November
28, 2005
Kids'
letters to God
Dena
sent this to me today through the e-mail. I don't
know where she got it but I thought it was funny.
Here are some kids' letters to God.
November
25, 2005
Lazy
Days
I
love 'em. Lazy days, that is. Today was one of those
days. I woke up around 11 a.m. and haven't bathed
today. It's rare that I don't bathe but today was
one of those days. I have watched Katelyn Gayle Carter
rule this household. Melissa, her husband Charlie
and Katelyn live with my parents.
Katelyn
is spoiled, spoiled, spoiled. My dad is her favorite
because he spoils her. When he walks in the room,
she immediately puts up her little arms and starts
grunting in ecstatic grunts. He smiles, picks her
up and carries her from room to room. She loves to
look at the family photographs mama has hanging on
the walls in every room. Daddy carries her from picture
to picture letting her touch them and he tells her
who they are.
Tonight,
Laura Lee and Doug Oldham came over for Fajitas -
Mama's specialty. They were delicious. Rebekah 'Dee
Dee' Oldham Cox and her husband, Lee, also came to
eat. We had a great time.
November
24, 2005
Happy
Thanksgiving!
I'm
sitting in the recliner again. My parents have double
recliners, side-by-side. One for dad and one for mom.
Katelyn is in the recliner next to mine. She's watching
cartoons and smiling at me. She's got on go-go boots.
I don't know how she walks in them. She has fallen
a couple of times this morning because of them but
that's the good thing about being a child - you don't
have far to fall. Now, she's getting out of the recliner
and walking back into the kitchen. Her 'papa', my
dad, is carving the chicken and he is her favorite.
He has spoiled her to the point where people in the
church call her 'Queen baby' because she is such a
blessing to this entire family and, rightfully so,
is treated like a queen.
I
am thankful for all of my family: the ones here, the
ones in Texas. I'm thankful for my friends, my two
churches: GracePointe in Nashville and St. John's
Downtown in Houston. I'm grateful for the most interesting
journey anyone could ever ask for. And, I'm thankful
for you, the reMarkables, who visit my Web
site and have supported me for years. Thank you.
November
23, 2005
Hoodwinked
- The Movie
Cory
Edwards, one of the most talented people
I've ever met and a producer of some of my previous
videos, has written and directed an animated feature
film (that's been picked up by a major studio) entitled
Hoodwinked. It's a new twist
on the old Red Riding Hood story. It will
be in theaters this Christmas. Please see this film
and support my friend, Cory.
Also,
Benjy Gaither (Bill & Gloria's son) is in the
movie. He plays Japeth the goat in the feature-length
animated comedy produced by the Academy Award-winning
Weinstein Brothers. He joins artists such as Glenn
Close, James Belushi, Ann Hathaway, Anthony Anderson,
Andy Dick, Patrick Warburton and David Ogden Stiers.
I'm
thankful
Tomorrow,
in the United States, it's Thanksgiving. It's the
day we've set aside to tell God how grateful we are
for His blessings.
I'm
sitting in a recliner at my mom and dad's house in
Virginia. Little Katelyn is upstairs taking a nap.
Mama is in the kitchen making cheesecake. Dad's on
his computer and I'm on mine.
I
just got out of the shower, which has become my prayer
closet. I don't know what it is about the shower,
water and all, but God and I talk a lot in the shower.
I am thankful for 47 years of great health. I've had
a couple of tumors (both benign) and now M.S. but,
overall, I've been very healthy. I've been able to
eat any time I want. And, I get to sleep on clean
sheets in an air-conditioned/heated room. I am rich,
rich, rich. And, I am so thankful.
Sometimes
I feel guilty, though, when I pass those men and women
sleeping on the streets in Nashville or Houston or
some other city in America. I feel guilty. I wish
they could sleep on clean sheets. And I guess we'll
never know total peace until all are at peace. But,
I sure am grateful for the glimpses of peace I feel
and see in the world. One day, every one will know
peace. Won't it be great?
