emt4jesus
Still Waiting
Mar 27, 2007
I posted some photos from earlier this year. My Awana clubbers worked for three months to reach the goal of completing 850 sections in their Awana books. That means they would have to recite at least 1000 Bible verses. Their reward would be to have the commander's head shaved. They completed 950 sections, reciting 1300 verses. What I didn't know was that my assistant and my wife set me up! I ended up singing in the choir that night with a red, green and blue spiked mohawk. It was well worth it.
Another Day, Another Delay
Mar 26, 2007
Surgery Postponed
Mar 25, 2007
I made the decision to postpone my surgery by at least a week as the infected area over my eye is still producing too much stuff to allow me feel comfortable about proceeding. I feel a real peace about this delay as I know there have been many who were praying for healing. This delay will allow me to finish off the current round of antibiotics (Augmetin(?) - 2000 mg a day). It also allows me to get some things done a work that I was concerned with. His time not mine. He is always on time.
Surgery May Be Postponed.
Mar 22, 2007
God's Blessing
Mar 21, 2007
As I walked out of the doctor's office yesterday, I stopped in the hallway to hand my wife some papers and a little man with a cane came by me mumbling something about God's blessings. He was off in his own little world and we slightly bumped into each other.....no harm, no foul. He turned to me and apologized and I said, "No problem". We walked out of the building together joking about our mutual canes when he boldly announced he was a child of God and asked if my wife and I knew Jesus. Happily I could claim the blood of Jesus in my life and he proceeded to openly praise God right there in the entrance way of the building. We talked for a minute about where we worship and then this little man started to pray for me and Sonya and our family. He prayed for healing and blessing in our lives and just praised God that we were allow to fellowship in that moment. As we parte ways I found myself refreshed, encouraged, and joyful. God knew just at that moment in time that I needed to be reminded that everything was going to work out alright and that He was still in control. I came away from the moment with two new attitudes or challenges for my life. First, I want to develop the boldness this man had for Jesus. He took a meaningless event and saw it as an opportunity to further the cause of Christ and boldly proclaimed his witness. Second, he gave me some advice about praying the promises of God. He demanded that I get a book called the Promises of God and to pray through those promises as events in my life present themselves. When he prayed with me he must have referenced five or six different verse from Isaiah, Acts, & Romans. It was very uplifting and powerful. At that moment, I could feel the presence of God surrounding us. As we parted ways we exchanged names and went our separate ways. Sonya had been standing off to the side when all this happened and commented that several people came by us during the exchange and had a look of concern and annoyance as we were praying. If they only knew what they were missing.
Pre-Op Dr. Appointment Day
Mar 21, 2007
My pre-op appointment with the doctor was yesterday. Things did not start as I had hoped. I woke up to find my left eye had swollen shut due to an infection of a bite or sore just above my eye on my forehead. The whole side of my face was swollen. My family doctor gave me two differnet antibiotic shots and sent me home saying if the swelling hasn't gone down by half this morning, they will have to lance the infection. When I went for my pre-op appointment, I just knew they were going to postpone the surgery for at least ten days but I was pleasently surprised. If the infection is under control by Monday, it won't be a problem. I had hot compresses on the infected area most of the day and part of the night and at least I can see again. Hopefully this too shall pass and next Wednesday at this time I will be in a hospital room recovering from the surgery.
Stress Level Increase
Mar 19, 2007
Tomorrow is my pre-op appointment with the doctor and my stress level has gone through the roof. Things at work are extremely problematic as we struggle with a new operating system that after two years of planning and testing has fallen short of expectations. I offered to postpone the surgery until things stabilized but my management has shown their support by insisting I have my surgery scheduled for next week.
After all the problems with getting to this point, tomorrow is the big day. The final decision to proceed with the surgery will be made by the doctor. I feel somewhat anxious that something will go wrong to delay the surgery. There is nothing left that I can do except to trust that God is in control. No matter what happens tomorrow, I thank God for what he has taught me through this time in my life. I have learned to be patient through trails as God works in His time and not mine. I have learned that through disappointment I can still keep my joy because He is still in control. Most of all I have learned that even when things look totally hopeless, God is always on-time with His mercy and grace.
Got a date.
Mar 12, 2007
My Story
I have always been large even as a child. I was always the biggest kid on the football team, wrestled in the heaviest divisions, and was never late for a meal. I was always athletic, lettering in almost every sport there was until my senior year in high school when I decided to concentrate on football. I was always in the gym either lifting weights, playing basketball, or in the racketball courts. An ankle injury ended my dreams of playing football collegiantly but I remained active in intermural sports in college and softball and racketball leagues out in the working world. My weight always fluctuated between 250 to 280 pounds.
I also partied hard during that time, drinking entirely to much alcohol along with polluting my body with other things that I'm not very proud of today. It took the love of a very good woman to pull me out of a life style that was killing me. I married that woman when I was 25 years old and my life changed dramatically from that point on, although very slowly.
Since marrying that woman, I have quit drinking, smoking, dipping, and other things. Part of it was wanting to show my love of her but another reason for the change was accepting Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. Wanting more to be "Jesus with skin on", many of my old ways fell by the wayside and I have allow God to rule in my life. But the one area in my life that I have countinuously failed to completely turn over to Christ has been my weight.
I have never considered myself to be fat or obese. As long as I could hunt and fish, I never worried about my weight. It wasn't one thing exactly that had me open my eyes to the problem but a string of different events in my life that started me thinking about change. First, I was diagnosed with diabetes. Then came two knee and two shoulder operations. Then the Lord used a Bible story that I was teaching my 4th grade boys Sunday School class to show me that as long as I saw my weight as a non-issue, I would be a stumbling block to the very kids I was teaching. My weight at that time was 475 pounds. That was about five years ago. It took my doctor three years to convince me that surgery was my best option. Now I have finally been approved for the surgery.
