Wow! Once again it’s been a bit since I been able to get a new blog up! For once I really believe that I’m where God wants me to be! For a lack of faith I thought that God wanted me out on the road driving truck but it didn’t take long for God to close that door on me! In fact I really got backed into a corner and was running out of options in regards to work options that I had.
I really didn’t want to go back selling cars again. I guess the biggest reason was once again my lack of faith. At first I really had doubts that I would be able to do well at selling cars again. I really started feeling God tugging on my heart and so I somewhat reluctantly opened my heart to the leading of the Holy Spirit. I really started feeling in my heart that God wanted me to get back into the car business again.
I went back down to Trinity Motors where I sold cars for a couple of years and talked to my old boss and good friend Jerry Thomas to see if he had any suggestions and referrals for me. Sometimes when you’re not sure about something it can sure pay off in big dividends to seek advice from a Christian brother or sister. Especially one that knows you and can encourage you!
Jerry was great! I was really uplifted and Jerry really energized me again by reminding me just how really blessed I am by Jesus in my ability to sell cars. Jerry reminded me that I was one of the best that he had ever met. Jerry and I talked for a bit and Jerry reminded me how much fun I had when we were really busting cars out! Another thing that Jerry told me was that I needed to work with a dealership that had a big inventory because I could move a lot of cars!
Jerry then referred me to go talk with Kelvin at Mike Stephen Kia/Carbanc just a block up from Trinity Motors. Jerry really felt that Kelvin and I would be a good match. It must have been leading of the Holy Spirit because Kelvin and I immediately hit it off!
I went in and met with Kelvin and gave Kelvin my resume. Kelvin interviewed me and liked what I had to say and hired me on the spot! I guess I should say here that I really liked what Kelvin had to say too. One stipulation that I had made to not only to myself but to God was that I would not work for a dealership that sought to do things that I felt were ungodly.
Going in I knew a little bit about Carbanc as one of my close Christian friends was at Carbanc for a few years and one of the sales people that is now at Carbanc is a devoted, Christian Sister. One thing I found out in my interview is that Carbanc is not there to take advantage of people that have credit problems or are hurting in some other way, rather we are there to help these people. I came out of my interview stoked! I knew that I was where God wanted me!
I’ve been at Carbanc now for a week and I’ve already had the opportunity to help out a couple of single mom’s who needed a quality, dependable, vehicle. When a single mom or some other person comes in needing a good, dependable vehicle and I can help them out and we don’t rip their head off price wise or we don’t just try to stick them in any old vehicle that may or may not have a myriad of problems I feel good.
When at the end of the day I can go home to my wife and family, lay down at night and sleep comfortable knowing I’ve done something good to help someone out and I know that I’ve done right in God’s eyes then I know I’m doing what God has called me to do! What a good feeling! Another great thing that I am able to do is follow the vision that God has given to me. I am able to pursue my ministry goals and keep moving forward with my goal of preaching the good news that is Jesus Christ.
Oh, by the way, here comes the unabashed plug…
If anyone is needing or knows someone who needs a good, used car, truck, van, or SUV, or would like a new KIA or Mitsubishi, come on down and see me at KIA Carbanc at the corner of 31st Street South and Broadway or give me a call at 316-522-3435! I can work with anyone and get them bank financing! Come see me!
Advertisement over!!!
Be Blessed!
BIG SCOTT
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Sunday, September 10, 2006
Our Home Makeover!
What a day we had around our house on Saturday! We were the recipients of a little bit of home makeover. We had people here from Home Depot, the Wichita Police Department, and the Wichita Fire Department. Click here to read about the story in Sunday’s Wichita Eagle Newspaper!
Thanks to the above mentioned people we’ve got new carpet in our home, an alarm system to let us know if Andrew tries to run off, and we also got one of our doors and three of our windows fixed! What a blessing this was! I’ll see if I can’t get more up about this later!
Be Blessed! I Know We Are! Hehehe!!!
BIG SCOTT
Thanks to the above mentioned people we’ve got new carpet in our home, an alarm system to let us know if Andrew tries to run off, and we also got one of our doors and three of our windows fixed! What a blessing this was! I’ll see if I can’t get more up about this later!
