are you who you want to be?

November 28, 2007 at 8:09 pm | In LIFE | Leave a Comment
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“This is your life, are you who you want to be?”  is the name of a song by the band Switchfoot.  My thoughts on this subject are pretty strong, the more I listened to this song, the more I thought.  What I thought about was “am I happy and exactly where I want to be?” and “Are the people listening to this song questioning themselves as to where they are in life and are happy in it as well?”    

I am happy right now in my life, even though there have been trials and tribulation in my life as of late.  It seems we are coming out of a BIG deal and hopefully into some calmer pastures.  My focus is more on where you are in life.  I know that we all have dreams, hopes and aspirations.  But, are you happy with yourself, your job, your spiritual walk?  Are you content?  or are you complaining, grumbling, mad at someone else for something they did to you, moping around like your life is soo bad and no one has ever been where you are EVER?!?!?!  That’s what I’m thinking about, when the ‘title’ words come to mind.

You know it can ALWAYS be worse than where you are now.  I know that too well.  It seems that even though I’ve had a crazy life and tough/bad/hurtful things have happened to me, I always know that someone out there has it worse…always.  So, I lift my head up, pick myself up off the floor and focus on the positive things in life.  I’m a kind of half-full type of guy, not half-empty.

So back to the question.  Are you heading in the right direction that you want to go?  Have you prayed about where you are in life?  or are you doing your own thing, making your own plans and leaving the Creator out of it completely? 

I am not perfect just like you.  Thus, we all fall short, right?  So, given that, we all do things that are not right and continually make mistakes daily.  But, I try to improve and make my life better.  Draw closer to HIM.  Make the Better decision, rather than the easier or harder one.

I believe that with God’s help and direction, I am at a place that I’m proud of, not ashamed.  I actually look at my life today and think about where I was 10 years ago and where I am today and realize how grateful I am to be where I am.  Not in a prideful way, but in a grateful and humbled way, do I say this and feel this. 

So, where are you and are you who you imagined yourself to be today? right now?  If so, great…if not, what are you doing or going to do about it?

movies

November 27, 2007 at 7:01 pm | In movies | Leave a Comment
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I am an avid movie fan.  I love all types of movies.  Old b&w ones, new CGI ones, animation, action, drama and comedy.  I have thought about what attracts me to movies and I find myself going to flicks that tend to have a lot of action in them i.e. the latest Die Hard saga.  I guess it’s because I’m a guy and like that sort of stuff or something.  I’m not 100% sure why I prefer action, but I do, thus my proneness to go see action flicks. 

 My favorite movie of all time is Braveheart.  Have you seen it…it’s definitely an action flick, but has a love story in it as well as good dialogue.  It stars Mel Gibson and a very good supporting cast.  The plot is thick and full of surprises too.  Check it out if you haven’t seen it.  I have seen it over 20+ times and of course own the movie.  I actually get inspired to be a better man and even to take action in my community and do something positive.  This is what a real Great movie will do for you like this one did for me.

I have a link to Rotten Tomatoes(funny name, but good website) that gives different peoples thoughts and views on every movie out there, past and present.  It even rates games and the like if your into that.  The rating is based on freshness or the NOT so fresh.   Just sign up and you can post your thoughts on movies too.

emmaus

November 26, 2007 at 7:30 pm | In emmaus | 1 Comment
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In Luke 24:13-35 you will find the story of the Walk to Emmaus and the significance thereof.  Emmaus today is a spiritual weekend retreat, but is not your typical Christian retreat weekend where you chill with others and swim in a pool and bathe in the sun.  No, it’s a weekend that begins on a Thursday evening and ends on Sunday evening.  I would also say that it is not for evangelical purposes, although people have come to accept Christ as their Lord & Savior on the weekend.  It’s a weekend of discipleship, learning about the different means of Grace that are available to you and a weekend of fellowship with other believers.  The acronym for Grace is:  God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.  How Awesome is that?  The link I placed for Grace is of the spiritual notion of course and what a powerful definition that is used:  the freely given, unmerited favor and love of God.  WOW!

So, back to the weekend, there are 15 talks that are given throughout the weekend(5 per day) and these talks are given by clergy and other believers that are part of a team that is there to help and support you through the weekend.  The talks are given by people who have faced difficult circumstances, just like you and me, and are sharing their lives with us.  Not professionals that do this for a living, but volunteers who have given a sacrifice to be there for you on a weekend full of love. 

