How will you live?

Jesus Heals a Paralytic:
On one of those days, as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with him to heal. And behold, some men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they were seeking to bring him in and lay him before Jesus, but finding no way to bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the midst before Jesus. And when he saw their faith, he said, Man, your sins are forgiven you. And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, "Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?" When Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answered them, "Why do you question in your hearts? Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Rise and walk? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins" - he said to the man who was paralyzed - "I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home." And immediately he rose up before them and picked up what he had been lying on and went home, glorifying God. And amazement seized them all, and they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, "We have seen extraordinary things today." Luke 5: 17-26

What a great story. I often read this passage and ask myself, whether I would be one of those men who would go to great lengths to help someone get to Christ. One of the interesting things about this passage, is that it does not describe the men carrying the paralytic as friends, but just men. These men may not have known him and likely did not spend time with him. These men though knew that Jesus Christ could help him and these men chose to live in a manner that sacrificed there time, and possible there health to give one person the opportunity to see the glory of Jesus Christ.

So how will you live in 2013? We so often make our resolutions of new dedication we are going to make to the things that will improve our life, but we always make the resolutions in a manner that puts the new dedication on ourselves. What if I resolved to take care of others. What if I resolved to sacrifice myself and did whatever it took to lead those that are hurt and need healing, both physically and spiritually to Christ? What kind of resolution would that cause internally to me / us?

My Story of Grace?

One of the things in my life which I hope has become more obvious is my faith in Christ. The question that is usually out there, but rarely asked, is why the change. For anyone who calls themselves a Christian, the answer to "why" after you have accepted Christ is easy. The real question is, "How did I get to the point where I figured out I needed Christ".  That is the question which produces, "A Grace Story". The definition, "Though not in wikpedia" of a Grace Story, is the story of your life in which you went from not knowing Christ to having a personal relationship with him. Most people will tell you, "My Grace Story". The fact of the matter is that no individual person on this earth has enough grace through there own power to produce a life changing story. The Grace Story is Christ's Story through your life. The only involvement we have is accepting the truth of his grace and then getting out of his way. The Grace Story you are about to read is one in which I got out of Christ's way and said, " I don't know what to do please help."

October 7, 2007 Cameron James Powell was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Looking back, that was the most life changing day of my life. By October 7, 2007, I have been married for a little over 9 years, I have a daughter who will be turning 5 years old, and I am 34 years old. None of those previous events changed my life like having the feeling of my only son being diagnosed with a disease that could keep him from being all he can be, or all I thought he should be. For the next several months I continued to ask the question why. Why my son, why was God punishing my son because of my sin. What did Cameron ever do to deserve this. If you have a child with a disease which keeps them from being "normal" you have likely asked the same questions I have.
I spent allot of time running and biking. It was a way for me to get out of the house and not face the fact our family was different. I would bike around the neighborhood and FGCU, the local University. My daughter and I started attending McGregor Baptist Church. This was a desperate attempt of myself to try and get some religion in my life, thinking that if a religiously educated man preached to me maybe I wouldn't feel so bad about Autism. It didn't work. Then one day biking through FGCU I noticed a sign "Summit Church". I wonder what that is. I remember coming home to Kelly and telling her, "I found a church that is a lot closer to the house than McGregor". The biggest excitement about this church for me at this time, it was a much closer drive. So one Sunday Hannah and I went to Summit Church. We arrived at the upstairs of the University Commons building when we were met by people who helped me get Hannah into the childcare area "Big Enough". I then went in the area for the morning sermon. Jordan Stinziano was teaching. I sat and listened to Jordan for about 30 minutes. I was blown away. How can a guy my age have such a knowledge of Christ and make it sound cool. Everybody I had listened to in the past was older and taught in a manner that was more preachy rather than informative. After the sermon I thought wow, this place is great, and then Jordan announced that his wife Maggie and his family would be leaving Summit to move to Syracuse and start Misio Church. What? God, why am I here if you're having Jordan now leave.
A couple of more services go by and most of the teaching is good, not as mind blowing as Jordan, but good. September of 2008 Summit Church moved in to it's own building on Ben Hill Griffin. So Hannah and I moved into the building with Summit Church. At this time Kelly and Cameron are staying home. Kelly and I are not quite sure of how anyone is going to be able to take care of Cameron at the church. I mean he has Autism, surely we are going to be stuck in the house forever and never be able to socialize.
September 28, 2008. A young Latin guy is teaching at Summit Church this morning. His name is Orlando Cabrera, sounds like a baseball player. He gives a sermon about something that I can't even remember. The one thing I do remember is he told the congregation that he was 35 years old. Wait, I am 35 years old. He has a 3 year old son who has Autism. I have a 3 year old son with Autism. A that moment I knew I would never be alone in my journey with Autism. For the next year I spent allot of time trying to get more information. I went to Summit every Sunday, I had lunch with Orlando as often as I could, I tried to engage anybody that I thought could give me knowledge about Jesus and how my life was suppose to work considering my family deals with Autism. From this point on I am just trying to learn more about Christ and expose myself to the Autism Community. From the time of September 28, 2008 to today my walk with Christ has been just that a "WALK WITH CHRIST" I am not sitting and waiting for him to show up and do something. I am not sitting in self pity wondering why, at least not anymore.
Christ knew what was going to happen to our family, he knew what I would need to shake up my life and get my attention, he knew what I would need to get me to come back to him, and he knows what I need everyday to continue to educate me and bring me closer to him.
Back to title of this Blog, My Grace Story? After reading this you might be wondering why is there a question mark after "My Grace Story". Here is the best answer I can give you. I don't believe this is my grace story. Like I said in the beginning, the story of grace is, the grace Christ provide us and the story is exposed as we surrender and get out of his way. So, this isn't my grace story, this is Christ grace story told through me. You may ask, how can someone become so engulfed in Christ and be ok with a son having Autism. I even asked my self the question, Why did Christ allow my son to have Autism? I never had an answer to that question until now. The answer is simple. 1 Peter 4:12-19:
"Beloved, do not be suprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. For it is time for judgement to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And "If the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner? Therefore, let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.
The short version of that answer is simple. God has found me worthy to provide me with a son who has Autism, even though Autism is a trial of my life I find joy in it. I have been given an opportunity by God to join him in the blessing of raising a son with Autisms, so as I suffer in his name his grace will be shown to others. If you have made it to the end of this blog I have only one question.
When you were offered an opportunity to join Christ in his Grace how did you answer?

