Chad Dearey
Faith, Family, Freedom and Fat
recent posts
about
-
Dearey Kids,
I was on a walk the other day and I saw a shoe in the middle of someone’s driveway. I thought “how random”..then I prayed and it made more sense.
We are all Cinderella in some degree. We have dreams, goals, and hopes that are beyond ourselves. However, when we look at how we are living right now it may appear that those dreams are too distant. It may seem like we are caught up living a life that has no resemblance of hope. We don’t look the part, we are in a rut, even our own family may put us down. The dream that once seemed so real may now seem so distant.
Sometimes the Holy Spirit will bring in friends to help you accomplish the dream, like the mice 🙂 Sometimes the Holy Spirit will come like the fairy godmother and in a moment and change everything. The Holy Spirit is a gentlemen. He will constantly draw you back to the dream that God has placed on your heart. He will find people, situations, and opportunities that give you a glimpse of the dream that you have.
I know this is true because when I was 19 I caught a dream of impacting people through a network marketing platform. I saw husbands and wives drawing closer together, I saw families radically changed, and I saw financial histories totally rewritten. I caught a dream of what it would look like to impact people like this and I went all in for 10 years to make it happen. But the glass slipper didnt fit. I dont know if it was the timing, the business or if I was just not ready but it didnt work out for me.
That dream lingered in my heart for 10 years after I quit. I would occasionally think “If I could do anything, I would be in a network marketing business where I have time and money to be with my family and a business that could totally impact a generation”. I tried a bunch of other traditional businesses but nothing seemed to fit or evoke the passion that I had before. I started a mortgage company, a title company, real estate businesses, and IdeaVibe. They were all good, but they weren’t great.
Mom and I were both in shock when Plexus came around and the “slipper” fit perfectly. Time had passed, the dream was almost gone, but it fit. It started growing fast. Now I sit here 1.5 years later, with over 670 people on our team across the country and we are living that fairy tale life. I work from home and have the time to be with you guys throughout the day. We eat 3 meals together and you are a part of a business that is influencing people in so many different ways.
The dream wasnt gone. God was just looking for the right time to fit it into our lives.
At some point the dream that you have will fade, but just remember His timing is perfect. What He is calling you to do is perfect. The season will come.
I love you Dearey Kids,
Dad
Habakkuk 2:3 For the vision is yet for the appointed [future] time It hurries toward the goal [of fulfillment]; it will not fail. Even though it delays, wait [patiently] for it, Because it will certainly come; it will not delay.
-
Dearey Kids,
Our intentions were pure, but the methods were man-made. No secular T.V., no secular music, watch out for people who drink-they might be falling from the faith. Stay away from that guy that smokes. Oh- she swears, our kids can’t hear that. Never miss church on a Sunday. Say the right things, behave the right way. Rules. Standards. Judgement.
In an effort to become holy, we became religious. We looked down on anyone that didn’t live in the beautiful Christian box that we built. Pharisees that did everything right on the outside, but falling apart on the inside. We thought we were building this box to protect you. We were trying to set a standard for our family to live by. Do’s and Don’ts. Black and White.
The challenge with striving to become holy on the outside is that it leaves you frustrated. You can never obtain the spiritual pinnacle that you are looking for. Someone is always more spiritual, more gifted, a better worshiper, has deeper prayers, and so on. We find ourselves chasing something that can never be obtained.
Jesus lived this incredible balance between pursuing our Father and pursuing people. He aimed to not only be relevant and relational but He had something of substance to give. Jesus went everywhere that we would not dare to go. He hung out with the worst of the worst. Drunks, thieves, liars, cheaters, and adulterers were friends of his. What was the difference between Jesus and us? He walked in such love and compassion that his “friends” desired to follow Him. His love built trust and his trust built a relationship.
