Sunday, December 12, 2010
Dare to go.....
I went threw my first week of Celebrate Recovery this last week. No I have not dropped off the face of the earth. I just like so many others before me have had great intentions BUT fell as I walked out my path. Guess what?! I'm back up! Yep it left a mark alright gained 30 pounds back. I am realizing I have some deep rooted issues that need to be dealt with and removed to stop this weed from growing back! I will keep fighting. I will win. Stay tuned.......
Saturday, October 23, 2010
God Is Still In the Miracle Business
This is Part 2 to my previous post. My bride Sandee wrote this to place on our church website.
God is so good and Faithful in everything. “Attend to my words….they are life…and health to all your flesh.” Proverbs 4:20-22.
Around 6 weeks ago God blessed my daughter with a car, our Aunt who is 92 Years old decided it was time for her to buy a new car and bless my daughter with her car that had very low mileage on it. Cary and I were excited that our daughter Aubrey would receive a more reliable car and that she and my grandson Caden would have air conditioning, as this summer, was so extremely hot. We decided she should drive my car till it cooled down some because little Caden would come out of the car seat just ringing wet with sweat. After picking up the car we brought it back to our house so I could clean it out. I thought we could save some money by me detailing it, because this is one thing that I’m really good at, cleaning anything. I only had about an hour to work on it because Cary wanted to take the car up to Sean’s Auto for some minor repairs, and we needed to drop it off by 6:00 P.M. So I hurried to get it cleaned out and in the process of cleaning it I decided I should take my wedding and 25Th Anniversary ring off so they wouldn’t get dirty. I had brought out a bucket of soapy water so I could clean mud off the door facings and to wash some change that Aunt Ercile left in the car. I took the rings off and had them in my hand, in my extreme hurry of picking up trash; I tossed my rings in with the trash. There was the bottom part of a Styrofoam cooler in the trunk so I was using that to throw the trash in, Cary then said its time to go, so I drove the car up to Sean’s and left it there. We came back home and I thought to myself, I’d better break down the Styrofoam cooler so I could close the lid on the trash can, so I flipped over the cooler and dumped all the trash into the can and as it fell I heard it clank but I didn’t think much about it until the next day in the afternoon when I started searching for my rings. I looked where I normally put them when I take them off, but they were not there. Then it popped in my mind; you took them off and put them in the pocket of your shorts. I knew the shorts had been washed and hung up in the laundry room since I was the one who had washed them the night before. I checked the pockets… No rings. So then I went to the washer and checked it…No rings. I thought to myself and even spoke it out of my mouth, Oh Lord; I hope I didn’t throw them in the trash. At this point I started to cry and I knew what had happened. I threw them away. Cary, being who he is calls our friend Chad and asked him to come over and help him look further into the washing Machine. He then called the city and ask where the city took the trash and if he could go to the location and look through the trash. By this time I had really started crying and was checking every pair of pants I had. Chad had arrived at our house and started to take the washer completely apart, all the way down to the motor…But, No rings. My heart just broke and I cried even more. Chad and Cary decided to check the dryer just in case something weird had happened and they were in there, but I knew that wasn’t possible because I hung my shorts up to dry. While I was crying in the living room, Chad stepped around the corner and said that the Holy Spirit kept giving him the word …. Check another pair of pants. Well I had already checked all my pants but I said I will check a second time just to make sure, but no rings. Cary prayed for me that evening and spoke Hebrews 1:14 over us. We have seen God do crazy, cool things in the past for others….why not us?! I just continued to nose dive because those rings were very special to me. After I cried and felt sorry for myself for about 3 days, I decided it was time to suck it up and just face it the rings are gone. I mean it wasn’t like I lost a person, I still had been blessed to have the man who gave these rings to me, and he could have been upset with me, but he was just concerned about me because I was so distraught about loosing them.
