Dave and Tara Powers were married 6 years and 2 days ago on September 13, 2003. It was a good day, a very good day. It was a day of blessing and rejoicing and recalling the great grace and faithfulness of God. It was hot pink and pale yellow and a song Dave wrote for my beautiful daughter (part of which he sang in Italiano, o the romance!). There was poetry and joy. Brothers and sisters lined the stage to witness the miraculous love before them. It was babies in carriages and stained glass windows dazzlingly on fire as the sun set in the west. It was thousands of tiny twinkle lights joining the canopy of a million stars in a crystal-clear sky, a 3-tier cake on a silver stand and boisterous laughter with joyful dancing. It was a family gala, full of worship, a celebration of love and a smiling God.
My favorite part of the day they married? They served communion to all their guests at the wedding to the song, “Pour My Love on You.” My favorite part since (besides, Hunter, of course)? They are still serving others daily, together in communion and community, Jesus Christ and all His redemption brought. For each them is a powerhouuse of the love of God in their own right. But together? They set 10-thousands of angels to flight ministering to the household of faith!
Happy anniversary, Dave and Tara! Love how you love each other, and everybody else….Mom
pictured: In Puerto Rico, the top pic taken by DP; I believe the bottom one was taken by Hunter (what an eye!).
TIMPANO: A centerpiece-worthy Italian dish, not all that common, but highlighted and made more popular by the Stanley Tucci movie, The Big Night. Timpano is an Italian pastry crust filled with pasta and ragu, meatballs and genoa salami, cheeses and boiled eggs and at times even peas and chicken. It’s carefully layered so that when the strata is sliced, it is a perfectly lined work of culinary art, delicious and beautiful.
Stormie made one for Tristan for his 29th birthday. We serve additonal sauce (tomatoes, onions and basil from the garden) and cheeses on the side, along with a ceasar salad. It is so satisfying! In red, find Stormie’s recipe and tips:
I know this looks like an impossible feat and you are thinking it will take you all day…trust me, it is easy peesy and so good, it will prove itself completely worth it! You can tell your family and friends you slaved all day, (I’ll keep your secret:)
*With prep, baking and cooling – this should take about 3.5 hours total but give yourself some extra time the first time you try it (and believe me, you WILL make this more than once).
Timpano recipe alla “Big Night”
Dough Ingredients: 4 cups all purpose flour
4 eggs
1 t salt
3 T extra virgin olive oil(I mean seriously…is there any other kind of olive oil?)
3/4 cup water Olive oil to grease a 6 quart timpano baking pan. (I use a type of dutch oven but professionals use enamel wash basins which you can find on ebay:
Filling: 2 cups 1/4 x 1/2 inch sharp provolone cheese cubes or slices
2 cups 1/4 x 1/2 inch Genoa salami slices
12 hard boiled eggs, shelled and cut into chunks
3 cups meatballs
8 cups tomato sauce (add 1 lb cooked ground beef)
3 lbs ziti pasta, cooked very al dente
2 T extra virgin olive oil
2/3 cup finely grated Romano cheese
4 eggs, beaten
Prep:
Dough:
1. Combine the flour, eggs, salt and olive oil in a stand mixer with the dough hook.
2. Add 3 tablespoons of water and process.
3. Add more water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the mixture comes together and forms a ball.
4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead to make sure it is well mixed. Set aside to rest for 5 minutes.
5. Flatten the dough out on a lightly floured surface. Dust the top of the dough with flour and roll it out, dusting with flour and flipping the dough over from time to time, until it is about 1/16 inch thick and is the desired diameter(you will get major muscles while rolling it out!).
6. Generously grease the timpano baking pan with olive oil. Fold the dough in half and then in half again, to form a triangle, and place it in the pan. Open the dough and arrange it in the pan, gently pressing it against the bottom and the sides, draping the extra dough over the sides(You will need enough dough on top to cover the whole thing so make sure you roll it out VERY large). Set aside.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Filling:
1. Have the salami, provolone, hard-boiled eggs, meat balls, and tomato sauce at room temperature. 2. Toss the drained pasta with the olive oil and 2 cups of the tomato sauce. Distribute 4 generous cups of the pasta on the bottom of the pan. 3. Top with 1 cup of the salami, 1 cup of the provolone, 6 of the hard-boiled eggs, 1 cup of the meat balls, and 1/3 cup of the Romano cheese. Pour 2 cups of the ragu (tomato/meat sauce) over these ingredients. 4. Top with 4 cups of the remaining pasta(I always have left over pasta to serve on the side, it just depends on the size of your pan so you probably won’t use it all in the timpano). 5. Top that with the remaining 1 cup of salami, 1 cup meat balls, and 1/3 cup Romano cheese. Pour 2 cups of the ragu over these ingredients. (the ingredients should now be about 1 inch below the rim of the pot). 6. Pour the beaten eggs over the filling. Fold the pasta dough over the filling to seal completely. Trim away and discard any double layers of dough.
