Month: May 2023

Ever since 2011, May 22 has had a different meaning for the people of Joplin. The people living here feel emotions on this day that they don’t normally feel. They remember things that happened that seem like they can only come out of nightmares. I will never forget the phone call that we got while we were in Tulsa. Our daughter worked at Walmart at the time. She called to tell us a tornado was headed that way and they were taking cover. Then the phone went dead. Then the next thing we heard was that Joplin was struck by a massive tornado. Businesses were destroyed, including Walmart. And there were multiple deaths. We couldn’t reach our daughter. Our hearts sank. 

As we drove home, we were not able to reach her. But we did catch other family members. And they said she was fine. Fortunately, the store she worked in was missed. The storm went just south of where she was. Thank God. What a relief. But then we began to hear about the magnitude of what happened. Quite possibly the largest storm to ever hit a metropolitan area. It had winds well over 200 mph. It was on the ground for over 20 miles. Just grinding up whatever it touched. Homes destroyed. Business is destroyed. Landscapes destroyed. The destruction was immense. 161 people lost their lives that day. Including kids who just graduated high school. It really was horrendous. 

I retired that year from teaching. And I wanted to do something to help out. So I wrote a book. The intention was to raise money to build a home for someone who lost their home in the storm. I was able to interview 62 families. To tell their stories. The book really is simply a collection of their interviews. Word for Word. I heard stories of those who lost loved ones. Who were there with them when they lost them. I could never imagine what it must’ve been like. And I was humbled to get to hear them firsthand. I was humbled that they would trust me to tell their stories. I was floored by the stories I was hearing. Stuck in their car. Stuck in their bathroom. Watching the roof being sucked off their homes. Having their child sucked out of their arms. Let’s just say there were tears shed over, and over, and over. 

Although what I was hearing was repetitive, each one had its own feel. They were definitely original in the sense of how they experienced the storm. But no matter how different they were, each one came back to a very common point. As we concluded each interview, I asked this question: “Where was God?” And just as they shed tears over, and over, and over, they did not hesitate to tell me that God was with them over, and over, and over. A young girl told me that she didn’t cry or get scared because the angel told her she was going to be fine. Another told me about finding their child in the arms of somebody in a white clothing. And as they approached their child, that person was gone. The child was fine. Others talked about angels holding the walls down. And a father who lost his son, told me that God allowed him to hand his son over to him. Wow! 

I will never forget listening to those I interviewed. Hearing what they had to say. And then re-reading their stories on the pages of the book. And one thing we should all learn from stories like these, is how God is there through storms. Now, our storms may not end the way we hoped they would. We aren’t promised easy. We aren’t promised things will go our way. We may lose loved ones. Just as a father who lost his son did. We may know others who lost loved ones as well. We may lose property. We may see destruction. But no matter what it is we go through, God will get us through. Through his strength we will get through. And if you don’t know this, let’s talk. Make today the day that you do come to know God. So when the storms do come, he will be there to get you through. Because he loves you. He always has. He always will.

Yesterday, we were able to get our veterans on horses. Well, some of them anyways. Not everyone decided to ride. But that is fine. But everyone did at least walk by a horse. Brush a horse. Or just been near the horses. Lots of healing and peace takes place during moments like that. Plus, there were Volunteers there demonstrating wood carving, knife forging, and other metal works. Not to mention the volunteers that took care of the meals. Today, we finished off the weekend with communion and a brunch. I love the Charlie 22 Outdoors family. I love how people believe in the mission. And they want to be part of the family. Sharing it with others. That might mean the most to me out of all of it.

Some thing else that really hits home with me is this. The willingness and boldness of our supporters to share with me lessons. To send me videos or other pieces of material that I can learn from. How are supporters are not afraid to hold me accountable. To make sure I stay focused on the mission. I love that. Our supporters are part of our family. And I know you always hear me say it takes me a family to battle veteran suicide. To do what we do takes a family. Yesterday, I received an email from one of our supporters. One of our family members. He sent me a link to a sermon by Dr. Charles Stanley. On storms. I’ll put the link at the bottom of this for you to go watch it. Very powerful.

The biggest point of the sermon that I took from it was not so much on storms. But more importantly on how we handle storms. Because it is how we handle them that determines the results of them. Storms will either destroy us or they will develop us. They are inevitable in our lives. They’re going to come. And how we go through them is the key. What gives us the strength and the wisdom to get through them is our anchor. And our anchor is the Bible. God‘s word. We may think that we can handle things on our own. We don’t need God‘s word. Oh how wrong we are. Oh how mistaken we are. We all need Godly wisdom to get through the storms that come. And that wisdom comes from the word. So today, make it a habit to go to the anchor daily. To give yourself the security and the stability to face the storms that come. And let the storms develop you.

