Skybacher’s Locker

My Grandfather passed away Sunday night. The family asked me to participate in the funeral service which was a great honor. The following are some of the thoughts I shared at the service, maybe minus the desire to seek a good laugh, which always makes me feel better when I’m speaking.

Pink Canada Mints.  They always sat on my grandfathers dresser, and we grandkids would always get into the jar and take a few for ourselves.  The moment I saw them at the funeral home I had to laugh because that was one of the first things I pictured when thinking of Pap Brown.  Those little pink mints are “good stuff”.  And the “good stuff” reminds us that there is a good and loving God that we serve.  The funeral home started with tons of these pink mints by the end of the night there was only about 10 left.  My cousins and I once again couldn’t resist taking a few (dozen) of these mints.  We all had pink tongues.  I claimed that I ate so many my pee was pink but that was a bit of an exaggeration.  Grandpap Brown knew that serving God was “good stuff”.   It made me think of Psalm 34: - It says taste and see that the Lord is good.  There is so much good stuff that we can taste, that we can see and know that the Lord is good.  We just miss it sometimes.

I know that hanging out with my family and cousins to celebrate our grandfather’s life.  Was nothing but “good stuff”  I could taste it and I could see it and I know that our Lord is good!

I’ll always remember things like free hair cuts at Eppinger’s and pizza at Chubbie Chucks. He offered to pay for all of our haircuts if we went with him to Eppingers Barber Shop.   Grandpap sitting at the dinner table just eating hot peppers out of a jar.  I’ll remember how he made it clear that he and his wife still got it on in their later years.  (I always wondered if he should be talking about this, or even more so, doing this.  Couldn’t they hurt themselves?)  My mom still makes these type of jokes and comments today so I guess that runs in the family. I’ll remember weird statues and wood carvings from all my grandfathers missions trips.  And I’ll remember how he loved to be the highest bidder at the family reunion auctions, and that his family was the largest! It’s all “good stuff” that I can taste and see.  It’s all evidence that the Lord is good!

It makes me sad to know I won’t see him again in this lifetime.  I wish I would have visited him more. (I only live on the same road as he did).  But this weekend was about celebrating his life because that is what they are doing in heaven.  My grandfather was a kingdom builder.  Every person that was in that church yesterday had somehow been impacted by Bill Brown.  Just the mere fact that they were sitting in that church, a church that he so faithfully served in was a testimony to that.  When kingdom builders come home there is rejoicing.  Can you taste it?  Can you see it?  It’s good “stuff”!!!

I finally took a day off today!! I needed it. We had a weekend packed with soccer, a basketball tournament, 1st communion parties and summer camp training.

Today though I was flooded with emotion of how quickly time moves. The day started with Ty so excited to tell me he had lost another tooth. Just getting a moment to breathe and see how big my own children have grown right before my very eyes was overwhelming. Then this evening I went to see my grandfather in the hospital. He’s no longer the strong figure I remember, as I watched him struggle to breathe.  Again it was overwhelming to see how fragile life is.

I haven’t had many days were I can even gain clear perspective because life is just that fast.  Tonight I go to bed with the knowledge that life is good, fragile, and challenging.  But through it all God loves us, and that is overwhelming!

I was watching American Idol last night. The theme for the show was songs from movie soundtracks. Anoop sang Everything I Do by Bryan Adams from the Robin Hood Soundtrack. That is a song that I will never forget. It was the song that was playing at the 1991 Freedom High School Christmas Dance when Kristie came and asked me to dance. I actually had never been to a dance and I definitely had never been approached by a girl before. I nervously said yes. Kristie actually sang the whole song very loudly while we were dancing. I was scared, so nervous, shocked that someone with that bad of a singing voice would sing out loud, but very intrigued. That was a moment that forever changed my life!! It changed Kristie’s too she was so moved last night that she asked me to dance again in our living room, only this time 4 beautiful kids were watching!! So what song was playing when your life was changed?

That’s what Julia prays every night. She’s still working on her L’s. “Thank you Lord for a great Fama-yee. I’ll miss it when she actually can say it right. What a simple prayer. Yet it’s something I’ve taken for granted far too often.
Easter was great! We had 2 really fun family parties, a few egg hunts, some Wii boxing challenges, lots of jelly beans, and lots of family fun. It all brought me back to Julia’s simple prayer… Thank you Lord for such a great fama-yee!

No soccer this weekend but I made a logo for our under 8 team. We’re called the Tiger Sharks!! As if you couldn’t have guessed it.

So happy I have made it to Easter Break. So happy that there is Easter. Thank you Jesus!!!  He is risen!!!

We had a busy soccer weekend. On Saturday Nae, Ty, and Julz all had games at 10 am. It was freezing! Julz scored the first 2 goals of her career. Nae scored 2, and Ty scored 6 of his own, even though we lost the game 7-6. On Sunday Ty and Nae had an indoor game. Ty scored 2 more goals and Nae had a sweet hat trick. Finally Ty had one final indoor game where he scored 2 more goals giving him a total of 10 for the weekend!! That’s 17 Mohrbacher goals this weekend!! Woohoo!! Yes this is a proud soccer dad speaking, but it made my weekend.

Two words that make such a difficult challenge. That’s what God Word says to do in Psalm 46:11. “Be still and know that I am God.” How can you be still when you have a full time job, run a non-profit organization, coach soccer, and have 4 kids?
I did something crazy the other day while driving to school. I turned off the radio! (I know I’m such a rebel) It was the closest to stillness I had been in months. Close to a million thoughts probably zipped through my mind, but there was one that stuck… I knew there was a God! If you are in doubt that there is a God, turn off the radio, stop moving, and you will know that you couldn’t be more wrong.

Got to work on a new cartoon during the PSSA testing. I’ve been practicing a lot of tutorials and really working on making refined characters lately. Fun stuff. Hope you like them you can vote for them on Mojizu.com.

“Dad I wasn’t made to be some farm kid. I was made to be a sports kid.” That’s what Ty said to me the other night on the way home from Pray & Play. Apparently he thinks by making him take a nap I want him to grow crops, and milk cows. Anyway the awesome part is that he actually realizes God made him with a purpose. I’ve preached that over and over again for the last 5 years at Skybacher Ministries. Atleast one person is getting the message. God has made you with a purpose!!!! Whether He made you to be a farm kid, a sports kid, or something else. Know that he has a purpose for your life this very day!!

Well I haven’t been on here in forever but it has been an amazing start to 2009.  We had 9 kids give their lives to Christ at our first dodgeball tournament.  We held our first ever tournament for elementary kids, with great success.  We’ve seen people get behind our new fundraising campaign called the “5 Loaves Campaign”.  We are asking for $5 from 500 people for 5 months.  We are already up to 108 people.  The Steelers won the Super Bowl!!! Wahoo!!!  During that time we sold and gave away nearly 200 Steelers Coloring Books. This also drove a record number of people to our website, nearly 1,500 visits. And finally we were recognized publically as someone who cares about kids by the Big Knob PTA.  Thank you Lord!! It just shows that while the economy goes down the tubes. God has bigger plans for Skybacher Ministries.  And His ways are not ours!!  So glad for that!!