Prayer

One of my Blog Heroes, Carlos Whittaker, known as “Loswhit,” is a worship pastor at the Buckhead Campus of North Point Community Church in Atlanta.  He has a great thing going there and had a great idea that I would like to try.  Every once in a while he opens up his blog for people to put prayer requests in the comments and he prays for each and every one.  Now his following is exponentially more than mine, so it is quite an undertaking for him to do – like I said the guy is awesome!  I would love to do the same thing for you all.  I will be on vacation next week, and will not have Internet so in order to continue to be connected to you let me pray for you…

 

Fill out the comment with your prayer request, you can even do it anonymously if you like, or email me and I wont share your info with anyone; and while I am gone I will pray for your requests. Prayer changes things… I have learned this over and over again and I really do believe it.  Don’t be shy, don’t feel bad, anything and everything is okay to ask for prayer for…

 

If you want to email me your request instead, here is the address; Gprouty@usa.net.

 

Thanks & have a great week!

When A Homeless Person Says, “Have A Good Night”

Last night a few of us went to the Colorado Springs Rescue Mission.  A place that has 30 spots in it for people wanting to overcome addictions, anger issues, and put their lives back together.  And a place that opens up its doors to feed as many homeless as will come, dedicated to saving lives and healing lives.  It was a great experience.  I got the chance to talk at length with three people, one was a counselor, and two were participants in “The Program.”  The two men in the program had stories of lives that hit the absolute bottom, and they were working hard to claw their way back.  Everything they do now is monitored.  They have to check in at dinner, check in at breakfast, go to meetings, clean up after dinner, help serve the dinner, volunteer on Saturday service projects, attend the church of their choice Sunday mornings, and they were happy to do it all.  These men had a hope of a better future, and it was coming one day at a time.  There was pride in the work they were doing, the good kind that says from a place deep inside, “I am a worthwhile part of society and I matter.  I will not continue to throw this life away.”

 

There was a family there, two little girls and their parents.  There were many women, some elderly people, some veterans, and a couple younger people.  Homelessness effects all ages, races and genders…  The meal was good, and was served quickly and with respect.  There were several their that felt entitled I am sure, there were several there that were probably high or drunk, but there were many more that were grateful for the meal and the people coming along side of them, even if only for an hour, and treading them with dignity and respect.  They were smiling, talking, and enjoying the time, then they left.

 

After dinner the guys in the program go to a house they live in.  The rest, sixty or so, had no place to go.  It had started to rain as the time was finishing up, and these men and women, loaded with backpacks carrying all they could fit in them left.  In the rain, walking to where-ever they could find a place.  On the way out, Trish and I were standing by the door, and one man looked over with a big smile and said, “Have a great night.”  With a grateful heart and joy filled spirit this man was going out to find a bridge to sleep under, and he is telling Trish and I – who would get in our car and drive to our nice house miles away with air conditioning, heating, TV, electricity, and hot water on demand – to have a good night…  It kinda puts things in perspective when I wish I had a bigger TV, a bigger bed, a newer car, a nicer house in a better neighborhood.  I should be as joy filled and grateful as this man was facing another night outside sleeping on concrete hoping that he makes it another day…

America The Beautiful

Colorado Springs has a really cool park downtown with an amazing fountain. The park is named America the Beautiful, and it even has UFO parking.  (I am not sure what that is all about, but this park is really close to Manitou Springs, a new age influenced Mecca, second only to Boulder) this picture’s caption is “park your UFO here.”

 

The Helical shaped fountain turns and the water comes straight down out of it.  The cool part about it is there is a collection pond at the bottom of it that kids can wade and play in.  The water streams down at an incredible rate simulating rainfall, and you can often see rainbows in the mist. 

This Saturday our church is having a picnic in this park.  I am really excited because to be able to have a church picnic in the park means that you have people in your church!  Otherwise it is just a Prouty family day in the park, still fun but lacks that “hey good things are happening here and people are coming” feel.

Tonight a small group of us are going downtown to participate in the homeless shelter activities.  They feed the homeless and offer shelter, clothing and other necessities.  I will blog about that tomorrow. 

Things are coming together! The building project is moving steadily forward, and it is fun to see all the progress!  It is an exciting time to be a part of this church – energy is building, good things are being done in the community, and we get to go hang out in the park this weekend!  (We are vacationing next week too – I am looking forward to some time off to rest and regroup!) If you are in Colorado Springs, bring a picnic lunch and stop by Saturday at the park!

It Is Hard To Believe

I was standing in the middle of the building yesterday having a hard time believing how big it was and that this is actually happening!  With the interior walls going up you can begin to see the rooms take shape and the internal outline of all of the space.  It is really cool to see it come together.  The portable buildings are being delivered for the school to begin meeting in as they go back to classes in about a month, and things are coming together.  There is still way too much dirt on the property, so we still need to figure out how to get rid of it, but that will happen eventually.

