What’s LOVE Got to Do With It

Fine and Dandy

What’s LOVE Got to Do With It

Putting your thoughts on paper is therapeutic when faced with difficult and trying times, so I ask that you bear with me as I express my joy and sorrow. I trust that after you read this your outlook on life as well as your purpose for living will be changed for the better.

I have spent the last 2 weeks in a family waiting room at the University of Virginia Medical Center, waiting and watching as 3 of the people I love the most are suffering. I am blessed with having lived my life under the umbrella of a very close knit family, and now I have to help hold this umbrella up. My grandparents have had more influence on my life than any other persons on this planet, and are loved by more people than I can count. Their daily walk with Christ has allowed them to touch the lives of so many people in their 80+ years on earth, and now that love is being reciprocated by so many people. This has become personal for me these last 2 weeks as I watch a steady stream of visitors come in and out of the waiting room, as well as answering the waiting room phone and providing constant updates of the condition of my personal hero and role model.

Please allow me to introduce you to someone near to my heart who exemplifies the spirit of   giving and has given freely of his time while facing physical adversity.

My uncle, Kevin Ferrier, was born in 1958 with a handicap, as he was born with his umbilical cord around his neck. The lack of oxygen to his brain may have affected his motor skills, but it has not impaired his ability to touch the heart and lives of EVERY individual he meets. When asked how he is doing, he almost always replies “Fine and Dandy”(except when snowed in and unable to help at the Moose or volunteer at the bowling alley), and his spirits are lifted through the giving of his time to others. His work is confirmed through his recognitions and volunteer work throughout the community of Waynesboro.

Kevin graduated in 1978 with the 1st special education class at Waynesboro High School, and began a life of serving others that has continued to today. He has volunteered with the YMCA youth basketball league and was chosen volunteer of the month for his work. He was recognized on several occasions for his volunteer work with the Special Olympics. He ran the scoreboard for the Waynesboro Generals for many years, and still pulls for the “home team”. He kept score for so many little league, farm league, and church softball teams that we have lost count. He is loved and known at the Waynesboro Va bowling alley for his tireless efforts and assistance in their league play. Ask anyone who visits the Waynesboro Moose and they will tell you tales of his work in assisting their fundraising efforts and civic work. Visit the Blue Ridge Church of Christ on Sunday mornings and you will be greeted by Kevin, handed a program, and receive help finding a seat for the worship service. He currently volunteers 4 mornings a week at the Waynesboro library, and is a constant at the Waynesboro Moose Lodge where he serves on the board and has been Legionnaire of the Month on 2 occasions.

When I decided to write about Kevin I had knowledge of his service through my childhood memories of his involvement with little league baseball and church softball teams, but I never stopped to consider how many lives he has touched through his smile and service. There are those people on this earth that have been blessed with the ability to spread this magic through their loving interaction with others. It is this action that makes this world a great place to live, and I am blessed to have witnessed this magic in action through the life of this special person.

Now as we sit in the waiting room awaiting a miracle, my grandparents are faced with the most difficult decision any should ever have to make. To live or not to live, that is the question. You see Kevin has had a recent history of seizures, but the one he suffered 2 weeks ago left him laying in the floor overnight, and the lack of brain activity resulted in a stroke, his liver and kidneys shutting down, a stress related heart attack, fluid on his lungs, swelling and hemorrhaging of his brain and the loss of his right side.

Anyone who knows Kevin (and there are MANY) knows that Kevin never sits still. Even if he is watching his favorite baseball team (NY Yankees) on TV he still flips channels to watch 3+ shows at the same time. If he is listening to his favorite gospel cd, you will hear his feet stomping the floor keeping time to the music. Never stopping, never resting, until now.

Now he lays motionless in a hospital bed, and except for 1 day in which he was awake and alert he has not moved. While the doctors and staff are wonderful, they have no definitive answers, solutions, or long term prognosis. I tell you all of this to get to this.

My countless hours in this waiting room have taught me the most valuable lesson of my life. It doesn’t matter WHO you are, rather what matters the most is HOW you treat others. It matters how you first interact with those you meet, how you continue to treat them, what you do for them, and the WHY must be a core belief that OTHERS matter more to you than you matter to yourself.

Kevin exemplifies Christ in EVERY aspect of his life, every day of his life. This is evidenced in the constant visitation, phone calls from concerned people that we have never met, and the full mailbox everyday when I take my grandparents home. There are so many cards and letters just waiting for Kevin to read, that if one did not know better they would think he was a Hollywood movie star.

