The Flog – The Fabry Log

It's been a while since I blogged--thanks for checking back here every now and then.

1. My mother is in the hospital. She has diverticulitis and they're trying to get everything working. She went to the doctor yesterday and he sent her straight to the hospital. Thanks for your prayers for her. She seemed in good spirits when I talked with her yesterday. Her birthday is coming up Monday. She'll be 83.

2. I finished Almost Heaven edits and sent it to the publisher. I think it's the best thing I've written, but you never know how people will respond to something new. It is the third book I've written about the little town of Dogwood. It will be out in September.

3. Dogwood and June Bug sales have been going well, I hear. I don't have much control over that but the sales of Dogwood on Amazon seems to be picking up and CBA sales of June Bug the same. If you've read Dogwood and care to post a review on Amazon, feel free. If you haven't read them yet, I'd love to get your reaction. Reading groups have been purchasing the books and going through them to great delight.

4. I'm headed to Chicago to begin a writing project with a friend of mine. I won't divulge the story yet, but it's incredible--almost unbelievable. I'd appreciate your prayers for the process as we get started. Chicago in February--I get all the best travel plans. BUT I get to come back to Tucson, so I'll warm up.

5. I can't thank you enough for your support on the radio program. Things seem to be moving forward with God's blessing. I heard yesterday that we're picking up two new stations in Tulsa and Dallas in February. Dallas is airing us at 2 am, so I now have a morning show.

6. Andrea and the kids are doing pretty well. It's one step at a time. We met some new friends in Upland, Indiana who are going through the same situation we went through 15 months ago. It's just awful and my heart breaks for them, but I told our new friends that there is hope. And that is true. No matter what's going on in your life, there is hope.

Thanks for making this journey with us.
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I’ve gotten all sorts of bad news today. This is just a bad news Friday for me personally. I have a cousin who lives in the south. I saw him a few years ago at a reunion. Same age as me. And today I get this email about his situation. He was charged with a crime. Handcuffed. I saw his picture on the TV news. And I found his phone number and called him to get an update and…I won’t go into the particulars here, but the charges were dropped for the crime he was accused of, but there are other charges from another governmental entity that will take over. But he said, “Chris, this is in the Lord’s hands. We may lose everything we have, but we’re going to make it through this.”

And I said, "Well, if you lose everything, you can come out here and live with us.” And then we started talking about Haiti and the people there who had very little to begin with and then the earthquake comes and they have less of it. And you still hear the survivors talking about life and living.

Jesus said, "I came that they might have life and have it abundantly." And I take Him at His word on that. He wants to give us abundant life.

My mother fell yesterday, and I talked with her. And if you have aging parents that you are far away from, you know how difficult this type of thing can be. You just feel helpless.

A friend sent an email out yesterday about a niece who was in a car accident. Please pray, it said. Now there’s going to be a funeral.

Layoffs and people losing their jobs and marriages breaking up.

It just goes on and on. There is no end to the bad news in this life…and you probably can give me a litany of your own bad news, things that have blindsided you.

But in the middle of all of the bad news is the truth, and it’s taken me a while to figure this out, that you don’t have to get through all of this and come out on the other side in order to have life. You don’t have to be out of that terrible job or lawsuit or court action or whatever it is in order to experience the peace of God and the love of God and the care and nurture of God. In fact, you probably will experience that more acutely in the middle of what you’re going through. That doesn’t make it any easier to go through the earthquake or tsunami that you may be facing. It’s still going to be hard. But there is a certain sweetness to the hard stuff, and I didn’t know that–I spent so many years trying to just feel better about life and trying to spiritualize the hard stuff. It’s hard. Life stinks sometimes. It’s just not worth it–all of the work and the striving and toil and sweat and blood. It’s not worth it, if this is all there is. I don’t know how atheists do it.

But I tell you what. When you realize that we have a God of second chances, we have a God who knows the end from the beginning, who cares about us, who numbers the hairs on our heads, who sees the sparrow fall, who thought you up before your parents were even born…and who right now holds you in His hands and wants good things for you, has a plan for you, has desires for you that you may not even be able to glimpse yet…when you see just a sliver of that reality, and you see the hope you can have in God, it doesn’t matter what happens in the world.

I think that is why Jesus had to have such a close relationship with His Father. He had to continue to hang onto that which was not seen, because that which He could see was pretty difficult. The road to Calvary was not an easy one. It was the most difficult journey any human has ever walked. But what it accomplished for you and me in that journey was golden, because that bloody walk paved the way for you and me to have that relationship with God that Jesus had. And it enabled us to see things from an eternal perspective and not just from an earthly one.

