February 26, 2009, 11:28 am  I’ve worn a Livestrong yellow bracelet for a number of years. I found it in a geocache and put it on to remind me to pray for a young teenager in our church who was dying from bone cancer. I’m not sure I have ever taken it off. I wore it all through my wife’s breast cancer treatment (three years now since the end of chemotherapy and then radiation treatments) and all through her Mom’s unsuccessful fight with cancer.
The backs of my hands are sun damaged. Yesterday I showed my doctor a bump that is normally right under my Livestrong bracelet. “Looks like basal cell carcinoma,” he said as he went off to find a dermatologist. The dermatologist (a skin cancer specialist) agreed and took a biopsy. Next week we’ll have the results and figure out what to do next.
The bracelet certainly isn’t a talisman, but I’ll continue to wear it as a reminder that cancer is a great destroyer and no one is immune. Even for cancer survivors, life is never the same.
February 25, 2009, 9:21 am  Merrill Hall, Asilomar Once a year I spend a couple of days with the rest of our church leadership team at the Asilomar Conference Grounds in Pacific Grove. I’ve just returned from this year’s trip learning from Ron Ritchie about discipleship. Overall, I found it a painful experience (the good kind when you realize your life needs a course correction).
I knew of Ron back in the ’70’s when Karen and I would occasionally attend the Body Life evening service at Peninsula Bible Church. He was usually the leader of those meetings. Although I never attended Sunday morning services there, PBC (mainly through the books and sermons of Ray Stedman) had an enormous impact on my Christian life formation, and I eventually met and talked with Ray Stedman and Bob Smith. I regret not having bumped into him earlier. There’s more about Ron on his website at Free at Last!
In between the rain, my friend Gary and I slipped away during some free time for a beautiful bike ride along the Pacific Grove coast, through Cannery Row in Monterey, and out along the bike path to Marina. Very nice—and a bit of challenge. The step up from my normal 10 mile ride to nearly 30 was noticeable, but welcome. I’m beginning to love bicycling again.
February 18, 2009, 9:48 am  Leipheimer drafting Armstrong When the Tour of California bike racers zipped through Livermore yesterday, the rain had stopped for a bit. With brighter skies, photography was a bit easier, although I didn’t get the best location. A breakaway group of four riders came through four minutes ahead of the peloton which was led by Team Astana (with Leipheimer in the yellow jersey and Armstrong and Horner in contention should Levi falter).
The photo shows Leipheimer tucked right behind Armstrong. Earlier in the day, Levi touched wheels with Lance and went down in a heap. Team Astana is certainly a strong team. Tactics seem to dictate that riders who are in contention in the general classification don’t take pulls at the front of the peloton, and for Astana (with 3 riders in the top 10) that means fewer riders to do the work. In the latter part of this stage, other teams (that wanted to put one of their sprinters in contention for a stage win) took over the work of leading the peloton.
Armstrong’s opinion of the stage (from Twitter): “Another wet/nasty one. Made it home (to the finish) in one piece after some sketchy circuits. Btw, sierra road is steep!” I concur about Sierra Road. I’ve only ridden it once, and that was enough.
More photos are in the gallery below.
Links
—Amgen Tour of California 2009 stage 3 photo gallery
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Consider this:God wants you to be a wise steward |
