The Crew from Cov

The other night Tricia and I went to an engagement party for a friend of mine who recently got engaged.  It was a great time getting to see so many people there that I've not seen in a while.  Tricia got to meet a lot of my friends that night, from what I can gather, they all seemed to embrace her and there looked to be mutual acceptance among them all.  When I left Covenant Pres sometime ago and began going to Oak Mountain, it was hard to adjust to not being around many of those folks but over time I knew I was doing the right thing by going to Oak Mountain.  Those friends back at Covenant I have not forgotten nor has our friendships decreased.  That is really the interesting thing.  Most of these folks are married couples, now with like 2 kids and who knows what's in the works.  But the really cool thing about all these folks is that they have always been there, through the thick and thin and through all of my stuff.  They all mean a lot to me and I cherish those friendships dearly.
I don't know that I've ever mentioned any of them on this blog before, so I thought I'd shed some light to who all these people are and by maybe telling a few stories.  I guess to start off, we all met each other in the Single's group at Covenant.  Most of us began going there back around 1999 or 2000 and some came in a little later.  It was like God just dropped us all off at the same place around the same time to develop some very significant friendships with each other over the years.  God knew what He was up to here, because we all quickly began to develop very strong and lasting relationships.  It was neat to see how God worked in all of these friendships to later lead to many of the guys and girls getting married over time, now most of them having at least one child by now and some two.

Jon, Bobby, Bou, Derek, Brandon and Rusty.  These guys have pretty much been the closest guy friends in that crowd.  I will get around to who they all married a little later.  Each of these guys came from different backgrounds and places, with a ranging of interest that included hunting, sports, mission trips, and just good ole hanging out.  Not all of us had something in common except for the hanging out part, which seems to still be the most important, but the common interest among this group had us all pretty much doing things together very often, even leading to some of us sharing a house together here in there over the years.  All of them have very interesting and inspiring stories of life and their coming to a personal relationship with Christ, but one in particular is Bou.  If you ever run into this guy, do yourself a favor and ask him about escaping from Cambodia when he was just a kid with his family.  It is an incredible story and you can see Christ all the way through it giving him protection, provision, love, and grace.  He came to America and now he lives the American dream like the rest of us.  No, I'm not saying life is perfect for any of us, nor is it for Bou, but by the grace of God he was able to come and be raised here in America, was able to take advantage of the blessings of our freedoms that this country was founded on...although, I have to say now, that our freedoms seem to be slipping away from us more and more as we go through life...but that's another blog post altogether.  Jon, Bobby, Derek and I used to share a house out in Riverchase.  At the time, we called it the "Home for Unwed Brothers".  It was like a frat house, always having people over for cookouts and gatherings, and a lot of times for those great heart to heart conversations on the back deck or wherever to just talk about the struggles and successes of life. 

Jon and I first hung out at a Mt. Brook football game one night with some other guys from the group.  In our conversation, I pretty much unloaded my testimony to him right there from the stands watching the game, who knows why then and there, but apparently I just felt like talking but I talked about a lot and Jon was I think a little overwhelmed by it all at first, but later came to appreciate everything we had talked about.  He knew who I really was, he knew what I struggled with and he knew what my hang-ups where...from this, with him, I was free to just be myself and be real with him.  He knows this now but I really appreciated him listening to me that night and it was the foundation of our friendship that still presses on through thick and thin.  He later married an awesome girl named Kristi.  Kristi was in our group at Covenant too and most of the earlier years in the group she was tied up with school but stayed involved the entire time.  She is another great friend of mine to this day and going to hang out with them and their two beautiful children is always still a lot of fun.  One of the great things about hanging out with them is that they are both just real all the time. They talk pretty openly about the great things in their marriage and the struggles they sometimes have.  They are an inspiration to me to see their walk through life as husband and wife, father and mother of two, while balancing work, children, life, and other things.  Jon just finished up his MBA about a year ago now I guess, and now his career is beginning to take steps upward to new horizons.  I am proud of both of them and I cherish and value their friendship so much.

