Daniel J. Summers » Charter Member of the VRWC

The results are below, but first, the set up…

January 5th, 2010 was the first day back to work for me after the new year. I decided to put the radio on 91.5, which is our local Family Life Radio station.  They were advertising a 30-Day Challenge – listen only to that radio station for 30 days.  At the time, I didn’t commit to it, but I thought “Eh, I’ll give it a shot.”  I only drive about 10 minutes one way to work, but driving home at lunch and back, then home for good in the afternoon, we start getting into some real time.  At these times, they are generally playing music, or the DJs are discussing the topic of the day.  A few weeks in, I befriended Dan Rosecrans, the local morning host, on Facebook.  (He just recently got a national show on Sundays, playing praise music; congratulations, Dan!)

They also have talk programs.  At work, I generally listen to podcasts or music from my computer, as I can’t just tell people “Leave me alone – I’m listening to my radio program!”  At my wife’s suggestion, I subscribed to Intentional Living.  They were doing a series of “If I Could Do It All Over Again” shows on different topic.  Those weren’t really doing much for me, and I asked my wife about her experience.  She suggested I wait it out, as it was a show that she really enjoyed.  She was right; I now wholeheartedly recommend it.  I also, through driving my oldest son to scouts, heard Focus on the Family‘s daily broadcast.  I wasn’t new to FOTF at all, but I heard part of a show that interested me, and subscribed to their podcast as well.  Their feed has about 4 months of recent episodes, and they have been hitting home runs every week!  So, even when I wasn’t listening to FLR, I was listening to a few of their shows, in a way where I wouldn’t miss any of it.

The results…

The first week, it actually seemed like more things were going wrong than right.  Work was stressful, home was stressful, and I wasn’t handling it well in either place.  Over the next few weeks, though, I began to have peace.  The problems didn’t go away, but I now have peace within them.  More challenges have been thrown at me, and I’m not going to air a dirty laundry list, but in all of it, I have a peace about everything that is going on.  Of course, that doesn’t mean that I’m not trying to work through the problems and make them better; but, when I do what I believe God is telling me to do, I don’t have to stress about the results – those are His problems now.

Even now, just shortly removed from them, I can see where some of these challenges (even those in the first week) have worked together for good, to help me address struggles that I’ve had as long as I can remember.  2010 is going to be an outstanding year, and FLR is a resource I’m going to keep.

Scott Kalitta was a Top Fuel and NHRA champion. Today, during a qualifying run, his car exploded and lost control, then exploded further when it struck the end of the drag strip. I was associated with that family (and their other business) a few years ago, and while I never met any of them, I heard from their employees and acquaintances that they were good people and good employers. ESPN has a limited report now; I’m sure they’ll have more information as soon as they can pull it together.

Pray for the family in this time of loss.

The above is paraphrased from 2 Corinthians 12:9. It’s also the title of a song written in 1988 by Steven Curtis Chapman, a young up-and-coming Christian music artist. Over the past twenty years, many Christians have been comforted and encouraged by this song. Now, it’s his turn to be comforted. Yesterday, Steven Curtis Chapman’s 5-year-old daughter was struck and killed by one of her teenage brothers, who was driving an SUV and didn’t see her. From the response posted on his site and his radio interview following it, it sounds like he is handling this very well. However, it’s got to be difficult to go through something like this. Let’s pray that the Lord will comfort he and his family.

His strength is perfect when our strength is gone;
He’ll carry us when we can’t carry on.
Raised in His power, the weak become strong;
His strength is perfect, His strength is perfect.

“His Strength is Perfect” © 1998 Sparrow Song / BMG

UPDATE: Michelle Malkin has a very informative, touching post about this (and lots more).

This Sunday, April 27th, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition will be featuring the Martinez family from Albuquerque, New Mexico. This is the build that we saw happening, and the genesis for the idea of the Not So Extreme Makeover: Community Edition (NSX) that we took part in last month. Gerald Martinez is the pastor at Joshua’s Vineyard, an outreach church in one of the least-desired areas of Albuquerque. Through NSX, we became acquainted with him, and, while I can’t vouch for the other families that have received these, I can say that he is very deserving of the home he received. He has been working in that area for years, and when he wasn’t ministering to the people, he was trying to figure out how to get others in the community involved and engaged. This did it – it was truly an answer to prayer unfolding before our eyes.

On a personal note, our family was lining the street as Ty and Gerald walked around the corner to see another building they had built. They were talking, but who knows what will stay in or be left on the cutting room floor. We were standing just before the people in blue shirts – I can’t remember what I’m wearing, but I do know I was wearing Jameson on my head. Michelle was wearing a green shirt, and was right behind me. Our other two boys were standing in front of me. Who knows – you may see us if you watch closely!

Another exciting turn is that, according to popular local rumors, ABC has requested footage from NSX, so they may be showing some people who participated in that as well.

It will come on early this week – 6pm EDT/PDT, 7pm CDT/MDT – and it’ll run for two hours. Be sure to catch it!

From our house to yours – Merry Christmas!

(And, if you think that’s funny, you ought to see the blooper reel.  Our two-year-old was in rare form while we were trying to record this!)

Sig94, linked in the “Daily Reads” section, has an ill father-in-law. (I’ll own up to using “daily” as a loose term…) Rather than try to explain the situation, I’ll let him do it. Here is the original post, followed by an update last Saturday, another this past Tuesday, and an update yesterday. Stay tuned to his blog for more updates.

Update 25 Oct 07 – His father-in-law has passed on. Be in prayer for their family.

I’ve received a final update from Charles and Judith regarding their baby girl. (Previous updates here)

Our baby Mary Florence was born around 5:35 A.M. August 28, 2007. She was alive when born, but sadly she died in my arms a very few minutes later. Even though we were expecting it, we were not prepared for the hard reality of it.

Physically Judith is doing well. She had a fever for a time but her temperature is now back to normal. Of course there is pain after childbirth, but Georgetown University Hospital has been great.

Once again our grateful thanks to all of you for all of your kind words, thoughts and prayers.

Although the outcome of this is not what any parent would hope when they here of their soon-to-arrive baby – but, we know that we can trust God, and that He knows why the outcome was the way it was. Continue to keep Charles and Judith in your prayers, as well as the rest of their family; their oldest son has just been deployed to Iraq.