Happy Birthday, Kirsten!

Happy Birthday, Kirsten.
As a special memorial to Jonathan, a friend gave us a rose bush. It is named for a French artist and a town in France which Jonathan visited.
The roses are beautiful and yellow but the blooms are rather intermittent. So when it does bloom, I just sense that Jonathan is smiling about whatever is happening in our lives. Today, on your birthday (October 15), there are 3 beautiful blooms all opened at the same time!
We all love you.
Mom

Tom and Huck

In May I bought my nephew, Charlie, a 99 cent DVD of Tom and Huck. As I bought it, I thought to myself, "Jonathan would approve!" When Jonathan was moving to California, I went over and helped him pack up his stuff. The first thing I noticed was that Jonathan had a whole lot of stuff...a lot of it junk that he hadn't used in years and would probably never use again. He had huge plastic tubs of wires and another one full of bungee cords. He had a full set of bowling pins and a couple of roller racers that he and The Blob (aka Mark Metcalf) and, I think, H. Ross had picked up out of some garbage pile. But amongst all of this random stuff in his room, Jonathan had a beautiful set of Mark Twain books. In fact, Jonathan had so many different copies of Twain's books that I asked him about it. I knew that Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer were his favorite books, but I didn't know he was as obsessed with all Twain's stuff. In fact, he had certain copies of the books that were to stay in Jackson and were to go with him. The nicer ones were to stay so that nothing could happen to them. When I asked him about it, he stopped what he was doing, looked at me, and just smiled saying "Oh yea, I'm a big fan!" The only response I could give was, "Yea, I see that." From that moment on, Mark Twain became synonymous with Jonathan to me.

I bought my nephew this dirt cheap DVD of Tom and Huck because his Spongebob DVDs had been packed up when they had moved. In fact, it was just one of four DVDs that I bought him. From the first moment he sat down and watched the cartoon version of Twain's stories, Charlie was hooked...more like obsessed. The other three DVDs ended up in the garbage. He didn't want to watch them at all. My mom called to tell me how Charlie's vocabulary had been enhanced with words like steamboat and raft. This DVD also introduced him to another word Jonathan would have been proud of him saying: Mississippi. Anytime we would ask Charlie about Tom and Huck, he would talk insessantly about what happened in the story and who the secondary characters were in relation to Tom and Huck. We even got the two-year-old, picky eater to eat turnip greens, pork chops, and cornbread by telling him that it was Tom and Huck food. After four months of watching Tom and Huck 24/7, the DVD no longer played. Luckily, Wal-Mart had another copy of it, and Charlie is back to watching it every time he's at Mama's. Needless to say, Charlie, like Jonathan, is a big fan. While Jonathan wasn't exactly a kid's kinda person, I think he would smile and approve of the fact that another generation of little Mississippi boys are being introduced to the wonder of Twain's stories like Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.
-Elizabeth Crews

Jim's not the only one...

So this is a picture of Craig Robinson (Darryl from "The Office") and I near the shuk (market) in Jerusalem. Rhonda and I just happened to bump into him in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (supposedly built on the place where Christ was crucified). He was pretty much wandering the city aimlessly after ditching his traveling pals in the underground tunnels in the City of David. We walked him through the church and down the Via Dolorosa. We enjoyed some hummus and sodas and chatted for awhile.

Anyway, if you look closely at what Craig is wearing - you will immediately get the Jonathan reference. Um... yes... that is a FANNY PACK! Jim Randall, we have a friend for you! :) Ok so I am basically laughing inside the whole time we are walking around... and then when he gets out money to pay at the restaurant, Craig even says "I know. I know. A fanny pack. Please don't say anything." At which point I burst into laughter. And Rhonda is saying "Yes he did." I opted not to tell the whole story but did point out that I was glad he knew how lame it was.

Fanny packs are actually quite popular here in Israel - and not just for tourists. Men wear them around their waists and also sling them over their shoulder like a purse. Apparently somebody finally got smart and developed a man purse. I will take pictures to show you. JD would love it. And of course mercilessly tease any guy he knew who chose to wear one.

