Just in Time - Again

 2021 and I see that it’s been 3 years since I last typed anything on this blog.

Biggest news has to be that there are now 10 beautiful and smart kids who call Cathy and me Grandma and Grandpa.  Well, the youngest isn’t calling us anything yet (only 5 months old) but his smile says he knows exactly who we are.

Another election cycle has come and gone.  ‘nuff said about that.

Counting the days now until retirement.  I think I’m going to relish it.  I’ve had (and still have) a great career, but man, it’s tempting to think about laying down all those responsibilities once and for all to just relax.  Too bad you have to be old in order to do that…

Hi speed internet has become a reality at our house.  Wow.  100mps or gps or whatever term they call it.  Fiber definitely makes a difference.  Actually, makes working from home feasible.  Good thing because Covid-19 doesn’t seem to be giving up easily.  The new normal may be working from home.  Though at our office, we have enough distance between us that most still come in routinely.  But it’s nice to know there are options.

Speaking of Covid.  I think it’s going to have a lasting effect on how churches approach times of worship and gathering.  Church design has been my specialty now for many years.  It may not ever be the same.  So, if retirement comes early, maybe it’s gonna be just in time.

Almost 20 years since Columbine

You know what?

I agree with those who say if we enact tougher gun laws it will have no effect. It probably wouldn't even make a dent, because there are already millions of guns out there. But I have to wonder if we had done SOMETHING different 20 years ago; 100 years ago; 200 years ago; would America be the same violent place it seems to be today?

I also agree with those who say that guns themselves are not the problem (even though guns have but one purpose - to kill). They say that people are the problem - and then list all the reasons why people are so messed up from lack of parenting, to mental illness, to Hollywood hypocrisy, to violent video games and on and on.

I don't know how to fix people. I can't even fix myself. To paraphrase many a pastor; each of whom I deeply respect, "that's not my job". My job is to point people to Jesus and let them work out their stuff with Him. Only God can change people's hearts.

Nope. I can't fix people. I certainly don't think a government agency tasked with fixing mental health issues can either when as part of their "treatment" they won't even be allowed to mention God let alone point to a personal relationship with Him.

Until messed up people somehow have a life changing experience with God, we must do SOMETHING. Yes, let's live out our faith with genuine compassion and concern for messed up people. We; you and me are those messed up people. But let's also make it tougher for messed up people to act out their messed-up hearts with the most deadly and violent weapon within their grasp. A weapon with NO OTHER purpose other than to kill and maim. Guns kill because that's what they were invented for.

If you say that the only answer is to put MORE guns in MORE hands in MORE places, fine. Let's do it. There. I said it. I mean it. Let's get it done tomorrow.

But if that DOESN'T help after 20, 100, or 200 years, will gun advocates THEN finally consider that maybe; just MAYBE - guns are NOT the answer to guns? Do you really want to live with Columbines, Aurora Theaters, Sandy Hooks, Mandalay Bays, Virginia Techs, Sutherland Springs and Parklands for another 200 years?

I don't.

Lucky 13, 2013 that is

It happened October 27, 2013. The heart attack was mild, relatively speaking.  As if bladder cancer hadn’t been enough to deal with in 2013, now this.  I had just gotten home from church, having finished off my 2nd delicious raspberry jelly filled donut (don't judge me) and wham.  I started feeling really bad.  Chest pain: much worse than the indigestion that is a normal part of my everyday life (though usually in the evening).  I felt lightheaded and just basically bad, and it wasn't because of the Broncos. They were winning.  Both arms ached.  My jaw hurt like I'd just gone a round with Muhammad Ali.  I didn't really want to get hit with yet another ER bill, but Cathy and I agreed this was not normal and I should go to the hospital. It was good that we did.

Cathy got a neighbor from across the street to help me out to the car.  I don't remember much about the drive to the hospital.  It only took about 5 minutes to get there from our house, but I must have been pretty much out of it.   Now keep in mind that this was just a week or so after my urologist started me on new meds that were supposed to get rid of a TB infection in my prostate (MORE ABOUT THAT LATER).  The meds themselves can have some nasty side effects, particularly to the liver, so I'm thinking to myself, "this must have something to do with these new drugs".  And...I can hardly go 30 minutes without having to pee.  Well, nothing in an ER happens in 30 minutes, so I'm kinda freaking out about having to pee.  But as it turns out, if you say you think you're having a heart attack, they move things along pretty fast...too fast. 

