Relief, Recovery, & Rebuild Partners

Relief, Recovery, & Rebuilding is a journey that no one can do on their own. While it would be impossible for me to properly express my gratitude to all that have helped me and FBC Rowlett throughout this process, I would be doing many of our partners an injustice not to try and mention some of them. Let me just say THANK YOU to all who have offered your wisdom, insight, experience, love, encouragement, and advice during this ongoing process.

Sam Porter with the BGCO Disaster Relief put me in touch with Terry and the Texas Baptist Men. The Texas Baptist Men put in over 1,100 man hours, with over 450 volunteers across the Great state of Texas. The Texas Baptist Men stayed in our church for over 6 weeks. Their team slept on cots and showered in a trailer. They were the first ones in town and the last to leave. They are awesome!

Prestonwood Baptist Church has been invaluable as well. Mike Buster, Joe Perry, Jarrett Stephens, and Pastor Graham have been kind, helpful, and generous to the church and me throughout this process. I am grateful to have worked their during my early days of ministry, and am grateful to still be a part of the Prestonwood family!

Victim Relief Ministries have been incredible as well. Jim was an incredible resource throughout the first 3 weeks of the relief effort, and still serves as an advisor to me personally. He gave us our greatest initial advice in our relief efforts by advising that we not accept used clothing, which allowed our church to have the resources people in our community really needed from the get go. VRM also housed disaster counselors throughout the first 4 weeks at our church.

Guidestone Financial Resources provided us with the opportunity to be Jesus in Workboots to our community. As a result of the insurance they provide, we were able to send out teams from our church to go serve the families in our community to remove debris without having to worry about what would happen if someone got hurt. Not only do they provide this peace of mind, Guidestone actually celebrates the fact that they provide such tremendous services to churches like FBC Rowlett.

Home Depot has been incredible as well. Our local store in Rowlett donated over 1,400 storage bins during the first month of the relief effort. They also sent in corporate executives from Atlanta to Seattle. One multiple days, they sent over 100 workers into the community to do hard work in freezing rain. They were even cool enough to ask me to pray over them before they went out to work!

KLTY was so great to our community as well. They provided 50 families with incredible gifts that went far beyond the monetary dollar figure. For those 50 families, they provided gift cards, crock pots, cleaning supplies, storage bins, and other essentials people needed to get back on their feet.

This is where the list is not long enough. We have been helped by churches not only in Texas, but throughout the United States. We have seen people and donations sent from New York, Michigan, Oklahoma, and beyond. Churches from across the DFW area have sent teams to work in our donation center, to work with our church family in neighborhoods, and have even helped us get the word out. The help offered by so many has been completely and totally humbling. THANK YOU to all who have helped our church in this process, we are grateful!!!

Rowlett Long Term Recovery Committee

In February, the City Council put together a Long Term Recovery Committee to to provide recovery services to individuals and families affected by the tornado that hit Rowlett, Texas on December 26, 2015. It was an honor to be invited to be a part of this committee, and my hope is to represent my Savior and Church well throughout the duration of my time serving the citizens of Rowlett. One thing I am excited about is being able to serve on the Spiritual Care Subcommittee. We were able to put together a team of local ministers to address the spiritual needs of those in our community impacted by the tornado. Pray for many to find Jesus in the storm!

Shoulder Surgery #2

Ever since my initial shoulder surgery, I have lived with a constant popping noise and mild to moderate pain when my shoulder moved up and out. At first, my physical therapist and doctor thought it would naturally fix itself. However, after 7 months my doctor decided to take more aggressive measure to determine what was causing the issue.

Thursday, December 10, I had a shoulder appointment that resulted in me having an MRI with dye to examine my shoulder. On the following Monday, the doctor’s office called to inform me the MRI did not reveal anything that required surgery. Wednesday, I called for more information, and was told I had a severe case of bursitis, which was great news as it is treatable without surgery.

