Wednesday Morning: Spam, Opossum, and Dark Roast Coffee

I love Wednesday mornings! Every Wednesday, I have the opportunity to meet the chairman of our Elders for coffee and conversation. I know that to a lot of you that may seem a little weird. Meeting the "boss" fun? It's actually the highlight of my weekday mornings. I have told other youth ministers about meeting with chairman of the Elders for coffee and its always the same reply, "So what did you do?". I then tell them that I have met with him every Wednesday morning for the last few years and the look of astonishment is priceless. The truth of the matter is that meeting with him has really helped me in my ministry here at LCC. A lot of the spiritually impactful things that we have done in our ministry have come from one of our Wednesday morning talks. I look to him for advice not only in my ministry, but also in just about every aspect of my life. Now don't get me wrong, the talk is not always high brow and intellectual, far from it. In fact, we often change topics of conversation minute by minute. It can go from insights on the ministry of Jesus to what's on sale at Bass Pro shops to how to cook opossum to any other off the wall concept. One thing that you also need to know about the chairman of our elders, he is a Half-Price Book Store "junkie". This year alone, he has probably given me about ten books. Some are very spiritual in nature (maybe a book about Biblical truths), some are not. My favorite is a book titled "SPAM- A Biography". I really never know what we are going to talk about. Probably the best part of the Wednesday morning though is spending some time in prayer. It is a great mid-week pick me up. I am so glad to be at a church where I can be so open with all of our leadership, especially "The Chairman". God has truly blesses our church leadership with some awesome people. Well, I hope that this look into what is known as the Dan Ponchot Wednesday Morning Experience was insightful to you. Hopefully it might explain why I am a little goofy at about 9:30am on Wednesdays. A few cups of dark roast has that effect on me.

15 YEARS AGO TODAY...

Fifteen years ago today:
A first class stamp was $0.29, the song/record of the year was Tears in Heaven by Eric Clapton, the top sitcom on television was Roseanne, a gallon of gas cost $1.47, George H.W. Bush was in the White House, the first web sites were being created on the new Internet, hurricane Andrew just hit south Florida killing 23, and the super Nintendo was the big gaming system. I know, thanks for the history lesson.

While those events are huge in the day that was August 29th, 1992, none can compare to the big event of that day. You see, 15 years ago today, Julie Horan agreed to become my wife. Over the years, when people have asked me how long I have been married, I often joke, "ten(or whatever it really was)but it feels like thirty" (ha ha). The truth be told, today, as we celebrate 15 years of wedded bliss, it seems like yesterday. In fact, to look at my wife Julie, it could have been yesterday. Even after shuffling from Tennessee to Ohio, job changes, house changes, three kids, and two (stupid) dogs, the girl hasn't changed. She looks the same, smiles the same, and even acts the same. Even her easily recognizable "Julie" laugh is the same (I can hear it a mile away). Being around Julie, I feel like I'm still a goofy teenager (no offense to all of my goofy LCC teenagers), at least until I look in the mirror or get on a scale.

I hear people talk all the time about "soul mates", "the love of my life", and things like to refer to their significant other. To me, those phrases pale in comparison to what my wife of 15 years means to me. You see, 15 years ago today, God gave me the second greatest gift ever. He gave me Julie

Someone is watching you.

Now don't take the title of this simple blog to mean something weird. I am not going to ask "Have you checked the children?" or "Do you want to see something really scary?" or any thing else that is related to some cheesy horror movie. In the course of my ministry, I have used the phrase "someone is watching you" many times to illustrate that people watch us, and what we do as Christians, to see how a person of God is supposed to act. True statement but recently in my life, I have noticed that the "Someone is watching you" thing has gone to a whole new level. Not only are people watching me but some people are mimicking me. Mainly, my kids. Sometimes, I look at these wonderful children and I see....me. Nothing that Hollywood could produce in the horror movie genre could frighten me as much as watching my kids act, talk, and eat the same way that I do. My oldest son has a great sense of humor (not from me) and often does (and says)the goofiest things. I tell my wife "I don't know where he comes up with this stuff" and she says..."He's just like YOU". My middle child, Nathan, hates to lose, AT ANYTHING! Again, my wife informs me that he is competitive... just like me. My youngest (a three year old female terror), likes to sing random songs...just like me.
I must admit to you that sometimes when people tell me that my kids are like me in this way or that, a small sense of pride comes to my mind. It's fun to hear that my kid eats his peanut butter and jelly...just like me or he has a goofy sense of humor...just like me or she sings random songs...just like me but what I really would like hear someday is....Man your kid's love Jesus....just like you.

