Cancer

Cancer is one of the scariest diseases of all time. While we have been researching it for decades, there is still no way to 100% avoid cancer. We can 100% prevent AIDs. Even malaria is preventable and treatable and could easily be eliminated, like smallpox, if we could get the right people the right medicine and protection. With cancer we have discovered ways to lower our risk, but everything I have read always goes back to, "some cancers are unpreventable. Many are untreatable". We can avoid smoking, stay out of the sun, eat right and exercise our entire lives and still get cancer. That is scary. Every year, in America, there are approximately 1.5 million NEW cases of cancer (skin cancer is not included in that statistic...not sure why).

What is cancer? Cancer is basically a mutation of normal cells. Often mutated cells just doe of, however on occasion they do not and in fact create more mutated cells. When the mutated cells make more mutated cells eventually the mutated cells start to take over the normal cells and thus cancer. Sometimes those cells mass together in a certain body tissue and form a tumor. Other times the cells just wreak havoc in the bone marrow or blood stream. Either way, the mutated cells begin to take over the body and the normal cells have no defense.

What is the cancer in my life? The mutated crap that takes over the truth of Christ? The junk that overtakes God's goodness? The ugliness that hides Christ's goodness?

Cancer is not easy to treat. The mutated cells have to be killed off, and in the process many of good cells are killed off. It is a long, difficult and often painful process...one mutated cell isn't going to kill you, but thousands of them will. People can be cured of cancer. If they are willing to go through the process of chemo and radiation...if they are willing to get sicker before they get better, people can be completely cured of cancer.

Am I willing?

No Idea...

While cooking dinner tonight in the kitchen I kept hearing a noise above me. I didn't think much of it and continued cooking. Then, I looked up and saw this. How funny is my cat?!? He makes me smile. :)

I have no idea what else to write, so I'll go for now. Later!

Quick One

Last night was a really good night.Bonita and Linda spent the night and we had a really great time. We got home from Prayer Pals around 7:30 and they still had homework to do. We sat at the dining room table and ate dinner together while doing homework. I was able to explain their homework to them in a way that they actually understood. They both got VERY excited once they realized they could do their homework. They started out very confused saying they couldn't do their homework. After I explained how to do it, they both finished their homework on their own...and very enthusiastically!

I miss Bonita and Linda. I miss After-School.

Prayer Pals was really good last night as well with 22 kids showing up! It was a bit chaotic, but it was good. Things are a little different now. Its weird to not work with someone. I mean, I have help at things, but no one that really loves the kids and misses certain ones when they are gone...or gets really excited with me when kids come back. Wait, there is someone who is even more excited than I am...never mind. :)

Single in the City

I watch a lot of "Friends" on dvd. Recently I have also gotten into "Sex and the City" on tv. (Before you judge me...its VERY censored on network tv, and its all about single women, so I can relate). In both of those shows the main characters were well into their 30's before they ever really thought about marriage. Rachel (played by Jennifer Aniston) had her first child at 33. The first character in Sex and the City to have a child was 37.

In real life, celebrities are having babies well into their late 30's and even early 40's. Halle Berry is 41 and having her first child. Jennifer Anitson is 38 and not ready to think about having a child. Jennifer Garner was 34 when she had her first child. Julia Roberts had twins at 37 and just had another child at 40.

So, why do people make me feel like an old maid for not being married at 27? I am 27!!! I mean seriously!!! Not to mention, I am really happy. I LOVE being single right now!! We had 80 kids at Kids Club tonight!!! We keep getting more and more kids each week, and we aren't really losing any. That's AWESOME! And, I'm having fun at Kids Club!! In my life, I get to do all kinds of things that I would never be able to do if I was married. I went to Africa for 3 weeks last winter. I wake up and go to bed when I want. I get to hang out with the greatest kids and teens in the world. I have 8 god children that I LOVE. This is NOT to say that marriage is less desirable to being single...I'm just saying that there are benefits to being single, and I am enjoying those benefits!

For the first time in my life, I choose pop culture over Christian culture. Pop culture tells me that I can be exactly who I am, married or single. Pop culture tells me that I am just as valuable as a single woman as I would be as a married woman.

Christian culture tells me that my highest calling is as a wife and/or a mom. Christian culture tells me that I am not fulfilling my calling as a woman as long as I am neither a wife nor a mom. Christian culture views single hood as purgatory...not quite hell but not nearly as good as heaven; or marriage.

I hate that. Its not even scriptural. It is very clear in scripture that God has a plan for wives and mothers...and for the rest of us. In fact, Paul says that single hood is the most desirable. So I'm going to ignore Christian culture, and embrace Pop culture...at least in this area. Really, I'm just going to ignore people and embrace God.

