“You lack one thing; go, sell all that you have and give to the poor,\u00a0and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
I grieve for that man and for what he missed out on.\u00a0 He was in the presence of the Son of God and he was excited and wanted to learn more.\u00a0 He was even invited to travel with and be taught by Jesus\u2014but, because he was asked to give up the life he knew; because of physical wealth, he turned down Jesus\u2019 invitation and walked away.\u00a0 This man made the biggest mistake of his life and it was because he was afraid of a future that was uncertain to him and different from the path he\u2019d planned.\u00a0 He missed out on getting to know Jesus personally and may have missed out on heaven because of his fear of altering \u00a0the course he was already on.<\/p>\n
When Ren\u00e9e\u2019s neck was broken and she became quadriplegic, I had a tough choice to make.\u00a0 Should I stay with Ren\u00e9e and care for someone confined to a wheelchair for the rest of my life?\u00a0 Or should I leave Ren\u00e9e and \u201cstart over\u201d and have a \u201cnormal\u201d life.\u00a0 Choosing to embrace uncertainty was tough.\u00a0 Prayer gave me peace, and although I never heard a voice telling me to take this path, I got a sense of calm when I asked God if I should stay with Ren\u00e9e.\u00a0 I asked, \u201cWe\u2019re now on this roller coaster together, do I stay on the ride or jump off?\u201d \u00a0My next thought was quiet and sure.\u00a0 \u201cWe will see this through together.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0Today, I know that sense of peace was the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n
We were married in 1989 and fools that we are, we opted to go to Mexico A little bit of denial can be healthy.\u00a0 A short time after we were married, Ren\u00e9e and I were invited to visit friends in Phoenix.\u00a0 We hadn\u2019t flown on an airplane since Ren\u00e9e\u2019s accident; but hey, we weren\u2019t going to let something like the fact that Ren\u00e9e was quadriplegic get in our way.\u00a0 I booked the flight, rented a convertible Chrysler Le Baron and off we went.\u00a0 Now, mind you, it wasn\u2019t without some challenges. We figured out the flight OK with the assistance of some helpful flight attendants; and the wheelchair arrived in Phoenix, too.\u00a0 But lifting Ren\u00e9e\u2019s fanny from her wheelchair and placing her in the passenger seat of the rental car was not the easiest maneuver; and then lifting her empty electric wheelchair and placing it in the backseat of that same rental car wasn\u2019t the smoothest move either.\u00a0 But, I need to tell you that driving through the warm Arizona desert with the convertible top down and Ren\u00e9e laughing from the front passenger seat was a memory I\u2019ll never forget.\u00a0 Traveling can be scary and sometimes fear of the unknown prevents us from trying new things.\u00a0 My advice: Go for it.\u00a0 Life is too short to live in a bubble.<\/p>\n In 1992, Ren\u00e9e was invited to sing and be interviewed by the pastor of a local church for their Sunday services.\u00a0 What occurred that day was miraculous.\u00a0 Ren\u00e9e told of the pain and loss she suffered from her paralysis, but she also shared her deep trust and faith in our Lord and she encouraged others to TRUST GOD.\u00a0 The congregation was touched and word spread.\u00a0 Five years later, Ren\u00e9e and I were traveling all over the country encouraging young and old to persevere in their faith. What a joy and how fulfilling to be able to use our pain to minister to others.\u00a0 And how awesome to give honor to our Lord for His active presence in our lives.\u00a0 We\u2019ve met some incredible people in our travels.\u00a0 And a wonderful aspect of the ministry, is that I\u2019m able to travel with Ren\u00e9e to most events because a majority of conferences and concerts take place on weekends\u2026and my job as an Human Resources Director takes place Monday through Friday\u2026so we get to share the ministry experiences together on most weekends.\u00a0 The blessing of sharing in this ministry as a family, meeting the people and hearing their stories is priceless.<\/p>\n Last month, on May 16th<\/sup> which was the 25th<\/sup> anniversary of our injury, Ren\u00e9e and I drove out to Escondido and camped at DixonLake.\u00a0 The evening we arrived, we shut everything off around us\u2026and just the two of us sat and reminisced on the last 25 years.\u00a0 We made a list of the blessings that we\u2019ve experienced.\u00a0 Wow!\u00a0 If you\u2019re ever feeling down or melancholy, take the time to think about all the things you are thankful for\u2026and your attitude will change immediately.\u00a0 Get off the negative and focus on the positive and everything brightens.<\/p>\n Two hours later, we had a list of almost 100 experiences and memories that we had shared together and we both considered them blessings from our heavenly Father.<\/p>\n Surviving 25 years of paralysis and still loving AND even liking each other was at the top of the list of blessings.<\/p>\n Being able to travel and minister at churches, youth groups, prisons, conferences\u2026and being able to point people to our Lord has brought great purpose to our pain.\u00a0 God never wastes our tears.