Greetings,
You will, no doubt, notice the gap between posts. I have been struggling with my health issues and have not had the heart to update you as much as I would like. Once again the consequences of brain surgery have crept back into my life. Not that they had really disappeared it's just they have become more persistent and more powerful. I have to admit that losing 60% of my vision, 75% of my hearing, blackouts that find me on the floor, a continuous heart rate of 110 bpm, and pain that, sometimes, takes me to my knees, has gotten my spirits in the toilet. My ego has been bruised and my self-loathing has kicked in. What's the matter with me? Well, I think I know!
One of the great thing about this blog is that I have the opportunity to whine to anyone and everyone who might come across this site. Some of you I know and some of you I don't. But in the midst of whining I have also gone back and read some of my earlier blogs. Some helped and some didn't. However, I was blessed with the chance to remember what I learned. I hope these 10 ideas will help you as you journey through life's struggles.
Since my brain surgeries I have learned that:
1) Things always get worse before they get better (that's OK because perseverance builds character)
2) It' OK to cry a little, or a lot (it always seems to make me feel better)
3) Pain is good! (it reminds me that I am not dead!)
4) It is impossible to go through life's struggles alone (family and friends are sometimes the best medicine)
5) Giving things up is hard (but sometimes you just have to do it)
6) God is never as far away as it seems (He is usually closer than you think)
7) Life isn't hard it's just life (but sometimes life is better than other times!)
8) Insurance companies are of the DEVIL! (no explanation needed!)
9) What is on the other side of mountain is not important- the journey you take to get there is!
10) Finally, I have learned that peace can be found, healing can be attained, and suffering can be comforted if we can only start the journey towards God!
Throughout my years of health related challenges I have found all ten of those thoughts to be, absolutely true. It would only stand to reason that if they were true yesterday they must be true today. I should listen to myself more of often!
My prayer for you this day is that you would persevere. That each one of you would look at your situation in life, whatever that may be, and be encouraged that change comes, that God is real, and that He cares about each one of us. It may seem like, at times, that He has abandoned you. I know that feeling, and yet when looking back, I also know that my God was with me every step of the way. So, as I begin a new journey filled with neurologists, neurosurgeons, emergency rooms, family doctors, and medical bills that fill my mailbox everyday, I stop for a moment to take stock in what has been gained and lost. I stop to remember what I learned from the past and apply it to my future. I am a person of action, I have been put on this earth to do something and that is what I am going to do. No longer will I set back and let my health dictate who I am. I will meet this new challenge with heart and determination. I will make good and wise choices!
So, off we go into another challenge! A challenge that I have no intention of losing! May God bless you this day as you seek His comfort and peace!
Blessings,
Derek
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Giving it up for Lent
Greetings,
As we enter this season of Lent I am reminded of the old adage, "I am giving it up for Lent". It is very common for people during this time to decide to "give" something up for the forty days that precede Easter. It is a symbolic act that encourages an individual to abstain from some act or item in response to penitence and inner reflection during Lent. Some give up chocolate or caffeine, smoking or swearing, or, perhaps my favorite, sinning!
I don't want you to think that I am making fun of these people or their attempts to experience Lent in a new and powerful way. I am most certainly not! I have found acts such as these very helpful in my journey home. I have experienced God in a transforming way during my times of fasting and prayer. So, do I think that "giving something up for Lent" is a worthwhile spiritual endeavor? Of course I do. But, I do think that we miss the mark of the true purpose of the Lenten season.
Lent, as defined by WIKIPEDIA!, is the period of the liturgical year from Ash Wednesday to Easter. Lent is a time of sacrifice for Jesus. The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer — through prayer, repentance, alms giving and self-denial — for the annual commemoration during Holy Week of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus, which recalls the events linked to the Passion of Christ and culminates in Easter, the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Those are big words that simply mean we are called to examine our hearts and minds and are encouraged to seek out a more holy and faithful life. So, my disappointment comes when we use these forty days to suffer through the agony and withdrawal of whatever we have decided to "give up" and then, at the culmination of Easter we "pick up" once again whatever it is that we have "given up".
Why is it that we can only muster up enough spiritual fortitude to change our habits for forty days? Is there something that says if we suffer for forty days we have then earned the right to resume certain behaviors? There is no doubt that, let's say, fasting is a spiritual exercise of great importance. I realize that, at some point, you are going to have to resume eating! But why is that when we choose to put down the chocolate bar for forty days we think we have earned enough spiritual points to pick it back up again? Perhaps we have cheapened the purpose of Lent and let the world dictate to us that, if we give it up for Lent, it's okay for the other 325 days of the year!
My encouragement for you during this season of Lent is to define that which is in your life which keeps your relationship with God from growing and then eliminate it. Take some serious time to examine your life. What is it in my life that keeps me from experiencing God in a real and transforming way? What are the things that I need to "give up" so that my relationship with God can grow? How can this season of Lent become real in my life?
I believe that if we take a moment to realize that there is power in the Lenten season then, perhaps, we will be more serious regarding those things we "give up". I pray that these forty days will encourage you in your walk with Christ. May this season of Lent be a turning point on your journey home!
Blessings,
Derek
As we enter this season of Lent I am reminded of the old adage, "I am giving it up for Lent". It is very common for people during this time to decide to "give" something up for the forty days that precede Easter. It is a symbolic act that encourages an individual to abstain from some act or item in response to penitence and inner reflection during Lent. Some give up chocolate or caffeine, smoking or swearing, or, perhaps my favorite, sinning!