Who is my neighbor?

A couple of days ago my wife and I were in a bible study that was addressing the question, who is my neighbor? Before that question could be answered another question that I thought needed to be addressed is, why do I need to know who my neighbor is?


During the Christmas season it is not uncommon for us all to have our sentimental side expose itself to the world. Why do we do this? Is it because we know deep down that this is the way we are suppose to live.


As time has gone on the mention of Christmas immediately brings thoughts of presents, Santa Clause (if you have young children), office parties and family gatherings. But why does our sentiment become heightened this time of year?


Most people will admit that the Christmas season is a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. Whether you believe in Christ or not you can not ignore that his birth is celebrated and the celebration is called Christ-mas. As Christ came to this world his story is some what simple. He came to die for our sins. This act from Christ is the most selfless act of mercy and grace that I have ever heard. Why would he do that? Is it because we deserved it? NO! Is it because he had nothing better to do? NO! Or is it because God looked at us and he said these people need mercy and grace in there lives. The only way I can extend them the mercy and grace they need to receive the glories of heaven is to have my one and only son die on there behalf. In spite of my conscious decision to continue to sin against Christ, he has shown me mercy and grace. If that isn't being a good neighbor, then I'm not sure what else would qualify.





Going back to my first question, who is my neighbor? If anyone has ever heard of the parable of the Good Samaritan. I believe we even have a law named after it. My understanding of that law, is that if you are the only person around to help someone in serious need and / or death, it is your obligation to help them. Well the parable of the Good Samaritan was created to answer not just one question (who is my neighbor?), but Jesus was also telling the lawyer (law writer during that time) what his role was towards his neighbor. The parable is very simple, a man is attacked by robbers, beaten and left for dead. Let's imagine this man is a person walking along the road with nothing more than a backpack, which holds his life's possessions. Yes, he's homeless. The parable goes on, a priest comes walking along and See's the man. The priest does not stop to help, but continues on. A second man comes upon the man who has been beaten, a Levite (imagine he is a highly respected man in his community). The Levite sees the beaten man and continues on. A third man comes to the beaten man. The third man is a Samaritan (imagine him as the strange looking tattooed person who most people would look at and think they don't do much). The Samaritan then goes to the man who was beaten and cleaned his wounds, bandaged him, put him on his donkey and took him to the nearest inn. Gave the inn keeper money to take care of the beaten man. Then told the inn keeper that he would be back to pay for whatever the money he gave him did not cover. After the parable was told to the lawyer, Jesus asked him who the neighbor was to the beaten man. The lawyer said, "the one who showed mercy". Jesus then told him, "Now you go and do likewise."





