I had a video conference with the doctor from Mayo Clinic late yesterday afternoon and he confirmed that I do have active multiple myeloma. 
     Here’s the expected treatment schedule:
     For the next four months I will have chemotherapy, which will consist of a pill and an injection once a week.
     About the middle of August I will return to Rochester for a stem cell transplant.  The stem cells will be taken from my blood, cleansed, and placed back in my blood.  The procedure will be somewhat similar to dialysis.  During this time I will be given a major dose of chemotherapy.  I will be in Rochester for 3-4 weeks as the doctors monitor my blood and vital signs.
     After returning home I will be given the same chemotherapy regimen as before the stem cell transplant.  At some point, the Lord willing as in all of this, I will move to maintenance, which would likely be a chemotherapy pill weekly.
     Here’s my response to yesterday’s news and the projected treatments.
     Some scripture came to my remembrance not long after the almost hour-long video conference with the doctor. 1 Thessalonians 5:16 “Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
     Honestly the part of this passage that came to my heart was simply the phrase “give thanks in all circumstances.”
     A couple of notes here.  Paul doesn’t say to give thanks FOR the circumstances, but IN the circumstances.  God’s will is to give thanks in the circumstances.  The circumstances could be far from the will of God.  The school shooting in Nashville was not the will of God.
     I have much to be thankful for in this circumstance. 
● I have a family and a church who loves me and who stand in prayer for me.
● I am blessed to be getting cutting edge medical treatment.
● Though no one would look forward to them, the treatments do not appear to be as invasive as I have envisioned.
● There is some thought that I may very well have had smoldering multiple myeloma as far back as a CT scan may have indicated in 2012. What a wonderful gift from God that the last 11 years I have been free from worrying about a condition that could have (and finally did) become active.
● The diagnosis could have been far worse.
● There is the same peace in my heart that I have had from the beginning of all of this. 
     That’s the tip of the iceberg of what I could write about being thankful in this circumstance.

     We continue to await some additional news from Mayo Clinic.  I have never figured out if delay in medical information implies good news or bad news.  We usually think the latter.
     I got up early, not because I am such a spiritual guy, but because I went to bed early.  After beginning the day with our Lord, I decided to get in the swim spa for a swim.
     This may be hard for you to believe, but I put on my speedo.  That might not be the image that would bring a good start to your day.  To top it off, Megan purchased the speedo for me.   How many dads could say that their daughter had bought them a speedo?
     It was the first time I had ever worn a speedo and I had some difficulty getting it on correctly.  Finally it felt somewhat comfortable.  On my head.
     That’s an even worse start to your day, an image of the pastor wearing a speedo on his head.   You may not know, as I didn’t, that Speedo makes more than skimpy swim wear.   They make other stuff, including skim caps.
     Megan bought me a Speedo swim cap before Christmas because her mom had told her that I had quit swimming in our spa because I felt like the water pressure on my head was causing me to lose what little hair I still have left.
     There is vanity in all of us.  I lost weight last summer for medical reasons, but looking better couldn’t be ruled out as part of the motivation.  We all try to look as good as we can with what we have.
     When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, we know the consequences of the Fall.  Sin entered this world.  All of life was affected, even creation itself.  Paul says in Romans that creation is in travail, awaiting its redemption.  Rarely does a week go by that we don’t see this truth.
     Of course, illness and death were two of the major consequences of the Fall.
     Another of the results of Adam and Eve’s sin is seen in Genesis 3:7 “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.”
     They realized that they were naked.  One of the results of the Fall was that for the first time Adam and Eve had a sense of self-awareness.  They had not been focused on themselves until they sinned.
     Self-awareness in itself isn’t a sin.  We all need to be aware of signs and signals in our lives, like a racing heart, a change in a spot on our skin, a lump that hadn’t been there before, a tooth that is aching or a multitude of other physical things.
     We also ought to be aware of our emotions, our responses to others, and where we are with our walk with the Lord.
     What happened in the Fall was that self-awareness brought self-centeredness.  It wasn’t long before Adam blames Eve and Eve blames the serpent.
     At least for me, there are two major things that need to be restored in my life to overcome the results of the Fall.  One is a reconciliation between God and me.  That reconciliation has happened because Jesus came and died at Calvary.  The veil of the Temple was torn into when He died, opening the way for there to be some sense of return to walking with God as did Adam and Eve before the Fall.  That will never be complete until I step into heaven.
     The second area that needs to be restored in my life to “pre-Fall” conditions is overcoming the self-centeredness that sin has brought to all of us.  That is far more difficult to overcome and to restore.
     Jesus understood that the challenge to lay aside self and focus on others wouldn’t be an easy one.   He also knew for us that it would be a daily one. 
“Then He said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.”
     Taking up our cross isn’t bearing some struggle or heartache of life.  My cross to bear isn’t dealing with cancer.  My cross to bear is to die to self with His help and by His grace.   It begins with the willingness to deny oneself.
     It is a daily triad for me.  Deny, take up, and follow.  It is never easy. 
     Lord, help me by Your grace and power to be able to move from seeing what is best for me in the circumstances and situations that I will face today.  Help me to be aware of others and what they may need in their lives.

