Cara Whitney - Unbridled Faith: 100 Devotions from the Horse Farm

I m sure the first thing you are wondering is, Why is Larry the Cable Guy, the Blue Collar Comedy Tour comedian, writing the foreword tothis devotional?

For starters, my real name is Dan Whitney.

Secondly, the author is the love of my life, my wife, Cara.

I was the son of a preacher and grew up on a farm raising pigs in a small town of 1,200 in southeast Nebraska. I accepted the Lord into my life in my early years, then again in my teenage years, and thirty-seven more times somewhere in between then and now. I was apparently scared of a little cog in life called hell. I went to church three times a week, attended two Christian schools, and also went to Bible college. Mixed all together, the inevitable result wastada!me turning out to be a comedian. The Lord blessed me with an outgoing personality and a talent for humor, so I took it and ran with it.

Unfortunately, as the entertainment industry goes, and as the life of an unattached and unaffiliated Christian goes, I became wrapped up in everything this world had to offer. I would have been described as a backslider. To my regret, I spent too much time away from Jesus Christ. No, I never got to the point where I shunned Jesus or didnt care about the things of God; I was just less engaged in any kind of a walk with Him. Fame, making money, and having a good time crowded out what I knew was best for my soul. Heres the problem with that: a Christian who doesnt stay engaged in Gods Word every day and feed his need for spiritual food begins to gradually fall away from Gods purpose in his or her life.

This is where my wife comes in.

One night in June of 2003, I met a quiet little lady from a small town in Wisconsin who grew up the same as I did, minus the church activities. Cara wasnt really a religious person, and that would be putting it mildly. She didnt think too much about Jesus or anything spiritual. She actually kinda despised Christians because she thought they were all hypocrites. (All I have to say to that is, Guilty as charged.)

For sure, I wasnt much good in helping her find the love that Jesus had for her. I was too busy sliding backward down the dark side of Hollywood. But Cara has always been very smart and inquisitive. Every now and then shed ask me a question about the Bible because she knew I grew up in a Christian home, and she had questions about my real beliefs. The sad shame of it all is that after all my biblical schooling, and growing up how I did, I could barely answer any of them.

In 2005 we got hitched, and then Cara and I were blessed with two kids and a great family. Things were like a fairy tale, and then, boom! Health problems hit her and scared us to our knees; we thought she had cancer. Its crazy how a big health scare like running tests for cancer causes you to begin to review your life. Its something God uses to get your attention, thats for sure. He certainly had ours.

Hang with me now. I know Im more or less telling my wifes story, but it relates to me writing this foreword.

My wife has always been an excellent detective. Shes constantly interested in how things work. Shes the type who will watch detective shows and try to figure out who did what before the shows over... and shes usually right. Well, during her cancer scare, she told God she was gonna search out Jesus and see what Hes all about. My wife delved into the life of Christ like Columbo! (Hes a TV detective from the seventies... tells you what I know about modern shows.)

Anyway, she started reading the Bible and devotionals and doing big ol Bible study guides. She joined a womens group at the church. She signed up for phone podcasts of pastors and watched videos of apologetics scholars. She bought and ordered just about every learning and study book or CD you can get, including taking an online class at Liberty University. When it was all said and done, her search for Christ had set us back five figures! But the cool thing about it was just like it says in Matthew 7:7 Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

Cara had transformed throughout the weeks, months, and years right in front of me into someone who now had peace and happiness. She had a family who loved her, but she also had a deeper joy because of the hope that only Jesus Christ our Savior can give. It was the most incredible thing Ive ever witnessed (blowing away Nebraskas back-to-back NCAA football championships in the nineties).