Life

This is not an easy post for me to write, but not for the reason you might think after you read it.

Last Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, I had a biopsy on my prostate.  Yesterday, Monday, the doctor called with the results and they were positive.  I have prostate cancer.  Isn’t it interesting that bad results are called ‘positive?’

There is some good news in the midst of all this.

The first is that even though the cancer is moderately aggressive, my PSA levels are normal.  PSA is a blood test that is done to check the prostate.  The doctor said since my PSA levels were normal and I’m in generally good health for my age then the best option is surgery to remove the prostate.   The other option is radiation, but it has its own complications that I don’t want to deal with.

With surgery there’s at least a 70% or better cure rate (only 50% for radiation).  I did some Internet research and less than 15% of men with prostate cancer die from the disease.  Those are pretty good odds and I’m going with the surgery.

The second good news is I have a lot of family and friends, including you who read this blog, who I know will support Betty and me through this.

Betty and I are meeting with the doctor Wednesday morning to talk more about the surgery.  When it’s scheduled I’ll let everyone know as I value your thoughts and prayers.

The reason I mentioned above about this not being an easy post to write is the same reason I hated making calls and sending emails to family and friends this afternoon.  I know that people will worry for me and I hate putting that burden on people I care about -  especially when they have their own problems.  At the same time, I know I need your support and prayers.

Finally, given what other people have gone through, including Betty, I can’t whine or complain about this.  It’s a part of life and, as I said in Sunday’s post (written with this possibility in mind), I know that God still has a purpose for me, even with cancer, and I hope and pray I can honor him in the midst of all this.

It’s still kind a lousy way to start my week.

Monday Video–Flying French Man

I’ll let the video speak for itself.  I love to watch horses like this.

Enjoy.

Sunday Reflection–Power of God

When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.   For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.  I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power. (1 Corinthians 2:1-5)

Betty and I have prayed for healing for many people over the years – both physical and emotional.  Many times we have seen those prayers answered – even in our own bodies and in our own emotions.

Yet, there were also many times we did not see answers to our prayers.  There may have been other answers that were not apparent to us at the time, but our prayers were not answered – as we prayed them.

There’s an old saying among people who pray for healing – “There are three possible answers to our prayers for healing – yes, no and not yet.”

I have thought long and hard about why God does not seem to answer some prayers for healing.  I have read many articles and books.  The truth is I still don’t know.

The one thing I have learned is that whether God answers my prayers or not, I have to always keep my focus on him and his nature.  God is.  God is good.  God is love.  God is holy.  God’s purpose for my life is always perfect even when there doesn’t seem to be any evidence for that.

I believe that when God heals someone it is for a distinct purpose that may or may not be related to the specific physical or emotional problem being healed.  The healing of one person may actually be for God’s purpose for someone else.

If that’s true, and I believe it is, then the reverse is also true.  When God does not heal as we expect ,there is still a God-purpose being played out for that person or for someone else.

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego understood this very well…

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up."  (Daniel 3:16-18)

There is no doubt in my mind that God heals.  I have seen it too many times to ever doubt that again.  All I can do when I pray is to trust that God has a purpose for the person that may or may not include the healing for which I pray.

Christmas is Coming!

We know Christmas is coming – Thanksgiving is over and the Galloping Grace Youth Ranch Christmas Corral opened the day after – Friday.

It’s a great place to buy your Christmas tree or wreath and there are some great gift items in the Country Store.

Friday Funny–Morgunn in a Car

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and you’re enjoying the multiple ways you can eat leftover turkey.

Here’s a short video to help your digestion.  The horse in question looks just like Betty’s Icelandic Horse, Morgunn.

Enjoy.

See more funny videos and Cute Animals at Todays Big Thing.

Happy Thanksgiving

The Lord has done great things for us and we are filled with joy.

What a great verse for this Thanksgiving day and for every day of the year.

This year has been an up and down year for us as I guess most years are.  We’ll see how the year ends before making any final judgments.

But, what I’ve learned is how important it is to always be grateful.  For a long time, I relied on this verse:

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.  (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

I thought, well, at least I can give thanks IN all circumstances, but I don’t have to give thanks FOR all circumstances.  Then God showed me this verse:

Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 5:19-20)

Bummer, now I have to give thanks both IN and FOR all circumstances.  I know we can argue there is a difference between ‘in all circumstances’ and ‘for everything,’ but I can’t do that.  I’m a simple person and I tend to take God’s word at its face value and resist trying to bend it to a meaning I want – at least until God shows me more about his meaning.

