For ten years now, I have written or blogged at times about a significant part of our family's journey, and this could well be my last post on the subject. Over the last decade, thousands of you have walked with us through arguably one of the most horrific situations a family can experience: the diagnosis of cancer (and more specifically acute lymphoblastic leukemia - ALL) in the life of your child. You walked with us through the months of Brad's thirteen-year-old life on a razor's edge as he was hospitalized from the initial bacterial septic shock that hurtled us down this path. You walked with us through three-and-a-half years of the first horrible treatment and then another two-and-a-half when he relapsed - a nearly seven-year span of treatment in all. You walked with us through two hip replacements and two hand/wrist surgeries since then to deal with the damage from all the treatment. It has been a difficult ten years - especially for Brad.
Marking The Times - Where Everything Seems So Clear
Join me as I ponder the things that make me think: faith, country, family, economics, politics and the news of the day.
Thursday, August 29, 2019
A Decade of Leukemia - Coming Full Circle
Labels:
Belief,
Blog,
Cancer,
Character,
Christ,
Contentment,
Discouragement,
Disease,
Faith,
Family,
Forgiveness,
God,
Leukemia,
Love,
Parent,
Sickness,
Son,
Thankfulness
Thursday, February 21, 2019
Striking a Nerve - SBC Sexual Abuse Scandal
The Houston Chronicle article series regarding sexual abuse in Southern Baptist churches really struck a nerve with me. It hits a little too close to home.
Wednesday, August 29, 2018
Nine Years and Normal Again!
As my life has filled with ever more activity (of various degrees of value), my blogging
has ground to a near halt. Looking back, I see that my last post was a year ago today – wow! Well, I cannot let August 29 pass without
looking back over the last nine years, particularly this last one. August 29, 2009, was the day we almost lost our
son and it became a defining moment in my life. When you have had a child with cancer
(leukemia in particular), it redefines everything. Spending years on end dealing with the
horrifying reality of the cancer itself, as well as the ongoing damage from
treatment, can easily consume you. It
impacts everything: child, job, siblings, marriage, time, finances, spiritual
life, sanity and even the dog.
Labels:
Cancer,
Character,
Children,
Faith,
Family,
Friendship,
God,
Leukemia,
Normal,
Parent,
Sickness,
Son,
Thankfulness
Tuesday, August 29, 2017
Leukemia and Lessons on Control
August 29, 2009, is a date that will forever be burned into my mind. In some ways, it still seems like it was yesterday that my healthy thirteen year-old son almost slipped away into death. It was a day that, up to this point, marks the defining event and dominating circumstance of my last decade. I have been reading my posts and blogs about Brad’s battle with leukemia (and the complications it caused) from the past eight years. I can still feel the horror of helplessly watching Brad’s unrecognizable body teeter between life and death. I remember the joy of progress and the despair at setbacks as Brad improved and digressed.
Labels:
Belief,
Cancer,
Character,
Children,
Christ,
Christian,
Discouragement,
Disease,
Faith,
Family,
Father,
Friendship,
God,
Jesus,
Leukemia,
Son,
Thankfulness
Sunday, February 19, 2017
Stay to the Right
As I drove to church this morning, my wife and I barely
avoided an Audi SUV whose driver apparently had no clue that others might also be
driving on the road. Our quiet Shelby
County road is one-lane, curvy, and very tight in spots. When we built our house here sixteen years
ago, I was a relatively young pup of thirty-five years. Being enthusiastic for my new home and
neighborhood, I tried my hand at organizing my neighbors to get our little road
widened for safety. I quickly learned
that this was a non-starter. My
neighbors informed me that the road was one of the main reasons they moved
here. They said it kept the “through
traffic” out. Unfortunately, it also
creates the necessity for constant anticipation of the potential dangers around
every curve and over every hill.
Tuesday, December 27, 2016
Life is Struggle
As I sit here in the pre-dawn minutes of December 27, 2016
with my favorite coffee mug and a quiet house, I am getting a few minutes to
think – something that seems rare for me these days. The last seven years since Brad was diagnosed
with leukemia have brought a range of life events I never anticipated. I never dreamed we would deal with our child
being at the brink of death so many times.
I never anticipated our entire life in many ways would revolve around
this unwelcome illness. We learned to be
extremely grateful just to be out of a hospital for holidays. I remember the Christmas of 2009 when Brad walked
again for the first time in four months, and our whole family broke down in
tears of gratitude.
Labels:
Belief,
Cancer,
Children,
Christ,
Christian,
Christmas,
Convictions,
Discouragement,
Disease,
Faith,
Family,
Father,
God,
Leukemia,
Parent,
Parents,
Sickness,
Son,
Struggle,
Thankfulness
Wednesday, October 12, 2016
Just What Did You Expect from Trump?
In the aftermath of weekend revelations concerning Trump's sexism and Monday night's presidential debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, evangelical Trump supporters are rethinking their position. Some have been "shocked" at Trump from the "hot-mike" comments made before a 2005 interview with Billy Bush for Access Hollywood. Shocked that Trump views women as sexual objects. Shocked that he goes after married women for sport. Shocked that he assaults women because he can. Just shocked!
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