Visionary Leadership
The 80′s were good. I was looking back fondly to the days of our minivan and came across this picture. Honestly, I didn’t know how hip we were to have ZZ Top as promoter of our minivan. MY parents were definitely ahead of the wave on this one.
Of course we didn’t get a microwave and a vcr until almost a decade later.
By the looks of things I will be a new daddy
once again very soon (quite possibly by the end of the week). Things are moving forward, and all systems will be a go, very soon. This pregnancy has been quite fun, even with the move when my wife was around 33 weeks. This caused a bit of stress and worry due to the premature babies we had last time around.
My wife spent a night in the hospital shortly before the move, but now all is well and she is full term.
We can definitely let the past affect our now. When you lose a child (or two), during or after birth, all sorts of things go through your mind. It is easy to let fear creep into our minds and let that cripple us. We as a family have chosen to face the fear and move forward.
Next update may just be a picture for you to enjoy.
— On another note is it just me or do all of you feel that we could host our own Reality Show?
So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you. DT 31:6
People often ask me how I am doing. I normally say fine, or good, or even great. It of course isn’t always the honest truth, as we all know we have canned answers.
It has been 3 years since I lost my son, and 2 years since I lost my daughter. It is tough, it is often a nightmare.
What I wish people could understand is that we didn’t just lose children. We lost dreams, we lost laughter, we lost future trips to Disney world, and all the plans we had.
Just the other day I saw a little boy jumping off some stairs. He was so brave. I then looked over at my beautiful wife, and saw by her sweet look that she was hurting, yet concealing it for the uneducated eye. I realized then that she was seeing Johnny through this little boy. This cute boy was the age of our Johnny now. Little Johnny, would be jumping off the stairs and showing how brave he was to anyone that would be watching.
When you lose a child, you lose so much.
I find it hard to believe, but we are 24 weeks along in this pregnancy. It is going fast and slow at the same time. You can understand that, I am sure.
We are working on names, and it has been a struggle. When we named our other kids they came very easy. This one is difficult. So different from the others.
So, her is a little Irish humor, since it is St. Patrick’s Day in about 30 minutes.
A pregnant IRISH woman is involved in a car crash and falls into a coma. She stays asleep for nearly six months.
When she finally wakes up, she finds she is no longer pregnant and is frantic to speak to a doctor. The doctor explains that she had twins, a boy and a girl and that her brother from Cork came in to name them for her. “Oh no,” she thought, “My brother is an idiot!” She asked the doctor what her baby girl’s name is. He replied, “Denise.” She asked him what her baby boy’s name is. He replied, “Denephew.”
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Where has time gone. Wow, we are really keeping busy. Things are good, but wanted to get you a quick update on the National Prayer Breakfast. More details will follow.
The 2013 National Prayer Breakfast has come and gone. We attended the event at the invitation of Congressman Burgess from Texas. We were honored to represent so many people.
The news has really been focusing on Dr. Benjamin Carson’s speech with President Obama sitting a few feet from him. There is and will be more commentary from the TV talking heads, but I can tell you from sitting there in the room. There are times where the actually feeling in the room is different than what is on TV.
Dr. Carson came across as very intelligent and well spoken. Dr. Carson came from a tough beginnings and rose to the top of his profession as a neurosurgeon. He has won numerous awards and other honors. His manner of speaking was not an attack, but more of ideas. People that are intelligent should be able to learn from others and take the pearls of wisdom to develop even better ideas.
The feeling in the room was a good feeling, one that shouldn’t be construed as attacks on the leadership in the room. I know that any intelligent politician can learn from others. When we say that we know everything is when we are doomed to mediocrity.
I spent time with Congressman Burgess and his staff, as well as Senator Rubio. One item I came away with was that these men want to improve their country. They want to help by listening to their constituents and bring about a better life for the citizens of this country.
It is nice for us to think that they are not in it only for self, but many make self sacrifices to serve their country. Can I say this is the attitude of all politicians? Of course not, but I did feel it at the prayer breakfast.
More to come, just a quick post.
We have been doing a few interviews this week, and some of you are asking us where to find them. Most requests have been radio, but you can find a print one in the Fort Worth Star 
Telegram by going here.
If you want to request an interview or book us to come speak to your group you can do so by clicking here. We have a few times left while we are in Washington DC. I will respond as quick as possible.
The National Prayer Breakfast is held annually in Washington DC. We are honored to represent Texas at the event.
Jake Rinard has a story to tell.
As he joins around 3,000 others attending Thursday’s National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C. — where President Barack Obama and others will speak — the Hurst pastor said he hopes to share with others the role that faith and family have played in his life.
“We want to continue spreading the message of strength and strong families,” said Rinard, lead pastor for the Hurst Church of the Nazarene. “Times are tough, people are hurting, and we aim to help spread a message of strength.”
Rinard and his wife, Marsha, speak from experience.
The couple, married for nearly 20 years, learned how to be strong after losing two children in the past three years.
Married when they were 18, the now 37-year-olds who live in Keller had three children in the first five years of their marriage.
Read more here: Jake and Marsha Rinard Fort Worth Star Telegram Interview
We are heading to Washington DC for the National Prayer breakfast. We are very excited for the opportunity to represent so many people. With this invite we have had multiple invites as well as requests for interviews.
If you would like to contact us before or after the Prayer Breakfast please do so on our contact page by clicking here. We have limited time to meet in DC, but will do our best to make as many requests as possible.
If you would like to meet us in Texas or have us speak at your location please make the request below. We speak about pain, suffering, hope, encouragement, family, marriage, and other topics. Send us your idea below.
Great start to the week. I increased my mileage to my personal best. I have not been a runner for long, in fact I started
Breaking News from Little Miss Marlo
Yesterday on my wife’s blog, Marlo (our little girl that was 1 pound baby when she was born) released some HUGE news. You are going to want to go read up on this announcement.
We are just about ready for our Washington DC trip. We will have a guest staying with our kids at our house while we are gone. So Fort Worth burglars, you can scratch this one off your list. We have a very full agenda while in DC. Very excited to speak with our Congressman from Texas as well as many other leaders in the Capitol.
If you were meeting with the most influential leaders in our country, what would you say? Send me an email or comment below. I would like to hear it, and try to pass them along.
Life has been all over the place. Do you feel that way too? It so often seems that we are going 100 different directions. That can make for a crazy and hectic day.
President Barack Obama addresses the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C., February 3, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)
Sometimes it is nice to sit down and have a cup of coffee. Do you agree?
We can speak at your event. Request us to speak by clicking here.
The 2013 National Prayer Breakfast is almost upon us. My wife and I will be attending as representatives of Fort Worth and Texas, as well as the Nazarene church. It is an honor to be able to go to this event. With the loss of our son in 2010 and one of our twins in 2011, it is prayer that has been vital to our strength. To participate in this prayer event at the nation’s Capitol will be a good time and also a time to reflect at the past while praying for the future.
We will tour the White House and the Capitol on official tours. Our time is limited, so we won’t do a lot of things but we hope to stop in at a place or two, and if you know me some of those places will be famous food places like Ben’s Chili Bowl or Ray’s Hell Burger. Both places I have already eaten so we may look further, but my wife has yet to travel to DC. So, it is up in the air. Do you have any recommendations for places to visit in DC when your time is very limited?
We did have the microwave first, but still a little slow on that. We did get a minivan before most people though.