Vince DeStefano – Movement of My Heart in Words
My friend and fellow TKM brother, Vince DeStefano, sent me this small excerpt of something he wrote while he was praying this morning. Vince is real – he’s a TrueMan in every sense of the word, and he’s sincere. He’s a great man, a great husband, a great father and a great friend. He’s incredibly generous and humble.
Regardless of what your sin is, read through this and put yourself in the place of “I”.
“Lost in a deep thicket, hidden in an unknown forest, I cry out in desperation. Christ approaches me directly,
cutting through material with pure light and creating a straight path in his wake. He reaches me, and I feel intense shame and unworthiness. I plead to him, and though He remains wordless in reply I understand that my sins encumber me, realizing now that my feet are tangled in the brush. Christ turns and walks back from whence He came, taking with Himself the brilliance yet leaving an illuminated path, still straight, and seeming to implore me to determine the nature of the weeds which entangle my feet in order to destroy them and then fully pursue my purpose. While of course wishing to remain in His intense light of reprieve from temporal encumbrance, I’m left with renewed Faith, Hope, and compelling Love, filled with eagerness and determination to tear myself from Satan’s thorns and run after my Savior.”
TrueMan up!
A Man, His Wife, a Snowmobile and Wide-open Spaces
I’m a lucky man. I had the opportunity to get away this weekend with my wife. We got away for a half day on Friday, stayed overnight and had a whole day together on Saturday. With children, full-time jobs, a full-time ministry and life, we rarely get a full weekend together. A big thanks goes out to my brother, a friend of ours and to my in-laws for their help in watching the kids while we were gone.
The overnight date was perfect, just what we needed. A time with my best friend, a time of relaxation and rejuvenation, a time for some excitement and adventure. On Friday, we traveled to a small mountain town about 2.5 hrs away. When we arrived in town, the shop was ready for us. We signed in, grabbed a helmet for each of us, then traveled about 3 miles outside of town to start our back country snowmobile trip. We jumped on a touring sled and hit the trail. We couldn’t have asked for a better day – the sky was blue, the sun was out, the snow was pristine. It’s days like that when you really enjoy God’s creation… it was as if that day, God had created it all for us specifically. We toured around for a few hours, enjoying the scenery, the cool wind and each other’s company. The trip was incredible.
That night, we relaxed in a meager hotel room, enjoying each other’s company, the fact that we didn’t have to put any children to bed and the realization that there was no work in sight! The next morning, we got up early to hit the slopes, enjoying a day of skiing at a favorite ski resort. Again, God blessed us with an incredible day of blue skies, warm temps and time together.
What’s my point in telling you all about my wonderful overnight weekend getaway? My point is simple: take time to rejuvenate yourself. Find something – it doesn’t have to be snowmobiling and skiing – but find something that gives you life and make time for it in your life. As a man who is a glutton for a busy life, I can attest to the facts of life and what a busy, stress-filled life can do to a man. If you don’t have an outlet for your stress, your worries and your cares, they’ll catch up with you. If you don’t have a source of energy to fill you up, you’ll continually give of yourself until you run dry. For me, it was 1. time with my wife, alone without our children 2. time away from my computer, work and projects and 3. an opportunity to do an activity (2, in this case) that was life-giving! After this weekend, I’m ready to tackle my life and everything that life throws my way.
Whatever it is that you need in your life, be it a stress-reliever, a life-giving “fill up” or an outlet of any kind, make special time to make it happen. It will do you, and the others you are entrusted with, a great deal of good.
Man up!
Abortion Funding Showdown
I recently received this letter from Supreme Knight, Carl Anderson. Brother Anderson is the head of the Knights of Columbus based out of New Haven, CT. We have a chance to do something, to stand up for a social (in)justice and to push the truth. If this bill goes through, it will be the most devastating assault on pro-life since Roe v. Wade in 1973. Here is what Brother Anderson wrote last week:
The debate on health care legislation has now reached its final and most critical stage, with final votes expected in Congress within the next two weeks. The legislation is being fast-tracked through Congress using a rare parliamentary maneuver known as “reconciliation.” This procedure will push the bill through Congress over the objections of a bipartisan group of lawmakers in the House of Representatives that wants to remove abortion funding from the bill.
Very soon the House will be asked vote on a Senate bill containing provisions that would overturn the thirty-year federal policy against tax-dollar funding of abortion. If the Senate bill is approved by the House, it goes immediately to the President’s desk and will be enacted into law. A second “reconciliation” bill will then be voted on by both houses to make changes to the new law. These changes will not amend the abortion mandates enacted through the Senate bill.
The American Catholic bishops oppose the Senate bill, calling it “deficient” because it contains multiple pro-abortion provisions and federal subsidies for abortion. It allows for federal dollars to flow to abortion providers in community health centers; it allows for federal subsidies for overall health plans that cover abortion. Lastly, it provides no conscience protection for those who refuse to participate in abortion. A bipartisan group of lawmakers, including brother Knight Congressman Bart Stupak (D-MI), is working to ensure that health care legislation contains language that would ban abortion funding. They need the support of brother Knights from across the United States.
I urge you to encourage every Knight in your state to contact their representatives in Congress. Ask them to go to the Knights of Columbus homepage at www.kofc.org for instructions on contacting Congress. Your immediate action is critical. If the Senate bill becomes law, it will be the largest expansion of abortion in our country since Roe v. Wade.
Carl A. Anderson
Supreme Knight
Off To War
Just a quick note today to thank my brother for his service to our country. He’s headed off to fight the global war on terrorism for us. He leaves a wife and daughter at home for many months; Pray for him, her, their daughter and all service men and women in combat.
My brother is a 9+ year veteran of the Air Force, on his way to his third deployment. He flies one of the coolest aircraft ever made, the B-1 Bomber. Nicknamed “The Bone”, this plane has incredible flying capabilities, speed, agility and weapon-load capacity. It flies hard, high and fast.
Be thankful, today and everyday, that you live in the best country in the world. Be thankful, today and everyday, that we have men and women who are willing to step into harm’s way to protect our freedom and liberties. These are our heroes.
The Home of the Free, Because of the Brave.
Man up!
