It had been a busy day filled with early spring projects. I had just sat down to put an end to the day, my wife Sue had just gone to bed and it was time to relax.

My phone rang..it was my Dad, he said Mom had been transported to the hospital, he really did not much info then that we didn’t know which hospital we have two here. I went to the bedroom to tell Sue and to change my clothes for the quick trip to the ER. I called RVMC but they say no one has come in under that name, I called Providence the same response no one by that name has come in. By this time I’m getting a call from my sister she can’t find Mom either.. I quickly call a friend who has connections with the ambulance company he checks his records and there has been no one transported from the dance hall all day? Where is she! I call back to Dad’s they are just getting new info…What she is in Grants Pass? Phone rings it’s my sister… I tell her to just head to my house and we can head to Grants Pass together.

Phone rings again I don’t remember if it was Dad or his wife Shirley but whoever it was said that Mom had passed…….What, no this is the wrong, we are not getting the right info at all. I’m standing in the kitchen in shock not knowing what to do.

The phone breaks the silence, it’s my sister wanting to know whats going on. So the questions begin I ask “where are you?” Why? “are you driving here”? Why? “ Is Tom with you”? WHY, WHATS GOING ON? Mom died! I really think I said that. Crazy, all I could hear was Tom saying what, what going on, what’s happened. She had thrown the phone down jumped out of the car and began running down the street. As my heart just broke now there was the second heart breaking trying to not believe the voice on the phone. That call made I knew had to be repeated at least two more times, and i really didn’t want to do it. All I could do was Pray and ask for wisdom and strength to have the words and the answers to the many question that were on the way.  My other sister was just as heart-broken, I had to begin the process all over “where are You, who are you with, are you at home? is Lynn with you?” and of course the whole time she is saying why, what’s going on, why..and of course after I find out they are not driving down the road by themselves I tell them that their Mother the center of our world has gone to be with Jesus.

The following week up to the day of Mom’s Memorial is really just filled with tears and laughter, with decisions and with memories, more phone calls and words of comfort and disbelief. I don’t need to tell anyone this but I will..This is a life changing event in your world..and it would be best if you had a Wonderful, Loving, Savior JESUS by your side. you will be blessed.

I wanted to post my words that I was able to share with those who came out for my Mothers Celebration of Life She had touched so many in such a short life the church was filled with family and friends who all knew this wonderful Woman God had gifted us with.

For myself and my brother and sisters I want to thank you…

It’s because of all of you here today that makes mom’s life so amazing… You all carry a special memory of how she has been in your life. And it was only this last week when I came in contact with so many of you that would share their story with me which I so appreciate because I begin to see just how she was so amazing. I especially thank Wayne for sharing with me how she was impacted his life especially on Saturday night while she danced.

And moms neighbor Sharon who came by Moms house Sunday morning.. And just playing her answering machine with the flashing messages and hearing those that were there saying now come on pickup I know you are there hurry up we are waiting for you it’s time for breakfast. Her life was just so full of friends and events.

It didn’t matter what any of us were involved with…Mom became a huge fan of it..

Even the morning I called to say hey you want to go to Canyonville I’d like you to be there while I ride a motorcycle straight up a hill until it would go no more and begin to slide back down. I’m sure that had an amazing calming effect for a mom… but she eagerly would pack her yarn bag and jump in the car. I’m sure she was working on my slippers for Christmas..

She was so involved with all of us…

I’d like to share a thought from scriptures.. Sunday morning as I was just still so shocked. I was sitting at my desk with my bible open just waiting on the Lord to tell me everything would be ok and he gave this scripture in Genesis 2:18 ¹⁸ The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”

¹⁹ Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. ²⁰ So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field.
But for Adam ^[a] no suitable helper was found. ²¹ So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs ^[b] and closed up the place with flesh. ²² Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib ^[c] he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

²³ The man said,
“This is now bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called ‘woman, ^[d] ‘
for she was taken out of man.”

It says She will be called Woman I’d like to think that it should say, she will be called Mom, wonderful wife, loving sister, Awesome Mother-in –law, Grandma, Great Grandma and now ill have to add incredible friend. Not to mention doctor and nurse, bus driver, referee. Den mother and of course the goes on.

For me I will always have her with me in my heart, and of course for many of us we have that special gene in us “the Joyce gene” that will come shinning out of us and be seen in us Daily. Everyday I’ll remember, MY Mom who made me who I am, well the good side of me and she has left me with a heart filled with great memories.

As I was preparing to put together some info for the upcoming retreat, I just didn’t feel right about the title TRF Men’s Retreat. So Ithought I’d try and come up with something new. I began by checking the dictionary for the meaning and here’s what I found Retreat \ri-’tret\n: withdraw, give ground, leave, run away, draw back, move back.

Everything i was reading seems negative, and i know how negative our lives can feel at times.

I then came across this scripture 1 John 2:6  …he who says he abides in Him ought to walk in the same way in which He walked.

Our Savior is a passionate, loving, strong,wise. Through Him all things are possible so I thought we need to be having a ”Retrieve”

Retrieve \re-’trev\vb: to get something back,, to save something from being lost, to set something right or make it better. 

In other word we are going to get back, recover, regain, salvage, rescue, reclaim, take back.

Guy’s it time to look inside and seek wisdom, we need to be strong for our families, at our jobs, and at our place of worship. We need to be godly examples for our children, loving partners for our wives. I hope as many as possible will be able to join us Oct. 17th & 18th at the Church Camp.

God Bless

Here’s what it takes to fulfill the will of God

It takes Courage to Join a family (the church) that is misunderstood by the world.

It takes Discipline to accomplish the task God has set out for us His Children.

