What God Has Taught Me from Pain, Sorrow or Depression
Pain – When you have a heart attack, you have real pain! Since reading scripture in the Bible, I’ve come to learn that any and all pains we have are methods God uses to build our character. How we overcome that pain can strengthen our character in God’s eyes and is noticeable by those with whom we come into contact on a daily basis. Trust God not to give us more pain than we can bear.
Sorrow – When I lost my mother, I had expected her to die soon (she had lung cancer), but I never knew the grief it would cause me upon her death. I learned that although we know beforehand that death will claim a loved one, that doesn’t soften the impact it has when they actually die. We must trust they have confessed their sins and are forgiven of God and will be in heaven to welcome us someday.
I’m sad too, over the many pets I’ve had over the years that have died.
They were all God’s creatures and one can began to think of them as family after
a while. Even from the distance of years though, the adventures and loves we
shared while they were alive, are a blessing that can bring a smile to my lips at
odd moments of reminiscence. That must be God’s doing!
Depression – my moments of depression haven’t been frequent or very long – thank God! The strongest memory I have of being depressed was in 1961. Upon returning from a shakedown cruise in the Caribbean (I was a radioman in the U.S. Navy then), my ship docked at Little Creek Naval Base in Virginia and we went on Liberty. I invited the first class quartermaster and a first class radioman to go to my house (I lived in Virginia Beach) for dinner. After eating, we decided to go on down the road to NC where they were having a dance. On the drive down there we stopped in a couple of places to drink some beer and shoot some pool. The last place we left, the quartermaster wanted me to drive but I wasn’t familiar with his car and turned down the opportunity.
I woke up in a hospital in Portsmouth, Virginia. I had multiple facial fractures, the other radioman had a broken leg and the quartermaster had got the steering wheel through his chest and died. We’d had an accident (no others involved). I had my jaws wired shut for three months. Shortly after leaving the hospital for recovery, I got a letter from the quartermaster’s wife. He had two teenagers and a grieving wife who just wanted to know what had happened. I felt guilty over that incident and for the longest time, it did put me in a deep depression. I kept saying to myself, if we’d only done this or if we’d only done that. To say I’ve been contrite over the years is putting it mildly. The truth is that it was God’s will. How we handled that crisis in our lives, built our character. It was just one of the steps that made me the man I am today.
John E. Hunt
Sunday, August 05, 2007
What God Has Taught Me from Lack of Money
What Has God Taught Me from A Lack of Money
I was born in 1940, so had some experience as a child with being poor during WWII when dad was in the Pacific and mom was raising us two boys (my brother Harold – now dead) alone. We used to have to go to the store with ration coupons to buy food. Our morning meals consisted mostly of oatmeal. If we had meat on the table once a week, we were fortunate. That experience taught me to enjoy what I did have and to share with those less fortunate. We never considered ourselves poor but vowed to make a good place for ourselves in society and to have a better home life for our children. That has worked out for me mostly. My brother was doing well for quite a while but when his wife died, he fell apart. His boys (four of them) are scattered to the wind now. I’m not rich, and most likely I never will be, but I’m living comfortably and God is looking after us. We are at peace with our souls and trying to live good Christian lives.
John E. Hunt
I was born in 1940, so had some experience as a child with being poor during WWII when dad was in the Pacific and mom was raising us two boys (my brother Harold – now dead) alone. We used to have to go to the store with ration coupons to buy food. Our morning meals consisted mostly of oatmeal. If we had meat on the table once a week, we were fortunate. That experience taught me to enjoy what I did have and to share with those less fortunate. We never considered ourselves poor but vowed to make a good place for ourselves in society and to have a better home life for our children. That has worked out for me mostly. My brother was doing well for quite a while but when his wife died, he fell apart. His boys (four of them) are scattered to the wind now. I’m not rich, and most likely I never will be, but I’m living comfortably and God is looking after us. We are at peace with our souls and trying to live good Christian lives.
John E. Hunt
Monday, July 30, 2007
What Has God Taught Me from Failure
What Has God Taught Me from Failure
These are the failures that I wish to record in my life:
A. Failure to make E-5 in the Navy
B. Failure to make a success of my first marriage
C. Failure to quite smoking earlier in life.
D. Failure to promote God in my Family.
In addressing A above, had I made the rank I searched for, I probable would have stayed in the Navy. Perhaps God’s plan was for me to go into the Army so that I could meet my future wife. Thank you God!
In addressing B above, we married in haste and it was more lust than love. Although we were married six years, we only had a life together for two of those years – and I was in the DMZ in Korea during one of those years, so could only go “home” on weekends. We had less than two years together as man and wife. When we finally did get together again in 1971, we were strangers so we divorced. It probably was God’s way of preparing me for my second and current wife. Thank you God!
In addressing C above, the thirty-three years I smoked, ruined my health badly. I’m paying for that indiscretion today but it has led me to take an active interest in proper exercising of my body (swimming 6 out of 7 days). This has helped me to live longer so that I can devote more time to God’s plan for me. Thank you God!
In addressing D above, late in my life and during a near fatal illness, I learned that there was a group of people in my wife’s church who were praying for my recovery from a heart attack (I had two of them) and my wife was also praying on a daily basis. Not only that, but the pastors and congregants of that church came to visit with me in the hospital to cheer me and to pray over me often. I believe those prayers and the prayers of complete strangers, helped in my recovery – God answered those prayers. Thank you God!
In 2005, my wife, daughter and granddaughter were all baptized into the Korean/American Methodist Church. I was baptized long ago into the Catholic religion but sadly, never followed my religion carefully. I’m now a good Methodist.church goer and trying hard to learn to walk in the path of Christ. With constant prayer, reading the bible and learning about the scriptures, I can be a better man, husband and father/grandfather. I’ll try to be a good Christian.