     I got the nudge.  It’s the middle of the night and I’d like to go back to bed, but it would be useless because I felt the nudge to write a very unintended blog on Sunday morning.
     Four hours.  Four hours can be an eternity if I had to sit in the dentist’s chair or lie on the radiation machine for that long.  Four hours up with a sick child. 
     Four hours might pass quickly if I am fishing and they are biting or I am sitting on the beach “watching the tide roll away.”
     Friday night/Saturday morning I experienced something that I hadn’t since the radiation started.  I slept for four hours straight.  It was as helpful as four hours of sleep to parents of young children who may have trouble sleeping.
     After the second radiation treatment and following, I was up as many as 10 times a night.  Every 45 minutes to an hour. 
     Four hours brought hope that maybe someday soon the normal functions of my body might be healing.
     We take so many things for granted every day.  We usually don’t think twice about the way God has made our bodies and how they function, until they don’t function as they should.
     One of my sisters has an issue with her lungs.  She sounds horrible and breathing for her is difficult.  We never think twice about breathing until we can’t breathe and then it is the most important thing to us.
     I take for granted so many of God’s blessings in my life.  A warm home, food in the fridge, the loving people in my life.  That list is limitless.  Maybe even the truth that God loves me and has sent His One and Only Son to die for me.  I have heard that all of my life.  May I never take for granted the greatest truth of life.
     Lord, help me have a grateful heart, mindful of your gifts to me.  Help me never to take your blessings for granted.  Even four hours of sleep.

     Writing the blogs has been beneficial to me in more ways than I could have imagined when I started writing them.   To those who have faithfully read them I hope they have had some benefit to you, too.  They have been intended for two main purposes: to give information on the diagnosis and treatments and to let me write down how I have felt going through this journey.
     At this moment it is like we have pulled into a rest area and we are waiting.  Waiting for some final results of the tests and waiting for direction on the next chapter of the treatment.
     While we are in the rest area I am going to rest from writing blogs every day and move to once a week, unless I get word from Mayo Clinic on how they intend to proceed.
     That wise, not so old, sage said to me this week, “Dad, if you keep writing a blog every day, you’re not going to have any illustrations for sermons!”  I took that as a word from the Lord.
     After this morning’s blog I intend to write just one a week at least for a while, likely on Monday.  I will, however, write a blog at two other times: when we get some information from Mayo and when God nudges me to do so.   That holy nudge is something I have tried never to ignore.  When the treatments resume I may return to a more frequent schedule.
     I mentioned in one of the early blog posts about the Biblical principle of “first fruits.”  Farmers in the Old Testament were commanded to literally bring the first fruits of the harvest as an offering to God.  The principle is one of faith, believing that God will bless the rest of the harvest if we give Him the first of the harvest.
     I wrote in the blog that I have done that since I was 12 years old and mowed lawns.  I kept record of each lawn I mowed and what I was paid.  At the end of the month I would total what I was paid and would pay my tithe to the church.
     I have lived by that first fruits principle all of my life, giving to God first before any other responsibility.  There is no question in my mind that the blessings that Teresa and I have enjoyed are directly tied to that commitment in our lives. 
     We haven’t given because we expect God to bless us.  We have given because we love Him and want to walk in obedience to Him.  The blessings have been a byproduct of that.
     During these days of Lent I made the commitment to apply the principle of first fruits to each day, to give God the first fruit of each new day. 
     Our lives are so cluttered with all we have to do.  Often what gets put on the shelf is our devotional time.  People often believe that they are too busy to pray.  The truth is, I am too busy not to pray.
     For almost four weeks I have lived out this principle of first fruits every day, giving God the start of each day, rather than the “leftovers” of time when the day was done.
     Except one day this week.  Honestly, it was pretty easy when I was in Rochester for two weeks living in a motel and waiting for the radiation treatments that were usually around noon.
     It was far more difficult when I returned to my normal schedule this week.
     I fretted for most of that day.  I knew that I didn’t get up early enough to have the time to spend with Jesus because of something on the day’s schedule that I had to do. 
     Looking back on that day, it was the least productive of any day of the last four weeks.  Was that because I was fretting, knowing I had missed giving God the first part of the day?  Or was it because I didn’t receive the blessing of God because I failed to give Him the first moments of the day?
     It doesn't matter, does it?  The practical reality was that the one day I chose what I thought was the best use of my time resulted in a far less productive day.
     Giving God the first fruits of every day is far more difficult for me than giving God the first fruits of His blessings in my life.  Lord, help me learn that the principle is the same. 