I went on this Walk to Emmaus #208 in March of 2001.  What an experience I had.  I felt like I had been on a mountain top looking up and that there was nothing that mattered in the entire world except Christ and knowing Him.  But, my experience was mine alone and everyone has a different experience on the weekend.  My biggest suggestion to you if you haven’t been on one, is to pray about it for a long time and ask God to prepare your heart way before you decide to go.  That way when you do go, it will be a wonderful experience for you.  Most of my friends and family have been on a weekend, but most of them went after I did.  The advantage for me was that I knew nothing of what to expect, except that it was going to build my walk with Christ and it did that and then some. 

 There is also plenty of food on the weekend too, so go hungry and you are guaranteed to come back a couple lbs heavier…if you want of course!  :)

more football

November 20, 2007 at 10:05 pm | In sports | Leave a Comment
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Well, it’s getting closer to the end of the fantasy football season and I’m doing good in 2 of my leagues and bad in 1 of them.  Yes, I play in 3 FF leagues.  That’s because I love the game so much!  Anyway,  injuries have plagued most teams this year in the NFL and have hurt my teams as well.  See, you pick individual players to place on your team and expect them to do better than your opponent by the amount of times they get yardage either by throwing, catching or running the pigskin.  Both teams go head to head in a typical season for about 13-15 weeks of the regular football season.  Then come the playoffs in FF.  Only the best teams of the year can get in and that means that if your team sucked all year, your out in the cold and left to wonder “If only I had played this guy that one week than this other guy, I would be playing in the playoffs” 

I know I’m boring the ladies out there reading this, but hey, it’s a guy thang, so go to my next posting if your bored :)

Well, were in week 12 this coming weekend and I’m almost there in the playoffs and ready to kick some booty.  let’s hope that I keep winning and not get left in the cold.

favorite holiday

November 20, 2007 at 9:53 pm | In Holidays | Leave a Comment
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2 days from Thanksgiving and I’m getting excited about eating some serious Turkey and all the fix-ins that go along with it!  I have been wondering what is my favorite holiday all year and I do have to say that Thanksgiving is moving up the list fast.  There are several reasons for this and I’ll name them. 

First, the food is Always good and there is plenty of it.  Then there is the left-overs, that if your fortunate enough to either snag from your relatives or do the cooking yourself at home, you get to enjoy.  Forget about the amount of food you eat, because it doesn’t count on this day.  It’s like a buddy said about going on vacation, “Put your credit card on stun and enjoy it”  Well, that’s how it should be with food on this day.  Put your belly on ’stun’ and enjoy yourself.  Make it the next day that you will workout.  But for This day, ’stun’ is fine with me.

 Second, FOOTBALL, hello!!!   There are 2 NFL games played this day, back-to-back.  Who doesn’t love eating Turkey and then watching a great game of football on the couch as your stuffing your face, HA!  I know I do!

Lastly, there’s the whole fact that you don’t have to work.  That’s always a good reason to be happy on this day.  No one is open, everyone is closed and your at home, eating, relaxing and enjoying football. 

Is there anymore reason to not like this great holiday we call Thanksgiving???  Enjoy it and count ALL your blessings.

give blood

November 19, 2007 at 5:15 pm | In LIFE, give blood | Leave a Comment
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I had stated in a previous blog that I had Crohn’s Disease and had surgery.  Well, I had received blood transfusions at that time during my substantial loss of blood and subsequent passing out afterwards.  Ever since then, I have thought about how important it was that I received those life giving transfusions of blood and have thought that it was a special duty to give back for what I have been given…kind of a ‘pay it forward’ deal. 

I have been giving blood to the local blood center now for over 9+ years.  I’m a ‘commit for life’ member and am going to be a Gold status giver next month.  That’s for giving 4 times in a year.  I think it’s the least I can do for the life giving blood I received, right? 

I was thinking about how life events affect all of us and how situations in life give us the desire to do good and give back.  Hopefully, life experiences aren’t wasted and that we realize that life isn’t about us – it’s about giving back.  That’s what i’ve learned in my many life experiences.  For me it was a blood transfusion that caused me to give blood as a way of giving back. 

What is it for you?  Is it a divorce that you have experienced that now you can help others in a divorce-care class, or is it a loss of a loved one where you can console others who are grieving or is it a battle of some sort you have dealt with and can now help others in overcoming their demons???

what will people say?

