Author: jcudd14

I want you to think about a time when someone made you feel really special. Think about a time when someone, maybe you knew them and maybe you didn’t, did something that made you feel really good. Think about a person that you consider a leader to you. Think about that person and what they mean to you. Think about the significance of them in your life. Maybe they were just in there for a short time, or maybe they have been involved in your whole life. What did they do that made you feel that way? What did they do that helped you in your life? How did they do this? How did they impact you? Maya Angelou said, “People will forget what you said. People will forget what you did. But people will never forget how you made them feel.” This is so true. We will all be remembered in some way. Either good or bad, we will all be remembered by others. We sometimes get caught up in thinking that people will remember the things that we did or the things we accomplished. We get caught up in the personal accomplishments and things individual in nature and we don’t think about people remembering how we make them feel. It can be so simple to us, yet so big to them. We have a chance to be their light.

Matthew 5:14-16 says, “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” Just like you can’t hide a city on a hill, if we live for Christ we will glow like lights. It will show in our personality. It will show in how we treat people. It will show in the things we say and do. This is what we have an opportunity to do. This is what we can do to help others. We live in a world that for quite awhile now has worked really hard at keeping God a secret. The world has taught people that even if you believe in God, keep it to yourself. It doesn’t have to be this way, but people have allowed it to be. But I feel there is starting to be a shift in this. I feel there is starting to be more people being outspoken about God. There are more people that are starting to let their lights shine. This is so awesome. This is what needs to happen. We just have to be willing to sometimes go beyond what is comfortable and easy to make a difference!

Sometimes we think these things have to be big things. But they can be little things as well. They can be simple acts of kindness that mean more to people than we realize. I remember when my grandpa passed away we were all at the house. We had some of our best friends in the world that drove two hours simply to bring us some food and supplies. They had no idea the impact that would have on us. They drove that far just to bring us those things and be there with us for awhile, just to be able to sit and talk. That is something that we won’t ever forget. It is something that was uplifting to us to know that they cared that much to drop what they were doing and come to see us. I still remember the night that they medi-flighted Traber to Oklahoma City from Elk City. I had two of the guys I coached with at the time show up at the hospital right before they took him in the helicopter. They didn’t say a word for a long time after they got there. They just simply embraced me with a hug for a long time. Now any other time this might have been awkward, but at that moment that is just what I needed. They didn’t have to say a word. Their mission was accomplished when they walked through those doors. They probably won’t ever know the impact they had on me that night. I still get emotional thinking about it. But that act of kindness did more for me than they knew at the time.

Now go back to that person that we talked about earlier. Think about the things that this person did for your life. Think about what they did that made you feel special or made you a better person. Obviously they didn’t hide their light. They let it shine. Sometimes this person is directly involved in your life and sometimes they may be people that we will never meet. I have two guys that I will more than likely never meet that have had a big impact on my life. They are two guys that are associated with football that are Godly men as well. They have not only impacted me, but millions of other people as well. I don’t read a lot. If I find a book I really enjoy then I like to read. But, I can’t just pick up a book and read it just to be reading. But Tony Dungy and Tim Tebow both have books that I love to read. Those two men are Godly men that impact people daily. They have a platform that they can use to further God’s kingdom. They are the kind of people that when you hear what they say or read what they write you feel like you can conquer the world. That’s how they make you feel.