LCC CRIBS

We did this video and laughed the whole time during the shoot and the editing. Evidently it is more humorous to the participants than to the general public.

New Series For This Season Of IMPACT

TIRED

I'm tired. For the past 10-14 days it seems that things have been going nonstop. Last week, I had the pleasure (no kidding, a pleasure) to take a group of senior high youth to summer conference in Carbondale, Il. What a great time! If you have never taken a group of teens to a week long conference, I highly recommend it. I do, however, recommend that you take along a great group of adult sponsors to help out (as I always do). Our kids were great. It is truly awesome to see how they are maturing in their faith. The tendency at these conferences is for teens to respond out of emotion and the heat of the moment and get all fired up every night. While that's not all bad, it usually doesn't last. This year was different. Everyone in our group really seemed to be contemplating what they heard, saw, and felt every night. There was a lot of heavy duty soul searching going on and I think that some of them are still working through it. It seems that most of the time, people (teens and adults alike) go to high impact, emotionally charged, events like these and go crazy about Jesus while they are there but when they return home...reality sets in. I've seen kids (and adults) return from an events like summer conferences, men's retreats, woman's retreats, and revivals and then drop off the face of the earth. I simply never see them in church again. That is why it was so encouraging to see our teens really working everything out. It's really cool to see.
Another highlight of that week was that I had a heart attack. Don't freak out, it's not what you think (at least not yet). We had an afternoon off from conference so we went to a mall and decided to grab lunch at the food court. I glanced over the menus of the various eating establishments and quickly found the place that suited my fancy. Burger joint. Now this fine eating establishment had several kinds of burgers: Single, double, double with bacon, all of the ordinary fair. What I decided on, however, was their signature hamburger, THE "HEART ATTACK". I was made to consume a burger like this. (WARNING!!! Content of this hamburger not suitable for all readers) It had two patties with cheese on each. On top of that, they piled up shaved gyro meat about two inches high. On top of that was placed three really greasy pieces of bacon. All of this on a bun (already soaked with grease when I got it) along with all the fix ins' including that gyro sauce stuff. Good times. I actually felt my blood thicken as I ate.

This week, the craziness continues. It's vacation bible school week here at LCC. I used to think that the most ear piercing sound in the world was a seventh grade girl screaming, I may have thought wrong. The new winner might just be a couple of hundred kids during song time at VBS. They crack me up. To add to my craziness, for the last two days, I have been doing a painting job for my father-in-law. I HATE TO PAINT (especially at two o'clock in the morning)! Especially since it was a rush job that had to be done by this morning and as of last night at 11:30pm...it was done.
Like I have said...I'm tired but rest is on the way. Next Monday, me and the fam are going camping for a couple of days. It will be good to spend some time with them and I am looking forward to it.

So allow me to recap:
SUMMER CONFERENCE = Fun and encouraging
HEART ATTACKS(burgers of course) = $4.59 and a culinary experience that is unforgettable
VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL = Ear piercing but mucho funo
PAINTING ON A DEADLINE = STINKS but profitable
VACATION WITH FAMILY = Can't wait

THIS SUNDAY NIGHT AT IMPACT

MIDDLER CAMP 2007

I'm still tired. Last week, I took part in what has become a yearly gig for me. I served as a counselor at a week of church camp for some crazy (yet awesome) 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders. Yes, this age group is a little younger than what I am used to, but it was fun all the same. The amount of energy that these kids have is unbelievable. It's hard to explain life at church camp. It's kind of a continuous cycle of eating, walking, Bible study, laughing, swimming, eating, teaching, lining up, not sleeping, walking, tooting (I can't say the F#RT word, my mom may read this), praying, eating, singing, dancing, lining up, eating, Bible study, teaching...I think that you get the picture. Usually the week at camp flies by for me. This year, it didn't. I'm not sure why but the entire week just seemed to be a constant struggle. First of all, my right hip was out of socket most of the week. This causes great pain when I walk for a long time and and as mentioned above, walking is big at camp. They even had a chiropractor come to camp to adjust me but it didn't last long. Second of all, we had a lot of technical issues with computers, projectors, and sound equipment. Nothing went right. While none of those problems in themselves were really a big deal, together, they made for a long week. But I think that the biggest reason that week was such a struggle was just the emotional roller coaster that God decided I needed to ride.

