Thursday morning at Detroit Tiger Fantasy Camp brought some unwelcome news – the playoffs had been moved up from Friday to today because of a poor weather forecast for Friday.  We had just finished a game the night before at 10:30 p.m. and Tim Allard and I had pitched in that game expecting a day off on Thursday.  But hey, this is Fantasy Camp so what difference does it really make?  My arm felt remarkably fine at first and I was able to pitch the first two innings.  But by the time I had finished the 2nd inning my arm was shaking and felt ready to fall off.  We led the entire game until the bottom of the last inning and lost on a walk-off hit batter : )  What a way to go…we won the consolation game 1-0 and that was the end of competitive baseball probably for  my lifetime.  By then most of the players were doing a Fred Sanford impression (think Sanford and Son, “I’m coming Elizabeth!”).  I think my body is happy about the end of camp being in sight.  The prize for placing high in the playoffs is that you get to play earlier in the game against the former Tigers on Saturday morning at Joker Marchant Stadium.  So we’ll be near the end of the pack but it should still be a fun day.  We finished with a 3-4 record.

Thursday evening was a night the camp sets aside for “Autograph Night” so Kevin and I were able to have several baseballs and items signed by all the former Tigers.  The highlight of the night for us is when the autographing was done we were able to sit down with Mike Maroth for about 20 minutes and Kevin peppered him with a “60 Minutes” type interview.  Mike is such a gracious guy and I was really happy to hear he’s been hired as a coach in the Tiger organization with the Lakeland Flying Tigers.  Then we had the camp’s charity poker tournament and that was Kevin’s sport more than mine so he helped me get some idea of what was going on.  He lasted until the last 7 players or so and had a lot of fun competing against John Hiller.

So today (Friday) was an off day due to the rain and Kevin and I went to Universal Studios Islands of Adventure.  Kevin had been wanting to see the new Harry Potter attractions there.  Let me tell you that nothing at Fantasy Baseball Camp made me feel as old as the Harry Potter rides.  On the first one called “Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey” (gee, aptly named)  they cram you into a seat and then push down on the harness.  This is roughly the same movement as pounding your chest to restart your heart.  Then they proceed to put you through an experience that is similar to what a strawberry would experience in a blender.  They even hydrate you with some fog and mist and crisp you with some open flame.  You are supposed to be flying on a broom but that would be much tamer than this.  We staggered from that ride to the Harry Potter roller coaster called “The Dragon Challenge.”  No waiting!  Gee, great.  Front car!  Awesome.  This had to be the best looping coaster known to man.  Too bad I walked by about 15 different warning signs about my age and physical condition.  Amazing loops and twists going about 100 mph.  By the time we mercifully exited, we walked about 20 feet from the exit and I told Kevin I had to sit down or my Panera bagel and coffee was going to make a reappearance.  I was sweating harder than after pitching 3 innings.  We wandered around for a while and I tried to calm my stomach with a bottle of water.  Then we came upon the Spiderman in 3D ride.  I thought this would be much less scary.  Still no waiting!  Man, I have turned into a complete old man.  I thought I was going to throw up again!  I just wanted the next ride to involve a nap.  We decided to head back to camp.

I have to take a moment here to mention how much fun its been to go through this experience with Kevin.  He has made the week so much better by being here.  His companionship through the exciting and the mundane has been priceless.  He has been my fan, my photographer, my comedian and my chauffeur.  He has been a wild life photographer and expert sports memorabilia consultant.  It has been a great privilege to get to spend some down time with him and enjoy the whole week in Florida.  Our only wish was that Mark could have been here too…

Friday night is our team dinner.  Saturday we play the former Tigers in Joker Marchant and have the closing banquet.  It’s really been a lot of fun and a memorable week.  And while I’m here because Lyd gave this gift to me for my fiftieth birthday, I really do feel much older : )

The highlight of Wednesday at Detroit Tigers Fantasy Camp was playing a game under the lights at historic Henley Field.  The ballpark was built in 1922 and baseball greats such as Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams and  Hall of Famer Al Kaline have played there.  I  pitched the first three innings, and my scoreless streak reached 5 innings before I ran into some trouble and gave up a couple of runs.  It was a lot of fun picturing Ty Cobb running around these same bases.  We were only losing 4-2 going into the last inning but a couple of errors made it 8-2 and we lost to the 1st place team at camp.  They are 5-0 and our only consolation was they had averaged 10 runs a game prior to facing us.

We have one game on Thursday morning and then the playoffs are on Friday.  Its been a lot of fun to pitch again.  I ended up skipping the team lunch on Wednesday so Kevin and I could drive about 60 miles west to Honeymoon Island State Park.  It is a beautiful beach with a nature trail that is loaded with Osprey, Owls and other creatures.  You’ll have to see Kevin’s pictures, they are spectacular!  At one point an armadillo ran across our path and we were able to see a pair of bald eagles in their nest.  It was a nice change of pace from all the baseball.