John E. Hunt
These are the failures that I wish to record in my life:
A. Failure to make E-5 in the Navy
B. Failure to make a success of my first marriage
C. Failure to quite smoking earlier in life.
D. Failure to promote God in my Family.
In addressing A above, had I made the rank I searched for, I probable would have stayed in the Navy. Perhaps God’s plan was for me to go into the Army so that I could meet my future wife. Thank you God!
In addressing B above, we married in haste and it was more lust than love. Although we were married six years, we only had a life together for two of those years – and I was in the DMZ in Korea during one of those years, so could only go “home” on weekends. We had less than two years together as man and wife. When we finally did get together again in 1971, we were strangers so we divorced. It probably was God’s way of preparing me for my second and current wife. Thank you God!
In addressing C above, the thirty-three years I smoked, ruined my health badly. I’m paying for that indiscretion today but it has led me to take an active interest in proper exercising of my body (swimming 6 out of 7 days). This has helped me to live longer so that I can devote more time to God’s plan for me. Thank you God!
In addressing D above, late in my life and during a near fatal illness, I learned that there was a group of people in my wife’s church who were praying for my recovery from a heart attack (I had two of them) and my wife was also praying on a daily basis. Not only that, but the pastors and congregants of that church came to visit with me in the hospital to cheer me and to pray over me often. I believe those prayers and the prayers of complete strangers, helped in my recovery – God answered those prayers. Thank you God!
In 2005, my wife, daughter and granddaughter were all baptized into the Korean/American Methodist Church. I was baptized long ago into the Catholic religion but sadly, never followed my religion carefully. I’m now a good Methodist.church goer and trying hard to learn to walk in the path of Christ. With constant prayer, reading the bible and learning about the scriptures, I can be a better man, husband and father/grandfather. I’ll try to be a good Christian.
John E. Hunt
What Has God Taught Me from Failure
What Has God Taught Me from Failure
These are the failures that I wish to record in my life:
A. Failure to make E-5 in the Navy
B. Failure to make a success of my first marriage
C. Failure to quite smoking earlier in life.
D. Failure to promote God in my Family.
In addressing A above, had I made the rank I searched for, I probable would have stayed in the Navy. Perhaps God’s plan was for me to go into the Army so that I could meet my future wife. Thank you God!
In addressing B above, we married in haste and it was more lust than love. Although we were married six years, we only had a life together for two of those years – and I was in the DMZ in Korea during one of those years, so could only go “home” on weekends. We had less than two years together as man and wife. When we finally did get together again in 1971, we were strangers so we divorced. It probably was God’s way of preparing me for my second and current wife. Thank you God!
In addressing C above, the thirty-three years I smoked, ruined my health badly. I’m paying for that indiscretion today but it has led me to take an active interest in proper exercising of my body (swimming 6 out of 7 days). This has helped me to live longer so that I can devote more time to God’s plan for me. Thank you God!
In addressing D above, late in my life and during a near fatal illness, I learned that there was a group of people in my wife’s church who were praying for my recovery from a heart attack (I had two of them) and my wife was also praying on a daily basis. Not only that, but the pastors and congregants of that church came to visit with me in the hospital to cheer me and to pray over me often. I believe those prayers and the prayers of complete strangers, helped in my recovery – God answered those prayers. Thank you God!
In 2005, my wife, daughter and granddaughter were all baptized into the Korean/American Methodist Church. I was baptized long ago into the Catholic religion but sadly, never followed my religion carefully. I’m now a good Methodist.church goer and trying hard to learn to walk in the path of Christ. With constant prayer, reading the bible and learning about the scriptures, I can be a better man, husband and father/grandfather. I’ll try to be a good Christian.
John E. Hunt
These are the failures that I wish to record in my life:
A. Failure to make E-5 in the Navy
B. Failure to make a success of my first marriage
C. Failure to quite smoking earlier in life.
D. Failure to promote God in my Family.
In addressing A above, had I made the rank I searched for, I probable would have stayed in the Navy. Perhaps God’s plan was for me to go into the Army so that I could meet my future wife. Thank you God!
In addressing B above, we married in haste and it was more lust than love. Although we were married six years, we only had a life together for two of those years – and I was in the DMZ in Korea during one of those years, so could only go “home” on weekends. We had less than two years together as man and wife. When we finally did get together again in 1971, we were strangers so we divorced. It probably was God’s way of preparing me for my second and current wife. Thank you God!
In addressing C above, the thirty-three years I smoked, ruined my health badly. I’m paying for that indiscretion today but it has led me to take an active interest in proper exercising of my body (swimming 6 out of 7 days). This has helped me to live longer so that I can devote more time to God’s plan for me. Thank you God!
In addressing D above, late in my life and during a near fatal illness, I learned that there was a group of people in my wife’s church who were praying for my recovery from a heart attack (I had two of them) and my wife was also praying on a daily basis. Not only that, but the pastors and congregants of that church came to visit with me in the hospital to cheer me and to pray over me often. I believe those prayers and the prayers of complete strangers, helped in my recovery – God answered those prayers. Thank you God!
In 2005, my wife, daughter and granddaughter were all baptized into the Korean/American Methodist Church. I was baptized long ago into the Catholic religion but sadly, never followed my religion carefully. I’m now a good Methodist.church goer and trying hard to learn to walk in the path of Christ. With constant prayer, reading the bible and learning about the scriptures, I can be a better man, husband and father/grandfather. I’ll try to be a good Christian.
John E. Hunt
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