Garic Update

Thank you, thank you so much for all the prayers, emails and concern over my son. We have sought out many doctors, tests and other things to get to the bottom of this 5+ week problem. We know that God will heal him fully and we are learning alot about changes we can make to improve his (and our families) health and well being. Garic is doing much better - but he's not out of the woods yet. Today we had two doctor appointments - Tomorrow, one more.

Please pray for wisdom regarding our trip to California. I'm flying out this Sunday for a week to see my mom and for my cousin's wedding. I'm prayerful that Garic will join me on this trip, as we have planned. (This is his last week of summer vacation before school starts on the 10th). God will provide an answer to the trip question - as well as full healing - in His timing. We trust in Him. Thank you for trusting and praying with us!

Marcy's Ice Cream Bowl

Thanks to everyone who voted and took part in "Marcy's Ice Cream Bowl" - a fund raiser for Marcy Payne ... We had a poll going - "Who is going to knock down the most pins?" - Doug, Kim, or any 10-year old ... I finished first, with Kim close behind (in the voting). In actuality - the 10 year old kid "won" because neither Kim or I actually bowled during the event. (Sadly, I threw my back out 2 days prior at another event I was DJing) ... But the bottom line is that people came, had fun and the Payne family has been blessed. If you have not checked out Marcy's story yet - link up at http://www.everydayisprecious.com/

Summer is too short!

The summer has moved along so quickly! It always seems to me to be the shortest season of the year and depending on where you live – it is. For me in this season of life there has been a lot of change….some good and some not so good- A beautiful wedding, a miscarriage, a move to another part of the city, and becoming an empty-nester. (Much sooner than I wanted to- I think most parents can relate to that.) It’s easy to get caught up in the idea that we are not moving through tough seasons of life as fast as we would like. On the other hand, much like summer, when those great seasons come they don’t last as long as we would like. Leaves of change are almost certain to be just around the corner. To quote Amy Grant, “When life is good, drink it in, because seasons change. When life is hard, hold on tight, it won’t last long, because seasons change!”

A Look at Down Under

In case you missed it this past week – in our attempt to be cool and back announce Paul Colman’s song “Run”, we tried our hand at an Australian accent. (as Paul Colman is from the Land Down Under) Doug got a bit carried away and ended up calling Paul’s girls “Blokes.” The next day Paul gave us a good lesson in Australian slang. It turns out Blokes mean men. It would be far better to call his daughters “Sheila’s.” Clearly we are not quite ready to head to Australia just yet. And so I thought we’d take a gander at some Australian slang so as not to come off as a few Kangaroos loose in the top paddock. Ha ha Enjoy!!

a sheila.....old fashioned slang for a woman not to be confused with a
Bloke : man, guy (Douglas!!)
anklebiter.....young child
arvo....afternoon
barbie....barbecue
to put the Billy on.....make a cup of tea
Captain Cook : look (noun) ("let's have a Captain Cook")
G'day......hello, hi
have a Gander.....have a look
the good oil....the truth
good-on-ya Mate!.....congratulatory or sarcastic remark, depending on tone of voice
googie....egg
green around the gills....feeling sick, crook
Happy as Larry.....very happy
Jack and Jill.......bill
jaffle...a toasted sandwich
Joe Bloggs......the average man in the street
Joe Blake......a snake
"just down the road"...beware, in the bush , this could be a long way
Kiwi...a New Zealander (Phil Joel  )
a few Kangaroos loose in the top paddock......mentally deficient

Keep Praying

Monday marks one month since my son first got sick. It's been a tough 30 days. The doctors started him on a second antibiotic on Friday. They think they saw some more giardia in the endoscopy. For my wife, who has been battling panic attacks, the news felt like a heavy burden was lifted. Today, several days into the new medicine, not so much. Garic is still battling with the nausea, some stomach pain and at times it seems like we haven't moved forward at all. However - other times during the day he does wonderful. Today we sang the song "Healer" in church and we hold onto that with a tight grip. The song says "I believe You're my healer, I believe You are all I need, I believe You're my portion, I believe You're more than enough for me. Jesus You're all I need. (( Here's a picture of Garic taken today, he says "Thanks so much for praying for me!" ))

Feeling God's love through others

Today Garic had his endoscopy - before the procedure my wife was a bit nervous about everything - but then came the nurses. 3 separate nurses sought us out because they listen to the morning show. They told Garic that they had been praying for him and would continue to do so. They let him know that he was in very good hands. We were all greatly encouraged by their words and prayers. Other staff members AND THE DOC WHO DID THE PROCEDURE! were also listeners and very supportive and encouraging. Their love and support brought my wife to tears. It was another great reminder that GOD is THERE - Always ...

The doctor said the endoscopy didn't reveal anything abnormal - they will run some tests on the samples they also took ... We got 4 photos from the inside of our son - He thought it was 'cool' that we post one here (This is a picture of the inside of Garic's stomach)

God IS in control

For everyone that called and emailed today - THANK YOU! Today we celebrated the healing power of God related to our children. I needed to hear your encouraging stories of how God has brought you and your family through trying times. Such awesome stories, such great encouragement to everyone that is walking through a rough road right now.

Garic's problems started the Saturday morning before Father's Day ... Two quick bites into breakfast and he was feeling awful ... The nausea and diarrhea followed - and have stayed ever since. We've been to Vanderbilt E-R - twice, with countless blood & stool tests - a CT scan and tomorrow we go into for a endoscopy. At first the docs said he has "giardia" - a parasite you can get from the water. He was in and around the Harpeth River during a school day camp recently, so that made sense. After the week of antibiotics - it hasn't gone away.

Thank you for your prayers, your concern and thank God for blessing me through your support and encouragement. I'll keep ya posted. (( This picture of Garic is from a recent Nashville Sounds baseball game)

Don't Run From It!!!!

Recently in the news we have heard of those who have lost their life – Michael Jackson, Steve McNair, Farrah Fawcett and Ed McMann. For me it is always a big reminder that we are not promised tomorrow. Our life is so fragile and our Heavenly Father holds it in the palm of His hand. It also makes me think about those close to me who have already gone on to be with the Lord. My Dad , my grand-parents and many friends – how I miss them. But it’s only for a short time.

Are you like me? Does life get you so boxed in that you lose sight of the fact that this earthly life isn’t the end? The best is yet to be!! I want to encourage us all to use these opportunities of talking with others about those who have died in our pop culture as a spring board to talk about our eternal life in Christ. God opens so many doors for us to be the hands and feet to this world. Let’s go for it with all our heart…..because this isn’t the end!!!!

Guest Co-Hosts

Phil Stacey - Denver, from Denver and the Mile High Orchestra ... THANK YOU ... THANK YOU ... THANK YOU - I truly appreciate your time this week, helping me co-host the show while Kim was on vacation ... And thanks in advance to Rebecca St James - she'll be on the show with me Monday from 7-9am/central ... From Los Angeles! Rebecca has wrapped up work on two movies, we'll talk about her new gig on the Gospel Music channel and so much more ... For more on these artists - check out their web sites www.PhilStacey.com www.DenverMHO.com www.RSJames.com ... and (coming soon!) a brand new "INTERVIEW" button at our web site - We will be attempting to post all on-air artists interviews at our web site - Stay tuned :)