Baking:
1. Bake until lightly browned, about 1 hour. 2. Then cover with aluminum foil and continue baking until the timpano is cooked through and the dough is golden brown (the internal temp. will be 120 degrees F) about 30 minutes. 3. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 30 minutes or more. (the resting time is VERY important for the timpano to set and not fall apart when you are cutting it later so make sure you give it AT LEAST 30 minutes after baking to sit in the pan) 4. The baked timpano should not adhere to the pan. If any part is still attached, carefully detach with a knife. Grasp the pan firmly and invert the timpano onto a serving platter.
5. Remove the pan and allow the timpano to cool for 20 minutes. (This is also important for the setting of the timpano…don’t cut corners! From my own experience it is messy if you do!)
6. Using a long, sharp knife, cut a circle about 3 inches in diameter in the center of the timpano, making sure to cut all the way through to the bottom. then slice the timpano as you would a pie into individual portions, leaving the center circle as a support for the remaining pieces.
pictured: The sign made by Steph and Stormie with a nod to The Office, naturally.
You are at that age – you know? The one everyone claims to be when they don’t wanna be the age they really are? So pretty much, for the next year, everyone will think you are lying about your age. But you’re not. Like McCaulay Culkin, you are actually 29. Which puts into perspective for me the little boy you were so many years ago when we watched Home Alone with our kids, and Stephanie, in particular.
Family.
When you chose Stephanie, when you decided (which in retrospect seems uncharacteristically devilish of you) to pursue Stephanie in spite of a road-bump whose name I shall not bother to mention here, you got us all, the whole loud, crazy, undone and un-in-law-tested bunch of us, lock, stock and barrel.
And we are grateful to your parents for the wonderful son they raised. We thank God that you were nurtured and encouraged in a godly home, prepared and equipped to be the man you have become – a great husband to Steph and a true daddy to the bambinos. Tell your mom and dad thank-you for me, will you? Because they did really raise a courageous son, one who, in spite of the size and girth of the sum of us, is not only equal to the task, able to withstand our faults and failures and shortcomings as much as enjoy any good, but strengthens us as a family, bringing rich character and treasure to us. Who could have known when you became one of us that one such humble young man’s presence in a family could change our course so drastically? Tris, you brought an increase of the favor of God upon us and I can’t remember life before you became our “son.” We are blessed.
pictured: he must have said something funny at the family party; a shot from the recent Kelley photo shoot taken by Tredessa; the apparent Rocky/Tristan “butt” shot…for their wives only, I am sure.
Food ~ The Glorious Timpano
As usual, we had your annually-requested-birthday fruit pizza (see recipe) instead of a cake (but I really am game to create free-standing drum set someday), which nearly drove several family members into a sugar coma. And, much to Stormie’s delight, your celebration became an opportunity for her highly-sought-after Timpano ~ as made famous by the cinematically beautiful movie, Big Night, starring Tony Shalub and Stanley Tucci. The movie is wonderful. The food they prepare is inspiring. Stormie’s version is delish!
Frolic.
What a silly family we are, sometimes, huh? But what great times celebrating each other and just being with people who’ll love you to the end!
Twenty-nine wishes for Tris on his 29th birthday.
May the storehouse of good in you always be full to running over! “A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him…” Matthew 12.35
I wish for you to know the deep things of God and to increase in wisdom as He leads you.
I hope you and Stephanie will always remain madly in love, and that your life’s pursuits will keep you running into each other in happy, romantic collisions.
I pray that the love you bestow upon your children will come back to you a hundred-fold.
Long life! And may it go well with you because you keep the 5th commandment to honor your parents. Keep doing that. You can’t go wrong.
