Have Faith

As We Are In The Holy Week I Must Ask You If You Have Faith. Do You Believe In Jesus The Son Of God? If You Do I Say Hallelujah.
Last Week We Had A Rather Large Snow Storm Predicted For The Midwest Region Of The Country. For Me I Sincerely Hope It Was Mother Natures Last Howrah And Springtime Would Be Around The Corner.
I Knew This Storm Was Suppose To Come In Two Phases. Saturday Night We May Get An Inch Or Two When We Woke Up Sunday Morning. Phase 2 Would Come Mid Day With Much Heavier Snow And Accumulation.
Shortly After Noon My Wife Asked Me Where This Big Giant Snowfall Was. I Told her It Was Coming And We better Be Prepared Because It Was Going To Be A Big One. She Gave Me One Of Those Looks And Said Yes I Know, They Say We Are Going To Get Something Bad But It Always Misses Us. I Assured her It Was Coming. According To My Computer Radar It Was Big And It Was Moving Rather Slowly. When It Moves Slowly It Usually Means It Will Dump Lots Of Snow Before It Moves Out Of The Area. The Radar Shows It Rotating In A Circular Motion And Moving Very Slowly. It Began To Lightly Snow. From The Other Room I Hear Is This The Big Snowfall You Are Making A Big Deal Out Of? I Said Yes, It's Only The Beginning.
As The Snow Began To Get Heavier And Heavier You Could See The Inches Of Accumulation Begin To Rise.
My Reason For Telling You This Story Is Because It's True. I Love My Wife And I Don't Think She Would Mind Me Using This As A Reason To Make My Point. Just Because You Don't See The Snow Coming Doesn't Mean It's Not Coming. If You Want To Literally Stand Out In Your Yard And Become A Human Snowman To Be A Believer Be My Guest.
This Coming Sunday Is Easter. In Order For You To Believe In Easter You Must Believe In The Son Of God. His Name Is Jesus. For God Gave His Only Begotten Son, That Who Ever Believeth In Him Shall Not Parish But Have Eternal Life. Just Because You Have Never Seen God Doesn't Mean He Doesn't Exist. I Believe In The Son. I Believe He Died For Our Sins.
Personally There Was A Moment In My Life Where I Met The Lord. I Have Not Spoken About It Because I Was Told Not To. I Don't Know Why But I Was Told God Has A Plan For Me.
I Was As Near Death As One Can Be. There Are Certain Things I Can Remember Yet Other Things Feel Foggy And Unsure. What I Know For A Fact Is God Is Real And I Believe. I Have Faith That God Will Give Me Eternal Life With Him. I Do Remember Begging Him To Take Me Then Because Life Was Not Worth Living For Me At The Time. He Had A Bigger Plan For Me.
Maybe I Am Doing It Now With The Work I Do For The Poor. Maybe He Wanted Me To Meet New People And Be An Inspiration To Them Or Them To Inspire Me In Some Way. I'm Not Sure What He Plans For Me. Since Then I Have Married And Had Two Children. I Have Met A Host Of People Since That Time In My Life. Maybe His Bigger Plan Has Nothing To Do With Me. Maybe I Will Be Just A Pawn. What I Mean By That Is Maybe I Will Be A Part Of Someone's Life To Make A Difference For Them. I'm Not So Selfish To Think The Reason Is Just For Me. If I Am Part Of The Big Picture In The Lords Plan, So Be It.
I Have Faith In God. I Don't Have To Die To Know He Exist. I'm Also Not Telling You This Because I Have Seen Him. I Was Raised In A Christian Home. My Father's Father Was A Minister Of God. I Was Baptized Not Once But Twice In My Lifetime. On A Side Remark I Must Say I Was Criticized By Someone Because I Was Baptized For The Second Time. Their Belief Is Once You Are Baptized Your Sins Are Washed Away. My Relationship With My Lord Is On A Personal Level. If I Had The Opportunity To Be Baptized In The Same Water Jesus Was Baptized In I Most Certainly Would. I Don't Need To Be In A Building Of Worship To Feel Close To God. My Personal Feelings About Church Itself Is It's A Useful Tool In Keeping Fellowship With Other Christians.
I Feel Humbled To Be Serving Him And Being A Part Of His Bigger Plan. Each One That Reads This Should Feel Humbled Because They Are Part Of God's Bigger Plan. I Suppose When He No Longer Needs You In His Plan You Get His Gift Of Everlasting Life. What A Comfort To Know.
This Takes Us Back To Faith. Believe In Him And You Will Have Ever Lasting Life. You Don't Need To Step Outside When It's Raining And Get Wet To Prove That It Is. You Don't Need To Touch The Fire To Know It Will Burn You. Just Because You Don't See It Doesn't Mean It's Not There.
Have A Wonderful Easter. He Has Risen!

