Stronghold

Another entry into the d$'s Random Emails of Encouragement series...

I'm working on my Disney blog, telling a few stories of note, but this afternoon, I kinda (re)stumbled onto this via the iPod.  After listening to the song for like, four times in a row, noticing it was getting a bit dusty in the room, I thought it might be good reading for you, Coffee Drinker.  Perhaps someone out there might get some use out of it. 

The band Watermark is one of the Top Five most influential artists of my lifetime.  The lyrics of Nathan Nockel and the voice of his wife Christy have done so much to my Spiritual Walk that I was brokenhearted when they announced their breakup.  In fact, the track "Welcome to Delaware" is not only the title of the soon-to-be-never-forthcoming soundtrack to my own life, but thoughts of changing this site to be called "Welcome to Delaware" have crossed my mind... but its too complicated to do so.  Anyway, Watermark, you are missed. (I have Christy Nockel's solo CD, its just not the same..)

If I’m not mistaken, this was written for Laura DeGarmo, a friend of mine who is now in Nashville. Her cousin is actually Diana DeGarmo of American Idol fame, and her uncle is the DeGarmo of DeGarmo and Key (for you old-schoolers out there). I’m guessing if your name is DeGarmo, somehow you are a) musically inclined and b) related to Laura.  


Stronghold
This one is for my dear friend who needed a Stronghold last night…

One of my all time favorite movies is A Few Good Men. No sex, not a whole lot of language, only a few f-bombs, violence is minimal… featuring stellar performances from Tom Cruise, Demi Moore, Jack Nicholson and of course, Kevin Pollak, one of the truly great “That Guys”. (That Guy is a one of those actors or actresses in movies you see all the time but you don’t know who they are… That Guy Hall of Fame would include William H. Macy, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Philip Baker Hall, Don Cheadle and my favorite, Joe Pantoliano… you may not know any names, but you’d see them and say “Oh, That Guy!”… wait, I’m babbling)

Sidebar: Okay, so the most famous part of the A Few Good Men is Jack Nicholson’s “you can’t handle the truth” speech. Remember that one? Daniel Kaffee (Tom Cruise) asks him about the incident, and Col. Jessep (Jack) says, “You want the truth?” and Kaffee says, “I want answers!” and Jessep says, “You want the truth?” and Kaffee says, “I think I’m entitled to it!” and then Jessep yells, “You can’t handle the truth!” and the proceeds to rant on about “we use words like honor, code, loyalty, we use those words as the backbone of a lifetime spent defending something, you use them as a punch line… who’s gonna do it? You? You, Lt. Weinberg?... I’d rather you say thank you and be on your way, either way, I don’t give a darn to what you think you are entitled to…” After that incredible, powerful speech, you would think Kaffee would address it. No, he just skips it. His next question is, “Did you order the code red? “ After all that talking from Jessep, it could have been left out entirely, and it wouldn’t have mattered, because Kaffee’s line of questioning had nothing to do with his speech. Amazing.

  (warning, you might find these Non Emmy Turnbow Safe:  one illegitimate child reference, one d-word, one GD, and its on DIVX...)
Back to the point…

In this movie, two Marines are charged with the murder of a fellow Marine, a weaker guy who no one liked. Defending them is amateur lawyer Daniel Kaffee, and his partners are Lt. Sam Weinberg and Lt. Com. Jo Anne Galloway. There is a scene where Kaffee, Weinberg (Pollak) and Galloway (Moore) are standing in the courtroom, and Galloway asks Lt. Weinberg why he hates the defendants. He replies, “Because they picked on the little guy. They killed him. Why? Cause he couldn’t run fast.” Then he asks Galloway, “Why do you like them so much?”

“Because they stand on a wall. They say you can sleep tonight, because no one will harm you… not on my watch.”

That’s a powerful line. To know that someone is standing over you, saying, “It’s okay, you can relax. Nothing is going to harm you. Not while I’m here. Nothing.”

And it’s that way with God. He stands firm in front of us, and declares, “Child, no harm will come to you. Not while I’m here. Not on my watch.” And the most awesome, comforting thing to know is that, it’s always His watch. He’s always there. It’s not as if He’s going to go on break, so we have a few minutes we have to worry, until He comes back… He stands there like an ironclad Warrior and says, “I dare anything to come against you.”