In any case, Betty and I are thankful for our relationship with God, for our marriage, for our sons and their families, for our horses, for our friends who read this blog, and for so much more.  No matter what else is happening in our lives or what will happen, it’s important for me to keep everything in a total perspective of God’s blessings.

We pray that God will bless each and every one of you who have been faithful to read these wanderings and wonderings.

Have a blessed and happy Thanksgiving!

Just Enjoying a Morning Swing

Yesterday morning, Betty looked outside and laughed.  I went to see what she was amused about.  It was our resident Roadrunner, Simone, on our swing.

Now it’s not unusual for Simone to rest on our courtyard wall or the swing in the morning when it’s cold.  She’ll have her feathers all fluffed up to warm up in the morning sun.

This morning she was fluffed up again, but she was squatting on the swing and the breeze was blowing the swing slightly back and forth.  She seemed to enjoy it.  She stayed there a good long time.

Christmas de Caballos Parade

Corrales held it’s annual Christmas de Caballos (Christmas of Horses) Parade this past Sunday.  The parade is sponsored by the Corrales Horse and Mule People (CHAMP) group and I’m the ‘official’ photographer.  This year Betty was the ‘official’ videographer so credit for the great video below goes to her.

The grand marshals this year were wounded warriors – servicemen who were wounded in either Iraq or Afghanistan and are participating in a program called Horses for Hero's where they work with and train horses as part of their therapeutic work.

We always have Miss Rodeo New Mexico participate along with the great folks from the Albuquerque Police Mounted Unit, plus the New Mexico Search and Rescue folks.

Finally, all participants bring toys for the Marine’s Toys for Tots program.

It was a great event this year and here’s a video to give you an overview…

Monday Video–How to Snuggle on a Cold Day

Now that the weather is colder, here’s a video that shows you how to snuggle together to get some warmth.

Be sure and watch closely about 18 seconds into the video.

Enjoy.

Sunday Reflection - Heart

A good blog friend made a comment on one of our blogs that really made me think:  “Heart over genes any day.”  It was in reference to a donkey wanting to join the Budweiser horse team.

We’re all a bundle of our genes and the influences of our families while we grew up.  Statistics say that children raised in alcoholic or abusive families are more likely to be alcoholics or abusers themselves when they grow up.

Yet, with God’s grace and a lot of heart we can overcome our genes and family influences and break that generational chain before it goes down to our children.

That’s it for today as I’m short on time, but hopefully it will give you something to think about.

Dan

Fitting In

Ever have trouble fitting in or getting your dream fulfilled?  Just hang in there and let this video give you some encouragement.

Friday Funny–Question Finally Answered

Betty and I had a good ride/work out with the horses this morning and they both did pretty well.  During the winter we’ll probably ride in our back more often.

I don’t have any pictures or video from this morning so I’ll leave you with this cartoon that finally answers the question, “Which came first…?”

Ouch

We went out to ride Sugar and Morgunn in our back this morning.  It was cold and windy.  Sugar was lying down with her head up.  I petted her for awhile and then bent over to put her halter on.

I felt a twinge in the lower, left part of my back close to the top of my hip.  I was careful from that point on and it didn’t bother me while we were riding.  Both horses did pretty well.

However, after going inside and taking a shower it has progressively stiffened up and is painful to the touch.  I have had far worse strains in my lower back, but this is painful enough for me to be careful I don’t make it worse.

I’m sitting here now writing this with a heating pad on my lower back.

Ah, the joys of getting older.

Monday Video–Pas de Deux

Pas de deux is a French phrase meaning ‘step of two.’  It’s a ballet term for when two dancers work in concert with each other.  In the horse world it’s when two riders work together in concert.

Arabian horses are wonderful horses, but watch this Arabian and his/her rider work with another Arabian breed in a wonderful pas de deux.

Enjoy.

Sunday Reflection–The Potter

Yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand. (Isaiah 64:8)

I picked this topic today because in about 15 minutes Betty and I are driving down to the South Valley to talk with a potter about some new every–day dishes.  Our present dishes are pottery that were made in Kentucky and they’re getting old and chipped.  It’s time for some new dishware.

We met this potter at the arts festival during the Corrales Harvest Festival in late September.  Betty was taken with one of his designs that he calls ‘free form’ and I agreed.  She bought a serving dish to bring home so we could live with it for a while to be sure we still like it – and we do.

