You are currently browsing the monthly archive for May 2008.
I’m not sure if I’m getting anywhere, but at least I’m doing my part to stimulate our sluggish economy.
I began my Memorial Day by scheduling my first colonoscopy (talk about something you’ll always remember), and then my smirking wife and I traveled to Baton Rouge to see our good friend, Roland. We have been a Saturn family for years now, mostly because we are a Roland family. I’d trust Roland with anything, so trusting him with our automotive needs is an easy one.
We did a two-for-one deal: we trade in two of our cars, and get one in return. Our new digs in Malibu will make it so we can easily be a one-car family, so we wanted to make sure we had a dependable ride for the next three years or so. Well, we accomplished that, and then some: we got a sweet 2008 Saturn Aura with the deluxe bells and whistles package.
I’m thinking about my friend, John Dobbs, non-stop, and he called me this morning to hear all about my new car, since he loves these new Saturn Auras. I cannot wait to give John a ride when he makes it back to the Gulf Coast.
Well, buying a new car didn’t resurrect our sluggish economy overnight, so I had to get back on the credit card wagon again today. Now, I’ve ordered my laptop computer for law school. A brand new Dell product should be heading my way at some point in the new future, and though I hope it isn’t my best friend for the next three years, I have this funny feeling that we will get to be real close.
I’ve suddenly got a new car and a new laptop on the way. I’ve been researching my new insurance agent and Saturn dealer, both of whom happen to be on Wilshire Boulevard in Santa Monica. I’ve realized that the big countdown now stands at 68 days.
Our move is beginning to sink in.
Thank you for your prayers for the Dobbs family. Please don’t stop. The road ahead is long.
The funeral today was touching. When I left the fellowship room at the Central Church of Christ in Pascagoula, John was talking to family and friends. When I made it home and got online, I noticed he had already sent a Twitter update which simply stated, “There were a HUGE number of people from all over at the funeral… the services were PERFECT… John Robert would have loved it.”
Even in the midst of a personal nightmare, John’s blogging abilities never fail to impress.
For those of you who ached to be there today, allow me to share these special moments with you.
I had the privilege of welcoming everyone and introducing Bill Collins, who led us in beautiful congregational singing. I will never forget sitting on the stage and seeing John over the edge of his son’s casket trying to sing “Lord, Reign In Me” – Lord, reign in me, reign in your power, over all my dreams, in my darkest hour…
The Dobbs’ longtime friend, Danny Dodd, spoke next. Danny is so strong, and yet he cried so easily today.
My youth minister, Trent Bryant, read the ever-appropriate 23rd Psalm next, followed by Chris Lockhart, who told John Robert’s “story” to complete maturity.
Les Ferguson, John’s roommate from teenage years long past, worded a touching prayer next, and did an admirable job of fighting back his tender emotions.
John Robert’s old hero, Joel Jordan, took the stage next with his guitar and harmonica and took hold of our hearts with an unbelievably touching song. Simply perfect, and completely unforgettable.
Mike Price then read a beautiful passage from the Psalms, followed by Jeff Frank who made us laugh and cry with his brief memorial.
Dusty Rush then took the stage and made it seem as if we were in John and Margaret’s living room. He abandoned the impressive pulpit, stood in front of John and Margaret, took their hands, and spoke and prayed from his heart.
Three young men from Pascagoula High School, a band called “The Fillmore,” then performed a touching rendition of “Will the Circle Be Unbroken?” on piano and guitar. There’s a better home a-waitin’ in the sky, Lord, in the sky…
And then Craig Hicks took the stage and all attempts at not crying were abandoned. Craig imagined John Robert on his fateful journey, lost, tired, preparing for a lecture, and simply trying to find his way home. And then, in an instant, he was home. Just not the home where we wanted him. In Craig’s natural way, he told hilarious stories of times with John Robert, gave credit to John Robert for saving him during a dark time of his life, and then told us the strangest thing about death: that it isn’t real. That John Robert is still with us, and always will be.
I had to follow Craig and dismiss the service, which I tried to do as best I could. The most appropriate passage I could think to read was from Isaiah, which says, “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”
After the service, the pall bearers marched solemnly to the back to await the casket. The family followed behind, followed by hundreds and hundreds of friends.
