HOLA! All things work together for good...15

[Committed2Him]

Well C2, you are a classy guy! You went to that party with your head held high, as you should have, but still a hard thing for most of us!

Written before the party at X's:

Now, off I go to the gathering of servants and then off to X's. This morning, my brothers cautioned me to be aware of bitterness that may have been surfacing. Duly noted and I shall be praying and for X and Mr. X before during and after my time at the "graduation" pool party.

My brothers are the ones who told me I needed to face Mr. X face to face and when I did, my life got WAY easier. I took their comments Saturday to heart and so, before the party, I really did spend time in the bible, reading and praying for X and Mr. X. Deeply, sincerely praying for their lives.

When I went to the party, there was a group of my daughters friends and a group of my son's friend and then one group of adults which included X, Mr. X, My X-brother and sister in law, a parent from my son's school and X's long time best friend whom I have known for 22 years. The only group I could join was the adults as they sat around a table playing a friendly game of cards for low stakes over beer and wine.

I stood by and hung out as the other parent (from school) and I observed and just made small talk with everyone there. I was relaxed, cracked a few funny lines, had some food. Visited with my kids briefly but each was with their friends (all of which I knew) and I knew it was peer time, not time for dad to hang around. I wound up staying for about 2 hours.

A similar gathering last summmer for my daughter's birthday was different and much harder. The resentment simmered below and now, by contrast, I can discern the difference.

After I left the party, I had an amazing evening going to the beach, spending some time with God, writing in my journal, visiting a bit with a christian waitress I met before going to Hawaii who happened to be from the area I was traveling to. I had given her some christian hawaiian music before the trip and she was praying for our team so I got to share about the trip and show her a few pictures Ihad on my phone.

before and after going to her restaurant (which sits on the end of a pier) I had amazing encounters and time with my God. It was an amazing night that was not marred by simmering bitterness towards X or Mr. X.

Father's Day
It was just a great day. Before going to church a got a call from a guy who is struggling with alcohol. I "loved him" over the phone but spoke to him firmly (tough love) becasue he knows what he needs to do.

I picked up my kids, went to church, went to breakfast afterwards with my sister and one of her sons. Later, I went to my parents with the kids and my sister showed up with all three of her kids (cousins my children grew up with as my parents would watch them after school for 10 plus years). My only blood brother also showed up. Of course we all watched the Laker game later at night.

Final Thought

There are a lot of posts on my thread over the last few days because it is important to me to record some of the amazing things that are happening at this time in my life.

Two years ago Sunday (6/15), I unexpectedly lost my job, a month later my wife moved out of the house with my kids and in the ensuing days and weeks, it became evident that her friend from work was her boyfriend which had been in the development for at least 9 plus months.

6/15/08 winds up being another in a string of mind blowing days of seeing God work in my life and in the increasing sphere of influence I have in my church, at work and amongst people I meet. (I have friends people I have met on my trips that I am staying connected with and praying for in Romania, Indiana, Mexico, Fiji, Hawaii and, in 5 months, Spain). This does not even include a host of imaginary friends in cyber space (and you know who you are )

I REITTERATE IT IS NOT ME BUT GOD WORKING THROUGH ME.

Way too many good things happening to even attempt to record them here or in my personal journal but I manage to get some of them down in my threads and I put them there to remind myself of where I have come from and to encourage me in the future if and when I should get down, that and to encourage others.


Bethie, I had a great weekend, really great! (umm but why you have to go pick on jill, she is pure as the driven snow, well at least for a "tart" she is )

Karen, bless you! Yes, pretty darn cool weekend and the Laker win was the cherry on top. (Tuesday will be very, very tough but I still believe anything is possible. Probable, no but possible yes and I do still believe, even against the probability of it happening).