Stomach flu on the birthday

Yesterday was not pleasant for me. The stomach flu is never fun, especially when it was on my birthday but it was even worse for Hailee. Hailee set up our kids to be at our good friend Jen’s house and have an amazing birthday celebration for me. About 10:30 things changed when I went to the bathroom for the first of many times throwing up. Within five minutes after that Hailee got a call from Jen, Ty threw up.

After picking them up from Jen’s and getting them back home, Connor started throwing up at about midnight and then Nevaeh followed at 3. I was out of commission, so Hailee took care of all the kids. Then at 6:30 she got sick herself. Sunday we were dead. I had a birthday lunch that consisted of a cracker and a half a cup of water. It was not an easy day. For as bad as I had it, Hailee had it worse taking care of all of us. Life doesn’t always go as planned. At times life is hard, for as bad as it was Hailee reminded me it could have been worse. Nobody had to go to the hospital, nobody was seriously injured, it was just a bug. Even though bad things happen, it was nothing life changing. We talked about celebrating by birthday on another day and life goes on. Sometimes life is not as bad as it seems.

What we often go through is nothing compared to what others go through. I am reading through some of the hardships Paul went through. This guy was beaten and thrown in prison. He faced angry crowds ticked at him, worked till he was dead tired, faced many sleepless nights and was starving. Paul faced some messed up things that I never had to face in life. He was beaten within an inch of death for his faith, I never faced that in my life. Looking back at my birthday yesterday, it was nothing compared to what Paul faced.

How was Paul able to face all of this and still move forward? 2 Corinthians 6:6-7…”in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; in truthful speech and in the power of God with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left.”

Through all the trials Paul faced, we see that he saw a big picture for what he endured. Paul trusted in God and the Holy Spirit through all he went through. He was a honest and loving guy but was called everything but. Through it all he trusted in God. In a little of verse 10 there is an interesting line, “poor, yet making many rich; having nothing and yet possessing everything.”

Often in life we think we are doing good based on the possessions we own. The nicer the house, car, electronic devices, and other worldly possessions the better we are. It’s a false appearance of having it all. Paul didn’t have anything yet made other people rich by giving them the greatest gift possible, eternal life. He led so many people to Christ and to a life that doesn’t end here on earth. Even though he was broke, he had spiritual blessings to make up for that. Do you think God cares about the things you own or do you think he just cares about you?

Through all Paul’s struggles, it puts mine to shame. He went through and faced a tough life not many will face. I am thankful that I only had a temporary sickness on my birthday because it could have been so much worse. Even through the sickness I am glad I have a loving wife to take care of me and everything I go through. I am glad I have Paul who lived a pure life to see other come to Jesus and live eternally. Seeing him go through his hardships reminds me that through the bad I go through I and we can still persevere through what we go through.

Have a great day.

Against all odds (More than just the autobiography from Chuck Norris)

I love the underdog. I love teams and people that aren’t expected to do anything and they surprise the world. Kurt Warner was a minor league quarterback, a backup quarterback, at one point worked at a grocery store, but after the starting quarterback went down he stepped in and the rest is history.

Being a Michigan State, Lions, Tigers and Chris Kaman (He played for the Clippers a lot of years and then had to go to the Hornets) fan I get used to being the underdog. It builds character and courage to fight through the bad moments.

This happens outside the sports realm and into all aspects of life.

Paul was traveling as a prisoner to Rome. They were on a boat and things took a turn for the worst. A huge storm hit them and they were basically goners. They didn’t see the sun for three days and lost hope. They threw over cargo and almost everything including the ships tackle. Many thought they would die.

This wasn’t the case as Paul talks in Acts 27:23-25…

“Last night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood beside me and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you. So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me.”

The people would be safe. There was less than a glimmer of hope, yet God took care of Paul and took care of the people. Keep up your courage. What do you need courage in? Courage goes beyond being an underdog is sports. The people on the boat lacked courage, yet God came through for them. Take courage even through the worst of times.

Some people that have amazing courage to me…

Single parents – For whatever reason, this is nearly impossible to go through.  Hailee and I were teaming up to feed Nolan, change and get Nolan back to sleep.  We both said the same thing, I couldn’t do this alone.

