MY "BRUCE LEE" T-SHIRT

Sunday, October 21, 2001

Seven years ago, the singles Bible study group I had been leading for about a year-and-a-half got together, as usual, to fellowship and to study the Word. After this particular meeting, several hung around and visited. Debra and I had been dating for about three months by then, but didn’t make it known within the group. So, after this particular meeting, I noticed one of the men in the group visiting with Debra. Visiting for a long time. He seemed interested. I controlled my jealousy and went home. Soon after arriving home, the phone rang. It was Debra.

Debra was troubled because this guy had asked her out and we hadn’t made it known yet that we were “an item”. It was awkward for her.

Monday, October 22, 2001

The very next day after this Bible study, I left a message on Debra’s telephone answering machine asking her and Ashley to come over. I had a gift to offer each of them. But there was a catch. They could either have the gifts later or they could turn them down. But they could not have the gifts that evening.

Sunday, October 28, 2001

The following weekend, I had encouraged everyone from the singles Bible study group, about forty or fifty in number, to attend this particular meeting because I had a special announcement for them. I told them that my partner from work, Lee, would also be attending and that we would both be wearing our “Bruce Lee" T-shirts. All who attended heard my announcement. Those who were not able to attend that meeting received an email message that night.

The subject of that message was: IN CASE YOU MISSED MY “BRUCE LEE” T-SHIRT STORY.

Here is a copy of that message:

IN CASE YOU MISSED MY “BRUCE LEE” T-SHIRT STORY

(E-mailed to the Singles Bible Study Group on October 28, 2001)

So, what’s the story behind my “Bruce Lee” T-shirt?

Tonight at Bible study I introduced the group to my co-worker and fellow radiation therapist, Lee . I shared with the group how, when patients forget our names at work, Lee and I tell them to think of Bruce Lee. “I’m Bruce and he’s Lee.” One day Lee and I wore our Bruce Lee T-shirts to work as sort of a joke. When we were told that our T-shirts were not appropriate attire in our department, we took them home.

Well, one day last May, 2001, Lee did a treatment setup on a new patient--a lady who was being treated for breast cancer--and Lee, who occasionally expresses concern for my social well being, somehow thought that this lady and I would be a good match. I told Lee that, as a Christian, I would never consider pursuing a relationship with someone who didn’t share my faith. Lee, who I have never suspected of being a Christian, said that she was wearing a necklace with a cross on it. I told Lee that a cross on a necklace doesn’t mean anything. I also told him that since I lost my wife to breast cancer, I wasn’t interested in pursuing a lady who was battling the same disease. Lee said her type of cancer was “ductal carcinoma in situ”, a non-invasive lesion which, when treated, leaves the patient with an excellent prognosis. Lee also told me that she had no lymph node involvement and that she didn’t need any chemotherapy.

Still, I knew I could never involve myself in a relationship with a woman unless she was a true believer who was totally committed to Jesus Christ. Period. End of discussion.

So, in an attempt to put a quick halt to Lee’s matchmaking efforts, I spoke to this lady one day during her treatment and said, “I notice you have a cross on your necklace. Is that an expression of your faith or do you just like crosses?”

“It’s an expression of my faith,” she said.

As her six-week course of radiation treatments continued, I continued talking with her each day about her faith and her family and I soon realized that I had met a true woman of faith who was totally devoted to God. I also mentioned Table Rock Fellowship to her and one Sunday morning she arrived there to visit. I also told her about our singles Bible study group, and she attended a meeting one Sunday evening back in June.

When she attended that Bible study, her name and e-mail address were put into our directory just like everyone else’s who attends for the first time. And she, along with all the others in our group who have computers, received one of my many e-mails about upcoming activities and Bible studies. I was a bit surprised when her e-mail address appeared on my computer screen asking if I would be willing to be an “online buddy”. I wasn’t quite sure what that meant so I asked her about it the next day when she came into the clinic for her radiation treatment. She said it was her 11-year-old daughter who wanted me to be her online buddy. Her daughter apparently thought I was a “nice guy” because I showed her around the clinic when she would come in with her mom.

Then one evening a few days later, while I was online, a message appeared on my screen saying that this 11-year-old girl was also online. So that evening I learned how to do an online chat for the first time. Sadly, this young girl told me she was unhappy because her father was also online at the time, but he refused to chat with her. So I tried to cheer her up as we typed our conversation back and forth. In the course of trying to lift her spirits, I surprised myself by asking her, “What would you think if I wanted to take you and your mom to see Shrek at Tinseltown?” She was excited. Very excited. She checked with her mom, her mom said, “OK”, and the three of us went to see Shrek together at Tinseltown on the Fourth of July.

