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Archives For July 2011

Friday Favorite – Praying NASCAR Style

July 29, 2011 — 4 Comments

 Most Fridays I feature a website, blog, book, or video that for me has become a favorite. It maybe a favorite resource, a source of inspiration, or just something I found interesting. Please feel free to comment and I hope you might share a favorite or two of your own in the comment section. Who knows, maybe I will feature something you shared as a future Friday Favorite. 

NASCAR is as much a culture as it is a sport to those who follow the drivers, the teams, and the manufacturers week in and week out throughout racing season. Prior to each race a local preacher is asked to say a pre-race prayer over the race and all the participants right before the announcement to “start your engines.” Last week prior to the Nationwide race in Nashville, local Pastor Joe Nelms had the honor and he was determined to make an impression on crowd. Instead of using the tried and true approach, something everyone had come to expect, Pastor Nelms hope to grab his audience’s attention with his prayer with the hope what they heard in the stands on Saturday might lead them to the church on Sunday. Continue Reading…

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Derailed

July 25, 2011 — Leave a comment

As I said in my previous post, sometimes life gets in the way, and as was the case last week, sometimes “things” in the way of  life. But when cancer is in your world that in itself may derail life…or at least life as I know it…as this post is the result of spending four and half days in the hospital battling a blood infection that came out of nowhere.  

Somehow and or somewhere I picked up a Strep B infection in my blood system which then manifested itself in the lymphatic fluid that accumulates in my left arm, chest, and torso. This fluid accumulation is the byproduct and side effect of the lymphedema I have been dealing with since my lymph nodes were removed last June. While there was nothing overtly obvious, there were some signs I probably missed or just attributed to what chemo usual does to me post treatment. But once the infection took hold, in a window of about 20 minutes, I went from feeling OK to so-so to ‘call the doctor’, and we were off to the ER. I’ll spare you all the details, but I wanted you to see how quickly the events unfolded and how I will have to guard against it happening again to the best of my ability.

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Has It Been A Year Already?

July 24, 2011 — 2 Comments

 

iStockphotos © RTimages

The last few weeks have been a blur! An example of that fact is you seeing this post now and not July 11th as originally planned. There is a saying, “life get’s in the way,” and I think you’ll agree there are times when “stuff” gets in the way of life as well…and boy has that been the case lately for me!

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Stick It 2 Cancer – Part 2 – Friday Favorite

July 8, 2011 — Leave a comment

Most Fridays I feature a website, blog, or a book that for me has become a favorite. It maybe a favorite resource, a source of inspiration, or just something I found interesting. Please feel free to comment and I hope you might share a favorite or two of your own in the comment section. Who knows, maybe I will feature something you shared as a future Friday Favorite.

A Friday Favorite Update

Last October I featured the Stick It 2 Cancer as a Friday Favorite, and I’m happy to provide an update pass on some exciting news to the Leveraging Life community. For those who missed the original post please take a minute to learn more about John and Torri Westmoreland’s story, but the exciting news is John is in remission and recently had his chemo port removed, which is the delivery method used to administer the chemo during your treatment. What I find interesting is that when I shared the original post last October, I had no idea I would ever need chemo, much less what a port was or have thought I would have one in my chest. Another connection I have with John is that I’m being treated at the same Atlanta Cancer Care facility John was treated at a year ago. John has been kind enough to share advice with me about what to expect and what to look out for as my treatment progressed. He even clued me in on how the brown recliners were are far more comfortable than the others at ACC, something you need to know when you spend five hours in one during treatment.

Our stories will intersect once more as Shari and I, and hopefully the Leveraging Life community as well, will partner with Stick It 2 Cancer in the Light The Night Cancer Walk on October 1, 2011 at the Cumming Fairgrounds. 

Leveraging Life Mission Statement On Cancer

For ever cancer statistic there is a face, and for every face there is a family…isn’t it time for you to join the fight…isn’t it time for you to Stick It 2 Cancer!

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How You Feeling?

July 6, 2011 — Leave a comment
iStockphoto credit © Jeffrey Smith

How are you feeling is a common question I get asked several times a day, and a few times there is a follow-up question that gets asked before I answer the first question, “bet you get tired of answering that question don’t you?”

Actually I don’t mind answering that question at all because the fact that someone asks shows they care!

But something you probably should know, and I don’t think I’m alone feeling this way, is that the answer you get may not always be totally truthful at all times. There are a few reasons why, and I’d like to share them:

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Worship Wednesday – I Can Only Imagine

July 5, 2011 — 1 Comment

Worship Wednesday is a regular feature on Leveraging Life where I share with you a song and a video. It may be something familiar but I found the story behind the song to be interesting and worth sharing or it could be something entirely new. I hope you enjoy this selection and don’t forget you can click on the Worship Wednesday tab to see previous selections.

I Can Only Imagine

Wynonna Judd

I stumbled across this video on Facebook and loved listening Wynonna tell her story and why MercyMe’s huge hit, I Can Only Imagine, has become an anthem for her. I think Wynonna’s story resonates with so many of us because we too believed our identities had everything to do with what we did and not Who we served. Culture dictates we must worship our careers, 401k’s, accumulation of things, not our Heavenly Father the provider of all things. 

“You have no other Gods before Me” – Exodus 20:3

Once you have relieved yourself of that burden you are freed to experience what the lyrics describe…a true and real relationship with your Heavenly Father! 

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Happy 4th of July! from Leveraging Life

July 3, 2011 — Leave a comment

Photo Credit: John Sfondilias © iStockphoto LP 2009

I spent some time last week trying to decide what to post on the 4th of July, or even if I would post. I could have posted an endorsement for the Boston Pops 4th of July Salute to America Fireworks Spectacular show, something not to be missed tonight from 8pm – 11pm on CBS.

Or I could have gone the route I’ve taken on other national holidays like Veterans Day and Memorial Day, where I have found and featured moving tributes to those that serve or have served in our armed services.

For as long as I can remember the fourth of July has always represented a day of celebration, and I wanted to make sure if I did post whatever made it onto Leveraging Life captured that emotion. So I created a list of criteria which would serve as my filter for this post. It must:

Celebrate Family

Celebrate Life

Celebrate Love

In my quest to find something meeting my criteria, I stumble across this awesome video of America the Beautiful by blues master Keb Mo. For me, this video in itself is a celebration of all three and it just makes me feel good every time I watch it…what do you think?

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Milestones

July 3, 2011 — 4 Comments
iStockphoto © Victor Correia

4 months, 4 years, or 40 years

I’m not sure if I should classify today as a milestone or an anniversary? In actuality it is an anniversary of a conversation which took place four months ago that became a target for me…a milestone that has been on my horizon ever since.

I don’t know about you but for me I always envisioned the day I applied for my marriage license as a day filled with joy. Unfortunately March 3, 2011 was anything but that as the only time to fit it in was between a series of doctor’s appointments. A few weeks earlier Shari and I had learned my merkel cell cancer had metastasized, something which resulted in our changing our plans to be married in the Spring rather than the fall. My cancer once thought to be isolated, had now spread to the bones in my legs and one of my arms, plus there was a suspicious spot on my pancreas. The typical merkel cell treatment protocol was now out the window, chemotherapy was now in the picture, and a return visit to Seattle for treatment might now be a part of our honeymoon plans. This was a day where joy never came close to registering on my radar, because I was too busy being angry and looking for someone to blame.

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