ROLLER COASTER UPS:
The ups on my "emotional roller coaster" ride were awesome. One of which was spending time with "Hosehead" (Brad, my nephew). He makes me laugh so much that my face starts to hurt. He is truly a joy to be around and it is exciting to bounce my ideas off of him to see what he thinks. It doesn't seem to matter where we are or what we are doing, something funny is always happening. Another "Up" for the week was working with the teen counselors from our youth group here at LCC. I was so proud of them in that they honestly made the week about the kids and not about themselves. I knew they all had a heart for serving God, but it was just cool to see it in action. I hope they all understand the difference that they made in the lives of those kids at camp. Our teens were also fun to play pranks on. Shaving cream in the shoes was fine but my favorite was plastic wrapping one of our teen guys in his bed. It was so worth staying up until 3:30am to do it. He was so mad when he woke up. It took him like five minutes to get out. I crack myself up. Many other cool "UP" things happened but none would top what happened on Friday. You see Friday, my oldest son Jacob was baptized into Christ (thus the picture). I have never been so proud. What even made the moment more special to me was that he chose to be baptized not in the pool (like everyone else), but wanted to go "old school" and have it done in the lake. Yes, I know it doesn't really matter but I thought that it was cool all the same.
ROLLER COASTER DOWNS:
I guess it's not really fair to say that I had down moments. It would probably be more accurate to say that I had some "heavy" moments. Most of these "heavy" moments revolve around some of the kids that were in my group at camp. It's really amazing how close you can get to some kids that you only know for a few days. The more I joked with them, kidded with them, and simply cared for them, the more they opened up to talk. Eventually, I found myself being crushed in hearing some of the stuff that they deal with everyday at home. It was really hard to hear. Even though it was good to be able to share some scriptures with them and pray about each of their situations, I still struggled with...knowing. Really it wasn't the knowing what was happening thing that messed me up, (I have seen/heard stuff like that before) it was the knowing that at the end of the week, many of them were going right back into the life that they had left a few days earlier. I can only pray that God encouraged and strengthened them through their week at camp. It might have been through a song, a lesson, a word from a teen, a burping contest, or just about anything else that goes on at camp. My only hope is that the campers heard the message loud and clear....I know I did.

THIS WEEK AT IMPACT

HINDI PART II

थिस इस रेअल्ल्य क्रेच्किंग मे उप। सो मान्य पीपुल रेअल्ल्य वांट तो क्नोव वहत ई ऍम व्रितिंग। ई गुएस्स ठाट सोम परसों विल फिगुरे थिस आउट सूनेर ओर लेटर। थें मय फुं विल बे ओवर। बर्ड एस्तेप इस स्टील अ होसेहेअद।


पास,

डी.ए.प.

BLOG IN HINDI

वेल्कोमे तो मय ब्लोग इन हिंदी। जुस्त सो ठाट यू अल क्नोव, तेरे इस अ फेतुरे नोव ओं ब्लॉगर ठाट अल्लोव्स यू तो राइट इन हिंदी। ई हवे नो आईडिया वहत गूढ़ थिस विल दो बुत इत इस रेअल्ल्य कूल। ई होप ठाट सोमोने विल रीड थिस ऎंड ऎंड लेट मे क्नोव ठाट थेय कैन रीड इत। थे ओनली थिंग ठाट ई रेअल्ल्य वांट तो सय इस ठाट बर्ड इस अ होसेहेअद।

पास,

डी.ए.प.

