FUMBLES IN LIFE

     It's football season! Whether you like College or Professional football, for the next 5 months every Saturday, Sunday, Monday & Thursday night, football will be televised. It's amazing to me how much this sport has grown, how people go nuts over fantasy football and how much money people make and lose betting on games. It is a violent sport and unfortunately, some players have been injured severely throughout the years the game has been played. I feel bad for the Miami Dolphins quarterback who suffered a concussion in game number two. I can't believe that when the sport was first invented, players wore leather helmets with no faceguards and had thin shoulder pads. That's crazy!  

     My blog today is all about fumbles in life which are mistakes that we make by way of bad decisions, judgement or sometimes errors on our part that we do unfortunately. In football, whenever a player loses the football, they call it a fumble. Almost every game that you watch, you get to see this happen. There were two very famous fumbles in NFL history. One of them involved my favorite team, the New York Giants. My brother-in-law, David loved that game. I didn't! It was November 19, 1978. The Giants were at home playing the dreaded Philadelphia Eagles. The Giants were leading 17-12 with a little under 2 minutes left in the game. The Eagles were trying very hard to score, but the Giants intercepted a pass. We all thought the game was over. I actually got up, told my Dad I was going to hang out with some friends, maybe play some football and be home before dinner. While I was out disaster struck for the Giants. All they had to do was run two plays, just have the quarterback kneel down twice and they would win. Pisarcik kneels down on the first play. The second play would change the fate of both teams for many years. The Giants buffoon Offensive Coordinator decides to call a play, a handoff. It was supposed to be Joe Pisarcik, their quarterback handing off to running back Larry Csonka. Instead, Joe Pisarcik collides with Csonka, he fumbles and Herman Edwards who plays for the Eagles picks up the ball and runs 26 yards for the touchdown. Eagles win and Giants lose. I still get mad at that game even to this day! When I got home, my father told me "The Giants lost!" I thought he was kidding because my dad was a kidder like me. He was serious and it was all over the news. I can't imagine being at that game, but I also think about the fans who left early to "beat the traffic." Giants' fans call it "The Fumble" while Eagles fans call it "The Miracle at the Meadowlands." The very next day the Giants fired their Offensive Coordinator and at the end of the season the entire coaching staff was fired. One player fumbles the football, and this causes coaches to lose their jobs as well as some players.

     The second famous fumble occurred in January 1988. It was the Cleveland Browns visiting the Denver Broncos at Mile High Stadium in Denver. It was the AFC Championship Game, and the winner would go to Super Bowl 22 and face the Washington Redskins. Cleveland was deep in Denver territory trailing by a touchdown. The Browns quarterback Bernie Kosar handed the ball off to running back Ernest Byner. Byner was heading towards the end zone to tie the game, and all he had to do was beat two defenders. Unfortunately, Byner got hit and fumbled the ball. Denver would recover the fumble and win the game. The Cleveland Browns have never made it to the Super Bowl...ever! 

     Sports Psychologists have always told players never to think about what they did wrong or to "dwell on it." I often wonder how Ralph Branca felt for several years after he gave up a game winning home run to Bobby Thompson in 1951 that sent the New York Baseball Giants to the World Series. Or how about Bill Buckner, who let a ground ball go through his legs in game 6 of the 1986 World Series. How do you think he felt? The Mets would win the game and then win game 7 to win the World Series against the Boston Red Sox. Or how about Scott Norwood missing a game winning field goal that would have made the Buffalo Bills World Champions in Super Bowl 25. Instead, The New York Giants would win the game 20-19. I realize these are not "fumbles: in these games, but they were crucial mistakes.  