<\/p>\n Time is precious.\u00a0 Don\u2019t waste it.\u00a0 If I\u2019d had known that I\u2019d be dancing my last dance with Ren\u00e9e the night before her accident, I would have been on that dance floor for every song.\u00a0 The lesson I\u2019ve learned?\u00a0 Live life to the fullest and don\u2019t sit on the sidelines.\u00a0 Dance when the music is playing; and when suffering occurs, put your trust in the Lord.<\/p>\n So back to the story of the rich man in the gospel of Mark\u2026I would like to think that one day he turned around and said yes to following Jesus. \u00a0He may have, I don\u2019t know.\u00a0 But what I do know is that blessings abound.\u00a0 Miracles happen.\u00a0 God is with us.\u00a0 Try not to fear change.\u00a0 Oftentimes, change brings blessings.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve learned to give thanks for little things.\u00a0 Sometimes we can allow the darkness of a difficult situation to taint us and put us into a state of mind that paralyzes us and prevents us from experiencing joy.\u00a0 And this is not of God.\u00a0 Taking time to notice a beautiful sunset or the smell of an ocean breeze are gifts that we are meant to enjoy and appreciate.\u00a0 God gives us these gifs every day and we can make a conscious choice to acknowledge and appreciate them or to ignore them.\u00a0 I liken this to how we would respond if a close friend wrapped up a gift for us and gave it to us. Would we ever ignore it or even fail to acknowledge such a gift?\u00a0 Of course not.\u00a0 The same is true of the grace that our Lord has given us; and it\u2019s up to us to acknowledge, accept and appreciate His gifts.\u00a0 Even when ill winds are blowing, there are positive things that can be acknowledged.\u00a0 <\/b><\/p>\n Thanks for being part of our life,<\/p>\n Mike<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For me personally, one of the saddest stories in the Bible is found in three of the four Gospels, but my favorite version is in Mark 10:17-27.\u00a0 This is the story of a young man, who is so moved by … Continue reading ![\"Renee](\"https:\/\/www.reneebondi.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/Renee-Mike-portrait-Wedding-photo.jpg\")
<\/a>for our Honeymoon.\u00a0 Well, just for the record, curb-cuts and accessibility is not as big a priority in Mexico as it is in the United States.\u00a0 We had a good time, but we came home THANKFUL that we live in a country that embraced accessibility.<\/p>\n<\/a>In 1995, eleven days before our son was born, Ren\u00e9e\u2019s sister, Michelle, had a horrible accident and broke her back\u2026which has left her also confined to a wheelchair. The day Ren\u00e9e gave birth to Daniel was filled with tears and concern for Michelle who was still in ICU from her extensive injuries.\u00a0 I remember wondering if we\u2019d ever feel joy again as a family\u2026even though this was the day that the Lord would give us our only child, Daniel.\u00a0 As a man, I wanted to fix things, but once again, Michelle\u2019s injury was something that I couldn\u2019t fix and a dark cloud hovered over Ren\u00e9e, myself and the delivery.\u00a0 Within moments of when Daniel was born, as if on command, the beloved pastor of our church walked into the delivery room and asked in his deep, recognizable voice, \u201c\u2026Is there a baby in the room?\u201d\u00a0 My heart was filled with joy at how God had orchestrated that moment to have our pastor arrive at the hospital at that perfect time.\u00a0 Our grief for Michelle was interrupted, our son was born healthy and God revealed to us that light would erase the darkness, as it always does.<\/p>\n<\/a>Being a dad has given me tremendous joy.\u00a0 Seeing our son grow in both age and wisdom has been deeply rewarding.\u00a0 As I look back, I am so grateful for the years of being able to drive Daniel to school each morning and having our early morning conversations. And I wouldn\u2019t trade the Boy Scout Campouts and other adventures we\u2019ve shared for anything in the world.\u00a0 Earlier this year, Daniel graduated from high school and earned his Eagle Scout Rank.\u00a0 I could not be more proud of our son for his perseverance and the sacrifice it took for him to earn this achievement. Daniel is an avid singer and guitar player (both gifts he inherited from his mom).\u00a0 He tolerates backpacking with his dad and he loves snowboarding, reading and, yes, video games.<\/p>\n<\/a>As we move forward with the next 25 years, Ren\u00e9e and I are going to focus on spending more time with our Lord.\u00a0 We\u2019re going to take more spontaneous trips to the beach.\u00a0 Schedule time to visit with the friends we see too infrequently.\u00a0 We\u2019re going to take walks together with our new Labrador puppy, Shasta; and we\u2019re going to start that bible study in our home so we can continue to grow in our relationship with our Lord.\u00a0 God is always with us; we just need to open our eyes to recognize how faithful He is and how much He loves us.\u00a0 He invites us to follow Him and when we do, we open ourselves up to amazing opportunities.\u00a0 It\u2019s been an incredible and fulfilling 25 years and I\u2019m eagerly looking forward to seeing what the Lord does with us in the years to come.<\/p>\n