God's Favor

Today marks the 3 year anniversary of God showing more favor in me than he ever has before.

If you know me and have seen that huge scar on my shoulder and have been wondering what it was from, you are about to find out.

In all started during my senior season at Archbold High School. We were practicing one day and I took an elbow straight to the shoulder. I remember that it hurt pretty bad right at first, but I didn't think it was anything too serious.

The next couple of days I still had shoulder pain and figured I should probably go to the doctor. We went to the doctor and got x-rays and couldn't really tell what it was. It's been so long I don't even remember what they thought it was at first. 

Throughout the entire process I didn't sit out any practices or games because I could still play, I just had a ton of pain. I remember the day it started to hurt every time I shot the basketball. Luckily I was decent enough with my left hand that I would only shoot with my left hand in practice and save the pain for games. 

We got a call from the doctor and I was told that I had an extra bone attached to the end of my humorous by my shoulder joint. The doctor in Wauseon recommended that I either get surgery or just let it go and live with the pain. 

That doctor had never performed a surgery like that before. 

There was a lot to consider. My axillary nerve was right where the bone was and that nerve controls the deltoid muscle in your shoulder. Surgery would be a great risk. If that nerve were to be damaged I wouldn't have been able to play college basketball because the muscle in my shoulder would've been damaged. 

I believe that part stressed out my mom for than it did myself. Throughout this entire process I had felt peace and I knew that everything was going to be alright. I am so thankful that God is a God who brings peace. 

We decide that surgery was the best rout to take because I did not want to play 4 years of college with shoulder pain. The next big thing we had to figure out was where we were going to have the surgery. We wanted it do be done by someone who has had experience performing that surgery. We checked the Toledo Hospitals, Cleveland Hospitals, The University of Michigan's hospital and we had no luck. After some research done by my mom she found that there was a surgeon who had experience with this type of surgery at The James hospital at The Ohio State University in Columbus. 

The growth that I had in my shoulder was called an osteochondroma. Good luck saying that! 

I remember meeting with the surgeon one morning and he was confident in his ability to remove the growth without any extra damage. 

I remember waking up at like 3 o'clock in the morning the day I had surgery and felt peace the entire morning. My surgery began around 6:15 and lasted a couple hours. 

When I woke up I remember being told that if I had feeling in my shoulder that the nerve was not damaged and I remember having feeling. It was such a relief. 

God showed a lot of favor to me during that entire experience. One of the ways was the operation room nurses he provide who were on staff during my surgery. The nurse who was in charge had been one of my moms lifelong friends. They had been college roommates and were in each others weddings. She arranged the best group of operation room nurses that she knew. My moms friend was the last who held my hand as the anesthesia knocked me out and told me that everything was going to be okay and that she was going to be right by my side when I woke up. 

Another way God showed me favor was through the success of the surgery. The surgery could not have gone any better. God provided the perfect surgeon and his hands were over the entire process. 

That experience gave me a whole new perspective on trusting God and trusting in God's plan for me. God also taught me what it was like to have peace in the midst of something that could've been very unpeaceful for a lot of people. From day one of that entire process, I felt at peace and I knew that God was going to give me favor. 

I am forever thankful for that event in my life. Every time I look or feel my scare I rememberer how amazing our God is and I am thankful that I am fully able to do so many things happily and healthy. 

Hippity Hoppity

Last night, I had the opportunity to go to a Rend Collective concert in Fort Wayne with my girlfriend, mom and brother. It was nearly three amazing hours of singing songs of praise to God.

Leading up to the concert, I hadn't listened to a lot of their music in the past 3 years. I listened to them a little in high school and just got away from it. Anyways, leading up the concert I was very unfamiliar with their most recent album. I was excited for last night and was looking forward to it for weeks. I was honestly more excited that I got to spend time with some of the people I really care about than for the concert part.

That quickly changed as soon as Rend Collective took the stage. They came running out, started playing, and it was a party! That is how worship should be, a party. Long story short, they were amazing and it was an awesome night.

There really isn't anything greater than believers raising their hands in worship and giving their heart to God. The Holy Spirit was definitely at work.

I don't want to post about how great the concert was, even though it was great. I am talking about last night because I was challenged by something and I want to challenge you with it as well.

Before Rend Collective performed the opening act was done by a guy named Mack Brown. God was tugging on my heart form the very beginning.

Worship music has always had a special place in my heart. I grew up with it playing all the time. Every morning my mom took my brother and I to school she would have it playing on the radio. I used to be super into it myself. I remember driving to school in high school listening to it and I never really had a desire to listen to anything else. Since I have gotten to college I rarely listen to it. I have absolutely nothing against it, I just listen to a ton of rap music. Rap gets me hype, so I really enjoy listening to it. I've always been a fan of the beat, not necessarily the lyrics. Apart from rap I enjoy all type of music, apart for screamo and heavy metal stuff...that isn't for me.