     I realize I am giving you sports analogies about fumbling. I also realize none of us are professional athletes. At least I don't think any of you are. Let's think about how many times we have "fumbled" in life. I confess. I have "fumbled" several times at my job, in ministry, with my family, in relationships, when I drive my car and from words I have used. Here is another confession. It's going to happen again several times throughout the rest of my life in all the areas I have mentioned. A fumble per se in life is a huge mistake we might make. If you are like me, I'm sure you will admit that you have learned from your mistakes. Fumbles and mistakes are all a part of our lives. Nobody in their right mind ever says, "I'm going to mess up today and show everyone how incompetent I am! Let them see that I am a complete failure!" No, I don't think so! 

     Throughout my life I have learned from my fumbles and mistakes. Whether it occurs at church, at home, in my marriage, at work or in everyday life, I have learned a lot from those mistakes. When I have made mistakes with what I say to others or just doing a boneheaded thing, I have learned from it. It was never easy, and it certainly was difficult owning up to it. I have learned not to make excuses, not to let it "eat at me" and certainly not to blame others. When we fumble in life, WE fumble in life. I'm sure in that Giants game I mentioned, Larry Csonka could have blamed his quarterback, Joe Pisarcik. Bill Buckner could have blamed his manager for leaving him in the game with a sore ankle or even the field conditions at Shea Stadium. Ernest Byner could have said, "That ball was too slippery. I didn't have a good grip on it." Fumbles in life happen all the time. The key is for all of us to learn from them. That's how we grow! It's never too late! 

HAVE A GREAT WEEK EVERYONE!!

      

 

WORDS

 

     According to my dear friend Mr. Google, the average number of words a woman uses a day is 5,000. For men, it's 2,000. Wow, that's a difference of 3.000 words! No. I'm not trying to start World War 3 so please don't write a nasty comment on Facebook. Please keep on reading!! I will admit I do know some men who talk a lot as well as women who are very quiet and shy. I was very shy and rarely spoke when I was a kid. It's amazing that I grew up to become a Pastor. I got paid to talk! Today, I hear words all day at my job. Some in English, some in Spanish and some in languages I have no idea what language they are speaking. Russian? French Creole? Urdu? Pig Latin?  On days when I'm walking along the Sunken Meadow State Park Boardwalk, I sometimes feel like I'm in another country. So many different languages! Words are used all day long. They are a part of life, and they are important to everyone.

     Think of it this way also. In the span of 30 seconds, I could walk into my job and give my boss a lot of praise and thank him for everything, then five minutes later I could turn around and curse him out and tell him some very rude and crude things. Of course I would never do that! I can't even remember the last time I used any type of profanity whatsoever. It's just not me! The words that we use can give praise, but they can also hurt others. James 3:5,6 tells us

   Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

Verse seven talks about how you can tame all types of animals, birds and reptiles. However, you cannot tame the tongue. Think about that? Birds, dogs and many animals have been tamed by man. But one thing you cannot tame is your tongue. I find that fascinating! Laure owns a pet yellow naped amazon, a parrot named Cracker. Cracker is a very tame bird because Laure works very hard to make sure she is tame. She holds her, pets her and talks to her. This bird is comfortable with her because she has been taught to be tame. If Laure neglected to do this, Cracker would not let Laure hold her and I'm sure if I walked by, Cracker would try to bite my nose off. Cracker can be tamed, but our tongues cannot be tamed. I have also owned birds, and my first bird was a cockatiel. I held this bird a lot as well and she was very tame. I thought she was a he when I bought her, so I gave her an amazing name after my favorite TV show the Honeymooners...Norton! As a kid going to the circus on occasion, I was always fascinated with lion tamers. I always thought those men and women standing in a cage with a lion holding a whip was either really cool or Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs! Think about all the hours that goes into training and taming that ferocious lion to be obedient and not try to rip off the head of that lion tamer.  

     When it comes to words, I also know that we can also misunderstand people or be misunderstood. I know sometimes dealing with the general public, a guest may say something to me, being sarcastic, that I might take the wrong way. I might get offended when their intent was not to hurt me but to just be joking around. There are certain cultures that may speak loudly and somewhat obnoxious in their behavior. I have learned at those times to be "thick skinned" and not let it bother me. I also know that people may misinterpret or misunderstand me. We all know that nobody is perfect. We are all a work in progress!  