I first read Tony Dungy’s book “Quiet Strength” when Traber was born. He was born over Christmas break and I started reading it while we were home. I read the entire book in just a few days, which is very unusual for me. But I couldn’t put it down. It was such a great book. When I was reading it I felt empowered. I was reading this and the whole time I was thinking about him and what he did for a living. I thought about the fact that in his profession God isn’t necessarily spoken about too much. Especially not in a public manner. That is one thing that was so intriguing to me about him. He wasn’t ashamed. He wasn’t going to just go with the flow and be silent about his faith. That was inspiring to me. It made me think that if he could do it, then why couldn’t I do it too. I then read his book, “Uncommon” when it came out. I was the same way with it. It just motivated me to be more outspoken and confident as a Christian. Several years later I read Tim Tebow’s book, “Shaken” and then his second book, “This is the Day”. These books are the same way. I think the reason, besides the incredible content in them, that they were so motivating and intriguing was because of the status of the authors. Those are men that I had watched play or coach football at a high level. Those are professions where Godly things are not talked about a whole lot. But here were these men professing their faith for millions to read. If you watched them do their jobs and listened to their interviews you could hear their faith spoken about and see the peace they had as Christians. I have so much respect for them because of this. The importance of them doing this far outweighs anything they can or will do when it comes to sports. So this just proves that there are people that we will probably never meet that can have an impact on our lives. That impact can lead to our light shining brighter and that energy and faith can be passed along to others around us.

But there are also others that impact our lives that we might see or talk to daily or weekly. I have been so blessed with so many great influences in my life. My parents have been that for me as well as many others. As talked about before, my dad has preached for over 30 years. There were times when I didn’t really appreciate this like I should have because there were times when I was younger when I would have loved to “take a Sunday off” and sleep in. But I didn’t get to. I was there no matter what. But, in the long run that paid off. I now appreciate it more that they will ever know. That person for you may or may not be parents. Maybe it’s a different family member or a friend. Whoever it is, those people are special in our life.

Outside of our family, there are people at our church that are lights for us as well. There are a lot of great examples there. There is one couple that have been this for Kristin and myself. They are great examples that we look up to as Christians. They are that couple that is an example of how Christians should act in every aspect of life. They have a marriage that is focused around Christ. They have children that love the Lord. But they also have this peace about them. That is what draws people to them. When you are around them they make you feel like the most important people in the world. You get the feeling when you are around them that everything is going to be ok. This peace comes from God. This peace is from years of dedicating yourself to the Lord and having that relationship with him that allows you to have this outlook on your life. This couple has helped Kristin and I in so many ways. Some that they know about and some that they don’t. We have gone to them for advice. We have shared highs and lows with them, but ultimately have looked up to them as someone outside our family that we look to as examples of how to be the light for others. They are a terrific example of being disciples for Christ and influencing others in a positive way.

The question we have to ask ourselves is how we can pay that forward. How can we have that same impact on others? How can we make others feel special? How can we lead others in a Christian way and help bring others to Christ? Do people know we are Christians by how we conduct ourselves? These are all questions I think we have to ask ourselves before we can accomplish these things. I think about these things a lot. I think, do people know I’m a Christian without me telling them? If someone didn’t know me personally but knew who I was or had been around me without meeting me, would they know I was a Christian? The answer to that probably depends on the day. It probably has a lot of factors. I hope they would. But I also realize that there are times when they wouldn’t. We all have times when we don’t conduct ourselves in that way like we should. But I hope that most of the time they would say that they could tell for sure. I hope they would know.

We have a chance to be a light. Philemon 1:4-7 says, “I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers, because I hear about your love for all his holy people and your faith in the Lord Jesus. I pray that your partnership with us in the faith may be effective in deepening your understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of Christ. Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the Lord’s people.” Philemon knew how to be refreshing. He was encouraging to Paul because of his love. Are we refreshing to others? Are we uplifting to others or are we a burden to others by draining their energy, motivation, and joy by our complaining and negativity. What if we all focused on being a light to all those that we came in contact with? What if we concentrated on not complaining and being negative around others? How much different would our homes be? How much different would our workplace be? How much different would our communities be? How much different would this world be? It is so easy to be negative. It is easier to complain than it is to fix something. It is easier sometimes to talk negatively about someone or something by giving our opinion or the opinion of someone else that shared their opinion with us, than it is to be positive or just say nothing at all.