November 16, 2007 at 9:03 pm | In LIFE | Leave a Comment
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When your dead and gone???  I have recently been thinking about this AGAIN.  I say AGAIN, because I remember thinking about this after a sermon I heard once where the pastor said “Think about your life this way.  Start from you bowing before Christ and work your way backwards to where you are now.  Then think about how you would live and what you would do and see, say, hear and watch”  Now this I thought was very DEEP.  I never thought about life in that fashion, have YOU?

So, now I think about living that way…but it’s HARD!  You have the daily grind that you deal with, you have the crazy world coming at you in different faces and forms, you don’t always get yourself prepared for what a day may bring, do ya?

Anyway, this is just a thought I have about what will people say about ME when I’m dead and gone.  How did I live and treat them and others, etc.  What kind of Legacy will I leave behind?

I hope this finds you in thought about what will people say about YOU when your gone.  Or what do they say now?

cancer

November 15, 2007 at 9:12 pm | In Angie, cancer | Leave a Comment
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Angie is my Wonderful Wifey.  We’ve been married for almost 9 years now.  Like any couple we have our ups and downs, but the last couple of years have been very hard.  See, she/we(I say WE because we’re both in this together) got Breast Cancer and was diagnosed with it in November of 2005 at the ripe old age of 29!!!!

I wanted to blog about this and not so much about our marriage, so I’ll continue, but wanted you to know the mindset of what this is more about, Cancer Awareness and our dealing with this disease.

So, obviously this hit us like a ROCK!  She came down stairs one evening and asked me to feel something on her breast and I did.  It didn’t feel too good and was hard, like a pebble was lodged in her breast or something.  real weird feeling.  We immediately went to see her gynecologist the next day and found ourselves having a Ultrasound done within an hour of arriving at her gynecologist office.  It didn’t look good.  The following week she had a biopsy taken and then they told us that we wouldn’t hear anything for 2 weeks!!  I don’t know about you, but when someone tells you that you have to wait 2 weeks for life changing news, it feels like a lifetime.

Unfortunately, the oncologist told us that we should come in and talk with her.  We did that evening and heard the bad news that I would never wish upon my worst enemy….you have cancer.  She(the oncologist) went into the dynamics of the type of breast cancer she has and how it works and reacts, the size of it currently and the steps we need to take in order to battle it.  You know your speaking to an Oncologist when they use words like Battle and Attack.  It’s almost as if they had gone to boot camp in the army prior to completing their P.H.D.

Anyway, we began chemotherapy in January of 2006.  Angie got her concoction of medicine(s) to take on a monthly basis.  One of the medicines was called the “Red Devil”  This bad boy is what caused the hair to fall out, including making you bald.  So, before it fell out, we cut her beautiful long curly hair and donated it to the ‘Locks of Love’ foundation.  It was a big celebration and we made the most out of it.   

In order for Angie to receive the ‘concoction’, she had to get a Port-a-Cath in her upper chest, which required surgery.  not fun.  So, we had that surgery done, but the Dr. that performed the surgery didn’t do a good job and gave her a Port-a-Cath for a woman that was 300+ lbs and not one under 150.  So, a few weeks later, we went in for another surgery to get the ‘right’ one put in.  Isn’t that wonderful!

The chemo lasted until late May of 2006.  During that time, we purchased some very cute wigs for Angie, a blond wig and a cool brown with highlights one.  They both looked cute on her.  Soon after, we had to decide on the next surgery step.  Single or Bi-lateral Mastectomy.  We decided to go with the Bi-lateral one because it was the safer step, we thought that would prevent this damned disease from ever coming back Lord willing.  I believe in July of 2006 we had that major surgery done at MD Anderson, one of the best cancer centers in the world.  We are grateful to have such a great group of Doctors that practice their profession here in Houston.

Angie healed and recovered and stayed strong, where as I was in a sort of fog it seems at times.  She was going through it, but so was I and I felt every moment of it. 

We began the reconstruction phase in April of 2007 with another surgery.  This time it was expander’s that were put in to prepare for the ‘real ones’ to come.  We felt this was a better step towards recovery and putting all of this behind us.  In October of 2007 she got the ‘real ones’ put in to replace the expander’s and I love’em!!

Here we are now and recovering well.   She starts back to work tomorrow and I’m very thankful that things have turned out as well as can be expected.  We have had many people pray for us and share their life experiences with their family members and friends that have gone through similar situations as us and were thankful for that as well. 

Please help out with sharing wisdom with others about prevention and donating to research organizations such as the Susan G. Komen Foundation. 