God? Bless Tristan. Really bless him!
I wish you 50% off days at Mile-High Comics every Labor Day!
I wish for your full talent as a musician to be recognized beyond your wildest dreams and that you be compensated duly.
May you get all the best drumsticks and Zildjian cymbals you ever need.
I wish for you to have good students: the kind who don’t waste your time and who will really learn from the treasure-trove of musical knowledge you possess.
I pray that as you have dared2work at dare2share, you’ll get credit in heaven for the harvest!
Tris, I hope you will always be strengthened by knowing that you are so well loved by our whole family.
The time you need with the people you love. Thank-you for working so hard to provide for your family, for doing whatever it takes, but enjoy time that belongs to you, too.
And that secret dream? May the resources and location come to pass quickly by the divine hand of the Lord. He is on the look out for you, I know it!
Rest. I wish rest for you.
Peace. I wish peace for you, too.
And joy. I wish an abundance of the joy of the Lord to be your strength.
X-box 360 expertise. As if you even need this wish – may you do reeeeeally well in X-box tourneys and beat everybody (except occasionally let Rocky have a victory since he is your “little brother”)!
I hope you’ll…laugh (you thought I was gonna say “dance”, didn’t you?).
I wish for your sense of humor to get even keener, if that is possible, so you can keep us laughing!
Surprises. I hope this year will be full of really good surprises for you.
I wish increased relationship and bonding between you and all the siblings (the sister you were born to and her husband, and all the ones you have because of Stephanie). Their lives are so enriched in the knowing of you.
Cool t-shirts, the perfect jeans, great hair cuts and shoes that make your feet go “ahhh.” You have your own style and I wish for it all come to you easily this year!
Songs. New songs. Lots of them.
Beats and rhythms only heard previously in the halls of heaven. Bring ’em on, Tris!
I wish lots of English toffee for you and other sweet sundries, which I guess can be made possible if I will only get busy. Sometime between now and Christmas, maybe…
I wish more kids for you, but apparently you are not going to receive that little present, but can’t you just see it? Six or seven more little redheads running around??! Wouldn’t the world be a more delightful and magical place???
I am hoping for lots more conversations with you because I learn so much and am so moved by your insight and wisdom on so many different topics. You are truly one of the smartest people I have ever known in my life.
And finally? I pray for God to bless you back, in the same kind and with the same measure with which you have loved us, shown respect to us, honored us and become a part of us. And if He answers that prayer, and I know He will, you will be blessed – on your 29th birthday and always. And I am believing for that!
We love you, Tristan. I hope you will always know how much. Happy Birthday to you!…mom (and so honored to get to share that role just a tiny bit even though you already have a wonderful mama)
NOTE TO SELF: Break out the toffee recipe because Tristan is worth it, even if it isn’t Christmas.
My first little granddaughter (3rd grandchild) is four. She is independence and spunk, she is quiet, but firm. She can run with crowds, but entertain herself. She is a waif in body, but strong in spirit. She is all the Disney princesses, one at a time, or overlapping as she sees fit (this year, she chose “Cinder-Lella”) and she was determined to have a cake in Cinderella’s honor using her own doll (which we almost couldn’t find). And so we did.
A Cinderella Doll Cake
I learned from my first doll cake experience to wrap the shapely doll in a paper towel and Saran Wrap so as not to cause a stir when the cake is cut away (revealing a naked bum). The birthday girl’s mommy chose my signature lemon-poppyseed with fresh lemon curd for filling. It is o-so-refreshing. I used a 9 inch layer, 2 8-inch layers and a bowl for the top of the skirt. We ate the other 8-inch layer the extra batter provided as a “taste-test.” The dress was a very simple buttercream in light and the palest-ever blues. I sprinkled it with sugar glitter (which looks like crumbs on the serving tray) and there she is: Guini’s Cinderella cake.
It was a lovely day to celebrate, a few days ago. We ate and plied Guini with gifts, but true to Aunt Tara’s prediction to save her gift for last because Guini would love it best of all, once Guinivere received the little box of make-up and lip “sauce,” she was never seen without it again. Each time I see her now, her eyes, her cheeks and her lips are all-a-glitter in the palest shades of pinks and lilacs.
Here is Guini opening the mountain of gifts, and her baby sister, Gemma, rolling about on Guini’s Happy-Birthday-ball.
