Renaissance Dad

Makes Me Laugh Every Time

noreply@blogger.com (Dennis Wells) — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 21:59:00 +0000

Okay...I know I've giving these folks free advertising (their great scheme is working), but honestly...it makes me laugh every time...enjoy!

Snow Day Jan 20 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Dennis Wells) — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 23:49:00 +0000

What a great day for snow!

Align in 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Dennis Wells) — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 02:54:00 +0000

My wife and I were talking about this New Year and wondering what it would bring. We were laughing about years past when we would create a slogan for the New Year that would go on a t-shirt. Of course it always had to rhyme with the year. “Gonna’ go for more in 2004”. As we were enjoying the memories, she proclaimed a statement that seemed to sum up everything that we are expecting for this year. It’s been awhile, but here goes “Align in 2009”.

We are believing that as we position ourselves, as we do our part, that He will bring us into alignment with His will, which is His best for us this year. How about you?

Winthrop 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Dennis Wells) — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 11:00:00 +0000

Our youngest has just been accepted into Winthrop University for the fall of 2009. Go Anna!

My Beautiful P.A.

noreply@blogger.com (Dennis Wells) — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 01:28:00 +0000

Here's my beautiful wife on her first day as a Physician Assistant. This is the fruit of seven years of labor. I'm really proud of her and she's going to be a great healthcare provider for women everywhere!

Destination Disney

noreply@blogger.com (Dennis Wells) — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 22:12:00 +0000

Well… we finally did it. After my beautiful wife graduated with her Master’s Degree (I’m really proud of her!), we were ready to celebrate. So we packed up our belongings and took the gang to Disney World (just like the winners of the Super Bowl). However, we were not alone. Hurricane/Storm Fay was headed that way too! It’s never boring for the Wells family, no matter

where we go. We couldn’t have just a basic vacation visit. Nooooo…we had to have some drama.

Actually it began the night we hit town. After driving for almost nine hours, and checking it at our Disney hotel, we decided to go to the drug store to fill a prescription for one of the girls who was suffering with a sinus infection.

As we waited for the prescription to be filled, a voice over the store loudspeaker asked for the owner of the black mini-van to come to the front. This was our rental vehicle, so I headed for the front counter. A customer had witnessed our van being hit by someone’s vehicle. They were very kind to have copied the license number of the other car before they sped away. Long story short, the police were called, a report written and the officer was able to identify the owner of the guilty party and headed to their house to confront them.

This was another opportunity to walk in grace and patience, even though we were all dogged tired. But we were blessed that (a) no one was injured, (b) the damage was cosmetic and (c) that someone was thoughtful to have copied the license number for us.

We had a great day on Sunday and Monday visiting several of the parks, the rides and o-my-gosh, the food. We ate like we had never seen food before. We had purchased the Disney Dining Plan which allowed us to eat at a couple of different buffets. No diet plan in sight. Good thing we walked hundreds of miles during our three days. At the end of the second day, we began to here a report that Tropical Storm/Hurricane Fay was bearing down on us. I noticed bunches of people checking out and leaving. Did the Wells cut and run? Heck no! I went to Wal-Mart (cheaper than Disney) and purchased ponchos and we kept on riding!

The Poncho People

Let me say that we spent a great deal of time praying that the weather would cooperate. On Monday when I looked at the radar on TV, it was raining every where around Orlando, but not in the city. There was like a shield around our area. How cool!

Several times in our hotel room we would gather in a circle and pray that the storm would not affect our plans. My wife even prayed that the storm would move out to sea and that there would be no explanation for it. So…as we’re boarding the shuttle bus on Tuesday, the driver said that the weatherman commented that for some reason the storm has slowed down and had made a right turn HEADED OUT TO SEA! Just what my wife had prayed! We just laughed and thanked God.

I have to share to following pictures. We were headed in to see some kind of stunt show and a guy stopped and asked for volunteers to help set up the props. My wife knows I can’t resist an opportunity to help, so I raised my hand. The guy took me and another couple backstage, fitted us with rain suits and gave us stage directions. Here are the before, during and after shots of me in the production:

Yea…I’m really being drowned by a tidal wave of water. So now, the family joke is that I can say that I’ve been in a Disney movie!

All in all we had a great time. Lots of laughs, lots of food and most of all… lots of memories.

Classic Disney Shot

It’s Not Things or Money That Makes a Great Marriage

noreply@blogger.com (Dennis Wells) — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 12:18:00 +0000

My wife and I just celebrated 27 years of marriage over the weekend. We are both in a career transition and as a result our finances are a bit tight. She is graduating this coming week with her Master’s and I’m in the middle of completing another Masters. So to celebrate our anniversary we had to be creative. No cruise or expensive restaurant would work for us this time.

First we talked about our expectations for our big day. When people ask about the secret to a long marriage, communication is a key component. By talking about it, we were both on the same page. So we decided to spend time rather than money.

