We have been blessed in our new home. We have a home, a car, jobs that provide for our financial needs and usually provide for our personal growth, time for our families and for service to our Lord. The road to get to this point has been very long… In fact, one could say that there have been many forces conspiring against our attempt to serve the Lord and make a new life here.
Please forgive the lack of updates, as you read you will understand.
The list of trials has been long and continues to strike against us. Our trust in the God of all creation, has let us continue to come together as a family and stand firm in our commitment to Jesus, our family and our community. I have been a large target as of late. Our Lord has used these trials to rebuild the confidence I once had in being a leader both at work and at home. I have regained the confidence I had in my profession and in my calling to serve Our God.
The events so far that have made the top 10 list of God’s provisions. (The remaining four not noted are the provision of work for myself, my wife, a great school for our son, and a new church we have been exploring):
1) The home we were suppose to move into was flooded (basement) and had water damage the week we were supposed to move in.
While it still needs work, our home has heat, electricity, water and most of the damage has been repaired. There is still some items that need to be addressed and we are a long way to perfection, but we have made this house our home. God has been faithful.
2) As we struggle to find a church and a place to serve, we find ourselves wading through many congregations that need clarity of scripture. False doctrines abound in this land and we pray for wisdom and discernment.
Jesus has raised two wonderful people for us to connect with and pray with. A couple, whom like us, had to start over at one time and understands what we are struggling with. Their faith and knowledge of scripture is sound and their wisdom and understanding has been a blessing. We pray for our new friends. Jesus is faithful.
3) On the way to get our son from visiting relatives over the summer, we totaled our only car and spent over a month trying to get that resolved.
Our Savior’s hedge of protection is strong. All of us were not seriously harmed and there were no lasting effects from the accident, (short of not having a car). God has provided for us financially and with the RIGHT vehicle that this family needed to prepare us for our adventures here. Friends have given me rides to and from work and in the process I learned more about other believers at work and how truly blessed I am.
4) Work schedules, and the expectations placed upon our group at work insisted that we put in many 80+ hour weeks. Grueling schedules, unreal expectations, worries of performance issues, job loss, financial hardships, and my worse enemy (ME) letting myself or others down drove me to near nervous breakdown levels of anxiety.
Jesus frees us of our burdens, and makes all things new. Through a combination of personal responsibility (like ME learning to say ‘NO!’) and a reorganization of our groups including the unfortunate resignation of key (important) members of our group and the addition of new members, the company leadership has agreed to a more sane workload, reasonable expectations. As an additional note, I have been put in charge of the project as the project lead. While this is added responsibility, it is also a chance to help change the process from the chaotic to the repeatable process. I pray for wisdom and discernment, as well as for bold, active leadership.
So that brings us up to this last month. The latest few challenges have been:
5) While clearing the gutters in my patio and trying to clean up the roof in preparation of winter, I discovered a dead branch on my roof. While trying to remove the branch (though not actively), it fell on my face and broke my nose.
Before many of you count this as a tragedy, I must tell you this is a piece of providence from Our Lord and another example of Our God’s hedge of protection at work.
Just a week or two weeks prior, while searching for a car for our family (see 3 above) I had dropped my normal glasses (I am nearsighted and use glasses to ensure I can see detail, especially when driving). The glasses broke and I saved the frames in hopes to have them repaired. At home I had a backup pair that were my last pair of glasses. Those old lenses were made of high impact carbon. I was wearing those when the branch fell.
If you follow the scar on my face, you will see that the initial point of impact would have been my left eye. The newer glasses would have shattered and I may have been blinded by the combination of glass and a tree branch in my head. As it was, the high impact carbon deflected the initial blow and the branch slid down the lenses and broke JUST my nose. It may have looked bad,but it could have been so much worse… Praise the God of the Universe for His gentle hand.
6) The latest, (now) is a bit of pain and suffering the old fashioned way. I had an abscessed tooth. It was a tooth that I have had previous work on. It became infected last Saturday and that infection has spread to my jaw. I have experienced new levels or pain since this infection put pressure on nerves in the jawline. That pain then triggers migraines at levels of pain I haven’t had in over 4+ years. Monday, I was given pain killers that do not take away the entirety of the pain. Yesterday, the dentist gave me three treatment options we are still trying to figure out how to afford. The bizarre part for me is that I had dental care that should have rendered this impossible, (The tooth had a root canal) and the pain is truly bad. I have been light sensitive, noise sensitive, cold sensitive, heat sensitive pressure and vibration sensitive and the pain has brought me to point of complete inability to communicate at all (non-verbal). Pain has filled my entire perception of reality at this point. The pain gets so bad it radiates through my head, into my chest and back. My arms and hands go numb simply because my nervous system can’t process any more pain.
Right now I think the antibiotics are working, and a regiment of ibuprofen, regular rinsing with salt water and peroxide and prayer has kept me sane. I know that even this will be a memory. ***See bottom comments for an update…
So, I ask you forgiveness for the lack of updates. I ask your prayers as I heal and after this trial is over, I await our next step of faith and the challenge it shall bring.
I am doing my best in all of this to show my son that Our God is Faithful, as long as we continue to be faithful, even in hard times and especially in good times.
God has provided for my family. In my work, I seek to honor God. In the witness of my actions and my interactions, I seek to glorify Jesus.
In my successes and joys, I praise and honor our Lord. In my pain, I praise Him. In my despair, I praise Him. The Living God is working in me right now. Even this pain and healing process, Our God, will use for His greater purpose.
Thanks for reading, May God Bless you and keep you.
Your B-I-C, Gary C
*** It was a rough couple of weeks but the Lord continues to be faithful and good. The broken nose and tooth ache has healed well enough. Additionally, while I was out sick I was also informed that I had been given a promotion at work. He is taking care of our needs and continues to give us strength to do great things… Thank you for your prayers and support. – Gary C
May Jesus have His way with your day
He is Founder and consultant for Tek Management,
Founder of the Men’s Leadership site: CalebStrong.org,
Co-Founder of the online Bible study app: BibleCounts
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