Month’s before this I had been going to visit my friend Julie Herron who has been battling stage 4 cancer. When she was diagnosed the doctor’s told her to go home and get her affairs in order because the most they could get her was about three year’s , if she was willing to take a combined dose of two kinds of Chemo, She was in a fight for her life. She started the treatments which made her deathly ill. Cary and I had run into her just before this at the grocery store and so I decided to call her and then I went to see her. I wanted to try and encourage her, and maybe help her if I could. I went to her house and spent the afternoon with her, just listening to all that had been going on in her life. She had been so sick and the devil had placed fear in her heart. She cried and told me “I just want to grow old with my husband Gerry”, my heart broke for her. That night I went home and prayed and dug up some books and a DVD that would help renew her faith. I went back the very next day and told her the Holy Spirit said she would make it through this, she would be snatched from the grip of death and she and I would stand and give a testimony of her miraculous healing. Yes cancer is a big deal but our God is so much bigger and she is healed! On the evening after my three day mourning period, as I said before, I decided to suck it up and start doing what God’s Word says I should do and just trust him. I started to pray and thank him for Julies healing and as I cried out for a miraculous healing for my friend, I asked him to reveal himself to me again and bring my rings back to me miraculously. I thought in my mind, there’s no way but I’m going to trust him anyway. A couple weeks later Cary and I took a day to walk the buildings at the fair and eat fair food, or as Cary put’s it graze. I decided to wear a pair of pants that I hadn’t worn in about two months. We walked around the fair and I had my hands in and out of my pockets all day long. I had put money in my pockets and gum because I didn’t want to lug my purse around the fair. I know those rings were not there!!! That evening after we got home I was standing in the office talking to Cary while he was on the computer, I was telling him something funny my sister had told me, when all the sudden I stuck my hand in my pocket and there they were….my rings, I started to scream and Cary and Haley turned around because they thought I had seen a mouse or something. I screamed my rings, here they are Jesus brought them back to me miraculously, all I could do was thank Jesus and praise his name. Two or three days later Julie called me and said she had been out with her friend Tobra and her little girl and asked them if they would mind going by Target. Tobra said sure, so they went in and started looking around when this woman she did not know walked right up to Julie and grabbed her hands and started to talk to her about everyday things and she never mentioned anything about Julie being sick. They talked for a few minutes and then she looked at Julie and said, you have a nice day and she left. Julie said she just knew she was an angel and a peace fell on her and she knew that God’s healing virtue had healed her. She started proclaiming to everybody she came in contact with, even strangers at the grocery store, what Jesus through this angel did for her. That next week Julie was scheduled to have her last round of chemo before the doctor started tests and scan’s to see where they were. She went to the hospital and they started prepping her for chemo , even though she new it was not necessary, the doctor came in and asked her if she would be upset if they just skipped the last chemo and started the tests and scans . The doctor said he had a good feeling. Julie then told the doctor all about her encounter with the angel. He smiled and said you mean if these tests are clear I don’t get the credit? NOPE you just played a part in it. They did all the test’s and scan’s and on Wednesday, October 20th 2010, the doctor came in and showed Julie and Gerry that the tumor wasn’t just a dead tumor but that the tumor was gone! Angels still walk the earth today! Jesus loves us and wants us to reach out in faith and speak to the mountains in our way. Remember God is still in the miracle business!
Man she did a good job writing this. I am encouraged. I mean what I am battling is so minor to what Julie went through and God was there the whole way, for Julie and Sandee. I am pressing in and will reach my goal of 300!
God is so good and Faithful in everything. “Attend to my words….they are life…and health to all your flesh.” Proverbs 4:20-22.
