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QUEST

What is Quest? Quest is a class that after completed allows any 8th-12th grade student either become a member or if they chose so, not become a member.

This course has been beautifully orchestrated in a "study book" that intertwines the scripture, prayer, discussion and small groups to help these young adults on their path to understanding many things with the most important being what it is to be a disciple of Jesus and having an authentic relationship with our God and Savior.

Here are topics that we cover through out this 18 week course:

Being a disciple
The Bible
God
Death and Eternity
Salvation
Prayer
Worship
Bible Study
Biblical community
Single-mindedness
Self-Sacrifice/Stewardship
Spiritual Gifts
Evangelism
Church- Who, what, when, where, why and how?
Mission Trip
Living it out

There is homework, discussions and applications that help scratch the surface of what it really means to be a disciple of Jesus and how to serve Him in the utmost love that we possibly can... and not just behind the walls of a church.

Someone asked me the a while back as to why I teach this class and what my passion is about it. I really did not have an answer right away. So I gave my churchy answer and said "I love working with the youth and feel this is my call at this time."

How generic is that! I probably had "DORK" all over my forehead at that time. I didn't lie or was unreal about my answer... it probably was just not authentic.

So here is my real reason why:

I remember going through a few years of catechism class and remember all the memorizing and homework. It was a chore... it stunk. I hated it. We were taking God's Word and learning someone else's thoughts and applications and pushing it upon ourselves. Don't get me wrong, I am not trying to knock it or offend someone... it just was not for me. I had no problem reading the Bible or memorizing but no one ever taught me how to apply it to my life; I was taught that there was only one way to apply it to my life... and that what was said in the catechism was just a notch below God's breathed Word, the Bible.

Confirmation wasn't a choice, it was expected of me. There was no way that I could go to the school/church and not take catechism. I had to. No questions asked. After I sat in front of the church like a frozen robot trying to recite Martin Luther's explanation for certain things and some passages here and there for almost an hour I was accepted as a new member in the church. Then I was able to take communion for the first time as if this light bulb went off and all of a sudden I was "worthy".

I understand the logic and reasoning. The church wanted to make sure I understood what communion was and what the church meant before I could become a member. Here is the kicker though: I was 28 years old before I really started to realize what God meant to me and what the church meant. 14 years later...

So that leads me to this long drawn out explanation of why I am so passionate about our Quest program; because it is just that: a Quest. I believe it starts in our mother's womb, from the time of conception our Quest begins. After our delivery from that dark, warm womb into the brightness and darkness of our world here on earth our Quest heard from our parent's voices; the humming, the "I Love You" that whispers from their lips to the hands propped under ours learning to walk. From the first time we go to Sunday School, the first time in real school to our first field trip and seeing someone begging on the street corner. From seeing the brokenness of divorce, the hurt of getting the heck kicked out of you for sticking up for your friends. That first love to the first broken heart. The injury that caused temporary paralysis for a short time that felt like hours to the broken noses playing basketball. Leaving home at 15 to go to a school 300 miles away, then going to college 500 miles away and then joining the military and living 1000 miles away. Falling away from God and church because they were not needed; then becoming a father and husband with a new baby girl that just might not make it a day and then watching your daughter make the honor roll her 3rd grade year. Watching your son look, act and want to be just like you and know you are in his spot light everyday. Learning to see God in ALL of this.

And all I wanted, NEEDED, was someone, anyone to help me apply something to my life. At age 28 that happened for me. It could have been too late though... if I would have died before then can I say I would have been in heaven? Not with any good amount of confidence.

That is why Quest... that is why my passion.

(Thanks to Russ Martin for the picture)

Justine Going to Camp

It has been a couple months. The busy-ness of life and kids and my job have really caught up to me this year. I feel so bad as I love to blog. Some people asked if I gave it up... I said no, just no time. Anyways...

Justine is on her way to Camp Victory which hosts Camp Spifida (short of Spina Bifida) that Justine is now on her way to. Tracy and her sister will be driving Jusitne 8 hours to the camp and then come back Sunday late. Originally they were going to take Christian and stay the night at some friends about 3 hours away but some family medical problems altered our plans (which is ok for me as I won't be without my family for the whole week). After the camp the plan was for them to pick her up next Friday and head down to Myrtle Beach for 5 days and then come home. That is still the plan... just altered. I still do not get to go to Myrtle Beach either... :(

So I won't see my girl for 2 weeks...