If you have ever watched an experienced potter at work it’s a fascinating process that involves the potter’s mind as much as his hands.  He first has a picture in his mind of what he wants this lump of clay to eventually be.

The potter’s hands are firm sometimes and gentle other times.  In all cases, the potter gets his hands very dirty as he fashions the work that he first sees in his mind.

Isaiah was right on target when he described God as a potter.  He had a design for each of us in his mind long before we were born.  Since then he has sometimes used firm hands on us when we needed to be fashioned into something different – and we often resist that firm pressure.  Other times his hands are gentle as he puts finishing touches on parts of our lives – parts of who we are and who we are becoming.

God got his hands really dirty when he sent Jesus to come and be a man with us – to experience the dirt of our lives.

Just as our potter will make dishes for us for a specific purpose, when God fashioned me and you he had a definite purpose in mind.  We are the work of his hands and he wasn’t afraid of getting his hands dirty in the process.

(PS: We just returned and we did order some place settings and serving dishes in the ‘free form’ pattern.  They will be ready after the first of the year.  Here’s a picture of one of the cereal bowls…)

Pumpkins into Christmas Trees

How do you turn pumpkins into Christmas trees?

You get 200 plus of your best friends to help you turn Galloping Grace Youth Ranch Pumpkin Patch into Galloping Grace Youth Ranch Christmas Corral.

Thank you Sagebrush Church volunteers!

Friday Funny - Loving Older Women

Betty is three months older than me.  We were both born in 1945 but she was born in May and I was born in August.  All of our ‘official’ documents show her as one year older – we were married in July and both of our boys were born before my birthday.

So, that’s why I found this cartoon relevant – and funny.

Happy Veterans Day

 

Betty said something this morning that made me stop and think.  She said, “Happy Veterans Day.  Thank you for your service and thank you for coming home.”

When I was in the Navy for four years during the Vietnam War I was at sea for over two years of that time.  Betty was at home taking care of first one, then two small boys and keeping our family well and safe.

She served just as honorably as I did and with as much sacrifice.

So, on this Veterans Day – thank you to those who served in uniform and all those who served at home.  We honor you all.

Barefoot Sunday

This past Sunday at our church, Destiny Center, was Barefoot Sunday.  Our pastor asked us to be prepared to donate our shoes and go barefoot at church.  The shoes will be donated to organizations who can get them to the poor in the world, almost 40% of the world’s population, who go without shoes all the time.

Yesterday, Betty and I went to the church to help get all these shoes organized and boxed up.  Our task was to separate the shoes into groups based on women’s shoes, men’s shoes, boy’s shoes and girl’s shoes and then by size within each group.

We arrived at 10 AM and, five hours later, the job was done.  The total was 2,245 pairs of shoes.  Given how many shoes we handled I would have said the total should have been 22,245 pairs.

Here’s a short video of what we saw as we entered the main auditorium:

Moral of the Story

Every good story has a moral.  Here’s a story about the great Norse explorer, Lief Ericson.
One day, Leif came across a little lemming who was about to jump off a cliff into a river.
Leif said, “Don’t jump, little lemming.”  And he handed the lemming to his second in command who taught the lemming how to wade across the river instead of jumping off a cliff.
And the moral of this story is….. (scroll down)
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“When Leif hands you a lemming, make lemming wade.”

Monday Videos–The World of Idiots

We all have heard that it’s not smart to drive while using a phone and certainly not while texting.  Here’s a video of a guy who has a large book propped up behind his steering wheel.  He has a Kindle in his left hand and he uses a smart phone in his right hand.  At no time during this video do his hands touch the steering wheel.  And he’s a full grown adult (supposedly).

I would say “Enjoy,” but this is scary.

Sunday Reflections–Covenant

The Bible mentions the word ‘covenant’ 297 times starting in Genesis 6:18 and the last time in Revelation 11:19.  In Genesis, God says,

But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark — you and your sons and your wife and your sons' wives with you. (Genesis 6:18-19)

He is making a covenant with Noah and his family as they prepare to deal with the flood.

The Hebrew word used here is ‘beryth’ which literally means ‘to cut.’

Jesus talked about a new covenant when he was having his last meal with his disciples.

In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me."  (1 Corinthians 11:25-26)

The Greek word used here for covenant is ‘diatheke’ which literally means ‘to put apart.’

I haven’t been blogging since Wednesday and the reason is Betty and I were preparing for a one-day marriage enrichment event at our church that we lead called ‘Covenant Builders.’  It’s an experience we developed almost 14 years ago.

