The Miracle of Life.

It's unreal to think that 5 years ago today, Melissa and I had our first child, our son Hayden. He was stillborn and is living in Paradise! Below is a small testimony that I prepared for Advent a while back. It reflects what I have learned and gained through my son Hayden. Enjoy!

                                                   The Miracle of Life
Because of God’s love He sent His own Son to us, a miracle to the Virgin Mary.

Joh 1:14 GW  The Word became human and lived among us. We saw his glory. It was the glory that the Father shares with his only Son, a glory full of kindness and truth.

Through God’s love for Melissa and I, He has sent us three miracles of life. However our first son Hayden never took a breath on this Earth. Because Hayden never knew the sin of this world, he gets to spend his life in Heaven with Jesus.

Joh 1:13 LITV  who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but were born of God.

Melissa and I believe that because of God’s love for us he took our son Hayden home to be with Him. God took him home to Heaven so that Melissa and I would discover the best Miracle of Life! After losing Hayden and Melissa’s mom we were curious as to where they were and if we would ever see them again. We realized that when we asked these questions we wouldn’t have an answer until we came to know and accept our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. On August 13th of 2005 we got our answers to our questions. This is the day that, together, Melissa and I accepted Jesus as our only Lord and Savior. That day we learned how much Jesus loved us, and how much Hayden loved us. Hayden loved us so much that he, like Jesus, sacrificed his life for us, so that two sheep could be led to the Sheppard!

Joh 1:12 LITV  But as many as received Him, to them He gave authority to become children of God, to the ones believing into His name.

We will never forget the miracle of life that brought us to Jesus. God’s love for us is so great that we can never forget the best Miracle of Life the world will ever know, Jesus! As you ponder these words, I ask that you not only remember Jesus, but also remember the miracles of life that helped you come to know God and His awe inspiring love for us! God Bless!

Jesus on a bench.

So I was lead by the Spirit and my wonderful wife to share my encounter with the verses from Matthew 25:34-46. First take some time to refresh your memory concerning these verses and then I will share with you what happened to me today.

Mat 25:34-46 (ISV)
"Then the king will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who have been blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.  (35)  For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger, and you welcomed me.  (36)  I was naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you took care of me. I was in prison, and you visited me.'  (37)  "Then the righteous will say to him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and give you something to eat, or thirsty and give you something to drink?  (38)  When did we see you as a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you?  (39)  When did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?'  (40)  The king will answer them, 'Truly I tell you, in that you did it for one of the least important of these my brothers, you did it for me.'  (41)  "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Get away from me, you who are accursed, into the eternal fire that has been prepared for the devil and his angels!  (42)  For I was hungry, and you gave me nothing to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me nothing to drink.  (43)  I was a stranger, and you didn't welcome me. I was naked, and you didn't clothe me. I was sick and in prison, and you didn't visit me.'  (44)  "Then they will reply, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or as a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and didn't help you?'  (45)  Then he will say to them, 'Truly I tell you, in that you did not do it for one of the least important of these, you did not do it for me.'  (46)  These people will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life."

Now that these verses are fresh in your head, I can tell you of my experience. Well, while I was running errands this afternoon one of them happened to be to Dollar General in the South Side Plaza in Jamestown. As I was headed in I noticed an older gentleman talking with one of the employees. Anyways, on my way out this same gentleman said, "Hey Sir." Knowing I was the only Sir around, I ignored him and kept walking. Then I heard this gentleman say something along the lines of, "Sir? Sir? You've got two ears to hear me. Fine, looks like you have a long road ahead of you." I continued to the van and got in.

As I pulled away I noticed a parking spot right in front of this gentleman, so I pulled into it. I got out and asked the gentleman if I could help him. He asked me if I could run and get him a McDonalds' dollar sandwich. I told him that I had no cash and that I was sorry I couldn't help him. He told me thank you and it was the thought that counted. I got back in the van and started to leave.

As I was backing up, the verses you just read came to mind. Of course not word for word. Then I thought of the gentleman sitting on the bench, and immediately I saw Jesus sitting on that bench!! Now mind you I haven't even made it out of the parking lot, but I didn't have room to turn around to go to the McDs at the other end of the plaza. I looked up and there across the street was Arbys. So I went over there and got a Junior roast beef and went back to the same parking lot and gave the gentleman his sandwich.

