Pastor Dave’s Blog

…and I do not regret it one bit.

I love my wife very much.

David and Theresa

August 5, 1983

Drive a Jeep and get a laptop for free…

Well, that’s what happened to me recently but I do not want to suggest that anybody go through what I go through on a daily basis to be so blessed by a group of friends that I used to “wheel” with and see at “meet-n-greets” around the local area. You see, since 2004, I have belonged to a local club of four-wheel drive “rock crawlers” known as the Maryland Creepers. This is a great bunch of guys and gals that respect the environment and travel on approved trails through the mountains of Pennsylvania at places like Rausch Creek (and elsewhere) and sit around the campfire on Saturday evening telling “tall” stories of the adventures of the day like broken u-joints, grenaded diffs and even once in a while, a complete roll-over. Yeah, these folks do take their expensive and often highly modified 4-wheel drive vehicles and put them through some grueling tests of man and machine versus huge rocks and ledges. You’d have to go rock crawling one day with these folks to see just how addictive this sport is. It requires a lot of planning, good judgement, quick thinking and sometimes, sheer guts. Actually, there are probably some other things that go in-between those traits. One of them might be foolishness and/or insanity (according to my wife).

To make a long story short, some of the members of this off-road club got together and knowing that I was “laid up” in a hospital bed at home for close to two months, not to mention that I was spending more time in bed than in my powerchair at my desk where my desktop computer is all sprawled out, decided that I needed a laptop computer. Now a laptop computer was something that I always considered a luxury and would probably never be able to afford one as long as I maintained a desktop model. Besides, I like the larger monitor and keyboard.

But when laid up in bed, access to the desktop computer is impossible. That stinks!

As many of you all know, my entire ministry since 1999 has been online and since 2005, the ministry has taken me to new corners of the earth communicating with others that are somehow affected by a similar disease to mine known as MELAS. This can be a cruel disease of daily pain, frequent hospitalizations and a host of other nasty symptoms that come with no known cure. And as I spent more and more time in bed, my time on the Internet was dwindling. As that occurred, my E-mails began to get backlogged and folks started to wonder where I was. My cyber-friends are some of the closest friends that I have outside of my immediate family and friends. And there is one difference with my cyber-friends. Many of them know exactly how I feel on a day-to-day basis because they are afflicted with the same deadly disease.

My friends at the Maryland Creepers had also noticed a drop in my frequency of visitations to their online forum and participation in the day-to-day discussions. With a few thousand “posts” under my belt, quite a few knew who “Wheelin Rev” was on the forum. The “wheelin” part naturally originated for my love of off-road driving in a Jeep which began back in my college days as early as 1976. More recently, with the loss of my driver’s license due to my declining health, the “wheelin” part still lives as I now terrorize the family zooming around in my powerchair at speeds up to 6.5 miles per hour. Inside a house, that really is FAST! The “rev” part has always been and will always be my Calling to preach the Gospel whenever and wherever called. Many times it is one-on-one to those who are hurting or just want to talk about my hope in Jesus Christ and the life I have to look forward to when God is through using this broken, sinful body on Earth.

Getting back to the sub-group of members of the Maryland Creepers and what they did to bless me in indescribable proportions, they got together without my knowledge and pooled their funds to purchase me a Dell Latitude D600 laptop computer! When I was finally told about this, I was speechless. I would have never guessed that my friends at the Maryland Creepers would make such a generous gift to me. Then again, seeing how these folks react in other situations of “broken” 4×4s in the middle of nowhere on a top of a mountain; I’ve seen them “donate” pieces of their perfectly good vehicles to that of a damaged one just so the club member could drive the vehicle off the mountain that day. Even back at home, I have seen these folks give away at no cost items that another member had need of. No questions asked; no thank you needed.

I mean these folks rock; literally in more ways than one!

So… Here I am as the laptop “sees” me laid up in bed.

The surgical mask is something I must wear for another 4 weeks as my body recovers from a staph infection that nearly killed me a while back. As you can see, I am wired for sound but not for medical reasons. Electronics has been my lifetime hobby and I have collected a lot of “junque” through the years. What you see around my hospital bed at home is but a small snapshot of the clutter around me. I have always wondered whether the disease I have is going to kill me one day or whether a collapse of my equipment around me might bury me alive. I guess time will tell.

As for the laptop that was given to me by some of my fellow members at the Maryland Creepers, this is what it looks like, well, err, in my lap.

So… there you have it folks. I cannot express how much joy and opportunities the Maryland Creepers have given me with this gift. My access to the world as a homebound person is the computer. And from my hospital bed, as of now, is my new laptop computer. Again, to all of the folks that made this gift a reality for me, I pray that God will bless you 100-fold because without this gift, my life on the Internet had ended. And once that happens, my access to others that give me the encouragement to travel onward, comes to a standstill. I cannot imagine my life without the Internet and all of my cyber-friends. Now I am assured that I can stay in touch with them wherever I may be.

God bless the Maryland Creepers!

