen my happiness muscles.  For the most part, I choose it over anger and bitterness and those years were a maturing process.  There are a lot of details of this we will be sharing with you over the years and your mom will certainly have things to share.                           

It makes me happy to see your mother loving and nurturing you and while I am not sure at what stage you will be fully able to comprehend what I am writing, know YOU bring me happiness and I plan on being a part of your happy times.

It’s important for me to share the most important path to happiness.  Ultimately, you are responsible for your own happiness.  No one else is.  No one can take away your choice!  You will have to make your choice every day of your life.  Some days the choice will be easy, some days hard.  Some days you will succeed, some days you will fail.

The best advice a I can give you about happiness comes from Jesus Christ!

Happy people

3 “Happy are people who are hopeless, because the kingdom of heaven is theirs.

4 “Happy are people who grieve, because they will be made glad.

5 “Happy are people who are humble, because they will inherit the earth.

6 “Happy are people who are hungry and thirsty for righteousness, because they will be fed until they are full.

7 “Happy are people who show mercy, because they will receive mercy.

8 “Happy are people who have pure hearts, because they will see God.

9 “Happy are people who make peace, because they will be called God’s children.

10 “Happy are people whose lives are harassed because they are righteous, because the kingdom of heaven is theirs.

11 “Happy are you when people insult you and harass you and speak all kinds of bad and false things about you, all because of me. 12Be full of joy and be glad, because you have a great reward in heaven. In the same way, people harassed the prophets who came before you.

Let me sum this up and make it simple.  True happiness rises above your circumstances and comes when you live to make others happy.  If you live only to make yourself happy, you will never know true happiness.  Don’t wait for all the circumstances to be perfect.  Don’t sit around feeling sorry for yourself.  Look around and find the people who need you to change their circumstances and bring them Happiness!

Love,

DadGee

What is a Winner?
For Father’s Day 2022, my daughter Hannah subscribed to Storyworth. Each week, I am asked a question that will be assembled into a book she can share with her children.
The first question is, “Have you ever won anything?” I could just answer, “YES” and maybe even describe the event or competition and that would be enough. The question, however, invokes in me an opportunity to share more than just that. It is an opportunity to share my thoughts on competition and what I believe about winning! Are you surprised that I would want to elaborate?
Quite frankly, winning wasn’t really the highest value in my family. We were taught to value team work, practice, perseverance, grit, show good sportsmanship and a lot of similar values. Competition was supposed to help hone our skills in accuracy and to create an atmosphere where giving your all to something mattered. Winning wasn’t the only thing! It mattered how you played the game!
Having stated that, I am fortunate enough to have played on a few winning teams. After several years of playing on our high school church softball team, we went from being the worst in our league to winning the league my senior year. We were the underdog team going into the tournament and had to win a double elimination tournament in order to it. Nothing is better than an underdog comeback.
Quite frankly, my most memorable wins have been as the underdog. As a freshman in college, I was in ROTC (Reserve Officer Training Corp). Part of our training was a simulated hand to hand combat that was done with pugil sticks (picture a pole with boxing gloves at each end). Somehow, I made it to the final match. It would remind you of David and Goliath. I was David. Charlie was Goliath! I am every bit of 5’7” with shoes on and Charlie was at least 6’3” barefoot! Pugil stick competition has a points system that you win by making strategic hits against your opponent. During the competition I was doing my best to avoid embarrassment. As best I remember, Charlie charged and slipped and as I was avoiding him I accidentally hit him and scored the winning blow. To this day, I know that win was a fluke! Charlie went on to become a commissioned Army officer. When the draft ended, I dropped ROTC! Don’t let your wins go to your head! Don’t let your wins or losses define you. I did not pursue a career as Pugil Stick fighter, but it is still a sweet, ironic memory!
As much as I love being on a team, I discovered that I excelled at individual sports and activities. In my adult life I pursued outdoor activities like hiking, skiing and golf! These activities always presented personal challenges. Every hike I completed (especially those that were multiple days of backpacking) I was a winner when I completed the trip. Every golf game was an attempt to shoot my lowest score. Every day of skiing I couldn’t wait to get back out and see if I could ski that run faster or as I got older ski the bumps more gracefully and with better control. My greatest victories were competing against myself and setting new goals and working to achieve them. Along the way, I picked up a few trophies, but they really only remind me of the hard work and dedication that it takes to live and to be a productive and happy human being.
Some people ascribe to a philosophy of Win At All Cost! Not me, and I hope not you! Real winners know it is a bit of a fluke. There are a lot of great people who never took home a trophy, but they are winners. They played by the rules! They helped their team mates excel! They showed character when they lost and celebrated when others won! They were grateful for the chance to compete and for those who coached them! Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want you to compete just for a participation trophy! Quite the contrary! I hope you will play the game with every ounce of who you are.
For quite some time I have known that I was a winner and I had very little to do with it. Being born into my family was a win, marrying into a great family, adopting your mother Hannah, having and living long enough to be your grandfather! Let me add that I have had a lot of great team mates and coaches and win or lose, just being in the game mattered and I am glad I played!
As a follower of Jesus there are some things I have learned that define my feelings about winning! Jesus stated, Mark 8:36 (NLT) And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? My loose interpretation of Jesus teaching is that it is easy to compare winning with fulfillment. Paul writes to encourage other followers, Philippians 3:14 NLT I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. He writes to a young protégé, 2 Timothy 4:7 NLT I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful.
So maybe winning is everything. Just make sure you are in the right competitions. If you do that, you will always have the Victory!
Keep your eyes on Jesus and you will win the most important prize.