I drove to the ballpark with Jon Warden and Rick Leach, two of the Tiger coaches.  We had a nice conversation about the Tigers signing Prince Fielder and what line-up combinations they would try.  Jon talked about how he signed with the Tigers in 1966 for a $15,000 signing bonus which seemed like a pile of money then.  It’s hard to imagine what it would be like to sign for $214 million.

I had two philosophical thoughts today.  One happened during the morning game when one of my coaches Mike Heath asked me if I wanted to pitch the last inning to close out a 4 – 3 victory.  I said sure, but if someone else wanted to pitch that was okay with me.  Our other coach Steve Kemp wanted to keep a pitcher in that had been doing well and they kind of talked it over.  Mike turned to me and said “You really need to tell us you want the ball.  No hemming and hawing, just show confidence and tell us you want to be out there.”  So many times in my life I want to please others; I want to show humility and make way for others.  I don’t take a hard stand or be aggressive because I don’t want to appear to come on too strong.  This experience reminded me that some circumstances in life call for confidence and being resolute.  Let your yes be yes.  Especially if other people are looking to you for action or direction.

The second thought that hit me today was this.  I dressed in the same clubhouse as the best ballplayer in the world today, Justin Verlander.  I played on the same field as Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb, some of the greatest players of all time.  I was wearing the same uniform that my favorite Tiger Bill Freehan wore.  But I was still throwing the ball 50 miles and hour and it was still taking me 15 seconds to run to first base.  I was still making fielding errors.  Your surroundings don’t make you who you are.  Your character makes you who you are.  Your habits form your character.  And this relates to every area of life.  You could go to the greatest church in the world.  You could hear the greatest preacher in the world.  You could wear the right clothes and sing from the right hymnal.  But if you don’t have a personal daily discipline to spend time with God; if you aren’t practicing the disciplines of prayer and time in His Word yourself – then nothing significant is going to change in your life.  Sometimes we want to be in the presence of greatness.  We want to see people’s lives changed and be around a growing congregation.  But this is just a fantasy if our plan is to watch other people do it, or think that certain appearances will make it happen.  That was where my mind was, as I was soaking up the Florida sun.  Don’t get me wrong – it’s a lot of fun to be here, and the memories are great.  But I had to remember that it is just a fantasy…

Kangaroo Court Judge Jon Warden

Tuesday morning at Detroit Tiger Fantasy camp brought the first session of Judge Jon Warden’s Kangaroo Court.  Warden was a member of the 1968 Detroit Tigers team and is one of the coaches at Fantasy Camp.  Most of what he says I couldn’t publish here.  Each morning the day starts with his judgment of players for trespasses the previous day.  Fines can range from $2 to $10 and they go to the “Jack’s Place” charity which is Jim Price’s foundation to battle autism.

Players were fined for a variety of offenses.  The most common were not getting your belt through all your belt loops; or wearing the home Tigers hat with the away uniform; or forgetting to take the stickers off your new Tiger cap; or getting caught with your zipper down; or forgetting to wear a batting helmet when going out to the on-deck circle.  One player was fined heavily for “wearing a headband and trying to look like one of the Village people.”  The same player was also fined for running out directly to 2nd base when asked to play 2nd base (you never stand right on the base, as most tee-ballers even know) and he was fined for putting on a helmet that was 5 sizes too small and the bill of the helmet was pointing up in the air and he looked like a shark with a fin on top: )  One guy was fined for wearing soccer cleats rather than baseball cleats.  One of my teammates was fined for being hit by a sniper.  That is how you refer to someone who is running the bases and falls down for no apparent reason whatsoever.  He actually dislocated his shoulder on the play and is on the disabled list.  The whole court proceedings had everyone laughing and it made us all try to keep from being tomorrow’s victims.

My team lost our first two games and any allusion that even though this is fantasy camp nobody cares who wins or loses went out the door quickly.  Our afternoon game everyone was desperate for a win and we came through with a 10-1 win.  I pitched two shutout innings which was the highlight of the day for me.  The arm feels good.  I asked one of the other pitchers if his arm hurt and he said there was no part on his body that did not hurt, including his arm.  After we got a big lead in the afternoon game Mike Maroth, one of their coaches, took the mound because they were out of healthy pitchers.  He obviously was just throwing soft strikes to try to get the game over with, but I hit a double in the gap to right-center field off of him so that was my other highlight of the day.  I really needed oxygen after that play.  After one screwy fielding play, our coach Mike Heath yelled “Put a tent around this circus!”  Baseball really has some funny slogans and moments.  I guess that’s what makes the game so fun.

