All Is Well

Praise God! Dan’s surgery Wednesday went very well. The doctor said everything around the prostate looked normal – including the lymph nodes that were removed and will be biopsied. We feel that the Lord honored many prayers and we thank you all.

His first night was rough because of the trauma of the surgery, but nothing unusual and yesterday couldn’t have gone better. He was up and walking through the halls before noon. The doctor was so pleased with how he was doing that he released him this morning.

WE’RE HOME.

It will take a while before he feels good but everything has gone as well as we could possibly have hoped.

No pictures. Just as well. He didn’t look his best. I’ll bet it won’t be long before you hear from him—and you might even get some pictures.

We continue to pray for a full and speedy recovery and good pathology reports. Thanks for all the support and prayers from so many friends and family members.

Lucky or Blessed?

On July 4, 1939 Lou Gehrig spoke these words:

“Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.”

Lou Gehrig was the original Iron Man playing in 2,130 consecutive games for the New York Yankees – a record that stood until September 6, 1995 when Cal Ripken of the Baltimore Orioles broke it.

What made Gehrig’s words meaningful was that he had just been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) which is now known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease.  It’s a fatal disease and Gehrig died two years later in 1941.

Over the past few days I have been reflecting on my life and the people in it.  My parents were both good, hard working people who raised me with a strong work ethic and good values.  My older sister, Jane, has been a good friend for many years and her husband, Hack, is a great guy with a great sense of humor – and a terrific photographer.  They have two neat sons, Kelly and Gary, and Kelly is married to April, a woman of great compassion and gifts.  They have  my neat nephew, Jory.

I was blessed to marry into Betty’s family.  Her stepmother, Nita, is the heart and soul of the family.  Nita may not be Betty’s blood mother but she has been the only grandmother our boys have known in Betty’s family and I would be proud to call her mother any day of the week.

Betty’s older sister, Margie, is the terrific aunt to all the kids and is a good friend to Betty.  Betty’s older brother, Bill and his wife Noel, are people who have been tested by the fire of life and come out on the other end much stronger.  Their faith and friendship are things I have valued for many years.  Betty’s younger brother, Jim and his wife Melissa, have a passion and gift for developing young people through their debate programs they have developed over the years.  There are many kids from both privileged families and from housing projects who had their lives changed through Jim and Melissa’s work.  Their children, Leslie and her husband Tom, and Patrick and his wife Michelle inherited their parents’ passions and great sense of humor.

Our lives have been impacted and changed by our friends Bob and Molly in Ohio and they are still very important part of our life.

We have been blessed and changed by our experiences with  our friends Max and Michelle Wade and their ministry Galloping Grace Youth Ranch.

We have so many friends at our church Destiny Center that it’s impossible to list them all here.

Finally, I have Betty and our two sons, Wade and Chris who are blessings in so many ways.  Our two boys had the good sense to marry wonderful Christian girls, Marie and Tracy, who have added so much to our lives.  Our grand kids, Javier, Juliet and Leah, are so special to us.

Betty of course has been the greatest blessing of all.  She’s my best friend and our time together – 6 years dating and 43 plus years married – has made me who I am.  I owe her so much.

So, as I go into my surgery tomorrow, Wednesday, I can say, “Today I consider myself the most blessed man on the face of the earth.”  As a Christian I don’t believe in luck.

Betty will do a post giving you an update after the surgery.  The timing will be dependent on when she can get home to my computer.

Be good while I’m gone.

Monday Video–Christmas for Cowboys

Even though I didn’t agree with some of his lifestyle choices, I always enjoyed John Denver’s music.

Here’s his “Christmas for Cowboys” to remind us that cowboys work every day.

The Cost of Christmas

It’s Christmas Day.  Betty and I are enjoying our time with our family in Franklin, Tennessee.  We’re visiting with Betty’s stepmother, Nita, Betty’s sister, Margie, and her brother Jim and his family.  By the time anyone reads this we’ll have opened our presents this morning and enjoyed a late breakfast of Tennessee country ham, biscuits and cheese grits –a family tradition with a definite Southern flavor.

We hope you and yours are enjoying this day as well and we hope we all remember the real reason for the season, the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus.

But, I also believe we need to occasionally remind ourselves that our Savior’s life that ended with him paying the cost for our sins, started with others paying the cost for his birth – the Holy Innocents.