For years I was not necessarily ashamed of my faith and Christianity, but was also not very outspoken about it. I didn’t care if people knew I was a Christian, but I didn’t care if they didn’t know either. Maybe I was just nervous about what people would think I guess. Maybe I didn’t know how to go about it. I’m not really sure of the reason. But eventually I didn’t care what people thought. I wanted people to know I was a Christian, not for my own gain, but hopefully for their gain. That boldness we can have might help other people in a way that we don’t even know. I hope that other people will be more outspoken as well. I hope that more and more people will let their light shine. Think about how that person or persons we thought about earlier made us feel. Then think about how we can be that for someone else. My challenge for everyone this week is to think a lot about those questions and focus on that this week. Focus on doing something every day that will let people know you care. Do something every day that might help make someone else’s day. If we do these things and we are uplifting to others, they will know we are Christians by how we treat them. We can all make a difference as individuals. But, together we can change things!!!

As I enjoyed some down time from the busyness of a normal work week, I sat back and enjoyed some time of reflection. I really enjoyed getting to do this because when school is in session our lives are too hectic to do this very often. Between my schedule and Kristin and the kid’s schedules, there is little time to do much besides the daily tasks that have to be done. This week I had time to do some other things though. I was able to sit back and watch some things. I was able to enjoy some down time. So these are all things that I randomly thought about this week while on Thanksgiving break. I was able to spend a lot of time with my immediate family as well as time with both sets of parents and siblings. We had a great week. Just like many people, I ate way too much. But it was so good. We had 3 different Thanksgiving meals with a variety of food. We had the traditional turkey and ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, and stuffing, or dressing depending on what you call it. Then there were the luscious sweet potatoes and mac and cheese. Then there are those green or red or orange or whatever other colors of fluff salads that only really come along for the holidays. I don’t really know the best way to describe them, but I bet everyone knows what I’m talking about. Sometimes they have fruit, or marshmallows, or nuts, and whip cream in them among other things depending on what kind it is. They aren’t really a hot item any other time of year. But over the course of the previous week and through the next month, they are a fixture of family gatherings everywhere. Then the desserts are always in abundance as well. I can’t ever decide which one to have so I get small portions of a lot of them. Because of the variety I have, the small portions make me feel better about it. While all of this is just a smorgasbord of goodness, for some reason it also causes my jeans and shirts to shrink. That leads to me wearing loose fitting clothing to church on Sunday to be more comfortable until I can stretch my clothes back out. If only I could find some man jeans with a yoga pants waistband. That would be great for this time of year. I really hope others can relate to this problem and it’s not just me.

In between all of these wonderful meals I did have some time to think about a lot of things. As I stated earlier, I spent a lot of time with my wife and kids. When my kids were younger I was pretty hard on them. I still am to a certain extent about some things. This is just because I have high expectations for them and want them to be responsible and respectful citizens. But as they have gotten older I don’t have to be so hard on them with discipline. They are getting old enough now that we can talk more about things instead of just always disciplining them. But, I have come to realize that they are just like every other kid. I guess I had this misconception that my kids were the only ones that made mistakes. I just wanted them to do everything right, but I realize now all they really want to do is please mom and dad. Sometimes some bad decisions get in the way of that. But deep down that’s really all they want. As they get older, I have come to value our time together as a family more because I realize how fast it is going. One thing I learned along the way was that they don’t all have to be the same. When they were younger I used to try and make them all the same. I just thought they would all have the same interest. After all, they all three have the same parents so why wouldn’t they be the same. As they have grown older I have realized that they are not all the same, and that is perfectly fine. I have three different kids and I am completely ok with that. They all have different interest that they love doing. That is what makes them unique. As I have lightened up a little and realized how much fun it is to just enjoy them for who they are, we have a lot of fun together. This isn’t to say that we don’t still have disagreements or that we live in pleasantville all the time. We still have things come up like every parent and child do. But through all of this I have learned to love my time with my kids so much more because of a different outlook on them and their individual personalities. Most parents probably knew this way before me, but I guess it took me awhile.

