…..blink of an eye
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We are very thankful that our daughter survived a terrible car crash where a drunk driver totaled her car over a week ago. I had hoped and thought by now “things” would have gotten back to normal for me.
Case in point, right now I am on a Delta flight using the onboard WIFI Internet service “gogoinflight” service. This is the first time I have accessed it for $10 for this 2 hour flight to Orlando….kind of expensive but very useful since I need to get some work done on line and can now do it while I fly.
But I am sitting here (fortunately upgraded to first class) feeling kind of smug and “good about the whole situation…flying and “surfing.”
But I cannot stop thinking about what happened last Wed night when we could have lost our precious child in “the blink of an eye.”
There are so many distractions in my life…..work, technology, travel, computers, TV, Blackberry, movies…..all things that I embrace, enjoy, use and actually marvel at. The “world” tells me I have to use these and have the “latest greatest.”
But they are all just “things” in my life. But these things take up so much of my waking life, consume so much of my time, even to the point at times that I become obssessive about these things. I think I “have to have them, use them, cherish them….they make me smarter, more productive, more efficient….they all seem to feed my ego.
But at the end of the day, they all take away from the most important “things” in my life…my faith in Jesus, my family, my daughter, my friends, being concerned and charitable to everyone I encounter.
The devil plays with my “gadget obssession” and lures me into spending far too much time with all these things, while the truly important “things” in my life, the people God has blessed me with, can be gone in the blink of an eye.
I have to work and make a living and am blessed I have employment and enjoy my career. But I am reminding myself today to think twice about how much time I spend with all these “things” vs spending time with the most precious gifts in my life, my family.
I have a lot of regrets of wasted time and wrong prioriities in my life but today sitting on this plane and thinking about one totaled smashed VW Bug, I am going to reach out to my family (via some of these things: email, text, voice mail, Blackberry) and tell them right now how much I love them cherish them and am thinking and praying for them now and can’t wait to get home and be with them. I am also going to Thank God for blessing my life with them.
I don’t tell them nearly enough how much they mean to me. But today, I am going to. And I plan to make an effort to tell them as much as I can.
Key to loving others………..
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The key to loving others lies in loving yourself.
“And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.” Matthew 22:39
God Recycles
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God is the ultimate recycler—He doesn’t waste a thing, and that includes our suffering.
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28
Annie is a college student….did someone say “empty nester?”
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Thanks to so many who asked and prayed about our daugther Annie who walked away from a car accident last Wed where her car was totaled by a drunk driver. Her passenger is on crutches and still in pain. Annie may still feel pain and have complications in the future but for now she seems to be doing well. She really misses her VW Bug!
I fluctuate between hate and forgiveness for the driver……………I don’t want to ruin his life………but he needs to be punished for the pain and suffering he has caused. I hope and pray he gets help before he kills someone and ruins his life and others.
We dropped Annie off at Ohio University this weekend. Many of us have gone through this as it is a sad/happy time. But the shock of the accident seemed to dampen this week for all of us. We feel so blessed she seems “ok”. We believe her guardian angel was looking out for her this time.
When my wife and I got home today to our empty house it was sad and lonely. All four children have moved out and we are now “empty nesters” (who was the idiot that came up with this term?)
I really can’t imagine where the time has gone. I can’t imagine how fast Annie grew up from when she was 2 when we adopted her looking like a beautiful porcelan Asian doll, immediately went through open heart surgery and now she is a freshman in college and a beautiful young lady. How did that happen so fast?
We have so much to be thankful for. Four wonderful children, all blessings. Now grand children, and pretty sure…….more on the way.
One of my biggest regrets was that I wish I would have spent more time with my children while they were growing up and at home. I always justified that the best thing I could do for them was work really hard and make enough money to give them what they wanted and needed. If I am completely honest with myself, however, I was also driven by pride, ego and “moments of greed and power” which, at times, allowed me to put my work ahead of my family. I really do regret that. But I can’t turn back the clock.
What I can do, however, is thank God for blessing us with them everyday and try to be more available for them now. It still makes me feel so good (and probably one of the best feelings I experience) when our kids come home, call, email, text, IM, Twitter, Tweet, Blog, fax (?) LinkedIn, Podcast, youtube, Facebook, or send smoke signals that they miss us and look forward to seeing us………..or that they love us. And what a blessing that they still seem to want to be with us and stay well connected. How lucky are we?
Praise to you O Lord Jesus Christ.
Thanks Be to God
Posted by John | Filed under Uncategorized
(from my Son)
Hello all,
I just wanted to let everyone know that at 11:30 pm last night, my baby sister Annie was hit by a drunk driver on clough road, 2 miles from our house while driving home with friends. I’ll say now that Annie miraculously walked away from the crash with minor injuries and a severe case of whoop-lash. Her friend had to be cut out of the passenger side by the jaws of life and she sustained 2 broken bones in her hip and 1 in her pelvis. The driver ran the red light and hit them on the passenger side going 55 mph. We don’t know at this point if the driver had passed out at the wheel, if he thought the road continued forward or if he was trying to end his life but either way he is still in the hospital dealing with his injuries.
My parents received a disturbing, hysterical call from Annie’s best friend right before midnight who had been following them in her car. My parents, hysterically drove to the scene arriving as the police, fire trucks and ambulances were arriving. They didn’t know if their daughter was injured….The police informed us that had the driver not hit Annie’s car, he would of either hit the metal telephone pole or even worse, hit a residential house as the road had come to a “T ” and there was no where else for him to go. Needless to say it has been a very stressful morning for us all.
We are so thankful to GOD that our Annie is home with us today and we know that HE was with her and her friend last night. I would like everyone to say a prayer thanking GOD for being with Annie and her friend during this accident last night and also to say a prayer for Annie and Annie’s friend to have a speedy recovery from their injuries. We hope the other driver will recover fully and hope this will change his life towards the positive. You never know what life is going to throw at you and I think we all know that we need to live each day to its absolute fullest.
Call your family and friends today and tell them how much you love them, tell them how important they are and “Thank You” to all of you for being so special to me and my family.
With Respect and Love,
John O’. Jr
Jesus Laughing
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JESUS LAUGHING! (I like to think he did.)
When friends went to a seminary in Florida last March,
they saw an artist paint huge works (the size of a door)
in 30-45 minutes… The artist prefers anonymity
and says he wants the works to speak for themselves.
Look carefully and see the drawings were signed,
‘Jesus Painter.’
Christ laughing! A concept I hadn’t seen before.
Beautiful pencil drawings
