David Crowder and Praise

Hey Family.
Haven't blogged in a while - hard to know what to write about. So many things seem trivial and there don't seem to be words (I think you said something about that, Tod, in one your latest entries on CB).
But I love books and I love sharing good ones. My latest favorite is called Praise Habit: Finding God in Sunsets and Sushi by David Crowder. I don't know how many of you listen to David Crowder. My best educated guess is that his cds are not among Grandma's top 40 (Rita, I think you would definitely agree with me if you heard his music - ha!). But the guy really loves the Lord. This book is very real and is just touching me in the place we find ourselves in. It's a book about praise, but his description of tragedy in the intro put words on it that seemed insightful. Whatever the tragedy was (he never says) was the beginning of a new place with God. Here's a quote:

"I used to think I knew where to find God. He seemed to always be where I put Him last.

He was in Sunday school every Sunday morning. He was in "big church" right after. He was there most Sunday nights too. He was around our dinner table when my father read from the blue Bible-story books. He was there when I prayed before meals. He was there most times I prayed elsewhere, too. He was there during my quiet times. He was at church on Wednesday nights. He was really there at summer camp. He loved church camp. I think He just liked summers better in general. Once school started back, the moments with Him were farther spaced, it seems. I enjoyed finding Him. It felt like things were right. Even if they weren't, it felt okay. I wanted more moments with Him. I heard there was a Bible study on Monday nights, so I went, and sure enough -- He was there. I had an accountability group and we met on Tuesdays, and sure enough -- He was there, too. I heard about another Bible study that met on Thursdays, so I went, and wouldn't you know it, there He was. He began showing up in the songs we sang around 1983. It was called contemporary worship. It was great. He was always in these songs, so I would sing them whenever I wanted to find Him, and sure enough -- there He'd be. By the time I got to college I thought I had it all sorted out with everything in its place. Then tragedy came.

Tragedy always comes. If it hasn't come for you, it will. Not the losing-your-homework kind or the having-to-flush-your-goldfish kind, but the kind that leaves you stripped. The kind that tears from you all the ideas about living you once believed untearable. Mine came my junior year of college, and it came in a phone call. It was my mom. She said, "David, something very terrible has happened." The words that followed were bombs. As they came hurtling toward me through miles of telephone wire, my muscles turned liquid, and when she finished, I was left wilted on the floor, and God was not there. At least I could no longer find Him. And I had no idea where to begin looking again. The places I used to frequent, I no longer trusted. In seven minutes, everything had thought about everything was dramatically different....

There was a lot of sorting out to be done concerning most things and where they were to be placed in this faith I carried or that was carrying me, and it was proving to be a daunting task. And then in the middle of this sorting, an explosion. I was covered in shrapnel, clotlessly bleeding. And when I had bled out, when there was nothing left, I found Him. And He was not where I thought He was. Nor where I had put Him last.

He was in a Chick-fil-a sandwich.

[okay, just 2 more paragraphs - I can't leave you hanging there.]

I have loved Chick-fil-a my whole life. But when your world implodes, nothing tastes good. I was poking at the thing and a thought hit me that there is one part of the sandwich I don't enjoy. There is about a quarter of the breast that consistently dissolves into a lesser grade of meat and soggy breading. I pulled the top bun off and tore the portion away that didn't look appealing. There was a natural break in the meat. It was easily separated. I put the top back on and ate. It was the best chicken sandwich I had ever eaten. I wadded up the foil sandwich bag and smiled for the first time in a really long while.

It may not sound like a real breakthrough, but for me it was truly cathartic. In a small, decisive moment I was aware of what was good and took effort to peel away what wasn't and in the process became re-enamored with the Giver of good. I remembered our beginnings, when that statement "It was good" was first uttered. I thought about how the bad was never intended. Things started to come to life. Blood that had slowed to a crawl began to find its way through my veins again...."


Ignore this whole thing if it doesn't bless you. I'll tell you, his humor cracks me up. Randy and I have just sat laughing as we read his commentaries on life. He's a little quirky (understatement?). I think we just need this reminder right now to praise God in everything - spirit of poverty (among many other things of life) is heavy.

Love all of you and we continue to pray.

Anda

Annie and Ashley had a combined swim birthday party today.

Reagan got them cheerleading megaphone charms since they'll be cheering for him (and the Patriots) this fall.

This is so Reagan.

Reagan continues to impress AJ and Josh

Click to play | Make your own Smilebox

Update: Prayer Requests

The surgery went well, and he is back at home resting. The doctors determined it was just the hernia, that his pancreas is functioning normally. Thanks to any and all that had a chance to read this and lifted him up.

No word from UT yet.

-jc



Hi family,

April and I have been missing you all terribly. I/we agree that we felt closer to everyone when we were together last.

I have two prayer requests to add to the list.