Our team is starting to come together and we are getting to know one another.  We have guys (and one girl) from all over the country and the state of Michigan.  Each has a unique story to tell.  Many are rookies to camp like me, and some have been 10, 20 or as many as 34 times.  Some haven’t touched a bat for years and others play in senior wood bat hard ball leagues in the summer.  Tomorrow we’re planning to have lunch together and on Friday night we have a team dinner for our coaches.

Speaking of food, I also enjoyed the conversation at lunch today in the Tigertown Cafeteria.  Kevin left after the picture time to visit my Aunt Elaine and Uncle Gerry Simpson who are not far away here in Florida for the winter.  I sat at lunch with Doug Bair, a former Tiger pitcher who is one of the coaches.  It was interesting to hear his story about college and when he was drafted and what his pro career was like.  He got very animated telling the guys at our table about Roberto Clemente who he played with in Pittsburgh.  I was surprised to learn that Roberto Clemente was only about 5 feet nine inches tall.  Doug had the privilege to play with Roberto Clemente and Al Kaline, two of the greatest outfielders ever.

A couple of current minor league prospects who are working out at Tigertown right now joined us for lunch.  One was Alex Burgos, a pitcher with the West Michigan Whitecaps, the Tiger’s affiliate in Grand Rapids.  He is only 21 and was a very polite and likeable young guy.  I was glad to meet him and it will be fun to see if he is able to take his career to the next level.  I couldn’t tell you the name of the other player.  He doesn’t speak English at all.  He is a tall, lean young man who the Tigers signed when he was only 16 years old in 2008 in the Dominican Republic.  He is 19 years old now.  Alex Burgos speaks Spanish and he was helping the other player find his way around and served as his interpreter.

Tomorrow we have two more games, one in the morning and then a game under the lights at Henley Field at 8:30 p.m.  Henley is the field the Tigers used as their spring training home until 1967.  It is the field that Al Kaline first played on as a Tiger, and was used back when Charlier Gehringer and other Tiger greats came to Lakeland for spring training.  It should be fun, as long as I don’t get in trouble with the judge…

From left Darrell Evans, Lou Whittaker, Dave Rozema, Alan Trammell

Today on this baseball vacation I was reminded of several things that I love.  Putting a clean baseball uniform on, with real stirrup socks.  Pounding my glove before making a catch.  Gripping the ball across the seams.  Green grass.  The warm sun on your neck (wasn’t I just snowblowing on Saturday?).  The cracking sound of a baseball flying off the sweet spot of a wooden bat.  The butterflies as you walk toward the pitcher’s mound hoping you have enough control to get 3 outs.  The feeling of loneliness as you are perched on top, 60 feet away, staring down at the batter, catcher and umpire.  The shout of encouragement after a mistake.  Shaking hands with the winners and losers.

I also enjoyed being in the presence of greatness.  Alan Trammell and Lou Whitaker, one of the greatest double-play combinations of all time taught us how to play the infield.  It was awesome.  As I listened to Tram explain how to play shortstop, out of the corner of my eye I saw Justin Verlander walk onto the field next to us.  He was just dressed in a warm up shirt and shorts, with a catcher in tow.  Here was the MVP and Cy Young Award winner from last season not resting on his laurels.  He was up and working out at 9 a.m. when he didn’t have to be because pitchers and catchers don’t even have to report yet.  I was thinking “This is what truly makes him great – the effort he puts in when nobody else is around.”

We had a fun dinner celebration for Alan Trammell.  Some of his teammates praised and roasted him.  Dave Rozema concluded by saying that “Tram loves people – so he’s kind of like me just a leeetle bit different.”  That brought a big laugh as you couldn’t meet two people whose personalities were more different.  One was sober.  You don’t have to guess which one.  Darrell Evans said it best when he said “If you think of the 1984 Tiger era the person you are going to think of – the person who represents us the best – the player most responsible for us winning the World Series – is Alan Trammell.”

Trammell himself was very humble.  He praised Lou Whitaker because back in 1976 after being named the Florida Southern League MVP as a THIRD baseman, the Tigers switched Lou to 2nd base to pair him with the newly drafted Trammell and he never complained about it.  He also said that “No matter how good I get at anything there is always room for improvement.”  A class act.