As the concert was going on...I just kept feeling God say to me..."How could you get away from listening to music like this."

My heart and my mind were racing because I knew that God was trying to do some work in me. Then I figured it out! God just wanted me to listen to some worship music again. It doesn't seem to big, but I really do listen to a ton of rap. Every day, throughout the day. It has become such a habit. I am not saying it's bad either, but when you add a little bit of worship music to your life, it totally changes you.

So I feel like God is challenging me to listen to at least one worship song a day. Whether it is in the shower, or if I drive somewhere, one song. Next thing you know it turns into two songs, then three, then four, then maybe that's all I will listen too.

I am extremely excited for this challenge because the music I have listened to the past couple years has been one of the main things that I would change about me if I could. I don't let rap music change the way I talk or think, but it's still not the best thing for me. It's one thing that has kind of held me back from being all in...every single part of me.

I challenge you to accept the challenge of listening to one worship song a day. It's at most 5 minutes of your day. I will do it. I am ready to watch God work and I hope that you are to.

If you do not know where to start, maybe try some Rend Collective!

Rescuer: Rend Collective

If I have learned one thing over the past couple of months, it is that when you feel God calling you to do something, you do it. So if God is calling you to listen to one worship song a day, do it and he will bless you greatly.

Only God

Only God...there is so much power in those two words. Only God is a phrase that should be overly used because only God can do so many things that only God can do. He is so good. Every morning when I wake up and know that it is a new day, filled with God's blessings and mercies I understand that is something that only God can do.

As I was reading my bible this morning I came across a really cool story in Genesis about The Cupbearer and the Baker. I don't know if you have ever heard the story, but I am excited to share it with you the best that I can.

Instead of typing out the passage word for word, I am going to paraphrase it the best that I can.

The cupbearer and the baker

The cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt offended their master who was the king of Egypt. The king of Egypt was Pharaoh and he was angry with his two officials. Pharaoh put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, which was the same place where Joseph was confined. The captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph, and he attended them.

After the cupbearer and the baker had been in prison for some time, each of them had a dream, and each of their dreams had their own meaning.

Their dreams must have not been very good because the next morning when Joseph attended to them he saw that they were dejected. He asked the two men why they looked so sad. They told Joseph that they had each had a dream but there was no one to interpret them. Jospeh then said to them, "Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams."

They decided to tell Joseph their dreams and he was going to interpret them.

The cupbearer told Joesph that in his dream he saw a vine in front of him and on the vine were three branches. As soon as it budded, it blossomed, and its clusters ripened into grapes. Pharaoh's cup was in his hand and he took the grapes, squeezed them into Pharaoh's cup and put the cup in his hand.

Joseph told him what it meant and said: "The three branches are three days. Within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your position, and you will put Pharaoh's cup in his hand, just as you used to do when you were his cupbearer." Joseph told the cupbearer that when this happens that he hopes that the cupbearer remembers him and shows him kindness so that someday Joseph can get out of prison. He went on to finish his conversation with the cupbearer by telling him that he was forcibly carried off from the land of the Hebrews, and that he had done nothing to deserve being put in a dungeon.

When the chief baker saw that Joseph had given a favorable interpretation he then told Jospeh his dream and asked him to interpret it.

The chief baker told Joseph that in his dream, on his head were three baskets of bread. In the top basket were all kinds of baked goods for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating them out of the basket on his head.

Joseph told him what it meant and said: "The three baskets are three days. Within three days Pharaoh will lift off your head and impale your body on a pole. And the birds will eat away your flesh."

The three days passed and it was Pharaoh's birthday and he gave a feast for all of his officials. He lifted up the heads of the chief cupbearer and the chief baker in the presence of his officials: He restored the chief cupbearer to his position, so that he could put the cup into Pharaoh's hand again but he impaled the chief baker, just as Joseph has said to them in his interpretation.

However, the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, he forgot about him.


Why tell you this story? I believe that God puts people into our lives to help interpret the things that he is doing on our lives. It doesn't even have to be dreams, I believe that it can be any situation.

I have told the story before about my teammate who had a dream and approached me about it, and he gave his life to Christ 10 days after that dream.

God put me in his dream for some reason and he didn't have to approach me or tell me about it but he did and look at what happened because of it!

An important part of the story above is how the cupbearer and the baker responded when Jospeh told them that only interpretations belong to God. With no hesitation they told Jospeh their dreams and Joseph wouldn't have been able to intercept without God's power.