     As of this morning I haven’t heard any more from the doctors at Mayo Clinic.  The initial diagnosis of the bony biopsy was that something was abnormal.  The vast majority of the time abnormal is usually not a good thing when it comes to medical issues.  I was told that it might take this week to fully determine just what is going on.
     As soon as I get any more results, I will try to post another blog.
     Abnormal might be the operative word when it comes to my health.   A sarcoma in 2000.  An abdominal tumor in 2012 that was never fully diagnosed.  Now a bone disease that is hard to figure out. 
     And I always thought I was pretty normal.
     I love to swim.  I have since I was a kid.  I was never a great swimmer because of my body type, but I get joy from being in the water.
     The love for swimming increased even more after the cancer surgery on my leg.   The surgery meant that I could no longer run or play any sport that put pressure on my leg.  Swimming, however, took the weight and the pressure off my knee.
     The motel that I stayed in at Rochester had a really nice pool.  I swam the first evening after I had driven almost 12 hours to get to Rochester.  I swam most days in the morning before anyone was in the pool and late in the evening after folks had left the pool.
     Near the end of the week I was swimming about a half a mile in the morning and the same in the evening.  That’s about what I would swim once a day in the summer.  That also meant I was in the pool for about an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening.
     It came with some ramifications.   Friday evening I felt like a hoard of porcupines were rolling on my back.  I felt a rash around my ankle.  Being in the chlorine was more than my body could handle, especially the chlorine level in a public pool.  I think that the radiation contributed to the dryness of my skin.
     That was the last day of swimming.  After a couple of rest days from the chlorine I had the bone biopsy, which meant I couldn’t be submerged for about a week.
     When I got home last Friday I had several small scabs on my arms and on my back.  I’ve wished for a long time that I could be a guitar picker.  Looks like all I will be known as is a scab picker.
     My “helper” saw the scabs on my arm and came to the rescue.  She put some Gold Bond Healing on my arms and on my back.  I was amazed at how quickly my skin returned to normal.
     There’s an old spiritual that is called “There Is a Balm in Gilead.” The writer changes Jeremiah’s question, “Is there no balm in Gilead?” into an exclamation. 
 
There is a balm in Gilead,
To make the wounded whole.
There is a balm in Gilead,
To heal the sin-sick soul.
 
     Jesus applied His healing balm to my sin-sick soul a long time ago.  I go back for additional treatments often.  As good as the Gold Bond was, it doesn’t hold a candle to the balm of grace and forgiveness that Jesus applied to my heart.