 

One of my friends is on his way to Thailand today.  We both have heavy hearts about his trip.  It was supposed to be an exciting time with him going to a training camp for Mixed Martial Arts, but he found out his girlfriend there has been really sick and they don’t expect her to live long.  That was quite a blow, he is in his twenties, and you never expect this kind of thing when you are young.  Now his plans have changed to try to spend as much time with her and help her with her sickness.  But she doesn’t want to see him now.  She wants him to get on with his life and not see her like she is now – suffering and in pain.  It is really hard as he was going to propose to her on this trip, now all that has changed.  Imagine getting on an international flight to travel half way around the world having no idea how you are going to help or say goodbye to someone you love and thought you would have the rest of your life with!  It is hard to believe…

 

What do you think about when you find yourself in situations, good and bad, that don’t make sense or seem hard to believe?

Hope

Yesterday Henry (the volunteer associate pastor) and I went to Cedar Springs Behavioural Health Center to meet with some of the patients there interested in studying the Bible and learning more about God. It was an amazing experience. The people there are truly at the end of their rope, beat up by life. One girl had scars up and down her arm from cutting herself, most of the women had been raped or abused repeatedly, and some were struggling with deep depression. The hope that came through our discussion seemed like healing therapy, and they were all so appreciative that we had come. One lady, who said she couldn’t bring herself to cry, although she knew she desperately needed to, was bawling by the time it was all over! Reaching out to this group, the forgotten, the down on their luck, was one of the most rewarding things I did all week. The questions they asked were fantastic! One lady asked, “Why would God let me be raped?” What an honest a question! And what a great opportunity to talk about God’s love, that He doesn’t want bad things to happen to people, but He walks through life with each and every one of us regardless of what is happening – He is always there with us. Evil exists, and as long as we are here on this planet, bad things will happen to good people, but someday we have a hope that it will all be made new, and there will be no more evil. That was a satisfying message for these ladies that have had many evil things happen to them over their lifetimes. I am glad our church is taking an interest in groups like this…

This week is going to be busy! Today I get to go to a cooking class with my middle daughter Hope – she loves to cook and it will be a great time to focus in on just her. The building is moving along you can look at the newest pictures posted on the page “Updated Building Pics” above, and Thursday I get to go play golf at the Broadmoor (the PGA Senior Open is playing there in August) with my good friend Gary. Gary and his wife are moving to Norman OK next week, so we will be saying goodbye to them soon, and it will be really hard to see them go. Wednesday night a few of us are going to check out the Colorado Springs Rescue Mission, a place where homeless can get a meal and a message of hope. It is a recognizance mission to see if it fits into what we can do as a church as well. It is really cool to see things start moving forward as we grow and develop initiatives in our church. I will keep you updated – and see ya tomorrow!

Stimulant

Trish and I recently received our economic stimulus check.  We thought it would come earlier via direct deposit, but since we owed taxes this year we were not so lucky and had to wait for a paper check.  We had been debating long and hard about what to do with it and are still on the fence.  I would love to go blow it on a big screen TV, but at this point in the economic slow down that seems unwise.  We will probably use our check for a vacation this summer and school clothes for the kids…

 

I was wondering how others were spending their checks so I did some research and found a survey and results online at Bankaholic.com, here is how their survey participants responded…

 

What are you doing with your economic stimulus check?

Home improvement project¹

113

Lottery tickets¹

54

Saving it in a savings or CD account.

650

Paying off debt (credit card, mortgage, student loans).

376

Paying for non-debt essentials (rent, gasoline, bills, food).

167

Frivolous shopping spree!

74

Didn’t get a stimulus check (income too high)!

114

College Tuition¹

25

Vacation¹

89

Didn’t get a stimulus check (claimed as a dependent)¹

66

Filed for it, waiting for direct deposit¹

37

Donating to charity¹

20

Investing it in stock market (it’s the right time to buy)¹

64

Total Votes: 1849

(the 1 designation were participant added categories)

 

So do you fall into one of the above categories?  I think it is interesting that so many people are saving their money in CD’s; is that an indication that people are in fear of recession?  What are you spending yours on?

Too Many Cooks (Bakers) In The Kitchen

Now that I am feeling (much) better, I am beginning to work out again.  I have been on the treadmill the past two days, starting slow but starting.  One day was running, one was walking and I am actually looking forward to running today – I use “running” loosely.

 

I feel like I am off to a good start, but I have a problem.  Actually I have a number of problems.  Two of my daughters love cooking and baking, and my wife is a great cook.  The kids make homemade double layered cakes, homemade sugar cookies, brownies, ginger bread, and to top it all of Trish makes these incredibly good apple dumplings (they are amazing, you have to try them!  I will put the recipe on this post.) So every night I have to fight off the desire to devour whatever treat they made that day; and on top of that I have to be prepared to hurt one of these precious bakers feelings.  Not an easy thing to do when one incredibly cute baker or another looks at me with the big brown (or blue) eyes and says, “please daddy!”  They are way past the “daddy” phase but they know how to push my buttons… so I inevitably give in. 