Throughout the years I knew Jonathan, I came to rely on him for things. When I needed a voice of reason and logic, he was the first person I called. When I wanted to procrastinate and not study, he always had something to do whether it was play games or just sit at the concrete tables on campus and tell stories for hours. When I needed to vent, he would listen then simply say he was sorry for whatever it was that had gotten me worked up. When I craved Haagen Daz, he rode all over Jackson with me looking in every grocery store, food mart, and gas station until I found it. When I needed somebody to laugh with me over whatever stupid mistake I'd made, he was always first in line to join in the laughter. These are the things that any great friend would do. The memories are specific to Jonathan for me, but the gestures are typical of best friends. However, there is one way in which I came to depend on Jonathan that will forever be Jonathan specific.

Today I found myself frustrated and asking God why Jonathan was in Heaven when I needed him in Jackson. My sister and I went to New Albany for the fourth. We got in last night around 11 pm, and I began to unpack the car. Knowing that she would be taking her car to work and I would be leaving for Atlanta, I went through her car thoroughly in order to get everything that was mine out. Once the car was empty I realized that my keys weren't where they were supposed to be (in my purse). I searched every crevice of her car and house. They were nowhere to be found. I called Jeff at 11:30 at night to tell him to look for my keys in New Albany. (in typical Jeff fashion, he said he was asleep and it could wait til morning). This morning I woke up and called New Albany; they had not found the keys. I again searched the house, every bag, nook and cranny. The keys were nowhere to be found. As I began looking up the numbers to locksmiths, I kept saying to myself: "The valet key is in the car. Seriously, it would take JD five minutes to open the car and solve this whole dilemma!" I can't tell you how many times Jonathan let me into my car. In fact, Jonathan and his little car entry thingy that he picked up on the side of the road on the way to Illinois became legendary at MC. He would get calls from friends of friends of friends asking if he would come let them into their car. He always did. I was with him once; he walked up to a fretful girl who he had never seen or heard of, said: "Hey. I'm Jonathan," and began to try to jimmy her door open. We laughed about it all night. The best was when the girl awkwardly tried to pay him.

After three hours of looking, I finally found my keys out on the driveway where I had dropped them accidently three days ago. In my head I could hear the sound of JD laughing with/at me as he always did when I had a Crewslike moment. I wonder if I'll ever have a morning like today and not think first of Jonathan. In a way, I hope not. After all was said and done, it felt good to hear Jonathan laugh again (even if it was just in my head).
-Elizabeth Crews

Biblical Sharpies

Today our TASP group took an end of the year field trip to Neot Kedumim, the Biblical Nature Reserve near Jerusalem. It was a wonderful adventure. We made our own zatar (oregano) and cooked our own pita and other fabulous dishes using Biblical ingredients and methods. We made a lovely smelling satchet out of myrtle. We saw remains of a 1st century olive press, wine press, and cistern. We drew water using a model of an ancient Egyptian water wheel. BUT my Jonathan moment occured when we learned about the tools the scribes use(d) to write the Torah scrolls. The preferred writing utensil is a turkey feather but those were not readily available in all places and not all birds are kosher, so they opted for the reed. I was really surprised at how smooth the ink went on the paper - it was just LIKE a sharpie. Mine even seemed like a slightly old, dried out sharpie! :)

Here Fishy Fishy Fishy

So today was a day when I really wanted to call Jonathan because he would have loved this story...
I went to HaYarkon Park today for a picnic and boating with other immigrant students from Tel Aviv University. (No I am not an immigrant but they include me because I am an international student.) After eating, we divided into two groups for boating. I chose the paddle boat (flashbacks to pre-teen camp at the State park!). Danielle and Max were in my group. Max and I paddled; Danielle navigated. It was a beautiful evening and we were having great fun. Suddenly something jumped out of the water and back in. We were all curious. Pretty soon we noticed fish jumping every few minutes. Cute little fish diving in and out of the water. I instantly remembered this clip from Sesame Street that Jonathan and I loved. I found it on youtube but I can't get it to post here. The link is http://youtube.com/watch?v=pFTjeaDlxDI to watch it. So I tell Danielle and Max wouldn't it be funny if a fish jumped in our boat. They laughed. About five minutes later, Danielle screamed. I turned around a THERE WAS A FISH FLOPPING AROUND IN THE BOAT! Seriously. It was the funniest thing. I was screaming and grabbing the camera. Danielle was frantically trying to shoo it back into the water. Poor Max was more worried about the two of us than the fish. :)
Here is the poor guy bouncing around... I guess Bert and Ernie aren't the only ones who can fish without a pole!

