Audrey and Noah's Hug: Day 3

One of the positives I missed from yesterday was the ability to listen to Christian music. I've had the station programmed on my car radio for quite some time, but I couldn't stand to listen to it. I would barely give it a chance. You see, when you're a negative-minded person, being pummeled with cheerfulness and hope is like listening to Britney Spears. It may sound good for a minute, but it seems overly candy-coated and unrealistically happy. Watch the news and you'll see that the world is actually made up of unexpected tornados, crooked politicians and child molesters sprinkled a bit with sports and weather.

I turned it on yesterday and was able to not only listen to the music but listen to the words behind it. Not only are they praising God, but they are conveying a true-to-life message. There seems to be more commercials and less chances at winning $10,000, but I'm finally enjoying it.

Another positive I missed yesterday that I haven't spoke of yet is Noah's hug. That's just awesome when you step through the door after work and this little 20 month old who knows just a few words, runs up to you saying "Dad!" (he seems to be copying the other kids' "Dad" rather than saying "Daddy!"). For some reason he cocks his head to the right as he runs. It's funny to see and I could just pick him up as he runs to me, but I have to have The Hug. He runs up to my leg, wraps his arms all the way around it, and lays his head barely above my kneecap. He then gives me a few pats with his tiny hand as if to say "It's o.k. Dad. You're home now." Colton is 10, so I see how they grow up so fast, so it's imperative I take the time to enjoy this finite moments.

I tied this altogether after reading a blog Jennifer has linked on her blog. The blogger's husband is a singer for a Christian music band called Selah. The blog is mostly about their daughter Audrey Caroline . Many of the most recent posts have dealt with their pain of losing her. They knew after 20 weeks of pregnancy that there were major problems and I can't imagine what they have gone through since. I'm sure a loss of a family member would test my faith more than I may like to admit. She writes a story concerning one of her other daughters who had made a drawing for Audrey:

""Well, Abby, the great thing about heaven is that Audrey can see all of the things that we are doing down here. AND, she can see what you made for her! She can just look right into our house and see it." I waited to see how this felt to her.

Without a word, she spoke life back into my tired bones.

She took the edges of the drawing delicately and lifted it high above her head, closer to her baby sister. She had her head tipped back, looking upward, and after a few seconds, she closed her eyes and a smile made it's way across her face.

"She liked it, didn't she?" I asked her quietly.

She nodded, still glowing, and ran off to play."

Although this blog is mostly about the positives in life, I am not ignoring the negatives. They are there. When dealing with them, I will try to take the advice from Angie, Audrey's mom:

"When anger roars through your heart, when you feel nobody hears you and when you think life isn't fair, bring it to the Lord. "

So praise God for all the positives in your life, but if there are other situations that are giving you a heavy heart, bring them to God. He will know what to do.

Serendipity and my baby: Day 2

Serendipity: the effect by which one accidentally discovers something fortunate. I've always liked that word. Not only is it fun to say, it's meaning is interesting as well. A friend of mine was supposed to find out about getting a loan, only to find out that they had to go to the main office nearer to where they live. He was upset because he had been misinformed, had missed work and gone out of his way to get to the office, but figured since he was in the area, he'd stop by a shop he was told about to get a transmission he needs for his truck. When they pulled up, the guy was locking up the shop. He turned out to be the owner and had just finished building the exact transmission my buddy needed. Not only that he sold it to him for less than half what you would be a new one for. He was pretty happy. If he would've left that loan office 5 minutes later, they never see the owner and may not get what he needed. In a world where there seems to be so much commotion and white noise, it's good to see that things can happen just so perfectly that it puts smiles on everyone's faces.

My baby: My daughter. I call her Baby. I'm not sure why, but I do. She's always been a little shy, and she's occasionally needed a little push to try something new or keeping at it. She sobbed when she had to keep going to dance, but eventually she got into it and did very well at her recitals. It was a little tough getting her to go to SONshine Park at church and to Awana's. She's been going to both for a while now, and she says she likes them. She came home sick from school today, was better by the time Kim and I got home and really wanted to go to Girl Scouts. I'm glad she has found something she enjoys and I hope she continues to go and gain something really positive from it.

Positively Wonderful: Day 1

This is day 1 of my attempt to finding something positive to write every day.

It's interesting being a new Christian. I look at things differently than I did before. A friend of mine at work mentioned the money he won at bingo recently. He won almost $2,000 within the last week, although not all profit. He spends lots of money playing bingo, but wins a lot as well. He mentioned that the money came at a good time since the warranty on his truck just expired and he's had to put a lot of money towards it. I thought "Wow. God is working in his life and he doesn't even know it." That's a wonderful God.

Around 2 years ago, a tumor was found on the brain of our VP of quality at work. A risky surgery had to be done to remove most of it and then chemotherapy was needed to get the rest. He doesn't come by my office too often, but he was by today. He appears more sluggish than he used to be, but besides that, he seems to be the same old Mr. Houser. It's inspirational seeing the strength of the human spirit. I asked about him, and it was good to hear that he has finished chemotherapy and the cancer appears to be gone. Praise God.