Derek  - one of the old roommates from the big house in Riverchase.  He is the entrepreneur in our group.  I remember seeing him studying while on retreats early on to be a world class commercial real estate professional and that he has become over the years.  Success looked easy to us on the outside looking in, but in hindsite, he worked hard, very hard to get where he has gotten.  Always studying everything he could get his hands on and always taking the right risk at the right time.  He was inspired and mentored by one of the best in the business back then and now he wears the integrity, values, and success of that person.  Derek was also the crazy one in our group, kinda like a kid that forgot his adderall or ritalin...every day!  He never seems to let adventure pass him by and like his profession, has always taken risk that could have cost him in the end, but God's hand of protection has always been upon him as well.  Derek always has been there to listen and give insight of wisdom along the way for all the guys.  He has a big heart and does whatever he can to help others out in a bind when needed.  He went on as well to marry a girl who is actually as short as he is...short but very sweet and fun.  You look at the two of them and see that God had them in mind for each other without a doubt.  Her name is Rushton.  She came into our group a little later and Derek had her in his sights almost imediately for a pursuit of an incredible relationship that we all got to see develop.  Derek is a pilot also and I was able to go up with him several times in his Cesna at the time and a few of us even took the plane on a beach trip once that was an experience that I'll never forget.  Derek is a busy person, running a business, being married, fathering two children and balancing life,  but will always take the time to stop and hang with the guys when opportunity comes around.  He is a great friend and I will always cherish he and his wife's friendhip for years to come.

Bou- he's always been a great friend, don't get to see him all that much anymore, but a friendship that has lasted through thick and thin over the years.  The early years of friendship were spent talking a lot about life and struggling through knowing what God's will was for our lives in one way or another.  It was cool to go on a mission trip with a person who was the result of mission work himself.  I've had many interesting times with Bou learning about his culture and how he grew up and then came to America to pursue life, school, work and then marriage to Aline, his sweet wife.  They now have two beautiful children.  One may wonder what does a baby from a red headed american girl and a Cambodian look like...beautiful is all I can say, and those kids are full of personality and character.  It was always great to see Bou struggle with the things that life brings along, in that by God's direction and grace, showing him what to do and how to go there.  As all of us, mistakes are made, and some decisions made over time seem to put us two steps back, but as we all learn too, that is God's way of just taking us four steps forward, learning more about ourselves and most of all the unconditional love of Christ along the way.  Each year, Bou invites several of us guys down to his father-n-law's land in Camden, Alabama for some of the best hunting around.  We go down around the same time in December to participate in this hunting trip that usually produces a lot of opportunity to kill a deer, and on some years, the harvest is big but I will not go into that as it may seem cruel to some, but again, that is all for another blog post sometime.  I think the best thing about that annual trip is just the guys all getting together again to hang out, talk about life, laugh a lot all while enjoying a glass of Crown...of course not while hunting...we're crazy - not stupid...however there have been a few things that have happened over the years that would have made you think we were drinking while hunting, some really funny stuff.  A favorite story I will share is about Rusty who I will talk about next.  We are all so appreciative to Bou for inviting us each year,  because it gives us that opportunity to catch up and continue building upon the strong friendships we already have.  Bou and Aline are another couple who's friendship I will always cherish.  They have been there for me too in the tough times and for that I am very thankful. 

Rusty- what can I say about ole Rusty, what can I not say?  I actually met Rusty when going on a mission trip to Ukraine.  He did not go to our church at the time and he came as a friend of someone in the group that was going.  I didn't know what I was in store for back then and now looking back all I can do is laugh and say, "ole Rusty".  But, over the years, and even back there on that trip I saw things in Rusty that most may not get to see when just hanging out with him at times.  Rusty has a very big heart.  He comes across sometimes to people who don't really know him as unfiltered, disrespectful, and sometimes downright wrong....but those people don't really know Rusty, and if they didn't give him a chance to know him a little better, it was only their loss.  Rusty will always be the one to say what you were thinking but just wouldn't dare say, and for that I am thankful...at least most of the time, because behind this rough edged face is a heart that really cares for people in a very deep and meaningful way.  As he reads this, if he does, he would probably say I'm an "ass-kisser" or whatever for saying all this, but that is just his way of saying being humbled I believe.  I remember on more than one occasion he and I having heart to heart talks that blew me away in regards to his care and compassion for people.  This is all just something you don't know about Rusty unless you get him one on one in a conversation.  Rusty married the perfect girl for him.  Laura, someone who can handle his smart comments and know when to listen to him and when to not listen to him.  She is a wonderful wife and mother too.  She compliments him in a way that makes them an incredible couple.  They are always laughing and having fun and always fun to hang out with.  Now, the story I mentioned above.  I think it was two years ago now, we were all down in Camden for our annual hunting trip and while Bou doesn't hunt, he does go out to the stands with each of us from time to time to watch the hunt.  This day he went with Rusty.  The actual hunting time was pretty unproductive, but as they were walking back up to the truck to come back in from the woods, Rusty spotted a doe about 100 yards beyond the truck.  Bou went ahead and got in the truck and Rusty hurried up to take aim over the hood of this Dodge Ram he was driving.  Just know this, Rusty is an awesome shot, he usually never misses what he's shooting at, so he took aim, while resting the rifle on the hood of the truck to get a stable shot, he pulled the trigger and boom!  He looked back through the scope and there stood the doe just minding its owne business.  A little shaken by the noise but otherwise untouched....Rusty was like "what the heck?"  So he took aim again and fired again, boom!  He looked again through the scope and said "you've got to be kidding me"  the doe was still just standing there eating at the grass.  Rusty looked at his rifle to be sure there wasn't something wrong with it then noticed two dark spots on the hood of his truck.  Then he took a closer look...with the way that the curve of the hood is on a Dodge Ram and with the fact that he was looking through the scope, he never noticed that when he shot both times that he was only shooting into the hood of his truck, but talk about consistency, they two shots were right next to each other...now that is called good grouping...not that he was too happy about his grouping at the time.  So, to top this off he went around the truck and took aim resting the rifle into his shoulder and put the doe down finally.  That day Rusty got to do something no one else ever has probably never will, he came back to the barn with a Ram and a doe.  Talk about a hunting trophy.  That is just one of the many stories that there are from our incredible trips.  I appreciate Rusty and his wife Laura.  They are great friends that will last over the years for which I am very thankful.

