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Reveration Blog

3/19/2025 2 Comments

Overflowing Hope

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L-R: Bill Wadley, Dan York, Laura Wadley
​He had a pretty rough upbringing with three different mothers and two different fathers.[1] His dad was an alcoholic and gambling addict. His 16-year-old birth mom was a drug and alcohol abuser. At the age of five, he had to take care of three half-siblings in the apartment, and if anything was broken or went wrong, he was beaten.  He was seventeen before he found out his stepdad was not his real father.  ​

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1/6/2023 1 Comment

The Lord Will Provide

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The old Mary would have freaked out but not the new Mary.  The old Mary was extremely insecure with finances and struggled with worry.  The new Mary was all about trusting God, and now she faced one of the biggest tests in her life.  One of her clients owed her over $60,000 and had missed several deadlines in paying their debt.  She had leveraged her credit card to keep her business afloat, and if ever there was a time for panic, it was now. But instead of harassing the client to pay or taking them to court, she was gracious to them and kept her confidence that her business was God’s and not hers.  He would provide.  First, her hospital wrote off a bill she owed of $170,000! Second, other clients provided much-needed funds.  Finally, a different bank gave her a new and better credit line of almost $200,000. ​

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4/24/2021 1 Comment

The Source of Peace

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When I conducted a search for the “10 most stressful events” on the internet, the first two sources listed moving as #7.[1] I remember learning from a sociology class at West Point that moving was a big stressor.  It does make sense.  Moving is largely comprised of change, and the transitions change demand can be cortisol-producing. Imagine driving a packed 26-foot U-Haul truck from Colorado to Virginia and encountering drivers who seem clueless that one cannot slam on the brakes and immediately stop a fully-loaded truck! My physics professors would be proud of that observation. (May the woman who impatiently darted in front of me in Tennessee please learn that lesson). I’m also pretty sure my wife more than maxed her stress points trying to follow me in the Subaru as I wove between trucks on I-40. Despite all the miles, we made it accident-free and in pretty good shape. No animals were harmed, only one old piece of furniture was damaged, and, thanks to Covid, we had no problems finding hotel rooms.  ​

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12/24/2019 1 Comment

Johnny's Christmas

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Silently a small figure sat shivering on the soft pine-covered earth tucked away from the wind in a grove of blue spruce.  His tear-filled eyes gazed out across a small meadow where remnants of snow from the last storm lingered. He opened his knapsack and took out the curved white candle and remembered the last words of his frail mother.  “Johnny, I love you so much.  I’m proud of you.  I want you to take this candle and keep it and remember—you are to be a light.  No matter what happens, you keep shining?  Promise?”  

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12/5/2019 0 Comments

Oscar's Vision

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Oscar and Queta
​Oscar, in September of 2003, had a vision where he was on the beach in a messed up condition when someone approached him, took him to the ocean, and began to cleanse him with ocean water.  In the vision he stopped crying and felt an incredible peace.  He asked the person helping him, “Who are you?”  The person replied,  “I’m God.”  Oscar was a 3rd generation atheist on his mother’s side and 4th generation atheist on his father’s side.  His vision began a religious quest in which he sampled Buddhism, Jehovah’s Witnesses and other religions while maintaining his heavy lifestyle of partying and heavy alcohol consumption.  ​

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6/8/2018 0 Comments

Bliss

Part of the retirement process when leaving the military is to make sure that one’s physical maladies or challenges are all reviewed by the Veterans Administration to determine if the veteran may be owed compensation.  I had to undergo a battery of tests to see if past injuries or problems with my Achilles tendon, ankles, knees, hips, lower back, shoulder, hearing, sinuses, hair loss and sleep deprivation were service-related.  I was asked all kinds of personal questions by the sleep psych0logist I met with to see if anxiety, depression, any kind of drug or chemical addiction etc. were preventing me from falling asleep.  I mentioned multiple times that my problem getting to sleep is lifelong and has to do with an overactive brain that does not shut off easily.  I assured her that even though it is a battle for me to rest, I am mostly full of joy and did not blame the military for my condition.  I don’t think she was expecting that answer. ​

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5/31/2018 0 Comments

Do Not Fear

​Meditation
Zephaniah 3:15,16--The Lord has removed your punishment; He has turned back your enemy. The King of Israel, Yahweh, is among you; you need no longer fear harm.  On that day it will be said to Jerusalem: “Do not fear; Zion, do not let your hands grow weak.
 

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4/26/2018 0 Comments

Hold Your Peace

I heard an excellent message from a pastor recently about not defending ourselves when we are betrayed or attacked.  His point was that no matter what we say in defense we cannot undo the damage and we may actually make things worse.  If we have done what is right and are slandered, lied about, or smeared unfairly, the best course of action is to continue to live our lives righteously and trust God for the results.  If close friends ask what is happening, we may share with them . . . The point is: don’t retaliate, defend, or excuse ourselves.

This is not easy.  To hold our peace when warred against is like watching mosquitoes take blood and not swatting them.  Why would we do that?  

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2/9/2015

Strategy of Peace

There is growing hysteria over the activities of extremist Muslims and the accelerated advance of Islam throughout the world. Christians, Jews and Secularists discuss strategies as to how to contain those who are bent on converting the world by force to their beliefs and the application of Sharia law. Muslims who insist on forcefully disseminating their ideology are labeled as the enemy.  As news outlets report the growing war with these practitioners often my mind is filled with critical thoughts about Muslims and I so quickly cheer when they are defeated or destroyed.   But God’s Word rebukes me.  

