Yesterday morning while I was getting ready for a meeting, I missed a very important phone call. I got a call from my mom saying that my grandfather had passed away. Now, I knew this day was coming. My grandfather had been suffering from cancer for about the last year. The cancer had spread to most of his body and there was no repairable surgery that could be done because he also had many aneurysms. The doctors did not want to do any type of surgery for fear that it may cause one of the aneurysms to burst.
Yesterday, at about 7:10am my grandfather passed away when one of the aneurysms burst. In a way, his death was quicker than expected which was probably good because of the amount of pain he would have experienced because of the cancer. But, on the other hand, it was quite faster than what we had expected.
My grandfather was a character. He was an entrepreneur, a poet, a veteran (world war II), a painter, a musician, a sailor (he owned his own sailboat), an explorer, an actor and a comedian in his own right! But most of all, he was papa. He was the guy who was the healthiest in our entire family. During the summer months, when I was home from school and worked for our family business, I could many times hear my papa in the back yard jumping up and down on his trampoline. He loved to swim in the ocean and would spend hours swimming laps on a Saturday morning in the ocean.
My grandfather was a journalist during World War II and was stationed all over Europe which is where he met his wife. He grew up in Indiana and moved to Florida after returning from the war where he and his wife settled down, started the family business, had three great children (one of which is my dad…obviously) and spent much of his waking life hanging out with his grandchildren and making them laugh!
I loved my Grandfather. I love my Grandfather and I will continue to love my Grandfather and tell my children of what an amazing papa he really was.
Emmett Stegall ~ 1920 – 2009
So I decided that since I started to look like Rod Blagojevich with my hair, I thought it was a good time to get my hair cut. Here is a before and after:
Before:
After:
Notice the facial expression? I feel as though I’ve lost 10 pounds. No more Rod Blagojevich hair!
In other news, the hospital chaplaincy internship is going really well. I’ve never been more tired but I’ve also never felt more satisfied. I am learning so much about listening and taking time to just sit with people who need to talk. I’ve also learned to close my mouth and let others talk.
I volunteer with some pretty amazing people who love Jesus and love others. Sister Kendra, Sister Carole, Father Elmor and Sister Judy are beautiful people. I am realizing now more than ever that Jesus came for the sick, not the well. I hope in time I can truly love people the way Jesus loved them. I know ultimately that should be our goal and that’s what we should be striving for, but I can honestly say I’m not always the best at it. This is a great exercise for me!
My life has just gotten a little busier. For those who don’t know, I currently work as a pastor in a church in Cleveland, Ohio. In addition to that, I am looking to become a certified chaplain in the clinical/healthcare field. So for the past two weeks, I have been going through training and hospital orientation.
I think one of the best parts of my chaplain experience is that I am in the room with several other people who have a different belief system but have the same passions & desires. Some are Methodists, others are Catholics, a few are Baptists but all of us love Jesus. I get the opportunity to rub shoulders with people I don’t normally have the opportunity to. It’s so beautiful to see followers of Christ though some have a different methodology come together and serve as a the collective body of Christ. Shame on me for not seeing the value of interacting with people like this earlier.
So, tomorrow, I have the opportunity to be trained and recieve hospital orientation by Sister Kendra and Sister Judy. I pray that I can be a good student and also learn to be an influencer and love the patients, doctors and nurses that walk through those hospital doors each and every day!
P.S. I cannot stand needles & TB shots are not fun but it’s well worth it!
I know it’s only January, but this has to be the best music video I’ve seen in 2009. It’s honestly going to be hard for it to be topped.
Enjoy!
I was busy working in my office a few days ago and a thought came into my mind…“standing for peace can put you in the midst of great violence.” I don’t know why that thought approached me. I certainly don’t think I was doing any deep thinking at that moment. In fact, I think I was going over some sort of spreadsheet database when it tapped me on the shoulder.
Honestly, when I first had the thought I quickly put it out of my mind. But after a few moments, I had to write it down in my moleskine. I’ve had some time to process this a little bit and wanted the opportunity to expound on that thought.
