Merry Christmas from Tami, Kai, and Mark

2012 has been a busy year full of blessings for our family.

Kai is a freshman this year. Her grades are the best they have ever been and she has discovered a passion for writing. She is taking Journalism and has had 5 articles published for her High School Newspaper, including 3 articles in 1 edition. She has been participating in our Local Outreach events at church, Family Promise, helping with childcare, and our homeless projects. She has finally noticed boys but is “too shy?!?” to talk with them. The boys need to measure up to the members of the musical group One Direction, (those over 30 please Google) and so far none have. I am thanking all of my buddies for their offers of shot gun cleaning parties at our home when Kai starts inviting boys over! Her college goal is to attend Stanford. Prayers are needed, and information on scholarship program offers are welcomed as her grades are there, but finances,... well they are in God’s hands for now. Mom and dad are very proud of our 14 year old!

Tami has enjoyed her busiest and most productive year ever. In addition to helping me with our Local Outreach, Family Promise, and our homeless projects, she continues to volunteer at our church. She began by helping to coordinate church weddings, soon funerals and events were added. In her spare time she has continued to pursue her passion and build her talent for design by leading and coordinating decorating projects for the many events and goings on at our church. On just one of her many projects this year with her partner Jackie; they totally redesigned a waterfall and hill next to the church lobby to host a manger scene. She asked a few of us one Sunday afternoon to move “just a few rocks” to help. 5 hours and (6) 400+ pound rocks later we finished! Tami knows just how to get us all to want to help! She continues to be active in assisting folks for our Wednesday Night Live meals and activities.

The big news for Tami is that this year she was able to realize a dream service she has been praying about for 5 years. She has always wanted to be able to assist our homeless friends as they transition to new homes and lives with furniture and décor to get them started. Our involvement in Family Promise has become a passion for both of us. Through the gift of a safe and secure storage area from our friends and MPCC angels Marty and Marcy, she has been able to now collect donated furniture and décor. She has helped to furnish 3 homes so far and has enough furniture and materials for 2 more as they are needed over the next few weeks! She was asked by Family Promise Leadership and Mark Taylor properties to furnish a large apartment home as a surprise for a Family Promise graduate and her family. Within 48 hours she was able to organize, mobilize, and furnish the home! She has an amazing team of friends who volunteered with her to get this done on short notice. Thank you especially to Shell for her marathon energy that matched Tami’s drive to get this done!

This year I have had many blessings. Our Care & Support Ministries grew and thrived seeing a few more folks step into leadership roles alongside me to help many others to find their way through struggles and challenges that we encounter in this world. I was given the opportunity to also become the interim Director of Local Outreach when our beloved Lori Hall answered the Lord’s calling with her husband Marsh to move onto another ministry in San Diego. Family Promise has grown and we are excited to have more local churches joining us to help even more homeless families this year to find their way back to stable jobs and secure housing. We participated as a church in Feed My Starving Children packing events including a successful Mobile Packing event at the church where we packed over 100,000 meals. Our CASS Homeless meal and 12 Step meeting continues to thrive under our leader Tim B. Pastor Natividad and his From Gangs to Jobs ministry was featured on a local TV news station for all the good he is doing and changes he brings. The other Local Outreach projects of Salvation Army, Angel Tree, Food Pantry and others have enjoyed blessed support and energetic participation this year.

The big news for me was being asked by my Pastoral boss and leader Juno to become an Ordained Pastor with the Church of God. I have been praying about this for a few years now and am honored to be on this path.

I enjoyed another productive year with my employer Verizon Wireless. I began working with my Area team and got to participate in many projects as our ever changing industry embraces new technology.

I had the blessing of receiving a 21 year Sobriety chip on December 17. An unexpected present came as a newspaper article was printed sharing my Salvation Army experience as a Christmas story from our turn Bell Ringing this year for this wonderful organization.

As 2012 closes, Tami, Kai, and I want to wish you and your loved ones a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and blessed 2013!

I can't...HE can(and does!)... I think I will let HIM

    21 years ago today I finally took the  first 3 steps  that saved my life…I finally admitted that …I can’t,… He can, (AND DOES!)… Thanks God for letting me! 21 years of blessed sobriety.  “You will lose the old life to find one much better.” Big Book pg 120 “everything   connected with that old way of life has to go. And then take on an entirely new way of life a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces his character in you.” Ephesians 4:22-24 Thank you God, Alcoholics Anonymous, and Salvation Army for showing me a new freedom and way of living based upon a spiritual tool kit freely given.

   21 years ago I was a broken man, addicted to methamphetamines and hopelessly alcoholic. In jail again for my 12^th DUI I was to be sent to prison.  I was 30 years old and had estranged everyone from me in my life. As I stared into the piece of tin that serves as a jail house mirror I suddenly realized that I no longer knew this person staring back at me. I got on my knees, and said the only prayer I could at the time, “God help me.”

