breadbox6

2007-09-24T10:41:00.000-07:00

None of us are perfect. We all have struggles. Some folk's struggles are more obvious to the eye, while many of us are able to hide our habitual struggles from those around us pretty well. I've been thinking on this subject and studying a bit and a friend on Facebook recently broached the subject. He said "Many of us seem to pull ourselves out of destructive routines only to be sucked back into them again later. We are seriously like sheep. Oh look, there's a hole, oops I fell in. *slowly crawls out of whole* - Oh look, there's a hole, oops I fell in again. *slowly crawls out of whole again* - Oh look, there's a hole.......etc."

this was my reply to him - "I'm right there with you... I've been studying this a lot lately due to my own struggles and a couple scriptures have helped me.

Romans 7:14-25 (part of it - please go read the whole thing) - Paul Struggling With Sin - "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do... I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do? this I keep on doing."

If Paul faced this what makes me think it won't happen to me? I'm going to make it through unscathed?! Paul is considered by many as the father of the early church. He wrote like half of the new testament and listen to what he's saying. Satan at work and our own humaness means we will fall.

then here's a word from John...
1 John 1:5-10 (part of it) - Walking in the light - "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin."

Praise God!

Keep pulling yourself out of the hole. Eventually through the Holy Spirit you'll see the hole and say "Oh look, there's a hole. I think I'll walk around." Keep walking towards the light and you'll be just fine. You may fall into a few holes along the way, but there will always be the strong hand of your Lord and Savior to pull you out.

What are your thoughts?

P.S. I uploaded more family reunion pictures. If you want to see more of my family you are welcome to check them out here or here.

2007-09-07T07:16:00.001-07:00

This is most of my family that got together for a reunion last weekend in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. My immediate family starts about five folks from the left after two of my nephews, my sister and niece. I'm standing behind Sue with my eyes closed and the boys are in front of her. Then my mom is a little more to the right in the white shirt up front. My brother, his wife and other son are just to her right.

My Uncle Jack's son Alan and his wife Jonna (two in from the right with their son and daughter) did a great job of organizing the weekend. They even supplied meals all weekend except Sunday's lunch for $25 per adult.

Uncle Jack paid for this magnificent cabin for the family before he passed away in June. Mom's remaining brothers and sister were all there along with a lot of other cousins. My cousin Lyndon came from Oregon and Kerry came from the U.P. Some of my mom's cousins came from Texas.

The cabin slept 34, but I think we had more in there with futons, cots and couches. The lower floor had 2 hot tubs / jacuzzis on the deck and a pool table, air hockey and foosball in the game area. The resort also had a pool at the foot of the mountain which we used about every day. A few folks stayed at a hotel in town.

It was great to catch up with everyone. Sunday morning we decided to have worship at the cabin rather than try to get everyone ready and go out to a local church. It was a great service with great singing. Alan shared a memorial DVD of Uncle Jack which included the song I wrote and recorded for him. Uncle Auburn had a devotional thought and Jonna even brought enough communion for everyone.

a little taste of heaven :-)

2007-07-11T11:52:00.000-07:00

I know it's been a while. I have done a couple blogs on my Shoutlife page. My Uncle Jack (pictured here) went on hospice the second week of June. I was able to drive down with my Uncle Dave to spend a few days with him. The last thing I said to him Saturday morning was "I hope to see you on the other side" and he whispered "you will". He passed away June 18. My mom called me early that morning to let me know and I wasn't up yet. Sue and Steven had gone to MCYC and I was sleeping in. When I got up a while later a bit of a song was playing in my head. Within about 30 minutes the lyrics to my first full song were on paper. I called my mom and shared the "rough draft" with her and she loved it. Later I called my cousin Alan and shared it with him. He called me back Tuesday and asked if I could get it recorded in time for the memorial they were planning for Saturday morning in Oklahoma. Well it's a bit of a long story, but my friend Steve Spiceland came through and Thursday and Friday we got a "one shot" no editing or mixing recording done with Steve on guitar, drum machine and keyboards and me singing four part harmony. It's called "You Will" and you can hear it here. Here are the words...