Here is what I would like, if you know Justine and want to drop her a letter of encouragement do so at this address:

Justine Porath, Camp Spifida
Camp Victory
P.o. Box 810
Milleville, PA 17846

Make Monday the latest to drop it off at the Post Office so she gets it! She is only there until Friday 10 am so her last day to get mail is Thursday.

If you want to see the website of the camp ground go to:
http://www.campvictory.org/index.html

Here is the website of the organization for her weekend:
http://www.campspifida.org/index.html

Thanks and God's blessings to all!

David

PS. Pics will be coming in the next week as I get them!

Restless

My posting seems to have gone down hill lately. Kind of crazy times really...

In the past 2 months my supervisor/friend was let go from where I work and subsequently I took over the position. That was really odd at first but I know there are no ill feelings between him and I. So now I am a supervisor/senior tech of the service center. Some things have changed, some have not. It has been an adjusting period but I think I have adapted and am doing well. I really need to thank all my friends and pastors out there that have helped me "learn" how to lead or "unlearn" and re-evaluate what I knew. "Love your neighbor as yourself"- when I go into work with that attitude (which is most days) it seems to always go more smoothly.

Then there was Justine's surgery. Wow. That was crazy in itself. Number 17. That is how many surgeries that girl has endured and the number of times she has amazed me afterwards. Resiliency... that about describes every facet of her life.

Hands of Hope. Our wonderful mission. I have had volunteers for 10 out of the last 11 weeks bring and serve food. People are seeing the need and just wanting to love and serve each other.

Even with these hard but yet fully blessed times that my life has had lately I still feel restless... and I don't know why. I don't feel unsatisfied. I don't feel like something is left undone. The thing that kind of freaks me out the most is I don't feel or "hear" anything within myself pointing one direction or another. The calm before the storm? If it is supposed to be calm then why am I so restless?

For me it seems that everything has to have a purpose... really it does. God has a purpose for everything but maybe my need of control is blinding me with the purpose of restlessness...

Ugh... I don't know... just needed to vent. Maybe I will go and try and get some sleep.

Justine Update #3

Happy Easter!! It is such a wonderful day to celebrate our Savior's conquer over death. Though we are hanging here in Cincy we know that rings true not just for us but for all the other families spending the day here with their kids as well.

Justine is doing well. She ate a great dinner last night (mac N cheese, etc) and a good breakfast this morning. So we know here appetite is back!! Yeah!

The Dr. just visited us and unfortunately he is not let Justine go home until tomorrow; but for good reasons. There may be a chance that there is an infection in her spinal fluid. If that is the case then we are looking at another surgery. They would have to take the new shunt out and drain the fluid into a bag until the infection is gone and then replace it again. He does not think that there is one but since there is a chance with one of the tests done we have to take all precautions. Plus they want to do a CT of her stomach area to make sure there is nothing wrong with what we originally came here for.

Is it bad news? I don't think so. More disappointing news right now. We really wanted to be able to go home today but it is better that we know nice and early and not later in the day.

Right now the plan is for Christian and I to go home today so we can go to work and school tomorrow and come back down if needed. Hopefully Justine will be able to come home tomorrow and we can all just be at home.

We ask that you pray for healing, for the doctors, nurses and all the families here at Children's today.

Happy Easter! We love you all.

Justine Update

Well, the surgery is complete and seems to be a success. They had to do it the long way. They had a problem with both the mechanism and the tube. They replaced the shunt in her head and then had to pull the old tube and replace it with a new one. This time, they did put the tube down her chest instead of through the intestines.

She is in some pain and uncomfortable right now. Some in the stomach where they took the old tube out, some in the upper part of the chest just below the shoulder and some in the head. The Dr said she would be uncomfortable in her chest for a little time but will go away eventually.

Tonight we have another CT done and see where we are at with what here ventricles in her head looks like... if they are good there is a very good chance we could be home tomorrow.

Thank you everyone for your concerns and prayers. Our family appreciates each and every one of them and you. We ask for you to keep praying for a speedy recovery and for all the other kids in the hospital today too!

More updates will be coming!!!

Justine's Surgery

Well, it has been about 6 years since an "emergency" surgery has come up. The past 6 years have been graciously planned surgeries; however, this one came as a "surprise".