Here is Guini with her jewelry/treasure box from Aunt Jovan and Uncle Rocky and Grandpa and Gavin in their geek goggles under the water in the pool.
I love you, Guinivere!
Nonna loves you, little girl. I love your smile and the twinkle in your eye and I love how you can stay focused and totally ignore what you’d rather not notice. I love that you sing your head off or don’t whisper even a sound all afternoon should the mood strike. I love that you are a good little sister and a wonderful big sister. I love that sometimes I can tell you are looking at me, right into my very soul, and you are really getting me. I love that and I love you!
Me with my two younger brothers, Joe and Dan…and their amazing wives, my sisters Robin and Dawn!
We are family
I got all my sisters with me
We are family
Get up ev’rybody and sing
The Other Sister
The sister I grew up with, aka the sister born into my family (as opposed to marrying one of the brothers), aka Tamera Dawn, aka “Tami.” She is the bottle of bubbles at the party, the the whipped cream and the cherry on top of family gatherings. She is the adored Aunt Tami, my little sister, and her husband, Uncle Gerron-the great one.
Everybody can see we’re together
As we walk on by
(FLY!) and we fly just like birds of a feather
I won’t tell no lie
(ALL!) all of the people around us they say
Can they be that close
Just let me state for the record
We’re giving love in a family dose
Joe and Robin ~ married for 25 years this month!
We are family
I got all my sisters with me
We are family
Get up ev’rybody and sing
The golfers
Living life is fun and we’ve just begun
To get our share of the world’s delights
(HIGH!) high hopes we have for the future
And our goal’s in sight
(WE!) no we don’t get depressed
Here’s what we call our golden rule
Have faith in God and the things He’ll do
You won’t go wrong
This is our family truth
Yes. They are watching a bird play in a sprinkler puddle across the street.
We are family
I got all my sisters with me
We are family
Get up ev’rybody and sing
We gathered, we ate, we talked and sang and took pictures. We worshiped together as a family. We prayed for each other, we cried sometimes and laughed a lot. We ate some more. We splashed in the pool and sunned a little. We teased each other and told silly stories of affection. We ate some more. We golfed. We danced and celebrated Joe and Robin’s 25th anniversary. In short, we just hung out together~with love. It was Ross the Boss, Mrs. Moss and Jeanie, Joey, Timmy, Tami and Danny. Er, no…Tim didn’t make it… :[…sad face.
Previous posts about the Moslander family reunion:
pictured: DP praying with people after a break-out session
They so graciously allowed us (Dave, Tara and Hunter, Tredessa, Luke and his wife and son, and Kyle and myself, along with the techno kings) to attend, hang out backstage and ask questions of their leadership. Their generous sharing of insight and wisdom is a priceless blessing to us.
pictured: Dess and Hunter and me; TP + DP; Tre and her “birthday man”; Hunter and Kyle.
Kentucky was wet, very wet…and muddy (we don’t get much mud here), but very lush and beautiful, too. There is great community there and really good food! I had lunch across the table from Shane Claiborne, and just a few tables away from Delirious (although Dave and Tara actually got to “hang” with Martin Smith while Hunter played games on Martin’s phone), enjoyed some awesome worship at the New Song Cafe with Brenton Brown. Skillet did a killer show (pictured below, right). Israel Houghton is the all-new Andrae, incredible show and back-up dancer/singers! Seriously, when I get to heaven, I better be able to dance like that!
One of the great highlights was Kyle and me facing backwards in the golf cart (Tre was riding shotgun) hanging on for dear life while Alpha-2 madly drove the hills explaining security measures to us. Everyone he busted gave Kyle and me the looks. It was like an hour on your favorite carnival ride. Hilarious!
pictured: Tim, John and Dj DC (the rest of our Coloradan constituency) at the techno stage where the party continued until the wee hours…; Dave and Tara and Hunter with Jenn, Stevie (youth pastors at the big Alliance church in Lexington, where DP & TP did ministry on Sunday morning following Ichthus) and their daughter
And unless we end up promoting Delirious in October here in Colorado (which is still on the possibility-table), I got to see them perform as a band for my very last time and they are just.so.stinking.cool. I L O V E Delirious! They changed everything in the mid-90s, everything! They were the final main stage show, a great end to a great festival. I felt very hippie-ish and Jesus-people-early-70’s-ish. (I wrote about Explo ’72 last summer) I was that sweaty and dirty, too.
