Pastor David Hudon

[Originally posted Fridy, May 21, 2010]
Due to the impending day of October the 13th, not 1988 but 2013, I felt it was appropriate to revisit one of the most inspirational people in my life. 

Pastor David Hudson
PASTOR- COMMUNITY UNITED
RICHWOOD, OHIO

I met Pastor David Hudson two years ago at the old Community United Church on a Wednesday night service, which only had about ten people attending. Even though, on approach, you would think Pastor David is an intimating man, standing 6’8”, he will hardly look you in the eye as he shakes your hand while greeting you. I still remember how quick our first few handshakes were. He is probably the shyest person you will ever meet, until he begins preaching about Jesus. When Pastor David starts preaching the word of God he gets loud, he moves around a lot, and he even uses props sometimes to aide his sermon. Pastor David is one of the most influential people in my life and I hope his story inspires you as much as it does me.

Growin’ up, I didn’t have a relationship with God. I just went to church. It was Thursday night. October the 13, 1988. It started out as a normal Thursday night, me and my buddy was driving to church [pause] recklessly, might I add. I sat in the last pew in the back, way in the corner. I got this feelin’ in my heart; Jesus was callin’ me to the alter. I left behind a friend that day in the pew but, I gained a best friend who come into my heart and will never forsake me. I was cryin’ like a baby all the way up to the alter. I've got a Pentecostal background and I've seen it all. We can't confine God. I guess that’s the good thing I like about God: he's unpredictable.

I always stress in church that it’s not about religion. It’s about havin’ a relationship with God. God knows everything about us. He knows the very intent of our heart. I believe he wants us to express our heart, he wants us to communicate with him. I believe he wants us to speak what is in our heart. We oughta serve God while we have the chance. I’m not perfect either. When I preach, I’m not just preachin’ to the church. I’m preachin’ to myself too. Some people think I get to excited and loud when I preach. But, I can’t help getting’ excited about the Lord. If they don’t like it, well. I’m sorry. They say Preacher, "why do you get all excited?" If you have to ask, you probably don't understand.

There's a lot of people who do not know Jesus. Jesus is within you and I. There's coming a day when, the bible says, the love of many will wax cold. The bible says in the last days the perilous times shall come. I believe we're in those days. We've got to work now. You are the only Bible that some people may read. You are the only church service someone may attend. You can win a soul to Christ without saying a word, amen, because they see the life you live. They see the example you set. Sometimes if you're not careful, you can miss out on God. 

There’s a lot of churches across the land today, amen they have everything. Amen, everything they have is a little more perfect than what we have. Amen, they have a better program, singers, speakers, amen praise God but if they don't have the spirit of God they're just gathered together in vain. That’s my heart intent:  any time we gather in together in his house I want Jesus to pass by.

It’s Proverbs 29 and 18, “Where there is no vision the people perish, but he that keepth the law, happy is he.” My vision will never change. This is what I stand for, [holding a picture frame] it says: “I will do great things through you, if you will only trust me.”…As clear as a bell I heard those words. And you say, Preacher you done lost it. I will stand on my dying breath on that word. He will do great things through me, if I will trust him. If you have a vision, if you have a goal in your life, if you have something you’re striving for to obtain, it doesn’t matter that you’re in the lowest valley in your life. Yes it affects you, yes it hurts, yes this flesh is tested at times, yes we cry, yes we’re confused. Amen, but praise God the whole time. Our eyes should be fixed upon that goal. You say, Pastor Dave! I didn’t hear God say that to me [referring back to the frame.] Well that’s alright. Noah’s wife didn’t hear God tell Noah to build a boat either, but she got on didn’t she?

Pastor David plans on fighting the local school board about teaching Evolution to the kids in school. Even if he does not win the battle, he says that he won’t give up. He also says that just by going to the school board and making an argument he will be making more people aware of God. And by making more people aware of God he can possibly help more nonbelievers become saved. Although Pastor David has a full time job and is raising four children, with his wife Angel, he has just begun his seventh month in the new church building. Community United outgrew the old church, unfortunately, and they hoped the new building would be more accessible and comfortable to the church members. The new church building has already reaching full capacity on Sunday, and Wednesday night services average around thirty people. Pastor David hopes that his church never gives up on a vision and that he can continue to witness “seeing people’s lives change.”