Around 6 weeks ago God blessed my daughter with a car, our Aunt who is 92 Years old decided it was time for her to buy a new car and bless my daughter with her car that had very low mileage on it. Cary and I were excited that our daughter Aubrey would receive a more reliable car and that she and my grandson Caden would have air conditioning, as this summer, was so extremely hot. We decided she should drive my car till it cooled down some because little Caden would come out of the car seat just ringing wet with sweat. After picking up the car we brought it back to our house so I could clean it out. I thought we could save some money by me detailing it, because this is one thing that I’m really good at, cleaning anything. I only had about an hour to work on it because Cary wanted to take the car up to Sean’s Auto for some minor repairs, and we needed to drop it off by 6:00 P.M. So I hurried to get it cleaned out and in the process of cleaning it I decided I should take my wedding and 25Th Anniversary ring off so they wouldn’t get dirty. I had brought out a bucket of soapy water so I could clean mud off the door facings and to wash some change that Aunt Ercile left in the car. I took the rings off and had them in my hand, in my extreme hurry of picking up trash; I tossed my rings in with the trash. There was the bottom part of a Styrofoam cooler in the trunk so I was using that to throw the trash in, Cary then said its time to go, so I drove the car up to Sean’s and left it there. We came back home and I thought to myself, I’d better break down the Styrofoam cooler so I could close the lid on the trash can, so I flipped over the cooler and dumped all the trash into the can and as it fell I heard it clank but I didn’t think much about it until the next day in the afternoon when I started searching for my rings. I looked where I normally put them when I take them off, but they were not there. Then it popped in my mind; you took them off and put them in the pocket of your shorts. I knew the shorts had been washed and hung up in the laundry room since I was the one who had washed them the night before. I checked the pockets… No rings. So then I went to the washer and checked it…No rings. I thought to myself and even spoke it out of my mouth, Oh Lord; I hope I didn’t throw them in the trash. At this point I started to cry and I knew what had happened. I threw them away. Cary, being who he is calls our friend Chad and asked him to come over and help him look further into the washing Machine. He then called the city and ask where the city took the trash and if he could go to the location and look through the trash. By this time I had really started crying and was checking every pair of pants I had. Chad had arrived at our house and started to take the washer completely apart, all the way down to the motor…But, No rings. My heart just broke and I cried even more. Chad and Cary decided to check the dryer just in case something weird had happened and they were in there, but I knew that wasn’t possible because I hung my shorts up to dry. While I was crying in the living room, Chad stepped around the corner and said that the Holy Spirit kept giving him the word …. Check another pair of pants. Well I had already checked all my pants but I said I will check a second time just to make sure, but no rings. Cary prayed for me that evening and spoke Hebrews 1:14 over us. We have seen God do crazy, cool things in the past for others….why not us?! I just continued to nose dive because those rings were very special to me. After I cried and felt sorry for myself for about 3 days, I decided it was time to suck it up and just face it the rings are gone. I mean it wasn’t like I lost a person, I still had been blessed to have the man who gave these rings to me, and he could have been upset with me, but he was just concerned about me because I was so distraught about loosing them.