We stayed in a town home on the Asbury campus and daily passed this house with a “garden” in the gutters. My hair was fuzzy-crap the entire time. Hunter ran himself (and maybe his mommy) totally ragged. We celebrated Tredessa’s birthday there, walked a lot, slept little, ate lots of funnel cakes and onion blossoms and had a pretty great time, all in all.
Our thanks to the kindness and hospitality of Jeff James and everybody at Ichthus. We have so much gratitude for getting to learn from the best!
It was family-party-celebration-time for Dave (DP) as soon as we got home Ichthus Festival in Kentucky.
He L-O-V-E-S sushi like crazy! But not everyone in the family has been wooed to the sushi-side. So, we got sushi for the fishy of us and then made a bunch of other sushi-looking stuff (very odd combinations! ~ turkey and cheese wraps, tortilla roll-ups, egg rolls cut, etc) and made everyone eat them with chopsticks, wasabi peas and dipping sauces! Throw in some Asian BBQ pork spare ribs and voila! The weirdest meal we may ever have had. All in Dave’s honor.
Yeah, we are that bourgeois.
His “cake,” instead of his traditonal Rice Krispie Treats with a side of Peachie rings each year (that is DP, for ya!), was a giant chocolate chip cookie along with a super-fresh batch of niece-Elise’s incredible chocolate chip cookies and ice cream. Can you count all 28 crazy candles?
Dave and Tara. See those kind faces? It’s because they really are. Hunter and Gavin and the chopsticks. See those ornery faces? They are that and my heart-fillers, too!
Whew! We have just completed 9 family birthdays in less than 3 months. We have a slight reprieve until late July and then we crank up again for the fall season! But how can I not mark the dates and celebrate these people? I praise God for them! O yes, I do!
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
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.
You are a great father to Hunter. A true daddy…
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!
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!
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.
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…
I love that you let me work with you. It has changed my life. These are my best days.
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.
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!
Your humor. It is twisted. But you make me laugh.
Your work ethic – very good. Just be careful here. You have nothing to prove. You work hard, so remember to “Sabbath hard”, too!
Your generosity – it’s amazing. I realize what a tightwad I am every time I am around you.
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.
Your ability to receive mentoring and advice from people further along in their life and faith will serve you well all your days.
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.
Your commitment to seeing the call of God in people, really seeing them – oh, what a blessing. Do you know?
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.
You live to forgive. Thanks for refusing to harbor offense.
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).
Your strength-inner, physical and especially spiritual. You are a strong man.
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!
Your prayer. You know how to pray. I am thankful to benefit from that.
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.
O my goodness! You can play the guitar, kid. Yowzers!
You have such an adventurous spirit. Are you as fear-free as you seem? May it ever, ever, ever be so.
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!!
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!
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!!…
We were in Wilmore, Kentucky for the Ichthus Festival on Saturday, on Dessa’s birthday, gathering information and learning from people who have managed to keep a festival going for 40 years now. I got to watch watch Tredessa in action interviewing people much older and I was so impressed at her ease and ability to draw the most important information from them. She is soft-spoken and gentle, easy to talk to (and talk, they did), but she has the ability to harness millions of bits of data, opinion, strategy (both good and bad, both successful and disastrous) and infuse it into a leadership team of nearly 100 people who will make Heaven Fest all God has ordained it to be.
I stood back and watched. I listened. I thought, “Wow! She is good.”
Then I remembered. She’s my girl. She’s my beautiful baby. She’s my little Dessy-Pooh-Pie. She is 26. And I know her to be a caring person, a life-giving, true friend/sister/daughter to her family and influential auntie to the grand-bebes, a true comrade-of-the-heart to those who take the time to know her, and a young woman wholly devoted to the Lord.
Tre was a gift to us.
Tredessa was born on a beautiful day in Kokomo, Indiana. The timing of her arrival was planned only by God and how good He was to give us this amazing daughter. She was born exactly 1 year and 3 weeks after her sister, Stephanie, making her the 3rd girl in a row. I remember getting into the car to go to the hospital and the smell of lilacs (it seems it would have been late for that, but I recall it, nonetheless). I remember a hot sun and a cool breeze, the shrubs all fluttering lightly and knowing I’d soon have another baby. Somehow the day seemed blessed. Somehow it seemed the birds were singing in celebration and God had particularly delighted in creating a wondrous day.
