Day trip

Several people have contacted me to ask about my health, so I will devote this post to a brief report.

 My six month checkup with my radiation oncologist was three weeks ago. I flew to Jacksonville and back the same day. It was a long way to go for a doctor’s appointment, but it was worth it. I don’t know what one is supposed to expect from a visit with an oncologist. Of course, one would like to hear “Good news! You don’t have cancer” or something like that. I have to realize that he sees patients every day, and I was just one of many with whom he talked on that day.

 My PSA is still elevated from its normal level, and he explained that my prostate is very irritated from the treatments it has received, so it is normal to see this. He added that it can take two to three years after treatment for the PSA to return to normal.   I finally asked him if this is a good report. He responded, “Looks normal for this point in your treatment.”  I accepted that as a good report.

 They asked me dozens of questions about side effects, and I was very happy that my responses were almost entirely very positive. I am thankful to have almost no side effects from the radiation treatments. My quality of life is excellent, and I am very thankful that I did the proton therapy treatments.

 As you hear of friends or family members who have discovered that they have prostate cancer, please ask them to consider proton therapy.  I would be happy to share my experience with them.

Prepared

Each year about 60% of the graduates of IMPACT 360 return to our campus for our annual reunion. It is always great to reconnect with many of our alums who are investing their lives all over the USA and even in other countries. At our last IMPACT 360 reunion, one of the young men who was in our first class in 2006 walked into a room filled with graduates from this past May and exclaimed to Cheryl and me: “These are babies!”

It has been a great privilege to watch our former students grow in their walk with the Lord during their studies. Some of them are married—some to classmates whom they met at IMPACT 360. Some of them now have children. Some of them are in grad school and others are engaged in the workplace. However, there are a few who are still working on a degree after five and six years of college.

I have had opportunities to talk with a lot of young adults who are college graduates and who are still trying to “find themselves.” I think there are some common factors among these young adults. One that I have observed is that they are concerned about whether or not they will be prepared for whatever God wants them to do. I have tried to encourage these students and others over the years with some examples from our lives and from others with whom we have worked over the years. If God can use a Mississippi farm boy, then he can use anyone.

 God gives us all different gifts. He prepares us for whatever He calls us to do. Romans 12:6-8 says, “Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.”

 Too many people worry about whether or not they are qualified or whether or not they have the right experience for a task that they believe the Lord wants them to do.  God never gives a call without giving the gift or gifts necessary to fulfill that call.

Cogitation

Dr. John McCall is one of my long-time mentors—44years! He is 95 years young, and he is such a blessing to me every time I talk with him on the phone or visit with him.  He has had several careers: Army chaplain, 35-year pastorate in Vicksburg, Mississippi, professor at Boyce College in Louisville, Kentucky, professor and head of department of religion at Mississippi College and finally he just retired a year ago as the “interim pastor” of a church in Edwards, Mississippi where he served over 9 years!  Show me someone else who can match that longevity for the Kingdom!?!

Dr. McCall is having some challenges with his eyes now, and after his wife medicates his eyes, he can’t read, watch TV or anything else for about 3 or more hours after the medication is applied. While talking with him on the phone, I asked, “So what do you do during that time, Dr. McCall?” His one word response was “Cogitate.” OK, so who has used that word in the last six months?

I recall hearing the word used when I was younger and I know that it means to ponder something, but I looked it up and in addition to ponder it means to think deeply about something, to muse, to ruminate, to mull over and to contemplate.

After the telephone call I reflected on when I have recently cogitated. I was shamed because I don’t remember the last time I have had a long period of meditation.  I am so task-oriented that I usually don’t think about something for a long time. I am also an activator according to Gallup’s StrengthsFinder profile. That means that I don’t like to sit in meetings and talk about doing something for a long time. I like to talk about what needs to be done for a short period, and then we make assignments to get it done. I think we spend too much time sitting around talking about how to solve issues when we should be out there fixing them.

 OK, so I am impetuous sometimes. I am also guilty of not cogitating. I don’t think deeply or mediate on what the Lord is trying to say to me. I get too busy with all the important work that needs to get done, and I do not think about the most important thing—my relationship with my heavenly Father. The Psalms have a plethora of reminders about how important it is to cogitate. Here’s one from the first chapter: “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.”