On December 17, I went in to receive an injection that would address the issue… instead, we scheduled surgery for Monday, December 21 to explore what was causing the issues and fix it! Obviously, there were lots of emotions, and I left feeling as though I had taken a cheap shot to the gut.

Christy and I were immediately in scrambling mode as we had to figure out who could and would watch our kids, what we would do about our Christmas, and what we would do the Christmas and holiday break in general. We decided to do our family Christmas on Saturday morning, which was great fun (). Then we setup a drop of the kids with her parents in Atoka on Sunday, and reserved a hotel room in OKC for my 6:30AM surgery time.


To start off of Monday morning, we woke up at 4:00AM in order to make it to the hospital on time. The good news was that we were right on time; the bad news is that we went to the wrong hospital!!! Thankfully, we made it in time and the staff did not seem too irritated with us.

The arthroscopic surgery revealed I had two major issues in my shoulder. First, there was, “a ton” of scar tissue. Second, one of my ligaments was too tight, so they sliced it in order to release the pressure/tension. After my operation, the doctor prescribed some pain meds, nausea meds, and a CPM (Continuous Passive Motion) machine… aka torture device!


With all of this, there is a great deal of good news. They have fixed my shoulder (I hope). This surgery was mild in comparison to the first surgery. We will still make it Dallas for Christmas with our family. While the CPM is very time consuming (6 hours a day), it rotates my shoulder 160* adduction/abduction and 80* internal/external rotation (it took 3-4 months to get to that point last time). While there is still a great deal of swelling, the pain level does not require constant pain pills, and I do not have to wear the sling unless I am in public (so people can see my shoulder is not normal).

All in all, I am still very pleased with my doctor, Jimmy Conway. His staff has been incredible to work with, and they never seemed annoyed when I call with my list of questions. This surgery turned out to be relatively minor (compared to the first surgery), and it looks like the recovery time will be much shorter too. So why my initial thoughts were a Scrooge-ish merry Christmas to me, now it is a legitimate Merry Christmas to me… and Merry Christmas Everybody!

Shoulder Surgery: 3 Month Update

It has been an interesting month. I’ve seen stalled progress for two weeks followed by unbelievable improvements in range of motion… the strength is still lacking unfortunately. Chloe probably has more strength in her shoulder and this point that I do mine, which is more pathetic than it sounds!

At my last appointment July 23, the doctor told me to begin external rotation/movement. This is a huge deal because this was not supposed to happen until the 3rd month after surgery as opposed to the 2nd! For those of you mathematically challenged, that means I am a full month ahead of schedule!!!

Anyway, he also released me from physical therapy which lasted less than 24 hours as I was unable to do any of the strengthening exercises he prescribed. For whatever reason, he released me before I was able to gain any range of motion. That being said, within a week I have been able to move my left arm over my head and touch my right shoulder after just 2 appointments.

While the pain level has gone from minimal to extreme… WAY EXTREME… the pain has been worth the gain in movement. Hopefully, this time next month I will be able to really start strengthening my shoulder. It has been a long journey thus far with much distance to go, but if the left shoulder gets back to normal it will be well worth it!

Shoulder Surgery: 2 Month Update

When all this happened with my shoulder I was told that it would take at least 6 months to recovery. My initial impression was that those people were nuts, after all it was just shoulder! Now it has been 2 months since my surgery, and I am hoping and praying to be back to normal in 4 more months. My doctor has me going to Physical Therapy 3 times a month (2nd month of 3 times a week), as well as doing at home exercise at well.

To my shock, I am still in need of icing my shoulder daily, with a therapist telling me I need to ice 3-4 times a day. My progress has been excruciatingly slow, to the point to where I can only bench and curl 5 pounds. The most significant improvement has been in my ability to lift my arm over my head. This week my PT also told me I have officially regained full range of motion above my arm!

