Tuesday, August 18, 2009

50 & A HEART CATH

Tuesday, August 11. As I am writing this, it is my birthday. I know that we all have them, some admit it more readily than others, but we all have one every year. Not only is today my birthday, but I am also turning 50, now there is something that you only do one time, at least I’m pretty sure that’s right. So here I am thinking about turning 50 and I feel like it’s no big deal. It’s just another day, another year, nothing to worry about. All I have to worry about is….is…..well the phone rang and I lost my train of thought. I guess that whatever it was I thought that I had to worry about; I don’t have to worry about now. They say that the memory is the second thing to go; I don’t remember who they are, or what the first thing is. All I know is that my memory is as sharp as….as...a...Well Friday I have the heart cath, they are going to go in and look to see if I have a heart. Becky wasn’t happy with just the pictures, she wants them to go in and look (does he really have a heart?). By the time that you are reading this it will all be over and done with. Thank you for your prayers and love. Continue to pray for us, this is just one hurdle in this race we have been running. Continue to pray for Becky, her cancer continues to rear its ugly head and say hello, she continues treatment, as she will for the rest of her life.
Wednesday, August 12. Well I survived, my birthday that is, all’s well that ends well. We had Amy, Zach, Zoe and my mom over and I got to cook outside. Had a good time and I didn’t blow my diet too bad. Turning 50 didn’t hurt too much.

You may have noticed something new. We decided to name our outreach program CONNECT. We believe that this will draw more interest and people than Outreach in the Park. This is one of our biggest outreaches of the year, and we need you to be using this fantastic outreach tool. Invite all of your friends, family, co-workers, classmates, people you don’t like and don’t know. Please invite everyone you can to the park on September 5th, for free music, food and fun.


For more info om my heart cath, check out my blog; www.randalwilson.blogspot.com

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

TURNING 50!!!

A medical update for those of you who are concerned, my stress test showed that the lower part of my heart is not getting enough blood flow, so on Friday I will have a heart cath and if necessary a stint put in. This must be done before they can do anything on my prostrate. Over the next couple of months or so I may be missing some Sunday’s, just so you know I will not miss anymore than I have to. I want to ask you to be faithful to coming to church when I am not here. All too often when the people of the church know that their pastor will be gone they make no effort to be in church. Please do just the opposite. Make every effort to be here and continue supporting the church. Let whoever is filling in for me see what kind of people we have here at Carey, let them be amazed how many people we have. And continue to pray for Becky and I, remember, she still has cancer and some days it is more than she can take. And now with me having cancer also it will be extra hard on her, so say an extra prayer for her. I want to say thank you to everyone who gave to us in the love offering. It was totally unexpected and a blessing. I pray that God will bless you 100 fold, you are the best!
Well I turn 50 on Tuesday, and I have heard people talk about falling apart when they turned 50. Well at 49 I was diagnosed with cancer and possibly a blockage. 50 will be the year of better health and less weight. 50, now that’s going to be the year when I’m thinner, healthier and better looking….well I’ll be 50 anyway. A half a century old, good thing Paul Harris isn’t on the radio anymore I never would here the end of it. Just think, 50 isn’t old if you’re a rock. Well enough of me making fun of myself. Turning 50 doesn’t bother me, I SAID, TURNING 50 DOESN’T BOTHER ME!! (I’m not sure I heard that!) Just think 50 is nothing compared to Methuselah, or a turtle, or eternity. It’s just a drop in the bucket.
“But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” 2 Peter 3:8 (ESV)
When you read this verse you see that 50 years in God’s eyes is not much time, I’m only getting started good.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Storms of Life

The storms of life come quickly! They are unexpected most of the time, coming with little or no warning. Even when we do see them coming, it always seems to be more severe than we thought it would be.
That’s the way it was Wednesday evening, we heard it thunder, heard it beginning to rain, heard the wind pick up, then we heard the tornado sirens going off. We thought that we might leave but the wind was so strong we knew that we couldn’t. The wind at the airport was recorded at 102 mph, straight line winds. We lost out TV and the internet so we couldn’t check on what the storm was doing. We called Jody in Amarillo and he said that channel 10 was saying that police cars were being pushed around, tornado sirens were being blown over and a motel roof had collapsed. It turned out that the roof of the Childress Inn blew off and hit El Sombrero and then hit and damaged the Days Inn. Not only did the roof blow off but the front wall on the same rooms fell in, trapping some people inside, hurting several. Damage was reported all over town, no one prepared for this storm, no one said, “O I know that this storm will hit on Wednesday evening and do all of this damage so I better go and cut these tree limbs off so that they won’t break and work on my neighbors roof so that it won’t blow off in my yard. That way I’ll be prepared when this storm hits. Nobody knew that that storm would hit at that time on that night and be that bad. Some experts might have given warning right before it hit, but that still did not give time to prepare for it.
Nobody knew, except God! This did not take God by surprise, He knew who would be without power and who wouldn’t, He knew who would have damage and who wouldn’t, He knew that my roof was going to leak, even if it is only a year old. He knew!! He also knows what storms you are going through in your life, and just like last night, He will see us through.
When the storms of life are raging, Stand by me (stand by me); When the storms of life are raging, Stand by me (stand by me);When the world is tossing me, Like a ship upon the sea, Thou Who rulest wind and water, Stand by me (stand by me).
“Thou art with me.” Psalm 23:4

AUGUST NEWSLETTER PASTOR'S PEN

Is it August already? It is hard to understand, but the older you get, the faster time goes. We just started summer and now it’s almost over, school starts back on Monday, August 24. We are about to enter into all of the fall activities, didn’t we just have all of those, have we had Easter yet, wait, this is August, see what I mean? We will have another Ice Cream freeze-off on the 2nd and let the 35 and under crowd compete, of course anyone can bring ice cream. We are also having a sandwich supper before the ice cream. And then on the 9th we will be showing Faith Like Potatoes, an inspiring true story of a rugged South African farmer, Angus Buchan.
We have our service at the Childress Healthcare Center on Sunday the 16th, Jimmy McClain spoke in July and did a great job, thank you Jimmy. By the way, if you would like to speak just let me know.
As most of you know, I have prostate cancer and as I am writing this, I am not sure what is in store for me. As I am writing this I have not seen the surgeon yet so I don’t know when my surgery will be, but it should be some time in August. Keep Becky and I in your prayers, there are a lot of things to consider with this surgery and none of them sound like much fun. But there is one thing that I know, God still sits on His throne and none of this took Him by surprise. We are still in His loving care, He watches out for us. He is our shepherd; He leads us to the quite waters to drink so that we will remain calm. He beds us down in fields of green grass so that we will have plenty to eat and be able to sleep in comfort. His rod and staff are there to help show us the way and to protect us from the enemy. And when we walk through that cold dark valley called the shadow of death, we don’t have to have fear because He is there. Why does He do these things? Because He loves us and because He wants to restore our soul for His name’s sake. Amen.