     At Phil’s funeral someone said something close to this, “Phil is now a part of the great cloud of witnesses watching this afternoon.”   That may not be verbatim, but close.   We often hear people say that.
     The great cloud of witnesses that the writer to the Hebrews speaks of in chapter 12 is a reference to the saints of the Old Testament who are listed in Hebrews 11.
     Those saints are not “spectators.”   They are far from spectators.  They are not witnessing what we do now; they have witnessed to the world by their lives what faith must be for the believer, a full surrender to God even when it may result in giving your life for the faith. 
     The writer says that because we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses who have had faith even unto death, then we ought to lay aside whatever may hinder us in our walk with Jesus.
     In that sense, Phil could be listed as a part of the great cloud of witnesses who served and loved God even unto death.  But not as a spectator.  Phil was never a spectator; he was always a participant in what God was doing.
     I believe many folks don’t understand Biblical truth.  I hear it often and as much as we would like to believe that mom or dad or Phil is looking down from heaven watching us, that is far from what the Bible says about the next life.
     Revelation 21 is quite clear.  Heaven will be a place where there is no more mourning or crying or pain, because the former things have passed away.
     If our loved ones could look down and see what is happening in our lives there would be lots of mourning and crying and pain.  
     If Phil could look down and see how Janet and his sons are grieving his passing, there would be pain in his heart.
     If my mom had to go through me having cancer a second time there would be as much crying now as she did when she was in this world.  I am thankful that she cannot see what is happening in my life.
     I’ve told this story a couple of times; some of you reading this may have heard me tell it.
     My mother had a love for her family that would be hard to top.  Her greatest desire was to see her children and then her grandchildren give their hearts to Jesus.
     She died with that desire being fulfilled except for one granddaughter.  I am pretty confident that my mom prayed for Jesi most every day that she would surrender her heart to Jesus.  My mom died believing that someday Jesi would trust Jesus as her Savior.
     I had the privilege to baptize Jesi just a few weeks ago.  A few years ago I had the greater privilege of seeing her give her heart to Jesus one Sunday morning when she came to Daybreak.
     A few weeks after Jesi’s decision I had a vision of heaven.  It wasn’t like you might think.   Just a vision of what might be happening in heaven.
     Twice Jesus says these words in Luke 15: “I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
     Here’s the vision.  It’s quite believable if you believe that Jesus says that the angels rejoice over one sinner who repents.
     I could “see” the angels gathering around the throne for a time of rejoicing.   I could “hear” the arch angel reading the names of people from around the world, sinners who had repented and trusted Jesus as their Savior.
     “Kim Soo, Korea.”  And there would be this shout of rejoicing.
     “April Jones, England.” Another shout of rejoicing.
 
     On and on this vision went of people’s names and some idea of their locations around the world.
 
     And then the vision came home.   I heard this name called:
 
      “Jessica Stumbo, Kentucky.”  And the angels rejoiced with a shout.
 
     And right up there near the throne I could see my mom’s face.  I believe she is up near the throne because Jesus said the last of this world in the world’s eyes would be one of the firsts in heaven’s eyes.  I could see the joy on my mother’s face. 
     Somehow in the communication of heaven, I believe Jesi was brought to my mom’s remembrance.  And she knew and knows that someday Jesi will walk through the gate.  And when that day comes there will be more rejoicing in heaven.

      On Sunday morning our youth pastor was scheduled to preach.   I knew it.   Some of the Elders knew it.  There was just one problem.  Scott didn’t know it.  It was during his devotional time on Sunday morning when he saw my email that I was praying for him that he realized that he was scheduled to preach.
      My response ought to be a never-ending apology to Scott for me nor anyone else not communicating that to him.  Of course, I did make that apology.
      God does the Romans 8:28 promise so often in our lives.  He did that in Scott’s life Sunday, but far more in the lives of those of us who heard him.  Without the time to adequately prepare, the Lord told Scott to share his own testimony of his walk with Jesus.
      Scott shared about his coming to Jesus and how God had led him in different paths.  Eventually he came to the time that I knew was coming because I knew of Scott’s love for his mom.  In many ways Scott is like his mom.
      Kathy was diagnosed with a brain tumor and that cancer took her life in a relatively short time. 
       During the tears, his and many of ours, Scott says something that I will never forget.  He says, “I am where I am in my life because of the death of my mother.”  What an astounding statement.
      He shared about how in her wisdom she left an inheritance for Scott and his two siblings that enabled him to return to school and become a high school math teacher.
      He shared how her illness and her death called his younger brother back home from living abroad and living away from Jesus.   Because of his mom’s death, Chris returned to the Lord and is now in ministry.  Chris’ life was changed because of the death of their mom.
      Scott then shared about how his sister has been a fighter through cancer in her life, because she saw the faith and the fight in her mother.
      The lives of all three of Kathy’s children were changed by the death of their mother.
      The word that has kept coming to me over and over is the word “redemptive.”  Her death has been redemptive in the lives of her children.
      Our God is a redemptive God.  We often speak of His nature as one of love and grace and mercy.  Those character traits of God lead to His redemptive nature.
      Obviously, the greatest example of that is the redemptive death of Jesus on the Cross for our sins.  God takes the absolute worst act of human history and transforms it and makes it the most redemptive power in all of human history.
      God can take the death of His Own Son and bring His redeeming power to our lives.
      God can work His Romans 8:28 promise to redeem a bad communicating pastor’s error into a life-changing testimony.
      God can take the painful death of a loving mother and redeem that death by changing the course of the lives of her three children.
      God can take every event of our lives and redeem those events to use them for His purpose and our good.   He can take a bad decision and redeem it by His power so that what once was seen as a curse can become a blessing.
      Thanks, Scott, for sharing your heart.  You have reminded us of the redeeming power of our God.  He took the worst event of your life and used it in ways that only God has the power to do so.  You have helped us see that God can indeed work His power and bring His good for those of us who love Him and are called according to His purpose.

