For the past few weeks I have been writing about Joni’s cancer and our journey through that trial. I had almost forgotten how much fun it is to write your thoughts on something and have your salvation questioned for your trouble. My wonderful high school basketball coach used to teach us that you “catch more flies with honey than vinegar”. I am sure that my cyber critics will tell you that only truth matters and to sugarcoat it is not necessary. Here are the basics. I wrote a blog about the distribution of the million dollar bills by the Great News Network. The Secret Service said they were too close to real bills and they seized them from the ministry. I wrote a piece that challenged how GNN responded to the situation. I never questioned their ministry intent. I never doubted their heart to communicate the gospel. My article was based on this one issue. And I made it
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  Today’s post will probably be most interesting to one of my most faithful visitors. Me. As I pass blog mileage markers I am fascinated by what articles resonated with readers and which did not. Last week I posted blog number 150 in the seven month life of this venture. So I decided to go back and see which posts were most read and offer a couple of personal favorites that did not make the cut. Because I am trying honesty as an experiment at this site I will tell you that I eliminated the actual number one post in the rankings. That article involved an airplane and famous pastor’s wife. I am tired of the story and the sad level of discourse about it. So, in the immortal paraphrased words of Lesley Gore and sung to the tune of “It’s My Party” please sing along…  “It’s my blog and I can delete if I want to, delete if I want to, delete if I
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Okay…I know this is a little sad. But the reality is that so far in the grandchild derby the two married sons (out of three) have yet to spawn. Unmarried Brett has been ruled ineligible to compete in this event. Joni and I have been content (for the time being) to enjoy our grand dogs and await the first grandchild with diminishing patience. Middle son Scott was the first to present us with a grand dog. This is Sadie smiling sweetly for the camera. Regular readers of this blog know that ineligible grandchild contributor Brett was second to add a grand dog to the family with the addition of Trigger. He is pictured here with our own disinterested dog Hannah. Trigger’s improbable story was told in a post entitled They Call it Puppy Love.  This week we are proud to announce the newest grand dog to the family. Eldest son Matt and bride Holly announced the arrival of Bailey, a five month old Golden
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This is also posted today at Joni’s site called Sharing the Journey. Joni and I met with the Oncologist yesterday to discuss our strategy for today and the weeks ahead. Our doctor decided to dial back the strength of the chemotherapy a bit to help prevent the kind of blood count problem we encountered last time. After today we have only one more encounter with the chemo drug the nurses call the “red devil”. I have met a new friend through this trial who is also sharing the cancer journey with his wife. His name is Rick Green. Rick is a pastor in Oregon and happens to be a talented artist. He did some sketches to help him deal with the emotional roller coaster of cancer. Here is his take on the “red devil” drug. I had written a post called “Poison for Healing” after the first round of chemo. I am going to repost that for those who are new arrivers to
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  One of my favorite quotes is from humorist/writer PJ O’Rourke who noted this sad truth.“Making fun of born-again Christians is like hunting dairy cows with a high powered rifle and scope.” It really can be that easy. Before I proceed I must issue a disclaimer. I am a born-again Christian. So it is with considerable interest and predictable angst that I note daily how Christians are portrayed in the news. Second disclaimer. I realize that media coverage of evangelical Christians is not always on a level playing field. It is quite okay to criticize Christians while tip-toeing around other faiths. But having disclaimed all of that I still get frustrated when we (Christians) shoot ourselves in the foot and blame the gun. A recent story from my adopted home state is a good example. A ministry in Denton has been distributing million-dollar bills with a gospel message printed on the back. Recently the Feds decided to “raid“ the headquarters to seize the
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I am going to post updates about Joni here for awhile as well as at her site. Here is the latest post from Sharing the Journey. Chemotherapy reminds me of the original Rocky movie. You take a beating, get back up, take a beating, get back up. Rocky had one goal in mind and that was to go the distance. As you got caught up in the drama you wondered how he could keep getting back on his feet and continuing. For Rocky there was no choice. Adrian: Why do you wanna fight? Rocky: Because I can’t sing or dance. As Rocky surmised, sometimes you don’t have many good options. In that movie Rocky fought the invincible Apollo Creed. No fighter had ever gone the distance against him. Joni is fighting a foe that is also intimidating but not invincible. Many of her sisters have fought and vanquished this foe. It is hard for me to watch her get back up and head
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Dictionary.com defines masquerade as one who goes about as if in disguise; to have or put on a deceptive appearance. It is funny that Joni and I never realized we were putting on a bit of a masquerade as we adjusted to her breast cancer. We had no idea that we were donning masks at times. We had no intention of being deceptive. But we have both come to realize that we were sometimes putting on masks as we addressed the trial ahead. I was trying to be John Wayne and Joni was running around disquised as Wonder Woman. I dig John Wayne. But I am not John Wayne, Pilgrim. It is funny how you think that you have to always be strong and in control as a man. I first was “unmasked” by a friend at work. “How are you doing?“, my friend Mike asked. “Fine,“ I replied automatically. (Didn’t he know that John Wayne once said in The Man Who Shot Liberty
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