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Category: Allan’s Journey (Page 4 of 30)

Ruidoso Retreat

August 28, 2023 / / 0 Comments

I am posting today from the redwood deck of a beautiful two-story cabin in the mountains of Ruidoso, courtesy of Billy and Kathy Futrell. I arrived here at about 6:00 last night, delayed only briefly by a half-dozen massive mule deer who were grazing and crossing the road very slowly about three miles away.  That breathtaking sight reminded me that I am on sabbatical. So what if during my nearly five hour drive the Rangers blew a 5-0 lead over the Twins and lost on a 13th inning bases loaded walk on four pitches? So what if Texas has lost nine of their past ten games and has surrendered first place in the division for the first time since April 8? I am on sabbatical. No TV, no Rangers, no staff meetings or elders meetings, no sermon preparation or small groups planning. These five-and-a-half days are for rest, relaxation, and reconnecting with my Lord.

As I pulled in last night, one of Billy’s neighbors welcomed me and and told me that “the bears have been really active this weekend.” Yikes. I was also reminded — again! — that I pronounce Ruidoso like a Texan and not like someone from Ruidoso. I have wrestled with this since we moved to Midland two years ago. Do I continue to maintain my Texan pronunciation, Ree-uh-doe-sa, or do I say it like the natives here and the West Texans who regularly travel and relax here, Roo-uh-doe-so? I can argue both ways. Maybe the Lord will reveal it to me.

I am surrounded by giant pines, rolling ranges, and very aggressive hummingbirds. The morning and afternoon temperatures are 20 degrees cooler than they are in Midland. I have my lectionary and my Bible, Diet Dr Peppers and iced-tea, my brats and Skip’s salsa. My plan is to immerse myself in the Gospels, to spend much time in prayer, to listen to the Lord more than I talk, and to rest.

This is a prayer I will be using as a focal point during this week in the mountains with our God. It comes from The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life by Hannah Whitall Smith:

Lord Jesus, I believe that you are able and willing to deliver me from all the care and unrest and bondage of my Christian life. I believe that you did die to set me free, not only in the future, but now and here. I believe you are stronger than sin, and that you can keep me, even me, in my extreme of weakness, from falling into its snares or yielding obedience to its commands. And, Lord, I am going to trust you to keep me. I have tried keeping myself, and have failed, and failed most grievously. I am absolutely helpless. So now I will trust you.

I give myself to you. I keep back no reserves. Body, soul, and spirit, I present myself to you as a piece of clay, to be fashioned into anything your love and your wisdom shall choose. And now I am yours. I believe you do accept that which I present to you; I believe that this poor, weak, foolish heart has been taken possession of by you, and that you have even at this very moment begun to work in me to will and to do of your good pleasure. I trust you utterly and I trust you now.

Amen.

It Will Be Fine

June 30, 2023 / / 1 Comment

It’s been more than a decade since the Texas Rangers placed a starter in the All-Star Game. The Rangers have never had four starters named to the Midsummer Classic in franchise history. Until now. Marcus Semien, Corey Seager, Josh Jung, and Jonah Heim are heading  to Seattle to represent the Rangers in what has been a quick and surprising rise to the top of the AL West standings. Texas leads the division by five games over the Astros and leads all of baseball in several offensive and defensive categories. And with that team success come individual honors.

At the halfway point of the season, Texas is an unbelievable 17-games over .500 and boasts the second best record in the American League. The team has lost 90 games each of the past two miserable seasons. What an incredible turnaround! With 81 games to play, the Rangers would have to go 23-58 the rest of the way to match that 90-loss total.

The question isn’t will Texas make the playoffs this year; the question is will they / can they be on a hot streak in October? And, yes, it’s absolutely crazy to be thinking about that at the end of June! But this is where we are now  with these Rangers.

The difference is Bruce Bochy. Skins on the wall. Even keeled. Universally respected and trusted. Proven. A very rare thing for the Rangers to hire a manager with previous managerial experience, much less three World Series rings. And it’s paying off big time in Season One.