              On Sunday Teresa and I attended the funeral of our longtime friend and brother, Phil Hogg.  I must admit that I couldn’t help but think during the service that it could be me being remembered instead of Phil.
       His three sons led a time of worship in the middle of the celebration.  If the family had chosen to do nothing else, I would have walked away knowing the legacy that Phil left in his boys’ lives—a legacy of faith that is expressed through music.
       Music is not the legacy that I have left in the lives of my two daughters.  Hopefully, faith in Jesus is. 
       You may have seen in these blogs that I am a ponderer, whatever that is.  I pondered during the service and I pondered after it was over.  Like Mary with the baby Jesus, there was something in my heart.  It was a two-person pondering.
       During the service I thought about how much Phil’s wife, Janet, was a part of his ministry.  “His” would be a misnomer because it was “their” ministry.  Janet was such a vital part of their ministry.  Often in the background serving in ways that at times others didn’t see.
       Janet has the heart of Jesus, which means that she has a servant’s heart.  She has served Phil in appropriate ways, the churches where they served, and her family. 
She lived out her vows to Phil to love him in sickness and in health.  She loved him during the four decades of good health.  And she loved him in the last year of dealing every day with the illness that took his life.
       During some weddings that I have officiated, I have mentioned the passage in Genesis 2 where God tells why he created Eve.  To be a helper to Adam.  Even before the Fall, God realized that man (and men) would need help.  I will follow that with this line, calling the bride by name, “then help John become the man Jesus wants him to become.”
       Janet did that in Phil’s life.  She helped him become the man Jesus wanted him to become, as a husband, as a father, as a pastor, as a follower of Jesus.
       I said there was a two-person pondering in my heart.  It’s a pretty easy jump to see who the second person was who I was pondering in my mind and heart.
       Over the same four decades as Phil and Janet, I have been blessed with a helper.  Teresa has helped me become the man of God I am today.  She has served in every church where we have been, often in ways that no one else but me knew, and sometimes in ways that even I didn’t know.  She has served our family, at times when it was a delight and at times when it took much grace.
       She has lived out her vow to be there for me during the times of health, but especially during the times of sickness.  She has loved me with a selfless love.  She has loved our family with a selfless love.
       She has been and still is the helper that I have needed.  I can’t help but wonder if I have been the person that she has needed.
       As we were leaving Phil’s celebration I saw two pastors’ wives in an embrace.  Somehow I believe that they knew that each other knew, in ways far beyond their husbands’ illnesses.

     I decided to start naming the blogs each day so that if I or someone else wanted to go back and reread them they would be easier to find.
     On the way back from Rochester last week Nick made the comment about how self-disciplined he thought I was.  That’s likely not one of the things that is usually said about me.
     I lost 35 pounds last summer eating a no/low salt diet and swimming most days.  That may be the period in my life that self-discipline could be said of being a mark in my life.
     It for sure wasn’t on Saturday evening.
     One of the things I had learned while dealing with the side effects of the radiation was that my body didn’t eliminate fluids like it normally does.  I learned that through experience, not positive experience.  None of the medical team gave any direction that would be the case, not when they spoke with me personally nor in any of the written directions about my care. 
But I learned that what goes in must come out and I learned to be careful what liquids and how much my body could handle.
     Until Saturday night.  I love grapes and strawberries.  As I have done the last two weeks at meals, at supper I drank very little and I drank no other liquid the rest of the evening.
     But I ate far more grapes and strawberries than I should have.  They are mostly water.   That meant I had more fluids in me than I had had for two weeks.
     Saturday night was one of the worst nights of the treatments and recovery.  My body could never catch up and be able to eliminate enough fluid at any time during the night or the next morning.  It lingered most of the day on Sunday.
     To put it bluntly, it was a very foolish lack of self-discipline and a very foolish choice on my part to eat as much fruit as I did.
     There is often a connection between foolish choices and a lack of self-discipline.
     Lord, help me to have the self-discipline to make good decisions today, far beyond how many grapes I may eat.  My life ought to be marked with discipline if I claim to be your disciple.  The word disciple infers that there should be discipline in my life as your follower.
     I am foolish when I choose to have a lack of self-discipline when it comes to any area of my life, but none more foolish than having a lack of self-discipline when it comes to my walk with Jesus.  It ought to be the most self-disciplined area of my life, because it is the area that matters the most.  How foolish I have been at times in my life when I have failed to be disciplined in the most important part of my life.

