Why we Blog Part 2: I blog for the Husband at MD Anderson Right Now.

Aly wrote a great post last week about why we keep blogging.

There are three reasons for me why we are still actively writing this story.

• We believe God has called us:
• Aly - Speak to women/ kids about her story. 
• Josh- Speak to men about brokenness.
• There is a guy that is sitting with his wife today as she is told she has cancer or some other diagnosis that sends their world into a spin.
• Men need to know that it is better to be broken before God instead of whole before men.

To elaborate a little on these 3 points...

1) We truly believe God desires to use our story. It is not the most convenient option for us to continue down this road.

Aly just obtained her PhD and has already had 3 legitimate, high paying job offers. Easy road is take those jobs until we have a child. 

I have been blessed to have many opportunities.

While these opportunities are wonderful and remind us how blessed we are, we do not want to simply do something that "makes sense" financially or culturally. We want to follow our calling.

We simply have made choices that will not deter us from doing what we feel is a calling.

A few thoughts on calling from Andy Stanley:

• A calling is usually more meaningful than measurable
• A person with calling lives with an abiding awareness of Who it's for and Who it's from
• My results don't determine my calling.
• We can be good at a great deal of things.
• What wakes us up early?
• What makes it difficult to go to sleep?
• Our calling = our passion and at this point in time there is a high chance of a passion helping you create a life.
• A calling is emotional.
• A calling is edgy.

2) There is a guy that as I write this is hearing the news that his wife is diagnosed with something. 

I believe my story can help bring life faster to husbands that are desperate to do it right. 

What is my story? In a nutshell, bullet point style:

• Previous to Aly's diagnosis simply tried to not be exposed
• No active relationship with God.
• Running from sin.
• No deep friendships. 
• Aly diagnosed Oct 17, 2011
• Realized I was not the man she needed or would need.
• Vain imaginations
• Death
• Suicide
• Depression
• Financial Failure
• July of 2012 My change moment.
• Friend called me on my lack of trust in God's plan.
• Mind you, this is AFTER Aly had been deemed cancer free after mastectomy.
• An about face
• Truly stopped everything.
• No real estate.
• Backed out of an incredible opportunity after obtaining all licenses to begin.
• Committed to be quiet and allowing God to break me and form what he wanted during this time.
• May 2013 Finding Radical Mentoring
• It will be the tool I use to connect to small groups of men at a time and show them what is possible when we take off our masks as men.
• Now on my second group with incredible results so far.

I will explain more of what Radical Mentoring is in an upcoming post...definitely a calling for me.

That is the no story, all fact version of 2 1/2 years of God breaking me. He is not done and that is clear daily. 

Last but not least. At our 2 year anniversary party we had in October I said, 

"I would rather be broken before God than whole before men."

I hadn't really even realized I said this at our 2 year celebration. One of my great friends, Andy, showed me where he wrote it in his phone, as it spoke to him. 

I promise I am not that smart to come up with that. That was a heart's cry for God to be the most important.

If men and boys can grasp this concept their world will change. 

So yes, we will keep posting. We are going to be changing the blog and updating it to reflect our goal of sharing our story to an even wider audience.

We desire to speak to groups. Groups of 10- Thousands. If you have a group that you think Aly and I or one of us could share with you can contact us at josh.taylor@claibornechristian.org or taylor.alypage@gmail.com.

Aly and Josh are not impressive. What God chose to do in Aly and Josh since October 17, 2011 is impressive. Mind blowing. Miraculous stuff.

That is the fuel. 

3 Reasons We Blog: Part 1

Blog Phobia

As most of you know, our blog was started just 3 days after my diagnosis. I remember Josh waking me up with the biggest grin on his face showing me what he started. You might assume that I was appreciative and happy to know he did this, but actually it was quite the opposite. I immediately got sick to my stomach and thought, "I do not want the world knowing all of this about me! I am a private person!"

Revelation and a broken nose. You interested yet?

To follow up to my last post about learning what I have to do to be healthy. If you didn't read it then I would advise you to do so before proceeding. Click HERE to read.

Yep. Read
< First
Then scroll down to see
how this happened.

1. Must spend time with God. 

2. Must be ok with Aly.

3. Must intake new information or look at opportunities in my job.

      ***This is like a drug for me.

4. Everything below here is just icing. I have learned that when I leave off one of these first 3 that I am headed for trouble.

What have I committed to do to not let myself get in a bad spot again?

Journaling  my prayers. I use the ACTS method and then learned a new method of separating the page into 2 sides. On one side I write my questions or thoughts to God. On the other side I write what I hear him say to me either in the form of words (which rarely happens) or wisdom he gives me.

I am committed to loving Aly. Her way. I will stay in her space. Ask about her day. Listen to her details. I loved her because she was so unlike me so making sure I see all those awesome things about her is what fuels my love for her today.

Acupuncture, Formatting, a Broken Nose, and Another Milestone

Acupuncture

It's been a while since I have written, so I have taken the time to write this post about things that have been going on lately in our lives. First up- acupuncture! So, as most of you know I have been struggling with headaches since October. I never have before, and let me say for all you headache sufferers- I AM SO SORRY! Wow, can it be debilitating. Well, my sweet mom offered to take me to an acupuncturist who we had heard amazing things about through a really good friend. It was crazy, and it kind of hurt. I was there for over 2 hours, and they tried so many things on me, but I still left with a headache! HOWEVER, the last 2 weeks, my headaches have been minimal, so maybe it helped???? My mom and I had a fun trip nonetheless.