It is Official

Yes it is official. As of today we do not have a home phone. No more sales calls during dinner. No more answering machine messages to check. No more wrong numbers in the middle of the night. I have to admit it does feel a little weird not having a home phone after having one for years but I think I will get used to it. If someone is reading this and do not have our cell phone numbers and would like them, leave us a post and we will get them to you.

This is our Story to God be the Glory

Ernie asked a question in one of his emails about knowing more about our lives sense we left Calgary in 1986. I remembered a time several years ago that Benita and I told our stories at CBC and thought this may be a good way to answer his question. I sent him the link and then thought I would post it here in case someone else would like to listen to it. http://www.communitybaptist.to/cbcaudio/073105s.mp3

Have a good and Godly day!

Permission to post

Thanks for the kind words Ernie. I shared our exchanges with my Pastor today. He preached a message last Sunday on the subject of Suffering and It was a great message that I think you may find interesting. You can find it here http://www.communitybaptist.to/media.htm and then click on "Happiness Happens". Later in the day my Pastor asked me to share a short testimony to the church about Patrick and your contacting me these many years later. Of course I told him I would. I do not know exactly what I will say yet but I trust the Lord will give me the wisdom to say what needs to be said and that it will be an encouragement to the members of our church.
Also I want to know if you would mind me posting your last email on my blog? I would post it just as you wrote it. I believe it would be a blessing to some others to read it. Let me know your answer. If you don't want others to read it I will respect your privacy. Lord Bless Mike
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Mike, I am the one who should thanking you because your kindness, love and interest in Pat and our family is more real now than it was 25 years ago simply because I didn’t have an understanding of what or how you related personally with Pat at that particular time in your life. Of course I knew that you were being treated but –

I wish I could be there when you speak at your church service it would definitely be good for me as well to share in it. You can share any and /or all of my e mails as you see fit. Sometime when you have a minute please fill me in about how you got to go to Calgary and when you went back. Along with what you do as a boiler maker as I don’t really have a clue. How active are you as a Minister in your church?

When will you be sharing with the members of your church? Let me know please.

I have shared your blog/e mail with many people on my mail list and look forward to sharing it with more in the next few days.

Please say Hi to Benita from us and I think Shirley will be sending you an email shortly.

Kindest regards,

Ernie

Email from Ernie

Mike, I was going to respond on Garner’s Gazette but I couldn’t figure it out so now I have to get Chris to explain to me how to do it. You have touched me immensely through your words. They are very much appreciated and after lots of tears I decided I needed to respond. I have made several phone calls to friends and family to let them know that I am forwarding this to them.

I didn’t realize that you were just 30 years old when you took on the roll of friend to Patrick, to us and you shared with us at his memorial service. When I started my search for you and Steve I wasn’t sure if I would be able to locate the two of you 25 years later or what I wanted or expected to happen if I did locate you. I didn’t realize how you meeting and knowing Pat (better than many), would impact your life as it obviously has. You have touched my family in such a special way and your comments on how your life has been interchanged with ours and Pat’s is significant. This special Blog makes my decision to locate you and check in with you very worth while and I hope we can share more in the future.

I was just 33 and Shirley was 30 at the time of Pat’s passing and we didn’t know what might come our way next nor could we find the answers we were looking for and like you today we are no closer to answering those question’s. We thought that our lives had to get better because loosing Patrick was the worst possible event in our lives. Yet God continued to challenge us each day of our lives when we made life decisions, when Chris was diagnosed, when I fell off the roof, when that car accident happened and when I lay on the floor in the bank robbery.

Yes, Mike, you did make the right decision when you moved to Calgary to take over your post as Pastor and if there was anyway to make up your pension (like if I win the lottery!!) I would happily do it. You had what it took to do the job that God put in front of you and you faced it –the Church and your personal battle with cancer. We are very happy that you moved to Calgary because I know that those discussions you had with Pat made a difference to him and he is sitting there watching us reconnect and smiling down at us as we go through this and share in what occurred a quarter century ago. IMAGINE!!!!!!!!

Thanks for sharing your “GOD MOMENT” with all who may read your blog.

I will be sharing this with Steve and all my friends on the computer

Best wishes,

Ernie

A God Moment

Last week I had what I have heard called a "God Moment". A "God Moment" is a time when God works in a way that you realize something is just not a coincidence but a direct result of God working in your life. It all started at work one day last week when I was looking over my retirement readout with another fellow boilermaker. He was helping me figure out all the fine print in the papers. After we finished that it started to sink in that I would probably not be getting a big enough pension to be able to retire in November when I turn 55. As I examined the numbers I realized if I would have stayed boilermaking in 1982 instead of going to Calgary to Pastor a church I would probably have had enough hours and money in my pension to retire this year. Then I started wondering if I done the right thing back then.
A few moments later while checking my email on my phone, my Pastor told me someone had written him an email asking if I was the same Mike Garner who pastored in Calgary in the early 1980's. Pastor forwarded me the email and I contacted Ernie Callow. Ernie did a search on the web to see if he could find me because he wanted to thank me for something. That something was my part of the memorial service for his then 6 year old son Pat. Pat and I had cancer at the same time in 1982. We both lost all of our hair from our treatments and we would talk about that and other things during times at church on Sundays. I remember well Pat's spirit during that time and I never heard him once complain or ask "why me?". He just took what came his way and did the best he could with it. In the fall of 1983 Pat went home to be with the Lord. That same year my cancer went away and has never returned. Why did God heal me and take little Pat at such a young age? I still do not have the answer to that question to this day. I do know it was not because I was more deserving than little Patrick. I also know that little Patrick's life and death were and still are an inspiration to me and I am thankful that God allowed our life paths to cross.
Then came the "God Moment". I realized if I had stayed in Michigan longer in 1982 I would have missed this experience and many more important ones as well. God's timing is perfect. After 25 years God used Ernie to find me, thank me, encourage me, and confirm to me that I made the right decision in 1982. I may not be able to retire this year but that is O.K. I know I made the right decision then and I look forward to boilermaking a few more years if that is what the Lord has for me! Thank you Ernie and Thank you God.

My 100TH Post!

I just noticed when I went to post that this is number 100. So I thought I would celebrate by talking about my 3 favorite sports teams that all happened to play tonight. First my Tigers beat Clevland tonight by a big score. It was over before I got home from church after a big grand slam in the 5th inning. I was hoping we would win this one so I would not have to take anymore grief from my boss who is an Indian fan. We are now tied for last at 5-10. Not good!
My Pistons also beat a Clevland team tonight as they won their last regular season game. Bring on the 76ERS.
Last but not least are the wings. It looks like they may lose tonight to Nashville and come home Friday for game 5 all even.
Oh by the way the Lions did not play today thank the Lord!

The Oprah Cult?

I have said for years that I believed Oprah would start her own church someday. It seems that that is happening now with her new web casts she is doing with an author of her favorite book she has ever read. Watch the Youtube video and see what I mean. Thanks to Deanna for letting me know about it.

What is Oprah Teaching?

Change

If you know my wife very well you know she does not like change. I have been trying to talk her into doing away with our phone land line ever sense we went to cable internet access. We do not get many calls on that phone anymore and I hate dialing numbers so much I even use my cell phone when I am home. Well finally she has come around and we will be stopping our service in the next week or so. If you do not know our cell phone numbers and want them let me know and I will give them to you.