Tracy brought Justine to Children's for a bowel problem that has been persistent in the past month due to bad constipation. On the way down and during the check up in the ER Justine was complaining of headaches where her shunt is located. We decided to do a CT to make sure it was working correctly and her ventricles were fine in her head (the shunt regulates the spinal fluid around the brain; Justine was not born with a natural "valve" and had to have a shunt put in to regulate it or extreme brain damage and death could occur). The test showed failure. This prompted an emergency call to the neurosurgeon and has put us where we are now: sitting in the waiting room while they figure out and fix her shunt.

This looks like it will be a 2 hour surgery but could become longer depending on the malfunction. The will start from the top and go down, literally. The shunt is actually located on the back, right side of her head. A tube then strings down into her intestines. We are hoping that it is just he mechanism in the head because it will be an "easier fix" and can be done in the shortest time. If it has to do with the tube either alone or together with the mechanism then we are looking at a longer surgery and a different placement of the tube, possibly through her lungs, due to the past surgeries with her stomach and intestines.

That is where we are right now at 8:40 in the morning. We are trying to update everyone and hopefully it will be a shorter surgery than a longer one.

How is Justine? This one was hard. When she was younger it was all about trust. She knew daddy would keep her safe and she trusted me. Now she is older. She is thinking things through. She knows it is not easy. She trusts me but she questions everything else. She cried today. I had to hold it in. I cannot even describe the brokenness in me today. A daddy's love wants nothing more than to take his daughter's place and not let her feel the pain. Even with this being her 17th surgery it is just as hard as her first one the day she was born. I just wish...

You know, the scars on her body may seem odd to some but to me they are the beauty marks, the scars of her faith. She may be scared but she knows Jesus is with her too. That is what is so wonderful about my girl.

Until the next update...

Keep praying. God is good.

Could you do this?

You want to see real faith and love at work? Read this article:

http://www.detnews.com/article/20090328/SPECIAL02/903280339

I have no other comment other than I hope that I can be that forgiving, that loving and that faithful of a man someday.

Please, pass it on.

Obama's comments

Last night on Jay Leno's show Obama made a statement that pretty much upset a few million Americans. While on the show he was talking about his 129 point bowling score and then compared it to Special Olympics. First of all, coming from the position that he is now seated at, I am disappointed of the stereotyping that came out of his mouth. Second of all, for him to not come out himself and publicly apologize for making such a blatant disparaging remark (especially concerning his own minority, ethical background) is disappointing to me.

See this link, it has video: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7955842.stm

Let me let you in on a little secret known to all of the real working America... if that statement was said in our workplace he probably would have been disciplined in one of 2 ways: either a written reprimand or visiting the unemployment line. I know in my work place it is absolutely not tolerated to talk like that about anyone... ever... regardless of race, religion, creed, disability... anything!

Another thing that is disappointing is Tim Shrivers comments:

"He expressed that he did not intend to humiliate [the disabled] population," (then he should apologize himself; this is like me sending my wife to work to apologize for my screw up the day before)

"I think it's important to see that words hurt and words do matter," he added. "And these words that in some respect can be seen as humiliating or a put-down to people with special needs do cause pain and they do result in stereotypes." (Duh... you would think he would know this already)

Here is the one that gets me...

"He thinks that the Special Olympics are a wonderful programme that gives an opportunity to shine to people with disabilities from around the world,"

Sounds good doesn't it? Here is the problem... we don't want people to see our loved ones in a programme that let's them shine... we want them to shine in life and at work, and in their own homes, and to be treated like normal people. The Special Olympics are awesome; Justine loves to participate... but that is one time a year. Life is everyday.

Am I any better? Heck no. Am I guilty of saying stupid things? Yes, I am. Am I any better than he is? No way.

But then I am not President of the best country in the world. I am a supervisor in a computer factory and we hold ourselves in a very high standard... you would think the White House would hold themselves even higher. But then this is politics...

Maybe I am taking it all out of context... maybe I am just a little ticked off... I guess I will just have to pray even harder for our country and its leaders.

I will make my next post more positive. Had to get this off my chest.

DP

In the Name of Love

Last week I led a team of 30 people to Nashville, TN to serve in various aspects. Most of them (19) were youth (one 6th grader, one seventh grader, 11 8th graders and 6 senior high students). We do this every year during Martin Luther King weekend since the youth are off of school on Monday. It works out great.

We do this mission as part of our membership class for our church. They go through a 16 week study of the Trinity, God's grace, church, missions, evangelism, baptism, the Lord's Supper among many other things we talk about. One of main points we drive into them is to live their life as Jesus' disciple; to learn from Him, to be like Him. We teach the importance of being in the Word and doing things because of the love we should not only have for Jesus in our hearts but for everyone, no matter the circumstance. One of the last things is getting out of our town, our own elements, and doing something away.