I want to encourage you tp be open to what people around you have to say. You might never know why they say the things they say, but God knows and He could be using them to encourage you. God gave us two ears in one mouth for a reason. We need to listen to the people around us.

For example, think about the times where you get so frustrated and you vent to a friend. Usually those friends you vent to give you the feedback that you want to hear, that is why you vent to them. What they say to you might come directly God. Be careful though! You have be careful about some of the people you vent to because not everyone is going to give advice from above. I hope that doesn't over complicate what I just said.

I really like how the story ended. It's unfortunate for Joseph, but the cup bearer forgot to mention Jospeh to Pharaoh. That is such a human thing to do. God's hands were all over this story, he used Jospeh to interpret the dreams to the cup bearer and the baker and they believed him and the cup bearer simply forgot.

I believe that in our lives, God can use someone to be a major encourager or something like that, but maybe we weren't meant to remember it...That is something that only God can do.

Only God...

When you don't get a miracle you can still be a miracle. God can use you as a miracle and you could change somebody's life today.

Be open to what people around you have to say. They could be that miracle.

Trust Me Enough

I have never reposted a blog post before. Out of the nearly 200 I have never done that until today. 

I am reposting this because it was something that I really needed to hear today. Today was one of those days where it seemed like lots of things just didn't go my way, which is fine. I know that trials are put in my life so that I trust God and to strengthen my relationship with Him. I have to be honest with you, sometimes...even believing that fact and living by it...it's tough to do. The battle of the mind is so tough.

I just got overly anxious about a lot of things today. School is extra busy this week, we started open gyms and team lifts this week and it's that point in time where I am pretty sure everyone is ready for some sunshine and some warm weather. 

I think the main reason that I was stressed out today because I was thinking about the summer and what I will do with my life after school. I don't like thinking about being done with school yet because I don't really feel that old. It's stressful to because I really do not know what I want to do yet.

As I was laying in bed this afternoon because I really needed some time just to lay there and relax I was looking at the bed above me and there was the "Trust Me Enough," devotional that I put between the bed springs back in October. The single sheet of paper and what was written on it meant so much to me that I knew that I had to put it somewhere because I know that there would come a point in time when I really needed it. 

Today was that day. I so desperately needed to be remind to trust God and his plan for me. My life is His and it is in his hands. It's so easy to think that we are in charge of everything. I got caught up in thinking that my future plans were going to be all me. Don't get me wrong, I know that I have work to do... and have the freedom to make decisions. I just needed to be reminded that everything is in God's hands. 

I am going to share with you one of the daily devotional's from 'No More Excuses.' This is the encouragement I have for you.

TRUST ME ENOUGH to let things happen without striving to predict or control them. Relax, and refresh yourself in the Light of My everlasting Love. My Love-Light never dims, yet you are often unaware of My radiant presence. When you project yourself into the future, rehearsing what you will do or say, you are seeking to be self-sufficient: to be adequate without My help. This is a subtle sin-so common that it usually slips by unnoticed.
The alternate is to live fully in the present, depending on Me each moment. Rather than fearing your inadequacy, rejoice in My abundant supply. Train your mind to seek My help continually, even when you feel competent to handle something by yourself. Don't divide your life into things you can do by yourself and things that require My help. Instead, learn to rely on Me in every situation. This discipline will enable you to enjoy your life more and to face each day confidently.

Psalm 37:3-7: Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.

Philippians 4:19: And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Jesus Christ.

I encourage you that if you have a favorite verse or quote, write it down and put it somewhere. You never know when you might come across it. 

Warning! Warning! Warning!

I hope that the title of this post caught your attention. I know that when I read Warning! Warning! Warning! That is catches my attention.

So what am I warning you about? I am warning you to pay attention. It's a warning to remember the things that you have been taught by God and the things you have learned about God so that you do not drift away.

How incredibly easy is it to get away? For a lot of people, Sunday's are the only time that they go to church and put effort into their walk with Christ. For those people, it's very easy to experience a spiritual high on Sunday and then as the weak goes on you drift away. It happens so seamlessly and without very little to no effort. Then think about someone who hasn't gone to church for two weeks...or maybe that is you. Imagine how much you or they have drifted away.

Another example would be this. Think about your thoughts and where you heart is on a daily basis. I have talked about over and over again in posts about living a vertical lifestyle vs. a horizontal lifestyle. When you live a vertical lifestyle you have your heart and mind on things above because of the relationship you have with God. It's completely vertical and is above the sun. When you live a horizontal lifestyle you are focused on everything under the sun and that is what matters to you. You can live a vertical life style and still have struggles with things under the sun, that is totally normal! We are not perfect. My point is that it is just so easy to drift away regardless of the lifestyle you live. Drifting away is just something that happens to people and sometime it can be dangerous when you do not known how much of a separation it seems like you are putting between you and God.