Happy
Thanksgiving.
November
21, 2005
Thanks
Wow!
What can I say? So many e-mails. So encouraging. All
of them sent with much love, you could almost feel
it fly off the computer screen. You people are really
nice. I only had one who told me she was mad. Mad
that I had asked you not to pray that God heal me,
but that His will be done.
Please
don't be mad at me. I'm just walking in the light
I know. Or, think I know.
I
would gladly receive a healing. If it is the will
of my Father. And, I will gladly walk through this
life dragging these feet that have carried the gospel,
if it is my Father's will.
I
would rather walk through a valley with Him than stand
on the mountain without Him. If He goes, I go. He'll
be holding my hand, so what's to fear? And, besides,
when I get to Heaven I will not have this opportunity.
If I'm going to find diamonds on this road, it must
be now.
Please
don't think I'm some super-saint. God knows I'm a
freak. A complete coward. A chicken. I'm scared of
mountain tops if He's not there.
I
heard a preacher say once that we are in Christ and
Christ is in the Father and nothing can get to us
unless it goes through Christ and through the Father
and, by that time, whatever it is, it is redeemed,
too.
So,
it's all good.
g'night.
November
20, 2005
Be
The Miracle
My
new project (which will be releasing January 31, 2006)
will be called Be The Miracle.
I
have M.S.
I
found out last Monday. Actually, I have known for
years but have been ignoring it. Around 4-5 years
ago, I noticed I was losing the hearing in my right
ear. I went to the doctor who sent me to have an MRI.
They discovered my brain looked like a starry night.
Multiple
Sclerosis causes your brain to have plaque
on it, which looks like stars on the MRI.
Recently,
I had another attack and went to see the neurologist
who told me he couldn't believe this was the first
attack I'd had in five years. He said I probably have
had other attacks and didn't know it. But it's a very
slow type of M.S.
I'm
under a doctor's care and appreciate your prayers.
But, don't pray that God will heal me. Pray that His
will will be done. If He wants me to go down this
road, I wanna go! I'm sure there are diamonds to discover
on the journey. And, if you pray that I'm healed and
I am, I will miss the diamonds. So, I want whatever
He wants. And as long as He's holding my hand, I'll
be just fine.
November
10, 2005
I
love this quote:
"You
know you've created God in your image when He hates
all the same people you do."
- Anne Lamotte
November
9, 2005
Who
God uses...
Mary
Lewis sent me an e-mail and I loved the piece she
sent with it: Who God Uses.
Mark,
My husband and I recently attended your show at First
Baptist Church, Houston, and we LOVED IT! The combination
of great music and stand-up comedy was a great combination.
You indicated several times that God had no standards
when he chooses people to do His work. Oh, how I can
relate to that in my own life. The article below was
sent to me and I thought about you. May God continue
to bless your unique style of spreading the good news.
Who
God uses
The next time you feel like GOD can't use you, just
remember...
Noah was a drunk
Abraham was too old
Isaac was a daydreamer
Jacob was a liar
Leah was ugly
Joseph was abused
Moses had a stuttering problem
Gideon was afraid
Samson had long hair and was a womanizer
Rahab was a prostitute
Jeremiah and Timothy were too young
David had an affair and was a murderer
Elijah was suicidal
Isaiah preached naked
Jonah ran from God
Naomi was a widow
Job went bankrupt
John the Baptist ate bugs
Peter denied Christ
The Disciples fell asleep while praying
Martha worried about everything
The Samaritan woman was divorced, more than once
Zaccheus was too small
Paul was too religious
Timothy had an ulcer...AND
Lazarus was dead!
This
reminds me of something I heard Rich Mullins say.
He said, basically, that being used by God is overrated.
God used a donkey to speak to Balaam. Being wanted
by God is the thing to be thankful for.