Making Movies

Today I was waiting at the bus stop near Rabin Square. It is a large plaza type place with fountains and bushes and stuff. Anyway, all of sudden I see two guys walking towards each other. One guy is wearing a dark brown leather jacket and I am thinking - it is WAY too hot for that jacket. The other guy is wearing a suit and carrying a large silver briefcase. To make it even stranger the two guys meet in the middle of the square exchange the briefcase and walk away. Strange, right? I am looking around thinking did I just see a drug deal in the middle of the morning... Then I see a guy with a camera - and I realize they are filming a scene for a movie. The guys swap the briefcase like 50 times and the camera guy gets dozens of different shots. He occasionally confers with the guys and they walk faster or slower or whatever. It was pretty cool - and I thought this is what JD did...

Space Camp

A friend left her case of dvds at my house while she is backpacking through Egypt. I had immediate flashbacks when I came across this movie.
I distinctly remember Jonathan and I watching it with my parents at the house on Mossline Drive. I am pretty sure we watched multiple times. It was definitely part of the inspiration for Jonathan and I going to Space Camp one spring. I think he was in the fourth grade and I was in the fifth grade. If I recall we got to miss a few days of school because it was an educational trip... or maybe that was something else. Anyway - as best as I can remember my parents or maybe it was my mom and Lydia drove us over and then they stayed at a hotel in Huntsville.
Jonathan and I had a blast. We were put on separate shuttle crews but saw each other at meals and such. We did a lot of math stuff, rode in the centrifugal spin around thing and ate dried ice cream. I remember a lot of stairs at the NASA building. And I think we may have watched Space Camp while at Space Camp. :) We got to wear these really cool space suits - which I still have. I may also still have the packages of freeze dried strawberry ice cream that I brought back. Maybe I will sell that on E-Bay. We did not learn anything about diapers... that must be a recent phenomen. :)
And here is the proof...
Ok I am off to enjoy the movie and relive all the great memories...

Whodunit?

So the semester that Jonathan was studying in France, he sent me a copy of this book in French for my birthday. The pictures were quite humorous and we had lots of fun trying to figure out the story. Fortunately my roommate, Jennifer, knew French and was able to translate the story for us. We laughed even harder. I have had lots of fun over the years showing the book around to various friends trying to get them to predict what the story is about. People rarely guess correctly on the first try. I was in a local bookstore this week and found a copy in HEBREW!! Of course I had to buy it. I have decided to start a collection. I am sure the German guys who wrote it had no idea that it would one day be translated into so many languages and be so popular around the world. :)

Thank you!

We have been watching some old home videos. As I watch Jonathan as a preteen - that awkard age - he shows times of just that - being an awkard preteen. How did he transition to the incredible young man that we all know and love? First and foremost is the fact that God grew him to be the young man He needed. Also, people invested in Jonathan. Each person that has written on this blog invested in Jonathan. So a little bit of each of you helped him grow. So the challenge for today is to continue investing in young people. And since several of you are young parents, begin now to pray for people to invest in the lives of your children.
Today is Mother's Day. I want to say thanks to each of you.
I needed a bit of Jonathan today, so each of you blessed me with the stories that you shared.
I love you all!
Dottie

Text Messaging

I carried on multiple conversations with multiple people over text messaging today. I even ordered a pizza and had it delivered to my house using a text message. Pretty impressive. I distinctly remember the first text message I ever received. It was November of 2001. I was student teaching a third grade class at Casey Elementary School. The students were taking a math test. The room was completely silent. It was impressive. Suddenly a series of beeps interrupted the quiet. It definitely came from the corner of the room where my bags were... but the storage closet was also in that corner so we didn't think anything of it. A few minutes later the beeps occured again. The kids were starting to get distracted. I went to the back of the room to explore. I couldn't find anything in the cabinet making a noise so we moved on. The kids finished the test. We went to lunch. No more noises. After the bell rang, I gathered my bags and headed for the car. I took my phone out and noticed a flashing envelope. I had no clue what it meant. I had never received a text message. I pushed a few buttons and found a note that read "HEY!!" Pushed a few more buttons and discovered the message was from Jonathan. A second text read "Have a great day!" Also from Jonathan. I think it took me several hours to figure out how to respond. :)

Phone Twins

I am sure that most of you remember this phone. Jonathan bought it shortly after moving to California. I inherited it when I came back from Tanzania. Apparently when Jonathan purchased this phone, it was the hot new thing and certain to be quite popular. Unfortunately I think people couldn't get used to the circular dialing thing. When I took it into the Cingular shop to get a new number, the guy was all "I have never seen this phone. It must be ancient." Ah well... I never saw another one like it until... LUXOR Egypt... Our tour guide, Ahmed, had a phone just like this... it was even blue... the same as Jonathan's. I couldn't believe it. Of course Ahmed's phone was all in Arabic... and he really didn't understand why I was so excited. But it was a fun little JD moment in Egypt. :)

