First Winter Storm

It was a beautiful spring 71 degrees yesterday in Kansas City. Today, temperatures have been slowly falling since midnight. At 5 a.m. this morning it was well above freezing with mist and light rain. Right now it is 27 degrees misting, sleeting, freezing rain and just a touch of snow. There is about a half inch of slush on the roads and it is beginning to freeze.

Most of the schools, including colleges, have closed early and/or canceled classes for tonight. Many churches have canceled evening services. News media is advising to stay off the roads. Most of the highways are already jammed with early rush hour traffic and many of the main highways are already inundated with accidents.

I'm inside, sitting in front of the heater waiting for chicken and rice soup to warm that Cheryl left for me. I don't have to get out for the next several days so I'm going to enjoy watching our first winter storm from the comfort of my apartment.

Diagnosis

It occurred to me that my reference to time frames has become "pre-diagnosis" and "post-diagnosis." I don't like this as a reference to time. My life is or at least should be more than "diagnosis." I must find a new reference!

Also, it occurred to me this evening that some people are uncomfortable or unknowing about how to refer to my illness. It really is okay to use the "c" word. It's cancer! I have it and it's okay to speak of it. It isn't all bad... I think it has made me a better person.

Quotes

The only thing worth stealing is a kiss from a sleeping child. Joe Houldsworth

When I was born I was so surprised I didn't talk for a year and a half. Gracie Allen (1906-1964)

Choose your friends by their character and your socks by their color. Choosing your socks by their character makes no sense, and choosing your friends by their color is unthinkable. Anon.

On Relatives, from a Relative

Several proven facts about relatives:

1. They eat their young
2. You can't pick 'em but you can choose 'em.
3. Relatives and company stink in three days.
4. Your closest relatives are usually the ones who live the farthest away.
5. If a relative starts to agree with you on every little matter, lock your back door and hide your checkbook.
6. Relatives make poor business partners, really poor business partners.
7. Never share personal business with relatives. It is extremely improper to test integrity under fire.
8. Never offer aid to a relative unless you can afford to give it away. Relatives should be more important than money.
9. People watch your relatives and decide who you are based on impressions of your kin. Be wise!
10. Relatives can be your greatest asset or your major impediment, depending on how they use you.

Just some thoughts...

In order to see the Rainbow, you must first endure some Rain.

Always drink upstream from the herd...... (Will Rogers)

Yesterday is history. Tomorrow a mystery. Today is a gift. That's why it's called the present! Live and savor every moment...this is not a dress rehearsal!

Lets Say Thanks

This is a great thing that Xerox is doing for our troops. Click on the link and pick out a card, personalize it and then Xerox will send it to a service man or woman to say thank you!
http://www.letssaythanks.com/Home.html

Thought from a friend

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

A Bend In The Road - Final Thoughts

"What a blessed man I was ---and still am."

"More than anything else, today I'm grateful to God. I continue to pray that the days of excruciating treatments are finally at an end. But I also know that cancer is not a battle, it's a war. And I can only be thankful for battles won and land retaken in the name of Christ. I feel thoroughly undeserving of the depths of His mercy, the deep well of His strength and His infinite compassion poured out upon me. I trust you can say much the same thing." p. 277

Obviously, I enjoyed this book. It so describes so many of my own thoughts and feeling while going through diagnosis, treatment and since. I hope you will take the time to read the entire book.

A Bend In The Road - Part 4

Back to the book... I had to take a little political detour.

From the last chapter.

(King) "...David says. "And I'll be in a land where joy is made full, and pleasure can be found at God's right hand."" p. 271

"I want to be here for the rapture of the church. Paul tells us, in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, that Christ will appear from heaven with a shout. I wouldn't mind being around to witness that event. I want to hear the trumpet Paul has foretold, and I want to see those graves open up and give forth their dead, who will joyfully race through the skies to rejoin their Creator and Redeemer. Then, as Paul says, "we who are alive and remain" (I'm counting on numbering myself among that group) will be caught up with Christ as well. It will be quite a spectacle!" p. 272

A story from pages 273-274 that many of us have heard before. When I have heard it before it was titled "Keep Your Fork."