The Calm Before The Storm

It's A Familiar Phrase We Have All Heard Throughout The Years. The Meaning Can Be Used For Different Circumstances.
This Blog Is Being Written On The Eve Of An Approaching Storm. This Being The 23rd Day Of March. One Would Assume A Thunderstorm Is What We Are Preparing For. I Wish It Were. If Temperatures Were Warmer That Would Be The Case. However The Central Part Of Illinois Is Bracing For The Largest Snowfall In Recent History. 9 Inches Is Predicted Within A 24 Hour Period.
We Were Hoping For An Early Spring Since That Is What A Rodent In Pennsylvania Predicted Seven Weeks Ago. As I Have Shared On Numerous Occasions I Do Not Believe In Any Kind Of Old Wives Tales When It Comes To The Weather.
Since We Are Only One Week From The Beginning Of April And One Week After The First Day Of Spring, It Was My Hopes Temperatures Would Be More Considerate. Some Of The Signs Of Spring Have Already Taken Place. I Have Seen Flocks Of Robin's. The Traditional Ice Cream Shops Have Announced Their Openings For The New Season.
After The Storm Has Passed And The Snow Has Fallen, The Most Precious Photo Of All Is That Taken Of Danville's Most Popular Ice Cream Establishment Open For Business, With Piles Of Snow Around Reminding Us All Who Really Is In Charge.
I Know Better Than To Predict The Weather On Any Level. I Am Just A Simple Human Being Who Will Take Whatever God Decides To Give Us. It Is Him Who Has The Final Say. I Believe The Reason For That Is To Remind Us Mortal Souls Who Is In Control. God Has Steered This World Since He Created It. Keep In Mind You And I Are Just A Speckle In Time. There Was Life Before Us And There Will Be Life After We Are Gone. The Course Of This Planet Has Always Been Guided And Directed By It's Creator.
Trust In Him. I'm Not Telling You This Because We Are Entering Into The Holy Week. I Tell You This Because It's The Truth.
It Will Be What God Decides It To Be. Trust In Him.

 Yes I Know You Have Heard The Wind Blow Before. I Consider This Moment On The Same Level Of When I Decided To Finally Quit Smoking. The Very First Thing I Learned In That Very Long Struggle Of Trying To Quit, You Had To Do It For Yourself. A Lot Of People Could Care Less Whether You Smoke Or Not. I Had My Reasons For Quitting And It Was So Important To Me I Finally Was Able To Quit. I Tried Prior To That But Always Failed.
I Believe Once You Reach A Certain Level That You Consider The "Breaking Point", Your Chances Of Succeeding Has Increased To An Even Higher Level.
I Feel You Can Only Achieve Success At The End. My End Was The Cigarette Butt I Taped To The Bathroom Mirror Reminding Me It Was The Last Cigarette I Smoked And A Symbol To Remind Me Of All The Reasons I Quit.
Today I Face A Different Battle. A Battle I Am Determined To Win. Some Call It The Battle Of The Bulge. I Began Putting On The Excess Weight Shortly After I Quit Smoking. Every Time I Wanted A Cigarette I Would Put A Mint In My Mouth. The Package Said Fat Free So I Figured It Was The Perfect Thing For Me. Wrong! It Didn't Contain Fat But It Sure Did Contain Calories. 50 Calories Per Mint. It Didn't Take Long For Me To Go From Minus To Plus Size. I Had Been Skinny Most Of My Life. Weighing In At 126 Pounds When I Joined The Navy. My Grandmother Told Me I Must Be Either Sick Or Had Worms. Back Then I Ate To Live. Today I Live To Eat. What A Big Difference Between Then And Now.
I Believe A Person Reaches A Certain Point In Their Life When They Put Their Foot Down And Say Enough Is Enough.
When I Finally Smoked That Last Cigarette I Knew In My Heart It Would Be The Last. You Just Know. I Loved My Cigarettes, So I Thought. I Believe The Final Breaking Point Was The Cost. It Just Did Not Make Sense In Spending That Much Money Just To See It Go Up In Smoke.
My Goal This Winter Was To Keep The Weight Off That I Lost Last Summer. I Had Lost 17 Pounds. I Figured The Best Time To Lose It Was When I Am Most Active. All I Had To Do During The Winter Months Was To Maintain What I Had Lost. I Failed Miserably. I Had Gained 16 Of The 17 Pounds I Lost Last Summer. I Will Quit Eating All Together If I Have To. I Must Eat Breakfast In The Morning. The Most Important Meal Of The Day. It Gives Me The Energy I Need To Function Throughout The Day.
I Know A Couple People Personally Who Lost A Large Amount Of Weight And Have Kept It Off. My Goal Is 175 Pounds. When I Reach My Goal. Did You Notice I Said When? Once I Have Achieved, I Have Vowed To Keep It Off. I Realize I Must Change My Lifestyle If I Want To Shed This Unwanted Weight. I Will. I Can!
In Just 2 Weeks I Will Be Getting Started In My Big Truck. I Must Get My Butt In And Out Of It. This 16 Pounds Is Like Carrying Around A Bowling Ball With Me All The Time.
If You Want It Bad Enough It Will Happen. Mark Today On Your Calendar. It's The Day I Become A Determined Person. It's The Day I Drew The Line And Said No More. It's The Day I Said The Buck Stops Here.