Have I got GREAT news for you!!!!?? Papa – aka – Dad – aka – Dr. Z – aka Pastor Don – aka PD….has started a BLOG!!!!!!!?? WOOOOOOOOHOOOOOO!!!!!!!

I am so excited about this and can’t wait for you to check it out and start posting your comments so that we can encourage him to keep it up!

A bit about “Papa”

*?? He is my Dad

*?? He has been married to my mom for 38 years (I think)

*?? He has five children – Doni, Daniel, David, Darin and Dustin (Plus four Kids In Love:?? Jim, Brooke, Jodi, and Aimee and one on the way but I haven’t posted that yet LOL)

*?? He has ten grandchildren – Tanner, Noah, Zandi, Ty, Graham, Zane, Karsyn, Braxtyn, Tori, and Ryker

*?? He has been in Pastoral positions for over 40 years – first as a Youth Pastor in California then as a Senior Pastor in Phoenix

*?? He graduated from Azusa Pacific College in CA and received his Doctorate in Theology from Talbot Seminary.

*?? He was born in California and was raised in the High Desert (Apple Valley) until he was 27 years old when he moved to Phoenix.

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Why I Wanted Papa to Blog

I love my Dad so so so so so so (repeat one million times) much.?? I have had the INCREDIBLE blessing of having outrageously wonderful parents.?? In fact, Jim and I were having a conversation last week about parenting and I was comparing myself to Sweetie (and falling short) and Jim said “Ya…but you have really awesome parents” – as if to commiserate that we weren’t likely to stack up LOL.?? Tough act to follow for sure.?? 🙂

When I requested he consider blogging, he teasingly asked if I wasn’t getting enough out of his sermons.?? The answer was simply put “No”.?? Two reasons for that (1) when you have a good thing you want MORE and (2) I am not an auditory learner.?? I need to read, digest, and respond to really “get” things.??

Dad regularly calls me throughout the week with his ponderings about things.?? He was reading about such and such, or praying about something, or the Lord woke him up to say…., or he was talking to someone…..and then he calls to tell me about it and I love that.?? Often times though, especially lately, I want to go deeper.?? Half the time, I’ll talk to Dad about something and then find myself repeating the conversation to several other people.?? So it seemed to make sense that I just share my dad.?? 🙂

I also know that Dad gets up very early in the morning to read and pray and write in his prayer journal and I couldn’t help but think “hey…that would be a really good time for him to write just some little tidbits about what he is studying for his daughter”.???? 🙂

So now the truth comes out!?? Ha!?? Yes I admit it.?? This is all very selfish of me – I want him to blog FOR ME.?? That was one of my pitches too – I worked that pretty hard.?? Now as a side point, you will likely get a lot of benefit out of this as well so I am telling you about it to be kind hee hee.?? Also to further my own end.?? See I figure that if I send traffic to his blog and you all start commenting (don’t be afraid – he is the most loving person in the world) – then we’ll keep him talking and he’ll keep blogging – which again – serves my first point – I get to read Dad’s posts.?? :)??

What Will He Post About

I don’t know exactly but I can guess.?? GRACE.?? :)?? That is a super duper safe bet.???? I also imagine he will have plenty to say about The Shack and the book he and I are reading right now which is AWESOME, He Loves Me.?? I also imagine he will quote from Oswald Chambers a lot because he shares Oswald tidbits with me nearly every week.?? His first post generates some interesting questions on why we evangelize the way we do and how we may be missing the boat.???? I wouldn’t be surprised if he shares some of his Shack Study Guide on his blog because his writing on that is EXTENSIVE.?? He had 83 pages of questions last I saw.?? 🙂

Why “Papa’s Ponderings”?

Because…I said “Dad you need a title for your blog.?? I think you should go with Papa something or other like Papa’s Place or Papa Talks or something along those lines.?? First because – well the obvious – your Papa but also because of the dual symbolism – Papa God.?? (Dad and I both love that name for God in The Shack).

Dad then suggested Papa’s Ponderings and my mom instantly said “That is EXACTLY what I was going to say”.?? That then sealed the deal.?? See what over 30 years of marriage does??? They share a brain.?? :)?? So I guess his blog will be Papa’s Ponderings….about PAPA.?? 🙂

So what are you waiting for??? :)?? Go get on his subscriber list right now – or just save his blog to your favorites if you are still holding out on starting a Google Reader – (haven’t I convinced you of the benefit of that yet?)

You don’t want to miss out.?? Head on over there right now and let him know that you are “along for the ride”.?? :)?? Do it.?? 🙂

??HERE is the link to Papa Ponderings (url is Papa Ponderings instead of Papa’s)