Crohn’s Disease

November 1, 2007 at 5:28 pm | In Crohn's Disease, LIFE | Leave a Comment
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What kind of a title is this you ask right?  Well, it’s one that has affected my life up close and personal.  There’s a pretty bad disease that exists called Crohn’s Disease, have you heard of it? Many more folks have now, than they did back in 1986, which was the year I was diagnosed with the disease.

Basically, it affects the intestinal tract, large and small intestines.  Think of an ulcer and then times it by 100, that’s what you get with Crohn’s.  My situation was worse than most folks with the disease as I began to get real sick and lose much weight.  At the ripe age of 12, I weighed a whopping 60 lbs.  I remember some pics of how I looked then and it’s hard for even myself to see.  Crazy stuff! 

Anyway, I was living with my father at the time I started getting sick in California.  I soon decided to come to Houston, where my mother lived and more importantly, where some of the best medical doctors in the world preside.  I went to my mother’s doctor that she used at a local office and her name was Dr. Myakar.  She met with me and within an hour she had pronounced that I had Crohn’s Disease.  I couldn’t believe that she was able to render such a ’spot on’ diagnosis with the disease being in such a rare state at the time and with not having or knowing really any past history on me(Total God-instance, as there are no such things as coincidences I believe)

 I spent several months thereafter, taking steroids and drinking those nasty food supplement health drinks in a bottle.  But, I was not getting any better unfortunately.  One night, I woke up in the middle of the night and went to the bathroom.  When I arose I saw nothing but blood that filled the toilet.  It scared me soooo much, my heart started racing.  I went to wash my hands and felt lightheaded and passed out there on the floor.  After I awoke to loud rings in my ears and a medical staff from your local ambulance, my mom described to me what happened.  That I shrieked her name out loud and before I could drop to the floor, she had ran out of a cold sleep, to catch me as I was falling to the floor.  She said there was something in my voice, that as a mother, she knew wasn’t right with her child.  Absolutely amazing!!!  Thanks MOM!!!!  She took me to the hospital that night and the doctors ran all kinds of wonderful tests on me for days afterwards.  They couldn’t find where the bleeding was coming from because there was so much blood in my intestinal area.  I spent almost 2 months in the hospital without food and on an IV.  The doctors had tried to look for other ways to get me better, but ultimately they realized that I had to have surgery in order to live.  There were no other options…

I remembered being so scared that night the doctors told me that.  My mom was at my side and she held me.  I cried a ton that night and so did she.  I remember saying the words for the first time in my life “Jesus help me” 

The next day they took me in for about an 8 hour surgery.  They removed about 3 feet of intestine out of me, which included the appendix, since the infected/bleeding area was where the small and large intestine meet and where the appendix happens to be ironically.  So, at least I don’t have to ever worry about appendicitis!  :)

I recovered from the surgery for what took several days and it hurt so bad.  It was painful and anguishing to laugh, but I was so happy and knew that I was on a quick road to recovery.  Or so I thought.  I was released from the hospital and began to eat like crazy, but was supposed to be limited in what I ate.  Well, my intestines weren’t happy about that, and began to flare up.  I had to go back into the hospital less than a week after being let go and spend some more happy days there.  I did recover quickly from that and eased back into a normal diet and routine.

The doctors told me that on average, most people that have the kind of surgery I did, get the symptoms back in 5-10 years afterwards.  Well, Praise God, it’s been over 20 years now and I am healthy as a horse.  The fact does remain that I will always have Crohn’s disease, as it never leaves you, but prayerfully, will remain in a dormant state for the rest of my days.

I couldn’t have made it without my mom being there for me and taking care of me in such a dark and hard time in my life.  I am forever grateful to you mom, Thank YOU and I LOVE YOU!!!!

Football

November 1, 2007 at 4:39 pm | In sports | Leave a Comment
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Have you ever played Fantasy Football/Baseball/Basketball before?  You have to try it out, it’s so much fun.  Currently it is a bit more than half-way through the regular football season and I’m very much having fun watching the games as well as playing in my different fantasy football leagues.  My teams as a whole are doing OK so far this year, but the football year in the NFL has been anything but normal as injuries have plagued many teams as well as our drafted players we chose at the beginning of the season.

 So, being that I live in Houston, I have adopted our local teams and have rooted for them.  Just one thing though, the Houston Texans in their 6 short year history have been everything BUT good.  So, it’s been rough to say the least, to be a fan of the local football team.  Although, this year seems to be a much improved year the Texans have had, we shall see how they finish up the regular season.

I will rant and rave more on the past faults of the Texans more in the future, but for now, suffice it to say, I’m very glad that it’s winter and the Football season is in FULL SWING.

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