Ever since that afternoon, I have spent every Friday evening with her mom and every Saturday afternoon or evening with both of them. And over these past several months I have become a changed man. My heart has been stirred. And I have found myself growing to love both mother and daughter more and more with each passing day.

So, last Monday evening, October 22nd, I asked them to come over to my house because I had an “unusual” gift for each of them. The gifts were unusual, I told them, because the two of them could either turn the gifts down or have them later, but they couldn’t have them now.

I first took the daughter into an empty bedroom at the back of my house and left her mom waiting in the family room at the other end of the house. Then I told this little girl that I had grown to love her mom. I told her that I had grown to love her, too, and that I would now like to offer her the “unusual” gift. I then placed a sign on the bedroom door, which read “Ashley’s Room” and asked Ashley if she would like to have this as her very own bedroom (she currently shares a bedroom with her mom). She said, “Yes” (as in “YES!!!”). I asked her if she understood that in order for her to have this as her own room I would have to marry her mom. She said, “Yes” again. I then asked her if it would be OK with her if I went back out into the family room and asked her mom to marry me. She said, “Yes.” And when I told Ashley that my “unusual” gift for her mom was not a ring because I didn’t know yet if her mom would say “yes” to my question, Ashley said, “She will.”

So, I left Ashley in the back bedroom and returned to her curious mother in the family room with her “unusual” gift in my hand. When I handed her the box, she was thrilled when she noticed on the cover of the box that it was not only a Bible, but it was the exact Bible she wanted! And when Debra Merideth opened that box, there rested a beautiful, leather-bound, burgundy Bible, inscribed at the bottom with the words “Debra Perkins”. As she sat speechless with her eyes locked on that inscribed leather cover, I gave her a brief speech which I had prepared and practiced, and then I knelt before her, took her hand in mine, looked into the most beautiful brown eyes I have ever seen, and asked, “Debra, will you marry me?”

She said, “Yes!”

And that’s the story behind my Bruce Lee T-shirt.

It was exactly seven years ago today that Debra said “Yes”.

And Lee, of course, was best man at our wedding.

HOT TUB INTERCESSION

I exhort, therefore, that first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men.

- I Timothy 2:1

The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

-James 5:16

Let us, therefore, come boldly unto the throne of grace.

-Hebrews 4:16



I have people. I have people who need prayer. I have people who need my prayer.

And when I need to pray, I have a quiet place to go. The hot tub.

Before the sun rises upon a new day, my warm, wet, steamy, bubbly place of prayer awaits my arrival. I boldly enter the throne room of grace and position myself before the throne. And with the righteousness that has been imparted to me, I fervently offer up intercessory prayers with the full expectation that they will be effectual.

A “prayer closet” of this type, however, must be entered with the wisdom and the knowledge provided by the hot tub manufacturer. The recommended maximum amount of time for any human body to spend in a 102-degree hot tub is fifteen minutes.

Then it’s time to get out.

Otherwise, the hot-tub-intercessor may potentially experience respiratory arrest or heart failure, thus making his effectual prayers a little less effectual.

Darkness gives way to light in this quiet place of prayer

Sweet quarter-hour of prayer.

I will, therefore, that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.

- I Timothy 2:8

No wrath or doubting here

But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do; for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

-Matthew 6:7

At this temperature, “vain repetitions” and “much speaking” are kept to a minimum.

How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things.

-Romans 10:15

The proper prayer position provides a view that enhances the intercessory experience: The majestic blue spruce reaching to the heavens, the ivy-encased shade covering created by man who, in turn, was created by God in His own image, the TV satellite dish on the roof allowing televangelists to bring words of hope and encouragement into the home, and feet that are beautiful according to the Scripture.

DIRTY JOBS

I have crawled under the house four times in the past eight years, not counting today. The fourth time was about six years ago. The fifth time was today. Since the fourth time, we have had a pest control service cover all the dirt under the house with black plastic and spray for critters. It is now much dustier than before and the dust is orange. It is a dirty job. And this dirty territory is also home to a community of black widow spiders. So, anyone venturing into this space--their space--must crawl with careful caution, alert eyes, and catlike reflexes.

The reason for today’s trip under the house relates to our television. We have a satellite receiver for the TV in the family room, but not for the TV in the spare bedroom. The spare bedroom is where both Debra and I work out each morning on our elliptical exerciser. We like to pass the time exercising by watching the morning news on a small, thirteen-inch TV. We use a rabbit ear antenna on top of this TV.

