As of Monday, February 23, the cancer treatments are over! Since the start of 2008 Toni has had infusions every three weeks with the associated doctor visits etc. Yesterday the oncologist with Toni’s approval determined that she should not take the last four because of the heart issues that had developed. Usually, theses heart issues take care of themselves with sensible life style adjustments. What is left? A daily pill for another 4.5 years and the usual checkups, pretty minor stuff! Many have taken the same journey as Toni.
Some have journeyed this path with a few friends and some with many friends. We are thankful that we have not only done this with many good friends, but friends who prayed and walked the journey from beginning to end. Thanks for taking the journey with us!
Toni and I are most of all, thankful that we knew that the Lord Himself was watching over us and directing our paths. This is no small thing to us. To have Him watching! Psalm 121:5-8, “The Lord watches over you — the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all harm — he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.”
As well, the 23rd Psalm, has a renewed poignancy, “He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”
Dear Heavenly and Present Father, You wrote the promises, Your Holy Spirit reminded us of them and by faith we embraced them. Your Words are truth! Thank you for the unexpected blessings from an unexpected assignment along an unexpected path. In Jesus exceedingly precious Name! Amen!
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Antler Inn
We finally did it. We took the Christmas gifts and we did it. We had a relaxing time at the Antler Inn. We left Thursday afternoon, stayed all day Friday and then Saturday morning left for Englewood for a district meeting. We went to the “Moose Viewing Capital” or so they say in Walden, Colorado. We enjoyed a stop at the "Moose Visitor Center," And we saw lots 
of of the area, with high country snow. The trip was successful! Along the river, on the snow covered ground, among the bushes Toni saw a cow and a calf (moose not cattle) in the wild and we stopped and observed! However I forgot my personal bag which included our camera … so no pictures. I did take this on my camera phone of Toni reading in the sitting room. Toni enjoyed her planned reading. But my plans were way laid. In the bag were my books so I had to pick up something in Walden. I bought a copy of “Over on the Dry Side” by Louis L'Amour; it was a good read.
of of the area, with high country snow. The trip was successful! Along the river, on the snow covered ground, among the bushes Toni saw a cow and a calf (moose not cattle) in the wild and we stopped and observed! However I forgot my personal bag which included our camera … so no pictures. I did take this on my camera phone of Toni reading in the sitting room. Toni enjoyed her planned reading. But my plans were way laid. In the bag were my books so I had to pick up something in Walden. I bought a copy of “Over on the Dry Side” by Louis L'Amour; it was a good read.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Who I Am In Christ
Who I Am In Christ
by Dr. Neil Anderson
I am accepted...
John 1:12, I am God's child.
John 15:15, As a disciple, I am a friend of Jesus Christ.
Romans 5:1, I have been justified.
1 Corinthians 6:17, I am united with the Lord, and I am one with Him in spirit.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20, I have been bought with a price and I belong to God.
1 Corinthians 12:27, I am a member of Christ's body.
Ephesians 1:3-8, I have been chosen by God and adopted as His child.
Colossians 1:13-14, I have been redeemed and forgiven of all my sins.
Colossians 2:9-10, I am complete in Christ.
Hebrews 4:14-16, I have direct access to the throne of grace through Jesus Christ.
I am secure...
Romans 8:1-2, I am free from condemnation.
Romans 8:28, I am assured that God works for my good in all circumstances.
Romans 8:31-39, I am free from any condemnation brought against me and I cannot be separated from the love of God.
2 Corinthians 1:21-22, I have been established, anointed and sealed by God.
Colossians 3:1-4, I am hidden with Christ in God.
Philippians 1:6, I am confident that God will complete the good work He started in me.
Philippians 3:20, I am a citizen of heaven.
2 Timothy 1:7
I have not been given a spirit of fear but of power, love and a sound mind.
1 John 5:18, I am born of God and the evil one cannot touch me.
I am significant...
John 15:5, I am a branch of Jesus Christ, the true vine, and a channel of His life.
John 15:16, I have been chosen and appointed to bear fruit.
1 Corinthians 3:16, I am God's temple.
2 Corinthians 5:17-21, I am a minister of reconciliation for God.
Ephesians 2:6, I am seated with Jesus Christ in the heavenly realm.
Ephesians 2:10, I am God's workmanship.
Ephesians 3:12, I may approach God with freedom and confidence.
Philippians 4:13, I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.
"The more you reaffirm who you are in Christ, the more your behavior will begin to reflect your true identity!" (From Victory Over the Darkness , by Dr. Neil Anderson)
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Cardiologist added to Toni’s team
A cardiologist has been added to Toni’s cancer treatment team. She is home after some chest discomfort resulted in 20 hours in the hospital, 6 EKG’s, numerous blood draws and a nuclear imaging stress test. The results appear to be that she has cancer treatment induced high blood pressure and the weakening of the heart muscles. So we are at home with a prescription and an appointment with a cardiologist for some ongoing treatment to reinvigorate her heart!
We deeply appreciate those who have chosen to walk with us through this journey. Do you remember that Toni’s first request from those who would walk and pray with us through her cancer path was from Colossians 4:12? We are appreciating it anew ... (you are) always wrestling in prayer for (Toni), that (Toni) may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured. God has been answering your prayers!!!
