That was my Saturday. The band did awesome, straight Superior scores with high placements in their class. Sunday was church, then a long nap at home before returning to church again. These are not the things that have dragged me down though.
Just recently a friend of mine got some bad news. He was having trouble breathing, so he went to the doctor to get some allergy medicine. Something got the doctors attention, so they drew blood. Soon they called my friend and sent him for x-rays. It was then they found the tumor. He has a tumor about the size of a fist between his sternum and his esophagus. They are pretty sure it is cancer. My friend just turned 36.
When he went to have more tests done, they also found another tumor under his arm. This one was smaller, and may turn out to be a blessing in some ways. They removed this tumor, and are testing it now. After they figure out just what is going on, they will decide what to do about the big one. My friend is waiting on the results. Like I said, my friend just turned 36 years old yesterday. That's just not right.
I also have been concerned about another friend that I worked with years ago, but have great admiration for. He has severe liver problems and is waiting on a transplant. This one has given me a crisis of faith as I call it, how do I pray in this situation? I know to pray for God's will, that part is easy, and to lift up my friend. The hard part is that I can't, in my heart, in sincerity pray for a liver for my friend. Now I know that sounds cruel, but how can I pray for another person to die, so my friend can live? I just can't do that. These are the type of things I struggle with.
Finally, I have another dear friend that is going through what I call a "Job experience" right now. Most all of us go through them some times. Most people call it going through a storm. My friend is like me, living paycheck to paycheck. His daughter and my daughter are good friends, and I have known his family for years. Anyway, he was on his way back from the band competition, when a transfer truck in front of him lost it's dive shaft. When he ran over it, he blew out two tires and busted a rim. Luckily, he had left before the band, and the bus picked him and his wife up and brought them home.
He got his car home Sunday, and used his house payment to buy a tire. This was bad enough, until Tuesday. His wife got to work and went in. She hadn't been at work but for about 10 minutes when someone came in and said a car had exploded. It was hers. My friend had to take half of a day off of work to deal with this now, which I'm sure was the last thing he needed.
Wednesday morning I went to talk to my friend when I got to work, as has become a custom. I could see that things were starting to get to him. He is like me, he doesn't show it, so I became concerned. Soon I found out that with all that was going on, my friend had left home without his lunch box. This was no big deal, I get free lunch cards for our cafeteria all of the time which I normally give away anyway. I pulled one out and gave it to him. Thursday morning he shared some more struggles with me.
All of this, along with the death of a dear saint in my church, and other friends that are struggling with issues have honestly just made it hard for me to do the blog this week. I have found my time better used in prayer and with family. I really don't think the four or five regular readers of mine have lost sleep because I didn't blog daily. I really do try to do this 5 days a week, but don't get paid and do have a busy life. Let me change that, I have made $1.12 off of this blog in the 2 or 3 months I have done it. I haven't even seen that money though as you don't get paid until you have $100. I really enjoy doing this, but only want to do it when I really have something to say.
Nostalgia, humor, and family, with a touch of tears.
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