Friday, February 24, 2012
Feb 23, 2012- CT scan clear
Everything looks normal- that's what my oncologist said. Interesting comment. Looks normal, but is it? Yes it is, he said. You are almost back to normal. But what is normal. A year ago, I was in chemo, balding and fighting. 1 year later, I received my 2nd clear CT scan since treatment. Happy and relieved- yeah. Thanks to all who continue to pray and wish me well. There seems to be more and more people affected by cancer. Please reach out if you ever want to chat about it. I wonder if it's time to watch that movie 50/50 yet. Hmm... Too soon?
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Feb 11, 2012
A few days before my next ct scan. I talked to a cancer survivor that beat it back in 1993. Almost 20 years later, he says he still thinks about it whenever he is sick. There are all these aches and pains in various areas and they mysteriously disappear as soon as you step out of the doctor's office. I totally understand how he feels. It may be in the way back of your mind but it's back there.
I went to buy a car the other day and the finance manager asked me about life insurance. I told her I didn't think I would qualify. She asked why. So I told her I was just coming off a little bout with cancer. She was shocked. I didn't mean to shock her. Just wanted to tell her the truth. She said I looked great. I said thanks but stop trying to get me to buy the extended warranty. Haha.
Lately, there has been a lot of death around me. Parents of my friends and co workers. My prayers are to them and their families. Those who are christians told me that their parent has gone home to the Lord. In their time of their mourning, they see the goodness that God gives. It is inspiring.
My new car comes with satellite radio. Listening the christian station, I heard this song and it brought me right back to a year ago- right in the midst of my chemo. Life is truly about perspectives- and how you choose to live it
Blessings- by laura story
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mmgV6mPvb0
We pray for blessings
We pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things
‘Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise
We pray for wisdom
Your voice to hear
And we cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
All the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe
‘Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
And what if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise
When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know the pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home,
It's not our home
Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy
And what if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are your mercies in disguise
Oh and June had a big birthday...but that is a story for another blog day
Peace.
I went to buy a car the other day and the finance manager asked me about life insurance. I told her I didn't think I would qualify. She asked why. So I told her I was just coming off a little bout with cancer. She was shocked. I didn't mean to shock her. Just wanted to tell her the truth. She said I looked great. I said thanks but stop trying to get me to buy the extended warranty. Haha.
Lately, there has been a lot of death around me. Parents of my friends and co workers. My prayers are to them and their families. Those who are christians told me that their parent has gone home to the Lord. In their time of their mourning, they see the goodness that God gives. It is inspiring.
My new car comes with satellite radio. Listening the christian station, I heard this song and it brought me right back to a year ago- right in the midst of my chemo. Life is truly about perspectives- and how you choose to live it
Blessings- by laura story
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mmgV6mPvb0
We pray for blessings
We pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things
‘Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise
We pray for wisdom
Your voice to hear
And we cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
All the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe
‘Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
And what if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise
When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know the pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home,
It's not our home
Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy
And what if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are your mercies in disguise
Oh and June had a big birthday...but that is a story for another blog day
Peace.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Jan 30, 2012
I have 48 hours to buy a car... procrastination at it's best. Someone out there in blogworld, please help.
I did make the Anvil brochure this year. That was on the bucket list. And it's a pic of me playing guitar in worship. 2 things off the bucket list.
Also heard an amazing sermon last sunday.
check it out: http://www.tenth.ca/media.php?pageID=29, one of the best I have ever heard.
Well, most of it, as Rhys fell in Sunday School and landed on her nose so had to run downstairs with June to comfort her. She looks like rudolph now.
Anyways, got some really encouraging words from a friend today. Regarding my second life as a photographer. Laleo Photography... watch for it, coming to website near you.
Got another bloodtest this thursday, followed by a CT scan on the 15th and results on 23rd. It was a year ago I got diagnosed. Still seems pretty surreal. Obviously thinking about it more and more. I thought it would get easier as the months pass but not really. Re-living the experience through this blog keeps me grounded and at peace. Alwaya realizing how blessed I have been by God throughout all this. I am sharing my story this Friday night at a youth group. Very excited. I have been surprisingly indecisive lately. Not like me. It could be the busyness of life. I daydream about being a barista at starbucks. WHat does that mean??? Also in a biggest loser competition at work...let the jokes begin.
