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Testimonials By Name
Cheryl Rainey
Barbara Rolek - My Story
Rolf DJ Ronstadt - Sometimes God works in subtle and silent ways...
Sherry Ronstadt - Sherri's Personal Spiritual Journey
Francis D. Ross - Plea For Prayers - Help
Cheryl Rainey
Chicago, IL
EMail: raineytel@aol.comA stroke in February this year resulted in an emergency tracheotomy and a trachea tube in my mothers throat. The doctors said she wouldn't be able to breath, talk or swallow without it. This was painful and required special treatment and oxygen. My mother believed she didn't need it. We'd been pushing the doctor to test her, but to no avail. However I do have good news. She no longer has the trachea in herthroat. Yesterday I was changing the dressing when she coughed and itcame out. I couldn't get it back in and called the doctor. She had me call911 and they took her to the emergency room. Once we got there I asked since she was doing all the things they said she couldn't do without a trachea: breathing, talking, swallowing, why did it have to go back in. The specialist agreed and now she's free of it. This is such a blessing because the doctors said it had to remain the rest of her life. I was thanking and praising the Lord in the emergency room. God is so good. No more suctioning, no more dressings. We're hoping they will take her off oxygen completely. PS The latest update is she is now off oxygen and respiratory treatments.
Hallelujah Praise the Lord.
Barbara Rolek
Crown Point, Indiana
EMail: bjrolek@netnitco.netI was a well-paid executive chef regarded by some as having considerable talent. But as my autoimmune diseases progressed (lupus, fibromyalgia, Sjogren's syndrome, Raynaud's syndrome), my energy ebbed away and I could no longer keep up with the 12 to 14 hours on my feet and the heavy lifting. I began to feel ashamed that I couldn't do my part in the kitchen. I quit my job.
I was very despondent for two months, not knowing which way to turn. I thought maybe I could handle an eight-hour day. I took a job as the executive chef of a country club, but even eight hours of stressful cooking exacerbated my symptoms and I had to quit that job.
I went through another month of self-doubt and self-deprecation when the position of executive chef of a hospital was presented to me. I thought surely, banquet-style or volume cooking would be something I could handle. This, too, proved to be too stressful and too hard on my hands and joints and, once again, I ended up quitting.
For three months I cried, prayed, cried and prayed some more. I was at my lowest ebb. When one day, a former co-worker who had changed careers for one in journalism gave me a call. She mentioned that the newspaper she worked for needed a free-lance writer and to come in and talk to the editor.
Well, the rest is history. I'm a successful writer working at a profession that fits my diseases and I owe it all to God and my friend who was the channel.
It's not all sunshine and roses. Like everyone else, I have to work hard to keep my head above water. But I AM working! And I'm receiving accolades. You can't tell me God didn't have a hand in this! Thank you, dear God!
Barbara Rolek
There Is No In Between
Born in Switzerland, I was raised in a home where my parents insisted that all six kids from this blended family had to go regularly to church. I vividly recall every Sunday, we walked two miles to church, like ducks...all in a row, with Father and Mother leading. It looked more like a funeral procession than a happy event, in our black clothing which was very common at that time. But that was it. At home we never prayed or discussed spiritual matters around the table and each one of us was basically on his own with his religious beliefs.
As I grew older, and more independent, I started my life out on the well-known "fast tract" in building a social life, planning my professional soccer career, and finding my business position in society. I felt no urgent need to take time out for church or to include God into my business plans. I tried to accomplish everything relaying on my own power. I soon became a well respected professional athlete in soccer, skiing and marathon running, as well as one of the most competitive businessmen, rising to the top in my field, and creating a niche in the marketplace allowing me to live a moderate life style.
I was focused on my career, determined to be the best, to make it to the top, where I would surely find the time to relax and enjoy the fruits of my labor. If the company asked for a transfer, I was ready to move yesterday. When the job required travelling, I was on the airplane when the cleaning crew was still on board. I spent years up to 85 percent of my time on the road, criss-crossing some 134 countries around the world. I was given preferential treatment at every major Hotel chain around the country. There wasn't a United Red Carpet Club in which I didn't set up office or slept in.
I was convinced, in my mind, that the success of my business efforts would bring everything else in my life together, such as happiness, contentment, and freedom to do what was pleasing to me at any given time. I quickly achieved the American dream: a wonderful and beautiful wife, two healthy children, a nice home in an affluent neighborhood, two cars, a good paying job, summer and winter vacations, and so on.
Despite all the success, recognition and material security, there have been times-many times-when I was so busy running the company that I did not devote enough time my wife and sons, when I did not see their needs, nor heard their cries, as I should have. PTO meetings were foreign to me, spending time playing with the kids was a luxury, and conversations with my wife took place primarily during unpacking and packing of suitcases between Saturday afternoon arrivals and Sunday mornings departures. I am sure many of you can identify with that!
I am not exactly the kind of fellow you'd think would hear voices in his head. At age 47, I had been married for 21 years, and the proud father of two grown-up boys. I made a decent income and had a challenging position as the number two man in the company. Yet, as often as I travelled all over the world in pursuit of business deals and opportunities, a question frequently thudded through my mind: "What is the ultimate value of what I am doing?" That question took on added weight when in 1986 the company I run so successfully, was acquired by an industrial giant, and left me hunting for a new challenge.