As I sat in the Tigertown cafeteria, another thought struck me.  All of the tables have inset Tiger memorabilia, oodles of old photos and programs.  I glanced around.  There was Larry Pashnick.  Over to the right was George Alusik.  Underneath him was Steve Demeter.  Who are these guys?  I never heard of any of them.  Fame is fleeting.  Sometimes fame never comes.  After all, here I am at Fantasy Camp because after I passed age 15 there really weren’t any games left to play for someone with my baseball talent.  There was just school, and a job, and a family to raise.  And it reminded me of John Maxwell’s definition of success that I heard about 20 years ago.  “Real success is having those who are the closest to you love and respect you the most.”   I wondered how true this was of all those players staring at me from the tabletop.  Some people attain both fame and success.  Some attain neither.  But as I sat there, having gone 0-2 at the plate in fantasy camp today, I realized how grateful I am to God for everything that he has given to me and what He has taught me about fame and success…

From left Jake Wood, Steve Collard, Willie Horton

Today was day 1 of Tiger Baseball Fantasy Camp.  I heard the same advice I heard at the orientation lunch, a quote by Gates Brown – “Start off slow, and taper off from there.”  They seem really worried about us going out on the first day and blowing out a hamstring or an Achilles.  They have reason to be worried since the average age is 54.  There are about 100 guys here from 13 states.  Kevin and I talked to several from New York, Colorado and Washington.  They were all life long Tiger fans that have remained loyal through the years.

We attended orientation and got to hear comments from the former Tigers who serve as the coaches.  Sweet Lou Whitaker is here.  He received a standing ovation and the shouts of “LLLoooooooooouuuuu” that we used to love to hear at Tiger Stadium back in the 80′s.  Alan Trammell is here.  There is a tribute banquet to him tomorrow, so I’ll probably have more to say about him then.  But today he said one thing that really stuck with me.  He said that Al Kaline told him he never evaluated a player by his talent or his statistics.  He always evaluated a player by what kind of teammate he was.  Wow, that could apply to many areas of life.

Rick Leach is here, the former U-M quarterback.  Mike Maroth is here and still looks 12 years old.  Other coaches include Darrell Evans, Doug Bair, Mike Heath, Dave Rozema, Steve Kemp, Jon Warden, Jake Wood, Willie Horton, Jack Billingham and Jim Price.  After orientation we attended a barbecue and had a chance to snap a couple of pictures and chat with the players.  Jake Wood and Willie Horton were such gentlemen.  I told Jake that I never got to see him play (he was a Tiger in 1961, the year I was born) but I remember my dad telling me how fast he was.  That got a big smile out of him.  Willie gave us a signed baseball card with his Christian testimony on the back.  We chatted with Mike Maroth about Home Plate, and he is a rookie here too.  I told Alan Trammell I went to the same high school as Kirk Gibson and his response was “That’s too bad.”  : )

They announced the teams after dinner.  The uncertainty of it all brought back memories of standing along the fence in the sandlot near Waterford Community Church while two captains picked the teams.  You never wanted to be picked last.  I am on Team 3.  My coaches are Steve Kemp and Mike Heath.  Tomorrow morning I get my official Detroit Tiger uniform and then we have a clinic in the morning and Game 1 in the afternoon.  It should be fun, as long as I start off slow…

“It’s unbelievable how much you don’t know about the game you’ve been playing all your life.”  – Mickey Mantle

That quote flashed on the screen at the beginning of the movie “Moneyball.”  This week I get to experience this for myself.  The first time I put on a baseball uniform I was 8 years old.  Gas was 35 cents a gallon.  Richard Nixon was President.  It was one of the greatest days of my life.  I played for the Drayton Plains Lions Club.  It was a little league for boys age 11 and under.  In my first game my coach put me into the game to pitch.  I don’t know if it was fear or adrenalin, but I threw my first pitch OVER the backstop.  It was all uphill from there.

My wife Lydia gave me the gift of Detroit Tiger’s Fantasy Camp for my 50th birthday.  So even though I haven’t played a game of baseball since I was 15 (and by baseball I mean not slow-pitch softball, with wooden bats), I’m about to get on a plane, fly to Florida, and don a Detroit Tiger’s uniform.  Number 11, like my boyhood idol Bill Freehan.  When they asked me what position I want to play, I said “pitcher.”  My wife said “Are you kidding?”  I said “Hun, it’s a fantasy camp.”  I wonder how big the backstop is at Joker Marchant stadium?  I’m about to find out.

The last of 50 blogs about people who have impacted my life as I turn age 50

November 2, 2011

Well Lord, I made it.  This far.  50 years.  Lamentations 3:22  – “Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”

I have spent the last 49 days remembering 49 individuals whom God has blessed me with during my first 50 years.  There were 13 women, 34 men and two dogs.  As I mentioned in the first blog, there were many more people I could add to that list.  God has been so good to me.  And so today, I want to give Him the glory.