Pursue the drunks, thieves, liars, cheaters, and adulterers at your school, in our neighborhood, on your teams, and yes..at our church. Pursue them without a hidden agenda. Love them. Love them where they are at, love them when they make mistakes, love them when they offend you and love them when it does not make sense. Your love and relationship will give Him a doorway to speak through you and to use you.
I love you Dearey Kids,
Dad
Matthew 5: 47
If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that. If you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal? Any run-of-the-mill sinner does that.
-
Dearey Kids,
As we celebrated Judah’s 5th birthday a sense of grief overwhelmed me. Not for Judah but for you. Judah didn’t care about seeing Winter and Hope from Dolphin Tale. Judah didn’t care that he had presents, he actually cried when we tried to get him to open them. Judah didn’t care about the ice cream, balloon, or the fact that he was born on this special day.
But you did.
You wanted to see the joy in his eyes. You wanted to see him celebrate with raw excitement. You wanted to see him rip open his presents. You wanted to see him enjoy the dolphins.
But he didn’t.
You have endured so much. You have watched your brother almost die. You have watched a brain injury paralyze his life and in many ways, our family as well.
We used to have the freedom to go to the beach, a restaurant, a movie, grab an ice cream cone..on a whim. But now we don’t. Our moves and outings are calculated. Judah might scream. Judah might cry. Where do we blend his foods? Did we pack his seizure medications? Can you push him outside while we make dinner? Does he have his pacifier? Can you take 10 minute turns pushing him on the swing? Don’t be too loud at the table. Let’s pray in our hearts at dinner, we don’t want to set Judah off… and on and on.
I get it. It is tough. You didn’t ask for this life. Life was handed to you.
Dearey kids, I am proud of you. I am thankful for your love and commitment to Judah, and to Christ. I am blessed to call you my sons and daughters. You have given much but you will reap greatly. You are reaping greatly.
Live it out:
Keep caring. Keep loving. Keep giving. Keep your heart right. Serve for an audience of one. Inevitably, you will meet another family waiting on a miracle. You will meet another kid that is “different” like Judah. The experiences that you have gone through and the character that you have built will give you such an uncommon platform to empathize with others. God is doing something in you. In us. A ministry of love is being formed and our hearts are becoming rendered to His. A crown awaits you.
Matthew 25:37-40
“Then those ‘sheep’ are going to say, ‘Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?’ Then the King will say, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.’
.
-
Judah- I am sorry, I feel I may have failed you.
It was just yesterday when I was weeping uncontrollably in the hospital. The Dr’s did not know if you would live or die and if you lived they assumed you would be a vegetable. I remember bargaining with God saying “God if you can just keep him alive, my faith in You will make him whole”.
In a couple of days it will be your 5th birthday and you don’t walk, crawl, stand, sit, you rarely roll, your vocabulary is limited, and you have seizures almost daily.
We have tried therapy after therapy. We sent you to a special needs school. We raised money and purchased a hyperbaric chamber.. but nothing has really worked the way I expected.
You are turning 5 and I feel like I have failed you. Daddy can’t fix it. My heart and emotions break when I see you lay on the floor. I wonder what you would have been like without the brain injury. I wonder what your relationship with your younger brother Malachi would have looked like. I picture the two of you running and hiding from each other. I picture all the amazing things that a 5-year-old would do..but you aren’t doing them.
Could we have done more therapy? Could we have prayed longer? Fasted more? Went to more healing services?
Judah – I don’t know what or if we could have done something different. However, I love you. I love when you say “Hi Daddy” when I get you out of your crib. I love when you smile. I love when you say “Hey Daddy” when I am singing on our walks.. as if you are saying “I am going to sing by myself now” and then you start belting out some song. I love when you get tired and you laugh and laugh and laugh. I love your tooting sounds. I love our bond.
I love knowing that someday we will be in heaven talking, laughing and running through the fields. Until that day- I will keep trying, I will keep believing, I will keep expecting and I will keep loving. Happy Birthday Judah.
Chad Dearey 