LukeDooley.com

I had a really nice day today. For starters, the Bengals weren’t picking in the top 15-20 of the NFL draft for the first time in a decade or so… that was nice. The Reds have the best record in Baseball… that’s nice!

Moving on to something of substance… This evening Journey had its first ever Marriage Dinner/Seminar. Jenessa and I attended, and had a really great time. It was wonderful to hear some teaching about marriage and intimacy. We talked a lot about how we might better notice and fulfill certain needs in each others lives!

One of the more “non-marriage” related points that caught my attention was the statement that “Strong churches don’t make strong families… rather, straing families make strong churches.” What a true statement… As I look around Journey Church, there is no doubt that we are a strong young church because we have strong, solid families who lead the charge!

After the dinner, Jenessa and I headed over to Kidd Coffee, where we ran into what turned out to be a Journey Young Adult party. We had the pleasure of introducing them all to a wonderful game called “snaps”. It was great to see the range of emotions on their faces: confusion, frustration, displeasure, hope, more confusion, understanding, success!! What a fun game… good times were had!

What a strange expression that is… We don’t ride horses, why are we getting back on them? 

Life has been a whirlwind the past couple of weeks (seee below posts)…. It feels good to be on the otherside of everything though. I have spent the past couple of days just getting back in the groove of things around home and office. I have some critical tasks that I need to get in order for BIG Student Ministries…. that is currently priority 1! 

The funeral was Saturday… it went as well as can be expected. I am so glad that my brother and I did it… I hope that we paid a fitting tribue to my Grandpa. Grandma is doing okay… she has her moments, despite her constantly being around people, I can see the loneliness in her eyes… that makes me sad. 


I am utterly excited that the weather has turned the corner here in Ohio. That week in Florida nearly made me want to move back! But alas, Ohio has come through with beautiful sunshine and warm days. What does this mean… well, several things: Golf, Softball, Cookouts (1 already), SWOA Camps…. just to name a few! 

Looking forward to all of these things, and much much more… 

We spent the better part of this morning taking care of the final arrangments for grandpa.

Here are the details:

The visitation will be on Saturday, April 8th from 10:30-1:00.

The funeral will immediately follow the visitation. Both events will be held at . Breitenbach McCoy & Leffler Funeral Home

My brother and I will be officiating the services. Please pray for us that we will be able to deliver the message that both grandpa would have for us, and that God has set in our hearts. A lot of people have asked why we are doing it, and if we can handle it. I am confident that we can… God will give us strength and courage! As to why: Grandpa wouldn’t have it any other way…. he constantly told us how proud he was, and how he never could have imagined having “two grandsons that grew up to be ministers”…. I hope that we continue to make him proud!

I can’t believe that I am even about to type this. It doesn’t seem real yet… how can it be?

My Grandpa, Jack Bowling, passed away this morning at 9:20 a.m. His heart grew weaker throughout the evening following his surgery, and he went to sleep in peace. I have no doubt that my grandpa has transitioned from this temporal life to one of wholeness with his Maker… for that, I am thankful.

There is not a fiber in my body that is not one of the following: sad, angry, confused, bitter, exhausted, or in denial. It just doesn’t seem fair… I am unable to imagine: Life without grandpa, Mary without Jack, family functions without our patriarch.

I can not believe that this picture was just taken last Friday. We were all in Daytona Beach eating at one of our favorite little fish places right next to the ocean. We spent the whole day out on the town…. gift shops, the mall, dinner, etc… I will be eternall grateful that Jen and I were able to go to Florida last week.

I beg each of you to focus your prayers on my grandma, and the rest of the family. They have known each other since they were 16 years old…. I can’t imagine knowing someone that long, let alone losing someone you’ve known so intimately for that long. Our family is very close… I have no doubt that the love and nurture will be there for my grandma, but it will not make the pain go away. We spent the whole evening with the family… it was so hard, everyone is devestated. Please pray for us.

Welcome back to the blog of Luke Dooley… we hope that regularly scheduled postings will continue soon…

Remember that time in church a few weeks ago when I asked everyone to take a deep breath? I need that deep breath right now! It has been a whirlwind couple of weeks. Allow me to expand that thought….

I am currently working on a Masters degree from Anderson University (although at a snail’s pace). It is an online degree and requires an on-campus component for each class. In the Spring this on-campus component happens to be held at my Alma-Mater. The class was only 2 days, so I didn’t see the value in going all the way to Florida for such a short period. Therefore, Jenessa took a week off work, and we decided to make a mini-vacation out of it. We ended up being in Florida for about 5 days….

We had a great time… it was wonderful to spend time together. We are together a lot, but we don’t spend a lot of time together (does that make sense). We are both just so busy, it is hard to disconnect, and give each other quality time… so it was definitely nice to do that. We also had the opportunity to see some friends from college. It was really cool to tell stories, and catch up on the lives of our friends. Adam, Maggie, Jacob, Tina, Evan, Bobby, Trisha… you are all sorely missed!

After our time in Lake Wales, we headed over to New Smyrna Beach where my grandparents reside for the winter months. We had a great time with them; ate way too much, laid out in the sun for way too long, and perhaps spent a little too much money. Somehow though, when you add all of those up, it equals a great time. Until the drive home… A 14 hour drive turned into 16.5 hours as a result of crazy traffic (and maybe an ineffective “shortcut”)…

We arrived safe at home in West Chester around 7:00 Saturday evening. We unpacked, prepped for church in the morning, set our clocks forward an hour, and got some good rest. Church came, it was solid… I must say though, I will not miss meeting in that gym! Following church we spent 2 hours at Don Pablo’s… perhaps the last 2 hours I will spend in there for quite sometime. It was not the most pleasurable dining experience. The next few hours where a whirlwind that went something like this: I dropped off the lights (which I had previously broken) in Middletown, we cancelled softball practice, uncancelled softball practice, I began to prep for small group, I got a phone call, I left for Southern Tennessee.

That brings me to now… My afformentioned grandparents were making the commute home from Florida with my Father, who rode down with us earlier in the week. While at a rest area stretching their legs, my 84 year old grandfather fell and broke his hip. The ambulance took him to a “hospital” to receive care. Turns out they couldn’t really do anything, so they transported him to a hospital in Knoxville, Tn. so that he could have his hip operated on. So here I sit: In a hotel in Knoxville, without my wife, typing this post on my brother’s Dell laptop (which reminds me of the fact that my i-book has passed away… truly a sad occasion)…

All that to say that I need to take a breath. My whole family is gathered here… each one of us is at the end of our rope due to the following: lack of sleep, extreme stress, fear of death, loss of employment, or ALL OF THE ABOVE.

Do I even have to ask you to say a quick prayer, or have you picked up on that? Thanks already!

Say a prayer for my Grandfather (he is 84, in relatively good health, but a broken hip and a tired heart can be a bad combination…) Pray for my Grandmother… She loves him dearly, and has done so for 58 years! Pray for my family who is gathered here… my Mom who will now become a primary care giver, my Aunt who will do the same, my Uncle who must deal with all of this from hundreds of miles away. Pray for my Father who is being a support to my Mother Pray for my brother and I who must be strong for all parties involved.

Surgery should be in the morning, I’ll do my best to keep you updated… even if it means typing away on this Microsoft Monster…