Peace is a popular thing. We all talk about it and we all hope for it. I am a firm believer in peace and that peace is a good way to live…naturally. So, I think there’s a problem at times with our actions toward peace. Many of us will talk of peace and hope that this will lead to peace. I tend to fall into this category quite a bit. Talking and standing are two different things though.
I’ve certainly been challenged through this thought. What things am I doing in order for peace to abound? What things am I doing in order that peace may have an open door into my life and the lives around me? What things am I saying that foster peace? How am I inspiring others to do the same?
Taking a stand for something means you are declaring that these things are important to you. That you feel strongly about those issues and that you are not willing to bend on your convictions. Taking a stand for something can also sometimes put you in the midst of great danger. Taking a stand for peace can put you in a tough position.
Someone once asked, “where would the most dangerous place to live be?” The answer given was, “in the center of God’s will.” But then followed with this statement, “but where else would you want to live?” I must be willing to do more than just talk of peace and I must be alright with entering into danger or violence because of the stand I take. We’re all known for something, why not be known for doing right!
Wanted:
A dude dressed up like a ninja trying to rob bank atm’s in West Palm Beach, FL.
I don’t know if this guy should be arrested for the awesomely lethal shape he’s in (sarcasm) or the fact that he didn’t come with any other tools to take the atm machines. Oh yeah, I forgot, he’s a ninja…my bad!
Someone needs a belt!
Today, cnn did a projection of what President Elect Barack Obama will look like in 2013…
Stress does crazy stuff to your image. This is just one of the high costs of leadership.
Well, after quite some time away from the world I had come to love, I am now back. Lots of you were asking where I went. Answer: nowhere. I’ve been here the whole time. The reason I had not updated anything in quite some time was because a certain external hosting site (which shall remain annonymous) ate my blog. Like Cookie Monster took to cookies!! Gone! Finished! Whiped out! But don’t be duped into thinking that was going to keep me away forever. I may have spent 2 weeks building my previous site, but I’m back and it feels good.
Some of you may have noticed that something changed on this site…well, maybe a few things. Firstly, the domain name has changed to markstegall.com. Finally the dude that owned it before me finally coughed it up and now it’s mine!! Secondly, I’ve added a few new pages [photographs & watch | listen]. Hopefully you will be able to watch and listen some media that I have been working on for a while. I am trying to build a catalog of talks I have given over the past few years and hopefully you will be able to listen to them.
Well, other than that we are normal! A little colder and a little older, but normal. Tell your friends that we’re back and maybe we’ll hear from you soon…yeah?
See you around the bend.
Hey everyone,
It’s kind of a bitter sweet day on this here blog. Bitter because this is one of the last posts at this blog location. It’s been a great run since May of 2006. It almost seems as though it were yesterday that I was starting this thing off.
Now onto the sweet news!!! The new and improved mark-stegall.com site is up and live. At our new home, you will still get the blog but along with the blog you will get a podcast section (to hear great conversations of people making a difference within their community) and a media section (a chance where I can put some of my talks up on the site). In all reality, this is going to be a full fledged website built for you! You are still able to leave comments on the site and tell me what you are thinking. I also have a “click” page where you can catch up with all my blog friends, some great sights I am looking at and some great resources/books I am searching through as well.
Take a jog over the the new site and let me know what you think. Shoot me an email and be sure to let your friends know about the full multi-media site.
This journey is not over…it’s just starting!!!
See ya on the flip side!!!
-Mark
www.mark-stegall.com
I am reading through a book by Michael Frost entitled, Exiles: Living Missionally in a Post-Christian Culture. It’s really killing me, especially the chapter on community (chapter 5).
Here are a few quotes that I put in my moleskine that nearly made me cry regarding the state of community within the church:
“Building community for its own sake is like attending a cancer support group without having cancer. It’s like asking soldiers you haven’t fought with to imagine that you are their father. And it’s like your church demanding your allegiance and your weekly attendance without giving you a cause to work toward. It’s no different to the church holding enless bible study groups or hearling countless sermons for the purpose of learning information that will rarely be utilized.”
“Too many mainstream churches are trying to get their so-called internal life right before reaching out to others. They’ll find that they’ll never get the internal stuff right.”
-Michael Frost
Revolutionary thinking for the church’s present & future existence!
Thoughts?
