Lucky or Blessed?

On July 4, 1939 Lou Gehrig spoke these words:

“Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.”

Lou Gehrig was the original Iron Man playing in 2,130 consecutive games for the New York Yankees – a record that stood until September 6, 1995 when Cal Ripken of the Baltimore Orioles broke it.

What made Gehrig’s words meaningful was that he had just been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) which is now known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease.  It’s a fatal disease and Gehrig died two years later in 1941.

Over the past few days I have been reflecting on my life and the people in it.  My parents were both good, hard working people who raised me with a strong work ethic and good values.  My older sister, Jane, has been a good friend for many years and her husband, Hack, is a great guy with a great sense of humor – and a terrific photographer.  They have two neat sons, Kelly and Gary, and Kelly is married to April, a woman of great compassion and gifts.  They have  my neat nephew, Jory.

I was blessed to marry into Betty’s family.  Her stepmother, Nita, is the heart and soul of the family.  Nita may not be Betty’s blood mother but she has been the only grandmother our boys have known in Betty’s family and I would be proud to call her mother any day of the week.

Betty’s older sister, Margie, is the terrific aunt to all the kids and is a good friend to Betty.  Betty’s older brother, Bill and his wife Noel, are people who have been tested by the fire of life and come out on the other end much stronger.  Their faith and friendship are things I have valued for many years.  Betty’s younger brother, Jim and his wife Melissa, have a passion and gift for developing young people through their debate programs they have developed over the years.  There are many kids from both privileged families and from housing projects who had their lives changed through Jim and Melissa’s work.  Their children, Leslie and her husband Tom, and Patrick and his wife Michelle inherited their parents’ passions and great sense of humor.

Our lives have been impacted and changed by our friends Bob and Molly in Ohio and they are still very important part of our life.

We have been blessed and changed by our experiences with  our friends Max and Michelle Wade and their ministry Galloping Grace Youth Ranch.

We have so many friends at our church Destiny Center that it’s impossible to list them all here.

Finally, I have Betty and our two sons, Wade and Chris who are blessings in so many ways.  Our two boys had the good sense to marry wonderful Christian girls, Marie and Tracy, who have added so much to our lives.  Our grand kids, Javier, Juliet and Leah, are so special to us.

Betty of course has been the greatest blessing of all.  She’s my best friend and our time together – 6 years dating and 43 plus years married – has made me who I am.  I owe her so much.

So, as I go into my surgery tomorrow, Wednesday, I can say, “Today I consider myself the most blessed man on the face of the earth.”  As a Christian I don’t believe in luck.

Betty will do a post giving you an update after the surgery.  The timing will be dependent on when she can get home to my computer.

Be good while I’m gone.