The Other Pauls

Submitted by dean on Tue, 2012-03-06 10:59

Paul is my dad's name, yes, but I am actually the sixth in a row of Simmers that have the name Paul.*

The first one I know of, Henry Paul Simmer, was born in 1799 in Germany about 60 miles (90 km) north of Frankfurt. We know that he came to Ontario, Canada sometime before 1834 because his children were all born in Ontario after that time. Mr. Simmer actually shows up in the 1851 Ontario census as "Henry Seymor" because, I would imagine, of his accent when pronouncing his name to the census-taker.

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A Middle Name

Submitted by dean on Fri, 2012-03-02 10:43

Some of my students think my middle name is "Panther." This is not true.

The story goes that my paternal grandfather would have been named Henry Paul Simmer, just like the three generations before him, except that somewhere there was a mistake and the name was inverted. My dad was also named after his father but instead of being Henry Paul Simmer V, my dad is Paul Henry Simmer Jr.

My parents chose to deviate from tradition, giving me a first name that comes from my maternal grandfather. But rather than simply honor one side of my heritage, my parents gave me a name that reflects my father and his ancestors.

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A First Name

Submitted by dean on Thu, 2012-02-23 11:31

Ronny Dean Sprague was born in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan a few months before the attack at Pearl Harbor. His dad was too young to fight in World War I and too old to fight in World War II. His mom was a feisty woman. He didn't have any living siblings (his older sister died of spina bifida before he was born).

From all accounts he was a troublemaker of a child. The story goes that his mother had a bugle that she would sound to get him to come home from dinner. He regularly wandered away into town to follow his dad to work at the road commission.

He married his sweetheart and had two girls, the oldest being my mother.

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Sermon: For the Sake of the Gospel

Submitted by dean on Fri, 2012-02-10 10:37

Text: 1 Corinthians 9:16-23

Today we're going to be looking at Paul's letter to the Corinthians.

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Resolutions 2012 Part V: Ministries

Submitted by dean on Fri, 2012-01-13 11:39

We're almost done, I promise.

Because the resolutions of three of my friends,Bryan, Meg and Robert, were so thought-provoking I have written out my own resolutions for 2012. I have categorized them in "Life Accounts" according to the Life Plan model that Michael Hyatt teaches in is free resources and will be highlighting a different "Life Account" each day. Today we're looking at Ministries.

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Resolutions 2012 Part IV: Friends and Family

Submitted by dean on Thu, 2012-01-12 11:21

Because the resolutions of three of my friends,Bryan, Meg and Robert, were so thought-provoking I have written out my own resolutions for 2012. I have categorized them in "Life Accounts" according to the Life Plan model that Michael Hyatt teaches in is free resources and will be highlighting a different "Life Account" each day. Today we're looking at Friends and Family.

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Serving Others

Submitted by dean on Wed, 2011-12-28 15:42

"Serving others" is a concept that is prominent this time of year. In the chaos of the consumer-driven holidays we are implored to think of others. That idea is often marketed as the "true spirit of Christmas."

Until recently I often viewed service in this way. Hold a door here, give up a parking spot there, and you are really making a difference in someone's life. But how do we know? And what is the point of service anyway?

I finally had a run-in with what service really looks like. In December my wife had wrist surgery, a relatively simple procedure to remove a 14-year old cyst. We were at the hospital less than four hours and were home before lunch time.