     Many of you know and I'm sure you can tell I love to write. It has been a hobby of mine since I'm in 3rd grade. Someday I would love to publish two books. One is a children's book I'm working on as well as a "grownup's" book that I'm also working on! Writing this blog for 6 years has been a great therapy for me. I love words and I love how I can put them down on this blog. I'm sure there might be a few of you who might not like or agree with my writing style and that's okay. Typing my blog on my laptop or at times at the Centereach Library has been very therapeutic for me. I have been able to write about experiences I have had as well as whatever is on my mind. My creative mind is always going and always thinking.

     Social media is also an outlet people use to express their words. When it came out in the mid 2000's, nobody realized the damage it could do to people's lives. Cyber Bullying is now a serious issue in all levels of school up to and including college. You can also include the workplace in that! Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are all media outlets that were intended to be uplifting, fun and encouraging. To some people it's the opposite. How many times have we heard on the news about a young person being bullied by a fellow classmate because of a post on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. Some of the results of this are suicide, murder or even serious injuries. Why? Because of degrading and hurtful comments made to them on social media. Words can hurt! This breaks my heart how cruel people can be. 

     My challenge to all of us is simple. Let's build each other up with our words and not tear each other down with hurtful words. 1 Thessalonians 5:11 tells us:

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.       

With all that is going on in this world with politics, Israel, Woke and our culture, we all need to be edified and lifted up verbally. We need to choose our words wisely, especially towards each other. I have tried for well over 51 years of my life in New York to not have that "New York Attitude" that is, in my opinion, obnoxious and rude. I want the words that come out of my mouth from the pulpit, at work, with friends and while I'm in the public eye to be edifying. Let that be your goal also! Don't allow your words that come out of your mouth be damaging to people. Let the words that come out of your mouth be edifying and uplifting to others!

     

HAVE AN AMAZING WEEK EVERYONE!!

     

THE POTTER & THE CLAY

 

     I have always been fascinated by the technique of making bowls and pottery out of clay. How the potter grabs a wad of clay, makes it wet, turns on his pottery wheel and starts forming whatever he wants to create on that wheel is so cool. It could be a bowl, a plate of a cup. They know exactly what they need to do to create a masterpiece. Although I might be a creative guy, I am not very talented with art. My drawings are mostly stick figures and my paintings will certainly never be displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. When I was a kid, my mom did display my artwork on the refrigerator but mostly because she knew it made me feel good! There was this one kid in high school who was an amazing artist. He was very strange and truthfully obsessed with John Lennon. he had long hair and looked like a guitarist in a rock band. I took a class in high school on filmmaking and during our class he would always be drawing something. He didn't like it if you looked at what he was drawing but, in our class, I used to sneak behind him and stare at his drawing of John Lennon. This was right after John Lennon died. He was a very talented guy and, of course, if he knew you were standing behind him staring, he always gave anyone a dirty look as if to say, "Please go away, I'm busy."  

     Whenever I would watch someone on a potter's wheel, I was always amazed how these creative geniuses knew how to create something from a lump of clay. Think about it? They would start the potter's wheel which always reminded me of a record player turntable, put some water on it, grab a wad of clay, pour water on top of the clay and then with their hands they would place them in a circle around the clay and begin forming the clay into, let's say a bowl. They would take their thumbs, press down with both thumbs in the middle of the clay to create the inside of a bowl. They had to be gentle! They might even add more water to make sure the clay does not dry up. They also have to make sure the clay is centered on the potter's wheel or the bowl they were making would become lopsided. One very important thing! When they are forming this bowl out of clay with their hands, they need to "smooth out" the sides to make sure there are no air pockets. This is important when they put their bowl in the pottery kiln which is blazing hot. They don't want their new creation to have any holes in it or fall apart in the kiln. Once it's hot and becoming hard, they want to be sure it is a useful bowl and not a waste of their time! 