Blood Roses (the Noctivagas Chronicle) Review

I received Blood Roses by Jason T. Graves for an honest review.

The writing style is very polished and presented great. Very few grammatical errors throughout the entire book. Through the beginning I get a very Dan Brown feel from The Da Vinci Code. But why would an old, wise man entrust teenage girls with an important Vatican book (which later doesn't even matter) in the first place?

Graves also reminds me of Creighton with all of the scientific facts he spills out onto the pages in the beginning to give you background. I find this overwhelming in the beginning and really disengaged me from the book.

I couldn't connect with the characters at all. They felt very fake to me and the dialogue between the family just seemed odd at times. One of my biggest quirks is that I have no idea who the intended audience is. The author writes smart and uses big vocabulary, so if it's intended for YA then I think it would go over their heads. If it's intended for more adults then I would see the adult audience growing impatient and annoyed with the twins. The girls are presented as teenagers, but obviously that's a big age range. They act severely juvenile at times, but other times are smart and sophisticated. I don't understand why the narrator will refer suddenly to one of the sisters as "the girl" instead of simply saying her name in many places.

Another side note, the boys at their school act very elementary. I realize boys are immature in high school, but not to this extreme.

A few parts gets really hazy. The writing seems rushed and not fully developed. Other places are overdeveloped and drawn out.

***** spoilers below ****

Mars is very irrational. She acts stupidly annoying and does things that just don't make any sense. Forcing Marcus to kiss and then bite her got a serious eye roll from me. She likes Marcus and then she forgets all about him, then she falls in love with Adrian because....well there is no reason.

And then, the epilogue. It comes out of nowhere and it's almost all exposition. It just seemed like a very rushed ordeal and like the author just said, "hey I'm almost done! Let's end this."

I'll rate this book on Amazon as a 3, but overall I was rather annoyed with the book and not very interested in it. I'd rather see Graves write to a more adult audience with adult characters due to his rich vocabulary and his great polished writing. Polished writing is definitely needed in YA books, but that requires characters to be more fully developed.

Yearly Harvest (Review)

Yearly Harvest was intriguing. I really enjoyed the concept and the ideas behind the story line. With a good editor this book could have been really good, but it falls short in some aspects.

At times the book is very drawn out, focusing on details that really don't seem to contribute that much to the story. Other places I was shouting (in my head) asking for more details and wanting Callaway to keep writing. Like at the end! I wish the book could have been more...finished? I want to know all the details about this snake creature and figure out what the causes for it is.

Sometimes the townspeople talked forever. It was a bit unrealistic to me. Especially with the crazy mother. I don't understand her motives for telling Jin all that information knowing Jin was a journalist. I feel like a lot of the dialogue should have been broken up because after two paragraphs of dialogue it just started reading as exposition.

Besides those negatives, I did enjoy the book. Very interesting. I found it ironic that the book is about a story that Jin didn't want to publish and yet, here it is -- published.

Rapture (Rapture Trilogy, #1) Review

Rapture was very interesting. Although it was slow to start, Simpson raises some really good thoughts in this book. I will definitely be interested in finishing this series and I assume his writing skill will grow. Some things I would like to see this author work on is just slowing down.

The high action scenes go way too fast, and things aren't explained the best. Simpson focuses on too much exposition rather than showing the story. I would really like to see into Sam's mind and emotions as these things happen. Plus, Simpson seems to thrive off things happening "unbelievably," this seems to be one of his most overused words in the book. There are a lot of things that just happen, or just work out and they aren't given much thought. I'd want that slowed down and really cracked open. For example, early on Simpson writes "The demons came for him." This is a perfect spot to slow down time. Explain the feelings that Sam feels. Explain the sounds, the wind, the smell... ect. Instead we are just told that Sam can feel them, but we never see how the feeling effects him or what it may feel like to Sam.

Also, cliches need to be avoided. When I see cliches in a book I want to "rip my heart out and roast it in a wild mushroom sauce for dinner" (Peter Dully Jr, an amazing professor). Simpson used the phrase "old habits die hard" three or four times within the novel and each time I cringed.

