Our Freaking Family

Please pray for James and Linda.  They received a call yesterday morning (Sunday) that James’ 26 year old son was killed in a motorcycle wreck when he came up on a stopped truck in his lane on I-35 in Carrollton. He was not wearing a helmet and died on impact.

Also pray for Rod and his wife, Nancy who will be standing with the family at the funeral home tonight.  Rod is a Texas State Elder for the Bikers for Christ. 

www.bikersforchristtexas.org

Rod and I met up today, via email, as I was looking to find the Biker For Christ that prayed with James Keller over John Keller last July at  a convenience store somewhere outside Houston.   God laid it on my heart to find these guys so they would know the wonderful miracle of John and to encourage them in what they do.  Often times, they are led by the Holy Spirit to just walk up to someone and offer to pray for them.  We all know how difficult that can be at times to take that step of faith.   As God would direct it, I made contact with Rod today, who did indeed confirm that we had the right gentleman from that day In July.

As Rod and I exchanged emails today, sharing John’s wonderful testimony, he sadly passed on the news about his good friend – also names James and whose son was also in an accident on a Sunday.  This was no “coincident”.   God knew last July, that just as we needed all of the Biker’s for Christ’s (10,000+) prayers then, that today, almost a year later, they would need ours.

So my people… pray for strength, comfort and understanding for this family.  

I subscribe to an RSS Feed for a blog belonging to a man named Buckles.  He lives in Florida, like most circus people it seems, and his expertise is elephants.  He has a blog that he uses to document circus history.  It’s actually quite interesting to see at times.  Anyway, today I logged in and was looking at the things he loaded up and ‘lo and behold! There was a picture of my birth mother from way back in the day.

That’s her, Joanne.  This is only the third picture I have ever seen of her (one that she sent me once my siblings and I connected, and the second one was actually from Buckle’s website as well. )  The man to the left, was her first husband, Eldon, the father of my three oldest siblings.  The other man is not related.  Joanne and Eldon divorced which I suppose means the act broke up (duh, huh?) and she married Joe Pilla, who was our father (the youngest threes siblings), and life went on. 

My mom that adopted me used to tell me that Joanne performed up to when she was five months pregnant with me.  I guess that might answer some of your questions about me, huh?  

Anyway.  I’m obviously didn’t inherit the body, and I am thrilled that I do not have to wear a bra like this.   It’s kind of neat to come across this kind of stuff every now and then, being as how five years ago,  it was all still a mystery to me.  I am so glad that my mom always told me what she remembered.  I am so amazed at how right she was.

My parents that adopted me also worked for the Shrine Circus, so between what I remember as a kid, the pictures that I have from that time, and Buckle’s website, the painting of my life is almost complete.

In case you are wondering: The Mom and I talk by email every now and then, although its been awhile, and I think that’s okay for both of us.   For me, it’s about the connection with my siblings, who I wouldn’t trade for the world.  They are awesome.   Joanne did what she had to do, way back when, and I am the one that benefited from it the most.

My website, Our Freaking Family, actually earned its name from when the siblings and I connected.  When we all met in Texas, Dodo brought us all a magnet that said “Welcome to the Freak Show”.   Yeah, we are a little strange… even weird, maybe.   But no matter what, we are family.  It doesn’t matter how many years we spent apart, we have the rest of our lives to be together.

Freaks or not.

Thanks, Buckles.  For teaching me my heritage.

Jack took a long look at his speedometer before slowing down: 73 in a 55 zone. Fourth time in as many months. How could a guy get caught so often? When his car had slowed to 10 miles an hour, Jack pulled over, but only partially. Let the cop worry about the potential traffic hazard, he thought. Maybe some other car will tweak his backside with a mirror. The cop was stepping out of his car, the big pad in hand…

Bob? Bob from Church? Jack sunk farther into his trench coat. This was worse than the coming ticket. A cop catching a guy from his own church. A guy who happened to be a little eager to get home after a long day at the office. A guy he was about to play golf with tomorrow.