As I mentioned, we went to both sides of our family this week. I love spending time with both sides. But I have noticed something Kristin and I do now that I used to think older people were crazy when they did. We like to be in our own bed the older we get. We are so lucky to have both sets of our parents close. We are basically right in the middle between the two, about 45 minutes from each of them. We used to go to both of their houses and stay the night. Over breaks, we were gone more than we were home. But as we get older, there is just something about being in your own bed in your own house. I used to hear people say that and thought they really just didn’t want to be somewhere so they said that so they could leave. But it really is true. I love to go and spend time with them and then be in my bed that night. That’s not to say we don’t or won’t ever stay the night, because we do and will. It is just so nice to be so close to them that we can go home at night after a great day with family. But, every once in awhile it is nice to stay the night too. It’s like going to their house and staying a night or two takes all your worries away for a little bit. Speaking of getting older, I also noticed lately that I am turning more into my dad all the time (which isn’t a bad thing). I used to make fun of him for warming up coffee in the evening that was leftover in the pot from the morning. He would do that in the evenings while watching tv or doing whatever we were doing. He would drink it up until the time he went to bed sometimes. That was gross. I wouldn’t ever do that. Until now. I do that now. Who wants to make a whole new pot in the evening. The microwave makes it just as warm as it was in the morning. So now I watch him like I did when I was a kid, just for different reasons. I watched him this week to see what things I will do at some point that I said I never would before.

I have spent a lot of time in the deer stand over the break. So that is where a lot of these thoughts have came from. Since I was in the deer stand, that means that I spent a lot of time with two boys in there. That also means that there are a lot of things that go on in there that, in the tight quarters of the deer stand with that many people, can test a fella. The art of a 7 and 11 year old staying still and quiet for 3 hours, well doesn’t really exist. With all the sniffs, snorts, and noisy movements and talking, to go along with some snoring (all of these mainly from the 7 year old), we are fortunate that we have seen any deer. While we were discussing this and getting a good laugh while at my parents house this last week, my mom reminded me that all of those things that I was talking about regarding my boys, my dad used to say the same thing about me. She is good at reminding me that the apple didn’t really even fall off the tree sometimes. That helps me realize to just enjoy my boys and the time that we have to do things like this. I also realized for some reason just this week, that we have 4 years until Traber starts driving. So yesterday I decided that he needed to start getting used to driving more. He has driven some with the 4 wheeler, ranger, lawn mower, and even the pickup a little bit in the pasture. But, I decided that he needed to do it more. So I decided to let him drive the 4 wheeler back home from our hunting spot with me on the back. I thought surely with me on the back and me holding his rifle he would be mindful of that. But, nope. He gassed er right from the start and just about flipped me off the back. When I hollered for him to slow down, after pulling myself back up on the seat of the 4 wheeler and not dropping the rifle, which was unloaded by the way, he just turned around and grinned. Everyone that knows him can picture that grin right now too. Not sure if it was on purpose or accident, but since I didn’t fall completely off the 4 wheeler we had a good laugh about it. Had I fell off we might have had a little different conversation.

Another thing I noticed during my times of pondering over the break is what families do for each other. I have watched as both sides of my family have so many examples of selfless people. It deals with things that range from what our parents do for us and our kids, to what our siblings do for each other, to what our siblings do for each others’ kids. I watched grandparents taking care of and doing things with their grandkids that requires extreme patience. But, I think those patience come with being a grandparent. And also with the fact that they don’t actually have to go home with the kids at night, so the parents get to deal with whatever it is the grandparents let them do, or eat. But anyhow, they are all great examples of terrific grandparents with a lot of patience. I don’t have siblings but I watch the things that Kristin and her siblings do for each other and also for the in-law siblings in the family. Then I watch how her siblings treat our kids. I watched her brother take our son hunting and sacrifice the possibility of getting a deer himself to take his nephew. Now if a monster buck came out, he may have told Traber that one was a little too big for a kid to shoot or a little too far away, who knows. But it is just awesome to see how fortunate we are to have two great sets of parents and families that put such a high value on God and family.

That last sentence is the greatest thing of all that I have observed over not only this break, but years of being in both families. That is the love they have for their family and also for God. They are great Christian examples that not only love their families, but more importantly love the Lord. That love for the Lord is why they love their families the way they do.