 

Which takes me back to my running… I wonder if I could do it twice a day!

 

What kinds of things do you have a hard time saying no to?

 

Here is the recipe: it sounds strange, but trust me these things are restaurant dessert good!

 

Mountain Dew Dumplings

 

 

2 cans crescent rolls

2 granny smith apples-8 slices each, peeled and cored

 2 sticks butter

2 c. sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

12 oz can of Mt Dew

 

Preheat the oven to 350. Wrap each apple slice in one triangle of dough, covering the entire slice. Line up in 9×13 pan.  Melt butter, sugar, and cinnamon together until it will pour evenly over the dumplings.  Then pour the Mt Dew around the edge of the pan (I think less than the whole can would be better but use your own judgment!)  Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.  Serve warm with vanilla ice cream!

Dream – A Puppy, A Panda, A Monkey, A Red Wagon, And A Full House!

Last week my wife was pestering me about puppies.  She likes those really small dogs, and the Shih Tzu we bought over a year ago in Texas is like all things Texas – big.  She was hoping for a small dog that fawned over her, (I believe she has a secret Elle Woods wanna be desire with a small dog in a purse kind of thing – bend and snap all you dog toting women) our dogs are both big for their breeds, so no bag toting around here.  (I think even writing this is leaching testosterone out of my body) but she had been talking about wanting a teacup sized something… I of course said, “we have plenty of dogs we don’t need another!” very firmly.  Then something strange happened…

 

I wend to be that night and dreamt that there was a young homeless women living out of her car in our neighborhood.  She had a very cute puppy and was trying to sell it to buy food for herself.  Trish and one of the twins were gushing over the puppy and at my arrival to the scene I clearly put down the boundary and declared, “NO! We don’t need any more pets.”  As I was making my case, my younger daughter approached from the sidewalk behind me pulling a large red wagon, and in the wagon was a real life Panda.  It was her pet and as I was protesting the puppy I realized that I was losing this battle, even in my dream.  Then something incredibly shocking happened, as I was saying, “ you got a Panda?” a monkey jumped up on the panda from the other side of the wagon and began picking stuff out of the panda’s hair.  It was obvious that both the panda and the monkey were familiar with each other, so there was no other explanation than these two were already part of the family.  At this point I think I lost it in my dream, and as the next scene unfolded the homeless girl, her puppy, our two dogs, our turtle, our four kids and Trish and I all lived under the same roof – very 7^th Heaven like.  Just call us the Camdons.

 

What was the weirdest dream you have had recently?

And Today I Run!

It has been over a month since I have worked out.  I have had some kind of allergy/sinus infection that has kept me from breathing and feeling well enough to work out.  I know the physical exercise helps me think better.  I don’t know why exactly, but when I am running or lifting it seems to give me mental energy, so I am looking forward to getting back on the treadmill today, right after this post.  It may not be for long, but any little bit at this point will bring me great joy, and probably sore legs. 

 

I am also reading a really good book right now.  It has been a long time since I have encountered something so compelling I have a hard time putting it down; I think the last time I read something like that it was “the Shack” which I think is a great book dealing with how crazy God is about us, and which also has gotten mixed reviews by people in the criticizing community, but if you want to stretch your thinking about God – and how can the human mind possibly represent God well – it is a great book.  It however is NOT the one I am reading now that I cannot put down.  The book I am reading now is on my 9^th grade twin daughter’s summer reading list.  It is called “The Robe” and I believe it may be a classic.  It is by Lloyd C. Douglas, and it’s copyright date is 1942.  It is a great story of slavery, the Roman empire and Jewish life during and after the time of Jesus Christ.  The main character is the Roman soldier, a commanding officer, that won Jesus’ robe in a dice game during the crucifixion and how he and his Greek slave discovers who the man Jesus was through difficulties and learning the Jewish culture from a Roman’s perspective.  I thought the book would be something that was just okay summer reading but it has turned into a page turner!  I can hardly wait to read the next chapter – it has become my constant compainion, and I have to be sure I am not neglecting my family instead of burying my head in this book!  I have absolutely loved the surprise of how good this book is! 

 

When was the last time you had a surprise that was encouraging and uplifting?  What was the last great book you read?  Have you ever read a book that changed the way you live, if so what was it? 

Happy 4th of July!

Today we get to meet up with a family that we were close to in Texas.  They are out here on vacation and will be spending the day in the Springs.  We haven’t seen them for over a year so we are excited to reconnect and hang out!  Have a great day of barbecuing, firework watching, and celebrating independance! 

See ya Monday.