What an incredible day.  This is a story of building my faith in God.  My day on Friday started just as normal as could be.  My wife and I sat down to have breakfast with our toddler.  We enjoyed oatmeal, yogurt, strawberries and great morning fellowship.  I did my bible study (I’m currently reading Genesis again) and was feeling pretty good.  I was also getting ready to go and renew my driver’s license.  Sounds simple, right?  I had even made an appointment at the office.

Well, things changed in a hurry.  In my excitement to set up the appointment at the office, I failed to notice that in 2010 new requirements were made regarding documentation I would need to take to the office.  So, it wasn’t until I was there that I discovered I needed my passport, social security card, vehicle registration (that wasn’t a problem) and a utility bill (still trying to figure that one out).  Clearly I didn’t have most of these things so they sent me on my merry way.

I call my wife urgently to see if she could gather all these documents for me and I would come home quickly, pick them up and go back.  When I got home, my wife hadn’t been able to locate any of the documents I needed, you see they were all in a “safe” location.  The problem is that she couldn’t remember where that “safe” location was.

Finally, we gave up looking and I started off to work only to find out that my car air conditioning stopped working.  Living in Florida, this doesn’t fare well for me.  All I could think about was how much this was going to cost to repair.  Honestly, by 10 am I was in a downright awful mood.

And then God reminded me of this bible verse….

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).

I prayed on this as I was driving and I thanked Him for these problems that were occurring, because it reminded me that He was still in control of everything.  As I calmed down, I realized that the documents were going to be found and the car was going to be repaired and I didn’t need to worry about those things but rather offer Him praise for the love and guidance He has over me and my family.

A short while later as I was driving, goes what….my air conditioner kicked back on blowing nice cold air all over me.  Was it a direct answer to prayer?  Sure, but I think the main exercise was to stop worrying and put my faith in God and not myself.  It took one more day, but my passport and social security card were found as well and I’ve made a new appointment to get my license renewed.

Seriously, what an incredible day.  God uses the problems in our life to bring us closer to him.  We have a choice to try them on our own or hand them to him.  I can’t be alone in stories like this.  Please tell me how God has used days like this to transform your life.

What can you take to God today?  Do you have faith in God that He can do anything?

Blessings,

Terry

Visit World of Dads for complete list of articles.

I hear it takes 30 days to form a habit.  Is that true?  I sure hope so.  Just over a month ago, I decided that I needed to change my life.  Being over 100 pounds overweight, getting closer to 50 and having a wife  and a young son made me realize that something had to give.  If I had any plans on being around while my son grows up I was going to need to lose weight.

So, I started taking things seriously and altered my lifestyle.  First thing I did was to get off my oversized BUTT and start exercising.  This wasn’t easy…at first I could barely do 15 minutes on the elliptical machine.  That’s not the most motivating situation.  I also dramatically altered my eating.  I knew that starvation and fad diets weren’t going to work so my wife and I decided that portion size was going to be critical along with eating a healthier fare.  As it was, the healthier foods included a lot more vegetables, fruits and fish.  I was never much of a red meat guy so not eating that wasn’t a big deal.  But giving up sodas and junk food wasn’t so easy.

30 days later I’ve realized that my body can live (quite nicely) without bad food choices and it has adapted quite well to exercise.  I now do close to an hour on the elliptical every day and what a difference it’s made.  Not to mention the clothes fitting much better (some even a little big now), but I just feel better.  It’s really an amazing feeling.

So, 30 days to form a habit…I sure hope so because I’m planning on building on the last 30 days to a very healthy and long lasting lifestyle.  I would love to hear your weight loss stories so please leave me some feedback and helpful information.  What do you do to maintain your lifestyle?  What has it done to your confidence?

Terry

Visit World of Dads for complete list of articles.

Well, it appears that times are changing especially when an interracial relationship occurs. I am white, non-Hispanic. I come from a background where my father participated in all aspects of the household, even including cleaning dishes (and I certainly did my fair share of dishes and laundry). My wife grew up in the traditional Hispanic family but wants to break the mold by getting involved in financial decisions and needing my help in household chores.

So, sounds great, right? Where’s the culture wars? Well, in come the in-laws who have set ideas on what is right and wrong. My mother in-law was floored to the point of being angry that I wanted to be in the room when my son was born. She felt that was no place for a man and felt excluded. She’s also been upset about my involvement with the development of my son. Angry about me helping to decide what kind of clothes he wears to choices in diapers.

It took me quite a while to realize that she wasn’t angry with me, necessarily, but angry with how a shift of culture was taking place from her “norm”. I won’t lie, there were some very hurt feelings on all sides but there is also much needed healing taking place now. I’m grateful for the culture on both sides of our family and wish to preserve the best of those as we grow together as a family.

How has culture affected your marriage? Do you see it in other families? Are these types of relationships doomed?

Please leave me your feedback.

Terry

Visit World of Dads for complete list of articles.

Call me old fashioned, but I felt pretty guilty about going in public without my wedding ring. I almost felt like I was cheating on my wife a little. The funny thing is that no one ever asked me why I wasn’t wearing it. So I have to ask myself, has this become so commonplace for men to not wear a ring? Even my wife never gave me that much grief for not wearing it even though she kept on wearing hers.

What are you thoughts for what is acceptable or not? What are your habits? Do you wear your wedding ring while at home or working out? Please leave me your comments.

Terry

Visit World of Dads for complete list of articles.

Article part of My son and I.

This is my son and I at a great seafood place in Florida.  He just had the time of his life.  Afterwards, we went to the beach and he got to chase after birds.  How can life get better?

Visit World of Dads for complete list of articles.

Welcome to World of Dads!  I’m glad you decided to pop in and see what this was all about.  Since this is my first post and it is Memorial Day I believe the topic has already been decided by fate.

As one who has never served in the military, I am absolutely amazed at the courage it takes for someone to step on a battlefield to protect one’s country.  I don’t know how my own courage would stand up if it was required, I can only hope that something would kick in and I would do what’s necessary.  I have such an incredible respect for the men and women have served, serve and will serve in our armed forces, but I have even great admiration for those Mom’s and Dad’s who put their lives at risk every day.  I’m not saying that someone who doesn’t have children can’t appreciate this, but parents know that their children represent one of the greatest reasons to continue to protect our way of life.  It’s really not about them at all, it’s about their children and the lives they will have years later.

At church this morning both active duty and veterans were honored and you couldn’t help feel the pride of this country as they stood up to be recognized.  The applause was thunderous and the standing ovation lasted several minutes.  We are blessed to live in the United States and I salute the men and women who protect us.

Visit World of Dads for complete list of articles.