Of course, things do come. He sometimes lets things go by Him. He allows things to happen to us because He knows it will glorify Himself in the long run… but those things go by with His knowledge. They don’t slip past Him undetected, where they can destroy us without Him even knowing about it. He stands and sometimes allows things to come, but then cautions those things, saying, “Don’t get cocky… I will protect my child.”

During worship, I often scribble in my notebook just whatever is in my head. Sometimes it’s the beginning of an encouragement that I feel I should write later, sometimes its just a thought I think I should remember later, sometimes its just whatever… last night it was a song lyric. There is a song by Watermark called Stronghold, and I began to write down the chorus…

Oh Lord, You’re my protection from my enemies
You set my high upon the rock and defend my soul
When their waves advance against me I am confident
They cannot make me less for You have made me whole
You are my Stronghold


You are my Stronghold

Then I began to realize how powerful this is… He is our stronghold. Stronghold. Two words, one meaning strength, power, might, the other meaning grasp, grip… Stronghold.

God then gave me a name to share this chorus with, so I did. She asked me to write it down for her, and I did. Some time later, I glanced over at her, and noticed she sat, notebook in hand, just stared at the words that I had written on the page. It was as if she were soaking it in, telling herself over and over that she had a Stronghold… reminding herself of that very fact. And the cool thing is we both have Strongholds in God. He is a rock that is our protection from all enemies. When the enemies advance, threatening to tear us down, they may succeed… but only with provision from the Stronghold.

There are some reading this that are being torn down right now. They are falling apart, no matter how great they look on the outside, on the inside they are in tatters, in pieces, in doubt that God is even listening to them… they know God listens to them, but only because its been drilled in their head from a lifetime of church, not because of recent experience. You feel sick, you feel weary, you feel disappointing, you feel that by now you should be so far ahead spiritually than where you are, but yet, you aren’t… Right now, you may feel less than worthy, right now you may feel less than anything God wants of His children…

But no matter what the enemy does to us, they cannot make us less than what we are, and that is complete in Christ. As a Christ-follower, we have been made whole in Him, and that cannot be taken away, no matter what is done to us, no matter how hard we crash on our knees, no matter what presses us… He has made us whole. He is your Stronghold. He has promised to make us everything we are to be. He is your Stronghold. He has promised to lift us up, He has promised to hug us, hold us, allow us to crawl in His lap, rest our head on His chest and just be. He is your Stronghold. His hug, his embrace is unlike that of anything that will ever diminish, unlike that of anything that is less than forever… for He is our Stronghold. He is your Stronghold. Our Father is so powerful, powerful enough to obliterate those that would hurt His children, gentle enough to calm us with a touch when we feel obliterated. He is our Stronghold.


Lord, You are my Light and my Salvation
Whom shall I fear if You are near?
Lord, You are my peace when there is war all around me
Even here inside me I will have no fear

Lord, You are my strength so let my head be lifted up
So that I may glory in the ways You’ve overcome
Lord, You are my hope, cause You created in me
A heart that lives the victory that You’ve already won

Oh Lord, You’re my protection from my enemies
You set me high upon the rock and You defend my soul
When their waves advance against me I am confident
That they cannot make me less for You have made me whole
You are my Stronghold, You are my Stronghold

A heart that lives the victory that You’ve already won. I just wiped a tear from my eyes as I read that line… A Victory You’ve Already Won. Wow. My Stronghold.

The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life, of whom shall I be afraid? When evil men advance against me to devour my flesh, when my enemies and my foes attack me, they will stumble and fall. Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear, though war break out against me, even then I will be confident.

For in the day of trouble, he will keep me safe in his dwelling, he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock. Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me. Psalm 27: 1-3, 5-6

Written July 9th, 2002

The Prayer of Chantal

Another entry into d$'s Random Emails of Encouragement Series...