Another few small irks for me, Gabriel is not a female. Although some say angels are gender neutral, Gabriel is always seen as male throughout the Bible. Also, some of the books of the bible that are quoted are not complete. It should be 1 Thessalonians, 1 Corinthians, ect, not just Thessalonians/Corinthians.

Also -- something really minor, but it bugged me because I'm a horse person. Sam is able to bring a few quarts of water for his journey of 200 miles with 3 people and 2 horses. One horse will drink 10 gallons of water on a cool day. Clearly he is not adequately supplied for this journey.

Aside from all of these, the book did really grab me. It was the whole idea that really made this book absorbing.

Memory's Wake Review

This is going to be a hard review to write without spoiling it, but I will try my best.

The artwork in Memory's Wake by Selina Fenech is awesome. It took me a long time to read because I caught myself looking at the drawings for extended amounts of time and even going back and looking again. Drawing is a skill I wish I possessed.


 *spoilers below*

I do feel disconnected from the villain. The biggest villain was really Memory's lost memories. Thrall seemed like a very small concern to me due to this disconnection. I also felt disconnected from the characters at times because things happened too easily for them. Memory finds El and then poof they decide to help each other out, poof they are friends, poof they are sisters.

I really wanted to see more of Will. He was a dark mysterious guy that lurked out of the woods to help in desperate times but nothing really comes out of him. He just disappears. Why? The feeling throughout the whole book was that he wanted to be with Memory. I think this is a series though, so I'm sure he comes back.

The world Fenech created was very real. I could visualize it. Some people complained of grammatical errors, and maybe I have a different version than those who purchased, but I didn't come across many. It was clean writing but it did have a few sentences that were a bit confusing to read.

I'm glad I had the opportunity to read this book. If you like magic in books then you'll probably enjoy this book. The romance within the book isn't unbearable like many other YA books either.

The Unseen Country Review

** spoiler alert **

 The Unseen Country by Phillip W. Simpson is definitely geared towards the younger YA group. I loved the character growth within Tom. A great modern bildungsroman with magic. I would have loved to read this when I was in middle school.

 My complaints are few. There are several grammar errors throughout and some of them so bad that it jarred me out of the story. Also, there is a lot of deus ex machina going on throughout, which I found a bit boring. It's fine to have one or two moments of a great miracle but this book had about four or more of these instances. For the younger crowd though, they would have been much more accepting of this.

 This book is nothing like Harry Potter -- so if you read the review claiming that, just disregard it. Just because a book has magic in it doesn't equate it to HP. That'd be like me saying Bram Stoker's Dracula reminds me of Twilight. The characters are very fun in The Unseen Country. I loved all the different types of faeries and the concept of good vs. evil, but there are no other comparisons with the characters of Simpson and Rowling.

 The whole concept of the water poisoning was completely lame, but I loved that Simpson pointed that out in his letter. It's great when an author conveys those things within their writing, which is very British era-esk style, particularly in... BILDUNGSROMAN. It's great to see an author reverting back to those concepts. With a better editor, this book could have been a 5.

Such Great Heights Review

I believe the underlying reason I just couldn't like this book was the fact that in the beginning it set me up for a masterpiece. "One part Gatsby, one part John Green" yet it was nothing in comparison. The plot might have been a revised version of Gatsby, but it just fell short to the classic.

When you put a book on that kind of pedestal, the Classic lovers will never feel as though the original work was brought justice. Chris Cole is also no John Green. Green is slowly rising to be one of the best YA authors out there.

Aside from those, the book was hard to follow at times and didn't really flow. I did enjoy the book in the parts that went smoothly. It felt too forced at times. Maisey's speech for one -- I wish people actually talked like this and I know a few people who did/tried to talk like this, so it wasn't too hard to get over; still, I caught myself at times rolling my eyes.

I would read more books by Cole and I will revisit this book again in the future. This was a book I was excited to read, almost like when your favorite book is being made into a movie but then you're also scared to see what parts they'll take out and change. You watch the movie and you're left so brokenhearted that you have to just kind of move on and forget about it, but if you revisit it without the expectations of the original and look at it's own entity then maybe you'll enjoy it. It's just hard to do with the summary saying "One part Gatsby, one part John Green" that keeps resurfacing in your mind as you try to read.

Relocated Review

 Relocated was a beautiful story that I really enjoyed reading. Although there are sporadic grammar issues, more towards the end, it didn’t take away too much. There were parts where I had to stop to figure out what was intended though.

