My Brother Denny

Denny kissing our parrot. . .me watching with Mom's heels on and ready to go outside.

One of the very best things of my "growing up" years was having a brother.
We had so much fun together through the years.
Denny loved his home and his family very much. . .
he would pray for the walls of our house.
(I think this world would be a better place if more people still did that.)


When we were small we had a little red fire pedal truck.
It was so much fun, we'd pretend the drive-way was a two lane gravel road
and go up and down it.
We'd stop and look for Indian beads in the gravel and
get very excited when we'd find a few.
We also looked for four-leaf clovers.
Life was good back then. 
I can remember us riding our tricycles down the street
and picking grapes from our neighbor's arbor.


Sometimes Denny would decide to run off if he was upset. 
He would put some clothes in a bundle and go all the way to the house on the corner,
 which was next door, and sit on an old stump. 
Mom could see him from the house so she wasn't very worried about him. . .she just let
him stay there until he got tired. . .or sleepy. . .or hungry. . .or scared. . . or even lonely, then he'd be back. It didn't take very long for a small boy to realize home was better than the corner.
Mom was always there to "welcome" him home. . .a few times he may have wondered as far as the field across the street.
(I guess that's how we should feel about people who "leave church" but only go off a little way where we can still see them and they can still see us. . . maybe we should just "stay in the house" waiting in love for them to come home.
It wouldn't hurt for the aroma of good services
and the sounds of joy to be coming from the church home either.)

As we grew older we'd climb trees together.
On Friday evenings after school we'd head up to the library and get books.
Usually it was Nancy Drew or The Hardy Boys,  we'd get two copies of the same book.
That night we'd start our book adventure after it was too late to play outside.
We'd lay across the bed intently reading.
We'd keep a close page distance as we read the book  and it was fun to get excited over what we were reading together.
Sometimes Denny found out the answer to the mystery before I did . . .
but I'd only be a few pages behind.
That was such good, clean fun! 
 We'd read way into the night and usually finish at least one of the books before finally going to sleep.

One Handsome Couple at our 15th Anniversary




There was a time when I was in high-school that I snubbed Denny. 
 I am sure sorry for that.
I was at the age where I thought he was just a kid, I mean,
after all I was two years older than he.
But Denny was still a good brother to me, and he was excited when Tom asked Mom and Dad if we could get married.
After we moved to Houston, Denny also moved here  a year later following his graduation.
He lived with Tom and I for a while. . . then lived in the church a little while. . . 
then with Ricky Franklin for a while. . . where Kenny Combs lived
with them for a short time too.
Denny had lots and lots of friends.
 He, Ricky Franklin and Roy Jones would have heated scripture debates . . .with
  Mark Nilson he would play tennis and dance to church music in the living room. . . 
with Ricky Jolley would discuss girls and sports. . .
He and Jeff Wright would sing like Donald Duck for our kids. . . 
Denny, Eric Filban and Mike Dacus would be "tough guys" flexing their muscles in front of the mirrors to their own adoration.  (smile) . . . 
There were many more friendships that space doesn't allow me to write about.
All of Denny's friends seemed like "kids" to me because Denny was "my kid brother". 
Those "kids" have grown into men that are still very precious to Tom and I.
Finally, after years of being the "most eligible bachelor",  Denny quit being the "heart-throb" of "the single girls in the Body of Christ"
when he married Michelle Urban Leech.
She won his heart with a home-made "lemon pie" (Inside joke) and he started making her a home.

Sometimes Denny can look you straight in the eye and make you "face" the truth of what he's saying!
He is one of my favorite preachers.  I love to hear him give a lesson out of the Bible.
I love to hear him give analogies and explain parables.
He has good thoughts.  I really want him to be an overcomer.
I am so thankful for his willingness to be "open" about his marriage
and how defeat almost reigned
but the Lord gave he and Michelle back all the enemy tried to destroy. . .and more because they were willing to let Jesus help them.
He has a good home, with a wife that is not only beautiful outside, but inside too. 
They also have two lovely daughters, a grand-daughter and a grandson on the way.

Here is Michelle with Jaida, their 1st grand child.




Denny was always so good with Sarah and Stan.
He'd buy them Sesame Street books and read to them. 
He'd read with  feeling and put the emphasis on
unusual words in the sentences which would make the kids laugh and laugh. . .
then they'd want him to read the same book again. . .and again. . .and...


Anyway, I just wanted to say I love my brother.  
I am so thankful all of my siblings are still in church serving the Lord together.
The Lord is so good and my soul is rejoicing!

Michelle, my Kimmie Jo (my #7) and Denny 2011

P.S. Just one more funny story. . .
Denny was living with us and he was gone to work, selling insurance. 
 (He was good at that too.)
It was a Saturday and
we had invited a few couples over to come over and eat after the night service.
I fixed a big, big meal with pork chops, potatoes, gravy, green beans, etc. and dessert. 
 I then put all the food in the oven to keep it warm
and  ready to serve when church was over.
We left early for church that night before Denny came back to the house.
In the meantime Denny had picked up some of the "kids" he ran with and they came
over to get ready at the house. . .which was something that often happened. . .
and you guessed it, they thought I'd made the food for them!
AND THEY ATE IT!
You can imagine my SHOCK when I came home with company to dirty dishes
and very little left-overs!  I was embarrassed.
The boys were shocked too that I really hadn't made it for them.
But after all, it did end up being "for them".
Such is the fabric that makes life colorful. . .and friends forever.
~Jesus will help us. . .if we let Him.~