How Blessed Are We?

It has been a few weeks since the last time I posted. I apologize for that, but it is for good reason. Our family has been very busy. I myself have been reaching toward a new career in the medical field and I have finally chosen where to start. I have been struggling for months with this life altering decision. I have chosen to start the steps needed to enter nursing.


To some this may come as a surprise and for others this may be old hat. I have talk with several friends about their experiences in the nursing field and also their experiences as a CNA (Certified Nurses Aid). After weighing all of the options and mulling over all of the career and educational requirements I have chosen to start with becoming a CNA/PCT (Patient Care Technician).

However, this is not the only thing that has kept me away from writing to my readers. My son, Marcus and his cousin, Isaiah, were running around our house last weekend and having loads of fun, but the fun never lasts forever. The boys were, as I said, running around the house screaming, laughing, and simply having loads of fun. Fun, until they decided to jump off the couch. They found their new found base jumping adventure to be very exciting, but the last time Marcus jumped his Superman cape failed to co-operate and he fell and broke his leg.

Now hold on, this still isn't all! The weather in Michigan was so beautiful a few weeks ago that we went out as a family and bought bikes for everyone. I have been doing my best to get out in the nice weather and get some exercisize and have done pretty well. In the last month and a half I have lost a total of 18 lbs. Renee has also been doing her best and she has lost a total of 13 lbs in the same amount of time. We have not only been biking but also running, and getting our butts kicked by Jillian Michaels with her 30 day Shred.

So as you can see things have been very crazy around the Sutter household for the last few weeks. Oh, but we are so excited. It is looking like Marcus will be able to get his cast off after just two weeks, and the weight loss is still on the rise, or decline (not sure which word to use there) and I will be starting at community college in the fall for my CNA/PCT training.

What a wild ride!! God has been so good. We are so glad that is was Marcus who took the infamous fall rather than his cousin Isaiah (who's family were five hours from home), not that we wished it on Marcus, but if it had to be one of them, that it was Marcus. We are happy that we are losing weight at such an amazing pace, even though it has been so much work. Finally, I am so blessed to have a supportive family and friends who encourage me to run head long into my future rather than play it safe in a dead end career.

How blessed are we?!?!

Blessings

The fog has fallen as a blanket across the Grand Ledge area this morning. As my wife and I were racing out the door off to another long day of work we realized that this was the first time our son Marcus has seen fog, or at least noticed the fog. He was so cute. My wife had the light of her car on and we could see the small particles of water slowly falling in the bright beams. Marcus was so excited! He would stand in the light and put his hand out as if to catch the dust like precipitation and shrieked with amazement and delight.


Driving into work I got to thinking about Marcus and how much of a blessing he is. I thank God for him every day, but it wasn’t always this way. Soon after we brought Marcus home, not being sure if it was the sheer exhaustion or not, but when Marcus would wake up every two hours there would be times when I just wanted to shake him to make him be quiet. It those moments I could see how someone could shake their baby. I never gave into this passing desire, and those days shortly past.

Being that I work in the music industry I always seem to have a song to illustrate a moment in life. The song that can to mind today was “Blessings” by Laura Story. Story just earned a Grammy award for her latest album entitled “Blessings”.

Here is the song that has meant so much to me over the last few months.

Solar Flare

Yesterday as I was getting ready for the heat wave we were suppose to have from the solar blast of the sun I had an amazing thought. “What if this solar blast is Jesus coming back?” I know it sounds pretty far fetched, but the bible does say that He will come like a “thief in the night”.


I was thinking about this wonderful possibility and playing out how it would look through my minds eye. I listened to the news cast in the morning and no one else was saying “its the Apocalypse, we're all gonna die”!! No, what I heard was some lame news anchor talking about “a cloud of “magnetic material” heading toward earth. My first thought here was “a cloud coming at the earth, from the sun. Hum, that's interesting.” The sun (being a big ball of fire) shooting off a cloud toward the earth made me think of Jesus coming on the clouds. Then I also thought, the bible also says that God will destroy the earth with fire. So, “big ball of fire” launches “big cloud at earth”. Caught up? OK, good.