     Things began to change immediately. My cellmate kept inviting me to the AA meetings and until that day I never wanted to attend.  The meeting started with a very short man who was not in jail jumping up on a table and shouting, “If you guys keep on doing what you are doing, you will keep getting what you are getting!” It was the shortest AA meeting I have ever attended because that was all I heard. I began reading the AA Big Book, and attending the meetings along with the Christian Overcomers Outreach program.

     After a few weeks, I went for my prison sentencing, but my Public Defender did not show up. 2 weeks later I went again to be sentenced and the Prosecutor did not show up. It would be 6 more weeks in the jail before I would be sentenced to prison. I stayed active in AA and in the Christian fellowship Overcomers Outreach . When I finally went to court to be sentenced, there was a different judge on the bench and he shared a letter that was written on my behalf by an anonymous member of AA telling him I was changing and asking him to give me a chance at a rehab program instead of prison. The judge stopped the sentencing and asked me if I would like to spend 6 months at the Salvation Army Adult Rehabilitation Center in Sacramento. I knew that God had heard my cry for help and that I needed to keep following Him!

     I willingly went to the Salvation Army. They loved me until I could learn to love myself. I threw myself into learning about God and became active in AA and in serving the homeless and addicted. I entered their Adjutant Program and earned my Pastoral certificate. I was awarded a scholarship to go back to college and got my Human Services as well as my CADC counseling certificates for drugs and alcohol.  I began running the Phase 1 recovery programs for Salvation Army and helped to manage the homeless shelter.

        Through my quest for lasting sobriety in AA I met my beautiful angel Tami, who allowed this strange man with a pony tail who worked at the homeless shelter and rode a bicycle to fall in love with her and eventually marry her. God gave us His gift in Kai 14 years ago. We have traveled this journey together now for 18 years and have had ups and downs like we all do, but NO MATTER WHAT we have loved God and one another without a drink or a drug.

     For the past 21 years I have lived one day at a time looking to serve and help. God saved me from alcoholism and addiction and taught me to be free through serving others.  

     I believe in and truly try to live what the Bible promises that it is through giving to others that we receive. God has given me more than I ever deserved. The Big Book has taught me that Faith without works is dead. The least I can do is to try daily to pay Him back through serving others. Thanks to Mountain Park Community Church, I get the opportunity continue to grow and deepen my faith in Jesus as I help others daily! Thank you Jesus for saving me! Thank God for the Salvation Army and Alcoholics Anonymous!

Our season of HOPE, joy, and giving was hit hard yesterday by the senseless tragedy in Connecticut.  These folks have suffered one of the worst things that I can imagine. We may never know the how or why behind this massacre, but even if we learn this, the pain, loss, and suffering will still remain.  My social media feeds were full of comments and prayer requests yesterday. Even today, I can see this is still in our heavy hearts and troubled minds.  All I could do yesterday was hug Kai harder and hold her longer than normal and hug Tami more and remind her even more than I normally do of how much I love her.

Obviously we all are praying for the affected families, loved ones, and others in Connecticut. We even held a moment of silence and had prayer before we started our small group Christmas get together last night. 

Being the eternal optimist and self appointed  seeker of finding the good in all things despite the obvious hurt, anger, rage, and senseless loss of life from this heartbreaking tragedy yesterday, I have been quietly asking God to show me how He would have me respond. All I know to do is look to God and see what I can learn from the massacre in Newtown yesterday.

This is what God has laid on my heart. Perhaps it will help.  The word He gave me is relationships. “God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.” Psalm 46:1   “I will sustain you and I will rescue you.” Isaiah 46:4

I vow to add this tragedy to the lesson I learned 4 years ago with the suicide of a coworker named Victor. I will continue to build, develop, and have familiar relationships with those who touch the lives of myself, my family, and those I serve spiritually.

I take from this tragedy a renewed willingness and effort to KNOW the environments and people that are around my loved ones daily. I need to take the responsibility to continue with a renewed spirit to instill values in my own home of respect, honor, and love. I will continue to keep open communications with my family, friends, and those I serve. I know that I cannot know every detail of everyone’s life around me, but I CAN take it upon myself to make sure I am aware of the presence and spirit of those I come in contact with there are no quiet ones isolating in the crowd and no strangers having easy access to those I love and serve. 

I know I cannot change the world, and I know I cannot take away the pain and suffering that Newtown Connecticut folks are enduring, but I can take this and turn it into a lesson to learn from and keep my heart humbly focused on God’s promises of grace and love.

God bless us and keep us all.