Feeling Under The Weather

Yes, I'm Sick...

For me, being sick is a lot like a three year old throwing a week long tantrum. I’m cranky, require constant attention and no matter how great something is, it’s never good enough. Ah yes, the joy that is Carlos…sick. Really, the only benefit to being sick is that I can get away with almost anything.

I can beg for a remote control that’s juuuuuuust out of arms reach.

I can ask for my favorite meal and ‘poof’ it just magically appears. Campbell’s Chicken and Stars if you’re wondering.

I can even throw all desire for personal hygiene out the window. (True story, as a teen I had the flu and didn’t shower for 3 days, my mom literally brought a hose in the house and sprayed me in bed so I would get up and take a shower. Sadly, I think I am proud of the fact that I made it three days)

The thing is…when I am sick, even though I am physically miserable, I almost enjoy it to a certain extent. Don’t get me wrong, I would rather be 100% healthy and know that having a head cold is nothing compared to something truly horrible that could befall me. But who wouldn’t love a few days of being pampered and waited on hand and foot.

Well today as I was basking in the glow of feeling under the weather and the smell of Campbell’s soup wafting in the air I realized that at times my prayer life can become a bit “spiritually” sick.

Think about how you act when something bad happens in your life. Maybe you didn’t get that promotion you wanted or a bonus you thought you would be getting doesn’t happen or worse. When bad things happen, we can fall into a “Sick Carlos” kind of prayer life. We find our favorite spot and have a pity party with God. Now there is nothing wrong with asking God why something happens or to fix the problems in our lives. Just don’t let that be the only reason you fall to your knees before the throne and don’t let that become the only way you pray. If its all about you, you, you and fix, fix, fix then you may be missing a real chance for God to do something truly great in your life.

Before I became full-time staff at Spirit FM. I thought I was ready for radio stardom. I thought my talents were not being recognized and that the world was missing out on ME! Carlos the next big radio star! I really did think that way for a time. And trust me, I would pray, God why is this happening? Why am I not working in radio yet? Lord, help me find a place in radio. Please God point me in the right direction to do radio. On and on and on…I’m actually surprised God didn’t zap me from heaven. My prayer life was all focused on me not getting what I thought I deserved. When we become so engulfed by what we don’t have, we miss out on what we do.

So you miss out on a promotion, happened to a friend of mine. He had the chance of a lifetime to become a very important person at a major financial firm. Everything seemed like the job was his. BUT, he didn’t get it. He did the pity party to God thing only to realize later that God had his best interest in mind. That financial firm had serious job cuts when the recession struck. That position he wanted was eliminated and the person who was promoted let go, while his job was held safe. Had he been promoted, he would have lost his job.

What I mean by this rant is one thing. Its not our place to understand everything that happens to us in life. God is not up in heaven with puppet master strings, casting lightning bolts down on us to see how we dance. When bad things happen. Look to God for direction and HIS will in our lives. Let Him guide our footsteps. He holds your best interest in His hands and wants to bless your life. Trust me. I know. The day I switched my attitude was the day I began to make the most of my part time status at Spirit FM. I began to take my time there more seriously, to practice my craft, to get better and then, when I was really ready. God opened the door. A BIG DOOR. I went from the night jock to morning show host in less than a year. Why? I don’t know. Only God does. So let Him guide your footsteps, turn your life over to His mighty hands and just hang on and enjoy the ride.

Be Blessed.

Carlos

I'm Back / Fringe

Hello Again / Lessons from Sci-fi

So...I'm back...did you miss me? I missed the blog more than you know, I just took a little time to recharge my sarcasm, fine tune my antenna to God and make a little sense of a few things. So...hello again.

I love my DVR. Odd segue but its the best I could come up with.

I really do love that little guy. Sits there ever so quietly on my shelf just doing what its been told to do. I never have to check it, never have to remind it, only say to it, "SHOW ME" and out comes everything I ever wanted to see and hear in the 50 inch glory of my HDTV. (Insert angelic church choir here)

I was playing catch up on my DVR listings and made it a "Fringe" night. If your not familiar with the show its basically X-Files 2.0, only better and no David Duchovny constantly looking sad eyed even when he is trying to look happy.

This episode was all based around a tiny town called Edina where the inhabitants had been experimented on in the late 1970's by the U.S. government and been rendered horribly disfigured. One of the scientists at the time realizes what has happened and creates a giant transmitter that has the ability to conceals their true identity within the city limits of Edina. Meaning, if you were to wonder into Edina, you wouldn't see the people as they truly were, horribly disfigured, you would see them as looking as normal as you or I. Catch one outside the city limits and 'poof' the veil is lifted and the truth revealed.

How I made the jump to my faith I still dont know, but this made perfect sense to me...

As people, we are all little mad scientists in our own right. On the outside, you may see this perfect radio DJ, with the perfect life, always in the will of God. But you truly have no idea what is on the inside. What things I struggle with, where I fall short, or how. (Not that its any of your business) Romans 3:23 is all you need to know "For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" and yes that means your pastor or priest and yes, even the Pope. Sorry to burst anyone's bubble.

Be it through our speech or our actions, we have all created our own little transmitters that hide who we really art to the rest of the world. Horribly disfigured people who dont deserve the grace of God.

The good news is that God sees right to the heart of the matter. He can see past all the fluff of our Christian walk, see through the facade of our daily actions and get right to the heart or it. Right to the heart of us. That dark little corner we try so desperately to hide. In the episode of Fringe, some residents even resort to murder to hide the truth.

