Covered

Hi,

Have received so many notes, postings, assurances or prayer. That means SO much. Keep them coming. That is the main coverage we need.

Just got word from the doctors office that everything is covered now by insurance, so, whatever the case, that is a praise. Of course, if God chooses to answer with complete, miraculous healing and that "tiny chance" I mentioned in the video turns out to be the reality, no one will complain.

Thanks again for your prayers, offers of help and help, and more.

In Jesus,
Tom

When Life Slams on the Brakes

When you feel like you have it all together (or mostly anyway, and you are in the routine of life) a panic stop is the last thing you expect. But, right now, we have encountered one. My life is now controlled by many more circumstances and physicians.

We have told close family already, but there are many other friends and family we want to include.. Tonight we made the announcement to our church family and showed the video attached. (Provided I can get it to attach.) If not, the URL for the YouTube site is
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=TomandMM#p/u/0/BUwaqbHCpI8

This was a hard but very encouraging night. Tomorrow afternoon, if all the insurance stuff is coordinated and in place, then we will start the chemotherapy.

Thick-headed Neb

Thick-headed Neb

Not long ago I had a few moments to relax, and, for whatever reason, I grabbed my iPod and pulled up one of my favorite pieces of Classical music, “Belshazzar’s Feast.” (“What’s on my iPod” —subject for another post). Anyway — and I am going somewhere with this — I was listening to “Belshazzar’s Feast” (Walton) and was prompted to head back to the book of Daniel to read the Biblical account of a very unwise move on Belshazzar’s part. For proper background, I started reading from Daniel 1:1. There reside the accounts of Daniel, Hananiah (Shadrach), Mishael (Meshach), and Azariah’s (Abed-nego) healthy eating, Daniel’s interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s epic dream, and Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah’s experience in the furnace. Then there was the first person account of Nebuchadnezzar’s self-glorification in spite of God’s warning, and his subsequent year-long period of grazing for grass and sleeping under the stars. (Daniel 1-5).

One thing that impressed this time through was Nebuchadnezzar’s spiritual thick- headedness. While I was considering how thick headed he seemed to be, there was a sound in my head (not audible) like God looking at me and then clearing His throat, “Ahem.” I can be just as thick. Even though I have seen incredible things that can only be explained by God’s activity, I still act wrong, think wrong, trust in myself, etc.

The good news is there is hope. Nebuchadnezzar spent a year living like a wild donkey. He finally figured out the problem, and recognized that God was the one worthy of praise, honor and allegiance. So may we come to the same realization, hang on to it, and live it!

In Case You Were Wondering

Yep!
Romans 5:8, 10:9-10, John 3:16.



Saw this on the way back from CofC this AM, where I dropped off R and her mom for orientation. P and I are hanging out, goofin' off, etc.

If you look closely, the word "chapel" is right underneath Grace. Not sure where the chapel went, but the sign, as it stands now, is still true.

Me, Myself and Bob

Just finished Me, Myself and Bob — A True Story About Dreams, God, and Talking Vegetables, by Phil Vischer. A good read for anyone. Phil was the founder of Big Idea Productions, which brought us VeggieTales. He built the company, and, basically killed it. “I have dusted the body for prints, and they are all mine.” The first part of the book was about how VeggieTales came to be, complete with interesting details about technical stuff he used to make it happen. The last part is about how he got ahead of God—thus managing to bankrupt the company—and what he has learned from it all. There are spiritual lessons and business lessons.

My children grew up with Bob and Larry. We laughed along with them. I can still sing you parts of the songs from the early videos. I still think some of the earliest ones are the best.

There were some thought-provoking lines. Here are a few:

• “Externally, everything looked groovy. Internally, chaos abounded.”

• Vischer relates how he is pretty sure his business goal “emanated suspiciously from my own noggin in response to a business book exercise, as opposed to from God after much prayer and reflection.”

• The real question to ask in any failure, of course, isn’t “Who should we blame?” but rather “What did we learn?” (p. 207)

• “If God gives you a dream, and the dream comes to life and God shows up in it, and then the dream dies, it may be that God wants to see what is more important to you—the dream or him.” [From a message by Richard Porter].

There is lots of humor mixed in with what turned out to be a sad story. You’ll be informed, and you’ll also be encouraged to get your direction from God rather than your own head or a man.

• “The more I dove into Scripture, the more I realized I had been deluded. I had grown up drinking a dangerous cocktail—a mix of the gospel, the Protestant work ethic, and the American dream.” (p.237)

• God doesn’t love me because of what I can do for Him. He just loves me—even when I’ve done nothing at all. (p. 247)

Parts of the dénouement of the book (like that word?) challenges the frenetic pace we Americans live, and that includes American church people. Are we more frenetic than faithful? Maybe if we stopped long enough, got quiet enough, and in His Truth enough, we’d get a revelation instead of a good idea.

You'll love the humor. You'll grow from the story.