Jumping out of the car, he approached a man he saw every Sunday, a man he’d never seen in uniform. ‘Hi, Bob. Fancy meeting you like this.’ ‘Hello, Jack.’ No smile. ‘Guess you caught me red-handed in a rush to see my wife and kids.’ ‘Yeah, I guess.’ Bob seemed uncertain. Good. ‘I’ve seen some long days at the office lately.. I’m afraid I bent the rules a bit -just this once.’

Jack toed at a pebble on the pavement. ‘Diane said something about roast beef and potatoes tonight. Know what I mean?’ I know what you mean. I also know that you have a reputation in our precinct. Ouch. This was not going in the right direction. Time to change tactics.

‘What’d you clock me at?’ ‘Seventy. Would you sit back in your car please?’ ‘Now wait a minute here, Bob. I checked as soon as I saw you. I was barely nudging 65.’ The lie seemed to come easier with every ticket. ‘Please, Jack, in the car’

Flustered, Jack hunched himself through the still-open door Slamming it shut, he stared at the dashboard. He was in no rush to open the window. The minutes ticked by. Bob scribbled away on the pad. Why hadn’t he asked for a driver’s license? Whatever the reason, it would be a month of Sundays before Jack ever sat near this cop again.

A tap on the door jerked his head to the left. There was Bob, a folded paper in hand Jack rolled down the window a mere two inches, just enough room for Bob to pass him the slip. ‘Thanks.’
Jack could not quite keep the sneer out of his voice.

Bob returned to his police car without a word. Jack watched his retreat in the mirror. Jack unfolded the sheet of paper. How much was this one going to cost?

Wait a minute. What was this? Some kind of joke? Certainly not a ticket. Jack began to read:

‘Dear Jack, Once upon a time I had a daughter. She was six when killed by a car. You guessed it – a speeding driver. A fine and three months in jail, and the man was free. Free to hug his daughters, all three of them. I only had one, and I’m going to have to wait until Heaven  before I can ever hug her again. A thousand times I’ve tried to forgive that man. A thousand times I thought I had. Maybe I did, but I need to do it again. Even now. Pray for me. And be careful, Jack, my son is all I have left.’ —’Bob’

Jack turned around in time to see Bob’s car pull away and head down the road. Jack watched until it disappeared. A full 15 minutes later, he too, pulled away and drove slowly home, praying for forgiveness and hugging a surprised wife and kids when he arrived.

Life is precious.

Handle with care.

Remember, cars are not the only things recalled by their maker.

A child was asked to write a book report on the entire Bible.   This is amazing and brought tears of laughter to my eyes.  I wonder how often we take for granted that children  understand  what we are teaching???

Through the eyes of a child:

The Children’s Bible in a Nutshell

In the beginning, which occurred near the start, there was nothing but God, darkness, and some gas. The Bible says, ‘The Lord thy God is one, but I think He must be a lot older than that. Anyway, God said, ‘Give me a light!’ and someone did. Then God made the world. He split the Adam and made Eve.  Adam and Eve were naked, but they weren’t embarrassed because mirrors hadn’t been invented yet. Adam and Eve disobeyed God by eating one bad apple, so they were driven from the Garden of Eden …..Not sure what they were driven in though, because they didn’t have cars.

Adam and Eve had a son, Cain, who hated his brother as long as he was Abel. Pretty soon all of the early people died off, except for Methuselah, who lived to be like a million or something. One of the next important people was Noah, who was a good guy, but one of his kids was kind of a Ham.  Noah built a large boat and put his family and some animals on it. He asked some other people to join him, but they said they would have to take a rain check.

After Noah came Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  Jacob was more famous than his brother, Esau, because Esau sold Jacob his birthmark in exchange for some pot roast.  Jacob had a son named Joseph who wore a really loud sports coat. Another important Bible guy is Moses, whose real name was Charlton Heston.  Moses led the Israel Lights out of Egypt and away from the evil Pharaoh after God sent ten plagues on Pharaoh’s people.  These plagues included frogs, mice, lice, bowels, and no cable. God fed the Israel Lights every day with manicotti. 

