Out Here Hope Remains

For the first two years we lived in Pascagoula we lived in an apartment. It was behind the Longfellow House, a local place of fame. There were two two-story apartment buildings. One faced West, the other, South. Ours was in the Westward facing building, second story (13 steps), end of the building.  These apartments were built as vacation condos, not homes. There was a tiny living room, three gigantic bedrooms - each with its own bathroom - and a tiny kitchen. John Robert was very young, Nicole was in High School. We made it OK there for a few years but it was growing tiresome. We started looking in earnest for a new house in Pascagoula.

Our financial prospectus wasn’t looking very good at the time, so we had a fairly low price in mind. The kind Realtor kept showing us house after house but none of them were what we were looking for. We raised our minimum and started looking at a new level of houses. That really didn’t help either.

I honestly can’t tell you who spotted THE house first. It could have been me on my way to the office, taking a different route. It could have been Maggy. But wesaw the FOR SALE BY OWNER sign in the yard. Maggy and Lynda Lingle came over and looked in all the windows. The house was empty and immaculate. Some of it was very old fashioned but it had plenty of room and was one block from the church building. Maggy loved it.

It didn’t take long for us to move into our well-kept but old house. After the wonder of having a beautiful new home wore off a bit, we did notice several things about the house that we wish were different. Still, we were grateful to live in such a nice roomy home.

I do not think that anyone expected what would happen on August 29, 2005. Our home that we loved was flooded with a surge of seawater from Hurricane Katrina. We had from 3-4 feet of water in our home for about an hour. The apartment we lived in for the first two years was caved in … the south facing building was totally destroyed. Of course we were not here, we were at Maggy’s parents anxiously awaiting news. Danny Dodd and friends from Gateway Church of Christ in Pensacola were the first to walk in our house with us to look at the damage.

Over three years later most of the home has been renovated …. and mostly by volunteers. I wish I knew all of their names. but needless to say our home looks newer than the day we moved into it. And after a decade and a half of living within a few blocks of the Gulf of Mexico, we are moving into North Louisiana.

It was in this house that John Robert grew up running down the hall, lazing in his room, watching tv with us. It was into this house that Claire was born and spent her first nine years, growing into a beautiful young woman. Like everyone’s house it is full of memories and stories. And in a few days we will drive away from this house for the last time. This time we will not carry the keys in our pocket. Someone else will begin making their own memories here.

I wonder if the house will miss us? I wonder if it’s sighing and saying, ‘why are they leaving… I did my best‘. I wonder if that gathering moisture in the corner of the window pane is a tear.  She has given us her strength all these years. And now someone else needs her. It is time to say goodbye to this house.

Thanks for reading,

John

John, Jordan, Maggy, Colton, Will, Patrick

Yesterday we had a great visit with some of John’s closest friend. It was so good to see these young men that I still think of as boys. We were able to catch up on where they are and what they’re doing these days. We all rode in the Titan to Big R’s, a local eatery that John Robert liked.  Maggy and I met him many times there right after he got off of work, since it is just around the corner from Burnham Drug Store. I enjoyed hearing them joke with one another and talking to them about movies we’ve seen or haven’t seen.

Jordan and John Robert were like brothers. I don’t know how they could have been any closer. And he was just as close to Patrick. They went to school together from the first grade on through to the last days of High School, and would have graduated together. In the early years there were four: John Robert, Patrick, Jordan, and Donovan. Donovan moved to another part of the county. I believe he left me a comment sometime since John died … I’ll go back and look sometime soon. AJ was very close to John as well. He is at Mississippi State now. Colton and Will are friends who go to other schools but were a part of the close knit group at Central Church of Christ. John Robert loved spending time with all of these young men. Classes, trips, school, camps, retreats, and Waffle House have these boys linked together forever.

John, Jordan, Donovan, and Patrick years ago at Audubon Zoo

When we got back to the house there was a migration to John Robert’s room. After sharing a few of his belongings with them, the room got quiet. It was one of those moments when there aren’t any words … nothing really to say now. Maggy hugged each of the boys and told them that she loved them. We stood there crying in our silence, missing John Robert each in our own way. It was a special moment … bittersweet.

I hope that we will see these young men over the years. I hope we will stay in touch and that we’ll know their wives and children. I hope we’ll eventually be able to share stories about John Robert without falling into that awkward silence of pain and sorrow.

Haley, John Robert, Colton, Jordan, Patrick at Hank Aaron Field in Mobile, Alabama

But if time and distance separates us, as it sometimes does, I will always think that yesterday was a gift. In the middle of packing all of our belongings, we unpacked some memories for a period of time.