Jeeping Around

Late one night Jonathan purchased a 1980s Jeep CJ outfitted with oversized tires, lift kit, headers, and a 350 Chevy V-8 engine. He was very excited about the possibilities for his new jeep. He later decided that he would never purchase a vehicle in the dark again without a thorough inspection because this one leaked oil like a sieve. In addition, he had to immediately begin making repairs and modifications. It seemed that the 350 V-8 was a tad large for the jeep and some of the motor mounts would break whenever he revved the engine. Nevertheless, he had a great time driving his jeep, mud riding, jumping over logs, and evading the occasional law enforcement officer who happened down the Natchez Trace.

One Wednesday afternoon just before IMPACT began, Jonathan ran into the Christian Life Center looking very distressed. He shared that his jeep's drive shaft had broken and had fallen out onto the street as he was making his way to church. He had picked up the drive shaft but was forced to leave his jeep on the street about a mile away. We drove him back and, sure enough, his jeep was abandoned in the center turn lane of Old Canton Road. We informed him that he could still drive his jeep (with the front wheels) by shifting the transmission to 4-wheel drive. He thought this was so cool that he drove his jeep in "front wheel drive" for the rest of the week before getting it fixed.

-Patrick Kyle

Contagious!!

My favorite memories of JD are when Jeremy lived with us those two summers, and the boys would all come over and just be boys! I have absolutely NEVER before or since seen anybody have as much fun in a swimming pool playing with a little basketball and poolside goal than JD, Jeremy, Steven Anderson, and Matt Ervin!! They'd stay out there for HOURS, "hooping" (pun intended) and hollering, and splashing and laughing! The laughing was the fun part! They'd just crack themselves up about something silly they'd do or say, and just start laughing until they hurt! We'd hear them all the way inside the kitchen and start laughing ourselves, like listening to one of those laugh boxes! Contagious!!

But then, he had his serious side... when he talked with you, he gave you his undivided attention. He loved with his whole heart! He never seemed to do anything half-heartedly, but did it because he had a deep passion for whatever it was he was doing at the time....whether it was spending a few moments talking with a Student Leader at church, talking with a younger member of the youth group, being a part of the Devore Family,....or simply splashing around a swimming pool with his best friends....Jonathan Devore was quite frankly very contagious, like his laughter! Oh , that there were more contagious Christians so passionate as JD! I can't wait to see him again, and see if I'm right about him splashing Jesus, or surfing on the crystal sea!! :)

-Peggy Brown

Would you like a napkin with that ice cream?

Jonathan was three years older than me so I looked up to him and thought he was so cool. I can remember one time when we were really young and the family was having a get together (I'm sure for someone's birthday) picnic. It was time for dessert and Aunt Dottie had just given us some ice cream, and Jonathan started tearing up his napkin into small pieces. He asked me if I wanted to see something cool and he put a piece of napkin in his hand and ate it with his ice cream, (or so I thought.) He told me you couldn't taste it but it's what big kids did. So like any five year old, I started chowing down on paper napkins and vanilla ice cream thinking I was so cool and grown up, but when we were done with dessert and went to play, all the paper napkin pieces flew out of his pocket and I was yet another sucker to believe the words of Jonathan Devore. (Makes me think of Travis Lee and his bright colored blazer!)

Three years have flown by, but I can just imagine him in heaven muting the angels microphones while they are singing praises, and him and Jesus laughing at their expense!

Much Love to JD,
Katie Smith Arnold

Sunsets

When I think of “Jonathan stories” my mind is flooded with millions of stories. I can never settle on one that seems just right or that can begin to explain any part of who Jonathan is. Over the past three years the things that have blown me away is how much Jonathan was in the little, every day things of life. I knew how much Jonathan meant to me, but I don’t think I realized how much Jonathan was a part of me – a part of my every day life. Not long after Jonathan died, I was having lunch with a friend in downtown Jackson. We were sitting close to a window and were in the middle of a deep conversation. I was mid-sentence when through the window I saw a Red Bull truck, and I stopped immediately and just sat there. My friend told me that one day these small things would be what makes me smile in remembrance, but I’m not for sure I believed him. I now know he was right.

