Tough decision

Hey group,


I wanted to update you on my Uncle that you have been praying for. This past Monday he wasn't breathing properly and the nursing home where he is at had to call the ambulance to take him to the hospital. After running some tests they have asked the family to make a decision. He failed the swallow test so he is unable to orally take in food. The Doctor told us last night that a feeding tube thru the nose was out of the question because he would just pull it out. So the only option would be to do a surgical procedure where they place a feeding tube thru his skin into his stomach. He would have to be fed thru that tube for the remainder of his life. They are still unsure if he had another stroke on Monday or if it was just his Kidneys failing to flush out the medication he is on and the nursing home over medicating him. Anyway, if he doesn't have the tube implanted he has no way of getting nourishment and he would end up dying. There is no way to tell how long he would have to endure this before the Lord took him home. This decision has to be made within the next few days and my Grandmother and my other uncle (his brother and sister) have to make that . As most of you know my grandmother is not in real good health either and this is really adversely affecting her as you can imagine. My heart is breaking for my Uncle. Last night he was in so much agony that he would just hollar out, "HELP ME, HELP ME LORD". You really can't make out most of what he is saying but this was unmistakable. He did calm down for a minute as I prayed with him and asked the Lord to carry this burden and relieve some of his pain. I then asked him to sing for me because he used to love to sing old hymns. He began to sing a old hymn that he would always sing at the nursing home , if it is possible I thought I saw a slight smile on his face thru all of that pain. Can you imagine being so thristy that you hollar out for help but there is no water to be found. Basically that is where he is at. Today they did swab out his mouth to clear away the dead skin and stuff. I at least have the peace of mind to know with absolute certainty that he will be with the Lord when he passes from this life to the next and for that I am grateful. Please keep him and my family in your prayers. We need the wisdom of God to make a decision that no one on earth should ever have to make. I watched what it did to my Dad as he and his brother and sister had to make that decision with my other grandmother. Please pray for God to intervene immediately. Thanks and God Bless.

Summer of Hospitality-Am I Hospitable?

The current series that Tom is doing at church has got me to thinking just how hospitable am I? A few months ago we went thru the whole spiritual gifting thing and at that time I found out that I scored low on areas such as hospitality, compassion and mercy. I joked then that I found out that I am not a very nice person. Really that series helped me to define my strengths and my weaknesses and helped me see more clearly just what type of person I am. Well for someone who scored low on Hospitality you must know that this current series has been quite a challenge for me. You look at Jesus' ministry and there is no way to avoid the fact that Jesus was hospitality epitomized. It got me to thinking how I could become more like Jesus in this area? I want to be more like Jesus in this area! I need to be more like Jesus in this area! But I don't want it to come out of a place of obligation to doing it. Because if it comes out of that place then I will not have joy in the midst of showing hospitality and it will show thru to those that I am trying to be hospitable to. Is it then really hospitality? I don't think so. So how do we as Christians move to a place of genuiness when we see a area we are lacking and feel a need to remedy that? For me it only happens by the grace of God and the move of the Holy Spirit in my life. For me it has started from this place of realizing that I am deficient in this area and that Jesus really wants to use me more and to stretch me in this area. I have also realized that the process has already started in me, long before I even sensed a need for change. Isn't God awesome!!! HE has already started the work of changing me into a more hospitable person. He has shown me just how far I have come and He has showed me a glimpse of how far I need to go. Just a couple of years ago I was so isolated from people and I refused to reach out to them unless and until they reached out to me. Let me tell you how well that worked out......it didn't, it led to me trying to fight spiritual battles all alone that I wasn't equipped to fight. It led to me being lonely and having the wrong thoughts in my head, it led to me having no outlet to blow off steam or to just have uninhibited play. So slowly the Holy Spirit changed my perception of things. He showed me first that I NEED people, that we ALL are built for relationships. He showed me that if I want others to reach out to me then I need to be willing to reach out to them first. He showed me to value people the way that God does and not for what they can add to your life in ways of upward mobility or popularity or whatever. You see just a few short years ago I would not have called people to ask are we getting together, or "can I come over", or I wouldn't even of accepted an invitation to a gathering if I didn't "feel like going". I am not saying that I have come all the way in this area but I am saying that I am on the journey and God has placed a group of wonderful friends in my life who will not allow me to revert back into my little hole. With that said I realize there is so many more areas of hospitality that I am very weak in, that I struggle with, and that, in all honesty, scare me. I have had a problem since the time I was very young of inviting people over to my house. I would always go over to thier house. Part of the problem had to do with being embarassed of our house. We didn't have the nice things or the new toys or whatever. Part of it had to do with the disfunction of my family. I won't get into that only to say that it was a little more then the normal disfunction. I have begun to realize that I am living as a 10 year old in this area. How can I be a mature Christian if I am living from a place of my childhood? So the thing that God has layed on my heart, with the help of a good friend, is that I need to be more willing to open my home up to people. If it starts just with my closest friends and then goes from there then so be it but it needs to happen. I know it won't happen overnight but I need to begin to take steps toward making that an area of strength instead of an area of weakness.




All of this to say that I would like to see some comments on this post. I want to put up a challenge. Above you have read one area that God has helped me to become more hospitable and one area where He is working on in my life. I would like to see the same from everyone. Please post a area of Hospitality that God has blessed you in and a area where you sense a need for change. Somehow just putting a voice behind it helps to bring it into reality and it helps to let others know where you are. We are built for relationships and God does want to use each of us to help others and He wants to use others to help us. This is a safe place for you to share.

Someone's Gotta Go First.

To get food, to cut the cake and to say that...

The cookout tonight at the Basinger's was fun. Good call, Craig.