Thanks for reading,

John

Wednesday afternoon we made our way to the Coast on the Magic Carpet. Well, it felt like a magic carpet to me. I finally was able to trade in our old van on a new Nissan Titan truck…. and come in under our van payment. You may feel the need to inform me that they do not get very good gas mileage, but you’re too late! I already know that! I was driving a van, I’m used to it. I will put in a plug for my friend Davin at Sparks Nissan-Kia … if you’re in the Monroe area and looking for a new vehicle give him a call!

Thursday morning I drove over to Mobile and met Danny Dodd for breakfast at Cracker Barrel. The food was good but the company much better. We enjoyed a few hours of visiting. Danny was on his way to his mother’s to celebrate her 80th birthday. Danny recently turned 50 and wrote about that on his blog.

In the mean time, there is much packing going on at the Coast house as we prepare to move our things to the Monroe house. Now before I start sounding like John “I don’t know how many houses I own” McCain, I would like to tell you that prayers have prevailed. Our Coast house has sold. I hesitate to say that, knowing that there are some formalities that still have to take place and it isn’t all finished yet. However, it looks like the final goodbye to 1715 Williams street is near. Movers will be here Tuesday and we will unload Wednesday in Monroe. Maggy’s brother and his wife are coming to help us unpack and get setttled in.

I am sure that some emotions will emerge over the next week as we drive away from this place where John Robert grew up. His room remains basically as it was when he was taken from us so quickly. And after living in this house for 14 years we have lots of memories here. They will go with us, packed away in our hearts, ready to unpack at any moment we would like to view them.

At this point, however, there is not much time for reflection. Maggy and I will drive back to Monroe Saturday so I can be in place Sunday morning. Then we will come back to the Coast either Sunday afternoon or early Monday (depending on the progress we make today) for final preparations for the arrival of the movers.

So, that’s what’s going on in our world. We are looking forward to getting settled in Monroe.  In the mean time it is great to see our daughter and her family while we’re here.

Thanks for reading,

It’s Saturday, and a beautiful one in Monroe, Louisiana. I had breakfast with a friend, a haircut, a few hospital visits, and have been waiting for Maggy to make it back home. She is coming with neighbor Pam. The plan is that we will return to Pascagoula next week to pack. There are some things up in the air which may change those plans. I’ll keep you posted, natch.

I spent the first night in our new house last night. Elder Ronnie Teague spent all afternoon helping me move furniture (Thanks Ronnie!). We had a good time talking together. My back yard has more mosquitoes per square inch than any place on earth I think. Today in my back yard I have seen three giant blue jays (eating too many mosquitoes?), a squirrel running along the fence, yellow butterflies carelessly floating around, and a couple of doves. I our window looking out over the back yard. Peaceful. I also saw a small spider with a big web. Yay for the spider. Maybe lots of mosquitoes will get in his web! I did not destroy it! I am having a bit of an emergency is that the coffee maker won’t fit under the cabinets … they’re too low to the countertops.  Looks like I’ll have to go to Starbucks every morning.

I have visited with Houston Bass a few times recently at the Maggie Moo stand in the mall. I’ve mentioned Houston’s new blog. At 16 years old, that boy’s got some great writing talent being sharpened. I met Houston’s boss last night, Kelli. Kelli is daughter of Carol Ogle. Royce and Carol are such good friends and it was good to meet their daughter. It was especially good when she gave me a free scoop of ice cream! According to Royce’s blog, they are down in Bayou LaBatre. Read his post to find out the great stuff they are involved in there.

Anyhoo, Houston suggested that I write a review of MaggieMoo’s on my blog. I had never heard of MaggieMoo’s Ie Cream (affectionately known as ‘The Moo’) until I relocated to West Monroe. It’s hard for me to write a complete review, until I have sampled all of their offerings. However, the Dark Chocolate, Espresso Bean, and Udderly Cream are all fantastic…with no ice crystals or stale taste. I am waiting for them to have peanut butter so I can test that one. They have all kinds of treats, including cakes and shakes. If I keep going there I’m going to start mooing instead of preaching I think! Anyway… if you’re in the PecanLand Mall stop by and say howdy to Kelli or Houston or whoever is working that day. Tell them you read about it here and you’ll get a free scoop of ice cream. (They actually didn’t promise this, so let me just say that it might not happen, but it could happen. Results not typical.)

Houston at work at MaggieMoo’s

Hope your Saturday is a good one.