It’s the small things that bring the Jonathan stories, moments, and memories rushing through my mind. The small things like a new board game on the shelf at the store – a game that would be perfect for an all night gamefest, and a game at which Jonathan would obviously beat me. I almost always think of Jonathan when renting a movie. The obvious movies like The Ladies’ Man or Lock, Stock aren’t the ones that stop me in my tracks. However, movies like Ronin or What About Bob, or Mean Machine, or even the latest movie with lots of car chases and explosions are the ones that make me stop, smile, and maybe laugh out loud. When in the grocery store about my bi-monthly shopping for food I come across Tab or Fresca, I always think of those post-church, Sunday night parties at the Devore’s. Foods like meatloaf, crunchy romaine toss, and French bread pizzas have Jonathan attached to them in my mind. I never see a blue, Z71 drive down the road that I don’t listen for it to sound like JD’s truck or think of the times Jonathan would use the intercom to tell motorists to go faster or get out of his way. There are millions of these small things, and they are the things that I cherish most.

Of all the small things that remind me of Jonathan, one stands out as the biggest. Jonathan loved sunsets. He was borderline obsessed with sunsets. His ebay username even had the word sunset in it. For me, sunsets are the one thing that capture the most of who Jonathan was. As I think back, all of our serious, heart-to-heart conversations happened while watching the sunset. On the Reservoir watching the sunset after playing catch for an hour, we sat and talked about how he really felt about moving to California; we talked about life and dreams and what those meant to us. A year later after spending the day on a road trip for a shoot, we watched the sunset over the Pacific Ocean from Ventura and realized that not much had changed in how we viewed life and dreams.

Jonathan often got frustrated about being in California, and he needed to be reminded of why he was there. No matter where Jonathan moved (and he moved tons in that year and a half), one of the first things he did was to find a place to watch the sunset. He couldn’t always find time to go and sit to watch the sunset, but he tried to at least three of four times a week. His place (which moved each time he did) was a place he could go and sit for an hour and forget about whatever was going on; it was a place where he could re-charge. Sometimes he would call while he sat and watched the sunset. He would try to describe it, but as often with God’s creation, words never were enough. He often talked about how the clouds made a difference in the colors and the beauty of the sunset. In a place that often seemed Godless to him, Jonathan could always see God in His sunsets. I think it served as a reminder that God hadn’t called Jonathan to California and just left him; God was still there with him.

I don’t get to see the sunset daily, or nearly enough as I would like. I often only get to see them when driving from Atlanta to Mississippi. But when I see the sunset, I’m reminded of all of who Jonathan is. Eudora Welty says, “The memory is a living thing – it too is in transit. But during its moment, all that is remembered joins, and lives – the old and the young, the past and the present, the living and the dead.” Sunsets have become one of my favorite things too because as I watch, with the help of my memory, if only for a moment Jonathan still lives.

--Elizabeth Crews

Excel Camp 2001

There are soooooooo many stories from Excel Camp. It's become Student Ministry lore at CH for those who were there. Excel Camp was the summer camp that we went to in Ducktown, TN (I think). Typically Jim Randall, Student Minister at the time, would take a pre-trip to scout out the location for summer camp. He sent a group in August. In August the camp was still being constructed, but hey, that was 10 months before we were to be there and the owners had ensured us that everything would be ready by the time we got there.

We arrived the following summer to a camp that was ..... less than complete. We arrived to Excel Camp believing that we had the camp to ourselves. By the end of the second day, we were there with two other youth groups, meaning there were approximately 350 people there sharing a men's and women's bathroom with 2 sinks, three toilets, and two shower stalls. The water pipes were exposed and broken meaning there was no drinkable water (it was dirty and gritty), there were no walls on some of the cabins where some of the girls were staying, and on and on and on.

The pavilion we were having worship in didn't have any walls either and it rained like we were in a tropical rain forest throughout the week. We were getting wet and our sound equipment was getting wet. After one day of a typical downpouring and drying off the sound equipment once again, I turned around and all of a sudden JD and Matt Ervin walked in with power tools that who knows where they got. Immediately they were climbing around the pavilion like a couple of monkeys (with Bryan Rose) attaching think plastic lining around all of the outer walls of the pavilion to provide some kind of shelter. I'll never forget seeing how JD sprang in to action (as he always did) and started addressing problems... and usually with a set of power tools and Matt Ervin. Excel Camp was one of the worst and best experiences of my life and JD was all up in the middle of it!

