Trials and Tribulations-Count It All Joy: 2014

A Dragon Blessing

Atra esterni ono thelduin,

Mor’ranr lifa unin hjarta onr,

Un du evariya ono varda.

May good fortune rule over you,

Peace live in your yeart,

and the stars watch over you.

(From the Eragon series)

Grace & Peace

Condemn not, and ye shall be not condemned...........

Chinese Proverb:

“Where there is a will to condemn, there is evidence at hand.”

Grace & Peace

I, Ryan Lee Sumstad, pled guilty today, March 20, 2014, to manslaughter and a 20 year sentence to TDCJ in the death of my wonderful wife, mother of my children, angel on Earth, Christie Michelle Sumstad (Mercer). I was reckless and, oh, so selfish. It was an accident, but that’s no excuse. I will forever be tormented by what I did do and what I didn’t do. I was flat wrong.

I am now a ward of the State of Texas. I do not know what the future of this life holds for me. I do know that I repented (several times until I was at peace) and I am saved. One day, I will see Christie in Heaven. She is there looking down on us now.

In the meantime, I must endure. I am determined to serve God and demonstrate my faith. I will occasionally post to this BLOG as a kind of therapy. Not all of my posts will wallow in despair since I tend to compartmentalize the world around me. If an article offends you in some way, just know that it was not my intention, but it’s my guess that it is my very existence that offends you. Please read on and observe my journey into the future one step at a time. Positive comments welcome.

Please pray for me, my children, my family, Christie’s family and all of our friends. There is much healing needed by all. Please be patient, be filled with peace, and as James wrote in his epistle: “Count it all joy” when we face many afflictions. God bless you, gentle reader. Amen.

Grace & Peace

Don't Know What To Say

Look, I screwed up.

Now I’ve been chewed up, swallowed by a demon that threw me up.

Words can’t describe how I feel, when you say I’ve got a heart as hard as steel.

Sometimes it feels like I’d rather have a martyr’s deal.

I don’t even know how my own mother feels, ‘cuz I’ve been abandoned.

I pray to God to be like Samson, so I can pull through this mess.

I just asked to be blessed since I’ve confessed for what I’ve done.

________________

Thanks to my little buddy, Van.

Grace & Peace

Joy and Peace Out of Guilt & Despair

The Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin (John 16:8). Sin leads to a feeling of guilt so we know we’ve done wrong. This is so we may repent and ask God for forgiveness and then be restored in God’s eyes. He will not remember our sins (Isaiah 43:25). If the guilt persists, it might not be of God. Romans 8:1 proclaims the truth that “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” A life with Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit, is one of peace and joy.

The truth is that God loves us all, even me. I’ve had over 3 years to ponder that and eventually embrace it. I know now that I am loved by God and not condemned because I am in Christ Jesus. Jesus took on all sin while hanging from that cross on Calvary. That’s a huge gift – that’s how I’m forgiven. It’s the miracle of grace. God’s Word is the truth that unlocks the freedom from the prison of guilt and allows us to leave fleshly lusts behind and walk in the Spirit.

This is my spiritual resurrection – I am dead to sin and alive by the power of Jesus. Amen.

Grace & Peace

If I Could Go Back In Time.....

Don’t we all wish we could time travel at least once? If possible, I would go back to September 1, 2013. It was a week after my baptism at Woodlands Church, 3 weeks before a cruise to Cozumel, Mexico with Christie, and 4 months before the start of one of the worst years in my life. I wouldn’t need to go back in time for very long-just long enough to pass on a message to myself. This is what I’d say:

First, take God and your new commitment to Him seriously. Make God your #1 priority. Read the Bible first every day. Pray morning, noon, and night. Pray before making decisions. Heed the response. Make “praying first” a habit. Thank God for your blessings. Go to church every Sunday. Tithe 10% and save 10% OF THE GROSS EVERY MONTH. Participate in all available church activities: volunteer, attend small group bible study, do all the stuff for kids, do that date night thing they offer, and support Christie in M.O.P.S. activities.

Second, cherish every single moment with Christie. Tell her you love you every day – show her you mean it. Take her out to lunch and out on dates – often. Take her to Paris. Help her with the homeschooling. Send each kid to private school once they reach 7^th grade. Support her in finishing her degree in biology. Help with housework everyday. Stop drinking. Stop watching porn. Read Titus 2:11-15 and Job 31:1 to help break that addiction. Take anger management classes. The “grass” is not greener. Period.

Third, come home from work on-time every day. An extra hour of work is not the same as an hour playing legos. Legos wins every time. Limit TV to 10 hours a week. Spend more time with Tessa, Alyssa and baby Derek. Get them all in scouts and martial arts (or other sport). Take Tessa and Alyssa on their own “Daddy dates” once a month so they know how a real man should treat them. Have a family meeting every Sunday night. Pray together, then talk about the coming week. Make Monday nights “family fun night” with each kid picking the activity/meal in rotation. Go camping and fishing together because it really is fun. Make it your hobby. Call your sister, Jill, at least once a week. Go to all extended family activities. Take lots of digital pictures. Buy Christie a real nice digital SLR and get yourself a pocket digital camera. If Matt Hensley has severe abdominal pain, immediately take him personally to Memorial Hospital, force them to do an MRI and remove that infected appendix.

Fourth, spend more time with the good people in your life. Avoid certain unsavory people who lack morals, have no ethics, promote infidelity, gamble, and/or do drugs: Mary Lezynski, Todd Watt, Terri Legendre, Majed Julali, Jason Miller, Amanda Wick, Robert Rhodes, Dr. Paul Looney, Wayne Springer, Debra Karlsson, Jordan Linger, and Karon Moore (and her cross-dressing husband, Joe). Make more couples friends in The Woodlands who attend church too. Attend and host dinner parties. Be a great friend. Be neighborly. Be a great neighbor. Have BBQ’s.

Next, do not sell your company, AXP Technologies, to Systems Evolution. Cloud-computing will be really, really huge. Core values are more important thatn today’s revenue. Outsource non-core strengths. Study Gitomer for sales. Join BNI and the Chamber for networking and Toastmasters for public speaking. Participate in the Houston Tech. Center. Become a Citrix and VMWare partner. Look up thefacebook.com and invest $100k with the owner Mark Z. Hold it for at least 10 years. Invest all you can every month in Apple. Stop doing MLM’s. Watch CNBC. Take the long view in business decisions (after praying about it first). Get and stay debt-free personally and in business. Do “Financial Peace” by Dave Ramsey. Stick to a budget.

Last, set goals. When you reach them, set new ones – keep stretching. Don’t stop growing in all aspects of your life. If you get off track or feel lost, return to the first things first. Join YMCA. Work out 3x a week and run 3x a week. Also do yoga and Pilates classes with Christie for fun. Work out with Christie once a week. Set a physical goal: bench 225 lbs 25x, pull-ups 25x and run Houston Marathon in under 4 hours. Learn “mid-foot” strike running technique used by barefoot runners. Get your deviated septum fixed ASAP. Get laser eye correction. Let Dr. Cannon fix your ankle. You’re not an OT anymore. Go to Rebecca Dawden for marriage counseling at least twice a month, 90 min. each. Don’t be idle. Do work around the house in spare time. Take a family vacation at least once a year for at least a week. Read everything by S. Covey and J. Maxwell. Oh ya, have lots of fun ding it all. Amen.

Grace & Peace