The news cast also stated that this “magnetic cloud” was suppose to interfere with radio signals, GPS systems, satellites, and airplane navigation systems. Hello, sounds like the possibility of some major havoc here on earth with all these systems going haywire. Sounds like a scene from “Left Behind”.

Well, needless to say, none of this stuff ever transpired. The magnetic cloud seemingly missed our little planet and didn't even mess with our radio frequencies. I wasn't really disappointed because, after all, I like living here. I mean, I have a nice house, a great family, and great friends. Why would I want to leave?

I got to thinking about that last thought the most. “I like living here.” The truth is I do. I know I shouldn't. I know that this place is full of nastiness and filth, but I guess I can look past it. My mind continued to race with all different kinds of thoughts about Jesus return and I asked myself, “why do I like living on this planet”? It really has nothing to offer me except pain and death. Everyday I'm getting older. In fact I have been dying since the day I was born. I thought about the reasons I like living here and I only came up with one answer that I could actually say that I would miss. That one thing is my family. The reason I would miss them is because I don't know if I will know them when I get to heaven. I don't know if there will be marriage in heaven or whether my son will know me. That really kind of makes me sad. Everything else in this old world could go away and I wouldn't care, but my family, that I don't think I could forget about.

So just in case we aren't going to know our wives, husbands, or children, in heaven, spend as much time as you can with them now. So that when we get to heaven, maybe, just maybe, we will all meet again, and once more be a happy family.

Rich Mullins

I feel that I am an old soul sometimes when I listen to Rich Mullins, but I love his music. I am so sorry that he is not still living today for me to go see him live in concert. Here are just a few of my favorite songs by Rich. I hope you come to love them as much as I do.

Did You Vote in the Primary?

This morning I got up a little early and got the family around to get to the poles. I was undecided right up until I stepped into the voting booth. I'm not sure why, but it was a very difficult choice for me. I would have originally voted for Cain, but since he dropped out I have been undecided. In the end I had to go with my gut level feeling.
My wife and I were the third and four to vote in our district. It seemed to be a very low turnout. I encourage everyone to get out and vote for which ever candidate you find yourself pulled toward. The important thing is that you vote and let your voice be heard!!
If you voted today Feb. 28, 2012 let our readers know. Leave a comment a tell us that you voted. If you want you can even tell us who you voted for. Thanks for voting!!

Homeschooling Information

There are few things I really like about my job, but one that really seems to get me excited is talking to parents who are looking for information about homeschooling. Being home schooled myself I have a pretty good vantage point from which to explain the good and the bad about teaching your children at home.


Being that part of the store I work at houses one of the only Teaching Stores in Michigan we get a lot of people coming in looking to purchase materials for homeschooling. On occasion I get to talk with people who are considering the option of homeschooling and are looking for advice. Two of the biggest questions I get asked are 1) “Did you like being home schooled?” and 2) “Won't my kids be socially awkward or inept?” My answers are the same to everyone who asks; 1) “I didn't like it at the time, but looking back I got a really good education.” and 2) to quote my mom, “Your kids will have more social life than they could know what to do with.”

Most people researching home schooling don't realize that most home schooled students are done with their classes by noon. There are organized sports for students to get involve in, and there are classes that they can take that are away from the home.

The young couple that came into the store were shocked when I told them that there are organized sports for home schoolers. They also had no idea that there was anything out there to help teach your children at home. This particular couple had recently moved to the area and wanted to finish out the school year at home. However, when they heard that there were so many options for homeschooling her eyes got big like she wanted to do more than half a year.

The whole reason for this post isn't to convince readers that they should home school their children (heck, I'm not sure I will be homeschooling my own kid) it is to help those who are looking for more information on taking the plunge. The above couple were at a loss on where to get information on homeschooling or even how to begin, so I thought I would try and get some links together in one place to help those searching for more and better information. Note: some of the following links are Michigan based.