"Hey, wait a sec guys, I've got to pee!"

"Don't have time for that sir, you're having a heart attack."

"But if you’d just let me pee"  I said, "I'd be so much better".  This goes on and on while they're wheeling me into the cardiac cath lab to prep me for an emergency stint procedure.

Since I was complaining so much, they finally decided to do the "other" kind of catheter, the kind I'm far too familiar with by now after almost a year of them.  Except these folks don't have much experience putting them in.  No numbing lubricant available and despite the nurses' repeated attempts; no joy (literally).  She finally gave up and said, if you have to pee, just go ahead and pee, I'll put a towel over you.  Hmmm, something about the body just has a real problem releasing pee when it knows it's the wrong time and wrong place (at least once you're potty trained).

So, I'm lying there squirming and the doctor is trying to make an incision in my groin so he can run a catheter up my vein or artery (I can't remember which) to my heart so he can implant a stint to open up what he says is an 80% blockage in my LAD (left anterior descending) coronary artery.  But I can't hold still because, well, I've GOT to PEE!

The doctor said sternly “DON'T MOVE!”

I said, "I'm trying."

He said again "DON'T TRY -- DON'T MOVE!!" with not a whole lot of sympathy for my situation.  I figure, he's got a very sharp knife and I've already been circumcised.  I don't want him to accidentally take off anything more, so I’d better lay still.  Plus, I'm causing him to miss the Broncos game against the Redskins.  I'm in deep doo doo if I don't hold still.

It seemed like an eternity but in reality, before long, it was over.  They were wheeling me to a room in intensive care and lo and behold, a funny shaped plastic bottle with a handle shows up.

"Here, use this if you have to."

"Now?"  I ask.

"Well, if you have to."   Thanks a lot.

So, I got to stay at the hospital for a couple days and learn all about why the words "jelly donuts" should never be spoken by me again in the same sentence as the words "I'll take two of those delicious raspberry ___  please.  Thank you."  All things considered; Saint Anthony North Hospital was amazing.  So nice, considerate and encouraging.  Very professional.  I highly recommend them to anyone considering having a heart attack.  Seriously.  Good people, good care, and wonderful follow-up cardiac rehab staff.

The thing about the bladder cancer is; since the second surgery a year ago when my urologist decided that they had gotten all the cancer out, in addition to undergoing a series of BCG treatments, he has taken out a small lump for a biopsy during a scheduled cystoscopy, and another about two months ago in a 3rd surgery.  The biopsies have all come back negative.  So, as best I can tell, I'm cancer free.  But for those very few unlucky ones of us, the treatments I had been taking (BCG - a tuberculosis virus infused to stimulate the immune system into aggressive attack mode) results in some painful side effects or even more rare, a TB infection of the prostate.  Odds are slim to get that, but since I failed to buy a winning lottery ticket last year, the next best opportunity for me to beat the odds was TB.  Major bummer.  I began having awful pain in June that finally was so unbearable that my doctor concluded that despite the low odds, I was probably experiencing a BCG prostatitis infection and prescribed a drug regimen to deal with it.  Of course, that also meant the end of the BCG treatments for me.

At last, the pain receded about the same time as the heart attack.  A welcome consolation prize if nothing else.

Since the heart attack, I'm trying to eat better.  I’ve also started taking a daily supplement called Vemma that a friend introduced to me.  I'm getting regular exercise 3 days a week, and I really am feeling great, at least above the belt.  Below the belt, some days are still worse than others.  But in general, I'm feeling better all the time in the southern hemisphere as well.  I've even lost about 15 pounds.  My barber asked me today why I was losing so much weight.  I think I was scaring him.

So, 2013 proved to be an eye-opening year.  Along with Cathy's breast cancer (which was successfully treated with a lumpectomy and radiation), we've learned that good health is not something to be taken for granted.  We've been so blessed with good health our whole lives that we really had very little framework to relate to those who have had to deal with issues far worse than ours.  I'm sure that we'll be better able to empathize with and perhaps more effectively minister to people in tough health situations because of ... 2013.

2013–Good Riddance

I’ll start off with the good news!  I got to see my son Cory TWICE this year!  Unfortunately, both times were because he came all the way from Florida to be with us during surgeries.  Some parents will do anything to get to see their kids, huh.

