Romania

The team is getting ready to visit Romania once again. I won't make it this year. I'm bummed out about it and it got me thinking about this song I wrote about Romania a few years ago. Thought I'd post the lyrics.

The preacher said, “We must be doers!”
“It’s not enough just to hear the Word.”
He spoke of children living in sewers
and the message of hope that they never have heard
We arrived there in December
We came as strangers but we left as friends
The warmest welcome that I can remember
That welcome is where this whole story begins

I love you Romania
Keep coming back to you again and again
I don’t speak the language or relate to the anguish
But the song that we sang said we’d always be friends
Yes the song that we sang said we’d always be friends

Inspired by your revolution
The way you felt back in ‘89
Ten years later I jump to conclusions
about the way things were back in Communist times
Always a people of passion
My bus driver kicked a man in his head
Thanks to espresso and jetlag I’m passing
the time every night lying awake on my bed (but)

I love you Romania
Keep coming back to you again and again
I don’t speak the language or relate to the anguish
But the song that we sang said we’d always be friends
Yes the song that we sang said we’d always be friends

In the Hotel Dambavista
A gypsy wedding kept me up all night
I slept in and ordered Dracula’s Pizza
when I pulled back the shades and the sun was so bright
Wanted to send home a message
I dropped by the Internet Café
The anger that I felt that I must confess is
As I choked on the smoke it cost me 10,000 Lei! (still)

I love you Romania
Keep coming back to you again and again
I don’t speak the language or relate to the anguish
But the song that we sang said we’d always be friends
Yes the song that we sang said we’d always be friends

From Ceausescu’s Palace to the poorest man’s home
From the mountains of Sinaia to the Black Sea Coast
Been everywhere, seen all there is to see
I made my way in Romania and
Romania made it’s way in me

A Feast Fit For A Beast

About 150 men joined us last night for our Annual Beast Feast. We were treated to some of the most savory 'wild' dishes you could ask for: Deer Chili, Wild Boar Jambalaya, Deer Stew and Duck and Sausage Gumbo. After our Men's Ministry Director, Devin (T-Frog) Lantier, opened things up with a welcome, some laughs and a prayer, we all got to dig in! The food was delicious!

The girls in my office - My sister Holane and her assistant Arlene - Really had the place looking good! The decorated with duck decoys, mounted trophy bucks, lanterns on the tables as center pieces, deer feeders, duck blinds and everything you can think of to make the hunters feel at home. As the guys gathered early, they had the opportunity to test their shooting skills on the Wii with some hunting games and the ever-popular BB Gun Skeet Shooting.

After a duck calling contest and a few more jokes, Devin turned the Mic over to me and I shared a brief challenge with our guys. Then it was off to the cafe where we held table-game tournaments: Billiards, Ping Pong, Spades and Dominos. About half the guys stuck around for the tournaments and had a lot of fun!

We are blessed with some wonderful men in our church. Men who love God and love their families and want to make a difference in their world. It's so much fun getting together with them at events like this to spend some time together. I realize that many churches don't have a strong group of men like we have and I never want to take it for granted! Pictured here is one of the cooks for last night's event - My good friend Ken Lantier.

Sonny Side Up

Well, my little man turned sixteen yesterday. Like it's been since the day he was born, his mom had his day lined out for him. They had a 4-H event the first half of the day and a Home School event last night. Last night's event was a costume party. Chase went as a fried egg, Robin went as a hippie. I asked Donna what her costume was going to be and she said she was the chick that laid the egg! (The perfect response on the birthday of the boy in the egg costume!) I'm so thankful for Chase. He's a wonderful young man who loves God and is a real joy to live with. He is smart and funny and I'm very proud of him! (Sorry, I'm starting to sound like a proud rooster!) Okay - No more poultry puns. Happy birthday Chase - you're an 'eggstrodinary' young man!

Who Dat?

I can't believe the day has finally arrived! The day I've been waiting for since I was just a little boy: The Saints are going to the Super Bowl! No more jokes about Hell freezing over and signs of the Apocalypse! The boys in black and gold are for real!

You have to realize, this has been forty-three years in the making and I've witnessed it all: The early days with Archie Manning that had moments of greatness, but just never could quite get us there. (Isn't it ironic that the Saints first Super Bowl appearance will be against Archie's son Payton? No sentimental feelings here - drive him in the dirt!)

Then there were the long, embarrassing years of sack-wearing misery as the home team lost game after game. In the eighties; Ricky Jackson, Bobby Hebert and the boys gave us a glimmer of hope - getting us into the post season, but still - No Super Bowl. The Benson Boogie would always end a few yards short of the big game! We began to think the team was cursed. We began to think that the New Orleans French Quarter voodoo stood in the way of any hope of victory!

Then it happened: Katrina washed the curse on down the Mississippi River and fate brought us the likes of Sean Payton, Reggie Bush, Drew Brees, Marques Colston, Devery Henderson, Jeremy Shockey, Darren Sharper and so many more!

Last night, I screamed myself hoarse as our New Orleans Saints won a hard-fought battle in the Louisiana Super Dome against Brett Farve and The Minnesota Vikings, advancing to Miami to play in Super Bowl XLIV!

The days of watching through the eye-holes of our brown paper bags as those dynasties emerge in Pittsburgh, Dallas, San Francisco and New England while our beloved Saints remain the laughing stock of the NFL are officially over! Perhaps we are watching the emergence of a new dynasty right here in New Orleans? Who dat?