Keven Card

Remembering The Moms In My Life

Keven Card — May 12, 2013 — Leave a comment

I would love to tell you that I was an ideal son, but that would be a lie. The truth; I was a very complicated child with an even more complicated history. Looking back, it’s obvious that my mom did the very best she could with me and the life she was given. And today, I wish I could give her just one more hug, tell her one more time how much I love her.

But, sadly for me, she’s gone on to be with Jesus and her pain from this life ended. Thankfully. the last three words I said to her were: I Love You.

You can read what I wrote to her here: The Last Three Words

I also lost my other mom, my wife’s mom, who went on to be with Jesus after battling cancer. She loved me as if I was her flesh and blood son and I believe with my heart that she and my wife were sent to me by God when I needed them most.

I used to love coming into a room and intentionally cutting up just to see her laugh. Speaking English was difficult for her so I’d have to use broken English infused with ample amounts of body language to communicate. That and I would learn a few phrases of her Filipino dialect (which wasn’t Tagalog) but just the ones that cracked her up. My favorite time to make her laugh was when she didn’t have her dentures in, because she would always lift her hand to cover her mouth whenever she’d laugh. But, I loved her with all my heart.

Back to covering smiles, I don’t know why but, when I first met Marianne she did the same thing; but now that shes had braces (and oddly, wants them again because she likes how they look) she doesn’t do the mouth cover anymore. I think its and Asian culture thing or something to be very aware of your smile or maybe they’re just worried a piece of spinach is still stuck in their teeth, who knows. Continue Reading…

In Love honor, love, moms, Mother's Day 2013, mothers

The Grey Suit – A Story About The Night We Met

Keven Card — May 2, 2013 — Leave a comment

Some of you may have heard this story or even read it in our first attempt at writing a book, Forever Newlyweds, about the night Marianne and I met. But, just in case you’ve not heard the story allow me to tell it again, but I’ll add some key details to this version that truthfully, might be a mistake!

It was a nice warm winter night in November, November 2nd, 1991 to be exact, on the U.S.Territory of Guam, where I was stationed in the U.S. Marine Corps. (Of course, if I told you what I was doing there… well, you get the picture!), I was off duty and my first thoughts were of hitting the club scene in Tumon bay (It’s where all the hotels and tourists were).

However, I must take a moment to preface this story with some facts. It is true that I grew up going to church, I gave my life to Christ at thirteen and was Baptized in a creek in my hometown in Oklahoma. My mom was a devoted Bible Thump… I mean Christian scholar; and, I was a perfect example of a prodigal son. So, in November of 1991, I wasn’t paying much attention to God, although I can assure you He was paying attention to me, otherwise I wouldn’t be married to the best, most beautiful woman in the world and have had five incredible children together. Continue Reading…

In Love Forever Newlyweds, interracial relationships, love, marriage, relationships, The Grey Suit

One Of The Biggest Mistake Couples Make After The Birth Of A Child

Keven Card — April 22, 2013 — Leave a comment

Awe, the birth of a child is the joy of a love-filled relationship and that joy lasts a lifetime… right?

This may be the way it should be but far too often it simply isn’t the way it is. The realities of childrearing can very easily overwhelm unsuspecting couples and the “joy” of a newborn can quickly give way to exhaustion. I don’t know about you, but you can tell when someone hasn’t had enough sleep at our house… talk about punchy! Geez!

A child changes everything about your relationship, it’s that simple.

What used to be easy, becomes more difficult. If you hit the party scene when you were just a couple, a child eats into that possibility, same with vacations, hanging out with friends and even sex!

YES I DID, I Said SEX!

Here’s the mistake we see with so many couples we speak to: they forget to make time for each other because it’s said that we HAVE TO take care of the baby. Of course, you have to take care of your child and that does dominate your time but, it shouldn’t be used to abandon your relationship. Continue Reading…

In Love Christian, love, marriage, relationships, Sex

Chase My Dream Or Chase the Money? That Is The Question, No Seriously It Is!

Keven Card — March 25, 2013 — Leave a comment

I’m trying something new today! I’m going to write the truth according to me and not worry about writing for you, I hope that’s okay.

My blog to date has been largely about destiny and purpose, mixed with a little of God’s plan for your life. Although I believe in them all, the fact is, that I’m struggling with them all too.

There are days when the direction of my life seems so crystal clear; but the next day it’s as if someone I can’t see waded through my clarity and mucked up my water. It’s really, really annoying!

Anyway, lately I’ve been struggling with this basic concept: chase my dream or chase the money?

You see, I’ve always had a dream to be an accomplished author and speaker; and the truth is I feel very confident that, to a degree, I am already; I also feel that I can hone my craft to completely accomplish that. But, it’s always been with the word “someday” attached to it. The problem is that so far, someday has been very illusive and my increasing age isn’t.

On the other hand, I am an accomplished insurance agent; my clients respect me, in some cases they love me; but secretly I hate that life. It used to be exciting and fresh and I could easily motivate myself to do the things necessary to succeed; but after doing it for twenty years (putting my “real” dream on hold) I’m exhausted by the thought of it.

My challenge is that taking a leap of Faith of this magnitude especially now, seems even more insane than ever before. We just had our fifth child, (a bouncing baby boy), who was diagnosed at birth with Down syndrome which so far has required and asinine amount of medical professional involvement. Of course, we’re believing God for a miracle in his life!

In the “natural” as my pastor puts it, it all seems like bad timing; like everything could fracture in a blink and go horribly, horribly wrong, but doesn’t Faith require us to ignore what we see and believe in who we don’t see?

Hebrews 11:1 says that Faith is the substance of things hoped for AND the evidence of things NOT seen.

