Thirsty for a Cure

I hate to say it, but summer is already starting to fly by way too fast and since Oregon summers don't start until July 5th its makes for a very small window of opportunity to enjoy it. The good news is that there are quite a few days in September and October that still have a late summer feel but now is the time to take advantage. As August brings the heat I start to think about September and as many are becoming more and more aware, September is the month to make the big push for our kids fighting cancer. Last August a month after my son Lincoln was diagnosed with leukemia, I felt the need to keep from being stagnant like my neighbors swimming pool which would start growing mosquitoes a week after they filled it up. I needed to do something that would keep the fighting spirit in me going and by the time September came I would be ready to share that childhood cancer is not rare. I launched the facebook page http://www.facebook.com/#!/redcarpetkidsforthecure because I saw the way people were Celebrating kids and their facebook and Caring Bridge pages and I wanted to extend the celebration on a virtual Red Carpet made just for kids fighting for their lives. Since a lot of kids show true heroism with courage, faith and resilience, I wanted people to know that these kids should not be looked at as "sick" but as Celebrities. The page is simple and keeps fans informed on new arrivals, birthdays, news of N.E.D. and even celebrations of life. It takes the drama out of things and draws people in just to share in the happy moments of the harsh realities these kids endure.

This year as August is approaching I have a few things in mind to empower peoples awareness and take it to the next level. As August heats up so will the need to drink a lot of water. If you know me I work outside in the direct sunlight and I drink a lot during the day. My day always starts with home brewed coffee, as much as I can get before heading out the door. I like a frozen bottle of water that melts during the day but sometimes I stop to buy a Gatorade or Rockstar to perk me up when its going to be a long day. When I get home I get out my daddy sized frozen mug filled with ice and topped off with water until it starts kicking in. I have tried to eliminate any kind of soda, pop or as you call it in the south 'coke' because it puts me in a coma after a quick but short sugar high.

There is a trend that comes with drinking that most people would not consider abnormal, but here is the point I am trying to make. I am going to challenge myself, and anyone who would see this as an opportunity to raise awareness and fund research, to a drinking contest. This won't be any ordinary drinking game but one that could possible change a lot of habits for those willing.

As I look at my son when he is in the hospital hooked up to a bag of fluids knowing he can't run or play like he should I wish that I could just do it for him. Here is what I am proposing: in preparation for September, enduring the hottest month of the year, I challenge those who spend an average of $1 or more per day on any kind of beverage, to save yourself at least $1 a day by drinking only water, homemade coffee, milk or favorite fruit juice.

I'm not saying you can't have your $4 Starbucks or whatever because you have to take the challenge to save at least $30 in August to donate to the cause of your choice. There are a number of foundations listed on this blog that you could choose from that fund cancer research just for kids. If you are looking forward to a support team for a child you know in September, you will have at least $30 ready to help out their families in need. This should be so easy that some of you could do it in less than ten days. You might even take $30 out of savings and put it in your wallet and try not to spend it when you think you need a drink. I would heavly suggest this to those who would give up their favorite evening beverage, which if this would help, we could call it "Cure Pong" LOL!

Remember your doing it for those who can't do it on their own and if you can donate $30 a month to the local caffine druglords or the Queen of Dairy or the Amped up, Rockstar, Slurpee Monster, you can do it for a young boy or girl fighting for their lives. Let the challenge begin August 1 and comment on this blog, PM me on facebook or watch out for the facebook Event that I will create for the cause http://www.facebook.com/?ref=tn_tnmn#!/events/347165605357968/?notif_t=plan_user_joined to let me know who is in and who is going to get a bad leg cramp in the middle of the night because they didn't drink enough water. Cheers!

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Better Days Ahead

Some nights it is just so hard to unwind from the day. There is so much that the days have to offer but so little time to experience all of it. I have notice for more than a month now, the TV has been turned off. No more news or reality TV contests. I somehow avoided all of American Idol this year and I have not regretted missing one minute. Working 11 hour days (on average) consumes a lot of energy both physically and mentally but the I get a second wind after 9pm and its another late night. In the summer Emma and Lincoln are awake after 9 and sometimes later, in fact for Lincoln it can be the best part of his day playing and running around the house. Tonight I just need to write a little to help my mind quite down so I am listening to Delirious? a band that many may not know too well but still as big as the Beatles to me. There are some things on my mind right now that I really wish I could share and some that I will, but they are not ready to be revealed. I was thinking back to the beginning of my blog in 2010 that started off very slow until a year later when Lincoln was DX with leukemia. I had a plan and a purpose but I didn't know that it would open the window for the world to look into my mostly public life. I share a lot of what I know and believe and hope for and I want others to see that and although I feel like the ant on the other side of the magnifying glass sometimes, I have hope in my life.