It takes Vision to overcome inevitable problems and see what God is doing in our Lives.

It takes Endurance to stick with other believers when it would be eaiser to go your own way.

It takes Love to hold God’s family together and to reach out and invite others to join it…

Tender, Tough, Sacrificial, Radical Love.

In a word it takes Character to do God’s will

Think of some of the comments you have heard in your relationship with your wife. “I’m the one that cleans the house it’s the man’s job to take out the trash”. Or “I’ve worked hard all day it’s your turn to put the kids to bed”.

Often what happens is that one or the other discovers that they are giving more in the relationship then the other. The relationship becomes all about who did what, and mentally keeping tract of who’s doing what and when. Eventually one or the other decides they are always giving more then they are getting and unhappiness begins to set in. If equal rights cannot be reached the marriage is time and again dissolved.

The world view on marriage emphasizes maximum pleasure with minimum sacrifice. Long is forgotten the vows we made to God and each other. I _____ take you _____ as my wife, for better or worst, richer or poorer, in sickness or in health. Those vows were put in there to remind us of what God knew of in advance.

Jas 1:2-4 — Dear brothers and sisters, whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for joy. ³ For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. ⁴ So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything.

The world says I love you as long as you can give me everything I want and if things start to go bad well then I’ve got an out I’ll leave you for someone healthier, happier, younger, or prettier.

If we are to look at God’s wisdom we will see it is completely different from the worlds.

In a biblical marriage, each partner looks the other in the eye and say’s “I Love you, which by definition means I commit myself to serve you, to build you up, to cheer you on. You go into this relationship knowing that it will cost you lots of time, energy and money, but I want to put your interests ahead of mine. I’ll stand at the back of the line; you go first.

In a biblical marriage there is no power struggle. Instead there is a serving contest. As husbands we should be trying to out love, out bless, and out serve our wives. The world needs to see men like ourselves living a life of sacrifice to our wives. I know that if you were to begin today a new chapter with your wife using God’s wisdom your marriage will take on a whole new dimension. Your wife will respect you, love you and treat you in a way that will make you want to continue to Out love, Out bless and Out serve Her.

Now for some that might mean a 4X4 animal style from In-n-Out

But unfortunately I wasn’t at In-N-Out. I was at RVMC (Heart Wing) to be exact, having my heart stopped and then re-plumbed to work more efficiently. Well in my case so that it would work period. It had all come on so sudden. But as I began to pray I just had to say thank you God for 4 Day’s Ago. That was the day that God knew He needed to stop my busy life, get my attention, and have a little one on one. And oh how blessed I am to have a God that loves me that much. After having the surgeon stop my heart, make some much needed repairs it was time for God to decide if I was going to be with him or keep me here for awhile. The surgeons tried (6) times with the pattles but it took God reaching down and giving it a touch to get it going. I’M living and breathing and learning how to live all over again but I know one thing for sure. I really thanked God for “4 Days Ago“. And lately even though I still let my lovely wife pray first I’m thanking him daily just for being The Great I AM.

Like-minded, like- income people who vote like you, and have the same golf handicap.

These are safe people; they won’t start asking for counseling or financial assistance. If you keep a healthy distance from them. The relationship won’t get muddied up with commitments or expectations. These friendships work, until the bottom falls out of your-life. Maybe you lose your job or a child or a spouse. You might come down with a serious illness. What you find in most cases is that since you have no investment in there life, there’s no money in the friendship bank to make a withdrawal. The friendship usually ends and you are left wondering where do I turn for True friendship.

 Now let’s look at “Christian Friendship”

This is what the world does not understand, the concept of brotherhood and sisterhood. Christian friendship is different. You find a few Brothers and sisters, from the beginning you decide that you are going to expend yourself. You invest time,energy, and often money in them. Because you meet regularly and talk, you get into each others lives. You encourage, council, challenge and at times rebuke each other. You Make Sacrifices.

Acts 2:42-47

42 they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. they broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their numbers daily those who were being saved.

I have had these relationships, and still do to this day. I know that no matter what I can go to these Friends and share what’s happing in my life. They will listen and counsel with with me, they will challenge me when needed and they will tell me when I’m out of line. It’s because we have  been there for each other in all types of times. Good and Bad.

I can honestly say that the relationships that have come from being in fellowship with other believers have been what i consider the most genuine relationships I’ve ever had.

To Experience True Friendship’s it will require us Practice True Sacrificial Love.

When you are Honestly concerned about others, you usually have to sacrifice something. You might Have to sacrifice your time, you might be asked to give your money, at the very least you will have to sacrifice your energy. You might have to change your plans, your privacy, or maybe your independence to help someone else. To Love as God Loves, you might need to sacrifice that which is most important to YOU for the sake of someone else.

Since we are surrounded by the constant stream of media. Sacrificial Love is difficult to grasp. Here is a list of quotes I here regularly maybe you can add your own.

“You are Number One”-”Isn’t it about time you Take Care of Yourself” “Don’t let others steel your Time” ” Save your Energy so you have more Leisure time for Yourself” “Stockpile your Financial resources so you can spend more on Yourself”

And Finally Here is a quote you rarely hear.

” True personal fulfillment never comes through self-gratification”

If we were to look at the teaching of Christ you would see that this statement fits perfectly with the way He want’s us to live.

Mark 8:35-36(NIV)

35For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Me and for the gospel will save it 36 What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?

Matt 19:29

29And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or fathers or mothers or children or fields for my sake will recieve a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.

Strangely enough when you give yourself to God and serve His people in Sacrificial Love, you will find a fulfillment and satisfaction the world never experiences.