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Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny Review: A Childhood Hero Fades into the CGI Sunset

The fifth and final Indiana Jones movie premiers tonight and, of course, I’ll be there on the next to back row at Midland Cinergy with a huge bag of greasy buttery popcorn and an expectant grin. It will be fine. It will be fine. I keep telling myself it will be fine.

My expectations were way too high for the fourth flick, the disastrous Crystal Skull, in 2008. I hated it. A terribly disappointing experience. I refuse to acknowledge it as part of the Indiana Jones franchise – it was a massive mistake. So, going into tonight’s Dial of Destiny, my hopes are low. Really low. Harrison Ford is 80. Steven Spielberg is not involved. There are going to be some weird, creepy CGI effects to make Jones appear younger in a few scenes. And I just can’t imagine anybody pulling off the same magic of those first three Indiana Jones movies.

The truth is, Indiana Jones could be loading the dishwasher or sweeping the floor, and I’d pay $11.50 to watch.

I’ve already made up my mind that I’m going to enjoy it. I’ll soak in the nostalgia and be thankful for a more fitting conclusion to the series and a more appropriate sendoff of one of Hollywood’s most iconic characters. It can’t be worse than Crystal Skull. It will be fine.

Peace,

Allan

Cheap Date

March 1, 2023 / / 0 Comments

Carrie-Anne and I saw the iconic 70s and 80s rock band Cheap Trick last night at the wonderful Wagner-Noel Performing Arts Center here in Midland. Well, it’s more accurate to say that I went to the concert and Carrie-Anne lovingly, dutifully, and patiently accompanied me without complaint. We concluded after the show that Cheap Trick was popular when C-A was listening to Top-40 on Z-97 and I was listening to rock on The Zoo and Q-102. The only two songs she recognized were “I Want You To Want Me” and “Surrender,” which they played back-to-back to close out the concert.

I asked the guy behind us to take a picture of C-A and me during the show. These are the two he managed to  take.

 

 

 

 

 

Cheap Trick is a fun show, man. Four blistering guitars, one driving drum, and Robin Zander’s unmistakable voice tearing through short, riffy, punk-ish hits like “Dream Police” and “Southern Girls” and sing-along ballads like “If You Want My Love,” and their original take on Fats Domino’s “Ain’t That A Shame” which I absolutely cannot hear too many times. In fact, take three minutes right now and watch their “Ain’t That A Shame” video. You’ll love it.

Zander’s voice still sounds exactly the same and guitarist Rick Nielsen is still a goofball with his gimmicky five-neck guitar and continuous self-deprecating gestures and dad jokes.

Last night was the fourth or fifth time – maybe sixth – I’ve seen Cheap Trick in concert. I’ve lost the exact count because, as my brother Keith reminded me last week, Cheap Trick is usually the opening band, not the headliner. The first time I saw them was in college when the KATT in Oklahoma City sponsored a free concert downtown. We saw them in the early  ’90s when three of us siblings were married and we six dragged Keith to Fair Park in Dallas to see Joe Walsh, with Cheap Trick as the opening act. Keith and his family dragged me along to see them again four years ago when they and Bad Company opened for ZZ Top’s 50th anniversary concert in Austin. I think I saw them at one Texxas Jam. And I know I saw them at Reunion Arena in the ’80s opening for somebody. It wasn’t Bryan Adams. It might have been The Firm or Tom Petty – I can’t remember.

Those guys are all in their ’70s, but they still put on an ear-splitting rock and roll show that featured all their hits, a couple of fun B-sides, a Beatles cover, and the requisite shout-outs to “Midland, Texas!!” in just under two hours. The Wagner is a great venue, Cheap Trick is still a great band, and it was a really great night.

