Happy Birthday Brandy!

Today we celebrate one of the most important days in my life, the day my wife was born. God has blessed my life by creating on this day thirty (something) years ago the perfect woman. She is a beautiful, compassionate, creative, sensitive, gifted, amazing woman of God. The most important part of that last sentence was "woman of God". Brandy has an amazing faith. That faith is exercised everyday in her love and passion for people. She is a true servant. Paul wrote to the church at Philippi to let the same mind of Christ which caused Him to serve be in us. And it is definitely in my wife. No one works harder and with more passion than my wife. So I know that she is celebrating the life that God gave her on this day thirty something years ago in 1975....oops. But I am celebrating too because God showed His love for me when He created her. I love you pootie!!!

Wisdom Tooth....Urrgghh!

This past week I had to have a wisdom tooth removed. It had chipped about a year and a half ago, and I kept putting it off. I hate dentists. I have no problem admitting that they scare me and I hate going. This tooth finally started causing some pain and so my loving wife made me an appointment. Not being one to miss appointments, I went, had it done, and am now glad I did.

I did have one thing happen during this experience that inspired this blog today. I was in the dentists chair inhaling the goofy gas and growing numb on the left side of my mouth, when all of a sudden one of those demonic thoughts came to my mind. The thought that jumped into my head was, "you are never going to feel good again." At first I felt my heart race and my blood pressure go up. I got ready to ask the nurse to check my pulse because it felt so fast. Then just as quickly as the demonic thought came, a God thought came that said, "this feeling is only temporary and necessary for you to continue the destiny God has for you." I began to relax. I stopped clawing the chair. My blood pressure normalized. I realized that two thoughts were put before me and that I had a choice as to which one I would believe. I knew that God would not give me thoughts that would bring fear, and so it must have been the enemy that said I would never feel good again. I knew that the enemy was a liar and so I could believe the opposite of what he said. I thanked God for the process and had the procedure done. I have not had any pain since the surgery other than where they put the needles in my mouth to numb it. It has been a miraculous recovery.

My encouragement to you today is to choose wisely as to which thoughts will become your meditation in times of trouble. God has thoughts towards you. He declares them in Jeremiah 29:11. His thoughts are about giving you hope and a future, not despair and destruction. If you have been clinging to the thought that what you are going through is permanent, reject it. Speak to yourself if you have to. Remind yourself that this is a season, and seasons change. It is not as important when you get through it as how you get through it. Get through it with your faith intact. Trust in God. He orders your steps and makes your paths straight. He will be with you, even in the dentist chair.

Mother's Day

Mother's Day is now upon us and I hope that you have all thought about what you are going to do to show respect and affection to your mothers. I got my present for my mother in the mail today and am looking forward to giving it to her this weekend. I want to take this opportunity on this blog to say how blessed I have been to have a Godly mother who has been a great example of Christ to her children. Things have not always been easy for our family, but my mom always made sure they were fun. People say that I take after my mother in many ways. I take that as a compliment and do not mind it at all. The older I get, the more I feel like my father though. That too would be a compliment for me. 

I do not know that much about child rearing since I do not have one of my own. But you do not have to be experienced to be knowledgeable of the fact that the role of a mother in a child's life is extremely important. To all of you mothers out there (like Christy Jackson...told you I would put your name in this time...) I want to salute you and tell you that whatever sacrifices you may have to make to see your children become the man and woman of God that they are destined to become is worth it! You have been given a grave responsibility and God is counting on you to be an example of Christ. You do not have to be perfect, just loving. My mother is not and never was perfect. But she lived a life of humility before God that let me know that in her imperfection, God was making her strong. So trust God and let Him show you how to raise your children in the fear and admonition of the Lord. 

Happy Mother's Day

"Been Long Time"

I am sorry that it has been so long since I have written anything on here. We have been in a time of physical transition moving our offices across the street. This has been exciting while at the same time a little rattling since "the train must keep moving" so to speak.

I wanted to just take a moment today to write about being thankful. Pastor Rick's message yesterday indeed inspired this blog. I want to say how thankful I am for my wife, my family, my friends, and my church. I am a blessed person. God has given me so much grace and mercy and I am in awe of the fact that He has blessed me the way He has blessed me. Sometimes it is so easy to focus on the areas in our life that "hurt" and forget about the areas that are so blessed and strong. So today I will not complain about pain...I will instead rejoice and give thanks for God's many blessings. Maybe you can try that too!!