Red arrow shows elliptical exerciser. Blue arrow shows rabbit ears

Since all television will be going digital early next year, we decided to pay the extra fee to have the spare bedroom wired for satellite TV, too. But our satellite provider requires a phone cable to be attached to the receiver unit above the TV in the family room.

The first time I crawled under the house, many years ago, I was checking drainage pipes in the bathroom.

The second time was to attach a phone cable from our existing phone jack in the kitchen to a phone jack, which I installed in the master bedroom, so I could have a phone in that room.

The third time was to run another phone line to a jack in the spare bedroom for a dial-up computer modem.

The fourth time was to run another phone line to a jack in the living room, again, for a dial-up modem. I had decided at that time to move my computer from the back bedroom to the living room. Eventually, the computer was moved one more time to its current location, in the spare bedroom where is had been once before.

And today, hopefully, will be the last time I will ever need to work under the house again.

Red arrow shows where I disconnected the phone jack from the living room.

Red arrow shows where I need to install the phone jack so I can hook it up to the satellite receiver

Red arrow shows another view of where I need to install the phone jack. Blue arrow shows the satellite receiver. When I complete the installation of the phone jack, a phone cable will attach the phone jack to the satellite receiver.

Before installing the jack, I need to drill a hole into the floor so I can pull the phone cable through the floor from under the house.

At the base of the steps to the hot tub deck is the opening to the crawl space.

The door is open

With flashlight in hand, I prepare to go in.

With knee pads in place, both my left buttock and my right buttock follow my upper body under the house.

Once under the house, I begin my crawl to the work area. The red arrow shows where the phone cable currently enters the living room. The blue arrow shows where the cable will be pulled through the floor into the family room through the hole I drilled.

Getting closer

Again, the red arrow shows the cable entering into the family room. The blue arrow shows where I have drilled the new hole. The white arrow shows the foundation beneath the fireplace.

After attaching the phone cable to a wire coat hanger and having Debra help me by pulling it into the family room, I have completed the dirty job and begin my crawl back to the opening. The red arrow shows the opening as well as the lattice which is attached to the hot tub deck.

All the previous photos under the house were taken with a flash. This photo shows just how dark it really was. The only light came through the crawl space opening and a few small vents.

Getting closer to my exit, the lattice is still visible.

Getting still closer.

Almost there. I can see the steps to the hot tub deck.

And now I can see the yard

Free at last! Free at last!

With the phone cable now coming through the floor in the family room, I am now ready to install the jack.

And with the jack finally installed (red arrow) the phone line is now hooked up to the satellite receiver. We are now ready to call our satellite provider and have them hook up our spare room TV to the satellite receiver. We are also ready to say “goodbye” to the rabbit ears. That was a dirty job!

BINGO

Actually, potluck and bingo.

Someone in the seniors group counted 35 among us who showed up last night to eat and to mark bingo cards. Debra and I were two of those seniors (chuckle, chuckle, Yeah, right! “Seniors.”).

After singing a half dozen songs, Jerre (pronounced “Jerry”), our bingo caller, addressed the group as his wife handed out the bingo cards and markers.

This was our annual October group event. Last year, Debra and I both won games and prizes. This year we both futilely marked numbers as they were called and we silently listened to other people shout “Bingo!" and win prizes.

HELPING A COLLEGE STUDENT WITH HOMEWORK

Ashley is taking a college course in geography. A few days ago she was given an assignment to find a few places in Ashland and to answer a few questions once she arrived at those places. She took a friend along with her as a navigator and Ashley did the driving. After five hours of driving around and finding more frustration than answers, she returned home with an unfinished assignment and a not-too-happy attitude toward her geography class.

Then she asked if I would help her with her assignment.

I said, “Yes”.

So, this morning I drove to Ashland with Ashley in the passenger seat as the navigator. Within two hours we completed the assignment plus completed a meal at Ashland’s fine Mexican dining house known as Taco Bell.

The first part of the task was to find the Civic Center and, once there, she was instructed to “note the large concrete block in the city yards near the Civic Center parking lot across from Garfield Park”.

Then her instructions were to follow a road up a steep hill into a residential area near government forestland. The drive took us to high elevations and dirt roads with steep sloping residential lots, canyons, and houses built on stilts.

Working on this project together took a fairly short amount of time and, while eating lunch and reviewing the assignment, we realized that the “large concrete block” that we found was not the same large concrete block described in the instructions. So, we returned to the Civic Center, found the correct block, and drove home.