Back to where we started, Who is my neighbor? Is my neighbor the person who lives next door to me, or a friend that I've known for awhile. I believe my neighbor is the person in my life or that is in front of me that is in need. I also believe my neighbor is the person that extends mercy to me when I am in need. So my second question is still unanswered. Why do I need to know who my neighbor is? If I do not know who Jesus wants me to identify as my neighbor, then who am I to show grace and mercy. What classifies someone as needy? I'll paint you a picture.


My son Cameron has Autism. He didn't choose to have Autism. For some reason God aloud him to have autism and to date has not decided to cure him of it. He can easily be classified as a person in need, and therefore he would be my neighbor.


What if prostitute tried to offer me her services? She would be directly in front of me. She has made a conscious decision to prostitute herself. Because she has made that decision, does that make her any less needy for grace and mercy than Cameron?


What about the person who has lost there job and there home and likely in turn there spirit to continue to try. They are in front of us every day during this economic climate. They have needs. Are his needs and cries to Christ less or more substantiated than Cameron's or a prostitutes. His need for grace and mercy from Christ's church (i.e. us) is no less or more needed than the other two situations.


As you go through this holiday season and the holiday season turns to spring and the spring turns to summer, and summer turns to fall, and fall turns to winter again, remember who Jesus said your neighbor is. The person who needs your mercy and grace even when you don't know there story along with the person who has shown you mercy and grace. I guarantee any person that reads this along with myself will fall into the category of the needy, but will we also be the neighbor that showed mercy and grace? Why should we be withholding our mercy and grace to others when Christ did not with hold it from us. I'm sure we were less deserving than the person or people who need a neighbor right now.

Giveology

We just started a new series at Summit Church called G3, Get, Guard, Give. The simple explanation, as explain by Pastor Cabrera is you get something, you guard it, then you give it away. I'm really excited to see where this series goes. You would think that the three words "Get, Guard, Give" are simple and things most people do all the time. Then I started looking at myself and the environment around me. Unfortunately for me, whenever I am exposed to something that seems intriguing, I start analyzing how my life looks compared to whatever intrigues me. I think we all accept that getting something is pretty easy. We are collectors, If someone wanted to give you an old lamp, we would take it with a smile on our face thinking that maybe someday I can use this after I clean it, because it's free. The guarding part seems a little harder, because their is always the unexpected that could ruin your guarding ability. To me the part that knocked me on my butt is the giving. As a community how bad are we at giving? I know it's easy to read this and say, "I give". I give when their is a need right in front of me, the annual Salvation Army at Christmas, or maybe some canned food that's been in the cupboard for a couple of weeks and you realize you'll never eat it so I'll give it to someone who has less than me. I've recently found myself, by the grace of God, not being able to give enough. Every time I see a need I ask myself, am I suppose to do something for this. Of course my first reaction is that I don't own enough to give to everything I come across. Let me tell you a secret I learned last week. YOU DON'T OWN ANYTHING! I know your first reaction is that you own things, are you sure?

The Lords grace provides use with everything we need. Our own pride and desire usually stretches past what we need and into what we want. Think about the last two years of our economy. Regardless of your political view, your ideologies, or who's fault you think it is, millions of people have lost most all of their things. Please don't think I am down playing any ones circumstances. The loses that have gone through our world are devastating on many levels and my soul goes out to people that work hard and try there best, but still can't make ends meet. My point is that we get things, we guard them, because we think that the more we guard them the better everything will be, and then we get faced with the realization that the things we find so important are far more vulnerable to destruction than we could have ever imagined.