The smile on the gentleman's face and the peace that I felt were out of this world!! So two things to take out of this,one is keep your ears and eyes open, for God can show up in the most unusual ways!! And two, when He does trust and obey, for yours is the Kingdom of  Heaven!! God Bless!

Time Alone

Time alone, and not alone time. What do I mean? I am talking of the time that we spend alone with the Lord. Do you do it often? I know that I don't do it often enough. I take the next few words from a devotional by Daily Disciples.

Only Jesus can fill our cups, and only Jesus can love us in the way that brings rest and peace to our souls. After knowing what it is to have true fellowship with the Lord, nothing (and no one) can take His place. At times we may feel empty, this emptiness is a result of not finding time to be alone with Him.

Frequently in the Bible, Jesus spent time alone with His Father. He knew that He needed that uninterrupted time alone in prayer and fellowship. If Jesus needed time alone with God, how much more do we? The Lord promises that in His presence is fullness of joy. Having experienced that joy, we long for quality time alone with Him. Once we have the love of the Lord, we know that nothing else feels so right!

Ask the Lord to help you find time every day to be alone with Him. He hears our prayers and He desires to have fellowship with us. Jesus has made a way for us to come to Him freely. He will make a way for us to walk with Him daily if we are truly seeking Him.

I will be doing this very thing as much as possible! I try to spend time alone with the Lord on my way to school in Erie everyday. He has touched and changed my life when I am seeking His presence beside me in the car! God Bless!

God's Plans

Well I certainly struggled with excepting God's Plans at first. But I have overcome the darkness's ability to tell me that what I am doing, as far as going back to school and the loss of my job, is not where I am supposed to be. I can now turn to God's word whenever this comes to my mind, with one verse in particular. That particular verse would be Jeremiah 29:11.

God's word in this verse says, "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (NIV)

I had some time when I first started going back to school in which I was very oppressed. During this time I would continually question why I was where I was. Why God would take a job I loved and let it go by the wayside! Why I felt I was struggling so much at school. Well in all actuality I have kept straight A's through this first semester! And the job thing, where I was working, the truth is the company may be moving to Houston.

So back to the scripture, obviously God is all knowing, for I have more hope now than ever and the future is still ever shining! I have an awesome God, a beautiful family, and a new found understanding of letting God's plans grow!

So if you are ever wondering why am I here or what is to come next, just remember that God loves you and He knows what He is doing! He will never leave and never let you down! Even if you don't understand the bad things that are happening, God will always bring the goods things to light! God Bless!!

The Lord will ALWAYS find His way back!!

So, It's been about a year since my last post here. I begin with the title to this post, The Lord will ALWAYS find His way back!! I guess I should say the Lord will ALWAYS bring us and accept us back to His presence. I had been struggling quite a bit in some areas of my life and though the Lord and I collectively have not conquered all the areas of my struggles, He has at least brought me back to His presence and He will of course always accept me!

I will be taking my next few thoughts from the devotional Daily Hope by Rick Warren. In his devotional he talks about giving God our fears and temptations. So I will let him take it from here.

And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one. Matthew 6:13 (NLT)

Let me ask you to think about these questions –

• In what area of your life do you need more self-control?

• What is your greatest fear?   The fear of failure?  The fear of bad health?  The fear of a divorce?  The fear of rejection?  The fear of the future?  

 Jesus says these things are the things you ought to be talking to him about. He wants you to talk to him about the areas where you're most tempted. He wants you to talk to him about the things you most fear.

The Bible says Jesus came to earth; He walked around for 33 years; and He experienced every temptation known to man, the same ones we experience.  It is not a sin to be tempted; the sin is when we give in to temptation. The Bible says Jesus experienced the greatest temptations ever; yet, He didn't give in.

And that means when you pray -- "Jesus, I'm struggling in this area.  I'm just not making it here.  I keep stumbling.  I keep failing” -- Jesus understands because he’s been there. He knows what it's like.


The Bible says we can have “confidence, then, and approach God's throne, where there is grace. There we will receive mercy and find grace to help us just when we need it.” (Hebrews 4:16, TEV)

Well I have been able to find His mercy and grace and I pray that you do too!! I am still taking everything to God and making sure His blessings and His blood has covered me in each situation! I hope you can find and understand that this is what we need to do to grow in an awesome relationship with Our Savior Jesus Christ! God Bless!!