Impossibilities?

About a year and one-half ago I (Bob) was given a prognosis of 12-18 months of life left on this earth. Today I've finished my second round of chemotherapy and am "free" of it for the next little while, and I'm feeling quite good.

About two and one-half months ago Carol first broached the subject of her folks moving into a senior's living setting. Today the move is complete, her folks are happily settling in and their former place is cleaned out and ready to sell.

Two "impossibilities" when viewed from the front end, but today look very different. I like the thought attributed to Soren Kierkegaard, a Danish philosopher, who said, "Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." And so we live forward, with all its mystery and uncertainties. And when we look back there is much that becomes clearer with reasons for thankfulness.

Some gratitudes I live with today include the fact that God enabled me/us to live through these two periods with thankfulness, not just at the end of the time period. It has sustained and strengthened me beyond what is natural. I'm grateful for being drawn into the lives of family and friends in a more significant way because they too are facing huge health and life challenges. I know that this life is not the end of things, and I pray they will be able to keep our momentary troubles in a heavenly perspective. I'm grateful for friends who have expressed concerns and prayers for Carol and me, and provided tangible help when we needed it. And I'm grateful to still be able to make a contribution in the lives of people and organizations.

I'm still doing a little consulting, including travel, as well as some coaching of people as they face organizational or life challenges. As long as God gives me life and strength I'm looking for ways to make myself available and present for those who need or want what I have to give. Who knows, I may just get some writing done, which has been on my mind for the past few months.

Thanks to all of you who read these blogs and follow our lives with such interest. You are a gift to us.

Bob (for Carol too).

Always giving thanks

Bob and I have had such a wonderful almost two weeks together, but in just a few hours I board a plane to take me to Oklahoma City to help Mom and Dad settle into their new home.

Having been apart so much this fall, we decided to go into seclusion on Thanksgiving Day--which was a week ago--Monday, Oct. 8 for you Americans!! We still cooked a turkey, went for a walk through the forest on a bluff overlooking the ocean--just eight blocks from our home (in the picture below), and came back home to the fabulous aroma of our turkey ready to be carved and eaten.

While I was cleaning up the dishes, Bob sat down at the piano and played some of our favourite thanksgiving hymns--"Great Is Thy Faithfulness", "Give Thanks", etc. When Bob was a little boy, his mother would excuse him from doing the dishes if he would play the piano for her while she did them--or so I've been told!!! No wonder he became such a wonderful pianist and improviser!! Let me hasten to say that he also is a very good helper around the house and did his usual perfect job of carving the turkey!!

My sister Barb has been down in Palm Springs with our parents since I left twelve days ago. On Thursday she will fly with them to Oklahoma City and since I'll be there a day ahead of time, I hope to have their little apartment all set up for them by the time they arrive. Jim's also spending quite a bit of time with them and in November he'll be driving their car to OKC with more of their things and plans to spend American Thanksgiving with them and all of the Bolerjacks.

And this very weekend, Jim is flying up to Vancouver and will spend four days with Bob. He's wanting to attend a seminar here related to fighting cancer through alternative methods, so both of them are going to attend it together.

There are still quite a few things to be done in Palm Springs, so next week I'll fly there from OKC and spend a week tying up some of those loose ends. Then on Oct. 31, I'll be flying up to Calgary to join Bob at the events around the installation of our good friend Gordon Smith as the new president of Ambrose University College, formerly CBC/CTS. And we'll be back home together on Nov. 3rd!!

I know that these next couple of weeks will be somewhat exhausting both physically and emotionally, but it will all be good. We've learned that we can depend on the Lord to provide the energy and strength to do what He's put in front of us. And maintaining an attitude of "thankfulness" is a key to unlocking heaven's resources.