Are You Aware?

September 1st is going to be the beginning of a lot of new changes. Kids are going to school, families are finishing their summer vacations and the weather is trying to cool down. New routines begin and staying up late comes to an end, but for families with cancer all things can change in an instant. September is the month for the Awareness of Childhood Cancer and as I say while playing poker, "I'm ALL-IN!"

This September many will mourn those lost in the attacks on the day of 9/11, but many more will not realize that 46 kids will be diagnosed with cancer and 7 will lose theirs lives each day, everyday, all year long. While there are many efforts to promote the newest TV episodes, reality shows, awards events and movies, those who fight to save their own children will be overlooked. This month you can make a choice by choosing to be ignorant of the fact that kids can be cured of cancer, or choosing go help make people aware throughout the most powerful tool available today, social media and the Internet. There is no time to lose and our children are our future, so why not take the batteries out of the tv controller and save a few bucks from your daily caffeine fix and be a part in making a difference for a family who will spend more on medical bills than they make in a year.

Our children, the ones who fight for their lives daily from brain tumors, blood cancer, sever pain and loss of their ability to just be kids. These kids are superhero's and no one can fight like they do and they deserve all that we can give them. That is why I created "The Red Carpet Kids for the Cure"

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Red-Carpet-Kids-for-the-Cure/168832049858369

 

This is a way you can become aware and dive into their world. Just by bringing awareness you will cause ripples to become waves of destruction for cancer. Just by clicking "like" on a cancer awareness page, you are spreading the word to people who will donate thousands to research. All you have to do is mention someone you know that has a suffering child and people listen for a reason to give whatever they can. Small steps lead to great leaps and we are so close to so many cures that just need your attention for one month. Don't let this moment pass when the moment presents itself to your heart. There are cancer survivors and there are those who barely survive because their child was lost. Pray, give, and don't look back, Today is Your day to Choose and these kids need you.

Like the Page http://www.facebook.com/theTruth365film

Sign the Petition http://thetruth365.org/petition/

Help Talia (T365 preview) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DJmjzCwalM&feature=plcp

Celebrate the Kids http://www.facebook.com/redcarpetkidsforthecure

Speak up to Silence Cancer http://www.facebook.com/speakuptosilencecancer

To My Celebrity Kids:

Today is the end of the longest two weeks of this summer. It has been very hot working outside and is almost more miserable than the cold winter rain. The end of the summer means new beginnings for us though.

Lincoln is on a short break from his daily chemo treatment but still visits weekly for blood counts. He is becoming more familiar all the time with his treatment, even calling the port access his Snakey. Emma has naturally played outside all summer but soon will find herself tired and going to bed early as school begins. Jenny and I are doing well, but we have our moments with Lincoln and feel the stress of the feelings he has.

I have been keeping up with other kids who are fighting like Lincoln and I have noticed a need that could be met. The last thing I would ever want to happen is to let my sons illness consume me. So I want to keep ahead of any potential grief and start giving to others in their time of greatest need.
I am starting a Facebook page the will be like many others dedicated to children and families in their suffering, but with a unique, fresh flavor. I won't announce the name of it until I set it up and launch it into cyber space, but it will share awareness with many other pages about the devastation of a child's disease and how to find hope in impossible circumstances.

Since my blog has had 6000 hits and Caring Bridge has 5000 (relatively small in comparison to many others) I see fit to continue to draw attention to those who need it most. Everyday you hear about celebrities who make millions of dollars and spend it on meaningless things, but its not everyday that you hear about extraordinary children who fight for their lives and deserve to be heard about. When enough people raise these children up, they will be heard from, money will be raised and a cure will be found.

Wouldn't it be great if Every Celebrity would personally sponsor a group of children with specific illnesses until a cure could be found. I hope each child who fights their battle daily would achieve celebrity status because they are the ones who deserve celebrity like attention. For all kids who have fought, who still battle on and who have been laid to rest, your Red Carpet Event is coming and your stories will be heard until your cure is found.

Seasons Change

Lincoln's appointment went very well today. Very well except when he was told he would not get his Snakey (his port accessed) He threw a fit because he does not need medicine for the next two weeks.
I'm just guessing but I don't think he realizes that this is a good thing :)He is happy at home now and doing very well, thanks to everyone who thinks and prays for him. Now that we can all have a little break, we can shift our focus to other matters.