Be Blessed! I Know We Are! Hehehe!!!
BIG SCOTT
Friday, September 08, 2006
20 Seconds!
I just read something that caught my eye. According to Wharton Business College (U Penn) the average adult attention span is just 20 seconds! 20 seconds, wow, that’s short! What Wharton is telling us is that if don’t have someone’s attention locked in just 20 seconds that we’ve lost them. Let’s see, we’re coming up on about 20 seconds into this blog right now. Are you still with me? Do I have your attention now?
Emails are no exception. According to the website MarketingSherpa.com emails are only open an average of 15-20 seconds too. If you’re reading this blog at this point, two things have happened. First, I held your attention span long enough in the email I sent out notifying you about this blog, and secondly, I held your attention long enough to get past the first 20 seconds. How am I doing so far? I guess the real measure will be is if I hold anyone’s attention long enough in this blog for them to email me back and let me know that I held their attention long enough to do that!
How much farther does this 20 second window reach? According to the website TechCareers.com if the average job recruiter that is reviewing your resume does find something that catches his/her attention in the first 15-20 seconds your resume will probably not get much more review. On the Quintessential Careers website (www.quintcareers.com) Katherine Hansen says in her article The Scoop on Resume Length: How Many Pages Should Your Resume Be? “Given that employers screen resumes for between 2.5 and 20 seconds, a resume must quickly capture the reader's interest.” Once again, here comes the wow factor. Wow, your future is in the hand of someone who gives you your first evaluation in 20 seconds or less!
Quoting Nancy Tierney from the website UnconditionalConfidence.com where she is discussing the art of business networking “The truth is that when someone asks you that question (What do you do?), you’ve got about 20 seconds to answer, spark their curiosity, initiate a conversation and create a connection. In 20 seconds, you need to be immediately interesting and captivating while communicating the huge scope of what you have to offer. No wonder we feel pressured and on the spot!” How many times have you heard that you’ve only got one chance to make a first impression? Now we here that we’ve only got 20 seconds to make that first impression!
Is our world moving at such a rapid pace now that we humans are now programmed to not focus on something more then 20 seconds? Ever wonder why when you’re sitting at home, kicking back on the ole’ sofa, enjoying a nice mellow movie and all of a sudden, whammy, you get blasted with a loud, blaring commercial? Advertisers know that if they don’t get you’re attention in 20 seconds they’re just wasting they’re commercial time. A prime example of this would be the current Wendy’s commercial where a guy is eating a Spicy Chicken Sandwich behind a screen and right at 20 seconds into the commercial, ka-boom! The guy explodes. Time some of those commercials like that sometime and you’ll find that between 15 and 20 seconds something happens to get your attention.
So what can we Christians learn from this? We’ve got 20 seconds or less to get someone’s attention with the endless truth. When we present the Gospel to someone, i.e. witnessing, we need to have our act together and come out on fire. The two techniques that I use that most definitely have the 20 second hook is either Bill Faye’s Share Jesus Without Fear or Kirk Cameron/Ray Comfort’s Way of the Master which is available online a www.WayOfTheMaster.com.
So how did I do? Did I hold your attention all of the way through this blog? Did I hook you within 20 seconds? Just remember we’ve only got 20 seconds, the length of time it took for you to read this paragraph.
Be Blessed!
BIG SCOTT
Emails are no exception. According to the website MarketingSherpa.com emails are only open an average of 15-20 seconds too. If you’re reading this blog at this point, two things have happened. First, I held your attention span long enough in the email I sent out notifying you about this blog, and secondly, I held your attention long enough to get past the first 20 seconds. How am I doing so far? I guess the real measure will be is if I hold anyone’s attention long enough in this blog for them to email me back and let me know that I held their attention long enough to do that!
