Cap’n Jim’s Logbook

So, I’ve been following the “Adventures In Adoption” saga over on the Blog Father and his High Priestess’s websites and all I can say is “What a ride!” I can hardly wait to meet Losiah. Judging by the number of comments their posts are generating I’ll probably have to get a number and stand in line. Well we know that this will be a Thanksgiving that will never be forgotten in the Whittaker household. I daresay that this holiday has been forever changed for Carlos and Heather. This sort of brings me to the subject for this post which is: What Are You Thankful For?
I have been thinking about this a lot lately, and without making this post too long here is what I am thankful for:

My relationship with God.
That the Creator of the universe died so that I might have an eternal relationship with Him is beyond my comprehension. That He did so while I was still a sinner and estranged from Him is only more mind-boggling. All I can do is accept that He loves me more than I will ever understand and try to walk uprightly with Him as He gives me understanding of what that means. All of the blessings in my life stem from this one fundamental fact of my life. He is the source of all that is good in my world.

My relationship with Martina.
After 28 years of marriage I am still amazed that God allowed me the honor and privilege of sharing Martina’s life. I am crazy blessed by being married to such a beautiful, talented, compassionate woman, (maybe it was her compassion that led her to marry me in first place). A long time ago someone asked me what Martina saw in me, I thought about it a bit then replied “I don’t know, and I’m sure not going to ask her now. She might stop and think about it, then where would I be?” That Martina loves me, I know down to my bones, yet I will never really understand why, so all I can do is accept it and revel in it. Our relationship is better than it has ever been and I love her more today than when I first met her.

My Children
I am so proud of all of my kids, the 3 that Martina and I raised, the two that have married into the clan, and the 4 that we have “adopted” through our small group. Each and every one of them is a decent and loving human being and they are all engaged in the pursuit of God’s purpose in their lives. What more can a Papa ask for? Of course there is also Adelaide, she represents the beginning of a whole new generation. WOW. That and I love her giggle.

My Church
I love my church and the people in it! Sandals Church is unequivocally one of the greatest blessings to come into my life in the last 30 years. I say 30 years only because I wish my entire Christian experience was comparable to the last 5 years. I am amazed at the extraordinary levels of wisdom, love, compassion, talent, and knowledge that God has packaged into the souls of the leadership team at Sandals Church. God has, and continues to assemble an incredible team of gifted people to lead our church. I can safely say that I have grown more spiritually in the last 5 years than in the previous 20.

Okay, so this blogging thing started out much better than I had hoped. The first 4 posts came quickly and many of you have been very kind in your comments and encouragement. I especially thank you for your words of support and promise of prayers for Jonathan.

But, 4 posts do not a blog make. What can I say; I am at a loss for words. Mostly this is because I don’t want this journal to devolve into another Op-Ed blog. Lord knows I have plenty of opinions, at least one for everything. But like the sage said “Opinions are like a—holes, everyone has one and they usually stink.” I have observed that when blogs veer into controversy they bring out our darker sides. You know what I mean, the part of us that is spring-loaded to jump to a conclusion, impute a motive, or assassinate a person’s character; all based on 20 secs of video or 15 words in an article. I hope to avoid this sort of divisiveness.

My vision for this blog, as amorphous as it is right now, is to facilitate connectivity among God’s people by being (get ready….wait for it…) “real with myself, others, and God.” (Admit it, you just knew there was gonna be a Sandals plug in here somewhere didn’t you?) For me, this means posting about the things that are going on in my life, the things I feel God is working on and the trials and victories that I am going through.

I realized while I was still a blurker that the blogs I enjoy the most are the ones that allow me to get to really know and stay connected too the people that I’ve met, mostly from church. It is an irony of the times we live in that we know way more people than we have the time to keep up to date with in a personal one-on-one way. Blogs help span the gap. Because of blogs, I have gotten to know many people who I consider to be real friends who before would have remained acquaintances. By posting about what is going on in my life and what I am thinking about I hope to let others get to know me, thus returning the favor that others have given me.

So what am I thinking about lately? Mostly I am thinking I wish I knew how to be concise! This post is already 4 paragraphs long and I’ve only gotten through the introduction! If every post is an essay I’ll never get anything on the blog. I have started and rejected at least 4 posts since Oct. 27^th. Rejected because they were growing way too long and I could see that they would become even longer before they were done. This post has gone through 3 iterations already! Enough!

This weekend I:

1. Went to breakfast with Martina and got to talk to Jonathan when he called from Iraq.

2. Got all of the yards mowed. When you have an acre, and all your kids have left home, this is an accomplishment.

3. Had a very pleasant dinner at Tom and Brandi Mays home. Brandi, I’m sorry we arrived 15 min early. I’m sure you were hoping for the usual Schrader 30 min delay. What can I say, you and Tom made Tina and I feel right at home. The food was great and the company even better.

4. Got to have breakfast with two of my best friends and catch up with each other.

5. Got to baby-sit my granddaughter for the first time. What a cutie. She is 4 months old and just about to start sitting up all by herself.

1. Had dinner with my oldest son Jeremy and his wife Christina (proud parents of Adelaide).

2. Got to go to church and show off Adelaide for the first time.

3. Had Brunch with family at Jessi and Paul’s new apartment.

4. Spent a few pleasant moments sharing pomegranates with Ricky, Amanda, Belle, and Ryan.

Must post now or this will wind up in the bit bucket like all the rest.

Out

Okay, so a few people have been dropping hints that maybe I should start my
own blog. I can’t say that I really understand why, but apparently some
people think I have something to say. Well Duh! Anybody who knows me even a
little bit, knows that I’ve always got something to say, about everything
The way I see it, why let ignorance prevent you from expressing a strong
opinion. Not me! Full steam ahead and damn the rhetoric!

First a few disclaimers: The views expressed here are the opinions of the
management and we stand 100% behind our courageous correspondent, unless of
course someone objects, he changes his mind, or he is in fact correct. In
those cases he is on his own and we never heard of him.

Second…ummmm can’t think of a second right now.

Third…see number two above.

So who is Cap’n Jim?

I am a middle aged aerospace engineer born in Corona, Calif. We then
immediately moved to the east coast. My father was a pilot in the USMC and
we moved,… a lot. Starting in July of ‘62, I spent 3 1/2 years in
Indonesia where I was raised by the servants and survived the attempted
Communist Coup in 1965.

I endured high school, attempted college, and then joined the Air Force in
1973. Until then the best job I had was as a float driver in the Electric
Light Parade and Christmas Parade at Disneyland. Yes DJRickyG, I once took
the Mouse’s coin.

After technical school the AF sent me to West Germany where I met my future
wife. I say future because she was fifteen when I met her. We’ve been
married for 28 years and I can truthfully say that after salvation, Martina
is the best thing that has ever happened in my life. She is my best friend
(until 2 years ago my only best friend), my confidant, my lover, my soul
mate. Without her I am incomplete. Without her to inspire me everyday I
would withdraw into myself and fade away. To say that I love her does not
even begin to express the depth of my feelings for her nor the level of
commitment I have to her. She is my life.

We returned to the US in 1982 and moved to Riverside in 1983. We have been
building our lives together ever since. Along the way we have produced 3 awsome
children, purchased and renovated 3 homes and attended two churches. Our two
eldest are married to really great spouses and our oldest son has given us
(okay his wife did all the hard work) our first grandchild!

As you can see this post is sorta running out of steam, so I’ll sign off for now.