So whatever you’re going through right now, may God enable you to not just get through it, but to see the life He wants to offer you in the middle of that suffering. And I pray it would work not only for your good, but also for the good of those around you, and ultimately for the good of the kingdom.

This is the plane Andrew Palau and his family were on, which crashed on landing at the airport in Kingston, Jamaica. There were some slight injuries but everyone survived. To hear Andrew's account of what happened and how he has seen God working through this event, visit today's Chris Fabry Live! program page and click on Listen Now.

Here is a video I hope you enjoy as much as I did. I think there is a spiritual lesson here. May it buoy you up today as it did me.

So Randy Carlson said to do "One Thing." Then yesterday we talked about diet and weight loss.

Here's my challenge--and it comes from years of drinking Dr. Pepper and Coke (with a lime squeezed in, and with lots of ice--I just loved the taste). Before that it was Mountain Dew (I'm from WV). And before that it was Grape Nehi and Root Beer (especially from Stewart's Hot Dogs in Huntington, WV).

My last soft drink was in October of 2008. Since then I've been drinking water. Every now and then we'll have juice or tea. Mostly water. For years I knew the facts about the sugar in soda pop. So I switched to Diet drinks. Then I learned of the damage the chemicals in there can have on your body. I got a headache when I stopped. The caffeine addiction was strong. But gradually I felt a lot better.

If I can help one person see that they can do this, that this is one thing they can do that will help them become more healthy, I'll be happy! So here's what I'd like to do. If you want to stop drinking soda and walk away from that unhealthy choice, send me an email to chrisfabrylive@moody.edu and I will put you on a list to periodically encourage you not to go back to Egypt. I won't use it for anything but that.

If the response was anything like it was yesterday on the blog, many will want to stop this unhealthy habit. Go ahead. I double dog --no, I'll skip that, I'll triple dog dare you!

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Watch this and see if it can help encourage you to stop your soft drink consumption.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/01/02/HighFructose-Corn-Syrup-Alters-Human-Metabolism.aspx

With the new year here, I’ve been thinking about what I really need in life. Prioritizing. Trying to figure out what to do next. Let me be honest. I’m finishing another story—I really don’t know how much longer it will take, but I feel close to the end. I need to finish this book.

I need resolution to our house in Colorado. I need health care that will cover me here in Arizona. All I get for a lot of money is the ER. I need the lawsuit to be successful. I need healing for my wife and my children. I need direction for the next step—where do we go from here?

Many years ago when I began writing, I thought God would use my stories to provide for us. The more books I wrote, the more chances I had to hit on something that would catch or stick to the wall. So, diligently, I crafted and put the books into the hands of the publisher. Diligently I waited for a bestseller. It’s been fifteen years and I’m working on my 69th published book. I've seen some success and the extra money has paid many bills, but I haven't come up with the original idea that led to the great American novel.

I’m reminded of Ken Taylor’s story. He founded Tyndale House Publishers, the folks who have been so kind to us over the years and have given me a chance to write. (I’ve published with other houses, but Tyndale has put out most of my work.) Early on, Dr. Taylor thought that God was going to provide for his family through an investment in something in South America. I can’t recall now what it was. A mine or a coffee plantation. Doesn’t matter, because it went belly up and he lost all of his money.

In the end, he began a fledgling publishing house because that’s what he loved. That’s how he felt God leading. He taught his children the Bible and helped them understand it. He wanted to help others understand it and live by it. So he kept going where God was leading. He kept faithfully serving. It was not an overnight success, but step by step God was faithful. He did provide.

As much as I would like to have one, I do not really need a mega-bestseller. I don’t need an investment that “hits.” I don’t even need resolution to my house and the lawsuit. Put everything on the list of things I need and cross them out, one by one, until you come to the last one.

God.

When you come to the place when you realize that your deepest need is for the One who created you and loved you, then you’re at the place where He can use you most. The hard part is staying there and continuing, day by day, to realize what your real need is. My hope is not in a bestseller. My hope is not in the legal system. I must trust in the One who loved me enough to die for me.

I don’t know what’s going on in your life or what you believe you need. Weight loss. A new husband. A job. Peace of mind. A car that works. Whatever the list looks like, cross off everything else other than Him and you’ll be right where you need to be.