How much farther does this 20 second window reach? According to the website TechCareers.com if the average job recruiter that is reviewing your resume does find something that catches his/her attention in the first 15-20 seconds your resume will probably not get much more review. On the Quintessential Careers website (www.quintcareers.com) Katherine Hansen says in her article The Scoop on Resume Length: How Many Pages Should Your Resume Be? “Given that employers screen resumes for between 2.5 and 20 seconds, a resume must quickly capture the reader's interest.” Once again, here comes the wow factor. Wow, your future is in the hand of someone who gives you your first evaluation in 20 seconds or less!
Quoting Nancy Tierney from the website UnconditionalConfidence.com where she is discussing the art of business networking “The truth is that when someone asks you that question (What do you do?), you’ve got about 20 seconds to answer, spark their curiosity, initiate a conversation and create a connection. In 20 seconds, you need to be immediately interesting and captivating while communicating the huge scope of what you have to offer. No wonder we feel pressured and on the spot!” How many times have you heard that you’ve only got one chance to make a first impression? Now we here that we’ve only got 20 seconds to make that first impression!
Is our world moving at such a rapid pace now that we humans are now programmed to not focus on something more then 20 seconds? Ever wonder why when you’re sitting at home, kicking back on the ole’ sofa, enjoying a nice mellow movie and all of a sudden, whammy, you get blasted with a loud, blaring commercial? Advertisers know that if they don’t get you’re attention in 20 seconds they’re just wasting they’re commercial time. A prime example of this would be the current Wendy’s commercial where a guy is eating a Spicy Chicken Sandwich behind a screen and right at 20 seconds into the commercial, ka-boom! The guy explodes. Time some of those commercials like that sometime and you’ll find that between 15 and 20 seconds something happens to get your attention.
So what can we Christians learn from this? We’ve got 20 seconds or less to get someone’s attention with the endless truth. When we present the Gospel to someone, i.e. witnessing, we need to have our act together and come out on fire. The two techniques that I use that most definitely have the 20 second hook is either Bill Faye’s Share Jesus Without Fear or Kirk Cameron/Ray Comfort’s Way of the Master which is available online a www.WayOfTheMaster.com.
So how did I do? Did I hold your attention all of the way through this blog? Did I hook you within 20 seconds? Just remember we’ve only got 20 seconds, the length of time it took for you to read this paragraph.
Be Blessed!
BIG SCOTT
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
The Moon Shines Bright!
Here we go again! Here’s a story that I wrote for my American Literature class in college. We had to write about something that happened to us that was not good but turned out to be funny. I hope you get a kick out of it!
Be Blessed!
BIG SCOTT
It was November 1976, I was in the Eighth Grade, and it was the opening game of the Ingalls Junior High basketball season. I was the starting center. The game started off great for me as I controlled the tip-off and as we went down court I broke through the key with the ball, shot, missed, rebounded my own shot, shot again and scored. This was a great way to start the season, or so I thought.
It wasn’t long after that we had the same play set up again but this time the ball got loose and as I dove for the loose ball on the floor I heard it, a great big, loud, rip! I had just blown out my basketball uniform shorts! To make matters worse I had only a jock strap on under my shorts! As I stood to my feet I heard the crowd roaring with laughter! Was I ever embarrassed!
I looked over at our coach who was trying his darnedest not to bust a gut to loud laughing and he just signaled me to the dressing room. I left the floor to hoots and hollers. I can only imagine how red my face was. Looking back I’m really surprised that I was traumatized for life over what had just happened!
I was so shocked over what had just happened that I just went back to the locker room, switched to my practice shorts and came back out. When I came out the coach put me right back in. As I went in all I could hear was shouts such as “Hey Scott, check your shorts!” or someone saying loudly “RIP!” It took me a bit to get back into the game, but I stood firm and I wound up having a pretty good game.
I guess you could call this one of those character building events in your life. I don’t know what else you would call it! Even now, thirty years later, I can still look back at that one event and laugh about it. You know, that on event became one of the highlights of my Junior High years. What started out as one of the most traumatic events of when I was in school wound up being one of the most hilarious!
Be Blessed!
BIG SCOTT
It was November 1976, I was in the Eighth Grade, and it was the opening game of the Ingalls Junior High basketball season. I was the starting center. The game started off great for me as I controlled the tip-off and as we went down court I broke through the key with the ball, shot, missed, rebounded my own shot, shot again and scored. This was a great way to start the season, or so I thought.