Now, I have resolved to live my life in such a fashion that everyone I meet walks away feeling better about themselves, and that they know that God is real and loves them. You see we live in such a politically correct nation that it is difficult or intimidating to express how we truly feel. That is something Kevin never had to worry about, he was always “Fine & Dandy”. I now understand that if you are what you believe that you will never need to tell people how you feel, they will know by your smile, hugs, & hand shake. That example will peak the interest of people you meet and they will WANT what you have. JOY. Do not confuse joy with happiness, as happiness is based in feelings, joy is based in your knowing that God is in control and no matter what happens, he cares for you.

We often become discouraged because things do not go our way. Maybe you did not get the job/ promotion you wanted, your favorite team does not win, your car breaks down…, but if you have JOY none of these superficial and material things matter. If you live your life for the betterment of your fellowman, you will always be like Kevin, “Fine & Dandy”.

So I challenge you to take a good look at yourself in the mirror, & contrary to popular opinion tell yourself that YOU do not matter, rather WHAT you do with your time is most important. Call that long lost friend & see how they are doing, hug a friend or family member for no reason other than you love them, tell your spouse you love them OFTEN, visit a sick or widowed person, take a neighbor to dinner & get to know them, and if you have children; hug them tightly, love them unconditionally, cherish every moment they breathe for tomorrow may never come

God Bless you all.

Things Are Too Tough: I Quit!

What if those words had been uttered by  Christ as He was beaten, battered, bruised and brutally crucified for our sins?

Does life ever get difficult for you? Do you ever find yourself wondering why you are where you are in life?

Maybe you have lost your job and are wondering if God even knows you exist or you wonder if He cares about your circumstances. Maybe you are sick or have lost a good friend or a loved one, and you are asking God WHY, WHY ME!!!

I woke up like that this morning. Saying God why ME, why must I continue to endure these hardships? DO YOU EVEN KNOW I EXIST????

Then feeling sorry for my self I logged into Facebook to read about somebody else’s life as I had become tired of my own. I scrolled down and saw a posting from my dear little sister in Canada, and was a version of the video above. It reminded me that NO MATTER how difficult life becomes, no matter how big my problem(s) seem, no matter how great a miracle may be required; My God is still KING!

Now feeling a little guilty and suddenly tired of my pity party ( I was the only person who received an invitation),  I decided to move on with my day and have my devotions.

Well MY KING had a message that I want to share with you. It is from II Cor 4:6-15

6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to [give] the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. (see http://www.rbc.org/devotionals/our-daily-bread/2010/04/16/devotion.aspx for an explantion)

8 [We are] troubled on every side, yet not distressed; [we are] perplexed, but not in despair;

9 Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;

10 Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.

11 For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.

12  So then death worketh in us, but life in you.

13 We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak;

14 Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present [us] with you.

15 For all things [are] for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.

Now all of a sudden I remember that it is not about me. It is and was because of me that HE endured.

Now because of HIM I can endure.

Don’t quit.

Don’t give up

Keep moving forward

With faith

AND Confidence that HE has gone before you.

Here is a prayer that I wrote sometime back, and one that you may find helpful in your time of distress.

Tonight as I bow on bended knee,

Dear Lord I humbly ask, Please hear my plea,

Thy Mercy, Grace, and Forgiveness I ask,

& if it be Thy will, for this trial to pass.

Not in vain though shall this trial be

For through it my Lord draw me closer to thee.

Amen

http://www.debteliminationacademy.com

http://www.financialfreedomfighter.com

The Trying of your FAITH worketh PATIENCE

Sometimes when it RAINS it POURS

The Trying of your FAITH worketh PATIENCE James 1:3. I have read that verse so many times over the last 5 years of my life, and its meaning becomes clearer to me after each trial that I am blessed to endure. Often times we endure hardships in life and after we weather the storm we seldom stop to look back from where we  came. I learned that it is important to take a look back at your journey so that the next time you are faced with a trial you can TRUST that God will be by your side.

You see there is a great difference between FAITH and TRUST. You cannot truly see FAITH, rather you see the evidence of it. Faith is the SUBSTANCE of things HOPED for, as described in Heb 11:1. Trust is visible though, and can be seen. For example, when you get on an airplane you trust that Pilot. When you tell your child to go down the slide, they TRUST you because you are standing there at the bottom.

The trials with which you face are there for a reason, and even though they are tough one should not discount them as a useless part of life. Without them we could not grow. Without heat steel could not be shaped, iron could not be hardened gold could not be purified, water could not boil (gotta have my coffee), and food could not be cooked. Well that HEAT is necessary in our life as well. Trials are God’s way of making us uncomfortable so that we listen to Him, trust in Him, and become confident that He truly cares about us and our problems.

Whether or not you are a Christian you have endured hardships in your life. The death of a loved one or friend, a divorce, the loss of a job or maybe you have struggled with your own health issues. I write this as a Christian now, but there was a time in my life that I did not believe in God and journeyed through life feeling alone and empty. I came to know God through the trying of my Faith, and while I am not attempting to write a sermon I am going to tell you that Faith placed in anything other than Christ Himself is useless.