     The next step is simple. Once the bowl is shaped and formed; you place the clay bowl in a pottery kiln. This kiln looks like an "old school" washing machine. The temperature is turned up to 2,300 degrees Fahrenheit. Wow, that's hot! You carefully place the clay bowl in the pottery kiln and leave it in there for 16 - 24 hours depending on what you are making and the size of your bowl. I'm sure sitting and waiting for your creation can be very frustrating, but look at the end result?

     This whole process reminds me of life. We are that lump of clay. A lump of clay is motionless and has no life. When we enter this world of ours, we, as the clay are tossed on the potter's wheel that is just spinning and spinning around in circles. We have no purpose or meaning. At least we don't realize we do at that particular time. We are trying to figure out which way is up, and which way is down. The potter comes and pours water on us because he has a job. He needs to form us and shape us. He begins by wrapping his fingers around us and he has one goal. To form us and shape us into something spectacular. While that potter's wheel spins, he is forming us and shaping us with his hands. All those sharp edges are being smoothed out in our lives. All that sin, those bad habits and those bad attitudes are being shaped and formed into something good. No, not perfect but good. Sometimes the potter is there at that wheel for quite some time. He never gives up on that clay. As long as it takes him, he is working hard to form it and shape it into an amazing creation. I guess we can all figure out that the potter is Jesus. He never gives up on us, His clay. The hard part is always the last part. Going through the fire! In pottery it is a kiln but for us it's the fires of life. The fire of family issues, finances, health, personal issues, bad habits and struggles. Those are the "fiery issues" that we face. The potter allows us to go through those hard times because we are being "refined". That of course is the process of when things are being removed. That hot temperature in the kiln is what causes the pottery bowl to look amazing. The fire we go through is what causes us to come out looking excellent. 

     It makes me think of the story in the bible of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in Daniel Chapter three. These three godly men refused to bow to a man-made idol and because they broke the law, King Nebuchadnezzar ordered that they be thrown into the Fiery Furnace. That was their punishment. He even demanded that the furnace be turned up seven times hotter! Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego never hesitated, and they stood up for what they believe in. As they were in the fiery furnace, not one thing happened to them. They were never burned or injured. Their hair was never singed nor was there any smell of smoke on them. In fact, as the King went to check on these three "radicals", he noticed a "Fourth Man" with them in the fire that appeared to be the Son of God. Just as a pottery bowl is placed in the kiln and comes out looking amazing after time, so we come out looking amazing going through the "fires of life." Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego also came out of their "fire" with no injuries or setbacks whatsoever. I'm sure King Nebuchadnezzar believed when he looked into the fiery furnace, he would see 3 men utterly destroyed. Instead, he saw a fourth person, the Son of God with them in the fire. That "fourth man" was Jesus!

     Friends, God wants to form us and shape us. It's never fun. It's never easy. This whole process of making a bowl out of clay takes time. From the pottery wheel starting, the clay being tossed on the wheel, the hands of the potter forming this bowl, the placement of the clay bowl in the kiln and then having to wait up to 24 hours to see the finished product...WOW! That is what we call a process! I think of a verse in the bible in Isaiah 64:8 -Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.     

     

     Let "The Potter" do his work in you. His ways are certainly much better than our ways!!

Let's remember! The clay starts out as an ugly wad of clay. If you put that in a kiln, it would come out all ugly and not worth looking at. "The Potter" wants to do His work! Let Him! After all, He certainly knows what He is doing much better than we do!!

HAVE A BLESSED WEEKEND EVERYONE!