The question I continue to ask myself and will pose to you is, how much giving is enough? I hope and pray that more people everyday will realize that the things they have were given to them by Grace. Not for them to possess as owners, but to manage in a way that would glorify Christ and help the world around them. There will be millions of people that will recover from the economic down turn and decide that it is better to hold on and guard the things I have, now that I have them back, rather than realizing they are getting another chance with new gifts and give those gifts out to the world. Our giving can be in many forms. Financial is an obvious area of giving that most people have challenges with, but our time and heart in many instances are more powerful than any financial amount. If I see a person on the side of the road broken down or injured and I say, "I'm going to pray for them and hope that someone helps them". I'm sure God will then say, "Hey stupid, I sent you to help them. GIVE them your time and ability." In the book of James, James tells us that faith without good deeds is useless. Think about the people who you come in contact with everyday. I believe that there are people that need our help everyday and we either ignore it or think it's not important, "someone else will take care of it". Who are we waiting for? If God presents you with a need that you think is to big for you to handle, guess what, your right it is to big for you to handle. That's the point, we need to help those around us without wavering, but we need to do it with Christ, because without him, our efforts may seem to work, but not to the potential Christ wants. Whenever I am challenged with helping others, I am usually reminder of this verse, "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' Matthew 25:40. Unfortunately, just because I am reminded of it, doesn't mean I do it.

If you were kind enough to read this entire blog entry, thank you. I leave you with this. To give is far more rewarding than to get or guard. If a solider can give his life for a nation of people he doesn't know, if a woman in her 30's can give her home to a child in need instead of over trying to find a husband, and Christ can give his life for people who didn't know him and cursed his very existence. We can give to the world around us. If we don't give the things we've been given by grace, then we will likely have them taken away from us again.

"You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go bear fruit - fruit that will last. Then the father will give you whatever you ask in my name." Luke 15:16

Not So "Obvious Blessings"

A problem of mine has always been obliviousness to obvious things in my life. As an example, it took me all of 3 seconds of looking and 10 minutes of talking to realize Kelly Lee Graddy was the woman I wanted for the rest of my life. Unfortunately it took me the better part of 3 months to realize my son had Autism.

A week ago our pastor laid out a challenge and asked everyone to get up each morning and start the day by telling God, Yes. The request is irrelevant, the answer is yes. The idea behind this was to show complete faith and in doing so God would bless us as he sees fit. In the past I've always considered myself blessed. Recently I have been able to step back and see some of the things going on in my life. I have always been waiting for that big whopper of a blessing, mostly because it's obvious. The reality is that we are blessed every day in what we consider small things, but when you stop and think about how that blessing occurred you realize it was a big undertaking to get to that point.

The next time your wondering whether God is going to bless you with his righteousness, here are a couple of things from my world which may help put things in perspective.

Blessings:


1. I was asked to speak to a group of people I do not know about my life in the Autism World.


2. My son, who has Autism, called his mother from a separate room so she would come help him.


3. My daughter memorized Hebrew 11:1 "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see".


4. My wife has volunteered her time to Camp Mission. A Bible School camp for Kids at Summit Church.


5. My wife gave me a card for Father's day that floored me about the way she looks at me and our marriage.


6. I get up two to three mornings a week and enjoy racquetball with other men.


7. I am given a daily opportunity to serve the people around me and help them develop.

Most of the time I am completely oblivious to the fact that the blessings listed above are accomplished by nothing that I have been able to do. Most people wouldn't realize that Hannah never had an interest in the Bible until we started going to Summit. My son would never have called my wife from the other room without therapy, supplements and a lot of prayer. I wouldn't be playing racquetball if my good friend Jason Sain (who I met at Summit) hadn't asked me. The point of all this is; if we stop and think about the things going on in our lives, we will see that the blessing bestowed upon us are actually miracles. These miracles have been prepared for us, but are only revealed after we got out of our own way and let Christ take over.

Just some thoughts from a desperate husband and father.

Reality Check

The family and I went to Orlando this weekend and like most trips you take as a parent, they are not as easy as you envision them before you go. Kelly and I were attending a conference put on by an organization called "The Family Cafe". Family Cafe is an organization that helps all different kinds of people with special needs. The conference was put on at the Colorado Springs Resort with Disney World. Staying anywhere in Disney World is like going to a movie. Once you buy the ticket to get in, they charge you as much as humanly possible for the food, because they know you are not going to leave. While we were there I was reminded of a couple of things that I want to share.



When you become a parent of a child with special needs you suddenly feel like know one can possible understand what your circumstances are like. I was reminded this weekend that not only are the circumstances that surround my life no where near as limiting or cumbersom as most people, but that those circumstances have not defined our family, they have pointed us in the direction Christ wants us to go.