Those coming from poor situations – It’s hard to have nothing and to make something with your life, it takes a tremendous amount of hard work.

Those with physical or mental disabilities – the strength of what some people have to go throw everyday is beautiful.  When you see people overcoming and not being a slave to a disability and do something awesome it’s a masterpiece.

Kids of divorced families – Stats of shown that the kids of divorced families don’t usually fair as well kids with parents that don’t divorce.  If you are a child of divorced parents you can overcome and do so much with your life.

Paul was able to keep the men’s courage. If you are struggling through life right now, take courage.

Know that through much pain can come much joy. God is there for you even when you don’t feel like it. Take courage. What do you need courage in?

Stay strong, fight the good fight, do everything in your power to make things better and when you come up short, you can always rely on God and Jesus. If things are going good for you….encourage!

Help someone else out. Lift them up with your words, make this world a better place with how you treat other people. Life can get better. Take courage!

Have a great day!

Are mission trips pointless?

I was recently asked to share my thoughts on going to Haiti for a mission trip.  This is some of the thoughts that came up in no particular order…

·         I had reserves about going on an overseas mission trip, I heard and mostly agreed that they were beneficial for the person going but not the community they were going too.  I often heard that Americans would go over, build things and spend a ton of money on airfare to get there.  A mission organization figured out that if they just shipped the money they would have spent on going and gave it to the people 10-15,000 would be sent in money alone.  This would allow the people to hire local people to do the jobs and help the economy out.  As a result of hiring people locally this allowed the churches over there to minister to the people and help them by giving them jobs.  This was a thought I had before going on this trip.  Should we as Americans go on mission trips or raise and give money? I tried to keep an opening mind as I went on the trip.

·         Food – I was really worried about eating the food over there for the simple fact, if it’s not a burger it’s questionable to me.  The food was more than adequate and in fact I had some amazing food over there including the best pineapple upside-down cake.  We were treated very well in the food department and I tried some different food.  I tried goat for the first time, not bad but would not have again.

·         People – What I enjoyed the most was meeting the people down there.  Matthieu (Our mission leader) took us through the cities in order to meet with some people from the Church.  I cherished this time, we got to meet and see families from the Church and were able to offer money to the people that really needed it.  It was so nice to meet with other Christians and fellowship even when you didn’t understand all of the words they said.  The people were amazing and faithful.  We met a family where the husband died and they literally had no way of bring in money.  Unlike here there isn’t a job market, people do what they have to do to make money and survive.  We were able to start supporting this family and help in that way.

·         Worship – This was one of a kind.  We got to hear and see people that truly worshipped God everyday.  We witnessed a middle through college age retreat in which the people literally camped on concrete grounds and had the spirit of God with them.  They praised God to the best of their abilities and it was amazing worshipping in Church for upwards of 4 hours and feeling like you were there maybe an hour.  Simeon (one of the worship leaders) was able to create a worship song for the retreat in a week and it was very well done.  I was amazed by the worship.  There was even a group of 15-20 women that got together every morning at 5 to sing and pray for the Church.  I was in awe of this.  They were so dedicated in their faith, loved it.

·         Teaching – I was able to share in the word of God with the people and honestly didn’t feel at home, these people went through struggles I never had in my faith and it was very humbling to say the least.  Matthieu even told me I was a much better teacher then a preacher, I didn’t know if this was a complement or not but it was funny.

·         Conclusion – I really enjoyed my mission experience and overall came to my own conclusion that it’s great for us to go over there.  Matthieu mentioned multiple times he loves when groups are able to come over because you get a firsthand experience that sending money does not do.  I will never forget my time over there and truly enjoyed worshipping with my brothers and sisters in Christ over there.  It is a trip I think every Christian would benefit for and will gain a great perspective of the kingdom of God.  We were able to see one of the Churches had a wall falling apart and if the government saw it, they would close the building and as a result close the school in this community.  So rather then going on a mission trip next year we are going to raise money as a Church to help pay for a new school over there.  It’s amazing what we can do to help another Church out.

Have a great day.