Concerning pain, it is somewhat of an anomaly. People always ask me if it hurts, and while the pain is not always substantial it is always present. It is sort of like a nagging cough that will not go away. There is never a moment in the day where I am not aware of something being wrong with my shoulder, but rarely is there a time where I need to stop and catch my breath from the pain. In fact, this week someone smacked me in the shoulder and I noticed it did not really hurt. The weirdest thing of the pain is that on a typical day it hurts more in the morning than in the evening, which is opposite to my past experiences with other injuries.

Maybe God wants to teach me long-suffering in this… and it that is the case He is a very good teacher.

Greece June 09: My Fear

One month before our trip to Greece to the day I had major shoulder surgery to fix a torn/shredded labrum. My doctor told me it was the worst case scenario, which brought about doubt if I would be able to go on the trip at all. Once he cleared me to go 10 days prior to our departure, we knew there would be many limitations on my involvement... many limitations!

With one exception on one day, my shoulder did not bother me anymore than it has before or after the trip. Everyone on our team was very mindful to help and protect me when needed. In fact, I would like to thank Christy, Jamie, Robert, and Cody who helped carry my stuff throughout the trip! Also, many thanks to Ms. Sandy for the shoulder rubs, they helped more than you know! Another huge blessing was being able to get ice every night from the hotel bar... relax I only got ice! And if my doctor or PT read this, I was faithful to do all of my exercise everyday on the trip.

The hardest part for me was not dealing with the discomfort that exist whatever my location, it was found in my not being able to participate in our partnership as I would have liked to. Typically, I would have jumped right in the middle of whatever they were doing, but not this time. Instead of participating in the track & field warm-ups, I watched. Instead of high-jumping and long-jumping, I measured the distance of each jump. Instead of running the 1,000 meters, I timed it. Instead of leading basketball drills, I... well I did play a little basketball one-armed and poorly! If you notice pictures of me participating in any activities, note how my left arm is always pulled in close to my body as not to move in a way to reinjure it.

Patience (in taking it slow), humility (in asking for help), and long-suffering are all things this injury has taught me to this point, but more than anything it has given me an appreciation for a healthy body God has blessed me with throughout my life. Sports and competition are two of my favorite things and it’s good to know in another 5 months I'll be able to participate again. God is good.

Shoulder Surgery: 3 Week Update

Today I had my 3 week checkup and it went great. Dr. Conway, who I would strongly recommend, showed me the pictures of my shoulder from surgery, then showed me pictures from a textbook, and it was obvious it could not have gone better.

He wants me to start physical therapy ASAP, and I was fortunate enough to get in for my first appointment tomorrow at 1:00. I have at least 4 weeks of going 3 times a week, and then he will give me new instructions after that. In addition to that, he gave me at home therapy as well… fun stuff.

Here are the pictures from my surgery. This one is a picture of my shoulder ball, where he fixed the major divot.

This one is of my shredded labrum, where he reattached the tendons.

Christy and I could not be more pleased with Dr. Conway and the process thus far… unless it could have been avoided altogether!

Shoulder Surgery: 2 Week Update

Through Friday, I felt totally fine… thank you narcotics and pain meds! Saturday I tried jump off the pills and started to experience mild nausea. Sunday rolled around and the mild nausea turned to moderate nausea, with little pain in shoulder. That with the exception of the senior adult lady who decided poking my incision 3 times would be a good idea!

Monday I went cold turkey off all my meds and paid for it severely. Oddly enough though, it was not shoulder pain, it was terrible nausea. Around 7PM or so, I could not take it anymore and jumped back on my pills and patch that prevent said discomfort. Tuesday was met with extreme fatigue (from the meds), but an awareness that the nausea was being magnified by dehydration.

Since then, I’ve been pounding Gatorade, water, and anything else without caffeine. My problem Wednesday was a migraine, which lingered all day and diminished in the late hours of the night.