I wish you all could have been there, and I know you do, too. But in a sense, you all were. It has felt like the whole world is mourning with the Dobbs family, and I pray that that helps somehow.
Visitation Tonight
O’Bryant-O’Keefe Funeral Home Pascagoula
6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
******
Celebration of John’s Life
Friday, May 23 at 11:00 a.m.
Calvary Baptist Church
Market Street
Pascagoula, MS
******
Grave Side Service Saturday May 24th
Lehrton Cemetery
Ruleville, MS 4:00 p.m.
Memorials can be made to Gulf Coast Bible Camp in John’s honor.
GCBC
2370 Hilcrest RD
Suite G #305
Mobile, AL 36695
Leave comments for the family at John’s Blog or the Funeral Home Guestbook.
John and John Robert
I had lunch with John Dobbs every Thursday for five years. We talked about everything (and everyone!) over those lunches, and he was my spiritual director. I count myself blessed to have received such valuable counseling, and for free!
I learned that his family was eerily similar to mine, both of us having married impressive women who had been raising a daughter on their own years before we entered the picture – Maggie and Nicole for John, and Jody and Erica for me. We both added a child to the mix along the way, too – John Robert for my friend, and my own Hillary. Since John had a ten year head start on me in this unique family way, I frisked him for advice on a weekly basis.
Katrina came and struck a fatal blow to our weekly lunches, and if you’ll pardon my Cajun French, I’m still pretty pissed about that. But we moved on to what seemed to be more pressing matters, rebuilding our lives and communities and whatnot.
But when I decided to give up the preaching profession for law school, I had to find my spiritual director and tell him my big news. He knew me probably better than anyone else around, and he supported my crazy decision as a real friend would.
Imagine my surprise when John beat me to the punch and accepted a job preaching at the Forsythe Avenue Church of Christ in Monroe, Louisiana, before I could even get out of town!!! Yet I was happy for my friend. It was the right time to make the move, and he was welcomed by Forsythe with open arms.
Since the move came quickly, some things had to be rearranged quickly, like living arrangements for instance. John moved into a townhome in Monroe for part of the week, while Maggie and John Robert stayed behind in Pascagoula to try to sell the house and for John Robert to graduate high school. John had been driving back and forth.
Though the graduation ceremony is scheduled for this Friday night, John Robert won’t get to participate. He died this morning in a tragic accident on Interstate 10 near the Mississippi / Alabama line.
I was backing out of the garage this morning just after 7am when my cell phone rang. I looked on the Caller ID and saw “dobbs” on the screen. I answered with a cheery “Good Morning!” and soon realized that there was nothing good about this morning. Through sobs, John said he had horrible news, news that his son had been killed.
I spent the morning at John and Margaret’s, and the afternoon fielding phone calls and reading the news sites on the internet. And though there are still so many unanswered questions, it appears that John Robert borrowed a friend’s truck late last night since his was about out of gas. His friend lived in the middle of nowhere, and somewhere along the way John Robert got his friend’s truck stuck in the mud. He called his friends and tried to tell him his location, and though they went looking for him they couldn’t find him. They assumed he got un-stuck or that someone else helped him out before they arrived. Instead, it seems that he lost cell phone reception and began walking through the early morning darkness. Around midnight, police reports say that he was walking on Interstate 10 when he was struck by an 18-wheeler, killing him instantly.
John and Margaret began calling and texting him around the time he was killed. They tried to contact him all night long. Margaret went searching around 1am, and John around 4am. While John was out looking for his son the police arrived and told Margaret the awful news.
I cannot begin to imagine.
John Dobbs is the King of the Internet. He has introduced half the world to blogging, and it is only appropriate that someone post this tragic news on a blog. For lack of a better place, I guess it will be mine. John’s personal blog is titled, “Out Here Hope Remains.” My prayer is that his title will remain appropriate after enduring the first wave of nauseating emotive darkness that has descended on this sweet unsuspecting family.
You can leave comments on his blog HERE with scads of other people. More than that, however, I ask that you “hope” for the Dobbs family until they are strong enough to maybe hope all by themselves. Because he’s right: in the end, hope is all we’ve got.