--Crull Chambless

Electricity... eeeeeeelectricity...

Back in 1998 (or so) the Colonial Heights Student ministry did a missions project one weekend. It was a local project and we ended up working with the Mississippi Family Council. We did everything from yard work, light demolition, painting, etc. At the MS Council office there were two long hallways that ran parallel to each other down the length of the building with a closet between them that was used for storage. The only way you could get around the office was to go to either end of the hallways (kind of made a racetrack around the office). The Executive Director for the MS Family Council wanted the storage closet removed to improve traffic flow. So, Jonathan and I started working on the "light demolition."

We removed the shelving, et al from the storage room and started demolishing the sheet rock between the hallways. About 45 minutes in to it, Jonathan and I had basically destroyed everything... except the electrical outlet box that was in the wall. We had a long metal 1" conduit with the junction box on the bottom. Our thought was that we would cut the power, clip the wires to the box, slide the conduit off, tie the remaining wires off with electrical tape or whatever, coil it up and stick it up on the ceiling, and voila! done!

So, we plugged in an electrical drill in to the outlet, pulled out our "pocket Booker" and had him start cutting breakers to find the right switch for our outlet.

"Ok Booker, start cutting the switches!" .... " I think that's it! Cut it back on one second and let's make sure! ... yeah! that's it. ok kill it!"

Jonathan, who I swear always had a set of tools with him wherever he goes, whipped out a set of wire snippers. I pulled the box back at a 45 degree angles, exposing the wires, and Jonathan went to snip and.... BOOM!!!!

There was a loud pop and flash. Jonathan was thrown back and the lights in the office went out.

So upon further inspection, we had killed the circuit to the 120 volt outlet, but there WAS A LIVE 240 in the junction box!!! Thankfully the snips JD was using were insulated and all we were left with was a good scare (and the hair on Jonathan's hand got singed off).

To this day, I don't mess with electricity.

-- Crull Chambless

The Truth of the Sharpie Legend

Well, I guess it’s time that the guilty must come forward. If you thought that JD carrying a Sharpie all the time was cool, I guess it was mostly my fault. If he ever ruined anything that belonged to you by writing on it, I deny all knowledge.

Some (many actually) years ago, Jim Randall came to my house for dinner one night, and during the course of our conversation he shared an idea he’d been working on. Jim said that he wanted to do a choir tour, but not a choir tour like most churches and youth groups do. He told me that he wanted it to be cool, not cheesy, and like nothing anyone else was doing. I told him that it would be easy. All you’d need is a sound system WAY bigger than was necessary, video projection, some intelligent lighting flashing all over the room, and a LOT of fog juice! Jim loved it!

At the time, I was working for a company doing concert audio for all types of acts and had traveled a great deal and met a lot of famous and interesting people. So, I started calling in favors, and before you knew it, we had all the stuff that we “needed.” Jim had another idea for the choir tour. He wanted to involve all the kids that didn’t really care about singing in the choir. So, he created the drama team, the set designers and of course, the technical crew. Although there were about 10 kids on the tech crew, the real protégés were, you guessed it, JD and Matt Ervin (Irvin? I can never remember). They thought what I did for a living was cool, and they enjoyed sitting and talking about the people I had worked with. They did work very hard, and they seemed to really enjoy learning all about how audio and lighting systems worked.

Anyway, amongst all this vast technical knowledge that they believed I was sharing with them, I taught them the 2 “Rules of the Road.” First, duct tape will fix anything, and if it doesn’t, it’s too broke to fix! Second, never get caught without a Sharpie. JD and Matt took Rule 1 to new heights. Some of the things they made work with a little duct tape and imagination would boggle the mind, and it was always fun to see their creations. Rule 2 is where I personally had the most fun. After a few days of asking to borrow their Sharpie (which they didn’t have), JD decided to never get caught Sharpie-less again. He began to carry one on him at all times. Therefore, it began to be my job to sneak into his stuff at night, or in the morning, and steal all his Sharpies. It was priceless! I’d get up early, steal his Sharpies, and then all day long I’d ask to borrow his. When he’d tell me that he couldn’t find it, I’d accuse him of slacking on the job, not listening to a thing I’d said, and any other lines I’d heard from my parents and bosses a million times. Finally, after a few days of the disappearing Sharpies, I got caught laughing as he frantically searched for his Sharpie that I’d asked to borrow. We all got a great laugh, and of course JD never minded being the focus of a friendly joke. Lord knows, he pulled enough of them on all of us! Anyway, after that I would periodically ask if he had a Sharpie, and I don’t remember a single time that I caught him without one.