  

40 YEARS: PART TWO

 

     So, to continue this story, it was now October 1984, and we had one show under our belts. We didn't travel every weekend but every so often we would go to various churches to minister to kids and families. The very next time we did go out, I woke up early that Sunday morning and took a quick shower. I noticed by my dorm room door there was a note and a set of keys. The note said "Dear Dave, I had to work security last night and I'm very tired. Here are the keys for the van with directions how to get to the church. See you later." It was signed by the director! So being the responsible assistant director I did my duty and took the lead. Our team loaded the van with our puppets, puppet stage and sound system and headed to the church we were ministering at. Being in charge of our team not only meant I had to drive the van, but it also meant I had to talk in front of people. Little people. Kids! I had to do the introductions. I didn't like that, but I was the leader, and I had to. I don't know what I said during our introductions or what I said when I introduced each skit. All I know is I made a fool out of myself. In the back of my mind, I kept saying, "this is only for one semester." Sure Dave!

     For several weeks I went through the same routine. There were keys and a note left by my dorm room door every Sunday when we had an outreach. It was apparent to me that our director was not really interested in doing this ministry or maybe going through some things. When I did confront him, he confided in my that there were things going on in his life. He did say to me, "I can see you are a great leader, and you care about people. I knew you could lead this team! You are doing a fantastic job!" I was flattered but again, I was not looking at this as "My Future Career." I will admit we did have fun as a team. The van we drove looked a lot like the Partridge Family Bus from that old classic TV show. During that semester, my fellow team members were calling me Keith Partridge since I drove the van. My friend Dean looked a lot like Ruben Kincaid, so we called him Ruben. We sang the Partridge Family theme song as we drove to our outreaches. I also remember the great times we had fellowshipping around the table during meals. After one outreach at Margy's church, we had an amazing dinner at her parents' house. After another outreach all the guys hung out at Ron's house and watched a football game together.

     I might not remember every single outreach, but I do remember a few. One outreach was at a church of a guy I met when I was a freshman. He was our school team's soccer goalie, and his name was Kevin. I also remember we are at one particular church around Halloween time. This very creepy man went up in front of the kids to announce a Halloween party the church was hosting. After his announcement, we all kind of looked at each other and said, "That was weird!" Around Thanksgiving time, we did our final show of the semester. It was on a Sunday night. This time the director of our team attended this event. He did the introductions and told me I would be introduced last. I was oblivious as to why. When it was my turn and I stuck my head up behind the puppet stage, he announced, "And now I would like to introduce the director of our team, Dave Harff!" I'm sure the look on my face was priceless. Me? The Director? He later told me that I deserved all the credit in "holding down the fort" and I deserved that recognition. That really blessed me!

     The semester was over and when I returned to college for the spring semester, I was approached once again by Sandy. This time her words were much different than they were the previous September. "How would you like to lead the puppet team this semester?" The Director of our team only attended our college for one semester and there was a need. My initial reaction was, "No! Not again! I don't know how to lead a puppet team!" I agreed and Sandy helped me out. Sandy on occasion would travel to churches herself as she was a child evangelist and a ventriloquist. She had an old style "vent figure" she used. She asked me one time to travel with her to a church as she needed a puppeteer to help her do a few songs. I will admit it was a lot of fun. I also thought her vent figure was cool. Little did I know that 16 years later I would be doing ventriloquism! It was 1985 and Sandy and I recruited our team. We only had a few people return from the fall 1984 team. I will have to say looking back we certainly had a "ragtag" team of individuals. We had every race, color and creed along with very tall people and very short people. We did a few shows that semester including traveling to my church, Smithtown Gospel Tabernacle. The dynamics of this team were very different, and I did learn a lot about leadership as well as how to be effective doing puppets. The Director wrote a nice letter of apology to me about his lack of responsibility and for "dumping the ministry" on me. Truthfully, I am eternally grateful that he did. It was God's way of showing me what He was calling me to do.