It wasn’t long after that we had the same play set up again but this time the ball got loose and as I dove for the loose ball on the floor I heard it, a great big, loud, rip! I had just blown out my basketball uniform shorts! To make matters worse I had only a jock strap on under my shorts! As I stood to my feet I heard the crowd roaring with laughter! Was I ever embarrassed!
I looked over at our coach who was trying his darnedest not to bust a gut to loud laughing and he just signaled me to the dressing room. I left the floor to hoots and hollers. I can only imagine how red my face was. Looking back I’m really surprised that I was traumatized for life over what had just happened!
I was so shocked over what had just happened that I just went back to the locker room, switched to my practice shorts and came back out. When I came out the coach put me right back in. As I went in all I could hear was shouts such as “Hey Scott, check your shorts!” or someone saying loudly “RIP!” It took me a bit to get back into the game, but I stood firm and I wound up having a pretty good game.
I guess you could call this one of those character building events in your life. I don’t know what else you would call it! Even now, thirty years later, I can still look back at that one event and laugh about it. You know, that on event became one of the highlights of my Junior High years. What started out as one of the most traumatic events of when I was in school wound up being one of the most hilarious!
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
My Spiritual Journey
Here’s another paper I wrote for college. I had to write about an event that was “emotionally significant” in my life. I wrote about my Spiritual journey that led up to me getting saved. This is something that I encourage everyone to do. Write down how you got saved and share it with others. Let your testimony reach out to both glorify Jesus and to let others hear what Jesus saved you from.
Be Blessed!
BIG SCOTT
My spiritual journey and my walk with God has been quite an adventure to say the least. This journey started at a very early age. After my parents brought me home from the hospital after I was born the first place my parents took me was to church. When I was a child a do not remember a time when I was not in church. In fact to this day I still remember not being able to sit still in church and my Mom taking me outside and lighting a fire on my bottom to get me to behave! After I got into grade school I started to do better and I didn’t get near as many spankings on Sunday mornings!
As the years went on one that was always a constant in my life was going to church. In fact when I was in the third or fourth grade my Dad was elected as a deacon of the church, a high honor at that time. Only the most respected men of the community became deacons in the church. Once my Dad became a deacon it meant that when the church doors were open we were there. My Dad continued to serve as a deacon up until the time when he passed away when I was in the fifth grade.
After my Dad passed away the church was one of the few rocks in my life that I had left. We lived a half block away from the church in the small town of Ingalls, KS. Ingalls was so small that we only had one restaurant, one small grocery store, and one bar. The restaurant and the bar both closed at six p.m. and I was too young for the bar so that meant the only thing to do on Sunday and Wednesday evenings was to go to church. When your only choice is to sit at home and choose between three TV channels or church it makes the choice pretty easy.
I accepted Jesus as my savior and was baptized when I was twelve. I stayed committed to Jesus up until I was about sixteen or so. Somewhere around turning sixteen, getting my full drivers license, and having the freedom to run I started putting God on the back burner. This continued for about three years. Somewhere around when I was nineteen or so I forgot all about God. I had a fast car, girlfriends, and plenty of money for beer. What more could a guy ask for! By the time I was twenty God was no where to be found in my life. I was on the fast road to Hell.
I may have known God at one time but in the early Eighties I was the definition of a heathen. By the time I was twenty four I was drinking heavy and I had an addiction to pornography that was out of this world. It was at about this time that I really started to have a hole in my heart. I had a deep void inside of me. This was a void that I could not explain.
I started doing some searching trying to find an answer to this void. Looking back I find it interesting some of the different people that God brought across my path in an effort to bring me back. Two of the men that I had to see on a daily basis at work were both really awesome Christian guys. Seeing these guys made that void worse. I saw them and what they had and that hole inside of me got bigger and bigger.
Things came to a head in 1997 when I stopped by a buddy of mine, Tom’s place one Sunday afternoon. I had been drinking and was starting to feel no pain so to say. I asked Tom what he was up to and Tom told me that he was getting ready to go to a church with a cute girl for the first time. Tom then said to me “You’re going with me.” I don’t know why but without thinking I said “OK.” I stopped and looked around at who had just agreed for me to go as I sure didn’t think it was me but there was no one else in the room. I was stuck. I said I would go so I was going!