My biggest complaint is that there just isn’t enough development with the characters. I wanted to see more between Martin & Keth. Also, when dramatic things happened, it wasn’t really cracked open enough. It was almost skimmed over. After the death of Keth’s father was the best attempt at cracking open a dramatic event, but it still left me yearning for more.

Regardless of these minor issues, I really enjoyed the journey. I loved the nesting stories within as well and how they really tied together with the overall story. Considering this is Margaret Fieland’s first attempt at this genre, it was really well done. If she goes through with an editor and expands in some areas this book would definitely be better and a solid 5. Also, a new cover would be ideal. I know you’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but this one really could have a more catchy one.

I loved the end of the book and how Keth was able to communicate with his dad through dreams. It almost gave me a Lion King-esq feel when Mufasa comes and speaks to Simba... "Remember who you are." Again though, I would have enjoyed a little more detail before this event.

Another great aspect about this book is that it really makes you consider all of the social stigmas there are in life. What would life be like if we lived more like the "aliens." It had me thinking about the Native Americans and how we invaded their land and exiled them, as well as the racism that occurs within our culture still. The concept of homosexuality was touched on as well and done beautifully.

The Earth Dwellers Review

I couldn't give this book a five because of a few places where I didn't care about the things that were happening... Now, before you read my rant let me state this: if a book can evoke anger out of you then it is doing its' job for the most part. Plus, most of this rant is character driven.

“Wilde responds ‘fore I can even begin to think of what to say. ‘They’re scared of us. Because we’re different than them.’” – This is everyone in the series. They’re all the same. It kind of infuriates me. They're so upset about being treated differently, but they constantly keep going back to the same mentality of hating based on what others look like. Towards the end it got slightly better. This seemed inconsistent with the message I thought Estes was driving, but perhaps on a second read I will feel differently. Maybe that was his point? To show that we all hate racism but it seems the vast majority still fall into racist thoughts. Next.

It seems reckless for the Glassie to slaughter the Icers. They could have used them as pawns in the upcoming war. They know it’s coming, so why don’t they use them to add to their numbers? This seems hazy too. I don’t feel sad when they die, even though I loved Dazz and Buff. I felt like it’s a trick and they didn’t actually die. And then bam, the heaters see the dead bodies covered in crows. Then it finally hit me and I felt sad, but still not sad about the Icers and the potential relationship loss for Skye. I was sad for Dazz and Jolie not being able to experience life together. Mostly for Jolie.

The fact that President Lecter wears a red flower in his breast pocket – President Snow from The Hunger Games wears a red rose. Prim and Jolie have many similarities, they see war and death and are still beautiful and innocent and die at the end. This seems like an allusion perhaps, or maybe just coincidental. I'm not sure why it would be significant to allude to another contemporary YA novel rather than alluding to a classic novel.

Tristan’s mom-- I couldn’t care less for her. I don’t care that she had horrible things done to her. I don't care that "Borg" probably raped her and turned her into a prison. She abandoned her kids. She could have tried to escape with her kids and then I might have had sympathy for her, but she was completely selfish in her leaving. It's good that she was because Tristan and Killen would have grown up in a terrible life or killed, but still I DON'T CARE about her. Therefore, I couldn't care. I just COULND'T. Even if she died, I wouldn't have cared.

Everything just seemed to wrap up so perfectly, I was glad the Icers died. I might have vomited rainbows and butterflies if everything worked out. All the perfect little relationships drove me insane. Why couldn't it have been Tristan rather than Dazz? Ugh! David Estes, you drove me insane but it was still a great book.

Water & Storm Country Review

I wanted to give this book a four star from the beginning of the book just because of all the perfect little romances that just magically all work out. EVERY book has a romance where against all odds, two people come together and become the perfect couple -- and I HATE that. Alas, I could not go with the 4 star review because it wasn't a four star. It's too good to just be a 4.

It took me a bit to really get into the book (I blame Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, which I was 50% done with at the time of this start) but I stuck with it because I always enjoy Estes' work. He has a way of making you care about each of his characters. Estes splits the chapters up between different points of view, which drives me crazy because it's always right when I'm about to discover something with the other character. Crazy in a good way.

