Hello, I’m Jon McCaw! I’m born and raised in the good, green, and mostly rainy, Northwest part of America! I have enjoyed times in Seattle and Portland and have favorite things I like about both places. However, Portland is my home.
Growing up
From the time I was a small child until I was about 16, I think I would be considered a God-send to any parent. I say this because after I started dating, I managed to do a lot of “growing”. You could say I rebelled but in any case, I did learn what was wrong and what was right.
School was a necessary thing that I attended so that I was able to go play sports. I lived sports. Basketball, Baseball, and any P.E. classes were the highlight for me as I grew up.
Sports
Baseball was the sport that I really excelled at and eventually my summer baseball team went to the state playoffs and the championship game. We didn’t win the game but many lessons were learned. Just one of the lessons we learned was that we couldn’t be the best on every occasion. I’d say we were not the same team that we were every other game we played that year. We took 2nd in the state of Oregon in 1985.
Basketball was fun for me but I always seemed to struggle with conditioning and getting my mechanics down to play the way I knew I could and desired. I remember a certain saturday practice when playing Frosh Basketball. During the time I grew up, we had Jr. High Schools and so the Freshmen were at the top of the ladder in that system.
It’s nothing like the middle school systems we have now across America. So this particular morning we were playing team a vs. team b. I was on team a this game and that usually meant that I was part of the starters. I remember this morning so well because I could do almost no wrong. I’d pass and get an assist. I’d shoot and not miss. I’d drive the lane and something good happened. It got to the point where all the guys were starting to comment on how well I was playing — even the coach (who played on team b on this morning). It was a time that I will never forget how good I was that morning. It was the type of play I wished I could have bottled up and took with me anywhere I went that year and beyond.
My Christian Faith
Growing up I went to church every sunday and because my family was very much involved in the Salvation Army, that is where I went. I gave my life to Jesus as a six-year-old. I’m sure in my heart I was saved but in my head it really didn’t kick in until I was much older. Of course, I had the morals instilled in me by my parents. I believe that living as a Christian, you have to be continually asking for forgiveness, and also renewing your relationship with Jesus.
Life Begins After Graduation
After graduating from high school, I was thrust into working for a living. I met a girl during my high school days that I married and had a daughter with and after a year of being married, we decided to split and get a divorce. My daughter was under my care and I did the best I could with what I had. I didn’t date much due to me having my daughter around. My thinking was that I didn’t want to have girl after girl come around and then they leave. This, I thought would not be that stable living situation.
So, I did meet people during this time and eventually I met someone who I really liked. I started hanging out with Carrie and then we couldn’t be seen apart. After dating for about 4 years, I proposed marriage to Carrie. We were married on July 2, 2010 and again on September 17th, 2010.
The reason behind the 2 weddings was this: Carrie had breast cancer and wanted to have her wedding with her real hair before it fell out due to the chemo. The rest of friends and family were able to attend the wedding in september.
Carrie would put up a valiant fight, but I believe things changed drastically after she had the mastectomy done. There are always cancer cells in our bodies and they moved to her spinal cord at that point. That was not a good sign. The fight left her blind, and bed ridden. She passed on to the next stage of life, in Heaven on October 22, 2011.
Something NOBODY Wants To Experience – Grief
He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. (Psalm 147:3 NIV)
We as American’s just don’t know how to grieve. It’s a necessary thing we all must do. When a family member dies, or a divorce happens, grieving must take place. It’s different for EVERYBODY. In today’s culture, businesses offer a week at the most and some nothing at all (such as in my case). I was back at work the next monday after she died. So the whole grief process is something that is hard to explain but if I could say one thing about it, it would be to make sure that you DO IT. There are plenty of free to close to free support groups. I attended a group that was sponsored by my church. The group materials were done by Grief Share.
Life after grief
The group that I joined to help with my grief, helped me tremendously. I still have friendships from that experience. I took about a year to heal enough to really be able to hold a good relationship. I’m now (at the time of this post) engaged to be married and I couldn’t be happier with who God has sent into my life. He really cares about each and every one of us and listens to everything we say.
Through my walk with God, I have become more in tune with spiritual things, and be able to give prophetic words for people. Let me tell you straight up that giving words is really cool but a lot of the time before you give the word it seems very odd – until you get to know more about this gift. Also, with this gift you really need to be praying at all times. That means you’re talking to God both in English and in your prayer language. This helped me get through my grief and heal MUCH FASTER than most would have ever thought possible.
Because I was able to heal so fast, I was also able to move on with my life and meet a wonderful woman of God. She is really the answer to my prayers after all the muck and mire that happened.
UPDATE: Since writing this, we have been married happily for almost 2 years!
I find it a bit difficult to write about myself in the third person using my full name of Jon McCaw when I use just my first name to refer to my self. So, I am glad to share my experiences with you through this blog and other social media. And be sure to add me to your friends list on Facebook, Instagram & twitter.
Making your life better in any way that I can is my goal in life. It’s said that if you want something, the best way to get it is to bless that which you want. Put another way, if you help others get what they want, you can have all that you want. So that should give you an idea as to how I approach life.
Make it a blessed day!
-Jon
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