Things are NOT perfect right now, but I still love my life. I started biting my nails again, I have a ridiculous eye twitch that is probably from stress and I contracted some sort of poison ivy or something on my arm that is driving me crazy. I don't have time to do much for myself throughout the week. I want to go to the gym, but I am too exhausted in the mornings; I literally drag myself out of bed to get to work. And when I get home at night...exhausted. I am working about 60 hours a week and its not all things that I love to do. I don't leave my house until after 2 p.m. everyday, which means I don't see another human being until then...and in most cases, when I do interact with people its in a ministry capacity, not a friendship one. I'm alone a lot...not necessarily lonely, but definitely alone. And, I am still missing after-school, a lot. Things are not perfect..some things in my life need to change. Marriage will not change those things. And the bottom line is...even though things are hard, I love my life. I am exactly where I am supposed to be. Exactly where I want to be. And, slowly but surely, I am becoming the person I was created to be.

Should I want something else?

Emotional Day

Today was kind of a strange day full of pretty much every emotion in the book. It started with Dale's funeral. There were a ton of people at the funeral and it was truly a celebration of his life. His immediate family struggled a lot and the only way I can describe the scene is to picture what the bible talks about...people wailing and mourning. It was heartbreaking to watch the family suffer, but as we spent time in the Word and talking about Dale's life we could do nothing but rejoice and praise God for where Dale is now.

It was kind of difficult for those of us that knew Dale from Cornerstone, though. Dale sang in the choir of another church (we don't have a choir) and the funeral was held at that church. Many people that knew Dale from that church told stories about Dale, but we didn't get the chance. I hope we do something to remember Dale at our church service tomorrow.

The hardest part for me was mourning with the teens. Several months ago the father of several of our teens passes away and I struggled at the funeral seeing how deeply hurt they were. This time, they were hurt and so was I. That was really hard, and not something any of us will get over any time soon.

After the funeral (which lasted a ridiculous 2.5 hours) we got some lunch and then I went home for about an hour to rest. I was completely exhausted. Around 3:30 Brooke and I picked up several kids along with 2 of the teens to go paint pumpkins!! We had SO much fun digging the goop our of the pumpkins (not all of the kids enjoyed that part) and then painting them. Carisa came over and took a ton of great pictures and we all had a BLAST!!
After the pumpkin painting Brooke and I, along with Shera, Joy, J and Dominique headed to see the movie "Gameplan". Its a somewhat cheesy movie, but I enjoyed it...I especially appreciated that it was an appropriate movie that I would even take kids to see. It was a nice way to just escape for a little while. After the movie we got some ice cream and talked and laughed for hours. It was a really fun time with friends and a nice way to end a very emotional day.

I'm going to write a book!!!!

After a long and very interesting conversation tonight with several of my friends; I have decided to write a book. It is clear that there are things the world needs to know, and of course, I need to be the one telling them. Since I have recently unearthed the governmental plot to drive me insane (that's right, this apparently goes much higher than just my block...how else can you explain being summoned to jury duty twice in the same month), I figure I have nothing to lose with this book. It is still in the planning stages, but here are the first few chapters:

Chapter 1: The Masses Got Dumber
-this chapter will discuss how many of the greatest novels of all time (To Kill a Mockingbird, anything by Alice Walker), have been replaced by ridiculous stories that are sometimes told well, but have no real value. What was the last great (non Harry Potter) novel written? Who is today's great writer that will leave a mark for tomorrow? What happened to all the great African American writers that inspired an entire generation of blacks and whites toward something greater than themselves?

Chapter 2: We give 'em crap
-this will be a chapter about music and how it has become crap. Music used to be a means of expression and often bringing about social change. Even the gangsta rap era at least exposed the culture to the realities of inner city life. Music today is not only pointless in lyrics, but seriously devoid of musicality.

Chapter 3: The Whorification of the American Woman
-the title pretty much speaks for itself. We have gone from asking to be treated as equals to demanding to be treated as sex objects. That just doesn't make sense.

Chapter 4: How "Bratz" ruined the world.
-I was on the debate team in high school and I am pretty sure I can link the Bratz dolls to global warming as well as the genocide in Darfur. If nothing else, this chapter will discuss how we have quite literally thrown our daughters to the wolves in the name of modernization and feminism. Its disgusting.

Chapter 5: Guns kill, stop denying it...it makes you look stupid.
-Look into the eyes of a child who has been shot and explain to me why you should be allowed to buy a semi automatic assault rifle for deer hunting. The constitution protects your right to own a gun, when you are PROTECTING the people of your country. If you aren't doing that, you don't need a gun.

Chapter 6: F*** is not an adjective
-you can tell me you are smart until you're blue in the face but if you can't finish a sentence without using an expletive, I'm not going to listen.

That's as far as I have gotten. I will keep you updated as the book develops and I promise to inform you of any new chapters that I add. I know for sure that I want to cover the embarrassment that is most reality television (way to take a great idea and turn it to utter filth in less than a decade), the lack of integrity and considerable self seeking in most politicians, and of course, "why roosters should only be allowed to live on farms".

Oh, and the Epilogue will be titled: "Operation Insane Asylum". The world has to know. :)