Here’s the link: https://youtu.be/qW8JKIMcMuU

“Mom. Dad. I messed up.“ Have you ever heard that? Have you ever said that? I bet most of us have experienced one or the other. Either way, it is not something that you want to hear from your young adult child at 3 o’clock in the morning. Your first thought goes to something terrible has happened. You’re dreading what it’s getting ready to be said next. You’re really worried. Just hoping everybody is safe. Then there is a real sign of relief when you find out they are safe. Nobody is hurt. And actually, nothing bad took place. Just a simple mistake. Something that can be easily taken care of. Very stressful to begin with. It can be exhausting. But turned out to be just fine.

Being a follower of Jesus does not mean we have a stress free life. Actually, I would say just the opposite. Many of us experience attacks daily from the evil one. He does that. He comes at you every way he can. Trying to bring us down. Trying to destroy your relationship with Jesus. Trying to keep us away from God. He’s relentless. It’s also exhausting at times. Battling him. We can grow restless. We can lose sleep. It seems like nothing we can do…can break the cycle. That’s part of being a believer. Knowing the attacks are coming. Knowing the mistakes are going to happen.

But here’s what is awesome about being a believer. Being a follower. Being a disciple of Christ. He knows our pains already. He knows our doubts. And he knows we’re gonna make mistakes. But just as we don’t turn away from our children when they make a mistake, he will not turn away from us. As we are there to help our’s fix their mistakes, Jesus is there to help heal us. When we feel crushed. When we feel broken hearted. When are spirits are down. Jesus is there. No mistake is too great. I hope that my children feel this way about Barbara and me. That we’re always gonna be here for them. Always gonna show them grace. Just as Jesus does for us. Here’s something that I read: “He holds us and pours out His peace. But we need to run to Him. We need to sit at His feet and let Him pour out His love, peace, and grace. And when we do that, when we rest in Him and let Him love us, our weary soul will be renewed and strengthened and ready for whatever comes next.” We can be ready for the next mistake. Awesome!

We have said several times, being part of this world means we’re going to be part of struggles. We’re going to be part of times of difficulties. Times of loss. Times of heartache where there seems like no hope. This includes times where people that we trust harm us in ways we can never imagine. This includes times where we lose loved ones when it seemed like everything was fine. At some point, we need to realize that we need God to step in. We need God to restore us. We need to focus on the one who can heal us…instead of focusing on what has hurt us. And I think that begins with prayer.

In the Bible, we learn about Job. We learn about his struggles. We learn about how he handled loss. When everything seemed hopeless. He lost so much. Possessions. Health. Even his children. When all of this happened, God gave him instructions to simply pray. God told him to pray. Which is what he did. He prayed. Which is what we all should do. God knows our hearts. He knows what we are going through. He knew what Job was facing. And he was waiting to restore him. Just as he is waiting to restore us in our times of need. But it starts with us. It starts with us praying.

It’s easy for us to wonder why we need to pray if God knows what we’re going through. You may not like my answer. But I think prayer signals that we are submitting our self to God. I think prayer signals that we are humbling ourselves before God. I think that prayer tells God that we are focusing on him. That we are focusing on being restored and not on what caused the pain. Sometimes things happen to us that are out of our control. Sometimes they make no sense. No matter what is going on, let’s remember this, we have a God who loves us and understands our circumstances. And he is there to restore us and rebuild us. But we must turn to him first. He’s waiting. Because he loves us. He always has. He always will.

Today I’m going to talk again about basketball. Specifically, about the NBA playoffs. In both of the conference finals, we find the number 8 seeds. The Miami Heat are playing in the Eastern conference finals. The Los Angeles Lakers are playing in the Western Conference finals. What’s interesting about both of these teams, is that they had to play in the play-in tournament to get into the playoffs. They had to play extra games to get where they are today. And I believe this might be the first time ever that teams that had to go through that, made it to their respective conference finals. Pretty incredible.

In order to be in that situation to begin with, these teams did not have the best regular seasons. The Lakers had to come back from being several spots down to even make it into that play-in tournament. Miami kind of floundered around a little bit before they got into that situation. I think they may have actually been a 7 seed right there before the end of the season. Now, what does this have to do with our faith? Actually I think a lot. Getting to the point that they are in right now, means they didn’t quit. It shows that it doesn’t matter where you start, or where you’re find yourself midstream, it’s how you finish that matters. Our lives are just like that. I for one can tell you that I did not start at all where I needed to be. Far from it. And I’ve had many slips as I have moved on in my life. As I aged, there were many times that I was going off course. But now I like to think that I am finishing strong. I’d like to think that I have let God take control. I still have my struggles. But I have a Lord and Savior that’s helping me push forward.

