Christmas 2008

Craig Groeschel yelled at me.

I am the father of 5 and not exactly fond of being yelled at but Pastor Craig likes to do just that. He has a series call Practical Atheist that will really kick you in the pants if you are a Christ follower. The problem he tackles is that most people believe in God but don't fear him. I have to admit I have allowed God to part of my life in many areas but this podcast shook me to the core. Craig asks if HE is part of your life or IS your life. You can download it from Itunes or just go to the website and watch the series. I love it on my Ipod when I am working out or relaxing. Okay I know I relax more than workout but still.

Almost 10 months

This is another Prostiva RF post so if you are not interested now would be a good time to go to the next blog and read. It has almost been 10 months and I feel incredible. I go for hours without a restroom visit and sometimes forget all together. If you have spent years making sure you always know where the nearest bathroom is then you know what a huge feat this is for me. I drove to San Antonio about 2.5 hours away and then hung out with friends and didn't even remember I hadn't taken a restroom break for almost 2 hours. There is minimal pain when you get the procedure but then 4-5 days later you almost forget you had the procedure. I will say that my doctor did not stress to me the need to avoid caffeine and alcohol. This will cause your prostate to regrow and cause the same problem to recur. The medicine you take to treat the symptoms is very bad for your liver and overall health. The sooner you get off it the better. The medicine does not treat the prostate it only lessens the symptoms. So if you want to kill your liver to avoid some minor pain I would say you should really reconsider. The test for the Prostiva can also determine if you have prostate cancer. This type of cancer is the most treatable if found early so save your liver and your prostate with a simple test and then your peace of mind will be amazing.

Real lunch

I had lunch with a guy today that was a pastor for a few years and had the "perfect" life. Two kids a great wife and friends. Then he walked away from all of it and lost everything. The details are not important here but they are very relevant to the general topic. Men have a habit of fixing things. What he did was fix everyone's life but his own. He never asked for help and he never let anyone know he was struggling. Now 10 years later and many broken relationships, he is asking for help. Some would say that it easy since he has nothing to lose now. Well actually asking for help and not running away takes more courage than you would think. In order to get his life back on track he has a lot of people he has to go back and make amends to and a lot of back child support he has to pay. He could just keep running but he asked for help and despite my limited ability to fix things around the house, I was able to fix all his problems in one lunch.

I know it sounds strange but it is true. How? I didn't do anything but listen. Actually his problems are still there and he really didn't want me to fix them. He just wanted to be heard. He just wanted to talk and be understood. I am just starting to get better at listening more than I talk. I thank my bride for teaching me that one.

It was a real lunch because he wanted to speak and not be judged. All I did was listen. Next time you get a chance to listen try really hard to just listen and talk less.