I took her home in a yellow outfit and sunbonnet and few days later, symbolizing the dazzling brightness and joy of her arrival. And the summer of Tredessa (1983) was a blessed one. It was daddy and mommy and our three adorable little girls, Tara, Stephanie and Tredessa and life was just so, so, so good: lots of hair and barrettes and blow-up swimming pools and bbq–ing and church life and friends and Martha Miniature dresses and hot and humid Indiana. She was sweet and easy. I recall sweet and easy days of love.
26 wishes for Tredessa on the occasion of her 26th birthday
Tredessa, I love you and bless and wish so many good things for you. Can I tell you a few?
I wish for all of your days to have the sense of blessing on them in your life that the day of your birth and all the days I have known you since have had.
I wish for God to show you the next step…just the one, so you’ll know without a doubt you are dwelling directly in the place He has prepared.
I am wishing thousands of hugs and kisses for you from the children you’ll have someday (with the most amazing man you’ll marry someday), the fruit of all the seeds of love you have planted in your nieces and nephews.
As a matter of fact, I pray your siblings will be as great at loving and watching over your kids as you have been with theirs. You have an unusual and very intentional connection to all those little boogers.
I pray that one day you will hear the reports and know the impact you made on the Venezuelan orphans in spite of the government overtake. Those kids will grow up. They will look for their (spiritual) Mama Tredessa.
I pray that you will cause thousands of people to know God’s love and understand His work in their lives they way you do. The way you go after God makes people hungry to know Him that way.
I wish for your joy to be full, full, full.
I am praying peace for you in these days of transition.
All your dreams can come true, it can happen for you, if you’re young at heart…and it doesn’t hurt that you are, in fact, actually young!
I hope you wear lots of dresses this year because you are so cute in them.
Like Elinor Dashwood of Sense and Sensibility, you are practical, circumspect and discreet. You are tremendously sensible and use your head in every situation, but there is that deeply emotional side. There is that part of you that sometimes scares you and very few people know it exists. I pray a whole bunch of people will take the initiative to find that side and drag your vulnerability out of you. *smile…be brave…
I wish you “rest for your soul.” Because that is what Jesus wants for you, too. (Remember telling me that??)
I am wishing with all my might you will hear the secrets of the Lord as you fear Him and give Him your reverent awe.
Do you know you garner trust from people young and old? May it always be so.
I hope you’ll always know how you bless me. A few years ago, after you’d had a consultation with some one who thought they were dealing with a novice, as she searched for ways to express what a “surprise” you’d been, how efficient and advanced for your years you were, she said to me, “Well, Tredessa is an extraordinary young woman. She told me she is gifted just like you.” And, wow, I was taken aback and swelled with pride. I was honored that you’d tell some one something like that. Honey? You’re waaaaaay more amazing!
I pray for the Lord to be your strong tower. You have a strength, an inner resolve, but babycake, you will never be so strong you don’t have to lean on Jesus! I know you know that, but this is a reminder.
I am praying for clear guidance and direction from the One who said He’d lead you and guide you. He will.
I hope you’ll let the doors that must close, close. And look back with gratefulness and humility.
Be brave as you walk through new doors.
Fall in love, if you have time.
Flirt a lot first. Come on-you can do it.
I wish for you to accept the fact that you are a spiritual brickhouse! Seriously! Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power and don’t worry about it! Never apologize for that!
I wish a great summer for you.
I am praying Heaven Fest will bless you back!
I wish thousands more songs for you. Sing your soul out, TreTre. Play your funky music! (Have mercy on me, sometimes, though).
And baby? Live with abandon! Really, really live with abandon! It’s your time! It is!
Happy Birthday a smidgen late, my beloved daughter…mom
pictured: TOP ROW~Tre with the man she “found” on her birthday at Ichthus…on the Techno stage; SECOND ROW~The “Dessa’s ladies” collage from her b-day celebration; THIRD ROW~Tre with Tara and Hunter and me at Ichthus this past week; FOURTH ROW~Tredessa with her sometimes archnemesis/sometimes best buddy, Luke; Tre with niece Averi-the-little-lady.
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!