In the Bible, we read how God will continue working on us until the end. He will continue chipping away if we let him. It’s not too late. No matter where you are in life, it’s not too late. Even if you have strayed off the path he paved for us, it is not too late. But it’s up to you to let him in. It’s up to you to let him work in your life. And to let him continue working in your life until Jesus Christ returns. Up to you. So today, I challenge you to look at yourself and do an inventory of where you are. I ask you to be honest with yourself. Truly honest. What is it that’s keeping you from letting Jesus Christ take control? What’s keeping you from letting him work on your heart? What’s stopping you? I promise you this much, if you let him in, truly let him in, your life will change in ways you can never imagine. And then you can finish strong. You can be in the conference finals of your life.

There have been times where I found myself in difficult seasons or moments where I wanted to just sit back and do nothing. I felt like I was exhausted. Exhausted from my day-to-day struggles. Exhausted from one step forward and two steps backwards. Nothing I did seem to be moving me in the right direction. Found myself waking up only wanting to go back to bed. Didn’t have the energy to do anything. Basically, I felt weary. These are all statements that I’m sure some of us have said at some point in our lives. Maybe you are saying them now.

If you catch yourself feeling this way, try to be alert. There’s a good chance that Satan is after you. Trying to keep you down. Doing what he can make you feel worthless. To make your situation to feel hopeless. Let’s remember the snake that he is. He is sneaky like that. That is his specialty. To make you feel unworthy. To make you feel like nothing you do matters. Don’t forget, he does this in the darkness because in the light he is exposed. More importantly, remember that God can get you through. He is the solution.

There is a catch though. There is a caveat we must remember. For God to work in our lives and to get us through, we must act. We must do something first. And that first “act of action” is for us to seek God first. Even when times seem bleak, we must seek him. Turn to him. Not only will you show us the way, he will give us the energy to do so. The strength to face the struggles ahead. The wisdom to discern the best course of action. He will take us step, by step, by step. That will require us to endure the journey. Trusting that he knows what is best. And that is how he will restore us. That is how he will restore you. Step-by-step. Day-by-day. Blessing each action you take in your faith.

Losing a job can be humbling. It can rock you to your core. Losing two jobs can be life altering. It can change the course of your life. It did me. In 2005, I lost a job that I had held for over a decade. It made me feel expendable. And that’s a bad feeling. But, I didn’t dwell on it. I learned from it. I built on it. Our faith based basketball program came out of the whole situation. In 2020, due to budget cuts from the virus, my position with the state was cut. But by this point in my life, I knew there was a reason. God was closing one door as he was opening another. Actually, the floodgates opened. Charlie 22 Outdoors exploded after the state let me go.

We all experience loss at some time in our lives. Loss comes at us in many different forms. There’s death. There’s being let go from our jobs. There is the end of relationships. When we play sports, we will lose at some point. And there are so many other ways that we experience loss. It’s going to happen. Nothing that we can do to prevent it. Being human means we’re going to have to face it. Sometimes what we lose has very little meaning in the big scheme of things. At other times, loss can have long lasting affects on us. Sometimes they can’t be replaced.

Although, what we go through can be very painful, God can use those moments in big ways. In the Bible we read of Ruth. Losing her husband was not her end. She remained faithful. Followed her convictions. She didn’t stay focused on what happened. She didn’t stay focused on her circumstances. Instead, she moved forward as she was feeling sorrow. As she was feeling loss. And because so, God blessed her. And those around her saw it. They learned from it. We can all learn from it. We should all learn that God can restore us if we remain faithful. God can take what seems like the end and make it a beginning. God can take what seems like has been turned upside down and make it righteous. God can restore anything if we let him work. And if you let him work, others will see it. And they will grow as well. And that my friends…is glorious.

Last week or youngest daughter found out that she has been accepted into the Social Work program at Missouri Southern State University. This is such a blessing for her. She’s been struggling trying to figure out which way she wanted to go. She had been accepted into nursing school last year. But she soon realized that was not the path for her. After researching different options in this field, she felt like God was telling her this is where she needs to be. So awesome. Part of the application process included writing an essay. And in that essay she needed to do discuss why it is she wants to be a Social Worker. 

She talked about being lost in her journey, trying to figure out her career path. I don’t blame her. When I was 19, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. Then she began talking about praying to God for wisdom. And how he started to show her different things to consider. And then he put it on her heart that Social Work was the way to go. With our family history of medical issues, hospital Social Workers have played an important role in our lives. Anna would be fantastic at that. Then she began to mention praying over and even helping others who have hurt her. People who have done her wrong. Wow! We can all learn from that. Talk about taking a heart that has been broken by those that you trust, and then turning around and helping them anyways. Amazing stuff. Very clearly…this demonstrates how our hearts should be focused on what God has for us.

