{"id":234,"date":"2011-10-03T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-10-03T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/69.195.124.95\/~redletu4\/i-can-hardly-wait-for-tomorrow\/"},"modified":"2011-10-03T05:00:00","modified_gmt":"2011-10-03T11:00:00","slug":"i-can-hardly-wait-for-tomorrow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/i-can-hardly-wait-for-tomorrow\/","title":{"rendered":"I can hardly wait for tomorrow."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
I saw Dan today on my lunchtime walk downtown.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
But I wasn\u2019t expecting to see him, at least, not like this. He was wearing a khaki blue uniform with a Wackenhut patch,\u00a0a silver badge and a broad belt with various tools of the trade strapped on.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\ufeff\ufeff \n\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\nPhoto courtesy of <\/em>istanbulmike<\/em><\/a> <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

\ufeff<\/i>\u201cTo serve and protect,\u201d<\/i> said the patch on his arm.<\/span>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
I was surprised because I first knew Dan as an amazing youth pastor, whose smile and heart won over kids. Then he started his own church plant, preaching passion from the pulpit as few others I\u2019ve ever heard.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The story he told had a hint of sadness. The church had folded, thanks to unemployment that dried up the offerings of too many members. It started a death cycle. They couldn\u2019t pay the rent, couldn\u2019t pay the heat and certainly couldn\u2019t pay the preacher.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
So he walked around the outdoor shopping area scolding kids on bikes and eyeing vagrants who didn\u2019t keep moving. <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cThis was all I could find,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/div>\n
I asked if he was ever going back to ministry. <\/span><\/div>\n
He didn\u2019t answer, disillusionment misting his eyes.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I wish I could have had the right words. But I had none as I wished him well.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I went back to my office, stopping by the bathroom to wash my face. When I lifted my eyes the mirror caught me. And then the nagging voice was right there, accusing me with the same tone of voice that no doubt Dan heard.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cWhat happened to you, David?\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I had a life of promise. I was young, smart, articulate and well liked. I had a happy family, a good job, friends and contenment.\u00a0Then, one by one, those\u00a0things were stripped away. Some went away because of my own apathy. Others are gone because of the shallowness of people. Others, I\u2019m not so sure.\u00a0Did I miss my purpose? Did I miss my moment?<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Then these\u00a0\u00a0words<\/span><\/u>, probably preached by Dan himself, grab me. \u201cForget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
What promise!\u00a0 <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I\u2019m learning again about relationships, friendships and honesty. I\u2019m finding my way.\u00a0\u00a0Rather than rail against the things that are gone, I need to praise the things that remain. I need to rejoice over the enduring care I have from friends and family and the grace-filled relationships of people who care for me and love\u00a0me.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\nLike Dan, I\u2019m walking a new beat.\u00a0 Together, we\u2019ll tand tall and wear the uniform with pride.\u00a0 This is today, and it\u2019s a glorious day.\u00a0<\/span>

<\/span>
I can hardly wait for tomorrow.<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\"Enhanced<\/a><\/div>\n
Please, share with a friend if you feel moved.
\nRead all past issues at http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I saw Dan today on my lunchtime walk downtown. But I wasn\u2019t expecting to see him, at least, not like this. He was wearing a khaki blue uniform with a Wackenhut patch,\u00a0a silver badge and a broad belt with various tools of the trade strapped on. \ufeff\ufeff Photo courtesy of istanbulmike \ufeff\u201cTo serve and protect,\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2375,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[131,780,1007],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christianity","category-sermon","category-youth-ministry"],"yoast_head":"\nI can hardly wait for tomorrow.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I saw Dan today on my lunchtime walk downtown. But I wasn\u2019t expecting to see him, at least, not like this. He was wearing a khaki blue uniform with a\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/i-can-hardly-wait-for-tomorrow\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"I can hardly wait for tomorrow.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I saw Dan today on my lunchtime walk downtown. But I wasn\u2019t expecting to see him, at least, not like this. He was wearing a khaki blue uniform with a\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/i-can-hardly-wait-for-tomorrow\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"David Rupert\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"www.facebook.com\/davidrupert\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-10-03T11:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-zFN5hX7QSh4\/Tnum_5GbUWI\/AAAAAAAABjY\/I4M_y2DSDIQ\/s320\/Istanbul.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"David Rupert\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@rupzip\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"David Rupert\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/i-can-hardly-wait-for-tomorrow\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/i-can-hardly-wait-for-tomorrow\/\",\"name\":\"I can hardly wait for tomorrow.\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-10-03T11:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-10-03T11:00:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/#\/schema\/person\/1ee971d3244e1f67a487a31f55d37c81\"},\"description\":\"I saw Dan today on my lunchtime walk downtown. But I wasn\u2019t expecting to see him, at least, not like this. He was wearing a khaki blue uniform with a\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/i-can-hardly-wait-for-tomorrow\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/i-can-hardly-wait-for-tomorrow\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/i-can-hardly-wait-for-tomorrow\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"I can hardly wait for tomorrow.\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/\",\"name\":\"David Rupert\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/#\/schema\/person\/1ee971d3244e1f67a487a31f55d37c81\",\"name\":\"David Rupert\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/47e7c27dc78a66ace4b19bb00da8bccc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/47e7c27dc78a66ace4b19bb00da8bccc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"David Rupert\"},\"description\":\"I am a communication professional who has a passion for people. I dream big and with that comes even bigger prayers.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.redletterbelievers.com\",\"www.facebook.com\/davidrupert\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/rupzip\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/author\/drupert\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"I can hardly wait for tomorrow.","description":"I saw Dan today on my lunchtime walk downtown. But I wasn\u2019t expecting to see him, at least, not like this. He was wearing a khaki blue uniform with a","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/i-can-hardly-wait-for-tomorrow\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"I can hardly wait for tomorrow.","og_description":"I saw Dan today on my lunchtime walk downtown. But I wasn\u2019t expecting to see him, at least, not like this. He was wearing a khaki blue uniform with a","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/i-can-hardly-wait-for-tomorrow\/","og_site_name":"David Rupert","article_author":"www.facebook.com\/davidrupert","article_published_time":"2011-10-03T11:00:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-zFN5hX7QSh4\/Tnum_5GbUWI\/AAAAAAAABjY\/I4M_y2DSDIQ\/s320\/Istanbul.jpg"}],"author":"David Rupert","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@rupzip","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"David Rupert","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/i-can-hardly-wait-for-tomorrow\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/i-can-hardly-wait-for-tomorrow\/","name":"I can hardly wait for tomorrow.","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-10-03T11:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2011-10-03T11:00:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/#\/schema\/person\/1ee971d3244e1f67a487a31f55d37c81"},"description":"I saw Dan today on my lunchtime walk downtown. But I wasn\u2019t expecting to see him, at least, not like this. He was wearing a khaki blue uniform with a","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/i-can-hardly-wait-for-tomorrow\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/i-can-hardly-wait-for-tomorrow\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/i-can-hardly-wait-for-tomorrow\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"I can hardly wait for tomorrow."}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/","name":"David Rupert","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/#\/schema\/person\/1ee971d3244e1f67a487a31f55d37c81","name":"David Rupert","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/47e7c27dc78a66ace4b19bb00da8bccc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/47e7c27dc78a66ace4b19bb00da8bccc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"David Rupert"},"description":"I am a communication professional who has a passion for people. I dream big and with that comes even bigger prayers.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.redletterbelievers.com","www.facebook.com\/davidrupert","https:\/\/twitter.com\/rupzip"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/author\/drupert\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2375"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=234"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}