FOCUSED ON LIVING

My friend, Troy Smith, died last night. There were about 50 friends and family in the room, and he left this world with its problems, and its cancer, behind peacefully at 9:45.

Troy was diagnosed with Breast Cancer about two years ago. It recurred mid-2005, and Troy fought the disease valiantly in the months since.

Please pray for Shanna and her kids ... Isaiah, Jonah, and Hannah Grace.

He was a High School Computer Science Teacher and he was able to complete his schedule for the last school year .. even when the going got tough. But, even more important, he was a born-again and sold-out believer who never gave up. Troy was focused on Jesus.

He steadfastly refused to pay any attention to the Doctor's grim prognosis, as he and Shanna have never stopped believing in a God Who can do, and does, miracles. Note to Shanna: don't give up looking for miracles. Those who believe God does miracles, will see miracles.

Troy wasn't in church last Sunday; he took his family to the beach for the weekend; cane, difficult speech, excruciating walk, and all . I did see him the Sunday before, though. He was standing, cane in hand, talking to his Sunday School Teacher, John, who also had a cane. I told them if John would shave his head, I'd go get my cane, and we could be triplets. Troy laughed as heartily as failing lungs would allow.

Too many people die with cancer. For Troy, it wasn't about dying. It was about living.

He did it well.

Auf wiedersehen, friend. I'll see you later.

THOUSANDS OF WORDS, INDEED

One of the more common sayings is "A picture is worth a thousand words." This one far exceeds that.

The young lady pictured here, looking out at the sea, is the 6-year old daughter of a friend, Troy Smith. What makes the picture so poignant is that her Daddy, Troy, has stage IV Cancer. He's in a real battle with the disease, which he and his family are waging in a valiant and faith-filled manner. Needless to say, though, the future is filled with uncertainty.

Troy is a High School Teacher, and one of the most admired and respected men ... by students, parents and faculty alike ... that I know. When Troy had an attack some months ago, my grandson, who happened to be in the same hospital after surgery, got out of bed and was subsequently stopped by a nurse, walking to Troy's room, IV stand and bottle in tow. He told them nothing was going to stop him from going to see Troy.

That's the way Troy, and his whole family, are.

This photo was taken some months back, while the family was on a Disney "dream" vacation, provided via the generosity of friends, and the Making Memories Breast Cancer Foundation. It portrays a situation, as no other photograph I've ever seen. It touched me deeply when I first saw it, and I could not stop thinking about it.

Please, dear friends, pray for Troy and Shanna Smith, and their family. They know, and believe in their souls, that they have God's attention, and that He (and He alone) is in control. But more things are wrought by prayer than this world realizes. And they have a need for some of those things to be wrought in their lives.

Count your blessings, dear friends. And, pray.

Please.

WHAT'S THAT ABOUT BLOGGERS, AGAIN?

Someone mentioned the other day, that the SBC had a video archive, accessible online, of the Convention sessions. Well, since I had a couple shots of face time there, I figured I'd go look.

It always makes me really nervous to see me on video, so it was with a lot of trepidation that I fast forwarded through the sessions until I got to the matters which I addressed. Frankly, I was curious what I'd said. So, I watched it. Both of the episodes. Peg watched, too.

It kind of reminded me of the old line about how you always give three speeches (or announcements, etc). One on the way there, a really good one. One while there, the so-so one. And then the one on the way home, which is a real lulu.

Anyway, Peg and I were sitting on the deck with our coffee last night, and I shared how I'd gotten a little uncertain about what I'd said in the evening session, particularly after listening to Dr. Welch's response to it (which I hadn't really heard that Tuesday night as I was going back to my seat). But then I recalled that I had a chance encounter later that same evening which can only be interpreted as affirmation from God that what I said needed to be said, regardless of who did or did not like it.

Peg then pointed out how ironic it was that (A) The Chairman had derogatory "asides" about bloggers, and there was somewhat of an air that they were wasting time putting stuff on the internet, while (B) The SBC seems to have spent considerable money and man-hours (like bloggers do) making the sessions available on the same media used by bloggers.

The conclusion: the SBC leadership seems to think that it is ok to put out information .. to make many hours of Convention Sessions ... available on the web, but it is not ok for bloggers to discuss biblical and spiritual matters on the same media.

Does that seem hypocritical to anybody?