Author: 7holycrap

Today is the first day you have lived today.  Its not yesterday and its not tomorrow yet so what should you know about the qualities of today?  There are 3 things to remember:

1. There is a beginning and an end to a day.  I know that when I was the most sick with my eye everyday ran into each other for Yolanda and I.  Take some time today and thank God that you were able to get up, at the beginning of the day, and go to bed tonight, at the end of the day.  Even if you can’t thank him for anything else then you can thank him for breathing today.

2. You have a choice to make any day great or crappy.  I have always said that, “happiness is a decision and not a condition”.  When you choose to let the circumstances of the day cause worry or pain in your mind you have just ruined that day and, on top of that, not made the situation any better.  Don’t let the devil steal your today by worrying about tomorrow.

3.  The time in a day is a great commodity.  Even money cannot buy another hour in the day.  We are all given the same amount of time each day to give to the things we feel are most important.  If that is work, then we will probably be workaholics.  If its family, we will spend a lot of our time on family.  What ever you spend the most time on during a day will be a reflection of what you love.  God needs us to not just “have time for him” but to find time for him as well.  I know that with all the things I have going on in my life its hard to just have time for God.  I need to find it and place it in a strategic place so I can get the most out of my time with him.  

If I could give one thing to someone who I know is going through a difficult time right now is that the pain and crap you are going through is not one long continuous crappy day.  I just had a conversation with a friend who is dealing with a whole lot more than what I dealt with concerning my eye and she said that the key for her is taking it one day at a time.  I totally agree with that statement and please don’t forget something else very important; make your pain matter in someone else’s life.  Have empathy when you hear of someones struggles, paitence when people who have pain get angry for no apparent reason and pray for them because you can understand possibly better than anyone how to lift them up in prayer.  Make today great!!

I am stoked to be able to help Jennifer get her blog started.  She is probably reading this right now so Jennifer, welcome to the world of WordPress!!  UPDATE!!! Jen Lovelady is ready to tackle the world of the blog and make it her own.  Who are you helping be better today than they were yesterday?

God has really been challenging me to get off the ol’ kiester and get more involved with him.  Not church, not a social outreach, not a video game, not more loud music for my stereo in my truck, not more friend requests (although facebook is DANG fun) but with him.  Its kind of hard to explain what I have been feeling the past few days.  I do think that some of this is coming from my book writing and being thankful I still have my eye and didn’t have to get it removed and still have some vision.  I really believe that when we start feeling better from being sick or mentally in a bad place that we can slack off in our pursuit of God.  Pain has an amazing way of keeping us close to God whether it is the prayer of desperation or the prayer of consecration.  If you are in a place of pain right now with your life please dont forget it.  That may sound like a stupid statement but if we cannot remember the pains of life then we will have no reference for where God has brought us.  I am determined to make my life count not just for others and seeing them start talking to God again or have hope to get through the crap of life, but to make my life and my relationship with Jesus better than it has ever been.  Dont just change the world around you with your story of hope, change YOUR world.

I am sure that the winner of the superbowl this year (steelers, congrats Uncle Jon) will not change the condition of my life.  Although I cheer for the Buccaneers and want them to win with every fiber of my being, the outcome of last nights game will not affect me in eternity.  Just a little food for thought this morning after gorging yourself on Brats and football last night and something to think about if your team didnt make it this year. (besides the fact that this is my therapy for my team not making it) 🙂

I am in book writing and reflection mode in my life right now and I wanted to share a little nugget of truth from me to you.  In life, we will all go through something that is painful and will have to deal with the consequences of that pain.  I truly believe that pain should be seen as a way to prove what you are made of and not that pain makes who you are.  When we understand this simple principle we will learn to welcome challenges in our lives because they are not only opportunities to grow in our character but to learn something about ourselves we never knew.  You will either have pain happen so many times and never realize its inevitable and continue to let pain direct your life or you will welcome it with open arms and thank God for the chance to show him how much you are focused on eternity and not on the temporary.  I am not saying that pain doesn’t hurt because by its definition it does.  But when we realize that pain is as much a part of life as happiness then we have stepped over into a realm of understanding what our life should be; going thru things so that we can help others.  God designed us to be able to help others.  Learn it now or learn it later.  I choose now, shouldn’t you?

