Nick Charles–A Different Fighter

I only heard of Nick Charles a few months ago while watching television. He was CNN’s first sports-only broadcaster, if not the industry’s first. He was going up against a little know network at the time of ESPN.

He loved all the sports he covered; however, he had an infinite passion for boxing. He loved the artistry of it and he could describe a fight with such passion.

A few years ago, he was diagnosed with Stage 4 Bladder Cancer. He was told that it was incurable. His focus from that point on was to live life to the fullest. He wanted to spend more time with his family as they were planning their dream home near Sante Fe, NM.

He started making videos for his daughter when she reaches certain birthdays and proms and her wedding day. His wife would hold the camera when he made the video diaries for his daughter.

He became a Christian in 1992 as his wife led him to Christ. When he got the word of this disease, he thought God was calling him home so he could get heaven ready for when his wife and daughter come home too. His focus was that this was God’s plan and he accepted that this was not his home on earth.

What an awesome example of how we should all live. A great example of Christ doing all we can while we are here for our friends and family before it is our time to go. Most of us do not know when that time is coming. Nick knew his time was short, especially these past few months.

Nick died yesterday morning, June 25th, 2011 overlooking his landscape at his dream home in New Mexico. It was overlooked that day by most as it was the second anniversary of Michael Jackson’s death. But I think that is how he would rather have gone. Do not focus on him and be sad for him. He is home. It is where he preparing his Heavenly dream home for his wife and daughter.

Thank you Nick Charles for being such and inspiration through this incredible fight. The fight is now over and you are home.

To read more on the Nick Charles story on CNN, click here.

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Happy Father’s Day

I have been really trying to figure out what I am going to write for this Father’s Day blog for a few weeks now. I usually let God take over as I type these things and let the honesty type its’ way out. But then, God hit me while driving in my car a week ago.

I am heading into work and a song comes on the radio. I nearly had to pull over because it was a perfect example of my dad. The song is by a band named Sanctus Real. I had heard their song, “Lead Me” before; however, they were explaining what the song was about and who it was written. You hear what he is crying out for, probably what every father is crying out for, to be a better husband and father. And we cannot do this alone. So we have to turn to the Lord and ask for guidance and strength. This is the part that made me want to pull over: My dad does exactly that.

What an incredible leader of our family growing up and what a great example for me to strive to be one day. He fought, tooth and nail for our family. He not just walked the walk by telling us he loved us, he showed us he loved us. Whether it was picking me up from a 8:30pm baseball game on a Tuesday night during the summer or calling me a few months ago to check on me to see how I was.

If I had to choose a part of the song that hits me is when they talk about not being left hungry for love and being left out. My dad never did that. He was showed his love for us. He let God lead him so that my brother and I could be led by him.

Sanctus Real–Lead Me

The lyrics are as follows:

I look around and see my wonderful life
Almost perfect from the outside
In picture frames, I see my beautiful wife
Always smiling, but on the inside
Oh, I can hear her saying
Lead me with strong hands
Stand up when I can't
Don't leave me hungry for love
Chasing dreams, but what about us?
Show me you're willing to fight
That I'm still the love of your life
I know we call this our home
But I still feel alone
I see their faces, look in their innocent eyes
They're just children from the outside
I'm working hard, I tell myself they'll be fine
They're independent, but on the inside
Oh, I can hear them saying
Lead me with strong hands
Stand up when I can't
Don't leave me hungry for love
Chasing dreams, what about us?
Show me you're willing to fight
That I'm still the love of your life
I know we call this our home
But I still feel alone
So Father, give me the strength
To be everything I'm called to be
Oh Father, show me the way
To lead them
Won't You lead me?
To lead them with strong hands
To stand up when they can't
Don't want to leave them hungry for love
Chasing things that I could give up
I'll show them I'm willing to fight
And give them the best of my life
So we can call this our home
Lead me 'cause I can't do this alone
Father, lead me 'cause I can't do this alone

I have always said I want to strive to be like my father. He is an incredible husband, loving father and unbelievable grandfather. I thank him for his leadership of our family and for leading us the way a father should lead his family. I have a lot to live up to with my 15 month year old. But I think with using my father’s leadership and guidance of looking towards God for help, I think I will do just fine.

Thanks Dad for being the leader in our family that we needed. Thank you for being the example of how to be a terrific father. Thanks.

 

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A Liked Player on the Miami Heat???

I had to head into work for a little over an hour last Saturday morning and was listening to sports talk radio. They were doing a segment on the station about a player for the Miami Heat that has been having to deal with a large family issue over the past few weeks.