God bless you, John Robert Dobbs, kind and fun, talented and courteous, quiet and ambitious, and the maker of many friends. May you rest in peace, and may you live with Jesus.
Heavy rains cancelled my assignment with the Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project today. I was supposed to drive a van for a VIP tour, but the weather was just so ugly. So ugly, in fact, that tonight’s Closing Ceremonies were moved from outdoor Yankie Stadium to the stunning indoors of the Beau Rivage Hotel & Casino.
It was a really cool night.
Being a board member has it’s privileges I guess. My girls and I ended up sitting in the row directly in front of the Carter family (in addition to Jimmy & Rosalynn, their son and daughter-in-law, Jeff & Annette). Check out this picture I snapped. You’ll notice the Secret Service agent directly behind President Carter is not too happy with the gentleman who wanted to shake hands with the ex-president!
I had the privilege of sitting next to Larry Gluth. After Hurricane Katrina, Larry took a year’s sabbatical from his Vice-President position with Starbucks in Seattle to work with Habitat for Humanity on the Gulf Coast. In the early days of merging the two Mississippi Gulf Coast affiliates, I had an important meeting at my house where Larry was present via speaker-cell phone, but I had never met him in person. It was a privilege to meet him tonight. Since that sabbatical, Larry made the huge decision to resign from Starbucks, a business he had been with since it had about 150 stores (now it has 15,000 locations in 43 countries!), to work as a VP with Habitat for Humanity International. It was nice to speak with someone who moved his family cross country in a massive career switch at this point in my life.
After the program, we were entertained by The Road Hammers (check out the pic).
So check this out: The Road Hammers came from a reality show on CMT Canada like “Making the Band.” That’s right, this is a Canadian country music band!!! And now, a country music channel is following them around for another reality show!
But the night was cool for other reasons, too: we met volunteers from Maryland. And Texas. And Wisconsin. And Indiana. And Washington state. And watched videos from this week’s project that would bring tears to your eyes.
It has been quite a week.
Well, I didn’t get to meet the Carters tonight, but you can click on the picture to see even better just how close I got to it. President Carter means a lot to me personally. I received his book Living Faith as a Christmas gift in 1996, and it inspired me to begin a Habitat for Humanity affiliate in my hometown. That began a 12-year love affair with Habitat, including beginning another affiliate here in Jackson County, Mississippi. It was a personal honor to simply hear him in person and to be that close.
Interestingly, another former president spoke tonight – Emil Constantinescu of Romania. Some of you politicos may know all about Emil, but if you’re like me, you probably need help from Wikipedia which you can find HERE.
I patted him on the shoulder. How many of you have ever patted former presidents of Romania on the shoulder?
If you enjoy a good writer telling a good story, check out THIS LINK and read, “I Really Didn’t Need That Stew” (linked to me by my old – and I mean old – friend, Terry Austin) 
If you enjoy good sports writing, then you’re really in luck.
I’m hoping to get the chance to meet President Carter tonight.
In the meanwhile, for those who might be interested, you can follow the Carter Project all week through our local media outlets at The Sun Herald and WLOX.
If you read and/or listen to his interviews from yesterday, as expected, the former president doesn’t pull any punches!
Interesting night at Biloxi’s Yankie Stadium as our Habitat for Humanity affiliate hosted the opening ceremonies of the Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project.
In addition to the former President and First Lady, other dignitaries in attendance included Senator John Edwards (North Carolina), Senator Roger Wicker (Mississippi, who replaced Trent Lott), and the former president of Romania.
On the music front, Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood were in attendance, as was Nashville recording artist, Anna Wilson, and the Mississippi Mass Choir.
President Carter’s speech was inspiring as expected, and it was simply a beautiful evening and a beautiful ceremony. The building begins in earnest tomorrow morning, and by week’s end there will be thirty new homes and thirty refurbished homes on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Over 1,700 volunteers from around the world are here to work this week.
It was wonderful to share the evening with my wife and daughters. I also enjoyed seeing an old friend in Eric Cullen, who is now working with the Habitat affiliate in Seattle, as well as many of my fellow board members.
I hope to report more as the week progresses.
