The first time I went, I attended their “10 Minute Party” after the service. It’s for first-time visitors as well as those with questions about Jesus. The encounter was less-than-memorable. He was talking to several people and I joined their group. He said “Hi”. I said, “Hi”. Then he continued with the conversation he was in the middle of. It might sound a little rude the way I’m writing it but I didn’t take it that way. I’m sure I could have talked to him more had I stuck around a little longer but I was feeling a little awkward so I just left.

Then, last Fall Erwin spoke in Philadelphia. I went to see/listen to him speak with my Dad and older brother, Wes.

Afterward, my brother mentioned that he’d like to talk to him. For those of you who know my brother, you won’t believe that he was shy about going up to Erwin (and I’m sure he’ll deny it) but he was. It’s true. Without blinking, I said, “C’mon. Let’s go!”

So I went up to Erwin and waited patiently till others had run out of things to ask him. He looked at me and I said, “Hi. I’m Dave.” He said, “Hi Dave. I’m Erwin,” as if I didn’t know. I said, “You probably don’t remember me. I attended Mosaic when you did the ‘God Among Us’ Series (like, almost a year ago…are you sure you don’t remember me??? I mean, c’mon. How could you forget, right???). I’ve been wanting to send you a ‘thank you’ note for quite awhile. What’s the best address to send you something?” He gave me his email address. Then he asked, “So what is it you wanted to thank me for?” “Oh. Yeah. Well, I read ‘Chasing Daylight’ several months ago and it inspired me to start moving forward. You see, for the past several years I’ve been torn between two different paths: going to seminary and pursuing full-time vocational ministry work or starting my own online baseball card business.” He said, “Well, I don’t know anything about baseball cards but there’s a guy in our community who does really great sports impersonations. He can do just about everyone’s stance.” I laughed, not sure quite why I went into so much detail. “I just wanted to thank you for helping me make a decision to move, regardless of the direction. I think I’ve been paralyzed for the past few years. You helped me take a step forward. That’s all. So…thanks.” At that point, his phone rang and he was rescued from my ramblings.

Needless to say, my brother joined me only at the end…and missed his chance to impress Erwin with his leadership qualities.

As I was screaming the drummer and I got into a fight and he told me to go home… Thank goodness it wasn’t the old lady with the .22!

Most likely no one on this blog knows who he is but in college for a short time I dated the cartoonist who draws “Tank McNamara,” “Buzz Beamer,” and “Cleats.” He is now the cartoonist for Sports Illustrated for Children. He once did a watercolor for me of a chicken holding a bottle of gin. I have no idea what happened to it. I still have a silver ring he made me in jewelry class. It’s really ugly and gawdy. I liked the watercolor much more.

One day I found a card at my son Kevin’s (Lana’s brother) house and asked him who it was from. He said that it was from his friend Charlie Wilson and his wife who had given it to him with a housewarming gift (a framed picture of the U.S. Capitol). He had no idea who Charlie Wilson was except that he was a nice regular customer at Subway where Kevin worked. Kevin was quite impressed when the movie, “Charlie Wilson’s War” was released.

I’ve had a few celebrity encounters. Dave and I were in the movie Head of State with Chris Rock. Well, sort of. We were in the stands while a baseball scene was being shot. I got some good close-ups of Chris. The photos are packed away but if I find them, I’ll post one as proof! He is a really skinny guy.

I met Mandisa last year at a Women of Faith conference. My sister-in-law took a picture of us on my cell phone which I promptly erased in my excitement. I do remember saying the dumbest things.

I’ll come back and update if I think of any more!

I also got to meet Spiderman when I was 5, that went much smoother.