Home Archive by category "Life" (Page 23)

Category: Life

The Heart of the Matter

Waking up in a hospital bed on Easter Sunday morning after a life-saving proceedure on your heart does wonders for your perspective on life. While family and some friends are quick (too quick) to jump on my diet or love of Dew, the reality is that while I certainly have to make some minor changes to my diet to eat more “heart healthy” and increase exercise, diet is not at the top of my list of the things I’m thinking about. I’m not devaluing the importance of these changes, I’ll make them, many I already was over the past few years, but facing one’s mortality so dramatically impacted me more in thinking about relationships, not food. Months away from turning forty, I suppose everyone at some point truly faces their mortality, and the deep realization that truly every day is a gift from God. Perhaps they go through something like I did, or someone they love does, or it may just be a significant birthday number that hits them; “I’m getting old!” While I’ve always known and believed that every day was a gift from God – when the events of the last 48 hours are such that TODAY is…

Continue reading

Update from the Hospital Bed

I’m writing this from a hospital bed in Aurora, IL after having a stent put into my heart that saved my life! The full story is here if you missed all the updates on Twitter and Facebook! Yes, I was twittering (which updated facebook) during the whole thing, and live blogged to give more detail than you can in status updates. It was really quite amazing that due to today’s technology I literally had more people praying for me probably than your average church prayer line – for those scratching their heads that I would twitter while having a heart attack, let me first say, A) I didn’t technically have a heart attack (explained in blog post) B) I was never in great pain, just enough pain in my chest to know something was wrong and decided the smart thing was to go straight to ER and C) I really truly believe in the power of prayer and wanted to get the word out so that I’d have prayer for myself and family during the critical hours when it mattered most. I never really felt dread or fear, though I had a sober understanding that this was indeed serious –…

Continue reading

Surgeon Sees Jesus in my Heart!

Well, I’m writing this from a recovery room at a hospital over an hour away from home after a surgeon placed a stent in the main left coronary artery of my heart! Being the tech geek I am (and wanting prayer support) I’ve been twittering the journey which also updates my facebook status. Yet another good reason to link the two! O.K., here’s the scoop. Did a big magic show at Stuart Sports Complex in Aurora IL right before a helicopter came to drop eggs. Before the show I rode around on my giraffe unicycle to attract attention toward the stage. I rode out on the grass which is extremely difficult on cold hard lumpy ground and it was a work out! I managed to stay up much longer than I thought I would but after 10 minutes fell. (thats how get off a giraffe unicycle, eventually you just fall to dismount) i was so out of breath, I could hardly talk or breath, but immediately had to do the program. The show went well despite high winds and cold air, but I got through it. It wasn’t until I was packing up that I first thought the blasting music…

Continue reading

Taking a Leap

Sometimes in life, you just have to jump… When is the last time you took a leap of faith? When you stepped off secure ground and submitted yourself to the Hands of God by attempting something daring where you couldn’t see how the landing would be? Often we climb to great heights for God – and the view is spectacular on the summit – but perhaps God is saying it is time to stop enjoying the view and take a leap of faith. I hear often from friends and collegues who feel trapped in there current ministry or life situation. Granted, life is tough, and the grass is always greener on the ‘other side’ – and it takes great character to stick it out in a tough situation. But there is another side to it. Perhaps you don’t have to stay stuck there. Perhaps the problems are God’s way of saying, “I have something else for you.” (Better doesn’t always mean easier, by the way, but better does mean excitement because you are depending on God!) HOWEVER – I’m not speaking so much to those who hate where they are and daydream of being somewhere else. I’m thinking of those…

Continue reading

Daddy, What Are You Doing?

DADDY, WHAT ARE YOU DOING? This morning as I was getting ready for work, my little boy asked me about every thirty seconds, “What are you doing, daddy?” After answering him about twenty times in twenty different ways, I finally started just tossing a towel over his head and saying, “Covering you with a towel!” He would laugh, pull off the towel and say, “No, Daddy, you are putting your socks on!” No task was too small or too insignificant to matter to him. Choosing a shirt, finding my shoes, looking for my keys – every detail of my day matters to him. Especially when he knows that soon I’ll be leaving for work. I once read, “To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world.” And that’s my little boy. Now at the office, still smiling and remembering the morning, I realize I too am a little boy – my heavenly Father’s son – and I too should be asking throughout the day, “What are you doing, Daddy?” No detail of my day is too small or insignificant to God, my Abba Father, and my life ought to be revolving around…

Continue reading