David Coe!
A few weeks ago, I had the incredible opportunity to sit down with one of Garden City’s coolest members, David Coe. We met at De Los Altos Grill in Milpitas, a spot David picked. Though David just recently became a member, he has attended Garden City for many years, faithfully serving in areas of production and lighting, and doubtless doing a million other important things that no one sees. We can attribute the smoothness and excellence of our Sundays in large part to David and the way he supports Ben and our worship and production teams. If you didn’t trip on a cable walking into church last week, that’s because David taped it down or told someone to.
Like many incredible people, David grew up in southern California, in Orange County near Huntington beach. It’s because of this upbringing that David holds such strong opinions about the Bay Area; he loves it here but maintains that our beaches suck because they’re cold and rocky and gross!
When I reached out to David about a get-to-know post, we agreed to meet for lunch. He asked if I was up for Greek or tacos, and I asked about his go-to taco place. He confidently (and immediately) emailed me back saying “The best tacos in NorCal are available here: De Los Altos Grill …I promise it is worth the drive.”
“The best tacos in NorCal are available here: De Los Altos Grill …I promise it is worth the drive.”
It was. These tacos had super soft tortillas, excellently prepared meat (David recommends the “Al Pastor taco with cheese” at this particular spot), and some of the best guacamole topping I’d had. It turns out David and a handful of friends have been looking for the best taco joint in the Bay since 2013. As we ate, he told me that after trying hundreds of tacos, he realized most places do one or two things really well, so it can depend on what food you’re really passionate about. David loves tacos, and when he tries a new location, he’ll order a flight of tacos to get a sense of what meats are particularly good at each location. He’s pretty confident in his taco findings, but he’s still searching for NorCal’s best of another favorite food: chili cheese fries.
Over the years of eating tacos and fries, David has also worked a handful of really cool jobs here in the Bay. I remember David working at the SJSU Event Center (we almost overlapped during our undergrad years), and because of a background learning lighting, he was hired on as a manager. He also worked for a company called Felix Lighting and spent time in Local Union 134, taking gigs around the Bay and setting up for events, like when Elton John visited Apple a few years ago for a private function. David tells me Elton’s piano tuner is an excellent pianist in his own right.
When the COVID pandemic wiped out almost all live events, David was inclined to apply for a new sort of job with his Bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering. These days, he’s doing the coding behind programmable parts for a company that makes GPS’s and atomic clocks. I didn’t know this, but time is as integral a part of the GPS equation as place. Your phone doesn’t just help you know where you are, and connect you to people all over the world, it also makes sure that when you call someone, their phone rings when you call them. It gets much more complex than that; this little comic is about as much as my brain can do:
I was shocked to hear David still affirm that he was “put on this Earth to do lighting” even though he’s chosen to move on from it professionally. While there are a handful of factors, he’s realizing that the lifestyle of weekend gigging and late nights working events doesn’t lead to the life he wants to build. I admired the maturity with which he holds calling, desire, place, and God’s will all in sweet tension.
David was recently baptized during our time at PayPal Park, and he’s an active member of a Life Group. Though I asked him how we can pray for him, he encouraged us to praise God with him because so many big prayers in the lives of his Life Group members have been answered lately! You can say hello to David when you see him hard at work on Sundays, and I know he’d be happy to take anyone to De Los Altos Grill. He only asks that if you know where to get good chili cheese fries, send recommendations his way!
PS. Here’s an actual shot of David in a Santa hat preaching a mini-sermon about tacos last Sunday before I arrived to soundcheck. No really. I was told it was an incredible gospel of tacos.