I did make the Anvil brochure this year. That was on the bucket list. And it's a pic of me playing guitar in worship. 2 things off the bucket list.
Also heard an amazing sermon last sunday.
check it out: http://www.tenth.ca/media.php?pageID=29, one of the best I have ever heard.
Well, most of it, as Rhys fell in Sunday School and landed on her nose so had to run downstairs with June to comfort her. She looks like rudolph now.
Anyways, got some really encouraging words from a friend today. Regarding my second life as a photographer. Laleo Photography... watch for it, coming to website near you.
Got another bloodtest this thursday, followed by a CT scan on the 15th and results on 23rd. It was a year ago I got diagnosed. Still seems pretty surreal. Obviously thinking about it more and more. I thought it would get easier as the months pass but not really. Re-living the experience through this blog keeps me grounded and at peace. Alwaya realizing how blessed I have been by God throughout all this. I am sharing my story this Friday night at a youth group. Very excited. I have been surprisingly indecisive lately. Not like me. It could be the busyness of life. I daydream about being a barista at starbucks. WHat does that mean??? Also in a biggest loser competition at work...let the jokes begin.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Jan 22, 2012
Happy Chinese New Year!
Two things I thought was worth sharing.
1. I am still working on my rule of life- living like an urban monk. It is definitely a work in progress. I wondered today if I should be crafting a rule that revolves around bringing Sunday to the rest of the week. See every Sunday, I sabbath (blackberry is off and no work). I go to church and I am invigorated and inspired by what I hear. I sit there at church and think about the application of these sermons in my regular life. Then Monday comes and work gets busy and I forget everything until next Sunday. As you know, I am all about baby steps. Last week, I heard a speaker talk about how you can be a missionary at work. He gave us a top ten list of things to do. I tried to do some of the things on the list during the week. Felt good. The question is, how can I make every day, Sunday?
2. Today was daddy daughter sports day. After church, I took Rhys to the Canucks superskills event at Roger's Arena. After that we walked across the street and watched some World Cup qualifying women's soccer. I find that my daughter does not have the greatest attention span for sports. At times, she seemed more interested in the popcorn and playing hide and seek behind the chairs. But at the end of the day when I asked her if she had a good time. She said, "I had a great time today daddy, you are the best daddy in the whole world!" Now for those of you that are close to June and I, there has been very little doubt that Rhys is a daddy's girl. I know it, June knows it. It is farely blatant. Even so, this girl seems to be teaching me more than I am teaching her. I think about how she adores me, loves to spend time with me, can't wait for me to come home and I wonder to myself: Is my daughter teaching me a lesson on what love is? Do I feel the same way toward my own dad? Of my heavenly father. Can I be like my 3 year old and love God with such emotion. Do I treat my daily devotion time like a chore? When my father calls to nag about me not owning property or working too hard after my recovery, do I just brush him off or do I take time out of my day for my parents. Not just the leftover time or convenient time. There was a tv show that was called, Are You Smarter than a 5th grader. I wonder if I am smarter than a preschooler. She seems to have it all together, except for an occasional peeing in the pants. I know that today, I was taught a lesson in love. I used to say to her, "no matter if you are good or bad, I will always love you." Now she says to me," No matter if I am a good girl or bad girl, I will always love you daddy." Haha. Faith like a child, love like a child...
Two things I thought was worth sharing.
1. I am still working on my rule of life- living like an urban monk. It is definitely a work in progress. I wondered today if I should be crafting a rule that revolves around bringing Sunday to the rest of the week. See every Sunday, I sabbath (blackberry is off and no work). I go to church and I am invigorated and inspired by what I hear. I sit there at church and think about the application of these sermons in my regular life. Then Monday comes and work gets busy and I forget everything until next Sunday. As you know, I am all about baby steps. Last week, I heard a speaker talk about how you can be a missionary at work. He gave us a top ten list of things to do. I tried to do some of the things on the list during the week. Felt good. The question is, how can I make every day, Sunday?