My beautiful wife fixed (southern term) pancakes (blueberry for her, plain for me) for our breakfast. We exchanged cards. And the only allowance for gifts was a special candy treat for each other. She gave me a bag of my favorite and I gave her a new kind of chocolate candy.

After breakfast we both spent some time studying our school work. For lunch, we decided to take a picnic lunch to the park. We had a great time eating homemade sandwiches and sitting by a lily pond listening to a bull frog and talking.

Back home for an afternoon nap. Then I prepared dinner for the two of us complete with candle and our favorite Kenny G CD. Then off to a movie at the dollar theatre (now $1.50).

We had a wonderful day, did not spend a lot of money, but did spend a lot of quality time together. It’s not the things or the amount of money, but the heart behind all of it. There will be times in the future that we will take a cruise and have a great meal at a nice restaurant. But for now, our relationship is something that money cannot buy.

Car Care Outreach

noreply@blogger.com (Dennis Wells) — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 00:36:00 +0000

I had a great time this past Saturday with a Car Care Clinic conducted by our church. It involved checking the fluids, the belts, the bulbs, etc. under the hood. Then we gave the vehicle a good wash and dry. And fed anyone willing with a hotdog, chips and a drink. All of this was free! We would not even accept donations. Overall a great day!

I met some really super people within the church and those who came to take advantage of the service. This was a really practical example of God’s love in action. Here is a picture of yours truly doing his thing for Jesus!

(I know it looks like I'm talking, I'm actually holding the brush in the water to keep it wet until the next car appears...yea, right).

Twitter Terminated

noreply@blogger.com (Dennis Wells) — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 15:54:00 +0000

I’ve officially terminated my Twitter posts. Seriously…who has the time to send bits of info all during the day? The pressure was too much. I am a writer, so the writing was not the problem. It was the constant question of editing. Do I share that "I had a great lunch with a friend (I had the BLT)." Or that "my pen just ran out of ink, so I strolled over to the cabinet to get a new one, so I’m back now." How about "I just got back from getting a haircut." (Who cares?).

Unless of course I begin including product placement ads ("Just got back from getting a haircut at Cost Cutters, 1234 Broad River Rd, ask for Dre’"). Then I would be consumed with looking for opportunities to place ads. Then that evolves into the question, “Do I just allow one hairdresser the ad opportunity or do I open it to all who are willing to lay down the bucks?”

Anyway, no more tweets, only sweets (sorry, it’s silly, but it made me laugh and isn’t that what life is all ‘bout?). I can see my girls rolling their eyes about now!

Humor from Africa

noreply@blogger.com (Dennis Wells) — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 23:56:00 +0000

I just had to share this. Just reconnected with a college friend who is a missionary in Africa (the place we were all afraid to go when we said yes to Jesus!). Stefan and Andrea Hall (Mission418) are great people and as I was scanning his website, discovered these pictures...no captions needed...enjoy!

Your Dating History Can Come Back to Haunt You!

noreply@blogger.com (Dennis Wells) — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 19:47:00 +0000

We just got back from spending a day in Charleston with my daughter. Mom had to be there for an all day meeting, so we decided to have a daddy and daughter day and act like tourists. Now I didn’t wear black socks with my shorts or hang a huge camera around my neck. We have been to Charleston many times, so we kind of know our way around. We did a lot of walking, through the Old Market, down side streets to look at the pretty houses and a good bit of time eating and drinking coffee.

During one of our pit stops to eat, my daughter decided it was time to ask my about my early dating life. She’s 17 now and starting to wonder about what to look for in a guy. She was very sweet in saying what a good guy I was and was wondering what I was like at her age so that she would have a mark with which to measure.

This is the kind of conversation that strikes fear and panic, mainly fear, but also a lot of panic. I had two thoughts go through my head at once. And if you know me, that can be dangerous. First thought…how much do I tell and how much do I leave out? Second simultaneous thought…O My Gosh…I wish I had done some things differently!

Note to all of the young guys reading this: Keep in mind that those things you are doing today that seems like a good idea or really cool…one day you’ll have to explain to your daughter!

It actually went pretty well once I calmed down. I was able to share about a couple of serious relationships and what happened. Most of all, it gave her a glimpse into the mind of a teenage boy and reinforced what I had been saying all along…boys are stupid. Now before you go off on me, I was a boy and we raised a boy, so give me some credit.

All in all, she’s a good kid and she’s had a good example (me!), so I think she’ll be okay. Plus we pray for her, have a good talking relationship and since I know all the tricks that boys have up their sleeves, she has nothing to worry about.

noreply@blogger.com (Dennis Wells) — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 14:40:00 +0000

Bitter Twitter

Have you heard of this? Twitter is now all the rage. One report I read said that it is the new frontier that will overtake blogging and Facebook. It boils down to making constant short-form paragraphs about what you are doing all day long. It actually limits your posts (tweets) to 140 characters so that nobody gets carried away describing their time. And it actually asks you the question, “What are you doing?”