Honestly, I forgot all about the Glassies until Wilde came into the picture and brought them back up. I was so worried about the Stormers and Soakers that I kind of just forgot about the other war. This happens in society all the time too. We get so caught up in the things immediately around us, that we forget about all the travesties around the world. It was absolutely awesome how Estes brought together all of these different people and then BAM brings in the Moon Dwellers. I've been waiting for the Moon Dwellers to continue for three or four books now.

One thing I would LOVE to see is David write in third person. All of his books have the same writing style and I think it would be great to see a different mix from him -- but clearly this style works for him.

Fire Country Review

** spoiler alert **

Great read. Fast paced and keeps you on your toes.

Some stuff that I didn't find convincing:
1. Roan was a jerk the entire book, there is no need for him to be nice in the end and say he loves Sie. None. She would have gone over to confinement anyways to get Raj out. Also, someone would have eventually asked the same question Roan asked Sie about why the Icers keep them out if they have the cure. Circ would have asked.

Also, (I guess there is more than one thing) the battle was just over. I didn't see anything happen. I didn't get to see how Roan was hurt, how they won really. I know the Marked came in to save the day but how many were there? Was it enough to just slaughter the Glassies because there seemed to be a ton of them....

Anyways...The POSITIVE:

I was so mad when Circ died. I actually had to stop reading and just pick it up the next day. (I had the same feeling when Prim dies in Mockingjay.) It's amazing how much emotion a good author can get out of you. This book knocks all of The Evolution Trilogy and Dwellers Series out of the park. Much better and the others were good too.

The funny thing about Circ dying is that I'm usually very anti-love and hoping one of the love birds gets killed to get the romance out of the book. I can't help it. Little younglins in love just doesn't work for me. Regardless, I wanted Circ to stay alive. Not really for the romance, but their friendship. I was smiling like a goof when I found out he was okay.

Finally, I love how strong Sie is. She's clutzy and small, but she realizes how strong she is. AND, she didn't need Circ to do everything she did. She got all of that strength from other females. FINALLY. I LOVE strong female characters.

The Star Dwellers Review

It's not often that a sequel is better than the first, but The Star Dwellers is an exception. I had a feeling this would happen.

The first thing I want to talk about it how well Estes paced the book. He plays with style throughout but his pattern is the same; right in the climax he quickly switches between Adele and Tristan's monologue, which is great because he kept tearing me left and right waiting for things to happen.

Even though I predicted what was going to happen, the journey was still fantastic. There was a few chapters where I think the editor fell asleep though. The mistakes weren't drastic enough to ruin my mood though and I still really liked this book.

My problem with El dissipated in this book. She had one or two lines where I scoffed at but she was real to me this time. I'm not sure if this is from a mix of knowing her better, or just because Estes is becoming a stronger writer. The later is definitely true.

I think Cole's death was harder for me to handle than Ben's. I actually closed my eyes when I read about Cole. I had to force myself to open my eyes and stop replaying the death. I'm not sure why I was so blah about Ben. Maybe it was because I didn't really know him that well.

All I want is to figure out why Tristan and Adele cause each other physical pain and why they have the same scars. It is driving me insane and I don't have enough time between work to really pick it apart and think about a reason.

If you haven't read any of David Estes books, I would suggest going to his first trilogy and then working your way up. It's really fun to watch him grow, and going backwards is just a little rough.

The Moon Dwellers Review

I wrote a long review about The Moon Dwellers but my Kindle closed on Goodreads, which is where I originally wrote this review.

In some reviews people had said the book is slow to start and I disagree. It's not slow, it is just a bit confusing because Adele and Tristan have such similar monologues: they speak the same way, have the same thoughts, and have the same mission.  There could have been more differentiation between the two, which would have helped the story. The difference between the two becomes clearer as the novel progresses, but I caught myself forgetting which character I was reading and I'd have to flip back.
I thought the characters were pretty believable and enjoyed their triumphs and got sad during the tragedies; I laughed out loud several times reading, a few times because of clichés, and enjoyed most of my the banter that went on throughout.  Since, I can be very picky when it comes to romance in YA novels, you might want to take my negative thoughts on that lightly.