Month’s before this I had been going to visit my friend Julie Herron who has been battling stage 4 cancer. When she was diagnosed the doctor’s told her to go home and get her affairs in order because the most they could get her was about three year’s , if she was willing to take a combined dose of two kinds of Chemo, She was in a fight for her life. She started the treatments which made her deathly ill. Cary and I had run into her just before this at the grocery store and so I decided to call her and then I went to see her. I wanted to try and encourage her, and maybe help her if I could. I went to her house and spent the afternoon with her, just listening to all that had been going on in her life. She had been so sick and the devil had placed fear in her heart. She cried and told me “I just want to grow old with my husband Gerry”, my heart broke for her. That night I went home and prayed and dug up some books and a DVD that would help renew her faith. I went back the very next day and told her the Holy Spirit said she would make it through this, she would be snatched from the grip of death and she and I would stand and give a testimony of her miraculous healing. Yes cancer is a big deal but our God is so much bigger and she is healed! On the evening after my three day mourning period, as I said before, I decided to suck it up and start doing what God’s Word says I should do and just trust him. I started to pray and thank him for Julies healing and as I cried out for a miraculous healing for my friend, I asked him to reveal himself to me again and bring my rings back to me miraculously. I thought in my mind, there’s no way but I’m going to trust him anyway. A couple weeks later Cary and I took a day to walk the buildings at the fair and eat fair food, or as Cary put’s it graze. I decided to wear a pair of pants that I hadn’t worn in about two months. We walked around the fair and I had my hands in and out of my pockets all day long. I had put money in my pockets and gum because I didn’t want to lug my purse around the fair. I know those rings were not there!!! That evening after we got home I was standing in the office talking to Cary while he was on the computer, I was telling him something funny my sister had told me, when all the sudden I stuck my hand in my pocket and there they were….my rings, I started to scream and Cary and Haley turned around because they thought I had seen a mouse or something. I screamed my rings, here they are Jesus brought them back to me miraculously, all I could do was thank Jesus and praise his name. Two or three days later Julie called me and said she had been out with her friend Tobra and her little girl and asked them if they would mind going by Target. Tobra said sure, so they went in and started looking around when this woman she did not know walked right up to Julie and grabbed her hands and started to talk to her about everyday things and she never mentioned anything about Julie being sick. They talked for a few minutes and then she looked at Julie and said, you have a nice day and she left. Julie said she just knew she was an angel and a peace fell on her and she knew that God’s healing virtue had healed her. She started proclaiming to everybody she came in contact with, even strangers at the grocery store, what Jesus through this angel did for her. That next week Julie was scheduled to have her last round of chemo before the doctor started tests and scan’s to see where they were. She went to the hospital and they started prepping her for chemo , even though she new it was not necessary, the doctor came in and asked her if she would be upset if they just skipped the last chemo and started the tests and scans . The doctor said he had a good feeling. Julie then told the doctor all about her encounter with the angel. He smiled and said you mean if these tests are clear I don’t get the credit? NOPE you just played a part in it. They did all the test’s and scan’s and on Wednesday, October 20th 2010, the doctor came in and showed Julie and Gerry that the tumor wasn’t just a dead tumor but that the tumor was gone! Angels still walk the earth today! Jesus loves us and wants us to reach out in faith and speak to the mountains in our way. Remember God is still in the miracle business!
Man she did a good job writing this. I am encouraged. I mean what I am battling is so minor to what Julie went through and God was there the whole way, for Julie and Sandee. I am pressing in and will reach my goal of 300!
Saturday, October 9, 2010
We Win!