Tom got me cleaned up and off to church we went. We were late when we got there and the service had already started. It didn’t matter to Tom, he grabbed me and we walked almost to the front and found a seat next to this cute girl he had told me about. Keep in mind here that I had not been in church in quite some time and I had never before been in a church where people were really happy to be there.
These people were weird to me. They were all singing praises, waving their arms in the air, and they were dancing! Whoa! I was blown away! In fact I was awestruck! My first thoughts were “Man, this is really, really kewl!” I wasn’t sure what it was that they had but I knew they had something that I didn’t have!
After the service all kinds of people came up to me and shook my hand and said “Welcome!” I never saw anything like this ever before in my life. We finally headed on home and I knew in my heart that I wanted more of what I had experienced that evening! During the next couple of days different people in the church made contact with me to encourage me to come again. I thought “Wow, someone actually care about me! This is really even more kewl now!
Wednesday evening came and I was found at the church once again with Tom of course. After the service we all went out to get a bite and to talk. Every evening after that for the rest of the week Tom and I would get together with some of the other young adults with the church and talk. Sunday morning came and I knew that I had to do something, I had to have what these other people had! I wanted it and the it was Jesus!
After a wonderful time of praise and worship and a powerful, powerful message the Pastor made an impassioned altar call. Both Tom and I went forward. All of a sudden that void in my life disappeared! Right then and there I met the real Jesus and he met me and it was a joyful reunion! I left that church that day knowing Jesus personally as my personal Savior. That was something that never before had I had that in my life!
We went back to church that evening and about midway through the service Tom and I went forward for prayer. It was at that point that I really and truly repented of my sins. I laid my sins out and Jesus took them away! I cried like a baby! The weight of the world had been taken off of my shoulders! It was at that point that I realized just what it was that Jesus saved me from and I was ecstatic! I realized that I had been a condemned man and I was headed to hell for all eternity and at that moment Jesus stepped in and took my punishment and I was suddenly free! That’s right, a man justly sentenced to death and all of a sudden freedom!
It was the most exciting day of my life! The story doesn’t just end there though. In fact the story just begins there. That was the first day of being born again. It was the start of a new life for me.
Be Blessed!
BIG SCOTT
My spiritual journey and my walk with God has been quite an adventure to say the least. This journey started at a very early age. After my parents brought me home from the hospital after I was born the first place my parents took me was to church. When I was a child a do not remember a time when I was not in church. In fact to this day I still remember not being able to sit still in church and my Mom taking me outside and lighting a fire on my bottom to get me to behave! After I got into grade school I started to do better and I didn’t get near as many spankings on Sunday mornings!
As the years went on one that was always a constant in my life was going to church. In fact when I was in the third or fourth grade my Dad was elected as a deacon of the church, a high honor at that time. Only the most respected men of the community became deacons in the church. Once my Dad became a deacon it meant that when the church doors were open we were there. My Dad continued to serve as a deacon up until the time when he passed away when I was in the fifth grade.
After my Dad passed away the church was one of the few rocks in my life that I had left. We lived a half block away from the church in the small town of Ingalls, KS. Ingalls was so small that we only had one restaurant, one small grocery store, and one bar. The restaurant and the bar both closed at six p.m. and I was too young for the bar so that meant the only thing to do on Sunday and Wednesday evenings was to go to church. When your only choice is to sit at home and choose between three TV channels or church it makes the choice pretty easy.
I accepted Jesus as my savior and was baptized when I was twelve. I stayed committed to Jesus up until I was about sixteen or so. Somewhere around turning sixteen, getting my full drivers license, and having the freedom to run I started putting God on the back burner. This continued for about three years. Somewhere around when I was nineteen or so I forgot all about God. I had a fast car, girlfriends, and plenty of money for beer. What more could a guy ask for! By the time I was twenty God was no where to be found in my life. I was on the fast road to Hell.