You Will
By Steve Baggett in honor of Uncle Jack Way
Arranged by Steve Baggett and Steve Spiceland

(Chorus)
You will see me on the other side
You will in His love abide
You will always in Him confide
You will, by God you will

Life should be spent in love and service to the Lord
And to the ones He made
Accept His grace and mercy, gifts we can't afford
Live in The Light that just don't fade

Chorus

Take the blessings He gives, spread them to everyone
They're not meant to be held on to
Bring the lost His love, show them The Way home
So they can praise The Lord with you

Chorus

Even as he faded The Light was bright within
His eyes told the story, "I wanna go home with Him"

If I made a list of men I admire most
Uncle Jack is hard to beat
Smile of an angel, spirit of The Holy Ghost
A warm embrace that's oh so sweet

Chorus x 4

You will, by God you will x 3

© 2007 That Way music

2007-05-08T06:31:00.000-07:00

Samuel turned eight yesterday. Birthday's are a big deal to an eight year old, but Sam's are HUGE to our family. My wife Sue reminded me of a conversation we had with Dr. Walters back in 1999. It was sometime in May that we met with him. Samuel had been listed for a heart transplant and if one became available in time Dr. Walters would be his surgeon. He said something like "This isn't a cure (having a heart transplant). This is only a temporary fix. It could last eight weeks, eight months, eight years." Well if you saw Sam today (and you did - he's in my picture) you would never know he had been so critically ill. God is good, all the time.

I will take this opportunity to promote organ donor awareness. You can't take your organs with you and you could save someone's life. Be sure your family knows your desires. Sign up on your state's organ donor registry. If you want more details about our first months with Samuel, please go to the web-site set up by our donor family - Claine's Corner. The Loomis' are a wonderful, faithful Christian family who gave us a gift we can never repay at the worst moment in their family's life. God is good, all the time.

2007-03-09T13:08:00.000-08:00

I just saw something on Mike Cope’s blog that I loved so I thought I'd share...

Brothers and sisters at church who disagree with you have stories behind their feelings — some of which are hidden so deep they don’t even know them (just as you have such stories).

It reminds me that I need to forward grace to others (whether or not I feel they "deserve" it) as Christ did to me even though I didn't deserve it.

2007-02-05T06:20:00.000-08:00

This weekend I had the privilege of being a part of an awesome praise and harmony recording session. We took a group of eight from Trenton church of Christ (Denise Morton (left) and Nikki Sarkody (right) pictured here, Eric King under them, then me below him - thanks Jem) to participate with around 200 other folks in the chapel at Madison church of Christ in Nashville. The series is produced by Keith Lancaster who founded The Acappella Company. We were recorded by Gary Miller who is the best at what he does. I was able to be a part of the first recording in this series that came out a couple years ago and it was even better with a group from my own church - just a little taste of heaven. Last time I joined up with a group from Dayton, Ohio. You can read more at Keith Lancaster's blog http://www.keithlancaster.com/blog . You can buy the first project and hear clips here http://www.theacappellacompany.com/awgoacwo.html

I must also put a shout (pun intended) out for a new Christian alternative to MySpace. It's called shoutlife. You can visit breadbox's site here http://www.shoutlife.com/breadbox

We've already gotten a local oportunity from our page that was just created Tuesday.

Well it is extrememly busy at work today so I should stop and get some work done ;-)

2007-01-18T08:32:00.000-08:00

December 25th this year (yes Christmas Day) my mom's "Uncle" Joe Way (he was actually my grandpa Ben Way's cousin) also graduated from this life.

I don't claim to be able to judge where people are once they leave this life, but Joe and Sue's grandma Faye were pillars of faith in their families and if they aren't in heaven I don't know who will be. I thank God for their spiritual influence in my life.

Since Joe passed at Christmas time I was able to drive down to Tennessee with my mom and brother Norm and spend the holiday week with most of my mom's family including my Uncle Jack Way who is currently in remission from multiple myeloma. Others included my Uncles Von and wife Clara Jean, Auburn and wife Sandy and Dave and wife Linda (who live in my neighborhood) and my aunt Alma Chaffin and husband Neal. My cousins who were there included Kim and wife Sandra (Von's son who put us up in their home), Alan (Jack's son) and Teneal Jenkins (Alma's daughter who now runs the pharmacy in Gainesboro, TN).