On that premise, the answer would be, chase my dream!

On the other hand, God gave me the gift that has led me into the insurance business for the last twenty years. So, would I be turning my back on my gift, or redirecting it? The gift of persuasion can be used for either.

Do you see my quandary?

I’m interested in what you think, please leave your thoughts below.

In Purpose dreams, Faith, God's plan, Hebrews 11:1, purpose

Uncovering God’s Plan For Your Life

Keven Card — March 5, 2013 — Leave a comment

You know, I have to say: I am a firm believer that God has a designed a plan for each one of us; a true destiny carved into the pages of time that has our name written on it; stamped with the seal of the King of kings. But, sometimes I wonder why more people don’t fulfill their God given destiny and instead opt for a mediocre and largely un-fulfilling existence.

To get to the answer to that question I would say we’d have to move past the surface reflections such as what gifts or talents one may or may not possess. Or what opportunities a person had or didn’t have growing up. No, achieving our personal destiny isn’t based on circumstance or challenge. If that were true, a poor person could never become rich nor could an abused person ever overcome that abuse and live to help others. Continue Reading…

In Purpose destiny, Faith, God's plan, Jesus Christ, purpose

Life, Lemons and Lemonade

Keven Card — February 12, 2013 — Leave a comment

I am guilty of making mountains out of molehills; of taking my fears and allowing them to become giants in my life. Quite frankly because that’s often much easier than having faith in something we can’t see or touch.

However, I’m starting to understand that life is always going to try to pull the carpet out from under us; we’ll always have challenges, fear will always be looming just around the next corner, but it’s giving into those challenges, that fear, that’s when we start to lose focus. Sure, there’s a healthy fear that we all should have, it’s why most of us won’t nose dive off a cliff or free dive 500 feet below the waves.

I’m talking about the fear that immobilizes our faith, the kind that keeps us and our minds solely focused on the challenged that life has brought into our lives but the question is: Does a singular focus on the problem we face change the problem? It could be a money problem, maybe a lost job, a child who’s gone rogue, or a diagnosis in yours or a loved one’s life. Continue Reading…

In Faith Faith, fear, life, purpose

John-Michael Photo copyright Keven Card 2013

A Community of Elite Parents

Keven Card — February 5, 2013 — Leave a comment

To date, I’ve shared with you some raw emotion, some of our learning experiences and even some of our faith as it relates to John-Michael’s diagnosis. Well today, I want to share with you the upside to being blessed with a child who the doctors say has Down syndrome.

There’s just something unique about families with a child or children who have DS. It really is an elite community of people who quickly accept into their families, the new parents of diagnosed children; it truly has amazed me how quickly we’ve made friends, been connected with others and how willing they are to help us with the emotional and physical challenges the we and frankly all these parents experience.

If there ever was the perfect example of a community, this is it. It’s not based on any discriminating criteria; as a matter of fact, the only criteria to be included in this community is to have the fortune of being a parent of a child diagnosed by the medical community as having DS. Continue Reading…

In Uncategorized chromosome 21, Down Syndrome, Special Needs Child, TRISOMY 21

Used with permission: Photo copyright Keven Card 2012

WHEN YOUR DESTINY TAKES YOU OFF-ROADING

Keven Card — January 29, 2013 — Leave a comment

I have to be honest with you, for the longest time I thought I knew where destiny was taking me. I’ve always had this dream of being a popular speaker and writer; and who knows I may still arrive at that destination somewhere in the future, but right now my destiny has taken a hard right and we’re off-roading.

With the birth of our son, John-Michael, who’s been diagnosed with Down syndrome, we’ve found ourselves going places we’d likely never have gone to, connecting with people we’d likely never met. And we’ve officially been inducted into a family of other special people that no parent would willingly join, but when you’re born into this family, you’re thankful.
Continue Reading…

In Purpose chromosome 21, Down Syndrome, Forsythe Fotography, Special Needs Child, TRISOMY 21

Faith According to John-Michael

Keven Card — January 22, 2013 — Leave a comment

John-Michael Photo copyright Keven Card 2012

Let me start today by telling you how good God has been to us. Last week, we had another doctor’s appointment for John-Michael. The appointment was a hearing test, where they taped a bunch of electrodes to his head, cram some tubes in his ears and clipped some more tubes to his ear lobes; then we sat there for a few hours while some computer program monitored his brain waves when they produced noises in his ear.

All they managed to do was confirm what we already knew deep down in our spirits, John-Michael can hear just fine. As it stands right now, God is 3-0 when it comes to our son’s health.

Why 3-0? Continue Reading…

In Faith chromosome 21, Down Syndrome, Faith, Special Needs Child, TRISOMY 21

What I’ve Learned About Unconditional Love From John-Michael

Keven Card — January 15, 2013 — 2 Comments

When I look into the faces of people, in that place behind their eyes, what many refer to as looking into the soul. It’s that place where the truest form of a person resides, and in so many of them, I can see a hidden longing to be loved; and not the superficial kind of love that only loves what’s appreciated but not what is flawed about them. No, my sense is that they long for an authentic love that overlooks the deepest flaws to see what’s perfect about them.

As you may have read in my previous posts, our newest Card member, John-Michael, was diagnosed with Down syndrome. And what has become very evident is how quickly people identify that ‘flaw’. I don’t mean this is a negative sense because they demonstrate true compassion for his “condition” and they want to be comforting to us and to him. But what makes John-Michael isn’t what we can see on the surface of his life; no it’s his perfections we can’t see that do. Continue Reading…

In Love chromosome 21, Down Syndrome, God's love, Special Needs Child, TRISOMY 21, unconditional love