I may have known God at one time but in the early Eighties I was the definition of a heathen. By the time I was twenty four I was drinking heavy and I had an addiction to pornography that was out of this world. It was at about this time that I really started to have a hole in my heart. I had a deep void inside of me. This was a void that I could not explain.
I started doing some searching trying to find an answer to this void. Looking back I find it interesting some of the different people that God brought across my path in an effort to bring me back. Two of the men that I had to see on a daily basis at work were both really awesome Christian guys. Seeing these guys made that void worse. I saw them and what they had and that hole inside of me got bigger and bigger.
Things came to a head in 1997 when I stopped by a buddy of mine, Tom’s place one Sunday afternoon. I had been drinking and was starting to feel no pain so to say. I asked Tom what he was up to and Tom told me that he was getting ready to go to a church with a cute girl for the first time. Tom then said to me “You’re going with me.” I don’t know why but without thinking I said “OK.” I stopped and looked around at who had just agreed for me to go as I sure didn’t think it was me but there was no one else in the room. I was stuck. I said I would go so I was going!
Tom got me cleaned up and off to church we went. We were late when we got there and the service had already started. It didn’t matter to Tom, he grabbed me and we walked almost to the front and found a seat next to this cute girl he had told me about. Keep in mind here that I had not been in church in quite some time and I had never before been in a church where people were really happy to be there.
These people were weird to me. They were all singing praises, waving their arms in the air, and they were dancing! Whoa! I was blown away! In fact I was awestruck! My first thoughts were “Man, this is really, really kewl!” I wasn’t sure what it was that they had but I knew they had something that I didn’t have!
After the service all kinds of people came up to me and shook my hand and said “Welcome!” I never saw anything like this ever before in my life. We finally headed on home and I knew in my heart that I wanted more of what I had experienced that evening! During the next couple of days different people in the church made contact with me to encourage me to come again. I thought “Wow, someone actually care about me! This is really even more kewl now!
Wednesday evening came and I was found at the church once again with Tom of course. After the service we all went out to get a bite and to talk. Every evening after that for the rest of the week Tom and I would get together with some of the other young adults with the church and talk. Sunday morning came and I knew that I had to do something, I had to have what these other people had! I wanted it and the it was Jesus!
After a wonderful time of praise and worship and a powerful, powerful message the Pastor made an impassioned altar call. Both Tom and I went forward. All of a sudden that void in my life disappeared! Right then and there I met the real Jesus and he met me and it was a joyful reunion! I left that church that day knowing Jesus personally as my personal Savior. That was something that never before had I had that in my life!
We went back to church that evening and about midway through the service Tom and I went forward for prayer. It was at that point that I really and truly repented of my sins. I laid my sins out and Jesus took them away! I cried like a baby! The weight of the world had been taken off of my shoulders! It was at that point that I realized just what it was that Jesus saved me from and I was ecstatic! I realized that I had been a condemned man and I was headed to hell for all eternity and at that moment Jesus stepped in and took my punishment and I was suddenly free! That’s right, a man justly sentenced to death and all of a sudden freedom!
It was the most exciting day of my life! The story doesn’t just end there though. In fact the story just begins there. That was the first day of being born again. It was the start of a new life for me.
Monday, September 04, 2006
Me and My Goals... A Little Bit About Me!
Here’s something that I thought that I’d throw up here on my blog. For English in college I had to write a paper entitled “You an Your Goals.” This is me and this is where I’m at. I hope and pray that with me opening up that maybe others will be encouraged to open up and let some of their stuff out too.
Be Bleesed!
BIG SCOTT
First, let me tell you a little bit about me. I’m a 43 year old guy that is married to wonderful woman named Pam and we’ve been blessed with six kids and one grandkid so far. Pam had two kids already when we met in 1991. In 1992 we married and along the way we’ve been blessed with four more kids. In February of this year our oldest daughter and her husband blessed us with our first grandson.