Pastor Dave

For my blog readers at DAT Ministries, let me start by apologizing for my lack of updates. Summertime kept me mostly inside due to my intolerance to heat. Along with being trapped inside, my health has been an extra challenge the past few months. I’ve been fighting an infected wound on my bottom which required surgery about a month ago and still has not closed (healed) properly. If my sanity has been kept in check by any worthwhile activity, I want to give credit to the folks at MyChurch dot ORG. Not only have Joe and Carol, the cofounders of MyChurch, given me small tasks to occupy my time, the entire membership of that awesome website has been an encouragement and Godsend.

Over the past several weeks, I have found myself slipping in to what might be called a depressive state. No need to go in to the details but between bouts with sickness, ever increasing neuromuscular pain and a seemingly decreasing ability to hold on to things, including my memory, it has been a personal struggle to maintain a positive attitude. This morning, I woke up and said a special prayer to God because I was close to my wits end with how to continue in my ever shrinking and lonely world. As one loses ability to perform certain tasks, one’s world becomes more tightly tied to medical needs that restrict the ability to venture too far from home.

And today, along with the rain that we so badly needed, my tears flowed as I cried out to God for help. I’m lonely. Even our birds that used to frequent our bird feeders had dwindled to just a few visitors. But then it happened! A single dove landed on the deck railing and seemed to be looking straight at me; for the longest of times. I was praising God for sending me the symbol of His Holy Spirit to let me know that He was right by my side. I had not felt His presence, that intense, for a long time.

Then, out of the blue and without warning, that dove began to fly straight at me! Now between me and that dove is a large plate glass patio door that had just been cleaned this morning. And then, SPLAT!!!

I was stunned as I rolled over to the door expecting to see a dove laying on the deck. We have birds periodically slam into the glass, knocking them out cold as they fall to the deck. After a period of time, the birds will regain consciousness and upright themselves; eventually flying away, probably somewhat embarrassed, I’m sure.

This time, however, the large body of the dove was nowhere to be seen. Apparently, the collision did not knock the bird out cold. That in itself was a miracle that the dove was able to continue its journey to wherever it may have been headed next. I was somewhat disappointed to have the dove leave this particular day because of the comfort I was reaping from its presence. Of course, we all know that the real Comforter was the Holy Spirit. As I backed up from the glass door, I saw it:

That dove had left an imprint on the glass where it hit. But looking closer, I realized it was more than just a spot where the next of many birds have left their mark. It was much more than a spot. It was a reminder for me that He will never abandon me. Yes, God works in mysterious ways and this is physical proof:

That glass may never get cleaned again! He blessed me today in a way that I will forever remember!

Yes, He is here with me and He is there with you. Whether you are at your lowest point in life or living on Cloud 9, cry out to Him. Look around you. You will see His presence everywhere. He loves you just as much as He loves me! Accept His Son and accept no substitutes. There is only one way to heaven; to eternal peace. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” Hebrews 13:8 (NIV)

Pastor Dave

Wow! Two blog posts within 7 days! That can only mean something is new and exciting!

Well, I did turn over the birthday counter to 51 recently. Me and my dad usually just exchange personal checks. Both of us have “everything” so we are hard to buy anything for. The last check that I gave my dad was written in the amount of $84; one buck for each year. Now the check that I got this year from my dad was for $151. Yikes! I will not be able to cash this check until 2107! LOL

I did have a  wonderful birthday! I celebrated it with my dad and step-mom on a “mini-vacation” in Virginia. We all had a blast. Especially at a Steak and Ale restaurant. My dad bought a bottle of wine to have with our dinner. It is an extremely rare occasion for me to drink any alcohol so I was in a great mood throughout the dinner (to say the least). Leaving the restaurant, I was bumping in to everything. I guess drinking and driving wheelchairs is also not a good idea. And I only had two small glasses of wine! Yeah, ‘ole Dave does not have a very good tolerance to alcohol. But again, I had a fantastic time!

My wonderful wife even remodeled my parents main bathroom while we were visiting. She took  down some old wallpaper and gave the room a fresh coat of paint. We try to take care of my parents anyway we can. They have blessed us for many years and now that they are getting up in their own years, we try to do what they can no longer do around the house. I can’t even begin to tell you how much my dad has helped me with home improvements over the years on our own home.

Finally, when we got back home yesterday, my family threw me another birthday party. Of course, that means more cake and ice cream for me. I am in heaven! I am also heavier! Imagine that…

And much to my surprise, my wife gave herself a baby pug for my birthday! I can’t wait until her birthday later this year. I am going to give myself a radio controlled gasoline powered rock crawling buggy. They cost about $1,500 for a nice setup. LOL

So here are some new pug pictures. I even got captured in one of the pictures so you might notice that I am sporting a new goatee. I change my appearance from time to time just to see what I’d look like. One day, perhaps I’ll post some of my mug shots with various degrees of facial hair and different hair styles on top. I’ve even had a Mohawk hair style for about 5 minutes in the past. It was nice looking but just was not “me” if you know what I mean.

For now, enjoy these pictures! Until next time, may you be blessed! Pastor Dave