This year we kicked it off as we always do. I have a great friend named Bob Lord that has a mission called The Lord's Chuckwagon. He feeds homeless on Fridays and Saturdays at around 11 am. He and his wife Gretchen started this mission years ago and we "stumbled" across it through friends about 5 years ago. He is a direct inspiration on both Tracy's and my life.

This year was different though. On Christmas Eve, Gretchen went to be with the Lord. It was hard for many of us that met her and had the privilege to get to know her. She loved people, no matter what they had done. It was hard not to see her on that Saturday but instead of being melancholy about the situation I decided to just love on Bob even more. And so did the youth... they were so passionate about what they were doing that morning. Just an incredible time and yet the presence of Gretchen was there... not in a supernatural type of way that people like to think but in the eyes, the hearts and the hands of those we served. They served us that day just as much.

After that service, we split into 2 groups- one went to an inner city school to do cleaning and renovation. I took another group to a government assisted tower for the elder and disabled. What I experienced I still am in disgust and awe at...

The youth were split with adult leaders and I went with Tracy and my 2 kids. We all went to different apartments fulfilling tasks that were needed and to make conversation. The first couple apartments were weird. One lady said we were not suppose to be there until next week and shut the door on us. Tracy and I looked at each other with that "oops" type look on our faces. The next person was not home. We were down to one more apartment on our list with 3 hours to go.

We met JoAnn at the 3rd apartment. She was in the middle of making spaghetti that was going to be her lunch and supper. She said she did not have the energy to cook twice in a day so she would make one big meal for the whole day. Her ticket said that she need "basic cleaning." By the looks of her kitchen, she need a little more than basic.

So as we introduced ourselves and had a 10 minute get-to-know-you session we decided to get cleaning. I was starting in the kitchen. I don't mind the kitchen and Tracy hates it so I started there and she started in the bedroom. Well, the bathroom is connected to the bedroom and Tracy soon came out asked me if I could do the bathroom and we would do the kitchen together after. She said the bathtub was pretty dirty and she could not scrub very well... she needed "man power." Sigh... ok. I hate cleaning the bathroom but ok.

**Flashback** Earlier in the morning we had a group session with all the youth on what to expect, questions to ask and not to ask, etc. I used I Cor 13 as a basis for the day. You know that one... "Love is patient..." It says in that chapter that we can do all these things but if there is not love in the actions they are just actions. God wants us to do things out of love and not because we think we have to or to try and attone for things because we all know it is only by grace we are saved.*********

Back to the story...

I go into the bathroom and that was the most scum I have ever seen in a tub. All we had was wash cloths, not scratch pads. Luckily I had Comet! I soaked the tub in water and added Comet. I scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed. I rinsed it all out and there was still too much left. It did look better but I was not satisfied. So I whetted the tub again and put more Comet on it and decided to let it sit. So I decided to head over to the toilet clean that.

I reached over for the toilet cleaner and 409-type product to clean the toilet. Then I noticed it. On the side of the toilet that I could not see and under the seat was caked in poo. I looked at it in total dismay. So what was the first thing in my mind? "Oh, hell no! I don't even have any gloves!" I am being brutally honest here. That was my first thought. Then came something I have never really experienced before:

This voice in my head said "What was it that you taught this morning? What was it you said? You don't have to like doing this, just love the person you are doing it for."

At that time Tracy came in and saw I was in dismay. She asked "What?" and all I did was point at the toilet and the floor and said "Crap." in a whisper. She said "I will get it" and I said "No, I have to."

So there I went. I cleaned the toilet, the floor and finished the tub. I listened to what God was telling me. I did not like cleaning the crap but I did it out of love for my Jesus and for JoAnn. I prayed while doing it. I prayed for her, I prayed for me, I prayed for my family, for all the others serving today that they meet God as I had, in midst of all the dirt, grime, scum and poo.

I was completely humbled that day. Not only did God give me words to teach the youth that day but He had me perform it too. Not only did he show up to us in the clean and comfort of the place we were staying, He showed up in the midst of everything nasty that we were doing. Not for us, not for our salvation but for Love. This Love is not just the feelings or the actions but in this instance it is the name of Jesus.

And I learned Love in a whole new way that day...