THANKS
We deeply appreciate those who have chosen to walk with us through this journey. Do you remember that Toni’s first request from those who would walk and pray with us through her cancer path was from Colossians 4:12? We are appreciating it anew ... (you are) always wrestling in prayer for (Toni), that (Toni) may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured. God has been answering your prayers!!!
THANKS
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Papa Stories: 2. I Am Papa
There are grandfathers, granddads, grandpas, and some are called gramps, but I am Papa.
I like my name, Richard Earl Crocker. Richard is my father’s middle name and Earl is his first name. My grandfather’s name was Everett Crocker but I called him "GranPAH." He liked to tease, loved my Grammy (Velma) and lived in Maine. His first son was my “dad.”[1] His family lived along the North Atlantic coast for many generations. [2]
GranPAH Crocker worked hard and had a store called the "Trading Post" in West Bath, Maine. He sold old things called antiques. Once my GranPAH took me to an auction and bought me a "red hot dog." In Maine when I was little hot dogs where red! GranPAH also gave me some change and I bid on an old coffee tin. When I opened it there many little things like rubber bands and paper clips inside that I played with for a long time.
My GranPAH’s father’s name was Gardner [3] and his grandfather was called David. Most Crockers from New England are descendents from William Crocker who came to England four hundred years ago from a place called Devon, England. He attended the Anglican Church but after just two years in the New World he became a “Puritan” and joined Rev. John Lathrop's church on Christmas day in 1636. When Pastor Lathrop left his home to plant a new church and found a new town called Barnstable, William went with him. This famous colonial pastor is your ancestor through Nana. Isn’t that fun to know that before America was a country that Papa and Nana’s family members were friends in the same church!
Do you remember two special trunks at our house? Downstairs there is a brown trunk from my grandpa and upstairs there is a little larger one with leather straps called a “steamer trunk” that belonged to Nana’s grandfather. Both are special because they come from a grandfather and because they both contain very special family memories. I hope that these stories are like those trunks in that they will let you share in some very special memories.
I liked spending time with my grandfather and now it is my turn to be Papa! I like being called Papa by six very special grandkids [4] and even by some of their friends! What are special names that people call you that you like?
_________
[1] This is the earliest picture I have of my dad with his parents, taken about 1928.
[2] In our family tree, my children were the first in 13 generations not to be raised along the North Atlantic Coast
[3] Our ancestry through Gardner’s wife Lena Pero goes back to the first settlers of Canada
[4] Taken in 2005
I like my name, Richard Earl Crocker. Richard is my father’s middle name and Earl is his first name. My grandfather’s name was Everett Crocker but I called him "GranPAH." He liked to tease, loved my Grammy (Velma) and lived in Maine. His first son was my “dad.”[1] His family lived along the North Atlantic coast for many generations. [2]GranPAH Crocker worked hard and had a store called the "Trading Post" in West Bath, Maine. He sold old things called antiques. Once my GranPAH took me to an auction and bought me a "red hot dog." In Maine when I was little hot dogs where red! GranPAH also gave me some change and I bid on an old coffee tin. When I opened it there many little things like rubber bands and paper clips inside that I played with for a long time.
My GranPAH’s father’s name was Gardner [3] and his grandfather was called David. Most Crockers from New England are descendents from William Crocker who came to England four hundred years ago from a place called Devon, England. He attended the Anglican Church but after just two years in the New World he became a “Puritan” and joined Rev. John Lathrop's church on Christmas day in 1636. When Pastor Lathrop left his home to plant a new church and found a new town called Barnstable, William went with him. This famous colonial pastor is your ancestor through Nana. Isn’t that fun to know that before America was a country that Papa and Nana’s family members were friends in the same church!
Do you remember two special trunks at our house? Downstairs there is a brown trunk from my grandpa and upstairs there is a little larger one with leather straps called a “steamer trunk” that belonged to Nana’s grandfather. Both are special because they come from a grandfather and because they both contain very special family memories. I hope that these stories are like those trunks in that they will let you share in some very special memories.I liked spending time with my grandfather and now it is my turn to be Papa! I like being called Papa by six very special grandkids [4] and even by some of their friends! What are special names that people call you that you like?
_________
[1] This is the earliest picture I have of my dad with his parents, taken about 1928.
[2] In our family tree, my children were the first in 13 generations not to be raised along the North Atlantic Coast
[3] Our ancestry through Gardner’s wife Lena Pero goes back to the first settlers of Canada
[4] Taken in 2005
Monday, February 2, 2009
Papa Stories: 1. First Memories
Grandparents love sayings. Do you ever think, “Where do these sayings come from?” Some of mine are: It’s always right to do right; The best thing about doing right is you don’t have to like doing it; A thing can’t be stupid, but a person who calls it stupid can be; and, It’s ok to feel tired, do it anyway.
Other sayings I liked to use with my children (your parents), were “I am funned out” or “I am peopled out,” particularity at the end of a family vacation, or a week at camp. These sayings come from the combination of our unique experiences and our special personalities that God has given each of us. We are always creating memories which become our “growing up stories.” Do you have a growing up story from when you were younger?