We in America are so blessed that even our poor people are wealthy when contrasted with the rest of the world. We as American Christians rarely live truly by Faith, and without Faith it is impossible to please God. This can be dumbed down to mean it is a waste of time. What I am saying is that no matter your circumstances, whether it is a loss of your job, your car broke down and you cannot afford to fix it, your child needs medical care, you just found out that you are being layed off in 3 months, or any other of life’s curve balls, is that the ATTITUDE with which you CONFRONT your HARDSHIPS is YOUR CHOICE.

You can choose to have FAITH or you can choose to FAIL. Whatever the outcome may be it is soleley your choice on how you deal with it.

As for me I choose FAITH in the ONE who created me. I honor God through my success, not my failures and HE gives me power to overcome. Phil 4:13

Whatever Happened to All That Bailout Money?

So THEY just SQUEEZE us for MORE

Understanding TARP

Whatever Happened to All That Bailout Money?

When the financial sector collapsed, banks were buried by their own bad loans. Congress started bailing out the largest banks, and automakers then jumped on board. Now, Congress has promised $700 billion under the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).

Neil Barofsky, TARP’s special inspector general said in January, “What remains almost entirely opaque, however, is what has been done with the TARP money.” How does 700 billion dollars disappear?

So far, Congress has paid out about $540 billion in TARP funds to 829 recipients. Only two businesses were asked to report what they would do with the money. To this date we have been paid back $194 billion.

Biggest Bailouts

AIG

Bailout: $69.8 billion

Paid Back: $0

Amount Owed: $69.8 billion

On March 15, 2009, AIG paid out $165 million in bonuses to executives who work in the business unit that was primarily responsible for sinking the company.

GM

Bailout: $50.7 billion

Paid Back: $1.3 billion

Amount Owed: $49 billion

In June of 2009, GM declared bankruptcy. The U.S. treasury now owns a 60 percent stake in the restructured GM. Canada owns 11.7 percent.

Bank of America

Bailout: $45 billion

Paid Back: $45 billion

Interest Earned by U.S. Government: $3 billion

Sheila Blair, who oversaw Bank of America’s bailout, took out loans for $1 million from Bank of America during negotiations. In January 2010, she received a retroactive conflict of interest waiver.

Citigroup

Bailout: $45 billion

Paid Back: $22 billion

Amount Owed: $20 billion

The U.S. treasury owns 7.7 billion shares of Citigroup, or a 34 percent stake in the company.

JPMorgan Chase

Bailout: $25 billion

Paid Back: $25 billion

Interest Earned by U.S. Government: $1.7 billion

In 2009, JPMorgan Chase spent $6.2 million, a 12 percent increase, lobbying congress in an attempt to persuade law makers not to tighten banking regulations.

Wells Fargo

Bailout: $25 billion

Paid Back: $25 billion

Interest Earned by U.S. Government: $1.4 billion

Days before the bailout, Wells Fargo rejected an offer to buy Wachovia. Six days, $25 billion and some hasty tax changes later, Wells Fargo flip flopped, first admitting in a memo that the government loan enabled them to make the deal and then publicly denying it.

How Much is $700 billion, Anyway?

Here’s a comparative look at what money can buy:

The total U.S. donations to Haiti were $466 million.

Supplying clean drinking water to the entire country would cost $30 billion.

The cost to insure all Americans without health insurance would be $70 billion.

The cost to run the U.S. welfare system is $354 billion.

The allotted TARP funds were $700 billion.

TARP Recipients by State

New York companies received about $170 billion in TARP funds. Michigan companies received about $80 billion in TARP funds. North Carolina Companies receive about $50 billion in TARP funds. California companies received about $30 billion in TARP funds. Delaware companies received about $15 billion in TARP funds. Companies in other states received about $75 billion in TARP funds.

TARP Reforms

• Equity Stakes

The Act requires TARP recipients to give up stock in the company equal to the value of the assistance received. By requiring the company to buy back stake in itself, the government can make a profit off of the bailout.

• SIGTARP

In February 2009, a special commission was formed to investigate what TARP recipients did with the money.

• Limits on Executive Pay

Companies who accept TARP money must now also submit to limits on executive compensations, which include not signing “golden parachute” contracts as well as severely limiting bonuses for risky behavior.

• The Recoupment Act

This provision requires the government to report, five years after the signing of TARP, whether or not they have recouped their losses from the program. If they have not, the president is required to submit a plan to recoup the losses from the business sector so that the TARP program won’t add to the long-term national debt.

• Disclosure and Transparency

New laws have been passed requiring organizations that participate in TARP to publicly disclose how they spent TARP assets.