I mentioned last week that the holidays are tough for people that have lost loved ones. So I encourage you to take advantage of the time you have with loved ones. Spend time, not just time, but quality time with them. Enjoy the time you have with them while you have it. But, another thing that came to my mind were the people that don’t have this. What about the people that don’t have the types of families we do? What about the people that weren’t raised in good strong Christian homes like we were? How can we reach these people? What can we do for them? What about those people that had family at one time, but now they don’t? Maybe it’s because of age or maybe it’s from problems within their family? How can we reach out to these people? How can we make the holiday season a special time for a family less fortunate than we are? I want to not only take care of my family but also help other families that can use the help. My challenge to myself, and everyone else too, is to cherish the precious time with our families and also find a way to reach others during this holiday season. Just think if everyone reached out to a family or two outside our own how many people could be effected. I’m not talking about necessarily gifts, but maybe something as simple as a word of encouragement. A note to help uplift them. A place to get a good home cooked meal. Things like that make a huge difference. That’s something I want to really focus on. How can I be uplifting to my family, people in my community, or maybe a total stranger. Hopefully we can be mindful of things like this starting with the holidays and that will carry over to doing it all the time. I encourage everyone to try and find time to just think sometimes about a lot of different things in life we take for granted. This life gets really busy. Sometimes we need a reminder to just slow it down. I know I do. That’s what I was able to do this week. I was able to slow down and take time to observe all the things that I would miss out on if I just kept going at the same pace all the time. I hope everyone can make a conscious effort to do this at some point during the holiday season the next month. It all starts with some good time to ponder and a desire to make the world a better place one day at a time!!!

What better way to start the Holiday season than to be thankful. With Thanksgiving being this week I have had this on my mind a lot. Sometimes we get so caught up in life that we forget to be thankful. But, I think it is very important to stop and think about what we have to be thankful for.

When I think about being thankful, I first have to ask myself where I put my priorities. I used to be thankful for stuff. I was thankful for the things I had. I was thankful for the things that money had bought. While I still enjoy those things, as I have gotten older I realize that those things are just “stuff”. Our preacher talked this morning about Matthew 6:19-24. It deals with our treasures and what we place emphasis on. Having the wrong treasures leads to our hearts being in the wrong place. Matthew 6:21 says, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” It is easy to put our treasures in the wrong things and that effects a lot of other things in our life. That can throw our priorities in a tailspin if we aren’t conscious of what we are putting emphasis on.

I’m thankful for my parents. They raised me in a good Christian home. They were, and still are, great examples of what a Christian should be. As I have talked about in here, I wasn’t always the best Christian I could be. But as Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.” This was the case for me. For the way I was brought up and the things my parents taught me I am forever thankful. But, I am also thankful for my grandparents and great grandparents. I’m thankful for the generations of Christians on both sides of my family that not only guided my parents down the right path, but I also got to learn those lessons from having known them as well. Holidays are hard for people when they have lost loved ones. I’ve still got one grandpa that’s living and am so thankful for the time I get to spend with him. I’ve have lost three of my grandparents over the last few years. But I am so thankful for the time I got to spend with them and the memories of them that I will have forever. Nothing can take those away. It is now hunting season. As I sat in the hunting blind yesterday morning with my two boys, I couldn’t help but think of when I was a kid. My dad and grandpa used to take me hunting. I remember one day sitting in the deer stand picking at the plywood on the inside of it. Grandpa said, “I hope you shoot a deer soon.” I responded with, “me too”. He then told me, “because with you picking at the plywood like that, if you don’t shoot one soon there may be nothing left of this deer stand by the time we are done.” He was just joking but it made me stop picking at the plywood quite as often. I think about sitting in the deer stand with my boys and how my dad and grandpa were so patient with me. My dad is one of the most patient people on the planet. They tell me my boys are just like me when it comes to a lot of things. I’m guessing my boys movement every 4 seconds and their sniffs every 10 seconds to go along with their question of what time is it every 12 seconds was handled better by my dad and grandpa. Although I try, I’m not the most patient guy there is. But nevertheless, I’m am so thankful for these things I get to pass on to my boys. My daughter tried hunting last year. By the end of the one and only hunt she went on she informed me that she had no idea why we would sit there that long for absolutely nothing and would not be attending another hunt because she couldn’t stay in that box any longer. I guess I’ll have to play more dolls.

