Dave Powers turns 28!

Happy Birthday (yesterday), Dave (we sometimes refer to him as DP since he has the same name as my husband…well, actually lots of people do, sooo maybe that wasn’t the reason.  I do know it goes like this: DP + TP = HP  Figure it out!)!

I do not take lightly the “coincidence” of Dave’s birth happening (though I wouldn’t meet him until 21 years later)  on one of the happiest days of my life.  Without a doubt, the day my husband asked me to be his wife and across the country  and Dave was being born into the Powers family was one of significance.  I tell Tara that she and I were both getting our Prince Charmings on the same day.  We just didn’t know.

Fast forward to 2002.  It was May.  I went to a Worship Together conference with Mike Pilavachi, Tim Hughes, Chris Tomlin (?), Rita Springer and others.  The worship was awesome.  I’d had a long day at work and the night was so refreshing.  Afterwards as I purchased some music books and CDs, I was talking to Rocky.  The room was jam-packed with people.  It was loud.  I leaned in to tell Rocky how bowled over I was by Rita when suddenly, this guy manning the tables says something like, “Wasn’t she awesome?”  It was kind of like in the movies.  You’re being jostled by hundreds of people, the noise level was so high you can barely hear yourself think and then some guy talks to you and it is as if there is no noise.  I could hear him perfectly, even across the merch table, and I heard nothing else.  Think Twilight Zone music here.   It was Dave.

Rocky already knew Dave and loved him.  He introduced us.  Is it OK to admit that I immediately hoped he would meet, fall madly in love with, and marry my daughter, Tara?  Because that is what I was thinking!  If you have ever met Dave you know this, but the guy is a connector.  You don’t just meet Dave, you enter relationship with him.  When he asks, “How are you?,” he is really asking you to tell him the details because he actually cares about how you are doing.  Later in the summer he started hanging around us and we fell head over heels in love with him!  I couldn’t believe that I could like another person my kids’ ages like I liked him.  He just jumped into our lives and pried open our jaded, closed up hearts.  Dave was the start of lots of good things in our family’s life, and we’d had a crap-load of not good stuff.  So we regard him very highly!

It was months before DP and Tara met, but the cool thing?  He didn’t even know she was part of our family when it happened.  So, I did not corral him in…he fell in!  *smile…

Dave, I love you for being such an honoring and loving son.  I applaud you for hanging in there with us.  I praise God for placing you in our path.  I hope in the end it will be true that we will have been as much of a blessing to you as you have been to us.  We are honored to walk through this life as family with you.  Your parents did so well in raising you.  And you have done so well in receiving the guidance and direction of the Lord in your life.

There is so much I love about you.  Can I tell you a few things?

Twenty-eight things I love about DP on the occasion of his 28th Birthday

1. Well, Thank-You, Jesus (!)  for how much this boy loves my daughter!  You turned the light on in her, Dave.  You bring out good things, but even more of a blessing is just that you recognize, respect and pull out the residing goodness and gifting in her.  Thank-you for the way you treat Tara, both publicly and privately.  Thank-you for helping save her.  Whew!  I am so blessed that my daughter married so well.
2. You are a great father to Hunter.   A true daddy…
3. You have one of the greatest voices I have ever heard!  I love to hear you sing and by the way, I am not hearing nearly enough of that these days with your travel schedule…so let’s get that CD done!
4. The way you travel and go  and do ministry with no financial requirement, but just to be a blessing.  Your trust in the Father for provision is exemplary.  Your laid-back travel habits also such a good-example for my choleric, perfectionistic tendencies!
5. Your worship.  Your ministry to the Lord felt so immediately comfortable and familiar to me when you came along.  It is so easy to enter in to the Presence the minute you begin to sing.
6. The way you can cast vision.  I could listen to you tell the miraculous stories of God’s provision and move all day long (and nearly have at times…*smile).  You are a Holy Spirit-gifted communicator, for sure.  When I read about the Old Testament guys who were able to get the entire nation of Israel to follow God through hard times, I truly believe you could do that with God’s people now, and I mean an entire nation.  It could happen…
7. I love that you let me work with you.  It has changed my life.  These are my best days.
8. You’re a good brother.  The baby of your family, you had to step up to being a big brother when you married in to this one and you have done it well.  You are watchful and protective, loving and honest, prayerful and supportive. 
9. You’re a good son.  You are so honoring to your parents.  You can be sure you’ll live long on the earth and it will go well with you.  It already is!
10. Your humor.  It is twisted.  But you make me laugh.
11. Your work ethic – very good.  Just be careful here.  You have nothing to prove.  You work hard, so remember to “Sabbath hard”, too!
12. Your generosity – it’s amazing.  I realize what a tightwad I am every time I am around you.
13. Your patience with difficult people (including, but not limited to your mother-in-law…and btw-thanks for never calling me that, but always calling me “mom”) is, well, a good thing.
14. Your ability to receive mentoring and advice from people further along in their life and faith will serve you well all your days.
15. But not just your ability to receive – the fact that you actively seek counsel and look for people to pour into you  – and then you actually heed their words – this is wisdom.  You are walking in wisdom.
16. Your commitment to seeing the call of God in people, really seeing them – oh, what a blessing.  Do you know?
17.  Your commitment to hearing the voice of God.  Thank-you for the days you sanctify to go up the mountain and seek Him.  We all benefit from the radiance on your face.
18. You live to forgive.  Thanks for refusing to harbor offense.
19. You are a door opener.  Lots of people are walking in their sweet spot because you took the time to open the door for them (DP, the Apostle).
20. Your strength-inner, physical and especially spiritual.  You are a strong man.
21.   I love that you and Tara got to talk to Martin Smith (Delirious) at Ichthus!  He gave you good advice, kiddo!  You are so cool!
22. Your prayer.  You know how to pray.  I am thankful to benefit from that.
23. I love that you, who has the ear of important people and have been given meetings with great men, stay so humble.  Humility is the protection around your heart.  I keep seeing you press in to go low and watching the Lord place you in cool places.  You are a humble man.
24. O my goodness!  You can play the guitar, kid.  Yowzers!
25. You have such an adventurous spirit.  Are you as fear-free as you seem?  May it ever, ever, ever be so.
26. Your zeal for Chipotle burritos and sushi convert everybody.  I especially am glad to go to Chipotle with you as I always get a burrito twice the normal size when I am with the Chipotle-Ambassador himself!  Good times!!
27. I love, love, love getting to know you, work with you, be in the same family with you, do ministry with you, and just in general be around you.  I feel so lucky, so blessed!
28. And Dave?  I love your heart.  No matter what, I will always believe in your heart.  And trust it.

I love you, kiddo.  I celebrate the day God placed you on this earth and all your days!…mom

pictured: TOP ROW~DP with his little counterpart, Hunter; SECOND ROW~DP with dad and Tris at bowling a few weeks ago, DP making a strike; THIRD ROW~DP and Tara at Ichthus last week; FOURTH ROW~DP front and center on the bottom row at the recent HF leadership meeting (Dave is the founder and president of Worship and the Word Movement, the ministry tnhat puts HF on)…do you see me?  I am the oldest one in the picture!!…