The only character I really had a problem with was El. She just seemed forced to me, even though she is supposed to be different. I think that might be because she had such a minor role and I didn't get to see her development into that persona. I just had to deal with it.
One thing that confused me was the idea of using swords. This is the future and so many villains have guns. Swords just seem obsolete. If I was fighting mobs of trained men, I would want a few different guns to pick from.

Oh, and if my kindle edition of Moon Dwellers had the X-ray tool I would have seen how many times the word "pure" was used. For a while in the book everything was "pure excitement", "pure adrenaline", etc. It had me distracted and a bit annoyed.

Besides all that, the book still kept me hooked. I even bought the sequel last night because I want to know what happens and I know David Estes is going to grow as a writer. I saw his writing get better in a single novel from beginning to end.

Since reading The Moon Dwellers, I have completed his Dwellers series, the Country Saga, and the Evolution Trilogy. Each book that Estes writes is better. The growth of his writing and style is very awesome to see.

The Adoration of Jenna Fox Review

Within The Story

Confusion, hope, anger, gratitude, love, desire, and betrayal: each of these emotions surround me and it’s all because of Jenna Fox. It doesn't matter that Jenna Fox does not exist. It doesn't matter that the made-up image of Jenna Fox I have in my head is just that--made up. I've forgotten that this book is just a work of fiction; Jenna is real to me and the only way she can figure out who she is, is through me.  Her memories are no longer stuck inside a computer marked Jenna Angeline Fox, instead they are captured within The Adoration of Jenna Fox. As I turn pages and discover more about Jenna’s life I feel as if it’s happening now. Jenna can’t figure out who she is unless I continue reading. 

The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson made me experience every emotion and left me breathless, as well as my adrenaline surging. I could feel the emotions throughout my entire body as I worked to figure out Jenna’s past with her.  The question is asked “How far would go to save someone you love?”[1] Would I risk everything I had in life for a loved one to have another chance at life, or would I accept their fate?

                Claire and Matthew Fox demonstrate the epitome of love by committing a life-threatening sacrifice to save their daughter's life.  Claire said, “We had to make a choice—save you the only way we knew how or let you die. Any parent in the world would have made the choice we did.”(118) Clair and Matt made the choice by saving “as much as was still viable”(118) of Jenna and using Bio Gel to create a new body for their daughter to live in, but only ten percent of the old Jenna is usable.

Lily raises the question of Jenna’s ten percent, is it enough to be considered human? In the beginning I felt bad for Jenna, but I also agreed with Lily and began to question what Jenna really was. I didn’t know if I could fully accept Jenna for a human, but as Jenna worked her way back into Lily’s heart, she also softened mine. Jenna trusts in Lily and goes to her with her problems, “They eventually have to share with someone. My someone is Lily.” Lily accepts Jenna before Jenna even accepts herself.

Questions of Life

                As I read The Adoration of Jenna Fox, I noticed that Jenna’s journey made me question several details in my life. Besides the meaning of love, Pearson brings up questions on friendship and identity; her book inspired me to question who am I, and who I will become.

                When Jenna first awakes from her coma she doesn’t know who she is, Jenna is told her name and is given videos of her past. Slowly, she begins to remember who Jenna Fox is but she realizes there is “something curious about me.” (12) Soon Jenna discovers that she has a “shelf life” (128) and her “life expectancy [is] between two and two hundred years.” (128) As I continued to read I began to think about how we are not guaranteed a tomorrow.  We could die at any moment and if we died tomorrow will we have made a difference with our life?

                Kara and Locke, the accident, everything that haunts Jenna’s past tears at her to remember. She had two best friends, ones she will never forget. Despite them dying in the accident and Jenna’s survival, they are very much alive within Jenna’s mind and she must free them from captivity within the computers. Jenna’s dedication to her friends made me question my friendships today, how far would I go to save them, how far would they go to save me? But now Jenna has new friends to go along with her new body, Ethan and Allys. Soon Jenna is falling in love with Ethan, despite his angry past, and she puts her trust and her secret in his hands. Allys has bio engineered hands and legs along with a negative outlook on Matthew Fox’s corporation and befriends Jenna before she realizes Jenna’s relation to Matthew.  Ethan and Allys made me question several things: who are my true friends today, who can I question with my secrets, and did Allys betray Jenna in the end or simply desire to live and save her own life?

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[1] Front cover