Then he gave them His Top Ten Commandments. These include: don’t lie, cheat, smoke, dance, or covet your neighbor’s stuff. Oh, yeah, I just thought of one more: Humor thy father and thy mother. One of Moses’ best helpers was Joshua who was the first Bible guy to use spies.  Joshua fought the battle of Geritol and the fence fell over on the town. After Joshua came David.  He got to be king by killing a giant with a slingshot.  He had a son named Solomon who had about 300 wives and 500 porcupines.  My teacher says he was wise, but that doesn’t sound very wise to me.

After Solomon there were a bunch of major league prophets.  One of these was Jonah, who was swallowed by a big whale and then barfed up on the shore. There were also some minor league prophets, but I guess we don’t have to worry about them.

After the Old Testament came the New Testament   Jesus is the star of The New.  He was born in  Bethlehem  in a barn.  (I wish I had been born in a barn too, because my mom is always saying to me, ‘Close the door! Were you born in a barn?’ It would be nice to say, ‘As a matter of fact, I was..’)

During His life, Jesus had many arguments with sinners like the Pharisees and the Democrats. Jesus also had twelve opossums. The worst one was Judas Asparagus. Judas was so evil that they named a terrible vegetable after him. Jesus was a great man.  He healed many leopards and even preached to some Germans on the Mount.
But the Democrats and all those guys put Jesus on trial before Pontius the Pilot.  Pilot didn’t stick up for Jesus.  He just washed his hands instead..

Anyways, Jesus died for our sins, then came back to life again.  He went up to Heaven but will be back at the end of the Aluminum.  His return is foretold in the book of Revolution..

Chapter I
I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I fall in.
I am lost…I am helpless.
It isn’t my fault.
It takes forever to find a way out.

Chapter II
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend I don’t see it.
I fall in – again.
I can’t believe I am in this same place.
But it isn’t my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.

Chapter III
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there.
I fall in…it’s a habit…but, my eyes are open.
I know where I am.
It is my fault.
I get out immediately.

Chapter IV
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.

Chapter V
I walk down a different street.

Moral of the story:  If you go somewhere and you are not getting what you need, go somewhere else.

February 19th was the last time I wrote anything?   Tha’t’s like….   two months ago?!    Where did the last two months go?????

I look back at my calendar, and with the exception of the last two weekends, it’s been full.   And the next ten days will be no exception, with all the activities at church coming up.

I guess I better find something worthy of writing about, huh?    But I’m sure this isn’t it.

I was looking at the calendar today and was thinking that today’s date was significant, but couldn’t figure out what it was.   Just about the time I decided it must be the residue of Tori’s birthday yesterday, it dawned on me.   It’s February 19th.  I haven’t had to think about February 19th since 1978.   On February 19, 1978, I came to the stark realization that i would no longer have the need for February 19th to remain in my memory banks other than, the day the follows February 18th.  Of course in 1978, I had no idea that I would have a daughter with a birthday landing on the day before the 19th.   And in all of Tori’s life has it never dawned on me that I was forgetting all about February 19th.

It’s funny how the brain works.  I’ve been doing some reading on it lately, and the way certain things affect it.  It’s amazing to me that God put a “safety mechanism” in us that we are able to block out those things that hurt us or are unpleasant.   So, on February 19, 1978, when I realized that Dad was really gone and not coming back I wished him a happy birthday under my breath, and that was that.  The man never returned.  I’ve never wished him a happy birthday since.  All these years later, and now that I know that he has been dead and buried (well,  there isn’t really any proof that it’s really him in that coffin, but that’s another story)  for 14 years,  

But then an even more amazing thing happens.  Once you get past the hurt and trauma of being abandoned, and you learn later in life that the decisions that were made years earlier were really for the good of the family, you come to appreciate and even miss those that are not around anymore.

growing up sucks sometimes.

happy birthday dad.

i miss you.