I was eight years old when I started my personal walk with Jesus Christ.  Before that time, although I had attended church for all of those first 8 years, I did not really know Him as my Friend.  I knew about Him.  I knew He had come to earth and died for sinners.  I knew He was coming back someday and I was afraid of being left behind.  But I realized when I was eight years old that although these things were all true, I didn’t know HIM.

Ephesians 2:4-9…”But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵ made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions…⁸ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast.”

So one night at the Boys Brigade group I attended, I accepted Jesus Christ and asked Him to be the Lord of my life.  I repented of the wrong things I had done.  I turned the future direction of my life over to Him.  I believed in His promise that He would give me His Spirit to dwell within Me, and that He would never leave me.

Throughout the years, I don’t know what I would have done without Him.  His Word taught me how to live.  When things have been difficult He has given me peace, a peace that the world cannot give.  I can remember key points in these 50 years – asking my wife to marry me – accepting a job offer – buying a home – experiencing health crises – when prayer and trust in His will carried me through.

Certainly in these years I have stumbled and strayed.  I have doubted.  I have disobeyed.  I have discovered the truth of Galatians 6:7-8  – “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.  Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

I have also learned that happiness isn’t so much related to your circumstances, but to the state of your soul and the closeness of your walk with Christ.  I learned from the Gospel of John 15:9 that Jesus said “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.”  So when I am downcast, I only have to remember that He loves me more than I can measure, and I can be content whatever the situation.

The other thing that keeps me going is an understanding of God’s grace.  While my salvation is based solely upon it, it also carries me through each day.  1 Peter 5:10 – “And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.”

I thank God for His goodness to me for 50 years.  I don’t know what is ahead, or how many days or years I have left.  But I know He is there, and that is enough.  My prayer to Him on this day is that He will help me to live out the rest of my life in the spirit of Ephesians 5:15-16 ”Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil” (NASB).

So take me as You find me,
All my fears and failures,
Fill my life again.

From “Mighty to Save” by Hillsong

Another blog in a series about 50 people who have impacted my life in my first 50 years

November 1, 2011

I wonder what she was thinking 50 years ago today with 3 children age 6 and younger and #4 about to pop?  And I wonder what she was thinking when I charged out the door at age 3 and fell down the front steps and broke my collar-bone?  And I wonder what she was thinking when I almost hung myself on the cherry tree in the back yard when I was 4?  And I wonder what she was thinking when I was still a couple of months shy of my 5th birthday and skipped down the sidewalk to Mrs. Noe’s afternoon kindergarten?  And I wonder what she was thinking when I started the back yard on fire when I was 8?  And I wonder what she was thinking when she and dad had to tell me we couldn’t afford to buy a trumpet when I was 9 and I couldn’t stop crying about it?  And I wonder what she was thinking when I came home from sixth grade camp with a tale of woe?

And I wonder what she was thinking when I got cut from the 7th grade basketball team and then the 8th grade team and then the 9th grade team?  And I wonder what she was thinking when I was in an overturned car in the middle of I-75 in Kentucky?   And I wonder what she was thinking when I started my first job working for $1.50 an hour?  And I wonder what she was thinking when I got my driver’s license on my 16th birthday?  And I wonder what she was thinking when I went on my first date?  And I wonder what she was thinking when I drove off for that first day of college?  And I wonder what she was thinking when I moved out of the homestead on Airport Road and started my own family?

You’re always wondering what your mom was thinking.  In a home where you are loved and cared for and you know you are the highest valued thing on earth to your parents, your always wondering what they are thinking.  She is your number one fan and your number one critic.  She’s your safety net and the one who pushes you out of the nest so you can learn to fly on your own.  My mom was all of those things and more.  She is a special lady and I will always be grateful for the impact she has had on my life.

Beverlee Ann Sloan was born on July 29, 1932 in Leamington, Ontario to Garnet and Velma Sloan.  She was the oldest of five children, followed by Marilyn, Elaine, Sharon and Ken.  She loved growing up on a farm.  She graduated from Leamington High School and worked as a dental assistant.  Later on she worked at Michigan Bell in downtown Detroit. She was an Avon Lady, a Watkins Lady, an Amway Lady, and a Tupperware lady.  Beverlee married Richard Collard on September 15, 1951 in Detroit.  She is the mother of five children and has eight grandchildren.  Her parents are in heaven now, as are two of her sisters.  She is still living on Airport Road in Waterford with dad and Lee, admiring the tulips and lilacs in the spring and watching the squirrels harvest black walnuts in the fall.

Some of the things that stick out in my mind about my mom…

1. Her faith.  She always rose early to read her Bible and pray.  If for some reason you were up before the birds and wandered downstairs, you might peek into the living room and see her on her knees, before the throne of God.  If you know her, she probably brought you up during one of those morning sessions.  It meant a lot that you knew her faith was personal and real.