The Lobbying Bailout Circle

Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut, chairman of the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, received $854,200 from TARP beneficiaries in the 2008 election cycle.

President Obama collected at least $4.3 million from employees at these companies for his presidential campaign.

In total, members of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, the Senate Finance Committee and the House Financial Services Committee received $5.2 million from TARP recipients in the 2007-2008 election cycle.

The Best Investment Ever

Several TARP beneficiaries in the finance and automotive industries spent a combined $114.2 million in the past year on lobbying and contributions toward the 2008 election. The companies’ political activities have, in part, yielded them $295.2 billion, an extraordinary return of 258,449 percent.

Are YOU A Person of Conviction or Compromise?

CONVICTION or CONVENIENCE

Do you operate on CONVICTION or COMPROMISE? Are you a person of Commitment or Convenience?

I had the pleasure of attending a men’s conference in Harrisonburg Saturday evening and had the privelege of meeting and listening to Francois van Niekerk speak. Francois is a former Special Forces Officer in Military Intelligence who saw combat in Angola.  He now pastors a church of 7,000+ congregants and his messages are heard worldwide on TV, Radio, and the Internet.  He is a Director of the African Christian Network which is made up of more than 400 churches across Africa.  After all this what strikes me most about him is that he is a servant at heart.

He challenged me with the same questions that I am now asking you. As a professional, individual, mother or father are you always looking for the path of least resistance OR is your life based on a system of principles and ethics to which you are committed?

We all know of people who in business are always “doing whatever it takes” to get the deal done. They are willing to compromise the lives of their clients, co-workers, friends (if they still have any), and the lives of themselves and their family. They do not operate on ethics, and their sole motive for existing is money$$$. I ask you is it worth it?

I am reminded of the story of Abraham and Lot in the Old Testament, and the outcome of Lot’s willingness to compromise. You see the path of CONVENIENCE always leads to COMPROMISE which always leads to the individual being CONQUERED by CORRUPTION.

The path of CONVICTION always requires COMMITMENT and always results in the individual CONQUERING through their CHARACTER.

So I challenge you on this fine Monday to decide whether you will choose a path of success or or inevitable failure!! I further challenge you to never compromise yourself and reputation as a professional, individual, mom or dad just to get the job done. The path of least resistance is always the quickest and shortest path to misery, BUT the commited person of character ALWAYS lives the happiest life.

Have a Blessed day, and a WONDERFUL week!!

Sincerely,

Rod Ferrier

RodFerrier@FinancialFreedomFighter.com

Lessons From my 5 year old Jedi Knight

Daddy and the Jedi Knight

As parents we are blessed with the opportunity to raise children, and as our children grow up we realize how quickly time flies. Early in our childrens life we are caught up in the awe of a new born baby, and then once those busy early years are a memory we are just looking to find a “pause button” in an effort to slow down their growth. It is at this exact point that we parents realize the ball is rolling down the hill, gaining speed  and we realize that it is time that we taught them everything we can before they reach the teenage years.

Well that is just where I am with my 5 year old son Ian. Ian is a bright, soft spoken, mild mannered, polite and loving 5 year old and frankly is an exact opposite of his little 3 year old brother (except the polite and loving part).  One night when Ian was 3 years old, I introduced him to Star Wars because I was so tired of Thomas the Train, Veggie Tales and Finding Nemo (still his favorite). I created a Star Wars junkie that night much to the disappointment of his mother (my wife). He has seen all 6 episodes numerous times, The Clone Wars movie, The Clone Wars animated Series on Cartoon Network, and is now captivated by the Lego Star Wars game for Wii. He can play his “star wars wii” for hours at a time, and I am amazed and impressed at how he progresses through each level, sometimes effortlessly without the ability to fully read the hints and menu screens.

He has learned many good lessons from Star Wars, such as honor, trust, reliability, dependability, patience, and respect for others. He began telling me at age 4 that he was my Jedi Knight, and I have used this platform to reinforce the character traits that he has learned from us and church.

I have learned alot myself regarding parenting from our many episodes in Star Wars, and Ian refers to me as his Jedi Master (maybe that is why I am resembling Yoda more each day). Just like in Finding Nemo, I have to trust his ability to make decisions, and provide a guard rail should he begin to deviate from course. He has a soft heart, and me being prior military and accustomed to barking orders have learned that just a glimpse of disappointment from dad goes a long way with Ian. I have learned that to be a Jedi master I have to be patient and allow him to navigate through life on his own, stumbling and falling down at times in order for him to master the game of life. I need to be ready to answer his call for help just as he does now if he reaches an obstacle that he finds too challenging. Respond not React

As a parent I need to be a bigger encouragement to him than he is to me. Tough task, but the force is with me.

God Bless and good parenting.