I want to tell you about a woman who was a staunch and faithful church member. She was ravaged by illness, and no one expected her to live much more than another week or two.

She knew her day was approaching, and she called the pastor and asked him to come help her plan the funeral. So he joined her at her deathbed, and they began making arrangements. The ailing woman listed for him all the hymns she wanted sung, all the Scripture verses she wanted read, and those she preferred as the soloists.

Then she said, "Pastor, there's one thing I want you to do. You may feel this is strange, but I want you to promise me today that you'll fulfill my wishes anyway."

The pastor frowned mildly. "What's that?" he asked.

She said, "I want to be buried with a fork in my right hand."

The pastor's frown became deeper. This was quite an odd request. "That's a request I've never heard,: he said kindly, "but perhaps if you try to help me understand your reason, I can feel better about carrying out your request."

She said, "Pastor, I've been a member of our church for most of my life. And one of the great joys for me has been the potluck dinners we have. I don't think I've missed one dinner in my life. In the old days, we had them on a weekly basis. And what I remember best is how, after the first course was served, one of the hosts would always stand up and say, 'Save your fork. The best is yet to come!' So, pastor, I'm counting on you to bury me with a fork in my hand. When my loved ones pass by the casket and look at me, I want you to be standing nearby. Those people will ask you why I'm holding an eating utensil, and you;ll smile and tell them that for me, the best is yet to come."

One More Thing on Politics Today

"In politics stupidity is not a handicap." ---Napoleon

Shame on U.S. House Democrats

Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D, Cal), Speaker Elect of the U. S. House of Representatives announced a few minutes ago that the Democrats will pursue the "6 for '06." Included in this is the pursuit of Embryonic Stem Cell Research. Shame on the Democrats who desire to murder innocent babies in the name of "research."

Please contact your congressional representative and express your feelings against this initiative. Find your representatives at: http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/

Shame on Missouri

The voters of Missouri have approved embryonic stem cell research. May God forgive you for the murders of the babies you are about to commit.

A Bend In The Road - Part 3

More from the book.

"If we cannot see ourselves as heaven sees us, we cannot see ourselves." p. 117

"Someone has said that Satan knows nothing at all about pleasure, his specialty is amusement. Only God knows geniune pleasure." p. 136-137

"Genuine pleasure is ordained by God and intended for our deep joy and delight. It can only be captured by knowing God, realizing He knows us, and being at reqast in His presence." p. 137

"Learn to praise God regardless of your personal circumstances, and you'll see miracles occur. Your heart and mind will be renewed. Your perspective will widen panoramically. And your attitude toward God will never be the same." p. 144

"O, Lord my God, I cried out to You,
And you have healed me.

O Lord, You have brought my soul up from the grave,
You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit." Psalm 30:2-3, p. 149

"Problems encourage isolation, and isolation nurtures misconception." p. 183

"An old African-American preacher once commented... 'There's no living in the land of the living like living in the living God!'" p. 190

"Great works are done in deep waters." p. 206

"A devoted believer will pray for God's deliverance from problems, but a wiser one will pray for God's use of them."
"If you're weathering a storm, you can be certain the winds are no random weather front. They blow for a clear purpose. As you're caught up in a tempest, ask God to help you be caught up in His purpose."p. 208

"Unfortunately, prayer seems to be our last port in a storm. It should be the first." p. 209
"God knows, even if we don't, that we're not self-sufficient. He loves to bring us to our knees in fresh depoendence on Him." p. 211

"You are safer and more secure in the tempest with Jesus than you could ever be in the calmest place without Him." p. 213

From Mr. Jeremiah's journal:
"Lord, never let me forget that my mind must be fixed on You. I think of You so much more now than the time before my cancer arrived. I have become more sensitive now to Your will and to the process of becoming holy. I want my life to honor You. I want to live for You. I want to serve You wholeheartedly. In these days when I face an uncertain future, my heart would be troubled; help me to remember that 'You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You.'" p. 236

A Bend In The Road - Part 2

Some of the things David Jeremiah does in the book is use the stories of others who have gone through live changing experiences. One of those people that shares his story is a surgeon named Dr. John Hovey. Dr. Hovey contracted Parkinson's disease. The following is some of what he shared in his story.

