Reflections, thanks and rebirth

[Rick W]

After a glorious career and very good life, for several years after 2010, I went through several years of a horrible divorce, then seriously injured my leg, then my next leg, and then got a debilitating blood disorder. Fortunately, I had financial resources, but everything that made up my life was, how do you say it? “Cast asunder!!”

With my wonderful family and close friends and a loyal client base made up of wonderful friends, I survived on the homefront and financially. However, I’m a lifelong tinkerer, builder, motorhead, and freaky fabrication fanatic, and I was lost.

Then I stumbled up on The Ranger Station and you guys. I started tinkering with several basically throw away trucks, and I built the funky things you guys now know me for. Infinitely more important, I’ve gotten to know the great family of TRS, and you guys filled in my life in ways I can’t even describe, nor properly emphasize. I don’t think such things happen by accident.

I try to be a man of faith, and live my life the way He would have us live our lives. Even when I was crushed, somehow, I always had strength and ability to assist others in need, and while nobody came down here and turned wrenches, you guys listen to my bizarre stories, provided countless bits of advice on my creations, and you still laugh at my silly jokes. You fill up my voids as much as any of the other people I love dearly.

Remember, this is all possible, and only possible, because of Him, His infinite love, wisdom and ability, and the sacrifices He, as and with His Son, suffered so that we could live in His glory forever. Who on earth could suffer 33 years with fools the like of us? He never came to learn about us, He came so we could share in His blessings. And He remains with us, watches over us, and guides us - if we are wise enough and humble enough to take Him into our lives - through the Holy Spirit, His holy spirit. He, They, the one and only true mix of pronouns, walks with us, hovers and flies above us, and waits for us in heaven if we prove ourselves worthy.

Regardless of your faith, it seems like all believe, truly believe, in the ethereal all knowing, all powerful and loving Spirit in and above us, and our obligation to live our lives correctly, as friends and family to others, even those we don’t know, and some we don’t like or respect, leading to our eternal salvation.

I personally thank God for each and every one of you, and all of you together, and what at @Jim Oaks has created here. I don’t know how much you guys love me, but in many ways, you saved my life when I was pretty low. However, don’t gloat over me, nor pat yourselves on the back; reach out to those less fortunate, the lonely. You can’t even imagine the rewards.

I’m running over to help sweet pea with a little plumbing problem, just friends at this point, and the cute little brunette is coming over here later today. @Peter_'86_2.9L_Auto is coming tomorrow afternoon to help with the outside deferred maintenance. I plan on an unofficial prayer at the church sometime this morning or afternoon, thanking Him for his sacrifice for us, praying that His pain has been relieved, and we will be going to the first Baptist Atlanta Easter service on Sunday, Charles Stanley’s former church, now pastored by Anthony George, also a pretty good preacher. I’m sure it will be streaming if you want to join us.

What do you guys have to be thankful for? How are you going to acknowledge, thank and praise the Lord above this weekend, celebrate with your family and those you love, even if it’s just saying a quiet prayer sitting in the truck…

 

[Curious Hound]

More than ever, I'm thankful just to be alive this year. Don't take life and health for granted. My brother and his family came to visit this week and it has been good.

 

[cbxer55]

I'm thankful to be alive every single day I wake up. Will be 65 in July, never thought, back in my younger days, I'd ever be this old. Happens too dang fast! Thankful that up til now, I don't take or need any meds. Haven't been in a dentists office for 40 years, still have all my teeth and not one of them bothers me in the slightest. That's the best part of all! I despise both doctors and dentists. If I ever have to make it a routine to visit any of them, I'll off myself.

 

[Jim Oaks]

First and foremost, thanks @Rick W for sharing. I have recently questioned my own purpose in life and why I'm even here. I've had a lot of recent struggles here at TRS because of search engines, AI and what they now deem as relevant, so it's always I great pick me up when I learn that TRS is still benefiting people.