CORN INDIANA

**WARNING-WHAT YOU ARE ABOUT TO READ COULD PUT YOUR LIFE AT RISK**
There is a place in this great country of ours in which the laws of logic do not exist. This place is known to very few "outsiders". In fact, thousands of people drive through there every day not even noticing that something is very...odd. Even now when I think about it, I get this strange feeling that I have witnessed something that I shouldn't have. I feel like I am being watched. I will not tell you exactly where it is because residents there may be reading this and would certainly come after me to keep me "quiet". All I can tell you is that this parallel universe does exist and it is in the area of interstate 65 between Indianapolis and Chicago. I simply refer to it as "Corn", Indiana. You see in Corn, things are different. There seems to exist this "secret society" of people that do things a little bit....different. To call them backwards wouldn't really explain their practices in life there. I will try to explain (although it really is illogical). In Corn, one of the ways they survive is to sell things. They attract tourist using flashy signs depicting cows eating ice cream and huge wheels of cheese. The tourist are lured like moths to a light bulb by promises of a cheese factory tour, home made ice cream and fancy barns to make you feel like you are down on the farm. In fact, this is where the weirdness begins as last week, Brad and I were also lured into the clutches of this magical place of high butter fat ice cream, cows, big cheeses, and of course a working cheese factory.
"You're really not going to stop here are you? We should leave now. You are an idiot". I should have heeded those words (except the idiot part, he is such a hosehead) from Brad. I still hear them in my dreams. We searched for Ice cream (and a bathroom) for what seemed like minutes. We located a huge barn that I was sure would house a bathroom but the only entry door would require us to pay money to go on some kind of indoctrination program to Corn (or it could have been a dairy tour). We walked around the outside of that huge barn trying to find a bathroom and then we saw a promising sign that let to.... the cheese factory. Surely where there is cheese, there is a toilet. I was right. The cheese factory barn was stunning. Huge blocks and wheels of every kind of cheese that you could imagine. It was a beautiful sight. I almost cried. In the back of the cheese store was a huge window where you could watch them make the cheese. As we pressed our faces against the window to watch the cheese making magic, the first of the oddities of Corn Indiana struck us. They do not actually make cheese at the working cheese factory. There before us was a room gleaming in stainless steel and cheese machines that I can't explain but..... and this is a huge but...no people, no cheese. So observation about Corn number one: They do not actually make cheese at the "working cheese factory". The craziness of Corn continues as we entered the line for the "home made" ice cream. There, in front of us, was the counter to purchase ice cream. First oddity of buying ice cream in "Corn": There were no signs to label any ice cream, prices, or anything else about purchasing ice cream. Second oddity of buying ice cream in "Corn": Not one else in the whole place seemed to be buying ice cream (again.... those words of Brad "We should leave now"). By now, my heart was beating very fast. I didn't know what to do next, but I knew that I had to make contact with the Corninian ice cream chick in order to get ice cream, so I asked her a simple question. How do you sell your ice cream here? Her answer still defies what is logical to me. Her answer was that they sell a single and a double. Sounded simple enough to me so I asked how big was a single. She answered, "A SINGLE is TWO scoops and a DOUBLE is FOUR scoops. I know that I must have just stood there dumbfounded by this Corninian math. A "single" is "two" scoops? This secret society obviously has there own math system. I was stunned for a couple of minutes and I'm not sure what happened (I think that I kind of passed out). All of the sudden, Brad and I were walking... no... fast walking, out of the cheese factory (that does not actuallymake cheese)/ice cream place (that sells a single that is two scoops).
I hope that you take the warning at the top of this writing seriously. I think that Brad and I have uncovered the Corninians and their plans to take their beliefs to the rest of the world. I myself, have survived an attack on my life where they tried to poison me with a tainted cheese coney. So let these words burn into your mind. Beware if you you ever take interstate 65 north to Chicago or you too could find yourself right in the middle of.....Corn.

THE UNEXPLAINED

There are some things in life that you just can't explain. I realize that some things don't need to be explained to us and that's okay. But you should know that at any given moment, I am continuously rolling around in this over sized head of mine many of these "things" that are beyond explanation. Some are very deep and spiritual, some are not. But it's always something that really bugs me. This last winter, it was "Why is it that when it rains, thousands of earthworms come out of their comfy earthen homes and commit mass suicide on blacktop and concrete surfaces?" I have since found out the answer (thanks bro) and will share it with you at a later date (and it's not that they are drowning). I find that other people around me are also troubled by this nagging need to explain things. One such person is very upset by the fact that the "Dollar INN" motel chain does not cost a dollar a night but in fact cost many more dollars in exchange for one night of lodging. Why? I say all of this only to let you know that lately I have been perplexed by the following question: "Why do I have an almost irresistible craving for "Pal's" food? It really defies logic. I know that people in this part of the country have no idea what Pal's is so I have included a picture above. The picture says it all. In northeast Tennessee, there are Pal's Sudden Service restaurants everywhere. I think that I have been to most but the question remains; what is it about Pal's that attracts me so? Is it the stylish exterior of the establishment? Is it the "frenchy fries"? Is it the huge sweet iced tea for $0.79 or is it the "Sauce Burger" (taste and you will understand)? The answer is....I don't know. What I do know is that I MUST find out. So in the interest of science and goodwill to all mankind, I can think of only one way to explain this one mystery of many....ROAD TRIP. Yes, in the interest of science, me and my highly trained team of experts are going straight to the source. We're going to Pal's. We will be leaving soon for a no nonsense trip to northeast Tennessee for the sole purpose of eating at Pal's. So that our report will be unbiased, we are not going for any other reason. We will drive there (5hours), eat at Pal's, and return in hopes of answering the unexplained. Again, I do this for the sole purpose of answering the unexplained and the good of all mankind everywhere. Our team will report our findings in a future post.