“Sayings” are just short cuts for those stories, and grown-ups are fond of repeating them as they get older. I have many stories and memories that make me who I am as a grandfather and I am excited to share them with my grandkids!
Actually my first memories are not mine, but stories that I have had told to me many times by my parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents. I was born at Scotts Air Force base [1] in Belleville,
Illinois and according to my parents I cost them one roll of dimes, one roll of nickels and four rolls of pennies [2]. My aunts and uncles still remind me that some of my first words were, “Yes sir, Sarge.” At that time my dad was in the Army Air Force [3]. Once dad built a model plane for me and I got super excited. As I waddled towards it, I stumbled and it was smashed beyond repair. I was told I didn’t walk until I was 18 months old and even then I would “slip over a cigarette paper [4]” as a toddler. My mom said I liked to sit in the middle of the floor and look around. I had no interest in taking those first steps. When did you learn to walk?
My first personal memory is about a home we lived in on a military base. I remember a room and a screen door that I wanted to go through to reach a court yard that was surrounded with other homes and had a wide drainage ditch running through it. I also remember my mom and
dad talking and my dad was standing in his military uniform [5]. But to be honest I am never sure if it is a real memory or a created memory. Maybe it has been constructed from other people’s stories that I overheard. That is the problem with memories; they can seem so real but not always accurate. When I tell my stories, just remember they are my memories as I remember them and I think that they are true memories. Do you have a memory from when you were very young? Do you remember some saying your parents are always telling you? Have you ever asked them the story behind the saying?
___________
[1] Scotts AFB is located about 25 miles east of St Louis, Missouri along I-64
[2] There are 50 coins in a roll of dimes; 40 coins in a roll of nickels and 50 coins in a roll of pennies; can you solve this math problem? How much did my birth cost my parents?
[3] We would move a lot because ten months after I was born my brother was born in Jacksonville, FL, and less than eleven months later my sister was born in New York.
[4] My folks rolled their own cigarettes using a special rolling machine and “Bugler” tobacco; cigarette paper is a very thin piece of paper about thickness of a tissue paper and is about 2” wide by about 3” long. Growing up I rolled lots of cigarettes.
[5] The only picture I have of dad in the military is a “unit picture” from 1948 that is in very bad condition. He was a volunteer chaplain’s assistant while he was briefly stationed at F.E. Warren Air Force Base at Cheyenne, Wyoming.
Other sayings I liked to use with my children (your parents), were “I am funned out” or “I am peopled out,” particularity at the end of a family vacation, or a week at camp. These sayings come from the combination of our unique experiences and our special personalities that God has given each of us. We are always creating memories which become our “growing up stories.” Do you have a growing up story from when you were younger?
“Sayings” are just short cuts for those stories, and grown-ups are fond of repeating them as they get older. I have many stories and memories that make me who I am as a grandfather and I am excited to share them with my grandkids!
Actually my first memories are not mine, but stories that I have had told to me many times by my parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents. I was born at Scotts Air Force base [1] in Belleville,
Illinois and according to my parents I cost them one roll of dimes, one roll of nickels and four rolls of pennies [2]. My aunts and uncles still remind me that some of my first words were, “Yes sir, Sarge.” At that time my dad was in the Army Air Force [3]. Once dad built a model plane for me and I got super excited. As I waddled towards it, I stumbled and it was smashed beyond repair. I was told I didn’t walk until I was 18 months old and even then I would “slip over a cigarette paper [4]” as a toddler. My mom said I liked to sit in the middle of the floor and look around. I had no interest in taking those first steps. When did you learn to walk?My first personal memory is about a home we lived in on a military base. I remember a room and a screen door that I wanted to go through to reach a court yard that was surrounded with other homes and had a wide drainage ditch running through it. I also remember my mom and
dad talking and my dad was standing in his military uniform [5]. But to be honest I am never sure if it is a real memory or a created memory. Maybe it has been constructed from other people’s stories that I overheard. That is the problem with memories; they can seem so real but not always accurate. When I tell my stories, just remember they are my memories as I remember them and I think that they are true memories. Do you have a memory from when you were very young? Do you remember some saying your parents are always telling you? Have you ever asked them the story behind the saying?___________
[1] Scotts AFB is located about 25 miles east of St Louis, Missouri along I-64
[2] There are 50 coins in a roll of dimes; 40 coins in a roll of nickels and 50 coins in a roll of pennies; can you solve this math problem? How much did my birth cost my parents?
[3] We would move a lot because ten months after I was born my brother was born in Jacksonville, FL, and less than eleven months later my sister was born in New York.
[4] My folks rolled their own cigarettes using a special rolling machine and “Bugler” tobacco; cigarette paper is a very thin piece of paper about thickness of a tissue paper and is about 2” wide by about 3” long. Growing up I rolled lots of cigarettes.
[5] The only picture I have of dad in the military is a “unit picture” from 1948 that is in very bad condition. He was a volunteer chaplain’s assistant while he was briefly stationed at F.E. Warren Air Force Base at Cheyenne, Wyoming.
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