Name Dropper... that's what I'm about this time!

I really like this thing, but I often seem to neglect the things I like, in favor of shiny things that capture my attention. My friend Cathy Stratton (first name-drop, many more famous ones to come) wrote me a comment saying that I have to keep this blog more up to date, so here's my week at a glance:
*Sunday night we were able to take some family pictures with our good friend, Dave Jackson. Dave not only makes you look good, he also can make you look "badass". This is what he did with us! A sample of his photos are up on his photoblog. Just go to www.davidejackson.com and you'll find a link to his blog. Thanks Dave, you are terrific.
*On Monday and Tuesday we went to Mt. Olympus WaterPark in the Dells. It was quite the time. Mt. Oly has both water slides and thrill rides. My favorite was the go-carts. Most of my boys liked the rollercoaster called "Hades". It was a continuation, I guess, of the photo shoot!
*On Wednesday, I was able to get together with an old friend from the Willow Creek days, Troy Murphy. Troy and I never served at Willow the same time, but we've known about each other and met several times in the past. We have many mutual friends, which made our time fly by really quickly. Troy is an extremely gifted and natural leader. He has had the opportunity to work with the Packers as a chaplain over the last few years and I believe that they couldn't have a better guy to be encouraging Aaron Rodgers during the "Brett Favre Crisis of '08". I'm guessing that Troy will pay a visit to San Damiano soon. He may be an amazing piece of the little leadership puzzle that we're trying to do at SD. Perhaps some of his outside eyes and experience will be very helpful.
*I don't think a hasty blog entry could do justice to the beautiful thing I witnessed this morning on a backyard patio in Little Chute. A former student of mine, Alan, called me earlier this week to ask if I would officiate a memorial service for his Grandmother, who passed away in the UK at 90 on Saturday. Grandma had insisted that no one travel from America to attend her funeral when she passed. "Too much money spent to see me when I'll already be gone!" she said a few years ago, so the stateside folks (all 6 of them) honored her wishes and we had our patio service at the same time she had her funeral in England. I had performed Alan's (and Sara's) wedding last year, so the family knew me and it was quite an honor to serve them in this way. I remember as a teenager, Alan shared his desire to be closer to his father. I remembered that his dad was kind of "old school" and never grew up in a home where emotions were shared easily. During our service today, I watched with great joy as Alan's dad, Vince, gave us a picture tour of his family, spoke of two of his brothers who had passed on shared his heart and emotions and most of all, regularly got up out of his chair and comforted his Son, Daughter and Daughter-in-law. I love it when someone from the older generation begins to grow and change in an area that was so foreign to their upbringing. I consider it the greatest and most sacred trust when a family invites me "in" to their family to be a part of a wedding or funeral. I hope I never get calloused to other people's pain and joy. Sharing in these moments teach me so much about the true condition of the human heart. God has been so good to me, to show me these precious snapshots. The day was rounded out by spending time with Rick Setser at the Wooden Nickel (which, by the way, has a buffalo nickel as their logo), Jason Wiggins at the Fox Valley Thrift Store and then, impromptuly, at St. Vini DePaul with Dan Hintz.
*The night has come to close with the news of the arrival of Owen William Ryan, the Grandson of Julie's Aunt and Uncle, Chris and Steve Matthias. Owen's Mom, Emily Ryan is Julie's cousin and her husband is Will. Owen's other Grandparents are Bo and Kelly Ryan. In case you didn't catch the last name-drop of the evening, Bo is the head coach of the Wisconsin Badgers Basketball team. Really, I could drop a few more, but I don't want to push my luck! Goodnight.