My New Church

Every since God was kind enough to leave me here in 2009, people have been asking me "When will you take another church?" Well, with cancer still present (but dormant for now), and dialysis three days a week, 3 1/2 hours at a time, a traditional church setting is really not gonna work. God is so cool, though, and I have been presented with another church.
This new church has no walls, and has no boundaries of land or sea. The members run from ages 15-75. We get to talk about deep questions of the faith, and we challenge each other in Christian love. Sometimes we disagree, but we refuse to abandon one another.
I really enjoy the fact that we never have arguments over the color of the carpet, or the height of the shrubs. We don't have to agree on everything to be brothers and sisters in Christ. Through the internet, and Facebook, we gather people from around the world. It's a real blessing!

25 Years and Counting

May 18, 1986 was one of the hottest, most humid days I can remember. Before the wedding began, everyone was trying to find an air-conditioning vent to stand over. But after years of waiting, the day was finally here, and we were thrilled.
My dad was my best man. As he and I stood at the front of the church at the altar, waiting for Vickie to walk down, I was just overcome with emotions about it all. I was so excited to finally be married to Vickie-we had already been together for five years. But when Vickie saw my face, she thought I looked upset and that I was about to run out of the church!
Our service was a combination of the Catholic and United Methodist traditions. The wedding was at my home church, St. Paul UMC in Susan, VA. We had two pastors, a sermon, and Holy Communion, plus several songs. The whole thing took about an hour and fifteen minutes.
One of my college professors who was there commented to me as he left the church, "Busic, we graduated the entire senior class in the time it took you to get married!" LOL
We had a brief reception at church-plans for it changed at the last minute, and the ladies of the church stepped in and saved the day. Then, we went to a local marina for our sit-down dinner. It all went very nicely, and I think everyone had a good time. We went to Williamsburg and Washington DC for our honeymoon.
Hard to believe that 25 years have already gone by. We promised that w would never hit each other, and we never have. Arguments, painful disagreements? Oh yes, we have certainly had rough times as well as good. But we were determined to stick together, and I am happy to say we are enjoying each other more now than ever.
I would like to thank everyone for all of their support over the years-before my illness and since. I pray we can add another 25 years to this one, but that's not up to me. And I'll be grateful for whatever time God blesses us with.
Have a great day!

Getting Engaged

Well, it's now less than a week until our 25th wedding anniversary. Thought you might enjoy hearing the story of our engagement.
We met in August 1981. I knew by November I wanted to marry Vickie, but we had no money and were both still in school. During the fall of 1983, while Vickie was back in Massachusetts, I asked a couple of my female friends to go with me to help me pick out an engagement ring. I knew she wanted an oval cut-the rest I was on my own. My friends helped me look, and we finally found some that fit the description. I then picked out one that I thought was really nice. And, of course, the salesman was glad to set me up on an "easy payment plan"-and to be truthful, it really was not that bad.
Now, my memory on dates is not always good. Her birthday and anniversary, no problem. The best I remember about when I proposed was that it was sometime in February. She was back iin Newport News at the Nursing School, so I waited until she came to visit VWC that weekend. I knew the girls who were living in her old dorm room now, so I asked if I could use the room for about an hour that Friday night. Before dinner, I told her we needed to go by the room for something. We went in, and no one was there. I just said they will be right back. We talked for a minute or two, then I got on my knee, reached into my pocket and pulled out the ring and said "Will you marry me?"
I never told my parents beforehand that I was going to ask Vickie to marry me, and I did not tell them for several more weeks. They had always been against our relationship (especially my Mom) and I did not need their permission, nor did I want to listen to a bunch of criticism of me or attacks against Vickie.
The funny thing was, my parents came to the college a few weeks later for some type of awards assembly (it may have been when I was selected for the history honor society). As we left the assembly, my parents met our college president, Dr. Lambuth Clarke. (What a great man he was!) Dr. Clarke, who remembered EVERYTHING about EVERYONE, said to my parents "Mr. and Mrs Busic, congratulations on Anthony being elected to the honor society, and his engagement to Vickie!" Well, I felt really bad for Dr. Clarke, and a little bad for my Dad, but my Mom got exactly what she deserved. I tried to dismiss it at first ("well, people get confused") but the cat was out of the bag.
I helped Vickie shop for her wedding dress, and in fact, picked out the one she eventually chose. So much for "bad luck if the groom sees the dress before hand".
I also remember we bought it at a shop called Lady L, which had stores in several large cities in Virginia. Once when I took Vickie for a fitting (which was quite the effort since I by then was at Duke and she was in Newport News and had no driver's license) we arrived to learn the dress was at another store hours away. But it all worked out. We went to the Pottery in Williamsburg, and had the cake top especially made for us-blown glass, very pretty, and in our budget LOL!
Well, in a few more days, I'll share a bit about the wedding itself. Gonna try to find some pictures and use my new scanner for the first time. God has seen us through a lot these last 30 years, and we are grateful to be celebrating our 25th aniversary. Hope you enjoy reading this.