Actually, the story starts about four years ago when Miami Heat player Mike Miller and his wife donated one million dollars to a hospital in his home state of South Dakota. They donated the money specifically to a NICU unit for babies who have struggles when they are born. They had a child of their own already who had a very healthy entrance into the world and wanted to give something back to those who did have struggles. Very cool so far right??

Fast forward four years and now Mike Miller is now on the most hated team in the NBA. They had acquired now the most hated player in the league (LeBron James) and was now headed to the playoffs. More importantly, he was about ready to have his third child, a baby girl. She was due near the end of the playoffs and he was not sure how he was going to handle that along with the playoffs if they got that far.

Well, they did and she was born right around the Eastern Conference Finals. The Heat were playing the Bulls and he was flying back and forth between Chicago and Miami to be with his wife. Unfortunately, the baby girl was born with the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck. She was losing oxygen fast. The family that donated the million dollars for towards the hospital four years ago now needed the same need the donated too. A little crazy how God works.

Jaelyn Miller has been released from the hospital now. She may have more surgery in the future due to a potential hole in her heart. They are not out of the woods yet; however, seeing what this family has gone through, I am praying that the see the little at the end of the tunnel.

For a more complete story on this topic, click here.

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What exactly is GMC??

So the other morning, while getting ready for work, I saw a commercial for Channel 338 on DirecTV. The title of the channel is GMC or Gospel Music Channel. It was introduced a few years ago on DirecTV. It had a lot of selection for Christian music and had programs that were uplifting as opposed to a lot of the stuff out there now.

So as I am watching this promo for the channel, not once did they mention God, let a lone the official title of their channel. It kept referring to having to look up… on your channel guide. The music that plays in the background is that of either Creed or Switchfoot. Now, Creed has long since been referred to as a possible Christian Rock band, but played on many secular stations. Switchfoot is a Christian band that has received a lot of airtime on secular stations. I will give them credit for using Switchfoot. However, why are we scared to reference God or even the word Gospel on the GOSPEL Music Channel? Then it really made me think.

How many times, do us as Christians, hide behind something that “excuses” our faith? When someone asks what church we go to, we answer with the church name and that is that. Are we ashamed to use the name of God? Are we like Peter when someone asks if we know Jesus and we say we have nothing to do with Him? I know comparing the Peter incident in the Bible is a different than the issue with GMC; however, does it come with the same result? Matthew 10:33 “But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven” (New International Version).

I need to watch what I do in all situations so I do not sit back and analyze a conversation. The last thing I want to do after a conversation or commercial is reference Matthew 10:33.

Just a thought.

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20:28–More than just a day of serving.

Yesterday was a day for our church to serve the community of St. Louis by doing various acts of volunteering. Some people were out there fixing bicycles at a church, some people were assisting local schools in cleaning up their properties. Our group had the great opportunity to go and clean up the yard of a woman mid-town St. Louis.

The church gets the name from Matthew 20:28 which talks about how were not brought to this Earth to be served, but to serve. It does not matter who you are helping when you are serving because in the end, you are serving the Lord. I have done this the past two years and loved every minute of it. It shows how working together you can really do something amazing for someone.

We were out in the yard as soon as we got to this woman’s house. I met some amazing people who were also giving up their Saturday to help this woman. She was unable to care for her yard herself as she is elderly and in hospice care. We had people raking leaves that had been there for quite sometime. Several were pulling roots out of dead plants and re-mulching. A lot of people were doing some clipping of branches, including myself. Then I got a little ambitious.

I decided to knock down a tree that was growing into another yard. The only problem is I did it all with sheers, which I do not recommend! After I got it down, a neighbor looked over and kept thanking me. She told me that she was sure the woman we were helping appreciates all we were doing. I hope so, but if not, that was okay. Her and her husband kept coming out thanking us over and over. It was so crazy to witness that.

We finished up after several hours there and prayed. We all left and went our separate ways. I drove to pick the family up lunch. The wife had been serving by watching the kids of the volunteers all morning. She took control of the group to make sure they were all taken care of while the volunteers were out serving.

So I get to pick up some lunch and while waiting, I am reading a friend’s social media network page. Man was that a punch in the gut and a well deserved one. See I had given him a few jabs for what he was doing with his project. It was not meant to hurt him and we joked around about it. At the time, I thought, no big deal, right? WRONG! He really challenged me in my thinking, which was needed. He learned that a child he was serving complimentary BBQ too had just a cup of noodles yesterday for lunch. What he was doing was giving that child food that their family could not afford. At that moment, I realized it does not matter what you do when serving. What matters is that you are serving and learning and experiencing how we all can help each other. Whether it is cleaning a yard or holding a door for someone or feeding a child who has not had a solid meal in at least a day, it all glorifies Christ.