This morning at KidStuf, my character (Marshall) was learning how to say "Merry Christmas" in different languages... this included Milad Majid (Arabic). Feliz Navidad (Argentine). God Jul (Norwegian). Bo Nada (Galician). Sretan Bozic (Croatian)... and it made me think about God's love, and how it translates to all languages... which made me think about this, written on June 11th, 2002.  Chantal is gone, I haven’t heard nary a word from her since she left for Pretoria, South Africa, a few years back. That makes me sad, because her accent… whew.

The Prayer of Chantal

It never sunk in how much I Americanized my God until last night.

Chantal Els is an au pair (fancy word for Nanny) from Pretoria, South Africa. She's been in this country since last summer, and though I haven't spent as much time with her as I would have liked to, I've gotten to talk to her a lot in the last 12 months. For that, I'm thankful. She's 20, maybe 21, short blond hair, big smile, and of course, an accent that can make you swoon. And her love of Christ and how much it’s grown in the last year is so evident... this isn't an email to glorify Chantal, though, this is an email to glorify God in what He's doing in her. Meeting her back then and talking to her now, there is a huge difference.

Many, many months ago, Chantal and I were having a conversation about prayer, and she mentioned how she really wanted to pray in her language, which is Afrikaan. I asked her why she hadn't done it, and she said she didn't know how anyone would feel about it. I told her I thought the group would be totally receptive, plus, she wasn't speaking to us anyway, so what did it matter what we thought? God would know.

So, last night at Sybil's, during prayer, I hear Amy Vos pray... and Sarah Hasha pray... and Drew Morris pray... and out of nowhere, is this accented voice in the back. And she's saying things that I would have no idea how to even repeat, much less understand. It was Chantal, praying in her native language. Apparently, she prayed for friends, because I managed to pick out "Josh", "James", "Meredith" and "Jimmy", with dialect in between. I didn't understand a word of it. But it hit me... God did. And He loved every word.

Then I began to think about how Americanized my God is to me. My God knows English. My God lives here in town. My God knows words like "y'all", "Coke", "possum", "sweet tea" and "Peachtree Street". At least He'd better know them... I've used all of these terms in conversation, sometimes in prayer. Though it seems like common sense, really, I never thought about the fact that my God also knows French. And Filipino Sign Language. And Bengali. And Sanskrit. And Portuguese. And Russian. And Zulu. And, of course, Afrikaan.

Even more than that... He SPEAKS these languages. He's not flipping through an "English to Whatever Language" dictionary to reveal Himself to people around the world... He's not speaking extra slow so that kid in Nigeria who barely knows English will understand Him. He is powerful enough to hear and speak the words of His children, from all races, from all countries. Heck, American English isn't even the original language of the Bible, and yet sometimes in my small mind, all I know is a Savior who speaks only southern dialect. Thank God He's bigger than that.

You and I hear God saying, "I love you".
The French hear God saying, "Je t'aime".
The Saudis hear God saying, “I love you”
The Icelanders hear God saying, "Eg elskta thig."
The Navaho hear God saying, "Ayor anosh'ni"
The Welsh hear God saying, "Rwy'n dy garu di."
The Malaysian hear God saying, "Saya cintamu".
And Chantal hears God saying, "Ek's lief vir jou."

Afterwards, Chantal and I sat and talked on the Common Ground couch, and she told me she'd been wanting to pray out loud like that for so long, but she never could... but finally, the words just came. Not only did God understand what she was saying, He was longing for her to say it to Him! He was urging her to speak, to call out to Him, until finally, she couldn't hold it in anymore, and not only was God pleased as His daughter spoke to Him in love, the rest of the room was totally encouraged and blessed.

Anyway, this whole email is just to remind you of how big our God is... how awesome He is... and how much He understands that we never will. Thank you God for a friend like Chantal, and using her to remind me of your wisdom over everything, every language, every voice. The next time you think God does not understand you, know that He not only understands what you are saying, He understands what everyone is saying.

Romeine 3:23... Almal het gesondig en is ver van God af kyk na uself aanmoedig,

ps... I used an English/Afrikaan translator, so there is no need to email me back and tell me how I goofed up in spelling and writing. =)

Four Stories and a Crossing of Paths

To read The Encouragement Beginning, the intro to this series, click here.