Seriously, 2013 provided lots of opportunity for Cathy and me to really appreciate our adult kids and realize (we already suspected this) what awesome people they are.  Although technically two of my 3 cancer surgeries were at the end of 2012, it seems like they were all in 2013.  I also had a heart attack in 2013 just to spice things up a bit.  Talk about getting way too familiar with health care providers and local hospitals.  Good news:  It all happened before Obamacare fully kicks in.  Let’s hope that I won’t have government run health care hassles to add to my crises in 2014.  It’s a shame that the government thinks they need to take the best health care system in the world and muck it up by presuming they can run it better themselves, but that’s as political as I’m going to get in this post.

Cathy decided she needed to compete with me by having a cancer crisis of her own.  She’s doing extremely well though and is about halfway through radiation treatments after undergoing a successful and minimally invasive lumpectomy a couple of months ago.

I am resolved to get fit and get healthy in 2014.  During the last month I’ve done something I’ve never really done my whole life; take deliberate steps to exercise.  The Cardiac Rehab team at St. Anthony’s North hospital are wonderful and take personal interest in each person who comes to them for coaching and guidance in setting up a routine.  Now that the insurance deductibles start over in the new year, I’ll be looking for cheaper ways to work out, but will miss the kind and caring people at the Cardiac Rehab Center.  Westminster has a great Swim and Fit Center just a few blocks from the house, so I’ll probably get a membership there and take advantage of their great facility.

This year saw much smaller projects for me at the office.  It was probably just as well since I missed a lot of time and thus wasn’t as sharp at hitting deadlines as I pride myself on being.  Among the projects completed or in the works this year are:

A second campus for Flatirons Community Church.  FCC purchased a vacant church building up the I-70 mountain corridor in Genesee, Colorado that had gotten over their head in debt and had some other internal troubles.  The building was about the right size but didn’t really suit the look and style that fits Flatirons.  So, the project involved a lot of paint, stripping out of what many churches would consider to be attractive elements, and changing a few walls around to work better with the way FCC likes to see people flow.  Oh, and install a killer sound and lighting system.  It was a privilege to work again with the awesome folks at Flatirons.

Calvary Bible Church.  This Boulder church with a long history has started other churches before and is well along the path to establishing a permanent presence in Erie, Colorado.  They’ve been meeting in the Erie High School for a few years and will now have their own building to call their own.  Another of the churches that they actually started many years ago was…Flatirons Community Church.

We are currently in the process of producing the drawings for a 3rd expansion at Mission Hills Church.  This time we’ll be expanding the Worship Center and Lobby.  It was less than a year ago that construction finished up on the Children’s Ministry expansion.

In the midst of all the craziness of the year, we took just a little time off to have some fun and went to Florida with my mother and sister to unwind.  Not sure that you can really do much unwinding when winding your way through the miles and miles of Epcot Center, Animal Kingdom, and Sea World, but it was fun never-the-less.

2013 saw another fabulous year for the Denver Broncos and as I write this, we’re all on pins and needles hoping that they won’t choke again in the playoffs.  Maybe Peyton Manning will be able to get another Super Bowl ring to add to his unbelievable achievements this year.  Wouldn’t that be something.

Fires and more fires

In our beautiful state of Colorado, we rarely get the devastating monster tornadoes that Oklahoma and other mid-west states get.  We’ve yet to see a hurricane for obvious reasons.  Earthquakes?  At most a tiny little vibration a couple times a decade. Floods?  Nothing like what those who live near the major waterways of the country.  Maybe an occasional, locally fast-moving flash flood will hit a canyon and continue on out onto the plains.  Blizzards you say?  Well, not as often as you might think.  At least not in the front range area where most of the population lives.  Volcanoes?  Not yet.

But wildfires…oh my goodness.  Every passing year seems to get worse and worse.  Last year the most notable and worst in Colorado history was the Waldo Canyon fire in and just west of Colorado Springs.  Who would have thought that it could get worse than that one.  This year, the Black Forest.  An gorgeous, forested area north of Colorado Springs.  It’s not completely out yet and it already has surpassed the devastation of the Waldo Canyon fire last year.  It’s hard to imagine the agony of living in one of those threatened neighborhoods for hours and days waiting to find out if your entire life’s possessions will be going up in smoke or not.  At least with most natural disasters, they happen quickly but with these fires, the people are often on pins and needles for days not knowing if they’ll be spared or not.