2. Her love of motherhood.  I grew up in a home where I never made my own bed.  My mom made it for me.  When I started to make it one day, she scolded me and told me I would be gone soon enough and I could make my own bed then.  While I lived at home, she was going to enjoy making it for me.

3. Her presence.  My mom was a stay-at-home mom for most of her life.  She was there to oversee breakfast, there when I came home from school and we were all together for dinner.  Nevermind it might be eggs and noodles, or cream tuna on toast.  We were together.  For dinner.  She volunteered and worked at the school.  She knew all my teachers.  She was a lunchroom mother and a playground mother.  She was there.

4. Her love of family.  We grew up spending a lot of time with our relatives.  We knew our grandparents well and spent lots of time with them.  We spent holidays together.  She reached out to other members of the family to let them know she cared about them.  She was often the one getting us all together.  It gave us a firm foundation before we launched into the world.

5. Her encouragement.  I feel like I experienced my share of failure in childhood.  Through it all my mom cheered me up.  She never judged me for my accomplishments or lack of them.  She loved me unconditionally.  But she talked loud on the phone to friends about my latest good report card or some other reason she was proud of me.

6. Her patience.  She grew up with a father who didn’t know what patience was.  So she had to have a double-portion, just like her mother.  It would take her a while before she headed for the fly swatter or the wooden spoon.  Since she never learned to drive a car, she spent (and consequently we spent) a lot of time waiting at laundromats, grocery stores and ball games.  I don’t remember her ever losing her temper over any of those things.

7. Her voice.  It was multi-faceted.  It could be soft, the sound of comfort in pain or sickness.  It could be shrill, the sound of encouragement as in “Come on!  A walk’s as good as a hit!”  It could be LOUD coming from the back porch, echoing around the neighborhood, calling us home.  It could be sweet, singing along with the Renfro Valley gathering while putting Sunday breakfast together.  It could be cheerful, singing “Over the river and through the woods… to see Paul and James and John.”  It could be trouble as in “Stephen Richard get over here.”  She has a great voice.

8. Her hospitality.  My mom is happiest when she is feeding a dozen people or more.  She loves to have people over for dinner.  It didn’t matter that she was known as a cremation cook.  I couldn’t count the number of times she burned the rolls or corn muffins in the oven.  No matter, she would just cut off the bottoms and serve the tops.  She didn’t let the condition of the house or the lack of resources stop her.  It was the thought that counted.  There was always enough to go around…

9. Her heart for people, even strangers.  For most of my life she has written letters to women in prison.  If nobody else in the world cares about them, they know my mom does.  The kids we thought were losers on the playground at school, those were the kids that loved my mom the most.  She’ll talk to anyone in line at the store.  She’ll go out of her way and embarrass the rest of us to help someone, and she doesn’t really care at all that we’re embarrassed.  She lost her ability to be embarrassed a long time ago.

Even at age 50 I’m still a momma’s boy.  I call her often.  I depend on her prayers.  I still like to hear her words of encouragement.  I’m sure the qualities she has passed on to me have helped me in my marriage, my parenting, my work and my faith.  I love you mom!  I thank God for you!

Her children respect and bless her…The woman to be admired and praised is the woman who lives in the Fear-of-God.  Give her everything she deserves! Festoon her life with praises! Proverbs 31:28-31 (The Message)

From left, Garnet, Beverlee, Velma

Another blog in a series about 50 people who have impacted my life as I approach age 50.

Garnet Lemuel Sloan was my maternal grandfather and just his name alone indicates he is one of the more colorful characters on my family tree.  Today would have been his 100th birthday, as he was born on Halloween back in 1911 in Leamington, Ontario.  Garnet was the 3rd of 4 children born to Lemuel and Amy Sloan (Simpson).  Garnet’s grandfather James T. Sloan had purchased 85 acres on the 5th Concession for $900 in 1863 to farm with his wife Isabel and 13 children.  The family settled there and over the course of the next two generations worked the land and then sold it off in parcels.  My grandpa worked most of his life as an electrician and lived in rented houses around Leamington.

Garnet married Velma Dell Lackey on February 28, 1931.  My mother was the oldest of five children born to them.  Around 1980 I asked my grandpa how he had met my grandma, and he said “A school chum introduced us.”  But then he added “Some chum.”  That was my grandpa.  He was a pretty sarcastic guy.

When I was a kid my grandpa would kick me in the butt.  Literally.  I would walk by him and he would do a side-kick into my behind and then laugh his head off.  I was never quite sure what was up with this, I assume it was some funny thing they did back in the 1930′s that everyone else forgot about but grandpa.  Consequently, I was pretty wary of my grandpa.