First of all and more importantly I have become Aware of the cancer community in Oregon and around the world. I am also aware of other children's diseases that have recently taken lives and I can't help but do something about it. Before I go on I want to ask You, who have become aware of our story, to help me by doing what you are already doing for us, by praying and thinking about these children as I share awareness of their stories. They need an outpouring of support as they face odds that seem medically and financially impossible. There will be new diagnosis children, kids in treatment and even terminal patients that need all we can give them.
I will do my best to share awareness but I won't have all the answers, at least yet. I want them to see what I've seen through Caring Bridge and Facebook and I want to help families who don't have a Caring Bridge to have one even if I have to set it up and write it for them. Every child with a disease deserves more attention than the latest celebrity gossip. I am passionate about this and I am committed for life but I need your help.

We are now looking into financial aid and discounts because our health care system is at a very challenging time. I am also facing an early end to our season of fencing with up to six months of slow business. I am a manager but I am an installer and my job depends on sales. I'm not asking for handouts, but I am looking for all avenues that are available for aid. Even with the health insurance that seems so relatively now, we will give up everything for our son. We only wish we could help others who need it more. We trust God with everything as He has proven over and over that he provides us with our every need.

We are coming up on the school year and will start a new routine with Emma. We will have more homework time and less play time, early to bed and early to rise. We will need to focus more on family time as we have been pulled in many directions this summer. We also look forward to seeing family and friends we have been missing all summer.

In October Lincoln will be in the hospital for a few days as part of his treatment. I will spend my paid vacation time which will be hard because I am giving up precious jobs that pay well. I do need a break though because last year I waited until November for some days away.

We are all feeling great right now because we know we have your love and support and we need it daily. Thanks again, Brian, Jenny, Emma and Lincoln.

Someday

It's 11:15 pm on Friday night and I was just falling asleep when my mind started racing. My wife is sleeping in Lincoln's room as she has been all week

Trespasses

Have you ever been driving down the road and seen something that needs improvement. Someone's lawn needs to be mowed, someone's fence needs to be straight, someone's house needs to be painted?

Victimized

Today was just like any other day most recently. We got up, I went to work, Jenny and Lincoln went to clinic and Emma got to go see her friend Barbra. Today would have been like any other day most recently except for one thing....

Epic Hope

Everyone knows I believe in God on the first day they meet me. That doesn't mean I am trying to make you a believer, I just want you to know I have hope in my life, and that is not something you can deny in me. Now if you believe I have something to hope in that you discover you need, then we will have that conversation about believing in God, but if I do not exhibit hope under any circumstance I give you every right to refuse the belief in my God.

There are many things that you can hope for. You can hope for success with you job, you can hope to fall in love, you can hope you are healthy wealth and wise. You feel hope when you hear a love song or watch a romantic movie, when you buy a house or pay off a car or when you accomplish something that is going to send you forward in life, but ask yourself, can I PUT MY HOPE IN THIS?

But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. (Romans 8:24, 25 NIV)

Is it possible to put you hope in something you already have? Or is hoping FOR something different than hoping IN something or someone? What happens when hope is lost and there is no hope left?

Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. Romans 5:3-4

Ironically, as we choose to put our hope in things that will inevitably fail, we are lead to have greater hope. But if we continue to hope in these things that only disappoint and cause suffering then what hope do we really have?

Do not let your heart envy sinners, but always be zealous for the fear of the Lord. There is surely a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off. (Proverbs 23:17, 18 NIV)

The Bible says:
And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:5-8 NIV)

Even when there are Epic Failures in the things we choose to hope in, God does not fail. People fail, money fails, health fails but Hope in God will not fail!

In his name the nations will put their hope." (Matthew 12:21 NIV)

Yes, my soul, find rest in God;
my hope comes from him. (Psalm 62:5 NIV)

An Ordinary Day

Today I feel like everything in my life is the same as it was at the end of June, over one month ago. If you asked me how I felt yesterday I would have told you I feel like I did at the beginning of July, when my 2 year old son was diagnosed with leukemia.