Psalm 34 is a chapter that I find comfort in, and I hope that those who find themselves in harm's way in Colorado Springs yet again will as well.

4 I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.

5 They looked unto him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed.

6 This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.

Let me get this straight…

So let me get this straight (pun intended).  Our self-righteous Democrat led Colorado House was in a tizzy to pass a "Civil Unions" bill.  There is no doubt in my mind that no sooner than the ink dries on the paper, they'll be screaming bloody murder at how unjust civil unions are and how essential it is to allow homosexual marriage. But at least you'll be able to cheat on your same sex spouse, because the hypocritical House has also shown it has such a low regard of marriage that laws that treated it like an actual honest to goodness contract were antiquated, silly, and had to be abolished.

There’s no debate that adultery laws as they were called are unenforceable, but that’s not the point.  In our society today, we can cheat without consequence or stigma.  We can divorce for little or no grounds.  Let’s further cheapen the definition of marriage so that anyone and (someday) anything can be married.  No commitment marriage, no fault divorce, and no morality society.  We can’t "legislate" the latter so maybe we should just get out of the business of legislating the others as well.

55,000,000

I see a number like 55,000,000 and my heart either breaks or is enraged (depending on the day).
55,000,000 abortions in America alone in the 4 decades since Roe v. Wade.

Imagine completely filling up Broncos Sports Authority Stadium every weekend for nearly 14 years. Imagine every single one of those individuals --- dead.  76,000+ seats, 52 weekends per year, 14 years.

Let's make the following assumptions.  (I think I'm being VERY generous with these):

For the sake of argument, let's say 90% of those 55,000,000 abortions were done in the first few days before the fetus was anything more than a few hundred thousand rapidly dividing cells.

Let's also say 90% of the rest were done prior to their being a beating heart.

Finally, let's say 90% of the rest were legitimate cases of life-threatening endangerment to the mother or the result of rape or incest.

That still leaves 55,000 lives taken for no other reason than the parent's (mother AND/OR father) refusal to take responsibility for their choices, even though the life that was taken was the one life in the whole messed up situation who was unquestionably the one life that was completely innocent of any wrongdoing.  The baby was NOT the one who was immoral, irresponsible, selfish, made a bad choice, or lacked self-control.

There is such a thing in a civilized society as right and wrong. The innocent among us should be protected. If a child is +1 minute old, they have all the rights of any other human being.  A child who is -1 minute old or -1-month-old deserves those same rights.  They are just as much a living human being as those who are a minute old.  The only difference is whether they are receiving their oxygen through their lungs or through their umbilical cord.

55,000 potential doctors, lawyers, scientists, teachers, politicians, missionaries, athletes, engineers, inventors, etc.  27,500 young men of all races and 27,500 young women of all races who were given NO CHOICE and who's RIGHTS were irrevocably, inhumanly, and unconstitutionally DENIED --- permanently.

You will not find more than a handful of liberal democrat politicians who will compromise on even one restriction on abortion.  Those who do claim to have a conscience about such matters don't have the guts to stand up for it.  Yet it's conservative republicans who are blasted for being unyielding, uncompromising, dogmatic, partisan, and anti-women's rights.

Years ago, pro-choice candidate for Governor of Colorado Roy Romer said - and I'll paraphrase: "When it comes time when a woman has to make that terrible choice, it's already a tragedy."  Although I agree with that statement, I could not disagree any stronger with his conclusion - that because the pregnancy was already a tragedy, abortion was an acceptable remedy.  One tragedy does not justify a second tragedy.  Science is continually showing that pre-born babies are viable and capable of surviving outside the womb earlier and earlier during their gestation. I prefer President Reagan's analysis much better.  Again paraphrasing: "Until science can prove beyond any doubt exactly when "life" begins as a person; the benefit of the doubt should go to the one whose life is in question: the baby."

55,000 children. Over 40 years, that's approximately 26 children per week.  Can you imagine the justifiable outrage if we had to endure a Sandy Creek every single week?  Don't 55,000 deaths create any outrage at all?  Add 3 more zeros.

Here's my "pro-choice" position.  Choose to keep your pants on if you can't or won't choose to be responsible for your choice.