As far as being married goes Pam and I have been married a little over seven years this time. I say this time because we’ve been married twice now. We were first married in 1992 and that lasted until 1996. In 1996 we divorced and were divorced until we were remarried in December of 1999. People ask why we got remarried and I jokingly tell people it’s because Pam couldn’t stand to live without me and I couldn’t afford the alimony! This always, most certainly brings forth at least a shoulder slap and some sort of rebuke from my wife!
The truth as to why we were divorced is that I was not a happy and healthy guy to be around when we were divorced. I had separated myself from God and was living a life that was overbearing and without love. To say that I was somewhat overbearing would be an incredible understatement. How my wife put up with me as long as she did is beyond me.
It is a true miracle that we were able to get remarried. Looking back it is totally awesome seeing the different people that God brought into my life, the doors that were closed, and the very few choices that I had in my life during the three years that we were divorced. The changes that God made in my life in those three short years were nothing short of miraculous. I went from the king of my world in which I was quite simply a pompous ass to a much more humble and loving man. A man that not only could God do something with but a man that my wife could love again. I also was able to be a father to our children again.
After we were remarried I continued to do better and was finally able to quit job hopping all of the time. In the past I had a problem with sometimes not holding a job for more then three months at a time. If I held a job for a year it was considered a miracle. The fact remained however that I still had some instability, an instability that I just couldn’t get a grip on. I knew something was wrong but I didn’t know where to go or where to turn. Add to that I had an unfounded fear of what would happen to me if I sought help with this instability.
In April of 2005 my world started to come crashing down around me. I had no choice but to seek professional help with my problems, my instabilities. After a fair amount of testing and talking I was found to have Bipolar Disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and Obsessive/Compulsive Disorder (OCD). These three are often intertwined as is the case with myself.
With my Bipolar Disorder I would suffer from extended periods of euphoric highs which would be capped with me having a mental crash. When I was on the euphoric highs my ADHD would really kick in. Short term memory loss and loss of long term direction in my life is something that in the past has been something that has always haunted me. Add to this mix OCD and you’ve really got a mess.
As far as my OCD goes in the past couple of years I finally managed to control my OCD by doing two things. First I found that if I stayed obsessed with God then by OCD doesn’t get me into trouble. Secondly my doctor has found a great medication for me to help me with my OCD. The OCD was the worst issue I had to deal with as it was the one issue that was the hardest to deal with. Dealing with my OCD meant a lifestyle change. I also had to repent before God for letting myself allow my OCD to drag me into self destructive activities and then I had to ask God to help me focus my OCD ob him.
After working for about a year to get a balance of meds and therapy I am happy to report that I now am doing better then I’ve done in close to thirty years! How wonderful it feels to finally be stable again! One of the greatest feelings that I have now is that the instability is all but gone. Once in a while I’ll have a little bit of fluctuation or instability but nothing serious any more. For the first time in many, many years I can once again start to plan for the future!
What are my plans for the future? Where do I want to go? I have a vision for the future. A vision that I believe that is from God. I want to preach the Gospel. It’s that simple really, I want to preach the Good News of Jesus Christ. To enable me to do that and be effective I believe that God wants me to have a college education.
I hope to finish at Cowley either in the Spring or Summer of 2007. From Cowley I plan on attending Tabor College Wichita and pursue a degree in Christian Ministry. From there the Lord willing I would like to receive a Masters Degree in Education from Wichita State. If the doors continue to stay open after Wichita State I would like to pursue a Doctorate Degree from Logos Bible College of Florida. I can do my Doctorate studies right here in Wichita at Word of Life Church and School where we attend as members.
In addition I want to continue to grow not only the father that the Lord has called me to be but also the husband that the lord has called me to be. I know that in the past I’ve failed at both a father and a husband but by the Grace of God and through the leading of God’s Holy Spirit that is changing. Quite simply, every day, I want to be a little bit better father, a little bit better husband, and a little bit better child of God.
Oh yea, one last thing. I want to get back on my diet and loose 150 pounds!
Be Bleesed!
BIG SCOTT
First, let me tell you a little bit about me. I’m a 43 year old guy that is married to wonderful woman named Pam and we’ve been blessed with six kids and one grandkid so far. Pam had two kids already when we met in 1991. In 1992 we married and along the way we’ve been blessed with four more kids. In February of this year our oldest daughter and her husband blessed us with our first grandson.