Joe and his wife of 70 (yes I said 70) years Aline were long time members of the church I grew up in - the Sunset church of Christ in Taylor, Michigan. Joe served as an elder most of the time I can remember until he moved "back home" to Tennessee about ten years ago. Because of that they were more like grandparents to me since mine passed away when I was pretty young. They had such an obvious love affair. Aline is heart broken to lose her partner and best friend. She is still very sharp and can recall every moment they ever spent apart. She also knows the bible as good as anyone I've ever known. One of her grandkids used to sing in breadbox with me. His name is Dave Combs and he now lives in the Winston-Salem / Greensboro area of North Carolina with his wife Connie and their three kids. He gave her a Bible trivia game as a gift some time ago and later asked what she thought of it. She said something like "Oh it's pretty good, but they got a couple answers wrong"!

Dave and his sister Gina Cavanaugh and brother Matt (who helped Jim and me start breadbox) were all very close to me growing up. Since they lived in the area they were some of my closest cousins even though our grandpas were actually first cousins. Matt and his wife Missy now live in Springhill, Tennessee and Gina lives in Goodlettsville, Tennessee. It was good seeing all of them and spending time with their families.

2007-01-18T07:42:00.000-08:00

December 28th marked the first anniversary of Sue's grandma Faye's graduation from this life (shown here with her great-grandkids on her birthday in 2004). We miss grandma very much.

There is a prevailing thought that most folks don't get along too well with their in-laws. I must have nearly the best in-laws a guy could ask for. Bob and Rita are always there when we need them, but never butt in to our business unless we ask them to. Bob retired from Ford where he was an electrician and is very handy when it comes to do-it-yourself fixes that I am horribly dificient at. They are both retired and live close and often watch our kids for us. Here is a picture of Rita with her grandkids also from her birthday in 2004.

2007-01-12T13:49:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to post a quick note to have you visit breadbox's myspace...
http://myspace.com/breadboxonline

Keith (our baritone from Columbus) uploaded a video he did for "No Other Name". Click on "videos" on the left.

while I'm at it here is Mark Phelp's (tenor/lead) blog...
http://on-the-mark.blogspot.com/

and this lady has a picture of Sherman Elam (bass) when he had hair (about the 5th picture down with the Mercedes Benz t-shirt on)...
http://www.ponyabishop.com/

2006-12-14T06:16:00.000-08:00

This is the Baggett bunch Friday 12/8/06 at the Heart Transplant Christmas Party for the Children's Hospital of Michigan. This is an annual event where all the families get together and have fun and get to know each other better. I met Andri Hill's dad Brian for the first time. He took this picture and e-mailed it to me. You can read more about Andri at their CaringBridge site here (password is believeinmiracles)...
www.caringbridge.org/visit/alexandriahill

The boys had a blast. The party was a little different this year as Sarah McPharlin (teenage heart transplant recipient) brought a couple dozen teenage volunteers to play with the kids and help them with their crafts. Check out Sarah's web-site...
http://www.mcpharlin.net/

If you look closely at this picture you'll see a big deck of Uno cards in front of me. That's what the boys seemed to enjoy most. Also notice I am wearing my Arkansas transplant team polo given to me by our donor family the Loomis' this summer in Louisville at the Transplant Games. The boys got some stuffed "pals" (as they call them) from Santa and got to tell him what they wanted for Christmas.

The bad news is Monday morning Samuel woke up very sick. We are in the middle of introducing a new immune suppressant drug called CellCept to replace his Imuran. Cellcept is a drug that is measurable in blood draws whereas Imuran isn't. My mom came over to stay with him and I went in to work for a while, I got him an appointment with his pediatrician, Dr. Bloomer, for 3 pm. She couldn't find any reason for his headache, ear ache, low grade fever and general blahs so we talked it over and decided it was best to take him to Children's so they could take a look at his heart and make sure everything was O.K. there. If we hadn't started that new drug so recently we probably would have waited it out at home for a while. Well they decided to admit him and run a battery of tests (blood cultures and all that). They put him on I.V. anti-biotics (after they failed to get the I.V. in a couple times). By Tuesday he was doing quite a bit better and we were all pretty confident there was nothing major wrong. They wanted his cultures to go 48 hours before they ruled out a bacterial infection, but they released him Wednesday (yesterday) around 11:30. They said if something came back positive after that they'd call us back in. Samuel's least favorite part (even worse than getting poked) is the pulling off of the tape. That is such a painful thing for him.

So today he is back at school and our lives are getting back to "normal".

For those of you that knew, thank you for your prayers. God is Good - All the Time <><

2006-11-13T06:01:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted about Uncle Jack in a while and no news was good news :-)

He is hopefully in his last week of treatment in Little Rock (University of Arkansas Medical Center) just in time to be done for Thanksgiving - something we will all be thankful for.