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1/11/2013

Pursuing Peace

​Meditation
Romans 14:19—So then, we must pursue what promotes peace and what builds up one another.  
 
One of the greatest hindrances to the deepening of relationships is our propensity to want to change those around us. While our motives may seem pure, in fact if we are not careful there is an ever subtle danger that our distilled rationale for fixing others is in fact for our own betterment.  Much of the time what we want from others or even for ourselves is not necessarily what God wants.  

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3/19/2012

Outlook

​Friday I drove with Normi for five hours to Spokane unsure of Aunt B.J.’s condition.   At the age of 83, it would be bad enough to have one intestinal surgery, but she was now recovering from a second operation within a week with no food in her system and a weak heart.   Her second surgery removed a blockage the size of a football.  It was not surprising that she was very tired when we finally arrived on the 10thfloor of Deaconess Hospital and walked into her room.

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10/16/2011 0 Comments

Valor

​Brian Birdwell in his book Refined by Fire wrote, “We all face personal fires—those life-changing, traumatic times when the course of our lives are altered.”  On September 11, 2001, terrorists hijacked and crashed American Airlines Flight 77 into the Pentagon.  MAJ Brian Birdwell was so close to the impact area that the ensuing explosion burned 60% of his body.  He endured over thirty surgeries, fought off numerous life-threatening infections and suffered continuous horrific pain to the point that he “begged God constantly to let me die.”

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12/25/2010 0 Comments

Bee Stings

​Dinner with Carlos and his family turned out to be quite extraordinary.  We arrived looking to encourage them with our Hope and instead enjoyed rich fellowship.  Francisco, Rocio, and their three children all have a strong faith in God.  While eating Rocio’s incredible Tamales, I asked Francisco how he came to meet the Lord.

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6/28/2007 0 Comments

Restoring

​I am continuously amazed at how effectively Satan derails relationships among Christians through bad reports and conflict.  Teams of people who functioned well in ministry become divided.  Churches split.  Friendships end often without either party working hard to find the source of the problem.  How quickly we believe bad information about fellow believers without bothering to investigate the facts or appreciate the potential for misunderstanding.  I realize why bad news sells newspapers—trouble is as attractive as a bug-zapper.  But how sad it is that Christians so easily judge and condemn each other at the expense of God’s kingdom when we should be champions of forbearance.    

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1/28/2006 0 Comments

Striving

​When Nancy was thirteen years old she was diagnosed with a disease in her heart, osteoporosis, and the verdict that she would never bear children.  She and her mother bargained with God.  They would pray wherever they were every day for two months at six a.m. and six p.m. if He would heal her.  At home they had no food and life was miserable.  One day several Costa Ricans came to her Nicaraguan church.  While the visiting pastor spoke with Nancy’s mom, his wife spoke with Nancy. On a Friday afternoon she told her that she would receive everything back in double for her faithfulness.  On Monday when the doctors examined her, she was completely healed. Though He did not have too, God in His mercy, blessed the young girl.  

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10/29/2005 0 Comments

Weather

​One day Jesus asked His disciples to go with Him across the lake.  So they got in a boat and begin crossing the Sea of Galilee when a fierce storm without warning hit them.  I love this story of adventure and danger for the lessons it teaches us.  

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3/25/2005

Easter

​Studying the Easter story gives us amazing insight into what it means to be human. Jesus on many occasions told His disciples that He was going to die even hinting to how He would be killed (John 12:23-32).  But His forewarning was unfathomable and when He was crucified they were devastated. The beloved Apostle John records “In the evening of that first day of the week, the disciples were gathered together with the doors locked because of their fear of the Jews. Then Jesus came, stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!” (John 20:19). Imagine the men who watched Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead, calm an angry sea, feed thousands with a few pieces of bread and fish, heal a man blind from birth and silence the brightest religious minds with pithy one-liners, reduced to hiding in a room afraid for their own lives.  When Jesus appeared to them His action gives us brilliant insight into the human need. He didn’t recount the Sermon on the Mount, review the Lord’s prayer, or scold them for hiding.  He simply shared with them three words.  “Peace to you!”  He filled their despondent hearts with joy and courage that eventually turned the world upside down.

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10/3/2004 0 Comments

Recognition

​I often notice when I meet people for the first time they look at my chest.  Now that sounds weird doesn’t it!  What I mean is that when I am wearing a uniform I often feel like I am being sized up or evaluated for the cloth patches sewn on my shirt.  Whether it is the military, Girl Scouts, AWANA, varsity jackets, etc., patches, medals ribbons and pins tell a story of what kind of training or accomplishments a person achieved.  

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7/2/2003 0 Comments

Marriage--Conflict Resolution

​Julie* smiled at me but her radiant ivories could not hide eyes that hurt.  In five years with Curt he had yet to give her flowers.  She would drop hints.  Once,she shared why her dad gave her mother special plants.  But practical Curt mentally pictured shriveled bouquets and concluded why waste money on something that won’t last.   Curt did not understand that flowers were not the real issue.

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9/19/2002 0 Comments

Understanding

​If someone were to ask you what the secret for living a fulfilled life is, what would you say?  There are probably a dozen great responses.  

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