What's Been Going On...

It has been a long time since I've posted anything! Wow! I am going to try and make this blog much more of a regular thing. But before I get into that, let me tell you a little about what has been going on lately... I promise that this is the condensed version... :)

--Back in early May, my wife, Christina, was having some real bad pain in her abdomen. No, she's not pregnant (just in case you're wondering). It turns out that her gall bladder went bad! So we had it taken out on May 8th. But, she didn't seem to be getting any better. A week or so later, she developed pnemonia. After a week of heavy meds, she still wasn't any better. We took her to the E.R. and they said she had asthma. After two weeks of heavy steriods and breathing treatments, she seemed better... Goo enough, in fact, to go on a mission trip to Honduras for 10 days. When she returned, however, she was much worse.... Long story short, after another stay in the hospital, dozens of tests, and a trip to the OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER, it was discovered that she has vocal cord displacement. In other words, her vocal cords close when she inhales, rather than open. This is a rare side-effect of being intibated during surgery.

--So for the last 1 and 1/2 months, we've been staying at my parent's house because they have central AC and since mom is a nurse, she can monitor Christina's progress...

-- BTW, Christina is doing much better! Praise Jesus! She goes to see a specialist next week, so hopefully we're almost out of the woods...

-- The last few months have been very trying for us as a couple and individually. God has really been teaching us some crucial life lessons. I hope to share more of those over the coming days and weeks...

For now, just know that we're both doing well and that we appreciate the prayers and support of all our friends and family. We've missed out on a lot lately, but we've also gained so much through this... God Bless you and remember... THE BEST IS YET TO COME!

Sunday Reflections (September 6, 2009)

I haven't blogged in a while but I really do have a good excuse! The house where Christina and I live has no high-speed internet access. The only time I am really online anymore is when I visit my parents (10 minutes away) and usually it is only to check my email. But enough with the excuse, on to my point!

Sunday was an awesome time at Eden UB! We are in our third week of a series called Revealed and the message was called Undecided. The Bible passage is Revelation 3:14-22. Some general reflections of yesterday:
- Our crowd has been smaller the last few weeks because of youth football leagues. I am a fan of football and I understand it's family time. Parents, just make sure your kids realize that Jesus is greater that a touchdown.
-Revelation is a mysterious book to most of us, but it doesn't have to be. Yeah, there area lot of things about Jesus that we will not understand until we get to heaven, but we don't need to complicate them and that is just what many people have done with the last book of the Bible.
-This series is not an in-depth look at the "end times". Why? Because no one knows for sure how it's going down and my job is to proclaim truth, not theories.
-By the way, Revelation is so much more than simply a book about the end times, it is a book on worship! The summation of the book is this:

• Jesus is Mighty and Awesome
• Jesus is Lord of the Church and He has expectations of us
• Jesus is deserving of our worship
• Heaven is incredible
• Jesus is coming back soon and to defeat evil forever.

- Christina has been sick the last week. I took her to the Emergency Room Friday for lower abdominal pain (and no, she is not pregnant.... almost everyone has asked that). She has a 1 1/2 inch cyst on her ovary, so pray for her.
- When Christina is in pain I am all over it. I mean, I swing into high gear to take care of her. She is my bride and I love her and cherish her more than anything. This all reminded me of how much God loves and cares for us.

-We need to stop sitting on the fence when it comes to Jesus! You can't have Jesus be Lord or leader of your life and then try to control your life.

-Churches can't embrace the future while haveing a death grip on their own preferences.

Just One Small Change Can Make A Huge Difference!

Right now I am typing on my home PC, which is odd because lately I have nearly exclusively used my laptop. So what, right? Well let me explain why.

Yesterday, my fiancee Christina and I worked at cleaning my dinning room. Years ago my parents got rid out the dinning room table and the room turned into the computer room. It has been continually filthy, thanks mostly to me. So yesterday we cleaned it. Some couples watch movies. Some go one nice country drives. Christina and I clean. She motivates me to get off my hindquarters and actually accomplish things!

Anyway, after we cleaned most of it, I had an idea. We have cleaned this room before but it always go back to looking like a disaster zone withing days. I thought maybe we could re-arrange the room to make it more functional and actually create more space. She thought it was a great idea, provided I didn't fill up that extra space with more junk. So we spent about 4 hours total cleaning and rearranging the heavy computer desk, and moving chairs and etc. Now there is a functional space that includes the computer a little sitting area in one corner, with more floor space than we've had here for a long time. Again, what's the point?

Just a small change can make a HUGE difference. Instead of sitting in my room working on my laptop, I am downstairs working in a clean workspace and feeling very good about it. Just a small change in the layout of this room (as well as a lot of pick-up and throw-away) has changed my work habits and mood.

This principle can be applied to areas of my life besides clutter. Last night I took Christina home to her house and got back around midnight. This morning when I called her, we decided to read our Bibles via phone. We've made a commitment to read the Bible together everyday, when possible. Already today I feel much closer to her and excited about what God is doing and going to do in my life. Already I feel really motivated to get stuff done. Just a small change... But a HUGE impact.

