Apr. 7th, 2004

I was roughly thirteen years old when my childhood youth leader and friend Darron Kersten became an associate pastor at our small Nazarene church. I can still remember the first sermon I ever heard him preach, and it has had more of an impact on me in the last two years than I ever would have imagined. The sermon was out of 1st Samuel 7:12.
"12 Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen, and called its name Ebene'zer; for he said, 'The LORD has helped us thusfar.'" -NIV

The basis of the sermon was this, every day we live to see another is an ebenezer, a sign of God's faithfulness and protection.

This weekend, I went home to St. Augustine where I saw my parents, sister and brother in law, my cousin cherise, her two kids, Kyle and Alyssa, and my grandparents. It was really good to see kyle and alyssa. I worry about them both greatly. Cherise is a single mother, and I don't picture that she is much like the single mothers in those after school special movies. You know, where it is a single mother who works like 8 jobs, and yet still has time to come home and make dinner for her kids and make sure they have done all their homework. Anyway, that isn't her. Also, Kyle doesn't have the best genes working in his favor considering his dad is a 26-27 year old punk. I worry for them is all.

I went to the edge service on saturday night, and it was very cool to see old friends there. A few of the people even came up to me to tell me how much they had missed me lately and were looking forward to me coming back home. That felt really good, to say the least. Sunday I went to play ultimate frisbee with my dad and some of the kids in his sunday school class. It was a fun time, but not really a good game. The players were amateurs in comparrison to the pros that come to B on sundays at CVI. Afterward, I went home and watched the last ten laps of the Nascar race with my dad, which he really enjoys. Before I left St. Aug, I stopped by Meg and Trumans place to hang out with them, and the to-be Wilkersons. We had a great time watching simpsons and laughing about all kinds of stuff.

The weekend was pretty tame and relaxing, but as I found myself driving home listening to some Death Cab For Cutie, I realized that my whole life is an ebenezer. I look at my cousins, who were not really any worse people than I and yet look at all the trouble they have gone through. I see my parents, and I am so thankful for their endless support on every level. I see my friends, people with whom I have deep relationships and love for, and I can not help but be thankful. I look at all of the things that I have been blessed with in my lifetime, things that I am completely undeserving of, and I see it all as the evidence that God has protected me and provided for me, thusfar. Anyway, I have been thinking about that a lot lately. As Ryan Loshin will tell you, Darron is a smart guy and a good friend, and I thought I would just share that nugget of goodness with you all. You all, who have meant so much to me, and who I am ever grateful for.

Yours,

Robert Earl Stone