jeff noel.org

Our beloved Canine son, Carter, our 11-year old Yellow Lab, is very sick.

What started a few weeks ago, appearing to be the a routine distraction from food – a neighbor’s pet in heat – has manifested itself into complications we may not recover from.  Cancer.

While our hearts are breaking, they are not completely shattered.  Big difference.

We have no regrets with Carter.  We have given and received all there is and was, to give and receive.

Peace and blessings.  Faith, Hope and Love.

Life.  Death.

Trust in the Lord with all our heart, all our mind, and all our strength.

And then cry like a baby, until we can no longer stay awake.

Pray, Pay, Obey

What does that mean exactly?  Growing up Luthern, in a small Pennsylvania town, there weren’t many Catholics. In fact, I don’t recall knowing what a Catholic was until college.

Well, life comes full circle and here I am, a devoted Catholic for over a decade. There are something like 15,000 members of our Holy Family congregation. All walks of like.

One of them, I see occasionally at Gold’s Gym.  We recently had a nice conversation with these highlights:

Draw nearer to God and God will draw nearer to you. James 4:8.

True love doesnt force anything.

Greed, sloth, doubt, hypocracy – the four points in the circle surrounding the four squares.

Pay, pray and obey Catholic.  This is how my friend (60-something) described himself.

God does not want good men in heaven, he wants Saints.

Gotta go.  Time to work on praying, obeying, paying and demonstrating.

It's Cold In Ohio

Craig Nickoloff, from Ohio, will be jeffnoel.org’s Guest Blogger this Sunday.

Craig is a young man with a wife and two children. He’s a Christian, self-proclaimed Disney freak and a man who inspires me by his will and determination to become a better man, a better person.

We all struggle with it.

Can’t wait to introduce you to Craig on Sunday.

Have an AWESOME Friday today.

Safe For The Big Ears Too

Do you listen to music? I mean, all the time? Or do you listen to talk radio? Perhaps you don’t listen to radio at all.

It really makes no difference what we do.

Until.

Until we take an inventory of our spirit.

Huh?

At any given moment, if you were put on the spot and forced to give an honest answer, could you immediately say, “I’m blessed beyond measure.”?

Could you?  And we’re not talking some fake, or politically correct, “Of course!”

One of my secrets?  Listening to Z88.3 every single day. The Z, as we call it here in Central Florida, plays contemporary Christian Music that is, Safe For The Little Ears.

Hidden Message?

What else do I feel guilty about?

• Decent Health
• Great Job
• Great Hometown
• Great Spirit
• Hold on, this is getting awkward

Sorry, I’m going to need more time to think this through. It’s awkward.

If I go with a gut instinct right now, it feels like the reason this topic got started in the first place was because I feel so blessed.

I mean, more than any one person deserves.

“And you feel guilty about this?”, someone reading this is asking.

But the blessings listed here and the others not listed, are the blessings we all have.

I guess, as I write this it becomes clearer, there’s something about the way I structure each day that allows me to be nearly fully present every moment of every day.

It’s almost like an addiction. I think about it all the time.

Being able to walk, think, read, smile, drive, teach, eat, breath, love, cry, laugh, get dressed, spend money, go to Church, have friends, Family, a job, sunrise, sunset, sight, hearing, desire.

Where does it stop? It doesn’t. Our blessings are infinite.

I can’t be the only one on the planet that thinks like this, can I?

Wide Open Spaces

What makes humans feel guilt?

What makes you feel guilty?

Know what makes me feel guilty?

Goodness.

This week, my son and I have taken several sunset walks. We end up in our back yard. A really big back yard. The sun has set, and now it’s twilight.

“Son, look around. Do you see how much space is here in this yard, from one side to the other?”

He says, “Yes.”

“I’m not saying that other sized yards are better or worse. I’m just saying that Mommy and Daddy worked really, really hard to make this yard possible.”

For something like seven years, Cheryl and I spent, what seemed like a majority of our weekends looking for a big yard near Walt Disney World.

The first 15 years in Central Florida, I worked every weekend, and had either a Saturday or a Sunday off, but never both.

And on that lone weekend day off, we combed the area north of Disney, south of Disney, east of Disney, west of Disney.

The result?  Nothing. Year after year. Nothing.

Until one day….

Grabbed the wrong folder?

Been awake for an hour now, but not fully, wide-eyed, awake.

Sort of a numb-awake, if that’s even a term. The kind of semi-conscious consciousness from working really hard at something and having “sore muscles” from it.

Except, these muscles aren’t physical, they’re spiritual. Ever think so much, or meditate so much that you’re mind and spirit are foggy the next day?  Perhaps it’s the equivalent of a hangover, without the nausea.

So many people are struggling with so many things. It’s everywhere and affects everyone. It overwhelms me.

And I often feel guilty.

Do you ever feel similar to this?

Crazy thing is, it’s always been like this.

So it deserves more dialogue, if for no other reason than to clear some thoughts, or at the very least, grab the right folder.

Got Courage?

Thank you Mary and to you too, Joseph, for your courage to do what was needed.

Rejoice.

Peace on Earth, good will toward men.

Emmanuel.

Prince of Peace.

And the list goes on and on.

But does my courage?

All Creation Sings

Merry Christmas from jeff noel.org

Fall, on your knees, oh hear the angel voices….

Merry Christmas to all of you.

Thank you for your kindness, prayers and support.

With joyful hope that 2010, and the realization that our Savior has arrived, gives us the Courage to do what needs to be done.

And also the Peace that comes from knowing that it’s not our will, but His.

A Song Can Takes Us Places

What’s your favorite Christmas song of all time?

I mean, if you could only pick one, what would it be?

My wife’s Grammy, who died in my arms at age 93, always said Little Drummer Boy was her favorite. She went to Heaven in September 1989.

It never occurred to me back then to ask her why. Why would it have occurred to me?

Well, all these years later, “Why?” is a fun and purposeful question.

Why do you enjoy your favorite Christmas song? For no reason? Or, for some special or purposeful reason.

Hey, I realize some of you may say, “Jeff, not everything has to have a purpose.”

Right.  And this is the fundamental difference between those that drift through life and those that make a difference.

I enjoy listening to “Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer” as much as anyone. It’s funny, unexpected, and way not serious.

But Little Drummer Boy is not only Grammy’s favorite, but mine as well. Why? because I Look for little ways to help our son understand his family’s history.

His Grandfather, Jack (not the bear), my Dad, was a drummer. He started playing drums from the moment he could hold drumsticks in his hands.

He hitch-hiked 100 miles to Philadelphia, from his row-home in Spring Grove, Pennsylvania, just so he could take drum lessons from a particularly talented drummer.

He played drums in the Army band while stationed in Japan, during the Korean War.

He taught 30-minute drum lessons Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, 4:00pm – 8:00pm, year round.

He played gigs on Friday and Saturday nights, year round.

As a young man, he had business cards printed. His title – “Drummer”.

From one stupid little Christmas song, a piece of our son’s family history is told, year after year.

But only if I put some thought into it.

And at Christmas, as it is all year round, it’s the thought that counts.