I've heard the following about pilots & airplanes: Even on auto pilot, the plane is constantly being turned and adjusted to correct it's course. Just a one degree difference can be huge. I heard it said that if a plan flying from New York to Hawaii is off just one degree it could end up in Australia (it could be New York to Tokyo and ending up in Australia). All it takes to stay on course is a small change.

So I want to encourage everyone to make just a small baby step today. Read your Bible for 10 minutes today. Pray for 5. Go to church tomorrow even if Sunday is your day to sleep in. Spend 5 minutes telling your spouse how wonderful they are. Play with you kids for a few more minutes. Offer to help an elderly person with their bags at the store. Just baby steps... It can and WILL make a huge difference!

By the way, at Eden tomorrow we're talking about how faith is absolute confidence and how we can have complete confidence in Jesus Christ. Hope to see you there at 11 AM!

My Goals for 2009

2009 is already here and before you know it, it will be half over. So many times I've broken my resolutions for the new year. But this year, I thought that I needed to make some. Not just some random goals, but goals that I think God has for me. So without further ado, here they are:

• Loose 40 Pounds by July.
• Get married July 11th.
• Learn to be a better fiance and future husband to Christina.
• Get back to focusing on my education.
• Disciple 4 men at Eden Church
• Find new supplemental employment.
• Make personal time with God a priority.
• Finish the 40 or so books I have started in the last year and not finished (everything from history, to cooking, to church leadership, to mysteries, to humor, to Max Lucado and John Ortberg).

So there they are. And that is probably not all of them. Back in August, my bishop gave me a homework assignment to complete. I needed to name 1 or 2 short-term goals (6-12 months) in 9 different areas of my life. Well, I haven't really worked on them thus far, but now is the perfect opportunity.

Yes, I have already broken some of them. I did eat that Peanut-Butter Ice Cream I swore off. But in my defense, it wasn't as much as I used to eat! Ha!

I really want to be all that God wants me to be because I find myself desiring a deeper intimacy with Him. Notice I said desire. I am not always as close to God as I should be. I fall at times. But I am so thankful that God's Holy Spirit is stirring in me and is causing me to have a deeper desire for a closer walk with God.

What are some of your resolutions?

Day One: My Hajj to Huntington

My Hajj to Huntington—Day One


In my last post I introduced my trip to Huntington, Indiana. Well, I am going to leave tomorrow and it is about time that I write about my first day, even if it was only a partial day.

We arrived in Huntington mid Saturday afternoon. We had made reservations at the Vista Hotel, not far from Huntington University. We were supposed to have two adjoining rooms. I was to stay in a room with a king bed and my mother and Christina were to take the room with two doubles. It seemed like a good idea. We were originally going to stay in new Staybridge in Fort Wayne, but it seemed too expensive.

When we arrived, I was really disappointed. The hotel, which guaranteed our accommodations, gave our adjoining rooms away and gave us two rooms that we on opposite sides of the building. This just was not acceptable to me. Not only were we guaranteed two connecting rooms, but it would be difficult to spend time with Christina. My legal training (which consists of all the Law & Order shows & a few collage law courses) did not prepare me to deal with this bad business practice. At my suggestion, and slight temper tantrum, we re-confirmed our reservations at the Fort Wayne Staybridge. It really didn’t cost too much more.

We came to the hotel and we were instantly impressed. Not only is the facility new, but the staff is extra friendly and the accommodations are excellent. The high speed internet is a big plus, now that I finally have a laptop. The pull-out couch is actually pretty comfy, and the fully equipped kitchen saves us money on eating out. Oh, and did I mention the pool? Its one of the best indoor pools I’ve seen—and I’ve seen a lot of them.

When we finally settled in and took a swim it was time to go to bed. We were planning to visit several UB churches in the area so we would be getting up real early.

That’s it— my first day in the Holy City. No fasting, no prayers addressed towards 302 Lake Street, but a good day. Five hours of traveling, 1 hour of hotel problem solving, and raw nerves. But here we are.

It's Been Awhile

So I haven’t “blogged” in a month… wow… I was hoping that this would be a regular thing and a way for me to expand Eden and stay in touch. Kinda dropped the ball on that one! Anyway, I do seem to have a problem writing down my thoughts. Christina gave me a journal for Christmas and I was doing really well; writing every day until around Jan 25! Having said that let me list some of the things that have happened over the last month:

• Eden went to a new music system on Feb 24. We are now singing to CD’s. This makes it so much simpler, in that I don’t have to practice the piano/organ for hours and we can learn some newer songs. We also are now projecting the words to the songs on the wall. People were a little uneasy at first, but now it seems that the congregation rather enjoys it. People are using the hymnals less and the singing is much better. Singing along with people helps too.

• Christina and I celebrated Valentines Day. What a weekend! Her birthday is the day right after valentines, so I naturally spent way too much money in just a few days time. But we had a good time together. Each day I am amazed that God has brought us together. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for us.

• We had Wednesday night Bible Study maybe two times 5 weeks. The snow didn’t fall on the weekends, just on Tuesdays. The Lord gives and the Lord takes away.

We started our first men’s group at Eden! Praise the Lord! I really believe that the more men there are who are living out God’s plan for their lives, the more people will come into the Kingdom of God.

I plan to write about all of these things in the next several posts, so bear with me.