Most of my adult life I had a pretty consistent daily morning routine of prayer, reading and reflection.  Honestly, there were days the reflection and quiet time were very quiet because I was still a bit sleepy.  Those morning times did, however, help me order my day and were a consistent effort to seek God’s Will for the day and for my life.  There were years my purpose was to read through the entire Bible, years when I read the four Gospels several times, years I focused on the writings of Paul, and years I read and reread Psalms and Proverbs. 

In recent years, the gold standard of devotional time has become journaling.  Throughout my life, I made several attempts at journaling, but failed!!!!  It may have been partly due to the way I prepared messages for Sunday Worship and my limited ability to focus on writing other thoughts during the week.

After I retired in June 2018, I took a break from writing.   On the rare occasion I was asked to preach I have usually shared favorite messages prepared and presented over my 40 years in ministry, those that are pretty universal in truth.

On occasion in my quiet times and sometimes in the not so quiet times of my life, thoughts and ideas would run through my mind.  After three years of letting those thoughts run wild and disappear, I decided to start to write them down.  I did this just for me, just to help me process and ponder my life, life in general, and how my faith in Jesus in Christ as Savior and Lord impacts life! 

While I was a pastor I tried to stick to what was universally accepted as Truth.  I shared my opinions on certain things and rarely shied away from controversy, but I didn’t try to invite it.  I tried to help people navigate the gray areas of life, its ambiguities rather than appeal to extremes.  The middle road is not always easy to travel and I tried to discern what I knew to be truth and what just may be my opinion or interpretation.

Now as I journal, I do allow myself to share my opinions, some of my heartfelt and personal observations and interpretations of life and faith according to Gee (yes it is a bit dangerous!)

After writing a few, I decided to post these on my website, just in case they might inspire others.  I am not trying to start a conversation, enter into deep conversations or to post a lot of comments to spark conversations.  These are just my thoughts!

If they inspire you, if they remind you of conversations we have had, or if they shed any new light on your journey as a follower of Jesus; I would love to hear about it.  I am not trying to stir up controversy or start arguments!  It’s just my thoughts and me!

We may learn some things about each other along the way!   

PS

Keep in mind I was a Math major, so I do welcome grammar and punctuation suggestions and corrections

9/1/2021

Proverbs 13:14 NIV

The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, turning a person from the snares of death.

Recently, a long time friend, fellow minister and fellow staff at CrossRoad Church just celebrated his 92^nd Birthday.  A few days after that date, he asked if I would write a forward to a book he was preparing to publish.  Since I have never written a book (though I wrote enough sermons in 40 years to fill up about 3 to 4) of course I would write this.  These are the closest chances to see my thoughts in a published book. 

Once I got over my own ego, I knew pretty much what I was going to write regardless of the content of the book.  Just knowing a person, who at 92 is still inspired to share his knowledge of the Bible and his unique personal relationship with the resurrected Jesus Christ is reason enough to recommend!   Don Bloch, became at follower of Jesus Christ in his early 40s.  He and his wife Anne, have blessed a lot of people with their prayer ministry.

Though I wasn’t always listening, I am very grateful for the people in my life who were wise.   Looking back, just being with them inspired wisdom and maybe through osmosis I absorbed their wisdom and probably didn’t even know!  Quite frequently, I read through Proverbs in the Old Testament , just to keep me honest and to make sure my ears were open to God’s Wisdom!