I hope that you have a little bit better of an understanding what it means to drift away so here is the passage from Hebrews 2.

We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. For since the message spoken angles was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, how shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. ( Hebrews 2:1-4 ) 

I want all of you to open your eyes. God testified to salvation by signs, wonders and various miracles. If you open your eyes and have a kingdom vertical mindset you might discover that God is performing signs and miracles in your life.

Open your eyes and pay close attention to the work that God is doing in your life.

What I read in Jesus calling what perfect for this post as well. I am going to close with what I read in Jesus calling.

In Me you have everything. In Me you are complete. Your capacity to experience Me is increasing through My removal of debris and clutter from your heart. As your yearning for Me increases, other desires and gradually lessening. Since I am infinite and abundantly accessible to you, desiring Me above all else is the best way to live. It is impossible for you to have a need that I cannot meet. After all, I created you and everything that is. The world is still at My beck and call, though it often appears otherwise. DO not be fooled by appearances. Things that are visible are brief and fleeting, while tings that are invisible are everlasting. 

He Sits

What I want to encourage you with today is something that has been a major key in conquering temptation in my life. I remember when I first heard someone talk about this verse, it was a verse that I had heard many times in my life, but never in this context.

The verse comes from Hebrews chapter 1 verse 3 and it says: "The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven."

The key to this is: "After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down."

What an awesome way to think of the Son of God.

I love it because the Son did everything that he had too and he literally sat down because there was nothing else that he had to do. I think it's an awesome description of heaven.

So how did this help me in conquering temptation? For me, knowing that the Son has already conquered temptation and that He is sitting down at the right hand of God is enough for me. I know that if the Son can conquer temptation that I can to.

This was a very short post and I hope that you can take away something from it and learn something new today. I hope and pray that next time you are in a spiritual battle that you remember the Son is sitting at the right hand of the throne of God because the battle has already been won!

You can do it! Conquering temptation is no easy battle but I promise that each and every one of you are capable of winning that battle every single time. We are blessed with all of the things that we need in order to do so.

You are loved!

Easter Stories

I reached out at the beginning of the week to see if anyone would be interested in sharing what Easter meant to them. I would love to say I got a lot of replies from people but that didn't really happen...it's totally okay though, I think that the three entries I have to share with you are what God wanted and the Spirit is going to use those to encourage you.

I hope that they're encouraging for you to read.

This year it means something extra special to me. I left Cardinal Buses as a full time employee last August after 28 years in the bus industry. It's the only real job I'd ever had up to that point. Since August I have been an extremely part time employee of Cardinal Buses while working full time with LifeWorks and part time with Justin, A couple weeks ago I put official notice in that I'm officially quitting Cardinal Buses as the end of this month (as in this Saturday March 31). Yesterday while in Liz's bathroom, it hit me. Saturday 31 is my last day ever in the bus industry. Sunday is RESURRECTION SUNDAY! God has called me out of the bus industry to pursue His purposes and plan for my life. He used my time in business to shape, prepare and mold me for this next season of life. Couldn't be MORE excited to be celebrating this Resurrection Sunday literally resurrected into NEW LIFE! A life that is abundant and is free in Him! 


- Sheila Dodd

When I think about Easter, it reminds me that Christ didn’t rise up from the dead on one day, but that he is alive everyday of the year. Easter also reminds me that, the same power that rose Jesus from the dead is available to each and everyone of us, everyday! Also Christ didn’t come so that we would have to fight for victory, but that we can fight the enemy from the position of victory. This is because Christ defeated death!

- Seth Rogers

But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 15 More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.

20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

1 Corinthians 15:12-20

When I think of Easter, I always think of the resurrection. That is what is celebrated on Easter, that Christ has risen. The resurrection is what many Christians put their faith in, a God who is not dead but alive! But when I ask, what does it mean that Christ is risen or resurrected? Then the story becomes all the more joyful. Of course it means that Jesus is alive, and has defeated death, but also that we are no longer in our sins. In 1 Corinthians 15:17 we see that if Christ had not risen, we would still be in our sins, which would mean that Jesus was not the Son of God. BUT when we keep reading in 1 Corinthians we see that Christ has indeed risen from the dead! This not only means that he is now alive, but that we are not in our sin, and that Jesus was the Son of God! Easter to me is more than just a miracle, it is also the process in which Christ purchased the sins of the world, and proved himself to be who he said he was, “I AM.” While Easter is full of bright colors and joyful emotions, the focus is centered on Jesus and the significance of the resurrection.

- Jack Fisher

I really hope and pray that you all had an amazing Easter. I encourage you to live everyday with the same attitude we have on Easter Sunday. Life should be a celebration every single day. 

You are Loved!