     1985 was not a good year for me. In fact, I honestly hate even writing about it. I certainly will never blog about it, trust me. The rest of that year was not good. I made some very bad decisions in my life. It came to a point where I became very ill and had to leave college during the second week of school and I had to return home. I would later discover 5 years later it was my Celiacs Disease acting up, but I believe it was God removing me from a toxic environment. The Good Lord was leading me back home. Doing puppet ministry or any kind of ministry was the last thing on my mind. Between September 1986 through March 1986, I needed to heal. I focused on getting better physically as well as spiritually. In March 1986, I attended a TNT (Twenties and Thirties) Sunday school class. It was up on the third floor and because no one had a key for the classroom, we met in a hallway. Rich, who would later become a good friend to me taught the class about missions. My heart was stirred that day. That night at an evening service I rededicated my life to the Lord! All during that week, I was feeling the urge to get involved in mission somehow. I sent away for information from a mission's organization called Operation Mobilization (or OM). The Lord was leading me to go to England that summer! One day soon, I will write a blog about that experience! After raising support, reading a lot of books I was required to read and a lot of prayer, I left for training in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on June 2, 1986, two weeks after I would graduate Bible College. I was in England for 3 months ministering to Muslims, Hindu's and Sikhs. Of course, I found myself ministering to kids but again, I still had no clue it was what God was calling me to do. Our team had the amazing opportunity to into schools and share. The principal told us "Talk to the students about whatever you want!" You would never hear that in America! For whatever reason, I was always the guy doing "Fun kid songs" and as we walked the streets of the city we were ministering in, Bradford England, many kids recognized me and my team members. 

     When I returned from England all excited about serving God as a missionary, God had other plans. I took a job working at my church as a custodian working the 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. shift. I hated it, but it was a job. I wanted to get back involved in church ministry, so I asked our youth pastor if I could volunteer. He was excited and said yes. I was always told that if you want to move up in any ministry position, you always start in youth ministry. I did it for maybe 6 months including helping at a Winter Retreat but to be honest, it wasn't my "thing." In January 1987, I wanted to possibly teach a youth group Sunday school class. I asked the Sunday School Superintendent if I could teach the youth and she said, "Well actually, we don't have a need there. We do have a need with the 4-year-olds!" "The 4-year-olds? Me?" I agreed and signed up as a teacher. I had no training and was not told I would be trained. That bothered me and years later, I reinforced that. Let's just say I was not great but did my best. I had to remind myself these kids were 4 not 14. 

     Soon after that, one of our Pastors, Pastor Greco heard through the grapevine that I was a puppeteer in college. He wanted to know if I would "help out" at a newly formed "Puppet Ministry." He said to me, "Maybe you can share your expertise!" Expertise? I don't think so. After much thought and prayer, I told him I would be glad to "help out." Famous last words! I met with the director, a lady by the name of Ann DiSanza who was very excited about me joining the team. There were only a few puppeteers involved and we were asked to do a play for the Children's Church. It was the very Sunday the Giants were playing the Broncos in Super Bowl 21, so we did a show Ann had found that had a Super Bowl theme. All the puppets we used were made by team members, but we were happy to be able to put on a show for the kids. It's so hard to believe that any 5-year- old at that show is now 42 years old! The following two months were very crucial in my life. In February, Ann was being asked to take over as the Sunday school Superintendent, so she approached me about "taking over the ministry!" NOT AGAIN! That's how God works. I agreed and our team did shows once a month in Children's Church. Oh and by the way, my career as a youth worker ended. The youth pastor understood. We served together on staff at my church for 5 years! 

     That spring, Pastor Greco as well as the Sunday School Superintendent, Judy asked if I would be willing to be a "costume character" for Sunday school. It was a curriculum about growing in the Lord and what happens when you plant seeds. They needed someone to be a farmer character called "Freddie the Farmer." I agreed and truthfully, I had so much fun doing it. Of course, walking through the lobby of the church on Sundays and throughout the week, many kids would yell "Mommy, that's Freddie the Farmer!" I jokingly told them he was my twin brother!

     That summer we called our puppet team "The Good News Gospel Theater" and I began writing many new puppet scripts. I also was able to inherit the very puppets I used at college. I won't bore you with the rest of the story but let's just say I have been in children's ministry for 40 years. In those 40 years I have had the privilege of being a children's pastor for 25 years. I am now a child evangelist as well and a ventriloquist. I have well over 16 "figures" that I use. It has always been my dream to one day write, direct and produce my own Christian kids show that features puppets and costume characters. I am thinking of starting it out on YouTube. We shall see. Thank you for reading and allowing me to reminisce about something incredible that took place in my life 40 years ago. 1984-1987! My humble beginnings! 