Teen Works (Michigan Based)

http://www.teenworks.net/

West Michigan Home School Athletic Association:

http://www.wmhsaa.com/index.php

Lansing Home School Athletic Association:

http://www.homeschoolingmichigan.com/kidsports.html

Abeka Curriculum:

http://www.abeka.com/abekaonline/downloadcatalogs/?user=guest

Home School Resources:

http://homeschoolcentral.com/

Homeschooling Conventions:

http://www.greathomeschoolconventions.com/

Please know that homeschooling is not for everyone. If homeschooling is your education of choice or if you are considering homeschooling please know that this is not a quick fix for children with A.D.D or A.D.H.D. Speaking from experience there will be times when your child will burst into tears because of the frustrations that can come with learning at home. Homeschooling is not easy on the parents, in fact parents need to be more involves than ever before in their child's schooling. If the parent is not attentive the child could end up failing out of school or falling behind their peers in school. While homeschooling can produce some very smart and well rounded students, it can also produce lazy, unhealthy, and uneducated adults.

Looking back on my own experience with homeschooling I realize that I got a good education and I was well socialized. I was involved in home school sports, a top rated youth choir, and had hundreds of friends home schooled and otherwise.

If any reads have any questions feel free to comment and I will try to get back to you in a timely manner.

Ped Egging the Human Heart

I have this affinity to the callouses on my feet. I like to get rid of them. Standing on my feet all day I seem to get an excessive thickness on my heels. A few years ago my wife bought me a “Ped Egg”. You remember the television commercials, don't you? They show a woman using this contraption to remove those pesky callouses on her feet. In just a few minutes they show the woman holding out what seems to be the entire first layer of her dermis in this little glorified skin shaver.

Tonight I was Ped Egging my own pesky, crusty, feet when a thought popped into my head like the sweet aroma of dead skin filling air and half filing the plastic egg. I found myself wondering, “I wonder if Jesus needed a Ped Egg?” I am sure He did because He walked everywhere. I would imagine that His feet were much more crusty than anything we would see today. Then I wondered, “if Jesus ever took a pumice stone to His feet, or at least tried to scrape His callouses on a rock?”

I can't help thoughts like these. They seem to fly into my head so fast that I don't have time to block them. I'm not sure I would even if I could. I get a lot of thinking done this way. The thought flies in, my A.D.D. kicks in, and my mind goes from “What is the square root of 3905763?” (because I am very smart) to, “I wonder if Jesus ever chewed on His own toes nails?” (again, because I am very smart).

I often wonder how far Jesus walked out of His way to see just one person? How far would He go to let some one know His love? The christianese thing to say would be “He walked all the way to the cross”. But, really, how far? Or, better yet, how far did he run, if you see Jesus as the father in the parable of the prodigal son? I don't run much, but I have done my share and it only increases the thickness of skin on my heels, so I would bet that Jesus had to do a lot more running than me.

I tell you what, I see Jesus not as someone who just runs to people in need, but I see Him as a Ped Egg to a world of calloused hearts. And getting down on His knees, looking past the stink and dirt, He takes His Ped Egg and begins to gently, lovingly, scrape the callouses off of our hearts. The interesting thing is, once He gets the callouses off of our hearts, He asks us to go and start doing the same for someone else.

So, who's heart are you Ped Egging?

Human Trafficing

As of late I have been awakened to the rising problem of human trafficking in our country. My wife and I were sitting on the couch a few nights before the super bowl and she was reading and article on human trafficing in America. she read to me a quote from that article in which it stated (and I am paraphrasing here) that something like 20,000 women and young girls were trafficked into Indianapolis to service the super bowl attendees. The super bowl is the single most event in the U.S in which women and girls are trafficked.

These statics blew me away! How could I have missed this before? I guess I have just chosen to not think about the problem. I recently read a book by Philip Yancey entitled "What Good is God" in which Yancey interviews a room full of prostitutes and sex workers. Durring the interview Yancey listened to the women compare their daily quotas. "Linda, a former top madam in Australia who's business used to gross $30,000 per week, remarked that in her day the 'girls' serviced around five clients a day; now they have to accomodate ten to fifteen. Hilda from Costa Rica reacted with shock: 'Fifteen? I did up to a hundred a day, on a double shift!" I was so caught off guard by what these women were saying. I became so sad as I read this portion of Yancey's book that I had to put it down for a few minutes in fear of breaking into tears.