I don't want you to think that I am making fun of these people or their attempts to experience Lent in a new and powerful way. I am most certainly not! I have found acts such as these very helpful in my journey home. I have experienced God in a transforming way during my times of fasting and prayer. So, do I think that "giving something up for Lent" is a worthwhile spiritual endeavor? Of course I do. But, I do think that we miss the mark of the true purpose of the Lenten season.
Lent, as defined by WIKIPEDIA!, is the period of the liturgical year from Ash Wednesday to Easter. Lent is a time of sacrifice for Jesus. The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer — through prayer, repentance, alms giving and self-denial — for the annual commemoration during Holy Week of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus, which recalls the events linked to the Passion of Christ and culminates in Easter, the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Those are big words that simply mean we are called to examine our hearts and minds and are encouraged to seek out a more holy and faithful life. So, my disappointment comes when we use these forty days to suffer through the agony and withdrawal of whatever we have decided to "give up" and then, at the culmination of Easter we "pick up" once again whatever it is that we have "given up".
Why is it that we can only muster up enough spiritual fortitude to change our habits for forty days? Is there something that says if we suffer for forty days we have then earned the right to resume certain behaviors? There is no doubt that, let's say, fasting is a spiritual exercise of great importance. I realize that, at some point, you are going to have to resume eating! But why is that when we choose to put down the chocolate bar for forty days we think we have earned enough spiritual points to pick it back up again? Perhaps we have cheapened the purpose of Lent and let the world dictate to us that, if we give it up for Lent, it's okay for the other 325 days of the year!
My encouragement for you during this season of Lent is to define that which is in your life which keeps your relationship with God from growing and then eliminate it. Take some serious time to examine your life. What is it in my life that keeps me from experiencing God in a real and transforming way? What are the things that I need to "give up" so that my relationship with God can grow? How can this season of Lent become real in my life?
I believe that if we take a moment to realize that there is power in the Lenten season then, perhaps, we will be more serious regarding those things we "give up". I pray that these forty days will encourage you in your walk with Christ. May this season of Lent be a turning point on your journey home!
Blessings,
Derek
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Happy New Year
Greetings,
I would like to take this time to wish all of you a very happy new year! I am excited about 2011! This year I will begin to share a new vision that I have for our church. I have taken the time time to share this vision with my leadership board and we will begin to craft a new vision for our church.
The beginning of a new year always brings about a sense of...well..newness! The old year and all of it's troubles seem to wash away when the clock strikes midnight on December 31st! I wonder what it is about the new calendar that convinces us that that which has so long been beyond our reach is, suddenly, within our grasp. All that has, for so long, been unimaginable, suddenly, seems attainable. It's like a cosmic do over! The simple act of turning the page on a calendar (rather buying a new calendar) gives us hope for new things to come. It's like magic!
I want to encourage you to find that magic in the midst of the new year. What I mean is that there is no difference from turning your calendar from December to January than there is fro turning your calendar from June to July. In fact there is no difference from the stroke of midnight on December 31st than there is the stroke of midnight of, say, August 3rd. Each day is a chance for new things. We don't need to wait for the new year to experience new things. The way my life is I can't wait for 365 days to pass just to change my way of thinking or doing.
If there is any validity to a new year's resolution, and I don't think there is, I would encourage you to make a resolution that each new day would be just that...new! The year 2011 can be great for each us if we simply realize that each day of this year brings its own set of challenges, opportunities, and chances for greatness! My journey home continues into 2011. I thank God for the opportunity to turn the page of an old calendar and begin filling in the days of a new one. The year 2010 was a blessing and 2011 is an opportunity. I will not waste it. I will make good decisions and I will act upon those decisions. I have been given the gift of a new year...I will make make the most of it!
May this new year bring blessings and opportunities for greatness. May your families be blessed and may you seek God's riches in 2011!
Happy New Year,
Derek
I would like to take this time to wish all of you a very happy new year! I am excited about 2011! This year I will begin to share a new vision that I have for our church. I have taken the time time to share this vision with my leadership board and we will begin to craft a new vision for our church.
The beginning of a new year always brings about a sense of...well..newness! The old year and all of it's troubles seem to wash away when the clock strikes midnight on December 31st! I wonder what it is about the new calendar that convinces us that that which has so long been beyond our reach is, suddenly, within our grasp. All that has, for so long, been unimaginable, suddenly, seems attainable. It's like a cosmic do over! The simple act of turning the page on a calendar (rather buying a new calendar) gives us hope for new things to come. It's like magic!
I want to encourage you to find that magic in the midst of the new year. What I mean is that there is no difference from turning your calendar from December to January than there is fro turning your calendar from June to July. In fact there is no difference from the stroke of midnight on December 31st than there is the stroke of midnight of, say, August 3rd. Each day is a chance for new things. We don't need to wait for the new year to experience new things. The way my life is I can't wait for 365 days to pass just to change my way of thinking or doing.
If there is any validity to a new year's resolution, and I don't think there is, I would encourage you to make a resolution that each new day would be just that...new! The year 2011 can be great for each us if we simply realize that each day of this year brings its own set of challenges, opportunities, and chances for greatness! My journey home continues into 2011. I thank God for the opportunity to turn the page of an old calendar and begin filling in the days of a new one. The year 2010 was a blessing and 2011 is an opportunity. I will not waste it. I will make good decisions and I will act upon those decisions. I have been given the gift of a new year...I will make make the most of it!
May this new year bring blessings and opportunities for greatness. May your families be blessed and may you seek God's riches in 2011!
Happy New Year,
Derek
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