A Tale of Two Dads.

I don't quite know where to begin with this. Our church is having a rough time right now because of the tragic death of one of our members last week. I got a call around 1:40AM late Thursday/early Friday morning from a teen in our church. She asked for prayer because her dad had stopped breathing and he was being rushed to the hospital.

About an hour later, I got a text message from my senior pastor saying the dad had died. I was out of town, but I continued to receive text and phone updates throughout the early morning hours.

Losing a loved one hurts. Losing that person in a sudden, tragic experience hurts so deeply.

You see, we have another family in our church whose dad is battling cancer. His doctors disagree over how to battle the disease or how much the treatments will help. Tomorrow they have another conversation with one of their doctors. I'm praying they have clarity and wisdom and peace.

Two families. Two struggles. Two dads. The stories are similar, yet the circumstances are so different. One family didn't get the chance to say good-bye. Another family doesn't know when good-bye will actually come. One family was rocked by tragedy. Another family is slowly tossed back and forth by different analyses and different recommendations.

Both families are in my prayers, and both need God to prove Himself in their situations. I know He will. It's just sometimes hard.

The woes of sprained ankles.

I have some odd "reminders" and "anniversaries" that I keep on my smartphone. By far, the oddest is my annual note for January 23: "Call Jeremy re: sprained ankle." Want an explanation? Keep reading.

Five years ago yesterday, my friend Jeremy Anderson and I were playing racquetball down in Turlock. We had been playing regularly, but this would be a monumental day because I sprained during this particular session. Through that whole experience, I learned several important lessons:

1. When you're injured, don't hop around on your own. Use your friend's shoulder to balance yourself as you go out to the car. Otherwise you might fall down and hurt yourself.

2. If you must climb steps with an injured ankle, remember to NOT use the injured ankle on the second step. Otherwise you might fall down and hit your head against the front door of your house.

3. When you get ready to stretch out on a couch, make sure you're careful as you rest your head. Otherwise you might bonk the back of your head against the wooden armrest of the couch.

4. For you Pentecostal/Charistmatic types... If you're speaking in tongues while your body is in shock, be aware of how loudly you're speaking. Otherwise the health club employee may give you a weird look.

I've only played racquetball a few times since that injury in 2003. If you have a choice of breaking or spraining, I'd quickly pick the broken bone because the healing time is faster. It took me a long time to feel truly comfortable on my ankle after that sprain!

My friend Gym.

Nah, it wasn't a typo. I'm really becoming good friends with my Gym. That's a huge deal on several levels.

1. I've known Gym for three years now, but only recently have I actually started spending time with Gym.

2. My visits to Gym leave me energized, especially after running/jogging/walking on a treadmill for 40 minutes.

3. Whenever I visit Gym, I seem to run into people from my church. In fact, in my "less than 10" visits over the last month or so, I've seen more folks from my church with Gym than I've seen in my regular grocery store in months and months and months.

4. I need more energy in my life, and Gym seems to be a great place to find it.

5. My students can stop giving me a hard time about my Gym membership that was sitting unused for so long.

Anyway, I'm outta here...and off to see Gym!

I've been visiting the gym.

And contrary to what one friend wondered, I haven't just been "visiting" the gym; I've actually been working out. At least, that's what I call it. So far, my visits have consisted of 30-minute stints on the treadmill, run/job/walking at least 2 miles at a slight incline. Heartbeat has gotten as high as 181 on the first day, but most of the time it's been around the 150-155 range. Just this week, I made it down there on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Wanted to go today, but never got away from the fireworks booth. So, I definitely need to be there tomorrow.

Great report from the doctor!

My mom got great news from her oncologist this morning: He doesn't want to see her for two months, and there's no reason for any continued treatment right now for her cancer! He didn't use the word "remission" but it's clear that most of her body remains cancer-free!

There is an area in her abdomen that he wants to continue keeping a close eye on, but other than that things look great. I was glad I drove down to be with her, especially if the news had been less than good. But being there for the good report was special, too!

Visiting my mom tonight.

I drove down to Turlock this evening so I could be here with my mom tomorrow. She goes to see the doctor in the morning to get the results of her recent PT scan. This will reveal if her body is still nearly free of cancer, or if any cancer has returned.

If you believe in the power of prayer, please continue to pray for my mom. I know that the doctor already has the results from the tests, but I also know that God can do incredibly, powerful things when we pray. I'll post an update Wednesday afternoon to let everyone know how she's doing.

Good choices.

So, today is the 4th straight day I've gone without drinking soda. Maybe that's not a big deal for you or people you know. For me? It's a biggie. I'm really making a commitment to cutting out the soda, trimming away the few fast food cravings, and focusing on better food. I've even been buying more fruit and veggies at the grocery store. Good for me!

Guess what I got?

Nope...not a new iPod...or $1,000 in the mail...or anything really fun at all.

I got pinkeye. Yuck. Technically, it's called "conjunctivitis," and technically, it leaves my eye all red and icky. But I got some meds this afternoon and I'm on my way to looking and feeling better.

And remarkably, I got into and out of a Kaiser Permanente facility in just about an hour: got vitals done (blood pressure and pulse good), met with the doc, got a prescription filled, had some blood work done (to check on cholesterol and pre-diabetes issues from a few years ago). Pretty cool. In the past, I've sat in Kaiser facilities for a long, long time just to meet with a doc.