As far as being married goes Pam and I have been married a little over seven years this time. I say this time because we’ve been married twice now. We were first married in 1992 and that lasted until 1996. In 1996 we divorced and were divorced until we were remarried in December of 1999. People ask why we got remarried and I jokingly tell people it’s because Pam couldn’t stand to live without me and I couldn’t afford the alimony! This always, most certainly brings forth at least a shoulder slap and some sort of rebuke from my wife!
The truth as to why we were divorced is that I was not a happy and healthy guy to be around when we were divorced. I had separated myself from God and was living a life that was overbearing and without love. To say that I was somewhat overbearing would be an incredible understatement. How my wife put up with me as long as she did is beyond me.
It is a true miracle that we were able to get remarried. Looking back it is totally awesome seeing the different people that God brought into my life, the doors that were closed, and the very few choices that I had in my life during the three years that we were divorced. The changes that God made in my life in those three short years were nothing short of miraculous. I went from the king of my world in which I was quite simply a pompous ass to a much more humble and loving man. A man that not only could God do something with but a man that my wife could love again. I also was able to be a father to our children again.
After we were remarried I continued to do better and was finally able to quit job hopping all of the time. In the past I had a problem with sometimes not holding a job for more then three months at a time. If I held a job for a year it was considered a miracle. The fact remained however that I still had some instability, an instability that I just couldn’t get a grip on. I knew something was wrong but I didn’t know where to go or where to turn. Add to that I had an unfounded fear of what would happen to me if I sought help with this instability.
In April of 2005 my world started to come crashing down around me. I had no choice but to seek professional help with my problems, my instabilities. After a fair amount of testing and talking I was found to have Bipolar Disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and Obsessive/Compulsive Disorder (OCD). These three are often intertwined as is the case with myself.
With my Bipolar Disorder I would suffer from extended periods of euphoric highs which would be capped with me having a mental crash. When I was on the euphoric highs my ADHD would really kick in. Short term memory loss and loss of long term direction in my life is something that in the past has been something that has always haunted me. Add to this mix OCD and you’ve really got a mess.
As far as my OCD goes in the past couple of years I finally managed to control my OCD by doing two things. First I found that if I stayed obsessed with God then by OCD doesn’t get me into trouble. Secondly my doctor has found a great medication for me to help me with my OCD. The OCD was the worst issue I had to deal with as it was the one issue that was the hardest to deal with. Dealing with my OCD meant a lifestyle change. I also had to repent before God for letting myself allow my OCD to drag me into self destructive activities and then I had to ask God to help me focus my OCD ob him.
After working for about a year to get a balance of meds and therapy I am happy to report that I now am doing better then I’ve done in close to thirty years! How wonderful it feels to finally be stable again! One of the greatest feelings that I have now is that the instability is all but gone. Once in a while I’ll have a little bit of fluctuation or instability but nothing serious any more. For the first time in many, many years I can once again start to plan for the future!
What are my plans for the future? Where do I want to go? I have a vision for the future. A vision that I believe that is from God. I want to preach the Gospel. It’s that simple really, I want to preach the Good News of Jesus Christ. To enable me to do that and be effective I believe that God wants me to have a college education.
I hope to finish at Cowley either in the Spring or Summer of 2007. From Cowley I plan on attending Tabor College Wichita and pursue a degree in Christian Ministry. From there the Lord willing I would like to receive a Masters Degree in Education from Wichita State. If the doors continue to stay open after Wichita State I would like to pursue a Doctorate Degree from Logos Bible College of Florida. I can do my Doctorate studies right here in Wichita at Word of Life Church and School where we attend as members.
In addition I want to continue to grow not only the father that the Lord has called me to be but also the husband that the lord has called me to be. I know that in the past I’ve failed at both a father and a husband but by the Grace of God and through the leading of God’s Holy Spirit that is changing. Quite simply, every day, I want to be a little bit better father, a little bit better husband, and a little bit better child of God.
Oh yea, one last thing. I want to get back on my diet and loose 150 pounds!
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