On the way back from the conference, which by they way we left a night early so we would get a good nights sleep in our own beds, my children were listening to the song, God is bigger than the Boogieman, by Veggie Tales. One of the verses in the song says, God is bigger than the Boogieman, he's bigger than Godzilla and the Monsters on TV. My daughter who is all of 6 and as sharp as a knife, proceeds to tell Kelly and I that she knows what a Godzilla is. "Godzilla is a bad God". Kelly then goes on to explain, Godzilla is not a God at all, but a lizard like monster in a movie. The conversation then morphs into Hannah asking Kelly, "Are his hands big enough to hold the whole world?" Who's hands Hannah? "Well God's silly".



The reason I mention both of theses reminders is that even though we feel that our lives are so hard and that we have know idea what is coming next, or how we're going to survive the situation were in. God is going to show you what your life could be like and then he will remind you through the most simple and innocent of situations that it is all in his hands.



"Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase."

Martin Luther King Jr.

The Holiday Season

I hope all of you have had a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year. This Christmas season for us has been a little bit bittersweet. The downside of the season is, with the economy struggling my industry has struggled to keep busy and working. The upside of a down economy is, this is the first time in years that I have been able to spend a full two weeks of vacation with my family.

We started our vacation with a quick trip to Marco Island. I ran in the Marco Island 5 mile hill race with my friend Jason. This was a great time. The weather was wonderful and the run had a lot of nice scenery. The run event was then followed by a trip to Miami for a doctor's appointment with Cameron's Biomedical doctor. The appointment was uneventful, and things for Cameron are continuing to move positively. After our visit with Cameron's doctor, we spent the afternoon with friends of ours in South Beach enjoying lunch and the beach. After our day in Miami we were ready to come home and begin preparing for the Christmas celebration.

Kelly's Mom and her significant other Jack, spent several days with us prior to Christmas. It is always amazing to me how excited we get to see our family during the holidays. For the record I want everyone to know that we are very blessed, our family gets along great. The irony is that as much fun as it is to visit with our family and enjoy their company it is as much work as well(I'm sure my view is skewed by the policing of two young children). We spent several days enjoying all aspects of our family. We had brunch on Christmas Eve with Deb, Jack, Jeff, Jenny, Ava and Tyler. Then we opened presents and said farewell to Deb and Jack before they left to fly back to California. We then spent Christmas Eve evening with my parents at Summit Church's 5pm service. It was a great service and the most people I've ever seen in one service there. This was followed by dinner at my parents house along with present opening.

Now many of you with young children I hope will understand what is going to happen next. Once the present opening had been completed it was Kelly's and my job to round up all the presents the grandparents got for Hannah and Cameron, load them into the car and drive home. It is now 9:30 pm. Once we got home, the children got the cookies out for Santa along with the carrots for the reindeer and then read, "The Night Before Christmas." It is now 10:30 pm. Now I wish I could tell you that mother and I settle into bed for a long winter's nap, but someone has to "prepare" the house for the trampoline, scooter, bike and other presents Santa was bringing. Once we "prepared" the house for Santa's coming, yes you guessed it, bedtime for us on Christmas morning was approximately 1:00 am. Now for parents with older children this would not be a problem, but our kids still get excited about Santa coming. The oldest (Hannah) was up at 5:00 am, and as quickly as she got up, mom had her climb into bed with us and go back to sleep.

Christmas morning started about 7:30 am and went without a hitch. The kids opened their presents and enjoyed the small trampoline Santa brought them. Over the next several days our family spent a lot of time enjoying each other. We went to the park, and Hannah has been enjoying her new scooter and has started to ride her bike without training wheels. Cameron has been enjoying Veggie Tale DVDs, trampoline jumping and his playground. He hasn't quit figured out what to do with the bike he got yet.

As time went on Kelly and I decided it would be fun to take the kids to Busch Gardens during the break. If anyone reading this has not been to a theme park during the week between Christmas and New Year's let me explain the experience with one word, INSANE! We thought some people would be returning to work on the Monday after Christmas, so we would enjoy a semi-busy Busch Gardens for the day. Apparently 30,000 other people had the same idea we did. The experience was certainly crazy, but the kids enjoyed themselves, were extremely well behaved and Kelly and I did not fall asleep while driving home. The next several days have been spent enjoying each other's company, going to the gym and getting little things done that we never seem to have time for. In a couple of days I will go back to work and Kelly will endure the day to day grind of school, therapy and household management.

I will end this entry by wishing everyone a Happy New Year and my prayer to all of you that any resolutions you have made I hope you are able to accomplish. One of my favorite quotes that I was just introduced to recently helps me to continue in the areas I struggle and I hope it will do the same for you.

"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our Attitudes.”

by Charles R. Swindoll