I do have some pleasant memories of him.  He loved to play hymns on the piano, and I never saw him happier than when he was doing that.  One time he dropped me off at the Leamington Arena to watch some hockey games, and he slid a $5 bill into my hand as I was getting out of the car, which I never forgot.  Grandpa and Grandma hosted many Christmas dinners for all of our aunts and uncles and cousins and those are some of my happiest childhood memories.

But on the whole, I’d say Grandpa’s impact on my life was more of a contra-influence – I didn’t want to be like him or act like him.  He was a character, kind of like the father on “The Christmas Story” movie.  He liked to slip away to Blondie’s, a variety store and diner down the street and make-believe that we didn’t all know that he was going for a smoke.  Those smokes were the only reason for that cough he had that could shake the rafters.

He ate TUMS by the canister.  He also ate individual wrapped ones and threw the wrappers out the car window like a first-rate litter bug.  Grandpa’s solution to all of life’s problems was Hydrogen Peroxide.  Not only could you use it as a topical cleanser, you could gargle with it to get rid of a sore throat; pour it in your ear to solve an earache; or drink it like soda pop to get rid of an ulcer!  One time I was sitting in the exam room in my doctor’s office waiting for the doctor and spied a big bottle of peroxide on the counter, and I thought “Grandpa was right!  Peroxide is the cure-all!”

One time I was watching a football game with grandpa.  The quarterback had one of the best scrambling scenes I ever saw.  He must have dodged 10 tackles and was still running for his life.  He dodged left, he cut right.  He ran forward, he ran backward, he ran from sideline to sideline.  Grandpa got so excited he jumped off the couch and yelled “Run, you silly ass!  Run!”  I was so happy to hear one of my grandparents “swear,” I must have smiled for a week and I still grin every time I think about it.

My grandpa loved Billy Graham.  I love him too but when I was a teenager, it wasn’t my choice to watch Billy Graham Crusades every night.  One night when he turned the channel to watch Billy Graham, I got up to leave the living room and go to bed.  Grandpa yelled at me “What?  Don’t you want to hear the real truth?”  I could only assume he was assaulting my Plymouth Brethren heritage, which he by then had rejected.  It was his heritage too through his maternal grandparents.  What was weird about that is we saw salvation exactly the same as Billy Graham did, so I was always puzzled where he was going with that.  The problem with my grandpa is that it didn’t matter what kind of church he tried, he could never get along with people well enough to make it home.  He was much happier listening to Billy Graham on TV and David D. Allen on the radio than going to church.  He did like to leave gospel tracts all around too, but his evangelism had to be aimed at strangers who had no idea what a dufus he could be to his family.

Despite his personal foibles, Grandpa had an interesting spiritual legacy.  His grandfather Peter Gordon Simpson was the brother of A. B. Simpson, who founded the Christian Missionary Alliance Church and wrote numerous hymns, including:

Yesterday, today, forever, Jesus is the same.
All may change, but Jesus never! Glory to His Name!
Glory to His Name! Glory to His Name!
All may change, but Jesus never! Glory to His Name!

February 3, 1946 was a great day in the history of the Garnet Sloan family and one with eternal significance.  My grandpa and grandma, and my mom and her younger sister Marilyn attended an evangelistic meeting at Walkerville Baptist Church in Windsor, Ontario.  The evangelist, Billy Piper, gave a powerful message of salvation.  To that point, my grandparents and their children had been infrequent church goers and did not have a personal relationship with Christ.  My mom was very convicted, and along with her sister, went forward during the invitation to accept Christ as their personal Savior.  They were taken into a side-room and someone counseled them and prayed with them.  After they were finished, the girls became afraid because they couldn’t find their parents.  Knowing my grandpa’s cantankerous personality they even wondered if he had driven back to Leamington without them.  As they searched the church, they entered a room and found both of their parents, Garnet and Velma, on their knees, praying with Billy Piper and putting their trust in Christ.  What a wonderful moment.  The other interesting tidbit about this, is that Billy Piper was the father of John Piper, who is now a well-known Christian author and founder of Desiring God ministries based in Minnesota.

Grandpa didn’t believe in building up others’ self-esteem.  I credit him with the fact that my mother never learned to drive a car because he totally freaked her out when she was trying to learn.  My grandma was so sweet and loving but lived in fear of grandpa flying off the handle because she didn’t do everything exactly right.  I don’t know why some people who grow up in this environment mimic it, but I know I always reacted in horror and wondered why grandpa was acting like grandpa.

My parents have lived in Waterford for 46 years but my Grandpa Sloan only visited once.  That was in 1967 when my brother Kevin was born.  Why did he only visit once?  Because he was afraid to go to Detroit.  He watched the Detroit TV news all the time and developed a fear of ever crossing into Detroit.  I always found it funny that Grandpa thought his ancestors came to Canada for “adventure” but he constantly complained about how much his children and grandchildren traveled around the country.