TOO MANY GIANT PIXIE STICKS....I THINK

I'm not sure what caused it. I usually don't dream too much. It could have been a case of "March Madness" (I'm out of control, just ask Julie) or it could have been that my dinner last night consisted of Coke Zero and giant pixie sticks (one of my youth sponsors gave them to me, they are nearly three feet long). Either case, I had a wild dream last night. In my dream I was seven or eight years old. My whole family was there (Mom, Dad,Brother,Sister,Sister). It was Saturday morning and we were doing what we always did on saturday morning. My mom was making pancakes (I woke up smelling them this morning, wierd), my dad was drinking coffee and reading something, and my siblings and I were fighting over whose day it was to pick what shows to watch (Big family. No cable. We had a schedule). My brother wanted to watch Superfiends, I wanted to watch Buggs Bunny, and I don't really remember what my older sister wanted to watch but I think it was like an after school special or something like that. We ended up watching "The Uncle Al Show" (as pictured above). Some of you will not know what I am talking about but hang in there. I was doing the twist, going down in the cave to see the wizard, and all the other Uncle Al stuff right along with the kids on TV. This dream was so realistic I even remember the Uncle Al prayer song,"I love you God for this my day, I love You in my work and play, I think of You in every way, thank you God for this my day, thank you God for this my day.. Amen". Sounds very warm and fuzzy, right? It was until it got really wierd. Let me explain. On the Uncle Al show, Uncle Al had a dog named Pal. It was basically a dude in a dog suit. So in my dream Uncle Al suddenly get's in a fight with Pal. Al is going crazy and rips the dog's head off. (Sidenote: This is where things get really crazy but this is truly my dream last night) So the fake, big, dog head falls of the dude playing "Pal" and the actor guy turns around and I see the face of the actor as being someone very familiar. It is Brad Estep!! THEN, Brad, Uncle Al, Captain Windy, Lucky the Clown, and all of the kids on the show turn around toward the camera and say/sing, "Hey Dan! You are beautiful my sweet sweet song". In my dream, my whole family starts laughing and telling me how Brad really got me that time. Then...it was over. I woke up in a cold sweat smelling pancakes and wondering to myself about my own sanity. So "march madness" or giant pixie sticks I don't really know. What I DO know is that I will never eat giant pixie sticks, on a spring forward weekend, during march madness ever again. Lesson Learned.

COMING SOON TO IMPACT

Believe 2007

MR. CONFUSED

EVERY MORNING

COMING SOON TO IMPACT AT LCC!!!

LONG TIME....NO BLOG

Wow! Has it really been such a long time since I posted? So...what has been going on with me? Well it seems that Christmas is quickly approaching. I must say, I am am absolutley burnt out on Christmas music. I think that it is primarily because I start hearing Christmas music in the office literally around September (I won't mention the name of who does that). Soon after that, I start caroling group practice followed by the kids starting Christmas choir followed by worship band Christmas music practice followed by five weeks of Christmas music in worship. Basically, I'm done. No more Christmas music. So, on to other subjects. This saturday, i'm heading up to Chicago to pick up hosehead. It will be nice to see him and catch up on what's going on. I'm dubbing this trip the "Brad and Dan's Holiday Home Run". It should be good times. I hope that the greasy hot dog stand is open at 9:00am when I get there. Well enough of this foolishness. I need to get back to work. PURE 2007 is coming up very fast (see www.lovedtolove.org for info and registration) and there is much more to be done.

Merry Christmas,
Dan