I had the opportunity tonight to see one of the best high school football games that I have seen in a long time. The Oologah Mustangs were playing the Catoosa Indians. The game was back and forth from beginning to end. The game literally came down to the last few seconds. As I was trying to explain the interesting turns of the game to my bride it hit me.....the people were going nuts. It was up for grabs to the one who wanted it the most. Have you ever been in a big battle in life? You are just about to win BUT discouragement tries to stop you. You think you are going to win, then the enemy hits you with a blow and sets you back again. BUT if you get back up and PRESS IN you score. I watched as the CRAZY band crew was jamming with all their heart, the crowd was screaming and one gentlemen had a blow horn off of an 18 wheeler. (Made my cow bell look like a wuss mama) Minutes remained in the game. They could have set down and quit...this is where you see what is deep in the heart. BUT NO they jumped up and gave it all they had. There may be minutes left in your battle, you could get down in the "mullygrubs" or you can get the eye of the tiger.....depending on if you are armed with the power you need (God's Word). The bible says praise stills the enemy! Paul and Silas were in the deepest darkest dungeon in the midnight hour (seconds left in the game) What did they do???? You got it.... they praised God with all they had! They didn't quit and they won! Guess what.... WE WIN! So many people QUIT in the middle of the storm. Did you know in the bible....every storm that was in the bible had a miracle on the other side. It looks like it's the year of the "Stang" they won 35 to 34. They did not quit and they won! So I ask you are you a winner?! I choose to be! I'll end it with this....My Bride bless her Big as Texas heart... she was cleaning out a car we had just got for our daughter and was in a hurry. In the process she did not want to get her rings dirty so she took them off, well as she took them off she began to pick up small pieces of trash and throw it into an old cooler in the trunk. Well she threw the cooler away and of all weeks for me to put the trash out on time it was this week. She realized what had happened and I was on the phone begging the city to let me go to the dump and search! They laughed and said no way you will find them. I had a good friend come over and dismantle my washing machine and dryer. They were not there. He said the Holy Spirit kept saying check the pants. So we checked all of her pants. She was devastated. One was her 25th anniversary ring and one was a one of a kind wedding ring that included and large diamond from my Mom's wedding ring. I was it fix it mode for the last several weeks. You know us guys, we think we gotta fix it, I even bought here two QZ rings that could get her by until I could afford the real McCoy. BUT my Bride would not quit .... she kept standing on the word in Hebrews 1:14. She came out of her grief and being knocked down and began thanking and praising and asking the angels to bring back her rings. Now think what you want...BUT I know the pants were checked personally multiple times! I'm sitting in my office and I her the loudest scream I have heard out of my little bride ever! She made the football crowd look like pansies! "My Rings thank you Jesus thank you angels" in fact I said are you sure.... They were in here pants! She didn't quit, and VICTORY was hers. She's a winner! What's this have to do with my battle, well I got knocked down BUT I am back up again!
Friday, August 27, 2010
TAWANDA
Recently my bride of 26 years was kind enough to accompany me to a movie called "The Expendables". For those of you who don't know, this is a 99% all guy show. You know.....Rockem, sockem, shootem up kind of show. The kind you walk out of the show and "T" aroma is thick in the air. You feel like you could take anything on and win!
Well to be fair I have always (reluctantly at times) watched a movie of the female persuasion with my bride. Reluctantly because after all who wants to see a 300 pd man sniffing and wiping tear away acting like he has something in his eyes?! I confess "The Notebook" ate my lunch!!!
Well.....one movie I sat and watched with my bride (reluctantly the first time) I have now seen several times. "Fried Green Tomatoes" I must confess is a good movie. In short it is about an elderly woman reflecting on life's battles to a woman coming into her mid life crisis.. (Men we have them too!!) The reflections are on how she met the giants in her life and faced them head on as "TAWANDA" the determined person from within. I have two parts of the show I really like. One I like because deep down inside I have always wanted to do the parking lot scene. Watch the movie and you will understand. However, the scene I want to focus on is the scene where she is tearing down walls to move the "Bee Charmer" in with her and her husband. This is something she has determined in her heart to do. She has flipped her TAWANDA switch on and is tearing down the walls to remodel her house.
Sometimes we need to switch on our TAWANDA switch. When life starts to "eat our lunch" and throw big walls up in our house, then it's time to tear down those walls. The word says the bible is the our sword (or sledge hammer) The sword says in I John 5:4 that we are overcomers, it says in ROM 8:37 that we are more than conquerors, and it says in Phil 4:13 We can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens us. Does it say some things? NO! It says ALL things, SO let's pick up our sword, get it in our hearts and be determnined to bust down those walls...TAWANDAAAAAAAAAAA!!
I dedicate this to my bride of 26 years who continues to stand by my side and nock down walls that are put up before us!
Well to be fair I have always (reluctantly at times) watched a movie of the female persuasion with my bride. Reluctantly because after all who wants to see a 300 pd man sniffing and wiping tear away acting like he has something in his eyes?! I confess "The Notebook" ate my lunch!!!