TRS is more than a community of Ford Ranger owners, it's a community of friends. One of my biggest projects over the last few years has been renovating a building that came with my home & property, and I have a thread about it here in the forum. During the renovation I have sought out a lot of advice and opinions from my friends on this forum, and @Rick W has been one of the biggest contributors. Especially when it came to raising part of the ceiling. I feel bad because when I met Rick in person at the 25th Anniversary, it didn't click at the moment that he was one of the guys that had offered so much advice to the project. I think I was too caught up in everything else that was going on at the moment.

I often think to myself that the 18 year old me would never believe where life would take me. I've definitely had my low points and challenges. I've been divorced since 2016. I ended a 2.5-year relationship with a woman in 2023 that was so bad that I've been reluctant to date again. My daughter has been living in Ohio and leasing out their home here in Texas, so it's only been me and my dog Marley, and I had to put him to sleep on 3/11/26 because he was dying from kidney failure. I got him as a puppy and had him for 13 years, so he was a big part of my life. Then on 4/1/26 it was the 1-year anniversary of my mother passing.

Life definitely has its challenges and sometimes it can feel like it's really taking a shit on you. The important thing is how you choose to look at it. I could choose to be depressed, but I've often said that sometimes depression is caused by how we think about things. If you don't want to be sad or depressed, change how you look at the situation.

I really miss Marley, but I tell myself that he was meant to live 13-years and I'm grateful that they were with me. I considered him my 3rd child and tried to give him a great life. We were inseparable, and during his last 2-months he started wanting to sleep on the bed next to me before I even knew he had a health issue, and when he went to sleep for the last time, I was there petting him and telling him he was a good boy.

I miss my mother, but she had been in pain for years and had told me on several occasions that she was ready to go. At least I know she's no longer suffering.

Faith is a funny thing. I found it in 2005. It saved me. I have been struggling financially since around August of last year and as a result, I haven't planned any off-road trips for this year. I had also planned to finally put the old Ranger in my renovated workshop and start building it, but now the money isn't there to spend. Yet, I've told myself that God has always provided and it will all work out, so I haven't been too worried about it. In fact, Marley's vet bill was just over $400, and the day after I lost him, I got a check from the mortgage company for $300. I had a $300 excess in my escrow account, so they sent it to me. And then this month, my house payment actually went down a little. To some that would be a coincidence. To me, that's God providing.

I'm grateful for my TRS family. When I'm doing a project and need advice or opinions, you're the ones I turn to. When I've experienced pain or struggles in my personal life, my friends here have helped me through that as well. But I don't always post that for everyone to see.

One of the things I most look forward to is being about to get together in person with my friends here, and I hope to be able to do that again soon.

I'm thankful that we didn't lose @Curious Hound to his heart attack. Eric has been an off-roading and camping partner for several years, helped organize the two events at Land Between the Lakes, organized the scavenger hunt both years, and now hosts a fall camping event. Eric was in the middle of a V8 swap when he had his heart attack. I hate that I'm over 1,000 miles from him because he's done so much for TRS, we should be helping him finish his V8 swap.

TRS started as a way to share my Ford Ranger hobby with other Ford Ranger owners. It's much more than that today, and I'm thankful for all of you for being part of it.

 

[Rick W]

Holy crap, when did @Curious Hound have the heart attack? I missed that one. Damn, I already prayed today. I’m going to have to do it again.

It’s always hard to lose loved ones and family. My message was not intended to bring out sad tales, but rather how we become stronger and better from our trials and tribulations, how friends and family, and even our furry friends, bring us through. I’d love to hear more about that. On the sad tales, that’s not a criticism in any way. I’m glad Foulkes share, it eases the burden and lets us reflect properly on our own burdens.

A thought on the “troublesome” wives and girlfriends, and the pets we have to put down out of love. One would think the Lord in his infinite wisdom would help us a little bit on how to mix those two up a little bit and come out with different endings…

Yeah, I have to pray a little bit for forgiveness on that last one too.

Eric, double load of prayers coming your way. Are you OK? I had a little one about 10 years ago, didn’t even know it was a heart attack till about a week later. With all I was going through at the time, it was like a little bump on the road.

