Words

Do you remember the old saying, "sticks and stones can break my bones but words can never harm me"?
It's a lie!
Words can hurt and cause pain. We have all experienced it.
Words can also bring healing.
This is what my family and I have been experiencing over the past couple of days.
The staff and people of my church FRC have been incredible. Thanks! I love and appreciate every one of you.
There have been so many others as well. So many phone calls, e-mails, text, flowers, gifts. and meals have been sent our way.
We want to say thanks for all the kind words and also for being a part of our healing.

PS - Here is a picture of my dad with my daughters right after he started his chemotherapy.

This reminds me of who he was!

HERO

Hero

Today I lost my hero

He slowly faded away

It hurts to lose a hero

It’s hard to know what to say

I tried to prepare for today

Hoped for a different way

But now my hero’s gone

I’ll find a way to carry on

Maybe I can be a hero

But I’ll never fill your shoes

I’ve got to be myself but

I don’t know what to do

Your face was full of kindness

Compassion shining through

Touching those encountered

Jesus shown through you

Now I know I’ll be a hero

I’m not the same as you

I’m gonna be a hero

I’ll do my best for you

E. G. Robertson

November 26, 1931 – March 26, 2008

Dad passed on to heaven at 9:10 this morning

Pain

I am trying to figure out this pain thing but I am not getting very far.
I sat by my dad's bed early this morning and felt pain like I never have. Crying didn't help. Gritting my teeth didn't work. Praying helped a little but I gotta be honest and tell you it didn't take it all away.

I have had physical pain from injuries and stupidity.
I have had emotional pain from bad choices.
I have had mental pain from lack of preparation or execution.
I have had spiritual pain from ungodly decisions.

This one today seems to hurt more than all of those.
My dad is not in a lot of pain but for some reason I am and I hate admitting these kind of things. Maybe it is pride or the fear of being weak but now you know.

I just remember my dad being "Superman".














When he was around you better not mess with me or anyone he loved or was protecting.

I remember a neighbor cursing out my sister because our ball went in his yard. When dad got home he made it clear to the man that that would never happen again. Later he was embarrassed and even apologized to the man and us. That was just who he was. We loved it and felt safe and secure. I don't think that man ever yelled at us again.

It is hard to see "Superman" laying in a bed unable to move or talk and having a tough time breathing.
I wish I could take his place but I know he would never let that happen. I also know God has many plans with all of this.

Back to my pain...
While I was sitting by his bed hurting he his raised his delicate soft hand up and reached for mine. I placed my hand in his and I forgot about my pain for a while. I didn't have to say a word.














It is amazing how the pain subsides when you place your hand in the hand of your Father.
I did that with my heavenly Father today too.
It helped!

Thanks

I just wanted to take a moment and say thanks to so many of you as family and friends.
You prayers, notes, messages and love have made a difference for us.
I am home for a couple of days. I am going to head back up on Monday.

We had a great time and made some memories that we will cherish. I really believe that this was a gift from God.
I talked to my mom and sister a few moments ago. He continues to weaken. They were thinking that it would be great if he went on to heaven on Easter day.
I think that would be cool. God's timing will be right for all of us.
He is not in pain which is another blessing and his mind continues to be sharp. He stays aware of everything going on in the room.
Thanks again for your care during this time.

C-Word

I got a call from my mom on Wednesday night at 11:00 PM. She began to tell me that my dad was wanting to tell everyone in the family goodbye.














This was a hard conversation for many reasons but the biggest was I was here in South Florida and they were in SC.

My dad has the c-word and it has him in his final days. I hate the c-word. I really don't even like to talk about it. It has caused so much hurt and grief in our family and with friends. This is not only true in my life but in millions around the world that have had to face this in one way or another.

Thank God that there are some organizations that are trying to make a difference in the c-word. My church FRC just had a huge Garage sale and gave all the proceeds to the ACS. I am proud to be a part of a church like FRC that is willing to make a difference in ways like this. You should see all that we are doing for Easter this weekend.

My wife, daughters and I did talk to my dad on the phone and tell him goodbye.

That sucked! Sorry but it did!

I went into my office and got some airline tickets and we flew up to see him early the next morning.

Brilliant!

This was one of the best decisions I have ever made.
I just saw him last week but the c-word makes everything so unpredictable that it is hard to know when to do what. I just got back this morning but we had an awesome trip. We are ready for whatever comes our way now. I am going back up Monday on a trip that was already scheduled so I will get to be with him, my mom,














(I am convinced that she is the strongest and most incredible woman in the world) and the rest of our family.
They tell us it will be any day now.

Back to the c-word....
As much as I hate it in a strange way it has given us a gift.
Time!
We have had time to say the things we need to say and do some things that we needed to do.
One of my prayers lately has been, "God I don't understand or like the CANCER thing but thanks! It has given us the time we need to prepare for what is ahead.

As always God knows what is best, even with the c-word!!!

Great Week

We just got back last night from "Unleash". It was a great conference.
Perry Noble has an uncanny way of sharing truth with an in your face, southern, comedic delivery while remaining biblically sound.
One of my favorite lines he shared was, "The problem is we have inspiration, but we don't have revelation".
Another was, "Be careful what you speak against. It could be the Holy Spirit that you're speaking against".
Their worship team is "stinkin" incredible. We had a great time, learned a lot, and met some great people that we can network with in the future.
One of the best parts was being able to do this trip with Allen and Sharon.
Kelli and I have had the privilege of serving with them for over 19 years now. If you want to talk about Godly, loyal and faithful people then you have to bring these two up in the conversation.
Ministry is an awesome thing to do but it is even better when you get to do it with awesome people.

DST - Daylight Savings Time

I don't understand this whole "spring forward", "fall back" thing.
When I was younger we lived in Indiana for a while and the area we lived in never changed their clocks. It got pretty confusing at times because if you went west one hour to Indianapolis they were behind an hour or the same at certain times of the year. If you went east an hour to Cincinnati they were ahead an hour or the same for part of the year.
It really screwed up watching television shows because we got reception from both places and it was hard to keep up with what was coming on at what time.
Maybe this web sight will help you with what DST is all about.
DST - Daylight Savings Time
The reason that seams to be the most popular for DST is so that afternoons have more daylight and mornings have less.

I think the most important reason to remember to move our clocks forward is so we won't be late to church on Sunday morning.
My church is FRC. If you don't have a church or the one you are going to just isn't (whatever "isn't" is for you) you should check out FRC. In my humble opinion IT IS THE BEST.
Our pastor is pretty awesome too.
You can watch us "Flamingo Road Church with Troy Gramling" on FOX, WSVN-7 at 11:00 a.m.
We are actually starting a new series this week called "RationaLIES". It will be awesome so you should check us out this weekend.

Oh yea!!!

Be on time!

Sick, Sick, Sick

Sick!
That's what I have been over the last few days. I don't like it. It's not fun. You feel like an outcast but it happens every once in a while.
I don't get sick often but when I do I tend to "get it good".
My wife does such a great job of taking care of me. She seams to be the one in our family that takes care of everyone that gets sick or has health issues. The great thing is she is good at it.
A lot of my friends and neighbors have been sick. When I went to the doctors they told it was everywhere. I believe them.
A few things I have learned.....

• Sometimes "sick happens"
• You have to let it run it's coarse
• You need to get help
• You need to rest up
• Don't spread the junk
• Do what it takes to get better
• Do what it takes to not get sick again

I guess it's a lot like some of the stuff we face in life.
There are always lessons we can learn.
What lessons are you learning today?