9 Months Ago Today……..

May 26, 2011 was a tough day for the Fus family. Dad went home to be with the Lord. Not a fun journey to go through or watch my Dad go through. With that said, I can’t begin to imagine what Dad had to go through. Chemo, doctor’s visit’s, pain, sickness, and the list goes on. Yet through it all, with mom by his side every step of the way,  he remained faithful to his God and his calling. His passion for people was unparalleled. He loved telling people about Christ. I will forever be in awe of his dedication to Christ and thankful for his example.

The two comments I have heard the most in the past 9 months are these; 1. Time will heal, and 2. Eventually you will have to move on. Being the first time I have ever walked this path, I knew both of these were true. As a matter of fact, I have said them to people that had been in my situation. As the months went on, I found myself waiting for time to heal my hurt. It never did. As I look back over my past, I have come to find that time has never healed my hurt and to the conclusion that time will probably not heal any future hurts. The only thing that will heal my hurt and pain is Christ! Time hasn’t changed my circumstances, but faith and dependence in Christ has made the circumstances easier.

As far as moving on is concerned, I don’t know that I will ever move on from Dad going home. Tough to get over not having such a great man be a physical presence in my life. What I have found is that I can CARRY ON by not dwelling on the obvious physical absence, but focusing on the lessons learned from such a great man and the love he showed me every day of my life.

9 months ago today my Dad’s earthly journey came to an end. He is now walking streets of gold and wading in the crystal sea. I can only imagine the conversations he has had and will be having. I am so happy for him, but wish I could hear him say, “I love you, Tim”, just one more time. I know I will hear it again someday. I just have to wait a while!

Praying Over My Kids

I have been on a 21 day prayer journey with my church that will come to an end in 2 days or so. It has been exciting to see God move in and through the body of Southpointe. God things are happening daily and each day seems to be filled with anticipation of what He is going to do next. Very cool to be in the midst of God working!

This time of prayer has been encouraging to me personally as I not only make my petitions known, but listen to what God wants to tell me through our conversation. One area of my life that He has spoken clearly to me about is my kids and how I pray for them. It is easy to ask God to protect my kids and provide for them. Keep them safe at school and give them a good day. Not fight with each other and learn to love each other more. And the list goes on. Although these are all things that I probably won’t stop praying, God shifted the focus of my prayers to something I wasn’t expecting. Expecting this early in their lives, anyway. During a time of listening to God, He asked me, get this, if I was praying for their spouse! What?! They’re 8, 5, and 1! Really?! Their spouse?! Not only that, but pray for the spouses family as well. This might not be a surprise for some of you and you have been doing this all along. For me it was something I had not been seriously doing on a consistent or focused basis.

After asking for forgiveness for being shortsighted, I got on to the business at hand. He was directing me to pray for their spouse that they would grow up knowing and serving the Lord. That they would make decisions that would be Kingdom minded. That they would love God and love others. And lastly, that they would grow up praying for their spouse.

Next up, the parents of the spouse. He asked me to pray that they would train up their children to love the Lord. That they would remain grounded in the Word. That they would example to their children what it is to love God and love others. And lastly, that they would be praying for their child’s spouse like I was praying for mine.

I was emotionally spent! More like a blubbering mess! I’m not ready for my kids to graduate from elementary school let alone be thinking of them getting married!

Early on this earthly journey I learned  that when God speaks, YOU LISTEN! I may not understand the what or why behind Him asking. That is irrelevant. His ways are higher than my ways. I am to just be obedient. So now I find myself spending a more focused time of prayer on my children’s future mate. A great truth I learned from our family Pastor at Southpointe. We are not raising children, we are raising adults!

I tell you this story to say this, when you pray, take time to listen. A  few days ago Pastor David had this in his blog for the 21 Days of Prayer.

 

Praying is far more about listening to God and how He responds than it is about me voicing my concerns, wants and needs.  It is undeniable that God wants us to communicate and make the ASK of Him.  What I don’t want to miss is His communication in return.  We must listen for God to speak. 

Remember that prayer is not about us. It is all about God. Pray for His glory above all other things!

 

So remember, don’t just spend time uploading. Make sure you are taking just as much time, if not more, to download!

