God is in Control

I recieved this email a few weeks ago and thought about sharing it. I guess now is the right time. Not sure if it is true or not, but it's a great story. I'm sure there is some truth to it.

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A man from Norfolk , VA called a local radio station to share this on Sept 11th, 2003, TWO YEARS AFTER THE TRAGEDIES OF 9/11/2001.

His name was Robert Matthews. These are his words:

"A few weeks before Sept. 11th, my wife and I found out we were going to have our first child. She planned a trip out to California to visit her sister. On our way to the airport, we prayed that God would grant my wife a safe trip and be with her. Shortly after I said 'amen,' we both
heard a loud pop and the car shook violently.. We had blown out a tire. I replaced the tire as quickly as I could, but we still missed her flight. both very upset we drove home..

I received a call from my father who was retired NYFD. He asked what my wife's flight number was, but I explained that we missed the flight.

My father informed me that her flight was the one that crashed into the southern tower. I was too shocked to speak. My father also had more news for me; he was going to help. 'This is not something I can't just sit by for; I have to do something.'

I was concerned for his safety, of course, but more because he had never given his life to Christ. After a brief debate, I knew his mind was made up. Before he got off of the phone, he said, 'take good care of my grandchild.. Those were the last words I ever heard my father say; he died while helping in the rescue effort.

My joy that my prayer of safety for my wife had been answered quickly became anger. I was angry at God, at my father, and at myself. I had gone for nearly two years blaming God for taking my father away. My son would never know his grandfather, my father had never accepted Christ, and I never got to say good-bye.

Then something happened. About two months ago, I was sitting at home with my wife and my son, when there was a knock on the door. I looked at my wife, but I could tell she wasn't expecting anyone. I opened the door to a couple with a small child.

The man looked at me and asked if my father's name was Jake Matthews. I told him it was. He quickly grabbed my hand and said, 'I never got the chance to meet your father, but it is an honor to meet his son.'

He explained to me that his wife had worked in the World Trade Center and had been caught inside after the attack. She was pregnant and had been caught under debris. He then explained that my father had been the one to find his wife and freed her. My eyes welled up with tears as I thought of my father giving his life for people like this. He then said, 'there is something else you need to know.'

His wife then told me that as my father worked to free her, she talked to him and led him to Christ. I began sobbing at the news.

Now I know that when I get to Heaven, my father will be standing beside Jesus to welcome me, and that this family would be able to thank him themselves .

When their baby boy was born, they named him Jacob Matthew, in honor of the man who gave his life so that a mother and baby could live."
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This story should help us to realize this: God is always in control.

We may not see the reason behind things and God is ALWAYS in control; all you have to do is trust in Him.

Until next time!

B

It Is Never To Late!

Today I was sitting at my desk cleaning it out for my move back to our Troy, MI office and came across a little notebook. In this notebook are journal entries from my past 5 years working in Perrysburg. I got to reading some of them and wow was I a bitter person. As I was reading them I tried to remember what was going on that caused me to write these awful entries. There are about 20 entries in this journal and 15 of them are all negative. I even cuss in a couple of them. The mood in the entries changed when I made the decision to get my life right, and get it right in more than one aspect.

In June of 2009 I stopped drinking pop, stopped eating fast food, and stopped a normal intake of caffeine. The only caffeine I get now is from chocolate, which I do not eat very much of in the first place. Kicking pop was one of the hardest things I have done in my life. Quitting cold turkey was very hard. It felt just like coming off of a drug. I had cold sweats, hot flashes, and a headache that would not go away no matter what I did or what I took for it. That went on for 6 days. On the 7th day I was fine. I woke up full of energy. As the months clicked by my wife noticed that more changes were happening. While I was on pop I was a horrible person. I was mean, moody and stressed and let that get the better of me every time. Andrea started to notice that I had changed for the better. That was just one aspect of getting my life right. The other was getting involved with a good church. Andrea returned to the church I grew up in. What a difference that made. I love going there and actually look forward to going to church again. Pastor Scott is a wonderful spirit filled pastor. I love every message he preaches. It has seemed for the better part of a year that every sermon has been just for me.

I know it has been a while since I wrote, but I felt the time was right to come out with this message. It is never too late to get your life right with yourself and especially with God. These are the things I changed to get my life right.

1.) Started praying and worshiping daily
2.) Kicked Pop, caffeine, and fast food.
3.) Forgave a lot of people that wronged me in my life.

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." - 1 John 1:9

Step #4 in this process of getting my life right is going on a diet and shedding a lot this weight I carry around. I'm not totally excited about it, but I have to do it for myself and more importantly my wife and kids. I want to be around to see them grow up.

I will keep you posted on how it is going. Andrea is doing this with me as well. Until next time!

Get your life right!!!!!

B