Wow. How bad am I feeling about my Bible reading habits? It seems that I read the Bible like it is more important to get through “X” verses or finish a chapter or a book of the Bible, so I can move on to the next challenge. I read too quickly over the verses and I miss what God is trying to say to me. I don’t know how to cogitate, but I am working on refining my cogitating skills.

I am back

OK, so now I am feeling guilty. I have not made writing on this blog a priority. Last week four friends who have been encouragers and colleagues for many years have plugged me about not writing on the blog. I don’t have a good reason. I have rationalized with myself that I have been extremely busy, but that just does not hold water when I use that for an excuse. It seems that the longer I wait to write the guiltier I feel.

I have started five different blog posts over the last several weeks and I have yet to complete one of them. But I am inspired once again by my friends, so I am going to be writing again.

In the meantime, I want to once again direct you to Kelli’s blog, Pink Laundry (http://pinklaundry-kelli.blogspot.com/), for a great November 19 post entitled “We are not cold.” Most Americans do not know much about the civil war going on in Syria right now and about the plight of the homeless people that have fled the war-torn country and spilled over into Jordan and Lebanon.  If you want more information, Baptist Press has a series of new stories about how Arab Christians are aiding these Muslim refugees at this site: http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=39177

I’m back.

Pink Laundry

I am so very proud of my daughter-in-love, Kelli, for the five part series that she has just completed on "Pink Laundry." Kelli has chronicled their journey to have more children since Jason was diagnosed with testicular cancer over 10 years ago. From her Christian worldview she deals with how they dealt with the very sensitive issue of in vitro fertilization. I encourage you to read all five parts on this blog: http://pinklaundry-kelli.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2012-10-16T02:59:00-07:00&max-results=7
Go to the October 6 post for part one.

Thank you, Kelli!

Jason and Jeremy

I could not resist sharing this with friends and family: Jason and Jeremy are the young alumi of the year for Mississippi College. Unfortunately, Jason and Kelli and Cheryl and I will not be able to attend. Jason and Kelli will be in a meeting in Europe, Cheryl will be in Jordan staying with their girls, and I will be in Thailand for a project. Some very close friends will be there to represent us as surrogate parents.

We are very proud of the boys!
http://www.mc.edu/news/brothers-jeremy-and-jason-cox-named-mississippi-college-young-al/

Tell the next generation

Some of you are old enough to remember Art Linkletter’s TV show called “House Party” where he interviewed 4 and 5 year old children. Bill Cosby’s show, “Kids Say the Darndest Things,” was based on Linkletter’s program.  I think about those shows and how good Caleb, five years old, and Emma, four years old, would be if they could have appeared on them.

They are clever kids—all our grandchildren are smart dudes! They both can come up with some great one-liners. Here are a few examples: Emma came home from pre-K and confessed to her mother that she had said something that she should not have said. Mom asks what she had said, and Emma said “Oh my God.” Mom asks, “So what do you think you should have said, Emma?” Emma thinks a moment and then says, “Oh, my Jesus?” When Kimberly was encouraging Emma to eat her dinner, Emma looked mom in the eye and asks, “Do you really WANT me to throw up?”

”One Sunday as we were preparing to eat lunch after church at our house Caleb just walked up to me, looked up, and said, “Papa, time has not been good to you!” He asks a lot of questions—normal, right? But, some of them go like this: “Why are there lines hanging from poles along the road?” “Why is the sky blue?” I try to answer all of his questions with brief explanations. I recently learned that maybe I should not answer all of his questions as he asked me: “Papa, do you know everything?”

I assured him that I don’t know everything, but one thing for sure is that I want to know enough to share life lessons with our grandchildren. I want them to know about the everlasting God of the Universe. I want them to know that they are a person of worth created in the image of God to have an eternal relationship with Him through Jesus Christ.

My job is this: “That you may tell the next generation that this is God, our God forever and ever. He will guide us forever.” Psalm 48:12-14 (ESV)