Well.....one movie I sat and watched with my bride (reluctantly the first time) I have now seen several times. "Fried Green Tomatoes" I must confess is a good movie. In short it is about an elderly woman reflecting on life's battles to a woman coming into her mid life crisis.. (Men we have them too!!) The reflections are on how she met the giants in her life and faced them head on as "TAWANDA" the determined person from within. I have two parts of the show I really like. One I like because deep down inside I have always wanted to do the parking lot scene. Watch the movie and you will understand. However, the scene I want to focus on is the scene where she is tearing down walls to move the "Bee Charmer" in with her and her husband. This is something she has determined in her heart to do. She has flipped her TAWANDA switch on and is tearing down the walls to remodel her house.
Sometimes we need to switch on our TAWANDA switch. When life starts to "eat our lunch" and throw big walls up in our house, then it's time to tear down those walls. The word says the bible is the our sword (or sledge hammer) The sword says in I John 5:4 that we are overcomers, it says in ROM 8:37 that we are more than conquerors, and it says in Phil 4:13 We can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens us. Does it say some things? NO! It says ALL things, SO let's pick up our sword, get it in our hearts and be determnined to bust down those walls...TAWANDAAAAAAAAAAA!!
I dedicate this to my bride of 26 years who continues to stand by my side and nock down walls that are put up before us!
Friday, August 13, 2010
On The Road Again!
OK OK OK yes I took a break. I weighed at the doctor this week I am now at 365. So I am hitting it hard again for a few months. My goal this round is 325 by October. I am convinced of this. There is no "special" way to loose weight for everybody. I feel it is what God leads you to do after conducting research and setting your heart to the task. What I did find interesting is really when it comes down to where the rubber meets the road, the only ones you can count on to encourage you and be your accountability partner is God, your spouse, a FEW close friends, and yourself . I took a break for a couple months and had maybe one or two people bring it up or ask a question. You have to keep the fire inside burning in whatever way it takes for you. So I say burn baby burn!
Thursday, June 10, 2010
The Struggle
You ever been moving along on a dirt road then hit a HUGE patch of mud and began to struggle to get through. You get bogged down. sometimes you need four wheel drive or even some help. Wellll I have hit that point. I am stuck...... I know what I should do but why don't I do it? So similar to my struggles in other areas of life. I know the answer is in the word BUT why do I not take time to get in the word like I should. What makes us draw back away from the people around us? I know others around me have there own struggles, so the season sometimes is lonely. Your accountability partners get busy. My bride posted something on Face Book that made me think. What is it that makes us think we have all the answers? Especially us as Men. We want to FIX it all and think we have all the answers. I gotta tell you. I don't have all the answers. I can't do this alone. I need Jesus, and my family, and my friends to make it through the struggle. Maybe just maybe a guy just needs an ata boy now and then, or as my wife said compassion. To my friends if I have ever seemed sharp or harsh I beg your forgiveness, and I promise you I will not judge you in any way in the future. I will challenge you in the spirit of a loving and caring attitude. In the meantime, I will continue the struggle and I will get un stuck!
Friday, May 28, 2010
Watch Out For the Little Fox!!!
Well gang, it has been a while and I have learned a few things. First I went through a fasting process. I was told by one of my daughters that I was addicted to facebook. God used the words of my child to open my eyes. Could I lay down facebook for a full week?! I decided to do one better and lay down my blog for a while as well. I did good for most of the week. Then graduation events started, and I thought weeeelllll one little cheat on food here won't hurt......then the next day mmmmm....man that cheesecake looks good. Then aaaahhhh a business trip for a week. Well I thought I would try a special place to eat and slipped. Boy isn't that something. Started out on a fast from something I was almost idolizing according to my daughter and end up sliding in my weight loss quest. In Song Of Solomon 2:15 It talks about that sneaky little animal called the fox that can spoil the vineyard. Well I had a little fox that tried to come in and get me off track. In fact slipping up on eating is my BIG FAT FOX. I am determined to shoot him! Do you have a fox....maybe the sneaky fox of thoughts or depression, or battles with porn or drugs. I know this it's those sneaky subtle "give in's" that add up and make us ask the question....how did I get here?! Join with me and slay your giant as I slay mine and snap the little fox in half!
Shalom
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