When a Person gets You Thinking.....

I LOVE "Live with Kelly and Michael"! Before Michael, I loved Regis and Kelly, and before Kelly, I loved Regis and Kathie Lee.  Now most mornings I don't get to watch due to other programs on my television such as "Doc Mcstuffins" or "Octonauts" or any other show my children love.

THIS morning however I was able to watch and the show has prompted some thinking.  I am also a football fan which my husband loves, so I was excited to hear Deion Sanders would be on today's show. I love watching Michael interact with his sports friends!  There was some joking around that made me laugh and then they began talking about Deion's family....8 kids in the home...2 away at college for a total of...10 KIDS! He felt the need to explain, I just thought it was awesome!

Some of the children are his biological children, some are other family members such a nieces and nephews, and he also has adopted at least one child.  Kelly then asked "How do you get adopted by the Sander's Family?" And Deion began to speak about the charter school he has and told this story. He told of a boy that came to school with his suitcase because his mother was incarcerated, his father was no where to be found, and for whatever reason his current living situation had ended. Deion said that he took this boy in for a month or two while he found a home to place this young boy in.  Then Deion said something along the lines of "Children are my calling, football was just my platform!"...WOW!

In my opinion Deion obviously has a heart for children and most people don't see or think of that when they hear the name Deion Sanders. You think of a great sports player that has played in two Superbowls (boo cowgirls) and in the World Series for The Braves (go Braves!).  Yes I am a Braves fan and I hate the Cowgirls...Go Skins!

Back to my point of what he said, his calling is children and his platform was football.  It made me think, I believe I know my calling but what is my platform? Some people may know their platform but they aren't sure of what their calling is.  In this world we need more people that know both, and use their platform to enable them to fulfill their calling! Not everyone is called to be a preacher, youth pastor, praise and worship leader, Sunday school teacher, and the list of church rolls could go on. But if you know Christ as your Lord He has called YOU to your own ministry.  Whether that be a teacher, doctor, business man, stay at home mom, mentor, scientist, accountant, lawyer, and again the list could go on.  I believe that our calling and our platform will go hand in hand.  This could look like many different things so I will not give examples, but for Deion Sanders his calling of children was activated by the platform of football. I think the most obvious way was probably it has financed his dreams to help children. 

I don't know what Deion's religious beliefs are, but for me as a Christian, I believe no matter what profession we are in, we are all called! Even if you aren't a Christian you have a purpose to fulfill. Now yes, I do believe that the only way to completely know what you are created for is to know the Creator. If you are seeking your purpose without knowing the One who purposed you it will be a long journey. My favorite verse is "But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you" Matthew 6:33.  The best place to start your journey of being fulfilled is to seek after God and as you seek Him, He will guide your path.

I didn't wake up this morning thinking Deion Sanders would provoke such thinking with one statement, but hey he did and hopefully now the wheels are spinning in your head! Have a great day and be blessed!

Weekly Update

Well the scale was sorta nice to me this morning. I am back down to 217, although I was really hoping to break that plateau.  Josh and I are going out of down next weekend for our 5 year anniversary which is tomorrow and I had a goal weight written down.  I am not going to reach that goal so I'm dealing with letting that go.  I am just trying to keep my focus on the success I have had so far. My new goal is to break the plateau and try to wear a certain dress I have had hanging in my closet since I became pregnant with Naomi. Maybe I will post a picture of it if I get to wear it. :) Thank you to everyone for their encouragement and support.  We can do this!

Hearing the Phone Ring

If you have ever received a phone call with bad news you know the feeling you get the next time the phone rings. And the next time, the following time, and for some months down the road when the phone rings.  Living far away from family usually means I will get good and bad new over the phone. 5 years ago I received a phone call that my dear Aunt had passed away, just a week or so later another phone call that my step-mother's father had passed away. All of my grandparents passed before I was born or shorty after I was born, so Pa was the only Grandaddy I had every known.  It took my quite a while to not go into panic mood when I had more than one missed call from multiple people back home.  Then just a few months down the road I received news that my childhood pastor had also gone to be with Jesus. Phone call after phone call after phone call.

In recent years I haven't received many phone calls with bad news so my anxiety level when my phone rings is pretty level.  Last night I missed a call from my sister while I was trying to load the kids up in the van to head home from church.  As I get in the van, Josh tells me Wayne called him and said my sister was trying to call me. I knew I had missed her call and thought to myself they must be without electricity or their winter storm was getting crazy for Wayne to have called Josh. So I call my sister back and she tells me....

Just a few hours earlier I called my Daddy a little after 6pm thinking with the bad weather coming he would be home. He informed me he was heading home and the roads weren't very good so we quickly got off the phone. Before we hung up he asked me to pray, and I did. I have always prayed for my Daddy out on the road. When I was little I would tell him every morning before he left in his big truck; "Read your Bible, take a nap, think about me, pray!" Obviously I wanted him to take a nap when he was being loaded and unloaded not while driving ;)

"Daddy is okay, but he was in an accident today!" The words hit hard, I'm sure much harder had someone been hurt.  I was okay because my Daddy was okay and so was the other person.  She then begins to tell me what she knew of the accident and the heaviness begins to set in.  My Daddy who is a truck driver had an accident and hit someone else.  He could have been killed, someone else could have been killed.  God's grace, mercy, and protection!

I am so thankful to God that everyone is okay and I am praying for the other driver and my Daddy.  The trauma related to any accident can stay with you and I pray that Jesus would touch their minds and give them peace. 

News Story of the Accident and Pictures