I never really realized the flood of emotions that come with writing a book about one of the most terrible and awesome things that had ever happened to me.  I am certainly seeing deeper inside me and having to come to terms with feelings and emotions and memories of pain about my eye that I really feel like I have almost suppressed.  For example, when I was writing the chapter about what I went through phsically and seeing all the doctors and the medication I was on it was like I was back at that place again; unhappy, suicidal, out of ministry and ready to just quit.  I know God was with me through all of the things I went through but I also realized that there are some areas of my life I still have to work on.  If you are going through a challenge in your life remember that just because you go through something it doesn’t necessarily make you stronger unless you have learned from it.  I know that my relationship to Jesus is the only thing that has brought me through all the physical, mental and emotional pain of the past four and a half years but I also see how at times I was just trying to get through the situation instead of asking God, “what are you trying to teach me because of this?”  If this can help one person to not ask “why” but “what” then everything I went through with my eye was worth it.  I want to make a difference in the world around me and the friends I come in contact with.

I have been very busy the past few months…you know…GETTING OFF ALL MY MEDICATION!!  That’s right folks, I am off of all the cancer inducing, liver killing, kidney abusing, life shortening, bone shrinking drugs.  I just took my last Cytoxin about 5 days ago.  I go into the doctor for a checkup in about 3 months (that’s how long the drug stays in your system.  Holy Lord).  I really want to thank everyone who has prayed for me and Yolanda.  It has been an incredible battle these past five years and I know that I am a better person from it.  I still have some damage in my left eye but I feel great and I have excellent vision in my right eye and peripheral vision in my left eye.  My face is back to normal and I can get into clothes that I haven’t been able to in years.  God has been good to me in teaching me some very important lessons while going through this pain.  The next thing I really need prayer for is to pay off medical bills.  They need a good “healing” as well.  Not to mention Yolanda’s car that is in need of some Lazarus-type faith.  We are believing for a new CRV for her and all the bills being paid off.  If God can bring me through this eye stuff then he can take care of the bills.  Thanks again and “HOLY CRAP…Im better!!”

I have a new pic in my vRp:) page. Check it out.

Yolanda and I were talking about this the other night.  I dont think that the earthly realm realizes just how much the devil uses fear to his advantage.  I am not trying to give the devil praise, but I am saying that if you have fear that occurs in your life, then you need to realize the source of it and do something about it.  I think that when fear happens in our lives that we just do everything we can to “just get by” and dont really think about a strategy for overcoming fear.  Some things we need to consider…
1. fear is directly from the devil and is only as powerful as we let it be.
2. We have the ability to actually make our situation worse if we let fear control us. 
3. Fear is an emotional reaction and comes from us.  It is a demonic influence on our emotions.
4. Dont let the devil “feast” on the emotion of fear in your life. 

I an not saying I am a pro at dealing with fear, but if we are not getting better with dealing with the Spiritual realm then we are getting worse at it.

I dont know what it is this year, but the olympics have my attention. The opening ceremony was unlike ANYTHING I have ever seen and was a technological wonder (and I know my technology). I was tearing up a bit during the medal ceremony for the Men’s 4×100 relay. The French were talking trash about how they were at the games to “crush” the American team. Not so little Frenchies. The will and determination of our team, who were underdogs, was an awesome thing to watch. Yolanda and I were screaming until our thoats were scratchy last night about 11:30pm. I am watching the Olympics this year with a different sense of American pride. I think its always good for the Olympics to come around every couple of years to remind us all of just what a great country we live in. We definitely have our problems but we live in the greatest country in the world and I am proud of it. Dont forget that when we get into the election season which is just around the corner. Whether you like or dislike the candidates, we have a democratic system that is setup to represent the people. Other countries around the world are not as fortunate as we are. God Bless America and let freedom ring. Has a nice tone doesnt it?