And Now....

Despite the wonderful inspiration of CBW and others, I have never been able to blog consistantly. I often feel my life is not exciting or interesting enough to share, epecially on a daily basis. But I will try to catch folks up more consistently. Some thoughts: I feel that hatred is growing stronger in our nation. Growing up, it seemed we wer making good progress to lessen the hate around us. If a child brought agun to our school, no one was scared-it must be show and tell day. If we got in a fight, it was because we were mad with each other-but we would never have pulled a knife or a gun on someone else. We took hunting safety classes in school, and even learned how to clean our guns and carry them safely. NOBODY ever shot anyone else. Never even seriously thought of it. My class was either the first or second integrated class in Mathews history. Kids got in fights over the years, but I NEVER saw any fights between someone just because one was white and the other black. Don't get me wrong, racism was still there. But people did get along pretty well. Some interesting news, but don't get your hopes up: Anthem yesterday sent me forms saying that they would pay most of the cost for a kidney transplant IF I am candidate. And sorry to say, that's a BIG IF. Because of the location of my cancer, they may not want to put a kidney in my abdomen area. Just have to see what the transplant people at Wake Forest say. Remember to always put your trust in God, and rarely trust politicans. Even the best ones seem to often fall short of what they promise. God never does.

Back When My Hair Was Short

Back when I was growing up, children of all ages played together. Many of our moms could not drive, and we were too young to ride our bicycles very far.Ann Marie and her little brother lived just down the road from our house. I would go by their house and look at all the hunting dogs her dad had. In later years, her mom worked at the high school, and would sometimes give me a ride so I did not have to stand out in the cold waiting for the bus.My dad painted for the Naval Weapons Station during the day, then did other painting jobs at night and on Saturdays (NEVER on Sunday, that was for church) One day, a customer asked dad if I would like a "little car" that he had. So, a few nights later, we emptied our dad's work wagon and hauled it home.It was red and white, and as you can see in the picture, it REALLY was a little car. The engine was pretty well shot, so it was in the garage more than on the roads. In those days, we all rode mini-bikes and go-carts on the state roads, and nobody complained.I drove the car down to Ann Marie's and took her for a ride around the neighborhood. As you can see in the picture, my dog, "King" followed us all the way.Years later, it was Facebook that helped us re-connect. Good times

Homeward Bound

Sorry it's been a while since I've posted. Sometimes I just get "blogger's block".
In just a few weeks, I will be heading back to my hometown, Mathews County, Virginia.
I don't get back very often anymore, so I am looking forward to it. My college friend and seminary roommate has even invited me to preach at his church there while I am in town. It should be a really fun time. I love to go back and see everyone, and sometimes it seems like I just left yesterday, even though I moved away over 25 years ago.
When I got sick last year, I was amazed at the number of cards that poured in to the hospital room. They came from all over the United States, even some from other countries. A large number came from Mathews. The surprising thing about those Mathews cards was that many of them were from people I did not know that well, or from folks I had not talked with in years. This year at the Mathews Relay for Life, I was honored that several participants listed me as one of the persons they were walking for. Through Facebook, I have also gotten to know some people much better than I knew them before.
If you are near Mathews, I would love to see you when I come back in August. I will be preaching at 11:00 a.m. on August 22 at Locust Grove United Methodist Church.
I'll try to post more often, too.
Have you ever wanted to just be "good enough"?

Happy Father's Day

I could write a book about everything my Dad, Raymond Busic, taught me, some by spoken word, much by silent example. My dad was my hero. He was always there for me, often quietly in the background. When I talked, he did not just wait for a chance to jump in and correct me. He actually listened to me, and tried to understand me.
Some people grew up having to fear a whipping if they missed behaved. My dad never touched me, but he did discipline me, and I am a better man today for it. I always feared disappointing my dad. I did not do it often, but when I did, I felt like I was breaking his heart. That hurt me more than any spanking ever could.
Dad hung on to life like you cannot believe. I think we actually had to convince him that it was alright to die. He worried about leaving my mom and my sister behind, and missing all of us. Someone recently told me, after my health problems and near-death experience last year "You remind me a lot of your dad, your will to live" I'm sure he's where I get my toughness from, my determination to keep fighting. Dad lived for 30 years after his first stroke. He had all kinds of health problems. But he kept fighting, and he lived to see me graduate high school, college, and get married. He also saw all of his grandchildren be born. He was respected across the community, and known as a man of integrity and a man of his word. I don't know of one enemy Dad had. If I can be half the man my father was, I will have done well. He was and is my hero, my example, and my inspiration.
Well, now that I've had a good cry (my daddy taught me that was ok, too) I better get ready to go preach. My job is to be a good husband and a good dad. If I don't do that, how can I represent the love of God?
Have a blessed day!