Now onto Bobby- Bobby, the quiet one, but don't let him fool you.  He always been up to something and his being quiet has always helped him to be taken seriously but also a good cover when he wanted to be scandalous.  Bobby has always been that one that you could talk to and know he would just listen and wouldn't have to say something back - he'd just listen.  Of course if you wanted him to respond or comment he would but he has a natural gift in being able to listen and give wisdom.  Many who know him knows he loves sports and he also is a referee for basketball.  Mostly high school games but some college girls games as well.  Bobby was another roommate from the house in Riverchase.  He was probably the first one of all of us in the group at Covenant.  He loves to fish too, so even though we go hunting down in Camden, sometimes he comes along to go bass fishing in the lakes around the property.  It seems like he was always the one behind all the shananagans that came about all the time.  He's just so stinking quiet and he was never the one you suspected to be behind something but somehow always was.  He finally married his wonderful wife Lori after years of going on and off over time.  We knew they'd get married and finally they did, but in a little different way.  They actually got married on a Single's beach retreat that we had one year, one that OMPC's single group at the time went on as well.  It was a crazy weekend and we did it all up.  The wedding was on the beach and it was really cool to be a part of such an awesome event.  Bobby and Lori now have a child of their own too, and he is another heart stealer.  Bobby and Lori are great friends too that I always enjoy getting together with at any time.  I will always cherish their friendship for years to come.

Now, only time for one more right now, and I'll come back to whoever I left off...
Brandon - Good ole Brandon.  I don't even know where to begin with him.  He's a photographer by trade but now works in ministry at The Apologetics Resource Center here in Birmingham.  He's always been that one that kinda talked over your brain and then you would have to say, "okay, Brandon, now tell me in English so I can understand".  Love the guy though, because he's always had a heart and love for God and His people and with a sincere desire to spread the Word in Truth.  He is another crazy one that I know, always taking the risk and sometimes not thinking about the consequences, but living in the end.  His wife Katrina is a wonderful match for him, mainly by being able to calm him enough sometimes long enough to just survive his crazy antics.  I am forever endebted to them for something they did for me back sometime ago, when all the guys were getting married off one by one and I did not have anyone to live with or anywhere to live.  They invited me to live in an extra bedroom in their home.  This was an awesome experience and worked out much better than I think any of us anticipated.  They were so gracious to let me live there and I am forever thankful for their ministry in that to me at that time in my life.  Brandon really showed me a lot about working hard during that time because with his going to school and trying to study all while trying to keep his photography business going was taxing to say the least.  He was awake more than ever asleep and always on his toes.  I appreciated seeing them in their marriage, working through easy and tough times along the way, but always trusting in God to provide and lead them along the way.  I will always cherish and appreciate their friendship as the years go by. 

I think that is about it for now on these folks.  These are firendships that will last a lifefime.  I am very humbled and thankful for them all and I look forward to the many years to come as our friendships grow and develop more.  Thanks ya'll for for everything you have been, for everything you are, and for everything you want to be.  Thank you.