Just got an email from Jimmy.  I thought some of you might find it interesting to hear where he is.  Drop him a line – I’m sure he would love to hear from you!

Hows life in beautiful TX?  Well I am here in Bahrain. Like said its a small island country off coast of Saudi Arabia. Been staying in hotel for past 24 days and will finally move into an apartment here.  I got a place that is close to base, in a decent area and fully furnished to include cable and internet.

Things here are strange because to them Friday is like Sunday in states. Everything is closed like would be on a Sunday there. That is their religious day I guess could say. Basically I work Saturday to Thursday and off Friday.  Just in case there is still someone out there who would rather mail things and not use emails my mailing address is below.

Hope all is good with you guys. Oh by the way I am  about 10 hours ahead of you if I haven’t told you, so may be fun to find times to chat. I keep forgetting to log in on Sundays to watch service but I will do best this weekend.

Miss you guys and love you all.

JAMES TODD

PSC 451, Box 620

FPO, AE 09834-2800

James.w.todd@us.army.mil

Jimmy

Isaiah Exodus Perez was born last night, 2/10/08 at 10:00-ish pm.  He weighed in at 7 pounds 9 ounces, 21 inches long.  He has beautiful big eyes and such a sweet spirit!   Mom Haley and Dad Monroe did a wonderful job during labor and delivery, lasting just about 24 hours.   I am sure they will surface in a few days after a very lengthy nap! 

Only because it’s Michael’s birthday, am I going to let you inside my head for once.  So pay attention, because this doesn’t happen very often.  Michael is one of my biological brothers that I just found a few years ago, after a life time of being separated.  He is only a couple of years older than I am, but since I was adopted out at birth, we were not raised together.  

Apparently when I was little (toddler age), we visited Michael and David.  David is one of our older brothers and David and Michael were raised separately from myself, and the three remaining siblings (that’s a total of 6 of us if your keeping up).  Michael even told me what I was wearing that day, and lo and behold, there are pictures of me in that very same outfit. 

My mother who raised me always told me everything she knew about the birth family, and was pretty much on target.  She just didn’t know about Michael.  So the day that I talked to Johnny for the first time, I found out about Michael.

Now, this is where it gets weird but that shouldn’t surprise those of you who know me.   I grew up as a only child, the proverbial princess in the castle.  Anything that I wanted, mom and dad provided, and sometimes when you are a an only child, you have these “imaginary friends”.   I always had an imaginary brother… and I kid you not… that I called Michael.   Keep in mind that I knew nothing about Michael’s existence at the time.   

Flash forward to the year that Hannah was born.  I told my friend Rachel one day that year, that I had the strangest sensation that there was someone around me, or close to me but that I was not in the immediate presence of.  She thought I was nuts.  For that matter, I thought I was nuts too, but again, why should that shock any of us, right?  After I found the family, I found out that Michael was in McAllen for a period of a week or ten days helping one of his friends move.  We talked about dates, and come to find out, it was at the same time that I told Rachel about the strange sensation.

And then, when we went to the Reunion in San Antonio a few years ago, I find out Michael knows people I went to school with. 

I say all of that to say this:   God is in the business of providing hope, and love, and restoring families, and signs, and wonders and miracles.    Jeremiah 29:11:  For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

God knew that there would be a day in my life when I would no longer have my family I was raised with, and would need a family again.   He saved the biologics (that’s my term of affection for my siblings to avoid confusion from the step-siblings) as a gift for me later in life.   

Michael is living proof that no matter what your circumstances are in your life, you CAN rise above them.  

I love this picture of Michael (L) and Tom ( R).   They are two of the most awesome, lovable, non-judgmental and beautiful people you will ever meet.   Sometimes being a brother is even better than being a superhero.

A birthday is just the first day of another 365-day journey around the sun.  Enjoy the trip Michael!  This year will be better than last!  Thank you for never giving up on looking for me.   I love you!  Happy Birthday!

Love,

The Baby