New Breed of Organist

Hat tip to Pat Keener for this one.

Delivered

After 3 weeks of painful labor, my wife delivered (by surgery) a healthy 5mm kidney stone on Saturday afternoon.



Suggested names were "Rocky", "Crystal", and "Pearl". I think I'm going with "Kevin". Why Kevin? Because I was once on staff with a pastor whose name is Kevin Stone.

Seems fitting.

Huh?

My wife and I spent the better part of the day in urgent care and then the ER for severe abdominal pain (the full story later).

While doing her examination, the Physicians Assistant asked her some questions...

PA: Have you ever had any surgery in this area?

Wife: Yes, a hysterectomy.

PA: When?

Wife: 2002

PA: When was your last period?

I laughed (out loud). He was offended, then got defensive.

He musta missed anatomy and physiology in college... scary.

Cancer Wins? Not on Your Life!

A year ago, almost to the day. I got a call from my good friend Jeff telling me that the cancer was back... with a vengeance. It was bad - real bad, he said. We made a commitment to each other to walk that journey together; to do it honestly, transparently, and with a tenacious determination to learn from it.

One of the early lessons learned was to enjoy every moment God gives us. To breathe fresh air, enjoy creation, listen to music we loved, make our conversations count, and go fishing. You see, almost all of the important things in life can happen when you go fishing. When Jesus' disciples were at a loss for what to do after the cross, they went fishing. Here are a couple pics from one of our last outings.










The cancer was a reminder that our world is flawed, broken, wrong. Parents are not supposed to bury their children. Middle school kids are not supposed to watch their dad waste away from cancer. Young women are not supposed to be widows. Things are not okay... not "right". In our times together we inevitably came back to the topic of Hope. Hope, capital "H", isn't some kind of wishful thinking. This kind of Hope is one that understands, with certainty, that Jesus' resurrection from the grave was the beginning of our Creator God setting things right. Jesus was/is the "first fruits" of what will someday happen to we who follow Him.

Yesterday, Jeff's body succumbed to the nasty cancer. But, just like the grave that had no victory over Jesus, the cancer didn't win. It couldn't. Because Jeff was/is a part of what Jesus started, today, Jeff is more alive than he has ever been. Today, he is whole.

Sometimes when someone we love dies, we say we lost them. I'm reminded that "losing" something or someone implies that I don't know where they are. In my last coherent conversation with Jeff on Tuesday, we reaffirmed our love and appreciation for each other. When I left, we hugged and said "see you later". It wasn't "good-bye" and we both knew it.

I already miss Jeff a lot. But I'm also filled with a great HOPE. A certainty that one day I'll see him again. Things will all be made "right". And in that place of right-ness, that New Heaven - New Earth, I think we'll go fishing.

Up

Just went to see "Up", the movie.



















Classic Pixar animation, wonderful story... made me laugh, made me cry. Don't miss it.

Deschutes River

18" of pure fun...

I talked with a guy on the river today who said that these Deschutes Rainbows have "shoulders... an 18 incher here fights you like a 24 incher anywhere else. I don't know for sure if that's true, but this one gave me a wild ride!

Starting Young

My grandmother started me pretty young at the piano. Doin' the same for my grandson.