All About Warren

Yes, I know it's been almost a year since my last post. I'm not very good at keeping up with these types of things. However, lately I've been thinking about how I can become more consistent with my blogging, and I've come up with NOTHING. I have a hard time seeing outside of my waffle square, and I don't notice everything going on around me.

So I thought I would dedicate some blogs to my family, so this one is all about my oldest son, Warren. Yesterday, on July 3, we dropped off Warren at the airport to go to Buffalo, NY for a two week internship with John Tasch ministries. This was the first time, he's ever gone and done something like this for this long completely on his own, so it was kind of nerve racking seeing him off at the airport by himself. As we've been planning this trip for him, I've been thinking about the last sixteen years of Warren's life.

When Warren was dedicated to the Lord at just a few months old his Uncle Dave prophesied over him that he would be an ambassador for the Lord. Now, I realize that we are all called to be ambassadors, but I believe that this word goes far beyond our everyday mandate. Warren has always had very strong leadership abilities. I can remember taking him to the Burger King playland at the age of 3 and he would have all the kids in that place following him and doing what he asked them to do.

Warren has always had great rhythm. I can remember leading worship at Gateway Tabernacle in downtown St. Louis, and Warren would be back in the sound booth with his grandpa. He would be standing on the counter so he could see over the top and he would be drumming on the ledge with pencils. And believe me, he would be going to town with those pencils. Later on when he would have an opportunity to play around on bongos or congas, he would automatically start pounding out rhythms that a normal 5 and 6 year old should not be hearing. I was always amazed at how good he was.

Now Warren has been playing drums for me in our current worship team for the last three years, and he is awesome. Sometimes I get a little frustrated because what I hear for a song and what he hears for the same song don't always match, but he always seems to make it sound great.

To understand Warren's personality sometimes is a great task. Warren loves to have fun. He
loves his friends, and he loves being the life of the party. We home school all of our kids, so needless to say, Warren doesn't get the "friend" time that he would like to have. So when we are at church or friend's homes he definitely makes up for lost time. Warren has always been able to entertain himself, and has always had an overactive imagination. We had him in public school for a couple of years in Panama City, FL, and he would often get in trouble because he had turned his pencils into an army of cars and was too busy playing with them to listen or do his work.

Warren has always been good with his hands. School has always been difficult for him because he would rather be doing things with his hands than sitting at the kitchen table and reading and writing. He loves putting together equipment that comes disassembled in the box, and even more than that he loves wiring and rewiring his speakers to get the best surround sound he can from his ipod or stereo or whatever else he is listening to.

Warren and I have not always seen eye to eye. His personality and mine are completely different, and I have often struggled to understand what is going on in his head. I'm a quiet easy going, go-with-the-flow guy, and Warren definitely is NOT. He is all about carving his own path, he can be quite loud and and boisterous. But that is what people love about him.

I'm so excited about what the next two weeks hold in store for Warren. As I said earlier he is in Buffalo, NY at a two-week internship with John Tasch ministries. The first week is all about strengthening his spiritual life. He is going to be worshiping, having devotions, praying, and practicing for ministering in Buffalo. The second week is an all out missions trip to the inner-city of Buffalo. He is in for the ride of his life, and I can't wait to see the change in his life when he comes home.

I know that God has great plans for his life, and we haven't even scratched the surface of what God has in store for him.

I love you, Warren, and I'm proud of the young man that you are becoming.