“Four Stories...” is probably one of my top two or three favorites that I’ve written. My friend Amy had just come back into my life after our friendship had taken a year long hiatus, and I had no idea what God was up to. However, with our friendship being rekindled, it reminded me of God’s plan and purpose, His infinite tapestry that He weaves. So as a gift to her, I sat down and let God write the encouragement I’m sure He planned four thousand years ago to write on this day in 2000. (Introduction from "The Crucifixion Lifestyle: Random Emails of Encouragement Volume II")

FOUR STORIES & A CROSSING OF PATHS

I have a couple of stories to tell you, so bear with me.

Story #1
About three million years ago, God placed a rock on the side of a mountain. It wasn't a very big rock, about six or seven inches around, not very high. That rock stayed in place, half embedded in the Earth, half not, for millions of years, as houses, grass and settlements went up around it. The rock remained, until...

Story #2
A young man was cleaning out some thick brush by a small creek. The man who owned this land had hired the youngster to take his blade and cut the briars away. Wearing rags around his hands to prevent nicks and cuts, he picked up the briars to take them to his cart, where he would go on to haul them away to be burned later. He piled the brush high and then patted his donkey as a signal to begin pulling the cart away. About four miles down the road, the cart hit a rock embedded in the road, one that had been in the ground for millions of years. The cart jumped a little, but not enough for the man to be concerned to stop his donkey. It was, however, just enough to knock a couple of fresh briar stems and brush onto the grass. The fresh stem lay there on the grass, soon taking root. Years later, it grew into a thick patch of briars and brush, a patch that remained mostly untouched until...

Story #3
A rabbit sat beside a little spring, nibbling on leaves as rabbits do. The bunny had been relaxing most of the day, when to her surprise, a ram came into the clearing. Not knowing if the ram was friendly or foe, the rabbit decided it would be best to move to another dinner location. The ram saw the white rabbit taking off, and in an instant, decided to give playful chase. Over the spring and through a little patch of woods they went, until the rabbit came into another clearing, this one by a road. Coming down the road was a human, carrying what looked to be another human. Rather than run towards the human, the rabbit decided not to chance it, turning toward a briar patch that had grown quite large over the last few years. The ram entered the clearing, still giving playful chase, and charged at the rabbit. The rabbit darted into the brush, and the ram, suddenly realizing he couldn't stop fast enough, skidded into the briars. Puzzled at first, the ram tried to pull away, only to realize his horns were caught in the thick briars. Panicked and desperate, the more the ram fought the briars, the more tangled his horns became.

Story #4
Abraham carried his son to the altar. It pained him to do what he was about to do, and he didn't understand any of it. All he knew was that God was expecting a sacrifice, and He had asked that it be Abraham's son. As Abraham lifted his knife to kill his son, an angel appeared, stopping him. "Don't do it!" the angel cried. "Look in the clearing! There is a ram caught in the briars. There is your sacrifice."

I haven't a clue of the validity of the first 3 stories, I can only vouch for the 4th, as the Bible tells us its true. The Bible doesn't give us insight to the events leading the ram to be caught at that exact place and time, and it doesn't really have to. What I do know is that God controls everything, and He does it with unexplainable sovereignty. For everything that happens in His perfect will, He had a plan to make it happen. God could have just snapped his fingers and BOOM, there is a brush patch, and POW, there is a ram in the brushes, but I just don't think so. I think He had a plan to get that animal there at just the right time. Who knows, He could have very well placed a rock in the side of a mountain, knowing that millions of our years later He knew that in time, it would lead to a chain of events that would test a great Biblical leader and encourage millions of His children to follow.

This piece was inspired by a friend of mine who is going through a rough time of it right now, but through everything, she keeps telling herself--and reminding me--of the all knowing sovereignty of the Father.

I have come to recognize that He doesn't just say "this is going to happen" and then leave it to chance. He says, "This is going to happen and it will happen because I've been planning it since before you knew the concept of your human time." We forget so easily that He knows the numbers of hairs on your head and any God that knows that much about us must have a plan for our lives. And not only for our future, but for the present.