Going back to Monday, I decided to weigh myself due to many comments from church members asking me how much weight I had lost. When I stepped on the scale I was shocked to learn I had dropped 13 pounds, and weighed less than when I graduated high school! This morning I weighed and had gained 4 pounds back, mainly from fluids I guess.

Thankfully, I only have 1 more week until my checkup with my doctor. I am expecting to start physical therapy the following day and experience pain I have not felt since the initial dislocation… and for some strange reason I am honestly looking forward to it (and getting out of this sling)!

Just so you know, Christy has been my saving grace. She has constantly given of her time to serve me and our family. Although I feel terrible that she has to bear the brunt of everything in our home, she has not complained or made me feel guilty about it once. Christy is the best!

I have never been a fan of Bluetooth ear devices. They look silly to me, and I find myself annoyed with people who wear one when we are in a face-to-face conversation… seriously, take that out of your ear!!! Well, I purchased one last week (Jawbone Prime), then proceeded to wear it all weekend. Instead of being annoyed with it, I found it helpful. Now understand that I am not saying I will always use it, but I am saying that when you only have one arm that works it sure is helpful.

Shoulder Surgery: Day 7

Tuesday: In short I overdid it today. Where I should have eased back into work, I basically put in a full days work and paid for it when I got home. Where I should have taken pain (management) pills during the day, I skipped them and had my highest level of pain since the surgery. Where I should have been mindful of how my body was worn out, I kept going and became tired and somewhat irritable.

Christy, Rick, and the ministry assistants at the church all told me to take it easy, which I appreciate. My doctor’s office told me to feel free to take the full amount of pills for two weeks, which I am thankful for. Where I got home at 4:45 and immediately fell asleep and did not wakeup until my kids were asleep, I decided to make sure to have enough energy at the end of the day to play with them, help as much as I can around the house, and at least read and sing to Chloe at bedtime.

Take it easy is the theme of the day!

Shoulder Surgery: Day 6

Monday: After another night of minimal sleep, we all woke up ready for the day. My parents decided to take the kids to the Jenks Aquarium, which benefited everyone. It allowed Christy some alone time to tend to our home and relax, it allowed me work for almost 2 hours, it gave Grammy & Granddad time with just the grandkids, and our kiddos got to see the pretty fishys.

My parents were going to leave right after lunch, but they agreed to help me run a few errands first. It is hard to express how huge that was, because without their help we might still being trying to take care of some stuff. We both really appreciated them staying a little bit longer for us!

That evening, we were also blessed to have Jerry & Demie bring us dinner (Rib Crib)! The kids played for a bit, and it good to have friends over. Jerry & I went up to the church for skate church family night, but just stayed for a short time. In fact, after a couple of minutes Rick told me to go home to rest (the implication is that I did not look good and the medications were affecting me). My pain level was highest to yet on Monday, probably from pushing it too hard the past two days.

Shoulder Surgery: Day 4

Saturday: Slept horribly last night, and I am pretty sure the meds make me hallucinate. Once I got up from my bed (ahem, recliner), I realized I had another migraine. However, since I wasn’t on morphine I was able to take my headache pills and it went away rather quickly.

Christy’s parents stayed until lunch was over, and then they headed home. Within the hour my parents (Grammy & Granddad) showed up to help out for a few days. With Christy having to do almost everything on her own, having them visit for rounds 2 of full-time help was awesome.

Another incredible, huge, awesome, fantastic, outstanding blessing came from some great guys in our class. Marty setup yard maintenance for the next 6 weeks, and he and Josh showed up today for the first treatment. It is hard to describe how huge this blessing is, because I cannot physically mow, and it would be next to impossible for Christy to do it since due to my limitations having one arm. This was just a huge blessing!

Saturday night we began to discuss weaning me off my pain pills. My hesitation comes from knowing the pain level has been minimal. Although the side-effects have been strong (itchiness, dizziness, tiredness), my thought is avoiding colossal pain is worth it!