Like most things in my life, I kind of stumbled into a blessed life!  It has been a constant journey of bumping into wise people, reading God’s Word (particularly Proverbs) and seeking to know Jesus Christ recorded in the New Testament as well as through His Resurrection reveled through the Holy Spirit!

As human beings, we walk a fine line between self-reliance and relying on others for help!  It is tedious, but try to keep your balance!

8/1/2021

A few days ago the death of Nanci Griffith was announced by her management company.  In a music world of high fashion and high profile, Nanci was truly an exception.  Low key, down to earth and similar adjective phrases would not do justice to her!   She could sing soft sweet ballads about her childhood, but could also growl a little like Dylan and maybe even make Springsteen stand up and listen!  Her Genre was probably best described as Folk/Country, for which I have always loved and considered that probably the essence of who I really was a singer/guitarist. 

Oddly enough, her most recognized recording was “From a Distance” which was later performed by quite a larger than life performer, Bette Midler. Nothing against Ms Midler, but you do have to smile at the irony. 

Several things about her death struck me.  First we are the same age, born in 1953.  That is always sobering!  Second, she instructed her management company not to publish her death immediately and not to publish the cause of her death.  In a world that is increasingly media driven, I find this quite refreshing!

The lyric to From a Distance, though not written by her, certainly gives some insights to who she was.  (It would be worth it to find performances of hers and Bette Midler’s out there in digital world )

From a distance
The world looks blue and green
And the snow capped mountains white

From a distance
The ocean meets the stream
And the eagle takes to flight

From a distance
There is harmony
And it echoes through the land

It’s the voice of hope
It’s the voice of peace
It’s the voice of every man

From a distance
We all have enough
And no one is in need

And there are no guns,
No bombs, and no disease
No hungry mouths to feed

From a distance
We are instruments
Marching in a common band

Playing songs of hope
Playing songs of peace
They are the songs of every man

God is watching us
God is watching us
God is watching us
From a distance

From a distance
You look like my friend
Even though we are at war

From a distance
I just cannot comprehend
What all this fighting’s for

From a distance
There is harmony
And it echoes through the land

And it’s the hope of hopes
It’s the love of loves
It’s the heart of every man

It’s the hope of hopes
It’s the love of loves
This is the song for every man

God is watching us
God is watching us
God is watching us
From a distance

Oh, God is watching us
God is watching
God is watching us
From a distance

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Julie Gold

From a Distance lyrics © Wing And Wheel Music, Julie Gold Music

As one who follows Jesus Christ and uses the Bible’s writing to inform me about the nature of God, this song embodies the paradox of the life that we live following Jesus.

At the core of the Bible is God’s willingness to give Humanity Free will.  In doing so, the Bible reveals what a mess Humanity makes of that Freedom, so much that it is easy to surmise that God is distant and maybe not even involved in Creation and with Humanity.  The song does, however, gives us hope that God may not be absent from the world, but possibly from our ability to see just how active God is actually.

For me, the song is a wakeup call to remember that God did enter the world through His own Flesh and Blood as Jesus Christ of Nazareth.  That distance is bridged by Jesus!

Free Will is a terrible thing to waste!  God is watching to see how well we will use it!

8/14//2021

Today, I led the memorial service for a longtime friend of mine who spent his life in a wheel chair due to his premature birth causing Cerebral Palsy.  Over the years I have thought of what the moment would be like when he would wake up in Heaven and have the use of all his limbs.  Heaven will be a wonderful place for so many who were never able to live up to their human potential, because of the place they were born, their gender, or the lack of nurture from family and friends (this is a very short list of things that limit us).

At times, I have envied those who would be set free from their limitations.  If I were to brood (which I am capable), I can certainly mourn some situations and events that have limited me, but by and I large I am a part of large group of people who whose lives have been blessed and know that it is only by God’s Grace and no particular effort of my own.

As I envisioned my friend my whole in Heaven, God sort of whispered into my heart, “Gee, one day you will also be free from things that have crippled you!”  For a moment, I was reminded that the life, to which I aspire as a human being, is a pale shell of life in the Resurrection. 

1 Corinthians 13:12 New American Standard Bible 1995 12 For now we see in a mirror [a]dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.

It is certainly going to be painful for a moment, to enter Heaven and see the wheel chair and crutches on which I have depended to make me whole: Popularity, Security, Wealth, Accomplishments, conditional love…. just to name a few!

What a great day it will be to see genuine love, know true security in the presence of God the Father and my Savior Jesus Christ!

Father, Forgive my finite way of determining life.  Free me to live knowing that you are with me in my limitations (even those I can’t see)and one day I will truly see perfection!  In Jesus’ Name!