My question is, where is the church? Where is the government? To be honest I know the answer to that question. One of the women Yancey interviewed said that they can't rely on the government officials to stop human trafficing. The government officials are some of their best customers.

I lived for several years in a small town near Lansing, Michigan. When I first moved there I saw a building (L.A. Spa) across from a John Deere dealership which from its name looked to be a spa. Boy was I wrong. From talking with some friends I soon found out that this was no spa. I should have known from the V.I.P sign on the door that it was more than a day spa. My friends and I would make jokes about the place, but since I have learned more about human trafficing I don't find it funny anymore.

What if the women hold up in that place are there against their will? What if they are never allowed to see the light of day or step outside and get some fresh air? What if they are being beaten daily? I have never seen anyone go in or out of that building, yet the sign out front is always lit up saying they are open.

My heart breaks for those women inside that place.

I have heard that the place has been raided by the police several times yet it is still open twenty four hours a day seven days a week. I cannot imagine the conditions the women are forced to live in. Just how many women are in there?

It is strange that this little town from the outside seems to have it all together. There website states that "they come home to a small, close-knit community of established neighborhoods and businesses where people care for and about their neighbors. This community spirit makes Portland a hometown we are proud of." Yet, when you look past the shiny veneer of this little town it has a very dark under belly of sex and drug abuse. The sad thing is that this is certainly not the only town with problems like these. There are millions of small towns with these same problems, yet the brothels stay open and the strips clubs continue to flourish.

Because of these problems I am made keenly aware of the need for a loving and just God. One who gives grace and continues to give it as long as we live even to those who are doing the trafficking.

Captain Planet

One of my favorite cartoons as a kids was "Captain Planet". I loved sitting in front of the t.v. watching these characters battling the "bad guys" as they pollute the planet. They were dumping toxic waist out of big metal drums or spilling oil in the ocean. Anyway you look at it Captain Planet was the best cartoon ever!

I was singing the theme song in the kitchen this morning as my wife was fixing her breakfast. I asked her if she had ever seen the show. She said, "does it sound like I have ever seen the show? You have to remember I grew up in a house of girls." I thought to myself first, "how could someone so smart not have seen such an awesome cartoon?" and second, "that must really stink not seeing the best cartoon ever made".

As I was thinking about Captain Planet I wondered if Jesus' disciples ever felt like captain planet as they were spreading the gospel across the world. I am sure Paul had to feel that way because he was writing letters and planting churches all across the land. Paul came up against some pretty heavy spiritual pollution in some of the churches he planted.

I wonder if the pastors of today's churches feel this way. Like they have be the one to save the day and clean up the church environment. No matter how you look at it, our pastors have it pretty ruff. The next time you see your pastor let him or her know how much you appreciate how hard they work and the mess they go through everyday.

Where Momma Doe?

This morning I had a really hard time pulling myself out of the precious slumber that I enjoy so much. The main reason for this struggle was my son. He just turn two years old and he seems to have an acute case of the separation anxiety. We put him down for "night night" at right around 7:45 pm and he slept like a baby until my wife and I went to bed at 10 pm. We were laying in bed on the verge of entering dream land when we hear the piercing sound of screams and tears and "where momma doe? where momma doe?". Renee got up the first time and tried to settle the little one down and it only took a few minutes. She found her way back to the bedroom bumping into walls on her way. About ten minutes later we here the same piercing screams and tears as before. This time I choose to go and again it only took a few minutes to calm the boy and I was back in the bed lumbering toward la la land.
Well, to make a long story short, after getting up for what seemed like the twentieth time the alarm went off and it was time to start another day.
As I was spending my time with Jesus this morning I was praying and I got this image of God, frustrated and perturbed, coming to me once again to comfort me, His whining, screaming, child for the one thousandth time. I was taken aback by this image of God consistently coming to my aid as His child. He is there whenever I wake up screaming with tears saying "where Jesus doe?".
No matter how often I wake up in the middle of the night kicking and screaming He is always there. He may be exhausted and a little frustrated for having to get up for the one millionth time, but He always comes to aid me in my time of need. What a great Father I have.