HAVE A BLESSED WEEK EVERYONE!!

     

  

40 YEARS: PART ONE

 

     It was July 1984. I just bought a new used car. A 1972 Pontiac Ventura that was green. For the past three summers I worked at Sunken Meadow State Park. My first 2 1/2 years I was a garbage man but midway through the summer I became a supervisor for the paint crew! It was an awesome summer job mainly because I got to work outdoors and get a great tan. Sunken Meadow is just that! A sunken meadow where, as you enter the park from the Sunken Meadow Parkway, you are heading north straight down a hill towards the beach. On a clear day, you can actually see Connecticut but again, it had to be a clear day! That particular State Park had a nickname "Sunken Ghetto" mainly because busloads of people from New York City would picnic there. It was like the United Nations. To be quite honest, I saw a lot of interesting "things" being barbecued! 

     On that particular day, after working an 8-hour shift, I was happy to be going home. It was just starting to get dark and in my rearview mirror you could see the Long Island Sound and lights flickering along the shores of Connecticut. It was a beautiful night. As I turned onto 25A heading east, I prayed a simple prayer. "Hey, God? What do you have in store for me in the future? What will I be doing when I'm in fulltime ministry? Where are you leading me, Lord?" I was all of 20 years old and still learning good ole "life lessons" as well as learning what the "School of Hard Knocks" was all about. 

     About a month and a half later, I headed back to my college, Northeastern Bible College in New Jersey anticipating my third year as a student. I was very happy to be driving my very own car back to school. No more having to borrow my various friend's car. I had my own set of wheels! Little did I know that God was doing a work in me, but my 20-year-old brain had no clue what it was. Life was good, but God was leading me into something I never ever thought of doing or truthfully ever wanted to do. Children's Ministry!  

     It was September 1984, and the semester was just beginning. Every student had a requirement to fulfill called "Christian Service." We had to choose an outside activity in ministry to volunteer in during the entire semester to get credit. It could either be teaching Sunday School, helping in a youth ministry, doing evangelism or even being an assistant pastor of a church. In the previous semesters, I helped assist an assistant pastor in North Caldwell, NJ at a church called "The Alliance Church." He helped me learn "Evangelism Explosion" for the entire year as well as do visitation of hurting and sick church members. My first year as a freshman I did door to door evangelism, but I was not too keen on knocking on stranger's doors. The Assistant Pastors name was Drew and as I returned to his church, I discovered the church hired a new Senior Pastor and Drew was looking elsewhere for a new position. He felt the Lord leading him to a new church and did not want to get in the way of the new pastor. So doing visitation with him was out for that semester. I didn't feel lead to work in a youth group and I certainly and most definitely did not want to work with children. I was running out of options. I even looked at working at a Rescue Mission but that fell through. 

     

     During one particular lunch break, I sat at a table with a friend of mine, Sandy Thomas who had graduated I believe in 1983 but was working at the school. I told her about my dilemma and my frustration with trying to find a "Christian Service Project." As we were eating, Sandy smiled at me and said, "I have a solution for you! We are starting a new Puppet Ministry Team. Why don't you sign up for that?" Puppets? Me. I had only known about puppets from watching Sesame Street as a kid with Oscar the Grouch, watching "Captain Kangaroo" as a kid and in later years watching "The Muppet Show" as well as (dare I admit it) watching "The Uncle Floyd Show" with my brother on UHF right before dinner on weekdays. I told Sandy flat out "But I really don't like kids." She said, "Well, you don't have many other options." Then she said the very words that echo in my mind to this day. "Just do it for one semester. You will never have to ever do it again!" I guess that one semester has been 40 plus years!