John

When I Get Where I’m Going, Brad Paisley & Dolly Parton

When I was on the Coast late last week I noticed two disposable cameras in a drawer. I happened to know that those cameras had been there a long time. I grabbed them and brought them back with me to Monroe. I took them last Sunday afternoon to Walgreens for development.

I haven’t developed film in a long time … having started using a digital camera some time back. I wasn’t sure what was recorded on the film. But there was a chance that there were pictures of John Robert to be found there.

When I went to the store I paid for both rolls, and then opened them up in the store.  I was reminded why I stopped using film … about 90% of the pictures are either blurry or not worth paper they’re printed on. But there was that one picture… a group picture … and there was John Robert’s smiling face.

It was July of 2006. Will Collins was our summer youth minister. He, along with Ocean Springs youth minister Trent Bryant, planned a trip to Ocoee River. The guides and hosts were Big Frog Expeditions. Maggy I were celebrating an anniversary and volunteered to drive the church bus to get the kids to and from Tennessee. I believe I took the picture … which is so precious for a few reasons. One, it was one of the highlights of John Robert’s life. He had a great time and loved the people who were along with him. Two, because some of the most influential people in John Robert’s faith journey are in that picture … Will, Joel Jordan, Jesse Bosarge. Three, because John loved the others in that picture with all his heart … Lanni, Britney, Haley, another Britney, Amanda … it was a great trip.

And not to mention the tick. A few weeks after the trip John started running fever. A few days after that he broke out in spots all over his body. The doctor took two hours, consultations with fellow doctors, looking in his books … and finally asked John Robert if he had been on any trips. To the mountains. Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever was the diagnosis. It was quickly cleared up.

Anyhow I went out into the parking lot and sat in his truck and wept. Even in my sorrow at missing him so much I was thankful that he had that week in the mountains … that he spent that much time with such great friends … and that we have a picture with a great smile.

The second roll… well… it was an envelope with pictures that didn’t belong to me. Whoever ended up with my pictures brought them back…nothing there to be excited about.

There are no more disposable cameras lying around the house. I doubt we’ll run across any more pictures of him. The last picture has been taken. Even if we lost them all the image of his smile … the sound of his laughter … will forever remain in our hearts.

I do not have my digital camera here with me (Maggy has it on the Coast) … but maybe soon I’ll take a picture of the picture and post it here.

thanks for reading,

Instead of me writing something here today I would ask you to go to this post and read / respond:

Wendy’s Plea for DQ

Thank you!

john

When we gather for the assembly, I think this is the one place where we should be able to count on receiving a blessing. God’s people who share so many powerful spiritual blessings and they are gathered together to encourage one another. Sometimes when we do not even feel like attending, there is a different feeling that evolves as people speak to us and greet us. We ought to leave feeling that we’re loved. That’s a major part of our life together.

To a group of people facing indecision, discouragement, and being drawn back into a hopeless religion comes the book of Hebrews. There are some thoughts on encouragement found there.

Encouragement is Vital…

To Keep Our Hearts Tender. (Hebrews 3:12-15  See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first. As has just been said: Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.”)

To Keep Our Hope Strong. (Hebrews 6:17-20a  “Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, 20where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf.”)

To Keep Our Family Focused   (Hebrews 10:22-25  let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

We are to be Agents of Encouragement … How? Simple ways.

1. Smile (do any kids groups still sing that song about it not being any trouble just to s-m-i-l-e?)

2. Share burdens and cares

3. Show a Christ-like spirit

4. Shun attitudes that destroy

5. Shift from judgment to grace

6. Speak words of grace

A few passages about God’s heart for encouragement…

2 Thessalonians 2:15-17 “May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.”

Romans 15:5-6 “May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Those are some notes from my message this morning.

John Robert’s Truck

One of the icons of youth is your first vehicle. John saved some money and I helped him get the first vehicle that belonged only to him - a 1999 Ford F-150 truck. I thought he shouldn’t buy that truck. For one thing, I thought it cost too much. But we met the old man who was selling it for a friend and he won us over with his sweet spirit. He was so excited that John Robert was a Christian. (He didn’t give us a break in the money, but that’s another story!). I told John there would be other vehicles and maybe one he liked better … but he set his heart on this truck. I know that feeling. So I helped him buy it.

It might have been around Christmas time last year that he came in and told his mom to sit down - he had bad news. He had accidentally bumped into a fire hydrant and bent his bumper and cracked out his grill. I am guessing it was more than a bump but no firemen ever came to our house. Anyhow… mom wasn’t upset.