 

 

 

 

 

Great Day In History!

There are some days along the journey that have a little bit more meaning than others. January 22nd is one of those days for me. Today marks a very special day in history for a few reasons. One being a little more known than the others, but all being equally special to me.

39 years ago today, my baby sister was born. She has meant many things to me along the journey. She is a tremendous warrior for the Kingdom and a beautiful God-fearing lady. She actually just celebrated the birth of her baby boy this past Tuesday!  Andrew Roddenberry. I know she will be a phenomenal mother that will raise up her child in the way he should go. I am grateful that God brought Becky into the Fus family! 

That same day 39 years ago, another historic event happened. The decision of Roe vs Wade was put into law. Millions upon millions of precious babies have had their life grossly cut short in the name of choice. Without going into this at length, I believe there is an often unseen problem that leads to abortion. We see the same in marriages today. It seems there is very little respect in society for sex and for marriage in society today. Neither are something to be entered into lightly or flippantly. I’ll save more for another post! What makes this decision even worse for me today is that we have a president who is choosing to celebrate the right to choose rather than addressing one of the most murderous laws ever passed. This is one law that needs to be reversed. I’ll be praying! 

One other reason this day has special to meaning to me is the fact that Trish and I were faced with the decision of abortion. We were told that one of our twin girls was probably not going to survive the pregnancy and we should consider cutting the umbilical cord in utero. More than that, if we didn’t go through with that decision she would cause harm to her sister by taking needed nutrients from her and we could have 2 physically challenged babies. 

I will save the entire story for another post, but obviously abortion was not an option for us. God did what God does time and time again and proved Himself faithful. Kelli, the one whose cord we should have cut, was actually born healthier than her sister!

All that to say, the 22nd of January is always a special day in my earthly journey to my heavenly home. One that will never be forgotten, that’s for sure!   

You Are Fearfully & Wonderfully Made!

This is probably one of my favorite explanations of how great God is! This video leaves me in complete awe of my heavenly Father and unbelievably humbled to think that HE, the creator of it ALL, desires a relationship with me. I hope you enjoy this video as much as I do.

Keep It In The Fairway!

As I get rolling with my blog, I figured I would explain the title of the blog. The title is taken from Matthew 7:13-14

13 Enter ye in by the narrow gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many are they that enter in thereby.14 For narrow is the gate, and straitened the way, that leadeth unto life, and few are they that find it.

As many of you know, I love to golf! There’s just something about the sport that is addicting. Just can’t get enough and always want to get better. With that said, I have found that there are many parallels between golf and a life in Christ.

As you look at the verses above, I would interpret them in this golf way:

13. You want to keep it in the fairway which is the narrow part of the golf hole. If you’re not in the fairway and find yourself in another part of the hole, chances are you’re going to be in the rough or another undesired part of the hole. Unfortunately there are many that end up in this part of the hole. 14. The fairway is usually the straightest part of the hole and it is usually the easiest way to the green. Most people don’t end up in the fairway off the tee!

There are obviously other parallels that can be drawn from those verses, but these are some that jump out at me. There are many different “traps” and “rough” spots in life as in golf. We can’t expect to always be in the fairway. No one is perfect. When we end up in trouble, most of the time it’s because we made a poor decision. As my friend, and coach, has taught me, not every shot is going to be perfect. If you “miss” a shot, you need to keep a level head and deal with your next shot. Assess where the ball is sitting and make another shot. It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish!

Now you have some background into the “why” behind the title. The subtitle for my blog is My Earthly Journey To My Heavenly Home. Otherwise known as, from tee to green!

Thanks for reading! See ya soon! Until then,

Keep It In The Fairway!

Here we go!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Hard to believe 2012 is here! 2011 was an interesting year in many respects. Let’s just say it was a growing year! I’m glad my God is a faithful and forgiving God. Saw this on Twitter today: “God doesn’t give us second chances; he gives us Jesus. His name is Redeemer, not Re-do!” Don’t get caught up in the guilt of the past. Live in the light of the Redeemer!

I pray that 2012 is a year that God will reveal Himself to you in a way that you have never experienced before and that you will be open and receptive to what He wants to do in you and through you!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! May 2012 be your best year yet!

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