Matthew 2:1–18 tells this story: Herod was “greatly troubled” when astrologers from the east came asking the whereabouts of “the newborn king of the Jews,” whose star they had seen. They were told that the Jewish Scriptures named Bethlehem as the place where the Messiah would be born. Herod cunningly told them to report back to him so that he could also “do him homage.” They found Jesus, offered him their gifts and, warned by an angel, avoided Herod on their way home. Jesus escaped to Egypt.
Herod became furious and “ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity two years old and under.” Since Bethlehem was a small town, the number of babies killed was perhaps 20 or 25. The horror of the massacre and the devastation of the mothers and fathers led Matthew to quote Jeremiah: “A voice was heard in Ramah,/sobbing and loud lamentation;/Rachel weeping for her children...” (Matthew 2:18)

Our Lord’s life ended in his blood for others, but as we celebrate this Christmas day may we remember that his life began and was marked by the blood of others.  The Christmas story is one of sacrifice from beginning to end.

Have a blessed Christmas.

Unto You

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born unto you; he is Christ  the Lord. (Luke 2:8-12 )

Most biblical scholars believe that Jesus was born in the spring, perhaps around April by our calendar.  One of the clues is what Luke records -- And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.

During the rest of the year, shepherds would not live out in the fields with their sheep.  Spring was the exception as that was the time of lambing and they would live with their flocks to protect the lambs from wild animals who would prey on the small lambs.

At this time, shepherds were among the lowest of the low in Jewish society.  They handled unclean animals, including animals who died, and they didn’t have the ability to go through the cleansing ceremonies that were required in Jewish society.  So no one of any standing would want to be around shepherds.  They were the outcasts of their society.

God in his grace chose these lowest of the lowest to announce the coming of his Son.  And what an announcement it was.  Can you imagine if you were a shepherd who had done this same thing for many, many years.

It was another of many nights and they expected it to be the same that night and every night to come.  The skies were probably dark, clear and full of stars in a way that we can hardly imagine with all the ambient light we have to endure.

Perhaps they had finished their evening meal and were beginning to settle down for their night’s rest, hoping they would not be awakened by the cry of threatened lambs. One or more would stand watch to listen and watch for any sign of an animal who would come to steal a lamb.

Suddenly, before their sleepy eyes, the heavens opened in a glory that we can only pretend to imagine.  An angel appeared to them and announced the greatest of all news -- “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born unto you; he is Christ  the Lord.”

Notice he did not say, “…a Savior has been born unto the world.”  He said specifically that a Savior had been born unto them – lowly shepherds.

The God of the universe, the God of all creation did not announce his coming to kings or nobles.  He sent his announcement to the lowest of the low and told them that a Savior was coming specifically to them.

What a Christmas gift.

May you and your family be blessed this Christmas Eve with the knowledge that the Son of God was born to each of you.

The Six Best Christmas Songs You’ve Probably Never Heard

My oldest son had a great post recently on his blog about the 6 best Christmas songs you’ve probably never heard.

If you have a few moments check out this link and listen to some great and very interesting Christmas music.

http://wingedpotato.posterous.com/the-best-five-christmas-songs-youve-never-hea

Sunday Reflection–God’s Will

Over the years I have read a lot about God’s will.  I believe that God has a perfect will and a permissive will.  His perfect will defines what will be to fulfill God’s plan for mankind and our earth.  His permissive will defines what he allows in our individual lives, perhaps to build our faith and character.

Could God have stopped my cancer, or heal it right now?  Of course he can.  He’s God.  I don’t believe my cancer is part of God’s perfect will for all mankind.  However, his permissive will has allowed this to happen in my life.  As I mentioned in an earlier post, I firmly believe there is a purpose in this – whether it’s to build my faith or to use my circumstances to affect someone else’s life, I don’t know.  But, I believe there is a purpose.

What is important now is how I respond to what God has allowed to occur in my life.

I use Oswald Chamber’s daily devotions from My Utmost for His Highest as part of my daily devotion.  This past Thursday the devotion had to deal with this idea of God’s will.  He wrote this:

“Always make a distinction between God’s perfect will and His permissive will, which He uses to accomplish His divine purpose for our lives. God’s perfect will is unchangeable. It is with His permissive will, or the various things that He allows into our lives, that we must wrestle before Him. It is our reaction to these things allowed by His permissive will that enables us to come to the point of seeing His perfect will for us. ‘We know that all things work together for good to those who love God . . .’ (Romans 8:28)— to those who remain true to God’s perfect will— His calling in Christ Jesus. God’s permissive will is the testing He uses to reveal His true sons and daughters. We should not be spineless and automatically say, ‘Yes, it is the Lord’s will.’ We don’t have to fight or wrestle with God, but we must wrestle before God with things. Beware of lazily giving up. Instead, put up a glorious fight and you will find yourself empowered with His strength.”

So, I guess it’s time to gird up my loins (whatever that means) and get ready to wrestle with my cancer before the Lord.  Bring it on!