1) My father has begun having trouble with his pancreas again. He was admitted to Abilene Regional (used to be Humana) last night. In addition to the pancreas, they found a hernia and are going to operate tomorrow morning at 7:30 a.m. to correct it. Please pray for quick recovery tomorrow and that the pancreas will settle back to normal.

2) I have applied for a job with UT System in Midland, which mostly involves auditing but involves contract analysis and some other boring details I won't go further into right now. It is very similar to some of the work I am doing now, and I am very positive about the possibility of being hired. I learned while in Midland that the hiring manager is a GCR member. Please pray for this opportunity, that it might come to be, if it meets with God's timing.

April and I have always considered and planned on moving to Midland at some point; we became more certain that now could be a good time about 5-6 weeks ago, and the pull continues to grow stronger. We would love for this to come about and to be able to spend a lot more time with family. If not now, then hopefully it will be sooner rather than later. We look forward to seeing everyone again soon.

God's peace and blessing be on you all!

-James

We already miss you

Hey family. Randy and I are home. We've been heavy and sad all day. Big feeling of helplessness that I know we've all experienced in the last week - and ours is just a tiny fraction of what we know Tod and Lee Ann are feeling.

Tonight at dinner we shared our favorite thing that we heard about Connor at the funeral. I think the story about him sitting with Melissa at the movie was one of our family favorites. They also like the Uncle Alan story about shaving. Corey Boone was eating with us (one of the Mighty Men who was at the funeral) and said the piano player made Mr. Gravitt cry. When we were praying at bedtime tonight both of my boys thanked God that he was such "a nice kid". They were listening all last week and I think that in an odd way we know him better now than we did a week ago. McKenna told me tonight that she is going to write 2 books this summer. The first one will be called "At the Feet of Jesus" and will be about Connor and the experiences of the past week. I can't wait to see what God gives her.

Tiffany (Hochdorf) Guild had done all our laundry and made our home look a little happier today when we arrived home. She is still crying every time she hears about how things are going with you all. She and Chris have been praying since a couple of hours after the accident. Their hearts are hurting for you. Mrs. Murray and her daughter had made us a huge dinner, including a lemon pound cake which I must confess that we ate! Randy just decided that it would be insulting to not try this symbol of love - ha! Mrs. Murray made US dinner and it was HER birthday today - she is 84. You can know without a doubt that she has been lifting up our family in prayer this week. This is no small thing.

Got an email today from McKenna's piano teacher who I emailed a few days ago. She said that she had already heard about the accident from some of our old Hulen Bend neighbors who moved from that neighborhood even before we did. I actually just figured out as I'm writing this that I think the only way they could have known about it was through the wife's parents who attend Alta Mesa C of C. I am always amazed and comforted in a way by the C of C network. There was a phone message from Brent Pennington in Thailand saying they are praying. People are literally praying for you, Tod and LeeAnn, all over the world! The body of Christ is beautiful.

I think we might have been home an hour tonight before the neighbors showed up (ages 11,9, and 9). Randy was pretty down and wanting to talk about Connor so he showed them the obituary. After trying to define "obituary", he handed it to them to read. They really couldn't read it and the oldest one just kept talking about how his birthday is this Saturday and asking what we're going to get him. Needless to say, this was a little frustrating. Tonight kind of felt like we'd been slammed back into a different world.

We love all of you so much. I agree with Jill - I've never felt closer to this family. I've never admired and respected you as much as I do right now. We aren't physically there, but know that we will be praying A LOT and feel free to call or come hang out in the hood whenever you need to.

Blessings of peace and the heavy presence of Jesus be on you tonight,
Anda

Update

Connor's funeral will be Monday at 10 am at Golf Course Road Church of Christ. Visitation with the family will be Sunday evening from 6-8 pm in the Family Center at GCR.
Bailey had a good night. The next big hurdle for Bailey is managing her pain as she travels from Dallas to Midland this weekend. The flight to Dallas was very difficult for her, so she is going to have to be really brave to get back in the air. Then she will, of course, need some time to recuperate.
The family respectfully requests absolutely no visitors to Tod and Lee Ann's house at this time. They are looking forward to being home in Midland but they have so much to deal with emotionally and physically and they need some time together as a family. If you would like to communicate with them or offer any kind of help, please contact the office at Golf Course Road.
We can never adequately express our gratitude for your expressions of concern, your countless acts of kindness to our family, and especially your fervent prayers. They have carried us through these last several days. You are God's mercy to us.

Thank You for Support

Thank you all for the tremendous outpouring of love and support through calls, e-mails, and visits. They mean a great deal to the family.

Bailey surgery was successful this morning. Please continue to pray for Bailey's recovery and for healing for Tod's family and for the Brown and Bailey families as a whole.

As Ben mentioned earlier, we are keeping the most current updates at: www.caringbridge.org/visit/todbrownfamily .

Thank you and God Bless