What grandpa did pass on to me was love for the Leamington area.  Near the end, due to the influx of immigrants into Canada, he lamented that no Canadians lived in Leamington anymore.  But he loved the town.  His family had lived there for over 100 years.  He had worked as a pickle taster at the Heinz plant in his early adult years, something I always found captivating despite the fact I hate pickles.  Grandpa passed away in 1993 at the age of 81 and he and grandma are buried across the street from that Heinz plant where they met.  He loved the tomato farms and the fruit orchards.  He drove cool looking panel trucks with his electrical equipment and tools inside, with “Sloan Electric” printed on the side.  Grandma always said he could hardly make any money at it because he would never charge enough for his work.  He definitely had a soft side, despite the ornery codger that could appear at any moment.  I never doubted that he loved me, I just had to watch my back-side : ) because he had a strange way of showing it.

As I grew up as the grandson of Garnet Sloan, I learned I did not want to follow in his footsteps.  When certain attitudes manifest themselves in our family, we’ll invoke Garnet’s name into the situation and everyone will know what we mean.  But you can’t choose your grandparents, and so I have to thank God for choosing someone for me who added a great deal of color to my life and taught me many lessons that I could carry forward for the rest of my life.

October 30, 2011

This morning at Lakeside Bible Chapel I had the privilege to hear my friend Terry Priestap preach his heart out once again.  His topic today, “Love Is…Tenacious” was a very appropriate one for him.  He topped his message off with Galatians 5:6b – “The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.”  I have witnessed Terry and his wife Jean expressing themselves through love many times over my lifetime.

Terry grew up in Richmond, MI and was close friends with Bruce Francisco, whose father was one of the founders of the church in Richmond where I grew up.  Terry was part of the inaugural class of Oakland University, the school I attended a couple of decades later.  He had a successful career with Owens Corning.  He and his wife Jean raised four children and have many grandchildren.  After retiring from Owens Corning Terry served as the pastor of Christian Fellowship in Toledo, Ohio.  He has helped my current church by filling in as a guest speaker on numerous occasions, including speaking at our Men’s Retreat a couple of times.  He has been a tremendous blessing to us.  Terry and Jean and their family attended the church in Richmond for several years as I was growing up and that led to a lifetime friendship that I cherish very much.  Terry has impacted my life in a number of ways:

1. Terry has been a mentor to me for most of my teen years and throughout my life as an adult.  Terry has always been very generous with his time and has provided great counsel to me.  Whether the issue was my own spiritual life, my family life, relationship issues, an issue involving work or church leadership – he has always been available to take a phone call, pray for me and counsel me.  Everyone needs a Terry in their life.  I can’t describe how invaluable he has been at critical points in my life.

2. Terry has been a shepherd to me and my family.  When I was a teenager, Terry would invite the youth group from my church to his family’s cabin near Mio, Michigan.  We canoed the Au Sable River and hung out around the cabin.  We had great campfire messages and singalongs.  Later Terry started a winter-break outing for youth at Camp Barakel.  Those were very impressionable years for me.  Terry was a friend to my family and spoke at my Grandma Rose Collard’s funeral.

3. Terry has been a great example of serving God through all of the seasons of his life.  When he was raising his children, he ministered to the church as he was able, and he and Jean were very hospitable and encouraged fellowship among the believers.  As his children grew older he was very instrumental in teaching at Red Pine Camp for families and leading youth activities.  I know he was involved in Bible Studies and small groups at Owens Corning, demonstrating how to live your faith at work.  And then he transitioned from career to ministry by taking on the challenge of leading a congregation in Toledo.  Despite battling cancer and other obstacles, he has traveled on missions trips to several parts of the world and helped others with mission ministries.  He is leaving soon for another trip to the other side of the world to a very difficult country to minister in - what a great example to the rest of us!

4. In addition to being a friend, mentor and example, without being intentional about it, Terry has been present enough in my life for me to observe how he handles different situations.  I have seen how he reacted when a forest fire was burning its way down the road to his family’s cabin.  I have seen him endure unfair criticism and offense.  I have watched him face serious health issues.  He has modeled before me a steadfast faith that has encouraged me to continue on during difficulties of my own.

I know Terry would be uncomfortable with this praise, and would be telling me that he has many faults and failures.  But as I am the one who is blogging what amounts to me to be a chorus of thanksgiving to God for the many people he has brought into my life, I have to thank him especially for Terry Priestap and all that he has meant to me.  He really has no idea the number of times I was lifted up because he took the time to minister to me.

“Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.”  Hebrews 13:7