I took this photo while entering a freeway onramp onto I-5. This might be the first photo I have ever taken while, at the same time, merging into freeway traffic.

This monument in front of the Civic Center was what we thought was the “large concrete block” mentioned in the assignment. We were wrong.

Ashley filled in the answers as we proceeded through the assignment.

Ashley stepped out of the truck to take a photo of a canyon, one of the places the assignment included. I stayed in the truck and took a photo of the side-view mirror.

Saying “cheese” while holding a camera with my left hand outside the window on the driver’s side.

With tummies full of stuff from Taco Bell, we found the correct “large concrete block” before heading home.

I BELIEVE IN SKYPE

Three days ago I sent an email to Belinda regarding a future visit to the Philippines, some specific arrival and departure dates, and some of the travel details involved. Apparently, we had been thinking of totally different visit dates. So within a period of about ten minutes Belinda shot me four separate email messages. They had a tone of urgency about them.

She expressed that she thought I was coming on a different date than I mentioned. She asked me to get on Yahoo Messenger so we could chat. But I had already uninstalled Yahoo Messenger because “chatting” really means “typing” and I am not all that fast at typing. I get frustrated when I’m typing an answer to a question and the person I’m “chatting” with is already asking me three or four additional questions. I just can’t keep up. So I uninstalled the program.

Then Belinda said that I “really need to get Skype.” She said they are on it all day and we could talk free whenever we want. So, I submitted to her wisdom, downloaded Skype, and within minutes we were talking to each other using our real voices! None of this typing stuff.

It was the first time I had heard Belinda’s voice in over two years!

.

Not only that, but they had a web cam hooked up to their computer, so I could see her, I could see Ally, I could see all the blank spaces in Ally’s mouth where her teeth used to be, I could see out their window at their neighbor’s house, I could see their beautiful mountainous horizon, and I could see some guy on a ladder working on their ceiling. Josh was out of the house, Daisy was downstairs in school, and Neo was taking a nap, so I couldn’t see them.

So yesterday I went to the store and bought myself a web cam. I thought it would be a good idea for them to see how quickly I am aging. That way they won’t go into shock when they see me at the Cagayan De Oro airport in a few months.

Now we can talk with each other and watch each other growing old whenever we want.

I believe in Skype.

The first time I used Skype was right after I downloaded it three days ago. I didn’t have a web cam at the time, but I had a headset.

Yesterday I bought a web cam and called again less than an hour ago. It was 4:30 p.m. here on Friday and it was 7:30 a.m. there on Saturday. I took this photo of my laptop screen with Daisy coaching Neo to say “Papa”. He did quite well. Daisy is a good coach.

Daisy held the microphone for Neo.

Before I hung up, Ally got out of bed and joined the conversation.

BEYOND PUMPKINS

My annual pumpkin patch trip to Beaverton last weekend was about pumpkins. But it was more than that.

The night before we ventured out to the pumpkin patch, we first needed to sit down and find out what happened to four little kittens.

Then the next morning we drove to the pumpkin patch. Naomi attended last year, held and carried in a pink blanket, but this year she was able to get around using her own two legs.


The barnyard crowd got a little older since last year.

In addition to the pumpkin patch and the corn maze, the slides were a big hit.

We all got a bit distracted during the outing, however, by some superhero who kept flying around through the air.

Those among us with strong arms were able to lift two pumpkins at the same time!



Those who were not strong enough to lift, bit off stems instead. It is not clear in this photo, but part of the stem is connected to the pumpkin and part of the stem is separated from the pumpkin and connected to somebody’s teeth.





Pumpkin patches make great backdrops for family photos.

Silas asked if he could take some pictures. He took one of Papa and then took one of his dad and sister with Papa.

And, of course, you can’t finish the day without some pumpkin bowling.



After we returned home, we were treated to a seminar given by Naomi on the subject of “How to Stop Biting Your Fingernails”. Step one in breaking the habit is to find an alternative to biting your fingernails. Considering the possible options, a big toe on the right foot is chosen.



Step 2: After selecting the proper toe as a fingernail substitute, bring that toe to the mouth.

Step 3: Start chewing.

Step 4: Continue chewing

Step 5: After you get bored with chewing, express your boredom with a yawn.

Never photograph your right eye if your left eye is more photogenic.

Just because the inside of a pumpkin doesn’t smell very good . . .

. . .doesn’t mean is doesn’t taste good.

Have you ever noticed that serious-looking people create serious-looking jack-o-lanterns?

And grinning people create grinning jack-o-lanterns?

And cute little girls create. . .

Hey, wait a minute! Where did she come from?