Right now all that I see going on in the world is an enormous lack of hope and nothing seems to be truly changing to keep hope alive. I have lived now, more than half of my life with faith in God, but I am still trying to figure out who he is and why it sometimes feels like he is letting this world spin out of control. I don't know why he lets children die from cancer, cf and many other things, but for some reason my faith will not die. When I look into the face of death, and I have seen a lot of it lately, more that most people could bear, I face it with hope that one day Death will be swallowed up and the hope that I hold onto will be satisfied. Right now there is only Hope, and I will fight with Faith, because Love is the ultimate goal. Better days are ahead especially for those who Believe.

"Childhood Watch"

I took my daughter Emma to our church tonight for the summer family event with hundreds of people and lots of fun.

I was handed a program of all the things happening that night and all of the sponsors that help make this one of the major free events of the summer. There is a go cart track that is the most popular attraction each year and one of my friends paints the cars with the sponsors names on them like Les Schawb Tires. I know this event can cost thousands of dollars and the church needs volunteers and sponsors to pull together to make it happen for the community, but what would happen if no one sponsored any of this? It would probably cost each teenager about $10-$15 dollars that they would more likely spend on their iPods, instead of hearing the Message of Hope, that our church offers. If there was ever anything that someone with Cancer should not pay for its Hope.

Raising awareness for our kids, which is absolutely the first step in raising money to fund research for a cure, is a lot like advertising, which our children should never have to pay for it. Most parents of children fighting cancer already work hard together to raise awareness and some moms even go to the extreme of shaving their heads to get peoples attention and direct funds toward the cause. I was imagining one of the go carts at the event with a gold ribbon on it, but who would be the sponsor? The parents can't afford money to advertise the cause when the hospital bills never seem to quit. The kids fighting cancer certainly can't do a car wash to raise money when they are in the hospital. The families are already tapped out in time and money to help sustain the families, and friends give what they can sacrificially while still living their own lives.

It can be extremely difficult to ask for major donations from people or companies with money without a little give and take. Everybody wants a win-win and often there is enough to go around for the parties involved, but when is it comes to the hundreds and thousands of children diagnosed with life threatening illnesses each year, when will someone step up with purity, empathy and compassion and give without ever asking anyone, even indirectly, for recognition? I'm not asking because I don't want for win-win opportunities to be missed, but because I think that this is why more people don't cross these lines that have been made up in the business world. Right now if I had the only dose of medicine that would cure a dying child of leukemia and I knew there would be more made in the next month or year, I would give it to the critically ill child because I know that my son will live another day and have another opportunity to be cured. That's not easy to say, but if your child was safely evacuated from a burning school building, would you leave the rest to be lost?

The number one serial killer among our children will probably be cancer for a long time and its time we organize and mobilize the "childhood watch" program in our hometowns and in our circles of friends all over the world. We don't have the luxury for win-win opportunities and there is no reason to nickel and dime little kids when we can pour out our $4 a day drinking habits and support research through proven organizations listed on this blog.

Kids don't have time for cancer, they just want to be kids for the short time that they have in life. Please show you Care by becoming Aware, daily @ http://www.facebook.com/redcarpetkidsforthecure

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Something for Nothing

Have you ever seen someone in need and you knew that you could help them out but you let the opportunity pass by? Here, where I live, you will see homeless people on every corner wherever a lot of traffic stops at a light. I drive all over the city and I see them everyday and I know some of the faces because I see them so much. I have given them things before, from food to a dollar in change, but its everyday and all the time and I just won't do it for everyone. I have heard a million excuses why we should not give anything to the poor people holding the cardboard signs, like they are laborers picketing for higher wages, but why do people truly pass up the opportunity to give?

The Bible says:
A woman came to Jesus with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table.  When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. "Why this waste?" they asked. "This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor." Aware of this, Jesus said to them, "Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me. When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her."

In this story the disciples of Jesus thought they had the whole Giving thing figured out. They didn't have much themselves and when they saw this woman wasting the perfume, which some have said would be worth a years wages, they were less than pleased. Jesus rebuked them saying that they shouldn't worry about it, because there will always be opportunities to give. I think the disciples saw the the value of the perfume was the value of the the praise they would receive had they been able to sell the perfume. Think about it, when was the last time you gave something without feeling the need for someone to say Thank You.

It is unfortunate that people want to give, but need to receive something in return for their efforts. It is not up to the giver to decide the reward they will receive but to the One who sees the act of giving to those in need. Its just in human nature, which is corrupted by sin, and that is why we don't give, even when we have more than enough to do so.

Today when you think about our kids fighting cancer remember that they are just kids and you will do anything for them even when they scream and cry after you think you just gave them the perfect gift.
And don't worry about What will be given to you in return or When it will happen because God also promises

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Good Morning from Lincoln

I love mornings like this. Most of the time there is crying and whining...but after I have my coffee...LOL. Good morning, from Lincoln.

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