Just thinking about this makes me excited... its so important to realize that the Christ-Following Life isn't a chance happening, its God's Will in action! It's God's plan happening all around us as we speak, as you read, as I type this! Right now, there is something or someone God has set in motion before the beginning of time that will end up crossing your path tomorrow to help fulfill His will for you and for His Glory.

He knows who needs to cross your path at what time in your life, and He knows how to get that person there. He knows what paths you need to cross for someone else and He knows how to get you there. There is a book out there called "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff", and I agree. You shouldn't "sweat" the small stuff, because God has it taken care of... but taking that idea further, know that God is all in the small stuff. Big Guy is all about some details.

I look forward to some path finding.

--written October 18th, 2000, #37 in series.

The Encouragement Beginning

Way back in the day, I used to write stuff called "Dave's Random Emails of Encouragement". From 1999 to 2002, I wrote well over 100 essays, stories and short pieces about... well, things that happened in my life that gave me encouragement, and I wanted to pass those things along to other people. In its heyday, I had 125+ people on my email list, and over the course of those years, I would get tons of responses from people telling me they understood, or they felt the same way, or they needed to hear it, and yes, the occasional "dude... shut up."

I even semi-published... well, not really published, but printed out, gave small intros to each one, and put them in a 3 volume set that I gave copies to to a few people (I think McQ got a set, but beyond that, I have no clue).

Here's what I wrote at the beginning of Volume One:

There was Allyson Guy, Amy Alexander, Amy Valdmanis and Amy Worthy. There was Beth Sentell, Daina Richards, Hillary Kelly and Rebecca Glassco. There was Lara Smith, Mary Ann Crittenden, Misty Estes, Nathan Tutor, Shelby Logan, Stephanie Nipp, Sybil Johnson and Tad Roose. There was Tom Johnson, Ty Coffey, Wendy Brobst, Sharon Dobbins, Julie Haynes, Meredith Brazzell and Melanie Jackson. Kay Nichols. Jeff Herring. Chris Fulaytar. Alyssa Guy. Season Chappell. Amy Wible. They were there in the beginning.

September 1999, I wrote up an email called “Stephen”, because I had heard a guy by the name of EJ Smith speak at this Bible Study I had been attending for about two months at this lady named Sybil Johnson’s house. I thought EJ’s lesson was cool, and I wanted to share it with some of my friends. I got lots of response to it, and a few weeks later, I wrote another essay and mailed it out, adding a few more names to the email list upon request. So, from then, every time I went to a Bible Study, retreat, conference, Church service, or if God just taught me something cool, I began to share it over email. The first several emails were adapted from other essays, I just transferred the message from the original author to you, but as God began to mature me in Him, suddenly I found my own words... well, words inspired from God, not from other authors. I used other works to base my essays on, particularly songs, but I love to do my own personal take on the meaning of those songs.

Where is all this going? Well, I figure if I've got a blogsite, and its my words and writing, what a great way to share--actually, in September of 2005, when I was still unsure of what I was even doing (and sometimes I still don't know... ha!) I posted the first Email of Encouragement I'd ever written, as mentioned above.

Now, after all this time, I think its time to post them again, to let you, the Coffee Drinkers, read them, or re-read them, and maybe get a little encouragement of your own.

The 100 Coolest Things of 2008... 30 thru 21

So, if you are on Facebook, the numerous videos are not going to show up. Click on over to Clouds in My Coffee, then bookmark the page. Then check it daily. You never know what might pop up.

The Introduction and Recap
The 100th thru 91st Coolest Things of 2008
The 90th thru 81st Coolest Things of 2008
The 80th thru 71st Coolest Things of 2008
The 70th thru 61st Coolest Things of 2008
The 60th thru 51st Coolest Things of 2008
The 50th thru 41st Coolest Things of 2008
The 40th thru 31st Coolest Things of 2008

30. The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
As this movie approached, I heard lots and lots of people, mostly churchy folk and older friends of mine, excited about seeing it. I, however, didn't care. Seriously. I went to see "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe", and it was great. This one, though, I wasn't too excited about.

So, when it was released, I went to see it which I probably wouldn't have done unless it was with a group. And... I loved it. I absolutely loved it. "Prince Caspian" is an amazing film... its full of the action that the first one had, its got a great story line (I believe it combines a couple of the Narnia books) and who knew that Susan Pevensie would get so hot?