There’s a lot of brokenness in this world today. A lot of hate. A lot of evil. Every time you turn around, you see someone harming somebody else. Or trying to. Just turn on the evening news at the national level and I bet several stories of the week will be discussing these very things. You see it at the national level of our politicians as well. There’s so many good people there. I like to think that they are doing their jobs the best they can. But, there are also so many people there back biting each other. Just fighting back-and-forth to be fighting back-and-forth. Crazy stuff. The solution to all of these things that we are seeing isn’t treating the results. The solution is to break our hearts. And to let God take control. We let God take over our lives, good things will happen. We let God take over our homes, good things will happen. We let God take over our nation, good things will happen. We let God take over our world, good things will happen. We won’t have to be reacting. God will help us prevent all the ugliness before it takes place.

I don’t think it’s a secret that I am a sports fan. I love all sports. Basketball being my favorite. I just admire what athletes are able to accomplish. Truly incredible. I tell you that to tell you this. There’s a good chance if you were to come visit me any morning of the week, you would find SportsCenter on my TV. Catching up on what happened the day before. This morning it was no different. As I was getting ready, a story came on that caught my attention. It was about Derick Hall. For those of you that don’t know, he is a linebacker who played at Gulfport High School. And went on to Auburn to become 1st Team all SEC. Was drafted recently by the Seattle Seahawks. But what caught my attention is the story about him being born.

His mother went into labor 4 months early. The doctors told her he would be born without a heartbeat. They said he had a 1% chance to live. And if he did live, he most likely would never walk, talk, breathe, anything. They prepared her to let him go. But she refused. Her comment was that she needed to give him a chance. And that God had selected her to be his mother. After five months in the hospital, he went home and began his childhood. It wasn’t without difficulties. But as he grew, he developed into an incredible athlete. And none of this would’ve happened if she had decided to let him go. If she had no hope. A 1% chance grew into an NFL athlete. Simply amazing.

Our spiritual lives can be like this. Some of us feel like we don’t have a chance . We have no hope. We feel like the 1%. Nothing we can do to change that. Nothing we can do can give us hope. And we are right. Because nothing that we can do will change it. Nothing we can do will give us hope. All of that comes from Jesus. Plain and simple. Jesus is our hope. Jesus can change anything. Jesus can take us from 1% to a life full of grace. A life full of hope and love. No matter how dark. No matter how bleak. No matter how life seems hopeless. We always have a chance with Jesus. He can pull us up from the depths that we have put ourselves in. He can bring us out of places that we have found ourselves in because of our choices. He can do all of these things for anyone. And that includes you. If you don’t know Jesus, make today the day to get to know him. Make today of the day that you give yourself a chance by letting Jesus take control. And watch what happens. It will be awesome.

I first picked up a basketball when I was in the 5th grade. I remember it like it was yesterday. It was one of those plastic rubbery things. Not the greatest. It even warped into egg shape one day when I left it in the sun. Believe me…lesson learned. But regardless of its condition, it was still my ball. It felt good in my hands. There was an instant connection. And I knew I wanted to learn how to play the game. The seed had been planted.

As I grew into my teenage years, I developed a love for the game. I felt drawn to it. I was never satisfied with my ability. Constantly practicing and playing to get better. What’s brilliant about the game is that you can play it alone. It can be the goal, the ball, and you. Beautiful. Basketball was something I could turn to when I needed a release. Or a time to work on me. At any moment I could work and grow. What’s also brilliant about the game is the ability to play on a team. And the lessons we can learn from teamwork. Life lessons. Especially in practice. I loved practice more than the games. The learning that I got during the workouts. Alone or as a team. And the same can be said about my walk with Christ. Yours too.

When we first accept Jesus, the seed is planted. The love relationship begins. We have joined his team. But we have much learning to do. Therefore we must pursue him as he has pursued us. We must become intimate with him. This is how we grow. We learn to practice our faith. Building different skills in it. Strengthening them. Prayer. Love. Patience. Discernment. So many more. All skills we can improve on. We can work on our faith by ourselves and also as part of a team. As we continue to grow we will move towards maximizing our potential. And here is what is awesome about this whole thing. What is awesome about working on our faith. God will show us our greatness. He will bring it out. He will use it for his good. But remember, for this to happen, we need to work on drawing close to him. Seek him. Pursue him. Make him our focus. And he in return will bring it out of us.