2. Today was daddy daughter sports day. After church, I took Rhys to the Canucks superskills event at Roger's Arena. After that we walked across the street and watched some World Cup qualifying women's soccer. I find that my daughter does not have the greatest attention span for sports. At times, she seemed more interested in the popcorn and playing hide and seek behind the chairs. But at the end of the day when I asked her if she had a good time. She said, "I had a great time today daddy, you are the best daddy in the whole world!" Now for those of you that are close to June and I, there has been very little doubt that Rhys is a daddy's girl. I know it, June knows it. It is farely blatant. Even so, this girl seems to be teaching me more than I am teaching her. I think about how she adores me, loves to spend time with me, can't wait for me to come home and I wonder to myself: Is my daughter teaching me a lesson on what love is? Do I feel the same way toward my own dad? Of my heavenly father. Can I be like my 3 year old and love God with such emotion. Do I treat my daily devotion time like a chore? When my father calls to nag about me not owning property or working too hard after my recovery, do I just brush him off or do I take time out of my day for my parents. Not just the leftover time or convenient time. There was a tv show that was called, Are You Smarter than a 5th grader. I wonder if I am smarter than a preschooler. She seems to have it all together, except for an occasional peeing in the pants. I know that today, I was taught a lesson in love. I used to say to her, "no matter if you are good or bad, I will always love you." Now she says to me," No matter if I am a good girl or bad girl, I will always love you daddy." Haha. Faith like a child, love like a child...
Monday, January 16, 2012
Jan 16, 2012
To keep with the new year's resolution theme, this song by Tim Hughes seems appropriate.
EVERYTHING by Tim Hughes
God in my living
There in my breathing
God in my waking
God in my sleeping
God in my resting
There in my working
God in my thinking
God in my speaking
Be my everything
Be my everything
Be my everything
Be my everything
God in my hoping
There in my dreaming
God in my watching
God in my waiting
God in my laughing
There in my weeping
God in my hurting
God in my healing
Christ in me
Christ in me
Christ in me the hope of glory
You are everything
Christ in me
Christ in me
Christ in me the hope of glory
Be my everything
I think I will pick a line every day and make that my focus. God in my working (mon-fri) God in my resting (at night and weekends). God in my hurting...God in my healing...it has been a crazy 12 months. Very simple but a lot there to digest. There in my breathing
God in my waking
God in my sleeping
God in my resting
There in my working
God in my thinking
God in my speaking
Be my everything
Be my everything
Be my everything
Be my everything
God in my hoping
There in my dreaming
God in my watching
God in my waiting
God in my laughing
There in my weeping
God in my hurting
God in my healing
Christ in me
Christ in me
Christ in me the hope of glory
You are everything
Christ in me
Christ in me
Christ in me the hope of glory
Be my everything
Medical update- It's interesting how the mind plays tricks on you- my next CT scan is coming up mid Feb and my back is beginning to hurt on cue. A year ago in Feb is when my diagnosis came back positive for tumors in my lymph nodes. Feels good reading my earlier entries at times like this. Reminds me of what we went through as a family. People seem hesitant nowadays to bring up cancer with me. Funny thing is that I would love to talk about what happened. The medical and the spiritual journey. Please feel free to reach out. Yes I am even contemplating Facebook, or even twitter haha.
Family update- a picture is worth a thousand words- so here you go
Who needs real friends?
My lovely ladies
Rhys' first preschool Christmas concert
Clearly she is advanced in caroling-look how bored she is.
Progress- did not cry on Santa's lap this year
Christmas morning- Microphone with stand- Thank you Uncle Elliot and Auntie Heeya (Gonna buy Jordan a real drumset or electric guitar with 500 watt amp next year- no reason)
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Jan 8, 2012
A friend I met in chemo is going in for surgery tomorrow. He was on the same treatment as me but was a more advance stage case. I never had surgery but I am praying it's just a precaution to remove any dead lymph nodes that were previously cancerous for him. One of the nurses there hooked us up as he started treatment after I finished. He is a very strong young man and I know he will come out of the surgery okay. My thoughts and prayers are with him and his family and friends as they rally around him. Much like you all rallied around me last year.