Peace,

Allan

Honored in Edmond

November 7, 2022 / / 0 Comments

When Brian Simmons contacted me about being honored with the 2022 distinguished alumni at Oklahoma Christian University, my first thought was that all the professors and administrators from the 1980s must be dead. When I was informed that, to the contrary, most all of my teachers and the school’s administrators from that era are very much alive and in favor of the recognition, I was rendered completely speechless.

Wow. What a great honor and blessing. It’s truly incredible on many levels. Overwhelming, really.

The ceremony was nice, of course. Our daughter Valerie and her husband David made the trip down from Tulsa to be with us. University President John deSteiguer said some really nice things about me. College roommate and great friend Mike Osburn was a fellow honoree, so that was cool. And Dr. Simmons gave me a tour of the KOCC studios.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I spent many, many late nights and long hours in those recording and broadcast studios of the campus radio station during my four years at Oklahoma Christian. Brian was a junior Mass Communications major and the radio station manager when I showed up as a freshman. I auditioned for Brian, trying out for the play-by-play position for the men’s and women’s basketball teams. He told me I had a lot to learn and that I could learn most of it by running the boards at the station during the game broadcasts. And he was right. I signed up for almost every single shift that fall of 1985, listening to Stuart Graham from all the various NAIA gyms all over the Sooner Athletic Conference and punching up the underwriting announcements and station breaks at the right time. I produced promotional spots and worked with Brian on intros and outros for the games. I soaked up everything I could from Stuart’s broadcasts – the seamless way he worked up-to-the minute statistics and players’ hometowns into his call, the detailed descriptions of the setting, the way he conveyed excitement without screaming. And when my sophomore year began, I not only had the play-by-play gig, Brian made me the Sports Director, too.

 

Dr. Simmons is now the chair of the Communications programs at OC and one of Valerie’s and Carley’s all-time favorite teachers, which is really cool. We were privileged to share dinner Friday with Brian and with one of our favorite Mass Comm professors from back in the day, Dr. Philip Patterson. They were both very kind and gracious to me over the weekend and I am thankful to God that he placed both of them in my life at the exact right time.

I must also mention here the annual Delta alumni breakfast which was held Saturday at the beautiful home of Al and Judy Branch. Ozzy was there. David Bates. Scott Williams. Brad Robison. Two Haworths. Two Egglestons. Ted Norton. Odell. All the founding members of our social service club from 1972. Adair, of course. And a whole bunch of younger and younger looking students. We covered it all: the Bush rally, Diet Skipper, pumpkins, Dave Butts and the possum, All-Sports glory, late-night carousings, OC security, float trips to Talequah, creative apartment renovations, summer roofing jobs, and a couple of notable arrests.

This marks the 50th year for my college social service club, Delta Gamma Sigma. The grand 50th anniversary blowout weekend is set for June 9-10, 2023. Which makes no sense. Which is somehow quite fitting. Adair and Bates unveiled the 50th anniversary logo at Saturday’s breakfast and Ozzy revealed the site of the summer bash.  I’m hoping to make it a three or four day deal so I can spend more time with these wonderful old friends. I’m also secretly pushing for the club to disband immediately following the June festivities. I mean, what’s the point now? When’s the last time this group won anything? End it at fifty and call it good!

Peace,

Allan

You Wreck Me

October 20, 2022 / / 2 Comments

Tom Petty was born on this date, October 20, 1950, in Gainesville, Florida. He is one of rock-and-roll’s greatest legends and one of this country’s greatest songwriters. No one can paint a more vivid portrait or tell a more captivating story in just a three-minute song than Tom Petty. His middle name is Earl.

Turn it up.

Two Years Gone

October 6, 2022 / / 0 Comments

Two years ago today the news crawled across the bottom of my screen. I immediately called our youngest daughter Carley and listened to her voice mail message for about two seconds before she texted me: “I know. I’m in class.”

His stripes adorn my laptop. His poster I bought from the Mesquite Sound Warehouse when I was 16 hangs in my garage. And his music lives deep inside my soul.

Eddie Van Halen. Tough day.

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