            

     It is true. As a 20-year-old I was not fond of kids. I thought God put them on this planet to annoy people and disturb the adult service. I had a bad experience that year before when I was asked to be in an Alumni parade at my college. I was dressed up as a clown with face paint and a colorful wig. I had to hold the hand of a little boy who also was wearing face paint. We were marching in an extremely fast Homecoming Parade. I was wearing a white button-down shirt. A we were walking in this parade, the little boy discovered that when he rubbed the face paint from his nose to the sleeve of my white shirt, it was making my sleeve change colors. He was destroying my shirt. I will never forget walking down the street with another clown, whose child was behaving by the way. All the alumni parents were taking pictures of their kids. I was trying to get this kid to stop destroying my shirt by trying to "shake him off." Needless to say, that shirt was ruined (may it rest in peace). Also, during a late- night conversation with my roommate Frank, we were discussing where we wanted to be ten years down the road as far as being in fulltime ministry. Frank wanted to be a pastor, but I told him, "Let me tell you what I DON'T want to do. I don't want to live on Long Island, and I don't want to work with children!" Now I say, "I don't want to go to Hawaii!" but it never seems to work!

     I eventually took Sandy's advice, I gave in and joined this newly formed puppet team. Afterall, it would only be for one semester. Sure Dave! In order to protect the brother in the Lord who was the director, I will not disclose his name. I did have a few friends on this puppet team. My friends Dean and Ron, this girl Lisa who I knew from Youth Group and Margy, who I found out passed away at a young age. If you are reading this and you were on this team and I forgot you, please remember, this was 40 years ago. I don't even remember what I had for breakfast this morning! I walked into the first practice we had with the attitude "Let's just do this and get it over with." the director taught us the basics of puppetry. "You don't flip your lid. You don't bite your words!" I would teach this concept years later! Apparently, the director was on a puppet team in his home church and wanted to bring this talent to our college. At the end of our second rehearsal the director approached me before I headed out and said to me, "Hey Dave! You are a very good puppeteer. I need an Assistant Director. Are you interested?" My initial reaction was "I'm a good puppeteer? Really?" I knew deep down I was very creative but me? Doing puppets? I told him, "Sure, I would love to be the Assistant Director." Little did I know what would be next and what was in store for me in the fall of 1984.

     Everything we did was all on a cassette tape. I happened to be working security at the time for my college and the director was also a security guard. Our campus was very small and truthfully, their was not a whole lot to watch and secure! We worked an overnight shift one night and he brought his boombox to the front desk. He told me the songs we would be doing as well as two puppet skits all on cassette tape. There were no iPod's in 1984! It made sense since trying to give every puppeteer a microphone would be a challenge. Our Puppet team was called "The New Life Puppeteers" with our opening song being "New Life in Jesus" as well as 2 other songs called "Kid Talk" and "The Laughing Song." The 2 puppet skits we did were "Daniel in the Lion's Den" and "Saved in Silver City." Quite honestly there might have been others but that's what I do remember! I will admit that I did think it was cool how God could use this creative method to reach kids and families. I will also admit I was excited about going out to do this ministry. I did not once at that point in my life think it would be the ministry God was calling me to. 

     We did our first ever program on the Sunday before Columbus Day. Our college had a Fall break so instead of heading home that Saturday, we all loaded our college's van and did a program at a local church. The director would go out front of the church and introduce our team to them. When he said our name, we would stick our heads up and wave "hello." I can't say we were ready for "America's Got Talent", but we all did our best. After the program, I drove home and enjoyed a quick break from college. Even my own parents were shocked that I was on this new puppet team but like I told them, "It's only for one semester." Sure Dave.

     What transpired in the next two months was not only a "shaking my head" moment for me as a college student, but it was God's way of telling me he had something big for me to do in the future. As a 20 year-old kid, I had no clue what was going on.

This blog is getting long, so I will write Part Two next and let you all know the rest of this crazy story. Same Bat Time! Same Bat Channel!

HAVE A GREAT WEEK EVERYONE!!