I don't think I made this clear before, but he is doing his treatment mostly as out patient, but since he is about 240 miles from home (Wilburton, OK) he is staying in a hotel in Little Rock. Different members of his family have come to stay with him and look after him during this treatment. I think he and his two sons plan on Thanksgiving in Newcastle, OK at my cousin Mike's and then moving Uncle Jack to Powder Springs, GA to live with my cousin Alan. Here is his journal entry from last night...

My son, Mike, is now staying with me. He lives in Newcastle, Oklahoma. I am required to go to the hospital seven days a week. They take my blood pressure, temperature and oxygen level. They took four goblets of blood for chemical tests. Then they put two sacks of blood into my system (taking one hour per sack). They then dripped one sack of platelets--another 30 minutes--and finally a sack of anti-biotics which took 30 minutes.
We were there from 9:15 a.m. to 1:45 p.m.. From there we went to lunch and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon. I am hoping that all of that will bring my count up to where I will not be nupinic (without immunity). I will find out in the morning.
We worshiped at Pleasant Valley Church of Christ this morning. It is a very pleasant congregation and the worship was very conservative and the sermon was very up-lifting. Thanks for your prayers, love and for keeping up with my progress. I am still planning to be in Oklahoma this weekend. I will let you know if it doesn't happen.

2006-11-08T06:50:00.000-08:00

This is the newest incarnation of one of my favorite music groups - Acappella. They are the best Christian acappella group ever. They have recently produced a video for their single "Lord Save Me" off their latest album _Radiance_. Feel free to check it out at their myspace...

http://www.myspace.com/theacappella

click on "videos" on the left and then on the picture of the lady in her car

2006-10-17T10:22:00.000-07:00

I had the pleasure of giving my older son Steven the second birth Sunday at the end of worship. This picture is from Easter '05 when he was nine - it is also the first picture I've posted with my much better half Sue.

He's been asking about getting baptized for a couple years now and I struggled with when he would be "old enough".

He is very spiritually mature for an almost eleven year old. He reads his bible every night during our family devotional time and he has a heart of gold (thanks to Sue I'm sure). We got him an NIV about a year and a half ago and he started reading at the beginning and he's currently into I Samuel. We started family devo time when he was a baby. He had a bible story book and by two or three he had the book memorized and would "read" the stories to me and Sue. It was during one of these devos that we heard him tell us the story of Samuel and Eli. He did the part where God is calling "SAMUEL, SAMUEL" and his future baby brother was named.

I asked a good friend, Mark Phelps, about it last year and I'll post his comments here. "Was the faith that led you to baptism not enough for that time of your life? Does your baptism mean something different for you today than it meant then? If so, does a new meaning invalidate the old meaning? Will the faith Steven has be enough for this time of his life? It will mean for Steven what it means for Steven, and what it means to Steven--now and later--is given to him by God." This made me know that the next time Steven said he was ready I was ready. Thanks Mark :-)

It was difficult getting through the speaking parts. I don't think there were too many dry eyes in the house.

God is Good, All the Time.

2006-10-10T13:30:00.000-07:00

we just got some good news on my Uncle Jack. His treatments have gone well. His first rounds of Chemo are scheduled to end this weekend. They will harvest his stem cells and give him a week off. He will then have a second round of Chemo that should last less than three weeks. They will then put his stem cells back in. He is making plans to move from Wilburton, OK to the Atlanta area to move in with my cousin Allen. Here's a few pictures from Uncle jack's recent trip to Oregon. If you'd like to keep up on his progress you can click here http://www.caringbridge.org/cb/inputSiteName.do?method=search&siteName=jackway

2006-09-19T13:38:00.000-07:00

sorry for taking so long off. I'm sure there is a name for a blogger who starts and quits pretty quickly. I'll include some pictures from breadbox's performance in Cincinatti...

Since my last post... Samuel had a great time at camp. In his words "I got a little sad, but I didn't cry." He had lots of great stories and is looking forward to next year.

the boys have gone back to school (9/5). They seem to be doing pretty well. Samuel's migraines have bothered him again a little lately so if you could keep him in prayer that would be great.

My friend Matt from breadbox got a job with our sound engineer Dan so God answered that prayer.