The day we said “goodbye for now” to JD, I felt like it was only right that I leave a Sharpie for him to make up for all the ones I had “stolen” from him. I miss him, too.

--Kiley Ham

Weekend plans

Friends always do stuff on the weekends, it's just a given. There would be something to do, no calling to make plans or anything like that, just get together and stuff happens.

That made it awkward the first time JD calls on a Thursday and says "what you doin' this Saturday?" I was thinking, what do we always do?, is he joking?, is there something cool happening?... Which got me to the answer, "nothing" thinking that what would follow would be an invite to some adventure that would finally be planned out and not happen on the fly like normal. Then I found out what it was all about, "I'm going to mow the Logan's grass, do you want to help?" Now knowing what it was, I was trapped, I already said I wasn't doing anything, so I reluctantly said "sure." (mowing the Logan's grass is another story in itself.)

This would happen lots of times, helping people move, cleaning up things, taking clothes to Mexico, etc... It always found me (sadly) with the same reluctant response. I used to joke with him, when he would ask me what I was doing, I would say "who needs help now." Each time we would go help someone, it was definitely an adventure in itself (that's what you got when you were JD's friend), and way better than selfishly doing "nothing."

There's too many "morals to the story" to list. Each one are reasons to miss him, and reasons to be that kind of friend to someone else.

--Steven Anderson

Red Bull

I sit in the lobby of a hotel in Phoenix, Arizona sipping my red bull. Many of you know where this is going. Almost seven years ago, Jane and I were about to leave for a vacation to Florida. Just prior to pulling out of the driveway, JD shows up with a travel gift for us. A case of red bull. Most diehards know that there are 32 cans in a case. Jane and I iced several down and threw the whole case in the back. Here is the sad part. We found ourselves stopping at a gas station on the way home to buy more. We had gone through all 32 cans in about five days. Needless to say we became addicted. Now, I find myself measuring the stress of the day by the number of cans I drink. "It is a one red bull day" or "it is a two red bull day". To this day we blame or thank Jonathan for being our dealer.

Jonathan shared so many things with Jane, Jared and myself. The greatest was his love for life and passion to be uniquely used for God. We think of him often...
- Jim Randall

Who needs a key when you know JD?

One was that, even as a kid, he was always very polite. That remained true about him as he got older, too. He never made me feel like an old lady that he had to be nice to. Instead he had what I believe was a gift of making even old ladies feel like talking to you was exactly where he wanted to be at that moment.

Secondly, I never ceased being amazed at how he could find things….anything that anyone needed, no matter how bizarre it seemed. I remember one particular weekend that he was helping with a preteen retreat and Jim R. was teaching. Jim mentioned during a break that it would be cool if he had a cement statue of some kind to make his point. JD was ready to take off sure that he could have it and be back before the break was over. Well, Jim didn’t send him on that run. But there were several times when Jim would hand me something he had “borrowed” from my resources. I would ask how he got it or knew that I had it. He would always say something like, “You don’t need to know.” When I would press him about getting into places without a key, he would say, “JD doesn’t need a key!”

I suppose there is a third thing that I will always be grateful to JD for and that is the mark he left on David. I see so many reminders of JD in him – the sweet spirit, the hard worker, the politeness, the ingenuity, the ability to problem solve, the impish grin, and more.

Thank you, God, for Jonathan and the sweet memories we can still enjoy as we think of him.

-Barbara Brown

Dancing with the Angels

Memories surround me
But sadness has found me
I'd do anything for more time
Never before has someone meant more
And I can't get you out of my mind
There is so much that I don't understand
But I know

You're dancing with the angels
Walking in new life
You're dancing with the angels
Heaven fills your eyes
Now that you're dancing with the angels

You had love for your family
Love for all people
Love for the Father, and Son
Your heart will be heard
In your unspoken words
Through generations to come
There is so much that I don't understand
But I know

You're dancing with the angels
Walking in new life
You're dancing with the angels
Heaven fills your eyes
Now that you're dancing

We're only here for such a short time
I'm gonna stand up
Shout out
And sing Hallelujah
One day I'll see you again

We'll be dancing with the angels
Walking in the new life
Dancing with the angels
Heaven will fill our eyes
When we're dancing with the angels

--Monk and Neagle
"Monk and Neagle" the album
2004

Happy Birthday, Jonathan!