Another positive was seeing Colton pitch to batters for the first time today at practice. He threw his share of well placed strikes and a decent share of balls that were no where near the plate. The best part was seeing the smile on his face when the coach asked him to come pitch and then again later on when the coach was complimenting his throws. He's having fun out there and as a dad that wants to see him to do well and have fun, that makes me feel great.

Coney Dogs and the devil.

Do you know anyone that almost seems to enjoy being the "devil's advocate"? You come up with what seems like a good idea, and that person is one of the first to say "Yeah, but...". If you come up with an alternative solution to a problem, they are the first ones to remark "Well, that won't work because..." Well, in many cases, that guy is me. I can be so consumed with negativity sometimes, that I may refuse to see the positive in a situation. Being rather thin-skinned doesn't help either. It creates what many people call "a short fuse". Not only can I be quick with a negative remark, but I may get easily offended and/or angered.

Now, this isn't to say I'm always this way because I can seem to be in a positive mood much of the time. Unfortunately, that can change quickly. What I will be attempting to do is write about something positive that happens every day. I'm hoping this can have an effect on how I think and what I believe and that this effect will be long-lasting. In recognizing these positive situations in my life, I will be giving glory to God. It is only through Him that these things are happening in my life. I thank Him for my family, my job and my life overall. Many of these positive-minded blogs will most likely remark on any of these things, but some may not.

How long do I think I can keep a daily blog on positive happenings in my life? The normal me says 3 days to 2 weeks. The unrealistic part of me says 2 years or more. I'm going to set a goal of 2 weeks and 1 day.

I'm going to start by talking about coney dogs. I was at work and was hungry with three dollars in my pocket. I thought to myself, " You know what sounds good? Those coney dogs they used to put in the vending machines. " They were one of the only things the vendor put in there that had any good taste to it. They didn't look very attractive, but they were pretty close to delicious. I went to the cafeteria to see what they had. They had the usual beverages, unappealing breakfast sandwiches, tasteless fish and chicken sandwiches and overpriced pita wraps. After checking through it a second time, I saw a coney dog. It may sound corny, but I was amazed. I hadn't seen one in there in what may be over a year, but there it was, and for only a buck. I bought two and they were as good as I remember. (As a side note, you get one guess as to what was served at my brother-in-law's son's birthday party later in the week. Those were even better.)

I wonder: was that just a coincidence or did God place those coney dogs in there for me? I asked a pastor friend of mine this question in so many words and I liked his answer. He didn't know, but if I believed He did, then He did. Do I believe He did? I would say my faith in God is stronger than my faith in happenstance coincidences, so yes, I believe He did.

Thank you God for the breaths I breathe everyday, a wonderful family, a pleasant church to go to and coney dogs when I least expect them. You are a loving God and I praise You for this now and forever.

Shout To The Lord

Have you ever had an experience that you just wanted to shout to the world? I have, but they've been few and far between. Falling in love for the first time with my wife was one of the first and then again after getting married and then after having each one of my children. God has blessed me with a wonderful family and I am very grateful.
This last Sunday, I was part of a prayer vigil. I am what I consider a new Christian, and at 11:00 pm, I was to begin praying for people who had prayer requests and any others that needed God's love in their life. I got to the church at 10:00, read a bit, wrote a bit, and generally got myself in a positive state of mind (which can many times be difficult).
At exactly 11:00, I entered my prayer room at the church and began praying. I began by praising God, then confessing to him and then thanking him as requested by the prayer book we had been given. Lastly, I began supplication (prayer requests). Soon, I found it necessary to get out of my chair and on my knees to pray. Soon after that, I could feel God's presence all around me. I've known for as long as I can remember that God is always with us, but to feel his actual presence was very moving to me.
At around 11:30, I felt moved to pray at the steps that lead up to the podium. I cannot explain the feeling I felt knowing, without a doubt, that God was working miracles on some of these people lives as we prayed. I understood that all prayers may not be answered for reasons only He knows, but I had never before experienced the intensity of God's strength, mercy, and love all at once.
While some requests had to do with cancer and others with aches and pains, I understood that no request was less important than another. I was very moved by someone asking for help with a family member that had lost their faith. Not only had something most likely tragic happened in their life, but they felt they had lost the One they should turn to first. I knew that God was still with them and prayed that He would show them the way.
I was also very moved by one of the last prayer requests I had read. At the end of their request they wrote "God Bless You All". I did feel incredibly blessed at that moment and wanted to thank them personally for writing that down. I wanted to thank everyone personally for putting their faith in the Lord and writing their prayer requests down for us to see.
I then prayed for myself and my family, and then for every one of the requests again. When I thought I was done, I wasn't. I again prayed for everyone and ended this final prayer with an Amen filled with more hope and promise than I could have imagined. I was still alone as I got up to walk out at very close to 12:30, but I knew that this experience had brought me closer to God and I had taken a bigger step in the path God has for me and my family than I had ever taken before .
I need to thank God for this, but I also need to thank my wife for supporting me, Pastor Don for presenting the opportunity, Dennis and Jennifer for leading me to this church, and to everyone who turned in a prayer request that allowed me the pleasure of praying for them. Thank you all and God bless.