My Uncle Jack Way who is the sweetest man I know in the world has been diagnosed with multiple myeloma. He is currently in Little Rock, Arkansas undergoing tests and eventually treatments that will likely include Chemotherapy and possibly a stem cell transplant. He has been widowed twice with his most recent wife passing just a couple months ago in a car accident. He has been a lifelong minister of the church of Christ in small towns in Oklahoma. He's now retired and wants to move in with my cousin Allen near Atlanta, GA.

My Aunt Alma (Jack's baby sister) and Uncle Neal Chaffin visited us last week from Gainesboro, TN. It was great spending time with them again.

Last week I also met with another family from Children's Hospital of Michigan who's son Zachary is waiting for a new heart. This is something I do from time to time - kind of like counseling. I just share our experience with Samuel as we weren't given much hope and look how good he's doing - Praise God! I'm just trying to make sure they keep their hope alive. Mom and dad are Joe and Carrie. Please keep them all in prayer.

breadbox got a new bass who joined us in his first concert yesterday so I'll include a picture or two from that. The second one is inside the church (Metro Central church of Christ in Detroit) during our performance. Our families said this was the best they'd ever heard us. God is really blessing this ministry. I don't think I've ever officially introduced the guys - I'm on the left, then Mark Phelps who is a youth minister at Livonia church of Christ (has his own blog), then Sherman who is a worship leader at Metro Central, then Keith Billingsley who still sings with us despite moving to Columbus, Ohio and attending Alum Creek church of Christ, then Jim McCardell who works with our worship ministry at our church (Trenton church of Christ) and then Matt Miller who attends Rochester church of Christ.

Sue is still laid off from Taylor Schools and it doesn't look good that she'll be called back. We've been in prayer and a door may be opeing. She interviewed at the boy's school (Creative Montessori Academy - a charter school) this morning for a 4th - 6th grade class. Please pray that this comes through if it is God's will.

Lastly - my car acted up again today. this time it's the radiator - $550 OUCH! That will make over $3,000 in repairs over the past year or so. Sometimes I wonder why I don't just get a newer car and make payments. Then I remember that I don't want another car payment. when do I give up on it?

2006-08-14T11:23:00.000-07:00

Samuel left yesterday morning for Camp Michitanki which is a camp especially for transplant recipients sponsored by the U of M Transplant Center {Go Blue!}. It is all the way up in Oscoda, Michigan. If you'd like to support this cause financially please go to http://www.firstgiving.com/michitanki

I can't believe how easily he went - he's always been such a momma's boy. The only place he's ever been without mom and dad overnight is grandma and grandpa's houses. If you read this before Saturday afternoon August 19th say a little prayer that he is safe, well and having a good time.

2006-08-14T10:51:00.000-07:00

my group breadbox traveled down to Cincinatti, Ohio to perform there for the first time Saturday. The performance went pretty well considering we hadn't been together in a couple months. The folks at the Anderson Hills Christian Church (http://www.andersondisciples.org/) were very welcoming and we had a great evening of praise outside the building. A group took us out to dinner afterwards and most of us stayed the night at a hotel before heading home Sunday morning. It was nice to have Sue's cousin Patty and her family - Dale, Nathaniel and Emma - at the concert. They live on the other side of town, but made the trek to see us. They seemed to really enjoy the evening.

If you are in the Detroit area we will be singing at the unity praise fest this Saturday evening at the Southfield Civic Center. Contact me for more information.

2006-08-01T06:11:00.000-07:00

well we had 339 last night which is an increase. our prayer is that God will touch each of these childrens’ lives in an amazing way. many of our guests are not members of our church so I believe this is a great opportunity to reach some folks.

My friend Matt Miller who is in my group breadbox lost his job recently. he is in the IT field and has his master's degree. If you know of any jobs open in his field let me know.

2006-07-31T09:03:00.000-07:00

We had our first evening of VBS last night at Trenton church of Christ. This seems to be a dying event in our churches, but ours still seems to be healthy. We had 336 at our first night which seems to be a little down from last year, but still pretty good. I believe we have around 100 volunteer teachers, aids, drama folks and singer types so that makes about 250 kids. Lord willing we will grow each night as we have in the past and get closer to the 400 mark by Wednesday. My wife Sue is doing crafts, I am singing and our boys are enjoying the experience. Feel free to drop by any of the next three nights (6-8:30) as we have classes for all ages and it is all free.

2006-07-26T08:45:00.000-07:00

this is me and Sam at a Tiger game last summer with the Gift of Life group