The first 9 minutes of the film, courtesy of YouTube.

Unfortunately, I think a lot of people felt like I did about the movie, at least initially, but they never went to see it. Made for about $180 million, it only brought in about $135. The differential was great enough that Disney took a step back, reviewed the deal and decided they were done with Narnia movies. Walden Media has been shopping around for a deal to make the next one, though nothing has been settled.


I have this button on my facebook page, somewhere, with Anna Popplewell's picture on it, and the caption reads "Archers Are Hot!".

That's right, Disney. Get rid of great family fare like Narnia, so hopefully we can have Space Buddies 2, or perhaps Bevery Hills Chihuahua 2: Chihuahuaier.

29. Samantha Brown
I am all about me some Samantha Brown. She's one of the hosts on TLC, and typically the only reason I watch TLC. Usually when I'm flipping channels, I check the programs on several different ones, and if Samantha Brown is on TLC, that's where I go.



Right now, I'm watching her on "Passports to Great Weekends" where she's in Austin, TX. Up next, she'll be in Cabo, and you know that means? Samantha Brown in a swimsuit. Um, I mean, uh, it means we'll see the beautiful landscape that God has created and... well...

She's got a job that I can only envy. She gets paid to travel the world, spending days, nights and weekends in places like Rio, Boston, Berlin, Wyoming and everywhere in between, plus, she's done at least half a dozen Disney specials. Two words: Dream. Job.



Here's a video combining three of my favorite things not named The Lovely Steph Leann... Disney World and Samantha Brown and Christmas!

Anyway, I'm hoping one day she'll do "Passports to Great Weekend: The Cabana".

28. My Nintendo DS
My Christmas list wasn't extremely long, at least by other years standards, but on my list was a Nintendo DS, a small handheld game system. I wanted to have this with me to help pass the time when I'm... waiting in a lobby for my/her car to be fixed... waiting in traffic with the prospects of going nowhere... sitting in the back seat on a long car trip... sitting in a cramped airplane seat on a long flight... wherever I might need to pass the time.

I'm a natural fidgeter. I cannot just sit still, unlike The Lovely Steph Leann, who, if she has a book, she can actually be motionless for up to 38 hours, with only her fingers turning a page every few minutes. Its almost scary.

Anyway, imagine my happiness to peel back some wrapping paper and see the logo for Nintendo. Its bright blue, in a carrying case that looks like a purse, and came with the game Brain Age. My first Brain Age? 72. However, a day later, I got down to 33, so I chalk up that first one as an anomaly of not knowing exactly what I was doing. Currently, my brain is 21 years old, and getting younger. I rule.

27. Getting a Wii
After we moved in The Cabana, I asked The Lovely Steph Leann if we could get a Wii. After all, she got furniture, she got to paint, she got shutters--and while she'll say, "We both got those things!" you understand that as a guy, I'm not fazed either way. So, she relented, and the hunt for a Wii was on.

I went to Wal-Mart around midnight one night, knowing this was the time to get them. They had been delivered the night before, and sold out. There was a worker though who told me that there was a guy who worked there who had a Wii, practically new, and five games to go with it, and was on sale for $350. She gave me his number.

The next day--well, actually, about 12 hours later on that same Saturday--I called up J Rob and asked if he wanted to join me. He did, so J Rob and I called this guy and we agreed to meet him in a Wal-Mart parking lot to view his merchandise. I felt like I was on a drug deal.

We did meet him. The old guy rolled up in a beat up pick up truck, and seeing a modern device like a Wii in a truck like that, in the possession of a guy like that, would be like watching your mom on Facebook--its just weird. J Rob gave good advice, being a Wii owner himself. The guy had all the necessary cords and such, and the games, though none struck my interest, could be sold for extra money. I told the guy we'd let him know, so J Rob and I began to tour Targets, Best Buys, Circuit Citys and Wal-Marts all over Birmingham.

We even visited the mall's game stores, and we were given the same response at all the above places... "You won't find one."