Thankfully, our ever loving God already knows who we are and is ready to forgive. He sees me as I am and loves me regardless. He knew me before he made me, knew my strengths and knew my weaknesses, knew how I would rise and how I would fall and still loves me. Paul tells us, "And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, sanctified, justified in the name of Christ our Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit or our God"

So today, PRAY, let God get to work on the inside of your heart. In those deep, dark little nooks and crannies where we hide the hideous from the rest of the world. To be honest, I don't need to know, nor want to know what you struggle with. Find an accountability partner to help your walk and then give the rest to God. In the episode the town gets to keep their transmitter and keep their little secret; after the truth came out and the "sin" was removed. So let God work on you, I don't need to know how or when. Just don't try and hide it, hoping nobody ever finds out because someone already know...Eccl 12:14 "For God shall bring every work to judgement, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

Be Blessed.

Carlos

Random Thoughts

A while back my husband forwarded this email to me and I passed it around the office. It had us rolling. I came across it the other day and I thought I'd share. These are just a few of the random thoughts from 25-35 year olds:

- Do you remember when you were a kid, playing Nintendo and it wouldn't work? You take the cartridge out, blow in it and that would magically fix the problem. Every kid in America did that, but how did we all know how to fix the problem? There was no internet or message boards or FAQ's. We just figured it out.

-How are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

- I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.

- Answering the same letter three times or more in a row on a Scantron test is absolutely petrifying.

- How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear what they said?

- MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

- I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

- Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after DVDs? I don'twant to have to restart my collection.

- Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has to go around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly nervous? Like I know my name, I know where I'm from, this shouldn't be a problem....

Hope this made you chuckle!

-Abby

A Day Of Victories

On December 6th, my team of Spirit FM listeners and friends gathered for our inaugural race, the Sunshine Challenge to benefit the Pediatric Cancer Foundation and it was definitely a day of victories.

For most 5 Ks that I've signed up for, you sign up as an individual. On the Sunshine Challenge site, there was an option to form a team. I thought, "Why not?!" I figured I'd mention it on the air a couple of times and maybe a couple of listeners would join me. I was pleasantly surprised when, by race day, my team was thirteen strong!

We had small victories: Ashley ran farther than she ever had before and I had a personal-best time. Then there were some larger victories: My teammate, Sean was the first-place finishing male. I was so impressed and proud of my team! The biggest victory of all though was for the Pediatric Cancer Foundation. As we ran, there were posters along the route of children whose lives had been taken by cancer. Talk about motivation to keep running. It was a great day for a great cause.

The plan is to sign up for another race next month and keep "Abby's Spirit FM Team" up and running (no pun intended). Hopefully the team number will grow. So feel free to join in. All are welcome!

-Abby

It About More than Rice Crispy Treats

Over the past few months, you've probably heard me mention donating platelets. Many people are familiar with donating blood and even if you've never done it, you know how it works. The world of platelets is something different and foreign to many.

First, let me say that if you're not a blood donor, I encourage you to pray and think about why you're not doing it. If it's because you're scared, I understand, but let the fear go. If you don't have time, I understand, but make time. If you just don't find an interest in donating, I understand, but get interested, please. One of my closest friends gave birth a couple of weeks ago and had a very near death experience. She said after she had the baby and they wheeled her into surgery, she saw the bag of blood there, ready for a transfusion. She's just one of about 5 people in my life who have needed (or come very close to needing) a transfusion. If I can name 5, you probably can too. Right there... that's enough for me to let go of any excuse - pain, fear, schedules, indifference - and roll up my sleeve.

That's blood. Now, let's talk platelets. When I go to the Florida Blood Services Donor Center I always see people watching movies. I've always known that they were donating platelets, but I never considered it. I had my platelet count tested and it turns out I have a freakishly high count, which is good! So I made the appointment.

Platelets are tiny clotting agents found in blood that are vital to people recovering from leukemia, cancer, open heart surgery and transplant surgery. Also, because chemo and radiation therapy often destroy healthy cells, these people need platelet transfusions as well.

Donating platelets is sort of like donating blood. I do it through two arms. One needle takes blood out. The blood then goes through a computerized cell separator machine, which collects the platelets. The remaining plasma and red blood cells are then returned through the other arm. It can be done through one needle if you don't have good veins on both arms. It takes quite a bit longer than a regular blood donation. It's a nice time to sit back and enjoy a movie though, or talk with God. Here are more details about donating platelets.

To be truthful with you, while it's not painful, it is a little uncomfortable. But, sometimes, God calls us to do things that make us uncomfortable, right? There are perks though. They shower me with Rice Crispy Treats and soda and I always walk out with a sweet new t-shirt (the platelet t-shirts are way cooler than the blood donor shirts). I joke with the folks there (Luis, Karen, Rachel, Laura, Becky, and Arelis- all my FBS peeps!) about how I'm just there for the Rice Crispy Treats, but that's my cool-girl front. The truth is, I love that I'm making myself a little uncomfortable, a little pained, and a little inconvenienced for a stranger who needs my help. Science is amazing and the human body is remarkable. The fact that I can give something from my own body that can help save someone else's life is a miracle to me.

I walk out of the donor center on Kennedy Blvd. feeling like a million bucks and that I was just part of a miracle. Yes, the purse full of Rice Crispy treats is nice too, but I know that God will honor my time and my gift. It's part of being a steward and I hope you'll consider doing it too. If you have any questions, please email me: abby@spiritfm905.com. I'd be honored to speak on behalf of FBS and answer any of your questions.