We went to the elderly home care service again today. It was great. Many of the elderly remembered Rhys and she was a great help. She said hi to everyone and passed out all the song books before we got started. She went me with up and down the hallways of the 2nd floor to let people know that service was starting. Most importantly, while June was playing piano and I was singing the hymns, Rhys was doing this interpretive dance that was a fusion of ballet, tap, lmfao's shuffling and what would appear to be slow motion crunk. Very entertaining. She was rewarded by this lady, Margaret, who came with stickers to give her. I hope these are the memories that never leave her. My sharing today was about how our kids emulate what we do, not necessarily listen to what we say. I remember all the selfless acts I saw my parents do when I was young. I believe that is a major part of who I am today. The verse I shared was from Ephesians 5:1-2
"Watch what God does and then do it, like children who learn proper behaviour from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn’t love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that."
The messages at church have been crazy good lately. We heard a testimony from a doctor that fixes cleft palates in children in third world countries. Today, we heard from one of our pastor's wife, who grew up as a Muslim. She said her journey with God began with one simple conversation with a friend, many years ago. It was powerful.
This week begins the training for the Sun run. I ran 4 kms twice last week. Time to up the game.
We went to the elderly home care service again today. It was great. Many of the elderly remembered Rhys and she was a great help. She said hi to everyone and passed out all the song books before we got started. She went me with up and down the hallways of the 2nd floor to let people know that service was starting. Most importantly, while June was playing piano and I was singing the hymns, Rhys was doing this interpretive dance that was a fusion of ballet, tap, lmfao's shuffling and what would appear to be slow motion crunk. Very entertaining. She was rewarded by this lady, Margaret, who came with stickers to give her. I hope these are the memories that never leave her. My sharing today was about how our kids emulate what we do, not necessarily listen to what we say. I remember all the selfless acts I saw my parents do when I was young. I believe that is a major part of who I am today. The verse I shared was from Ephesians 5:1-2
"Watch what God does and then do it, like children who learn proper behaviour from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn’t love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that."
The messages at church have been crazy good lately. We heard a testimony from a doctor that fixes cleft palates in children in third world countries. Today, we heard from one of our pastor's wife, who grew up as a Muslim. She said her journey with God began with one simple conversation with a friend, many years ago. It was powerful.
This week begins the training for the Sun run. I ran 4 kms twice last week. Time to up the game.
Friday, January 6, 2012
January 6, 2012
I have started to put together a list of things I would like to do in 2012. It is not a bucket list, but just like Ross in Friends with the "something new" every day. Calm down, I am not going to buy leather pants. Although that was one of the funniest episodes. I was too sick and weak last year to do some of this stuff. And some of it, I was just to chicken. Other things I started or made a weak attempt. But life is short. Let's go for it this year. Who is with me?
In no particular order (and a working list no less):
1. get to london for the olympics- come on coke!
2. run the sun run (with my buddy charles)
3. audition for the worship team at my church (have not decided in what capacity- guitar? drums? lead vocals? triangle or egg shaker?
4. lose 30 pounds
5. ride my bike on the road (away from the safety of the dyke)
6. win an argument against my wife where she will concede defeat without any eye rolling or sarcastic tonage in her voice
7. learn to swim...again
8. tell complete strangers about God
9. take some photos that June will like (non blurry, centered, and all that good stuff)
10. shoot under 90 in golf (that's right mark, get the money ready)
I know, I'm Indiana Jones.
Open to suggestions. I am not a marathon, triathlon, bungee jumping, sky diving, kind of guy. I am safe guy. Fun but still safe. I also would like to see one of my friends make good on their claim to eat 9 filet o fishes. Maybe see a stanley cup parade live. There must be more, the list will grow.
If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that. —James 4:15
In no particular order (and a working list no less):
1. get to london for the olympics- come on coke!
2. run the sun run (with my buddy charles)
3. audition for the worship team at my church (have not decided in what capacity- guitar? drums? lead vocals? triangle or egg shaker?
4. lose 30 pounds
5. ride my bike on the road (away from the safety of the dyke)
6. win an argument against my wife where she will concede defeat without any eye rolling or sarcastic tonage in her voice
7. learn to swim...again
8. tell complete strangers about God
9. take some photos that June will like (non blurry, centered, and all that good stuff)
10. shoot under 90 in golf (that's right mark, get the money ready)
I know, I'm Indiana Jones.
Open to suggestions. I am not a marathon, triathlon, bungee jumping, sky diving, kind of guy. I am safe guy. Fun but still safe. I also would like to see one of my friends make good on their claim to eat 9 filet o fishes. Maybe see a stanley cup parade live. There must be more, the list will grow.
If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that. —James 4:15
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