I hardly ever rode with John Robert in his truck. Occasionally he would tell me something that was wrong with it and I’d offer a suggestion as to what to do. Not being handy myself, I’d tell him where to take it to have it fixed. He usually didn’t do it.

After John died, our neighbor Roger took the truck and replaced the grill, tail lights, did some engine work, tried to fix a buggy a/c problem, replaced the inspection sticker that was out (for a few years!) … and wouldn’t accept a penny. That’s Roger’s kind way. I miss my neighbors.

So today I drove that truck back to Monroe. It rode great and I had no problems. Well, no real problems. The windshield wipers come on by themselves every once in a while. I remember John telling me this happened sometimes, but I attributed it to his accidentally bumping the controls. The cruise control decided about half way home that it was tired, so I had to actually drive. I haven’t had to pay attention to the speedometer so closely in a long time. The a/c is still a little buggy … but if you turn it off and back on again it works OK.

Those are the kinds of problems you live with when it’s your first car. You’re just glad to have it. And John Robert was glad to have his truck. If his friends went anywhere, they often went in his truck.

About thirty miles before I arrived in Monroe I began to cry. I miss him so much and I wish I had fixed all the little things wrong with his truck for him. God and I had a talk about this situation my family finds itself in at this point in life. I am pretty sure we won’t keep that truck forever. But for now, it’s not really ours. It’s still his. As long as we feel that way, we’ll probably hang on to it. And when those windshield wipers take on a life of their own, I’ll laugh and think of our son.

Thanks for reading.

Just checking in. Have had a great day with Nicole’s family. Maggy’s mother cooked a great supper tonight of fried okra, lima beans, chicken and dumplin’s and strawberry shortcake. We had fun chasing Blake around…that boy never sits still! I enjoyed taking Claire to the donut shop and spending a little time with her. Some Central friends dropped by during the day. It was just a good family day. In the morning I plan to head back to Monroe so I can be there on Sunday.

Well, I thought if I started writing I’d have something to say. Guess not. Just letting you know we had a good day on the Mississippi Coast.

Thanks for stopping by!

John

I do like coffee, but probably would not go this far. Except in an emergency!

So why did the blog move? It’s all Tucker’s fault! And actually I’m thankful. I’ve had www.johndobbs.com as a domain for a while now, but have not updated in quite a while. It didn’t make sense to pay for webspace and domain and not use it regularly … while on the other hand I was wearing out this free spot on WordPress. I actually had not thought about it until Tucker questioned why I was doing that. Good thoughts … I thought to myself. Thanks Tucker!

I’ve always edited my webspace with Microsoft Front Page. I enjoyed using that program but MS decided it was a dead end and stopped updating it. So I knew it was only a matter of time before most web hosts stopped using the specialized Front Page “extentions” that were required for its use. (has anyone fallen asleep yet? I thought so.)

When Tucker made his suggestion I started looking at how to use the free wordpress software on your own webspace and realized I was either going to have to spend hours studying that situation or just not do it. A little light went off in my brain (this was a significant event that doesn’t happen often) and I remembered Dee Andrews going on about how helpful the Theobloggers had been to her on this matter. Then I made the connection to my chatroom friend Big Bad Brad Palmore.

Turns out that Dee was right … this has been a painless experience and I’m happy (very very happy) with the communication, help, response … everything with Theobloggers. If you’d like to move your blog up a level I recommend highly the service Theobloggers offer. (And please do … especially if you still use blogspot or blogger.com … the rest of us are SOOOOO tired of filling in forty blanks and reading verification letters in order to leave a comment … so much so that I hardly ever leave a comment if I have to go through that hoo-hah). But I digress…

Next I’m going to get Brad to help me with our church website. Looking forward to unveiling a new site.

Robert & Nicole, John Robert, cousin Raychel

As for other goings-on … I’m on the Coast with Maggy’s parents and one of her sisters. Our daughter Nicole has a birthday tomorrow  - her first without John Robert in 18 years. Happy 32nd Birthday Nicole! Yep I told the number! Nicole has been so helpful to us while we’re in Monroe and she lives on the Coast. We love her and her family! Grandson Blake, 18 months, is running around the house and we’re enjoying playing with him. Granddaughter Claire is at school so we’ll see her later on today. I presume son in law Robert is at work and we’ll see him later on as well. Looking forward to getting together tonight with everyone!

I’ll be returning to Monroe tomorrow. Maggy will be staying behind to do some packing.

Thanks for stopping by.