One of the more memorable birthdays was when Jonathan turned two! He was an early riser so we often went for a bike ride while others were sleeping. Of course he rode in a toddler seat on the back of my bike. We came home and had a special birthday breakfast with Kirsten and Sam. The morning was a bit off schedule since it was a special day. When I finally got a chance to go have a shower, Sam had already gone to work. I left Kirsten and Jonathan watching Sesame Street and went to my bedroom to get cleaned up. I returned to the den a very short time later and discovered the fireplace glass door open and ashes strewn all over the den!!! That was my first glimpse into his "let's see what will happen if we...." attitude. - Mom

(Editor's note: This is a day late since I was out of town!) :)

What is friendship?

You asked me to think of a memory about Jonathan to write about. When I let myself really think about Jonathan, memories overflow. I have known Jonathan since we were both toddlers. I was friends with him for an entire decade. When I think about the friendship we had with each other, I think we had friendship in that occurred phases.So I guess my blog entries will be glimpses into those phases of our friendship.

When Kirsten left for the summer to be a counselor at girl scout camp, I was left with no best friend for 3 whole months. When I was missing someone important in my daily life, that's when Jonathan seemed to step in. I had never really had a guy friend before and he was so fun to be around. I remember going to hang out at Mazzios on Sunday nights, going to Golf World, shooting pool at Steven's house, and TCBY. He loved to set the alarm off on my convertible (I think for the sole purpose of watching me yell about it). He had that pager which I thought was so high tech that got stolen. In each other, we had finally found the friend who hated youth choir enough to skip out. TCBY was our escape destination. I wish I could remember those TCBY conversations. At youth camp, he was the one sitting next to me when a certain someone farted during the prayer at the Lord's Supper service. We laughed FOREVER!

It's strange the things that I do remember from that summer. I remember he told me that I had pretty eyes. It was just a compliment. There was nothing more to it. I was such an awkard ninth grader soon to be sophomore that had really never had a guy friend say anything nice about me and that made an impact. That was a big part of my friendship with Jonathan, when he was around he boosted my confidence. I know he did that for Matt. That's why Jonathan could convince you to be fearless and take a risk because he ingnited something within you that pushed you to do and be more. - Amy Ervin

Electronic Bibles

So this week after Bible study the group was sitting around talking about different translations/versions of the Bible. Merlin, the guy who leads the study, was explaining about the ESword program that he uses. It is an online version of the Bible with multiple translations and languages and all that stuff. Anyway, it reminded me of the trip we took to hear Kay Arthur at her conference center one spring break. It was a group of us from Colonial Heights. I think I was 9th grade so Jonathan would have been 8th grade. Anyway, it was just a week or two after Jonathan's birthday and he had gotten one of those electronic Bibles. It was maroon and he was quite proud of it. So we are in our first session with Kay and she tells us to all take out our Bibles. Well Jonathan is on the front row and he pulls out his electronic thing and Kay totally called him out. It was hilarious. She stops in the middle of her teaching and tells him to put away he game and take out his Bible and Jonathan is all trying to explain that it is a Bible, but she was really not interested in listening to him. She went on and on about bringing your Bible and not playing games and all this stuff. Jonathan was finally able to tell her that it was a Bible and she was amazed. I remember she came down off the stage to look at it!!! :)

WWJD

I remember when he picked me up from MC when I was a car rider, and I thought I was so cool, because my big brother was picking me up in his z71! That was when WWJD bracelets were really big, also known as We Want Jonathan Devore by all the teenage girls at church! - Lydia

Follow that Bird!

So you are probably all wondering what in the world does a Big Bird movie have to do with Jonathan! Well this was the very first movie that Jonathan and I saw in the theatre. It was the summer of 1985. Jonathan was 5 years old and I was six. We were in Minnesota for a family reunion. I distinctly remember being thrilled about going to the movies for the very first time. I remember my aunt and uncle and several cousins went with us. The movie was picked because it was a Sesame Street film and certainly would not contain anything to scar us children. Oops. Jonathan and I both were pretty upset that Big Bird was in trouble. I distinctly remember some tears being shed.This is the same trip to Minnesota. We are sitting at the feet of Paul Bunyan at Paul Bunyan Land with our cousin, Nicole. Every trip to Minnesota included a visit to the Paul Bunyan Land theme park!