"Was my identity as a doctor more important than my identity as His disciple?"

"Since my retirement... the Lord has been more than faithful in showing me that His grace is sufficient. He has allowed me to identify with Jesus in the practical joy of being a carpenter and to develop a more disciplined study of His Word. He has allowed me to be availalbe to assist the many people He puts in my path. He has given me the joy of increasing my participation in church activities and of giving more of the Lord's money back to him."

"This has been the bottom line for me: more time with the Lord, more time with His Word, and more time with my wife and family. Would you believe it if I told you that I've come to be truly thankful for Parkinson's disease? It's the truth." p. 57

"Someone said the the problem with life is that it's so daily." p. 90"

"...Lord, out the light back in my eyes." Isn't that a fascinating thing to put in our prayers? Put the light back in my eyes."

(King)"David says, "O Lord, I have no hope. Please see me and hear me---and put the light back in my eyes." What a moving prayer this is."
"He addresses his Lord as Jehovah Elohim."

"Jehovah reflects God's promises; Elohim reflects God's power."p. 95

"We can find tremendous hope of victory in the midst of the deepest pits life can drop us into. But it's no simple process. There isn't a handy, guaranteed formula for hope in the midst of suffering. It takes absolute, fall-on-your-face humility and genuine, gut-wrenchingly honest prayer." p. 96

A Bend In The Road - Part 1

I have been reading "A Bend In The Road: Experiencing God When Your World Caves In" by David Jeremiah. David Jeremiah is the Sr. Pastor at the Shadow Mountain Community Church, El Cajon, California. He is a cancer (lymphoma) survivor, also. This book is about his journey from diagnosis through remission and beyond and is very similar to my own journey. Many of his thoughts and experiences were/are my thoughts and experiences.

The next few posts I'm going to share some of the passages from the book that I "felt" and meant a great deal to me. They touched me and I hope they touch you, also.

"... God uses disruptive moments to help us keep things in perspective." p. 11

"God is up to something when He sends difficulty our way." p. 51

"If you don't know Christ, you must enter the battle without weapons or armor. You fight in your own strength, and you fall on your face.
Why? Because God is the only One who can help us when trials come into our lives. And He does more than help us. He is our rock, our fortress, our hope, and our confidence." p. 52

Tell It Like It Is

San Francisco Police Department Press Conference
Background: San Francisco Police Officer Nick Birco was killed July 26, 2006 when his police car was struck by a stolen van occupied by suspects who had just committed an armed robbery and were being pursued by SFPD units. This video was of a press conference given by a member of the SFPD brass and demonstrates how our leaders should act.
http://mfile.akamai.com/12948/wmv/vod.ibsys.com/2006/0728/9591734.300k.asx

Erma Bombeck

“At the end of my life, when I face God, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left and could tell Him I used everything You gave me.” Erma Bombeck, Author & Humorist

Jokes, Bloopers?

"Bloopers happen," Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean told reporters in Burlington, Vt.

Apparently, Kerry doesn't know how to say "I apologize," so he sends Howard Dean to call his statements "bloopers."

What a shame! Mr. Kerry needs to stand up and be a man. He has shamed our forces who are defending his right to "be a blooper."

Mr. Kerry should resign... you don't deserve to be Commander In Chief of our forces!

The Man Who Would Like to be President

"You know, education - if you make the most of it - you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq." Democratic Senator John Kerry

The man who would like to be President of the United States; and he calls this a joke!