After we got in from hunting last night we ate supper. Then we sat down and started watching the OU game. During the game I got up and made popcorn. While eating it I told Kristin it reminded me of grandma and grandpa’s house. Deer season and OU football with popcorn. All we needed was Dr. Pepper to have the complete reenactment. My family is special to me and will forever have a special place in my heart!

I am also thankful for my church family. I am thankful that we have a great congregation with great leadership. They help motivate us each week to be the best we can be and to reach out to those in need. Those needs may be material things and they may be spiritual or emotional things. But it is a congregation focused on reaching people. Our church family is an integral part of our life which we are very thankful for.

Friends are sometimes underestimated in life. We sometimes don’t realize how important it is to be a good friend until we need that friend ourselves. We all have those friends that we see often and are close to. Then we all have those friends that we won’t see for 6 months, but when we do it’s like we saw each other yesterday. We are all thinking about both those types of friends right now. We can picture those exact people in our mind right now. How special are those people? How great is it to have people like that in our lives? We all have those friends that are brutally honest with us. The things they say to us we wouldn’t take too well from just anybody, but it’s ok if that person says it to us. We take it better from them. Those are special friends. We also all have those friends that get on our last nerve sometimes, but they are our close friends so we tolerate their imperfections. These are the things that make friendships so special. Kristin and I are blessed with great friends that we are so thankful for!

I am thankful for my own little family as well. I am so fortunate to have the wife and kids that I do. Now if you have read other post on here, or the deer story above or heard stories about our kids you might not think we are thankful. Having my patience and sanity tested at times does not diminish the thankfulness I have for them. It’s for good humor really, although there is some truth to what is written too. I just hope that we can raise them in a way that they will love the Lord and follow the right path. They are blessings from God and I am so thankful for them.

Most importantly, I am thankful for God and my relationship with him. It has had its ups and downs just like anything else. But the one thing that hasn’t changed in all of it is God. And thank goodness he hasn’t. He always has and always will be there for all of us. That’s what makes him so special. We all have people in our life that will be there for us. We also all have people that, when it comes down to it, might not be there for us, depending on the situation. Sometimes we don’t know until we are in the situation. But the situation doesn’t matter to God. He isn’t going anywhere. That is what is so awesome about being a Christian. We know without a doubt that God is there for us. I’m sure there have been times in all of our lives when we sit back and think, it’s hard to believe that God still loves me after I’ve done whatever it is. It’s hard to believe that God can really forgive me of whatever it is and he doesn’t even have a recollection of it. That’s crazy to me. But that’s our God.

These are just some of the things I am thankful for. They are some of the most important parts of my life. As I wrote this I realized that all these things have one common denominator = relationships. Relationships are so important. We are called to love God and love our neighbor. Both of those things are relationship oriented. We can’t love God and our neighbor without strong relationships with both. We can have investments while here on earth. We have things we invest our money into. We have things we invest our time into. We have things we invest our energy into. The list could go on and on. But perhaps the greatest investment we can make is in relationships. Relationships with God and fellow man.

I encourage all of us as this holiday season approaches to take a deep look at what we are thankful for. Look at what we put our emphasis on. Where are our treasures? What do we look at as important here on earth? Sometimes our treasures get out of whack and we have to make adjustments. That’s ok. That’s normal. Sometimes there are things that happen that make us realize that. Sometimes there are things that happen that change our priorities or make us realize that maybe they are not where they should be. Everyone has different interest and different things that are important to them. But in the end, if we love God and love our neighbor as ourself, relationships will be a very important investment in our life. I challenge everyone to take some time over the next several weeks of this holiday season and take a close look at where our treasures lie and realize how much we truly have to be thankful for!!!