I finally called the guy, left a message and said, "I've made a decision. Call me back."

J Rob had mentioned that it was getting later in the afternoon, and his woman, KT, was expecting him home, so I said, "Let's go to Game Stop here, by Target, then I'll take you back." He said he was going to wait in the car and make a quick phone call, so I went into Game Stop and asked the question, "Do you have a Wii?". As I asked the question, I was already turning around, ready to leave, knowing the answer was "no."

"Yeah, we have two."

WHAT????

I froze, then finally said, "Hold one for me, for the next twenty seconds." I dashed outside, knocked on the window to get J Rob's attention, and when he looked at me, I exclaimed, "They've got a Wii!" Quickly, the decision was made to purchase the brand new one, not the one from the Old Guy at Wal-Mart, and we were both ecstatic. I purchased the system, an extra controller, a couple of games and went home to play my little games. It ruled.

26. Rick Burgess
I received a phone call last January from The Rev'rn Ty Coffey. He informed me that Speedy, the producer from the Rick & Bubba Radio Show, went to his church, and had called him earlier to tell him that Bronner, the toddler son of Rick--half of the Rick & Bubba show hosts--had just died in a terrible drowning accident in their pool.

What followed in the days to come was one of the most amazing displays of faith I've ever seen.

The show the next day, and several days after, was very subdued. They took callers who shared their sympathy and cried along with Bubba and Speedy, while they talked to Rick a few times here and there. It was just... surreal... when James Spann, noted weatherman here in Birmingham, was on the air and broke down in tears on the show.

And after all this, here's where the "cool" part came in. The faith gloves came off. Instead of Rick and his family asking, "Why us, God? Why did you do this to us?" they completely turned it around. Rick began to speak openly--even more openly--about his own faith in Jesus Christ. He began to challenge every Christ Follower out there to be more visible in their faith, and essentially told those who sit and whine "Is there really a God? If there is, He doesn't love me because this happened!" to sit and shut up. It was awesome.

It was revealed that the guy who put in the pool was a Christ Follower (he called in, also in tears) and the Burgess family had prayed with him that the pool would be used for God's glory, not just for a good time. And who knew that this is what would happen.


Rick, speaking at Bronner's memorial service. You can see part two here, and part three here. Don't watch any of this unless you want to be challenged.

Bronner's death is a tragedy. However, what The Enemy thinks is going to be bad is always turned around for God's glory--and this case is no different. Thousands of people heard the message of Christ, thousands more were challenged in their faith and really, its about as cool as you get.

25. Melanie Zarzaur
Melanie is a local mom of three, married for 20 years to a CPA, living in a humble home in Hoover. I met Melanie when she was a customer at Cahaba Heights Starbucks (grande raspberry white mocha) and we became friends. I told her all about The Lovely Steph Leann, my love of Disney, and life at Starbucks, I learned about her family, her kids and so on.

A year later, in the middle of 2008, I was considering leaving Starbucks. I called a few people to get their perspectives on things--she was one I called. I finally left to go to The Happiest Place in the Mall, and later on, I got her a job there. It was great--I had already gotten Jennifer Smith hired, as my plan was to hire all my friends there, so in case I wanted to stage a coup, I would have loyalists.

Melanie also joined the Starbucks team down at the 280/119 store, so that gave us two jobs in common. I enjoy chatting with this chick, and we became good buddies, sharing two working fields. Anyway, I think she's great. So, she's on the coolest list.

24. Survivor: Fans vs Favorites.
Several years ago, "Survivor" did an "All Star" edition... favorite castaways came back to go one-on-one, including Bahstan Rob, Amber, Jerri, Rupert, Ethan and so on. It made for an excellent season, which can't be said for many seasons--like the most recent edition, in Gabon, Africa. I actually just woke up from that. The fact that it had the hottest Survivor--Sugar--since Elisabeth in Season 2's Outback only mildly helped.

Anyway, in early 2008, we had "Fans vs Favorites", which brought back Jonny Fairplay, Yau-Man, Ami the Lesbian Barista (also very hot), Penner, Ozzy, Parvati, Amanda, Eliza, Big James and Cirie, and put them against newbies who, for some, idolized the former Survivors. And the season was brilliant. Jonny Fairplay bowed out early, which was fine by Jeff Probst who had gone on record and said he didn't like him, and didn't agree with Fairplay being on the show. A let down was when Jonathan Penner, another likable villain, was injured and had to be carted out of the game. But overall...