The day consists of five talks by the leaders – (1) Who Are We – Personality Differences, (2) Listen to What I Mean, Not What I Say – Communication, (3) Fighting the Good Fight – Dealing with Conflict, (4) Forgiveness, and (5) God’s Plan for Marriage.  After each talk the participants reflect privately on a couple of questions we give them and write their thoughts in a notebook.  Then they discuss another question about the topic with their table mates.  There were 9 couples so we had three tables of three couples each.  We believe the table sharing is probably the most important part of the event.

At the end we have a closing where communion is shared and the couples share with each other a covenant vow that they individually wrote after the last talk during their private reflection.  This is often the most powerful time of the weekend.

So, with all that, what is a covenant?  It’s not a contract.  A contract is an agreement between two parties to be or do something for the other.  If one party to the contract does not live up to their part of the contract the other party is set free from their obligations.

We believe God intends for marriage to be a covenant – not a contract.

We believe a covenant is a one-way promise that a person makes to another with no conditions or requirements on the other person’s part.  Think of the words in a traditional wedding vow:

“I promise to love and cherish you for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, for better or worse until death do we part.”

That’s a covenant.  The person is promising to love and cherish the other whether they are rich or poor, sick or well, if things go better or worse than expected – and the only thing that will separate them is death.

Over the years we have worked with many couples to help them understand and believe that marriage is a covenant and, if they won’t give up and allow God to be a central part, it can be the marriage they want.

Yesterday was a little different.  It was our last Covenant Builders.  We have been blessed with turning over leadership of the pastoral counseling and premarital coaching we have led over the years to two great couples.  They were the other lead couples yesterday for Covenant Builders and are willingly taking over the leadership for the future.

We’re very happy now to ‘not be in charge’ and let others take the lead and bring some new ideas and energy to these ministries.

Ooooh, That Feels Good!

We had our favorite equine chiropractic vet, Dr. Diana DeBlanc, out Wednesday morning to check out our horses.  She had seen Morgunn before, about 3 years ago, but this was the first time to see Sugar.

It was a good thing that she came to see Sugar because Diana said from her evaluation that it was probably the first time that Sugar had ever been worked on by an equine chiropractor.

Diana pushed and pulled every part of Sugar and when she did there was a crack or a popping sound.  Interestingly enough, as Diana went along Sugar seemed to enjoy it more and more so it was something she needed.

Checking Sugar’s neck vertebra.  At this point she wasn’t too sure about all this.

Pushing on Sugar’s hip structure.  Notice the relaxed right hoof and the look in her eyes.  “This ain’t too bad.”

Finally, a good pull on the tail to straighten out all the spinal column. “Oh, that feels good.”

Diana also gave Morgunn a good once-over and he needed a little correction in his left shoulder and hip.

We plan to have them checked about every six months.  It should make them feel better, especially Sugar, and, if we don’t cause them too much imbalance with our riding postures, it should help their riding as well.

After it was all over Diana and I shared broken toe stories.  Her 3-year old horse had stepped on her foot that morning and she was pretty sure at least one of her toes had been broken.  Ouch.

Great Movie

Betty and I went to see “Secretariat” yesterday and it’s a great movie.  It was neat to see the real Penny Chenery in the last race scenes.  If you like a good, values-affirming movie and especially if you like horses, this is a movie to see.

(The picture is a real photo of Secretariat winning the Triple Crown at Belmont by a staggering 31 lengths – incredible.)

 

Here’s a video of the real Belmont Race.  The match race was to be between Secretariat and Sham.  They battle it out for about half the race, but as Secretariat pulls away Sham falls back and finishes last.  Secretariat is still pulling away from the field as he crosses the finish line.  This may be the greatest horse race ever.

Vote

Betty and I will vote tomorrow morning after we exercise and after the morning rush at the polls dies down.  Originally I thought I was going to have to report for jury duty and we would have to vote early (but not often).  However, my jury panel was canceled so I don't have to report tomorrow morning.

No matter your political leanings, our right and privilege to vote is one of the greatest things about our country.

So get out there and vote.

Monday Video -- A Father and Son (Sorry)

(After posting this, MLB stopped it from being shown because of copyright issues -- sorry)

Here's a video of two men, whether you agree with them or not, obviously have a love for each other as father and son.  And the son still has a pretty good arm.
Enjoy this video from the Rangers game on Sunday night.