I thanked him for sharing that because I needed to see that to remind me that every single one of us worked our tails off yesterday for Him. 20:28 is something awesome to experience once a year. The experiences from it need to grow roots and continue throughout the rest of the year.

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Happy Birthday to My Mother

Well today is my Mother’s XX Birthday. If I mentioned how old on the blog, I think I may have to buy my way back into their will.

I have mentioned her in several blogs I have done regarding mother’s day and what she means to us all. She worked right until the time I was born and then stayed at home. She raised me to: 1. Love God, 2. Love your family, and 3. To think of others before you. If it sounds familiar, you can check out the Bible and the Ten Commandments!

She never relented on those with myself or my brother who was born nearly eight years after me. I remember how she ran this Star program with me that for every chore I did, I got a Star. Every time I did something bad or forgot to do something, I had a Star taken away from my chart. Usually in the end, I would say I would break even. I could cash my Stars in for a trip to Dairy Queen or to a local candy store, Brownies. I would have to be extremely good for a week to even have a chance at one of those. Not that the program was hard, I was always making her mad and losing stars all over the place.

We struggled with our relationship growing up. We do differ in our personality; however, she never adapted to me. She knew what her views were correct and she made sure that was drilled into me. Very rarely now will you not hear me say “No” or “Yes” and not have it followed by a “Sir” or “Mam.”

She made sure me and my brother always were given the best chance to grow into a Christian man. She would support us no matter what. I have mentioned this in a previous blog a year ago; however, this is how I will always remember my mom. I was twenty years old and a good friend had recently passed away. His funeral was out of state and she made sure I was going to get there on a road trip. We left the day of her birthday. She could care less if I was there for her birthday or if I got her anything. What she cared about was her son getting to where he needed to be. It showed me the sacrifice of a mother.

She has been to many places around the country and in Europe. In fact, this weekend she is in one of her favorite cities with my dad in Chicago. However, she is always thinking of her family no matter where she is. Even today, when we called her to wish her happy birthday, she is asking about her grandson and how he is doing. Wanting to ask about my work and how my wife has been doing. We have a present and a card waiting for her when she gets back, but she does not care about that. She got to hear from those she loves. That is what matters.

I am thankful I married to a woman who I see a lot of the same characteristics of my mother. Nonetheless, my mother is one of a kind and I am truly blessed to call her my mother and my son’s nana!

Mom, happy birthday today! We love you!

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Memorial Day–Do We Remember?

Memorial Day always used to signal the start of summer for me. To be honest, it usually meant a jammed packed weekend of baseball games. We would play about five games in three days and just run ourselves into the ground. But throughout the years, there is so much more to this holiday then getting a day off or playing sports.

Both of my grandfathers served in the military, which I described in my Memorial Day Blog last year. Not too many other family members served in my family; however, I am learning more and more with each year, how important of a holiday Memorial Day represents.

When I was 11 years old, my mother’s father passed away. He was a veteran from WWII and Korea. I will always remember a certain moment from my papa’s funeral. We were in the car behind the hearse and driving through Shreveport, LA. And there, on the side of the rode, I saw a man saluting my papa. He did not know him; however, he saw the flag covering his coffin and knew how to respond. He remembered the importance of what he did for his country.

As I type this, I have the movie Taking Chance (2009) starring Kevin Bacon in the background. It is based on the true story of Lt. Col. Mike Strobel be the military escort of PFC Chance Phelps, who died while fighting in Iraq. All along the way, he sees some people who do not care who or why he is there, while others show the respect that someone who died for our country deserves.

There is a scene in the movie that after all the flying, they have to drive to his hometown in Wyoming. While driving, an eighteen wheel truck begins to pass the hearse when he turns on his headlights and takes off his hat. This begins the process of car after car showing the respect PFC Phelps deserved. It makes me think of my papa and that man on the side of the road.

The wife wonders why I watch this movie so much. Besides the fact I like the movie, it reminds me of all those who have paid the ultimate price so that we can remain free. So many young men and women will not make it back home to see all the lives that they touch.

Remember those who gave their lives so we can enjoy the freedom we do enjoy each day. I want to say a special thank you to the family of Christopher Katzenberger, medic in C Company who lost his life on August 9, 2005. You can read more about him and his service by clicking on his name. He is a fellow alumni from the class of 1998 from DeSmet Jesuit High School. I knew him only through school and did not cross paths after graduation. None the less, because of his service to our country, I am proud to say I went to high school with him. Thank you Chris for all you did for our country.

In honor of Memorial Day, watch this clip from a spectator who taped the Changing of the Guard at Arlington National Cemetery I saw this in person once and it is quite powerful!

Changing of the Guard

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