The reward/immunity challenge from Episode 2. Note the brilliance of Chet. And the Manimal that is Ozzy.

"Blindside" is the word of the year in this show, as one blindside after another felled former champs and Survivor hopefuls... Ami the Lesbian Barista? Blindsided. Ozzy? Blindsided. James? Blindsided. Stupid Stupid Erik? Blindsided. It was awesome.

And, as far as the upcoming season is concerned, I found out that a guy I know... well, the little brother of a girl who I graduated with, will be on Survivor: Tocantins, in Brazil. So, let's root for JT.

23. "Hey, I Read the Blog!"
Nothing thrills me more, or makes me smile bigger, unless it has something to do with The Lovely Steph Leann, than to hear someone tell me they read my blog. Especially when its someone that I didn't even think would know I had one. The day Emmy Turnbow told me "I read the blog the other day", I was like "...really...?" I was thrilled.

I was talking to my friend Staceyfran the other day, and we were discussing blogging. I told her, who had just started a blog not too long ago, that she should write to be read. My point, essentially, is why put in on the interweb if you don't want people to read it? You would just be journaling in a book if it was private. Granted, there are people who blog who feel it doesn't matter if alot of people read what they write, but they still would like people to read their thoughts. That's why you post it.

But Clouds in My Coffee has grown over the last two years, especially in the last 12 months. I do keep an eye on visitors, and I enjoy looking at stats to see not only where people are viewing it from (over a hundred people have the site bookmarked) but also what keywords are used to find my site, plus how many countries stop by. Its kinda cool.

I have discovered that there's a link to this blog on several different sites that I didn't even know existed. And I appreciate it.

Yeah, maybe its a pat on my own back, but I work hard on Clouds, and I'm glad people are enjoying it. And if you are reading this and have never mentioned to me you read it, let me know. I'd like to hear that.

22. Antjuan Marsh
He's a minister and a speaker, and I consider him not only a friend, but a friend from way back, having attended Troy State U with him. Yep, "I knew him when."

He is a member of Valleydale Church (an sbc fellowship), and I list his website link alongside my other favorite ministry links on the right side (facebook readers will not see this). Along the same lines as #23 above, here is what he sent me that makes this list at #22:

Dollar,

I’ve been meaning to tell you thanks for your support. A guy who played football at Troy for a short time called me out of the blue. At the time, he was not a believer. Now a believer, he wanted to contact me. He was able to locate me after viewing your website. During our phone conversation, he mentioned I was listed as a top ministry site for Dave Ramsey. Well he meant David Dollar. After seeing what he was talking about, I was highly encouraged. Thanks for that posting and of course your kind words both spoken and written.

How 'bout that? I feel like I was used for something good. Always a good feeling.

21. "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
I loved this movie. From front to back, top to bottom, all 3 hours of it, I thought this film was amazing. Brad Pitt has a disadvantage of being such a "pretty boy" because it sometimes takes away from what a great actor he has morphed into. He's funny in films like "Oceans 11-13", he's crazy in "12 Monkeys" and "The Fight Club" and he's just great in "Se7en", and in this movie, he shines.

You probably know the plot, where Benjamin was born as an old man, and progressively grew younger and younger. The film makes no attempt to explain this phenomena, it just uses it and tells the story of Benjamin's adventures.



As his love interest, Daisy, Cate Blanchett is bee-yoo-tee-ful (say it slow to appreciate how gorgeous she is in this film). Daisy is a little girl when Benjamin meets her, and over time, they end up "meeting in the middle". Its a movie I want to see again, I can hopefully pick up on Blu-Ray when it comes out, and I'm hoping it will stand the test of time and become a classic. Loved it.

The film's website is here, but its a little arduous to navigate.

Coming in a few days.... the 20 Coolest Things of 2008... What's the best movie of the year? What's the best song of the year? What was the best trip of the year? Find out.