May I ask, “Who has the time to constantly update their activities during the day?” Someone who has too much time on their hands maybe? May I ask another question? “Who wants to know what you’re doing every hour during the day? Most of us don’t want people to track our every movement. When asked what I’m doing I usually respond, “Uh, just doing some paperwork” or “Well, just catching up on things”. Not exactly riveting reading right?

Most of us spend our day looking like we’re doing something for someone else’s sake. What if your boss subscribes to your Twitter? What if he’s “following” your tweets? How about when you’re supposed to be finishing the month-end report and you post that you just got back from getting a snow cone at the corner store? Not only did you take the time away to run to the store, but now you’re taking the time to tweet about it.

There are not many people that I care to follow concerning their activities. Okay, maybe just a couple. How about President Bush? “Just signed a peace agreement with North Korea. Feeling pretty good about things!”, “Can’t wait to find out who wins the election, either way, I’m outa here”

What about Osama Bin Laden? “Just left my third cave in three days, they all look the same” “Filmed another “I Hate US” video, it’s getting tougher to be creative”

Bill Gates? “Retirement stinks. Nothing to do but Twitter all day”.

Anyway, I did sign up. I hate not to be on the cutting edge. “Just got a cup of coffee, my second today”, “Looking forward to lunch”. Yes, this kind of stuff is going to be HUGE!

New Blog: The Barnabas Journal

noreply@blogger.com (Dennis Wells) — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 21:34:00 +0000

I’ve come to realize that I have some things to share about church planting and other church stuff that would better be presented in another blog (does the world really need another blog?). This will mainly be stuff that I’ve observed during my season of helping to plant churches and what I’ve been observing since being on the other side of the pulpit.

So the new blog will be called The Barnabas Journal. The address for anyone interested is: http://thebarnabasjournal.blogspot.com

I will continue to post everyday observations about family, God, and life in general here on this blog. Let me know what you think. Hope you are blessed.
Author

Taking the Church Tour

noreply@blogger.com (Dennis Wells) — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 10:55:00 +0000

Well, we've been searching for a new church the last couple of months. No, I will not say anything negative about our last church that we attended for over 4 years. They have a wonderful pastor and we pray blessings on them. But it was time to search for our next post.

My wife asked me what it was that we were looking for in a new church. After some quiet time I realized that it all boiled down to three things.

1. Practical Word: A word that is not only rooted in God’s Word, but one that could be relevant and practical for me today.
2. Passionate Worship: Worship needs to be practiced and I know, somewhat scripted. But there’s also an element of spontaneity that “flows with the Spirit”. And it doesn’t hurt if the worship leaders on stage look like they are really enjoying the presence of the Lord and not just a performance.
3. People that Care: I believe that the church should be built on a foundation of not only the Word, and worship, but also a authentic, caring fellowship among the body.

You would think that based on these three simple points; there would be a bunch of churches that could fit the bill. After visiting four churches, (and in all fairness we tried to stay within a five mile radius of our home…one word: gasoline!) on more than one Sunday (everybody has a one bad day), I’ve come to realize what a rarity it is to find a church that has these three basics.

Over the next couple of posts, I will relay our experiences visiting these churches. Stay tuned.

Pitiful

noreply@blogger.com (Dennis Wells) — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 18:37:00 +0000

I know it's pitiful to start something like a blog and then not keep up with it. I've come to grips with the fact that I'm a tremendous starter, but a poor finisher. Weakness realized becomes strength (I just made that up, but I'm sure that someone else probably said it, so if that's you, to you goes the credit). Anyway, I'm looking to take a break from my studies for the summer and hopefully contribute more to the human race by adding to my blog...so stay tuned.

Multitasking is another name for busy

noreply@blogger.com (Dennis Wells) — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 14:53:00 +0000

Having been in business (still am actually), one of the buzzwords is "multitasking". I was visiting with a friend in his office this week (to be fair, it was an unannounced visit) and the entire time he was either emailing, on his cellphone or moving papers around on his desk.

Now you must understand that we're good friends, and had we had a pre-arranged appointment I would have said to him, " hey, knucklehead, stop this fiddling and look me in the eyes!". But since I had invaded his day, I let it slide. But it does raise a thought. It's still rude to be doing stuff while someone else is in your presence, unless of course you're working together on a project. People are still more important than things, and always will be.

Of course I'm all about technology (this blog!), I have a blue tooth earpiece (my wife calls it a roach...I hate that), so it's common for me to be on a call and someone will walk up to me and start a conversation. I usually hold up a finger and then point to my ear (the new sign language). I try to finish as soon as possible so I can engage the person in front of me.

In the beginning, I was so excited about having this device that I wore it proudly everywhere I went. I almost wore it to bed one night. After a while my ear began to hurt and a friend of mine expressed to me he felt it was rude to wear it while we were having lunch. So I have begun removing it except when driving (I wear it on the opposite ear from my passenger) and I still wear it when working in my home office in order to make phone calls.

With all of that being said, let me go back to my original statement. People are still more important than things. If at all possible, look people in the eye, listen to what they are saying and respond with something intelligent instead of just multitasking your way through life.

Renaissance Dad