David Dollinger

Who finds it difficult to pray? Prayer is simply conversation between us and God. Prayer simply involves honest communication. Prayer is, in part, listening for a divine response. It sounds so simple doesn’t it? So, who finds it difficult to pray? Let’s be completely honest with ourselves and with each other. We sometimes do find it difficult to pray. This not always the case, for there are times when prayers roll off our lips like the waves roll up on the shore. Still, there are times when it is difficult to pray, difficult to converse with God, difficult to be open and vulnerable before the Almighty, difficult to listen. Sometimes I find it difficult to pray. I have had times in prayer that is so exhilarating that I just can’t put it into words. I enjoy and treasure those times. Nevertheless, all of my prayer experience isn’t like that. Sometimes prayer is hard work. Sometimes it isn’t a mountaintop experience. There are even time (dare I admit it?) when I don’t feel mu...

I bowl in a league. For as much as I bowl, I feel my average should be higher than 122. Now that's not what irritates me. The pop machine irritates me at the bowling alley. Every once in a while I will make the mistake of trying to get a pop from the machine instead of the bar. (I get stupid that way sometimes). I put my dollar in and push the button for Pepsi, and out comes a Diet Pepsi. I would ever so gently kick the machine in Jesus name and proclaim that I wanted a Pepsi. Then I pass that over to my wife who enjoys drinking that nasty stuff and I wise up and get my pop from the bar. We treat God like this. We pray for certain blessings. We even give back to Him with strings attached. We go to church, give money, heck, we might even buy a Christian book or CD in hopes that we are becoming spiritual enough that God would grant us the blessing we desire. When it doesnt turn out the way we want it to, we get angry with God. The question is not "Who gets angry wit...

I have been at Meadowood for 13 months now. I am involved with a bowling league, and have become a household name at Elkhart Hospital and Valley View Nursing Home. All of the girls at the counter and the manager of 7-11 know who I am. The owner of Sunrise Canyon Coffee knows who I am. Yet, I feel like my feet havent even touched the ground as I try to set my roots into this community. Leith Anderson and Gene Wood have told me in their books about church turnaround that it will take me 5 years to get started planting my roots. Wow! I love living in the suburbs. I have been raised in the burbs my whole life. It's my natural habitat. I love the fact that I dont have to travel more than 3 miles to get to the nearest grocery store, gas station, coffee house, or golf course. I love the ethnical diversity of living in the burbs. There has been many occassions where I find myself as a minority as I cruise up and down the aisles of Meijers, Target, or Lowe's. I love it. I lov...