LIFE AT 60 - THE 3 F's

OK, dont get weirded out by the title!  LOL, its not what you might be thinking.  I'll get to what it means in a bit.

It has been a mixed bag couple of days.  1st of all, Im still in Raleigh with my wife, visiting my daughter and son in law, LOVE that.  Ive had a couple of phone calls that have kind of made this whole new journey start to seem real and surreal.  Appointments are now set for the "consult" visit with the radiation Dr and with the Dr for possible chemo.  Kind of strange to work on curing this thing, they have to pretty much poison you to do it.  I guess I will find out more about that in a few days.  We get back home on Monday and I have the appointments on Tuesday!

In the meantime we are taking a small detour from Raleigh to Washington DC to see one of my daughters best friends, who is playing at the Kennedy Center.  We'll spend a day site seeing then  come on home.  LONG trip.  Worth every mile though

Ok, so how does any of this relate to the title, The 3 F's?  Easy, here is what they are FAITH, FAMILY, FRIENDS.

FAITH.  I will admit that the last few days have been a bit shaky for me on the faith side.  HOWEVER what is really cool, God keeps putting the right people in my path, at the right time.  I have friends that send me notes, messages, texts, FB messages, email, you name it and I get them.  ALL of them are encouraging me, lifting me up, assuring me that they are praying.  ALL of that is like pulling into a gas station and filling the tank on your car, and not near as expensive!!!  Yesterday is a great example of how God works.  I decided to go to the local Y to take a cycle class.  Need to start building strength and I love these classes.  The instructor was really good, and as Im pedaling, I thought I recognized some of the music as contemporary Christian.  Sure enough it all was, and it just made the whole class that much better.  Started praising while pedaling, way cool.  I emailed her afterward, and told her what a blessing, and she replied that SHE will now be praying for me.  How cool is that.  FAITH is indeed something that keeps you solid in your walk.  Just one more instance to relate, I had been a bit down the other day, and feeling like I just needed a shot in the arm of something, though if you saw my arm you would think I was nuts!  I get home and check my email, and the leader of the intercessory prayer group at church had sent me an email stating that God had put my name on her mind to pray.  How cool is that?  God cared enough for me that day, to have someone pray, and not just the one, another friend told me the same thing.  Another top off on the FAITH tank!

FAMILY.  That word should say it all.  I dont know where I would be without my immediate family.  My wife has been so supportive and encouraging.  Yeah, I know some of you might be thinking, "well thats her job", maybe, but she is living it and that makes is all the better.  When I get a bit low, she is there to give advice and to lift me a bit.  I KNOW that I will have to be leaning a bit harder on her in days to come, so if you think of it pray for her too.  She works full time, and may have to alter her schedule to work with my treatments.  She is an awesome woman, and Im so thankful for her.  My daughter and son in law, have also been very supportive.  My daughter is pretty straight forward, and has had questions, as well as advice.  Not bad for a 25 year old!!  I pretty sure she will also keep my head in the game, and keep me pointed in the right direction.  She along with my son in law have been awesome in this journey so far.  I would not have wanted to start this without any one of these 3 people.

FRIENDS.  Whenever you go thru something like this, you discover who your true friends are.  I knew some in the beginning, but have discovered waaaaaay more.  Friends I did not even know I had, people that do not even know me, are becoming friends.  I don't mean the "friends" like the ones on Face Book, who may or may not be real, but friends who will reach out and offer a hand when you need it.  Friends who lift you in prayer when you cant pray.  Friends who just send a note of encouragement at just the right time.  Please understand I love FB and have lots of friends on there, but most of them I only know because of like political beliefs, and have never met most all of them.  Interesting enough, Ive had several people read this blog, that I do not know, but who are also encouraging me, and praying for me.  That is the WOW factor of friendship.  It also goes back to the blog where I talked about compassion and willingness.  Im seeing compassion played out right before my eyes.  In fact, it is so weird to see those words in so many places that I had never seen before.  God can and will work miracles IF you let him.

So now you know the 3 F's.  FAITH, FAMILY, FRIENDS.  I dont think I would be able to make it if I was missing even ONE of the 3 F's.  The Bible says to walk by FAITH and not by sight.  It also says that by so doing your FAITH will make you whole.  Im standing on that promise, and I KNOW that my other 2 F's, FAMILY and FRIENDS will be there with me, cheering me on, helping when needed, praying when needed, and I cannot wait to tell everyone how wonderful God is.  He has already made huge differences in my life.  Im claiming this healing, it was by HIS stripes that we were healed.  We are approaching Easter, and I cant think of a better time to offer praise for my healing.  Keep up with the blog and you will likely get the blow by blow description of what is happening.