Not long thereafter, on a flight back from the West Coast after another weekend business meeting on the golf course, I came to the conclusion that one more sale, one more toy, one more weekend on the golf course, did not bring the happiness and contentment I was looking for all these years. Although the trappings of success kept paying the bills, I began to realize that my inner spirit had not grown very much. Something was missing! My inside was hurting and empty, compounded by nagging guilt. Long work hours, a consistently over-booked travelling schedule, an over-committed social calendar and infrequent communications with my wife slowly eroded my home life.
My marriage commitments to Sherri had taken second place to the business monster I had created. What began as a partnership of love and respect, had deteriorated to a simple living arrangement between two ships, passing continually in the night on their way to the scrap yard. Many of us businessmen look successful, sound successful, and that's why they are successful! But we all know, that often how we look and sound on the "outside" isn't exactly how we feel deep "inside", right? I can relate quite well to these men and women who struggle with the inner voices of doubt and confusion, because I have been one of them.
I had achieved everything I ever dreamed of. But I still was not happy. My priorities were work, work, and more work, then came myself, then golf, and finally a little time with my wife. Every now and then I squeezed church into a Sunday morning. Then in October of 1992, Jim May came into my life. Jim invited me to join a Couple's Bible Study on Sunday evenings. There I heard for the first time the need to be "reborn". At first, it didn't make any sense to me. Surely, at the ripe age of 47 I could not be born again. So the next time we played golf I asked Jim what he meant by "reborn". He opened the Bible and showed me John 3:3 which reads: "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."
I always thought I was a "pretty good Christian", but I had never heard this before! Jim went on to explain what it meant in practical terms. I was amazed to realize that the only way to have eternal life is through Jesus Christ-that He died for our sins, past, present and future. And that it is not through our deeds or good behavior that one receives eternal life, because we can never live up to God's standard. We will always fall short. After understanding that God loved me so much that He sent His only Son to die for my sins, it was a natural for me to ask the Lord into my life.
After years of searching in all the wrong places I finally discovered that inner peace, love and happiness did not come from material "things" but through a personal relationship with God. I further began to understand that a personal relationship with the Lord had nothing to do with being "religious", or going to church "twice" a week, or being a "good" person, or based upon "anything" I had achieved, earned or perhaps even deserved, but by personally inviting Jesus Christ into my heart and to turn control of my life over to Him.
Since then, I have seen tremendous changes taking place in my life, my marriage, and my whole outlook. My priorities have changed, they are now where they should be: God first, family second, and then my career. I believe when your priorities are in the right place, everything else will come also together in life. Everyday we have to make many decisions, but the most important decision we'll ever make is who we believe Jesus is! We either accept Him or reject Him. Jesus Himself said "you are either for Me or against Me".
There is no in between.
Sherry Ronstadt
EMail: executiveinsights@juno.comSherri's Personal Spiritual Journey
Have you ever felt lonely or like no one ever noticed you? I did...
Growing up I felt my brother was the favorite child, whether that was true or not, it left me feeling not very special or really loved. And I really didn't think I'd ever be happy.
When I got married I thought that surely would change, but even marriage didn't guarantee happiness as my husband spent more time traveling closing bid deals than he did at home. On top of that, I had to handle a son who was always in and out of trouble, making me feel even more alone. Then my husband lost his job changing our lifestyle considerably.
Trough an invitation of a friend, I found myself back at church, but this time I heard the message of how much God loved me, if fact so much that He sent His Son to die for me so that my sins would be forgiven, and I would have eternal life.
In the Bible it also says Jesus came so we could have life in all its fullness-and that's life here! In John 1:12, it says all I have to do is receive this gift, believe in His name and I would have the right to become a child of God. That certainly got my attention. In God's eyes I really was someone special and He wants me to always be with Him. Once I accepted God's gift I was a new woman with a new attitude!
Life didn't necessarily become problem free, in fact we experienced more struggles; with the job loss there were financial concerns, both our Dad's died within months of each other, we both had accidents in each of our almost new cars (fortunately no one was hurt), both our dogs died of old age, and our son was still in and out of trouble. But I no longer feel alone, insecure or hopeless. I know I am loved no matter what, and through what ever is happening in my life, and sometimes in spite of what's happening in my life, I have a peace and joy that's really hard to describe.
Would You Like To Know God Personally?
Francis D. Ross
EMail: fdross@bellatlantic.net
Pittsburg, PAPlea for prayers - help
This is a desperate plea for prayers during this holy season.
This is a request for a lady (Mary Ellen Ross), who for over 24 years has suffered with Multiple Sclerosis and is a quadriplegic. Also, over 17 years she has suffered with Trigenital Neuritis, which causes severe pain in the face and head. During these pain episodes, her face will become raw and weep a liquid substance because of the tremendous pain. Through all this pain, she has raised her 5 children mostly from her back. As her condition continues to deteriorate, and the pain is increasing, I am asking/begging every Christian or concerned human being, to offer prayers for her. This is a desperate plea, especially in these days of all the discussions surrounding euthanasia and the other evils in this world.
If you wish to investigate more about the background which led to this plea, I have created a internet board (WWW.FDROSS.COM) which describes her life's journey and to help pay for the medical bills.
Please pass this request on to a friend. There is power in prayer, and through prayer she can be helped. Please help, especially during this holy season.
God Bless all of you this holy season.
Thanks
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