       It was good to be back at Daybreak this morning.  Scott preached, which I appreciated.  I had no clue whether I would be up for it or not.  He’s such a good man in every sense of the word.
       A friend and colleague in ministry went home to be with Jesus on Thursday.   Teresa and I are going to his homegoing celebration this afternoon.
       His family, his wife’s family, and our family have been intertwined for four decades in too many ways to mention. 
       Phil was diagnosed with lymphoma last year.  He endured several months of chemotherapy.
       Last fall when his health permitted visitors, Teresa and I and another ministry couple went to see Phil and Janet.  We sat outside Cardinal Hill hospital.  We laughed and cried and prayed.  It was bittersweet.  It was also the last time I saw him.  One of the blessings of my life was to take Phil’s hand and pray for him that afternoon.  We both could feel the connection of the Holy Spirit because I had some clue what he was feeling and he knew that I did.
       His wife, Janet, is a saint if there ever was one.  She was grieving the loss of her father, Ben, who was also a pastor.  Her mother was not too far from being in heaven with her father.  It wasn’t long after our meeting that God called her home, too.
       In the past year she had lost both of her parents and her husband was fighting what ended up being terminal cancer. 
       A week ago Friday Teresa went to sit with Janet in the hospital.  I wrote the following on Thursday morning while I was waiting for my critical doctor’s appointment. 
 
       I have a good friend who is a pastor whom I have known since college.  He has been dealing with lymphoma for the last 8-9 months.  Recently, he received the painful news that he has a recurrence.
       Teresa went to see his wife a few days ago.  When the wife looked up and saw Teresa, she broke into tears and said, “I know that you know.”
       Indeed, Teresa would know much of what she was feeling, especially as a pastor’s wife.  Even down to the possibility that her husband would likely never pastor again.  It’s the only life she has known.  That thought has had to pass through Teresa’s mind.
       “I know that you know.”  That five-word sentence has so many possibilities.
 
       When I heard the news of Phil’s passing, I deleted that from Thursday’s post out of my love for Janet and their family.
       For sure Teresa knew what it was like to deal with a husband who has faced an illness and the possibility of losing him.  But thankfully she doesn’t know what Janet now does.  There may come a day when Janet comes to see Teresa and Teresa will return the “I know that you know.”  Hopefully no time soon.
       Phil and I texted several times after our visit.  When he heard the news of my medical issues, he sent me as moving of a text as I have received, letting me know that he was praying for me.  Here was a brother who was dealing with far greater issues, telling me that I was in his prayers.   One text said, “Praying for God’s healing grace to overwhelm you and give you all you need each day ahead, whatever that may mean.”
       It was reciprocal.  I had prayed for him every day since I heard the news of his illness.
       After I got the news on Thursday that God had said to Phil, “Enough, my son.  Come on home.” I called Teresa.  After the initial shock, she said, “Phil died on the exact same day as her dad died, one year to the day.  3:16.  Teresa remembered because Emma’s birthday is 3:16.
       How could that possibly be?  Maybe from the hand of a loving, Heavenly Father who knew one really tough day in March each year might be easier than two really tough days that were close to each other.
       What better day than the only 3:16 day of the year for two warrior shepherds to go home with Jesus?
       I got this text from Phil last November before any news of my recent medical issues:
       “I have been thinking about you and have been wanting to talk to you about finishing strong.  It is tough to keep going right now, but I know that you have done it.   When my immune system is a little stronger, I’d like to chat with you.”
       My brother, Phil, there was little insight that I could give you about finishing strong.  I never had the opportunity to speak with you face to face in this life again.  But what you faced these last couple of weeks and especially the last few days of your life, you taught me and a lot of others what it takes to finish strong.   When that day comes for me, I will think of you.  You have fought the good fight.  You have finished your race.  You have kept the faith.   I have no doubt that you have heard, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”