 

[Rick W]

First and foremost, thanks @Rick W for sharing. I have recently questioned my own purpose in life and why I'm even here. I've had a lot of recent struggles here at TRS because of search engines, AI and what they now deem as relevant, so it's always I great pick me up when I learn that TRS is still benefiting people.

TRS is more than a community of Ford Ranger owners, it's a community of friends. One of my biggest projects over the last few years has been renovating a building that came with my home & property, and I have a thread about it here in the forum. During the renovation I have sought out a lot of advice and opinions from my friends on this forum, and @Rick W has been one of the biggest contributors. Especially when it came to raising part of the ceiling. I feel bad because when I met Rick in person at the 25th Anniversary, it didn't click at the moment that he was one of the guys that had offered so much advice to the project. I think I was too caught up in everything else that was going on at the moment.

I often think to myself that the 18 year old me would never believe where life would take me. I've definitely had my low points and challenges. I've been divorced since 2016. I ended a 2.5-year relationship with a woman in 2023 that was so bad that I've been reluctant to date again. My daughter has been living in Ohio and leasing out their home here in Texas, so it's only been me and my dog Marley, and I had to put him to sleep on 3/11/26 because he was dying from kidney failure. I got him as a puppy and had him for 13 years, so he was a big part of my life. Then on 4/1/26 it was the 1-year anniversary of my mother passing.

Life definitely has its challenges and sometimes it can feel like it's really taking a shit on you. The important thing is how you choose to look at it. I could choose to be depressed, but I've often said that sometimes depression is caused by how we think about things. If you don't want to be sad or depressed, change how you look at the situation.

I really miss Marley, but I tell myself that he was meant to live 13-years and I'm grateful that they were with me. I considered him my 3rd child and tried to give him a great life. We were inseparable, and during his last 2-months he started wanting to sleep on the bed next to me before I even knew he had a health issue, and when he went to sleep for the last time, I was there petting him and telling him he was a good boy.

I miss my mother, but she had been in pain for years and had told me on several occasions that she was ready to go. At least I know she's no longer suffering.

Faith is a funny thing. I found it in 2005. It saved me. I have been struggling financially since around August of last year and as a result, I haven't planned any off-road trips for this year. I had also planned to finally put the old Ranger in my renovated workshop and start building it, but now the money isn't there to spend. Yet, I've told myself that God has always provided and it will all work out, so I haven't been too worried about it. In fact, Marley's vet bill was just over $400, and the day after I lost him, I got a check from the mortgage company for $300. I had a $300 excess in my escrow account, so they sent it to me. And then this month, my house payment actually went down a little. To some that would be a coincidence. To me, that's God providing.

I'm grateful for my TRS family. When I'm doing a project and need advice or opinions, you're the ones I turn to. When I've experienced pain or struggles in my personal life, my friends here have helped me through that as well. But I don't always post that for everyone to see.

One of the things I most look forward to is being about to get together in person with my friends here, and I hope to be able to do that again soon.

I'm thankful that we didn't lose @Curious Hound to his heart attack. Eric has been an off-roading and camping partner for several years, helped organize the two events at Land Between the Lakes, organized the scavenger hunt both years, and now hosts a fall camping event. Eric was in the middle of a V8 swap when he had his heart attack. I hate that I'm over 1,000 miles from him because he's done so much for TRS, we should be helping him finish his V8 swap.

TRS started as a way to share my Ford Ranger hobby with other Ford Ranger owners. It's much more than that today, and I'm thankful for all of you for being part of it.

The more we help others, the better we will do, and the better we will end up.

Maybe you could take half of that extra building and turn it into a Somali daycare. I hear they’re pretty lucrative…

… or maybe a California hospice….

 

[Curious Hound]

Eric, double load of prayers coming your way. Are you OK?

Feeling a little bit better every day. Hopefully, my heart will return to full strength. I didn't feel like I was dying, either, until the ambulance crew told me. My TRS friends are very important to me.

 

[superj]

I am thankful to not have to worry about food and drink. The rest is just stuff but being alive and healthy is great.