Friday Tidings

We hear it all the time—don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today. It’s the Type A mantra that I know all too well. It took on new meaning for JJ, a young woman I met as she waited to see her oncologist team. She told me her cancer came on like a wildfire—making reference to the massive fires consuming Eastern Washington.   Looking back she admits she missed some symptoms. After treatment failed, her doctors offered some trial therapies. JJ decided to lay her cards down and push away from the table. If the game was nearly up, why keep taking chances that tomorrow will be better—especially while you have today? JJ purposely didn’t ask how much time she had left, or what she faced. She had today and was living life on purpose. Her new mission was to thank every person who’d been part of her life.   She’d come in today to thank the medical team for their efforts. She wanted them to remember her smiling face. Even though JJ was young, I su...

Every time I visit the gritty city, I look for someone special. One time it was a homeless vet with a sign that said, “Look, I’m a man not a monster".  Another time it was an older woman dispensing cheerful morning greetings to all the walking commuters as she peddled cheap newspapers. This time it was Sally. Sally’s daily route takes her down dark alleys—long after paying customers go home. Each night she loads restaurant leftovers into her old dependable hatchback. Seeing a man with vacant eyes slumped in a doorway, she offers a sandwich. Hope flickers in his rummy eyes. Smiling at him, she drives away. She takes her nightly bounty to the Salvation Army mission where she carefully parcels every last morsel into take-out containers. Mornings and late afternoons, she walks the streets—handing out hope.  No one knows Sally’s story, but what she cares about most is her daily route. She says she doesn’t have money to give away, but she has lots of time. T...

Dana’s pregnancy was exciting to follow—from the earliest baby-bump pictures all the way to the arrival of her firstborn—Aria, a perfectly beautiful baby girl. Dressed in pink with a ribbon-adorned headband, Aria instantly captured the hearts of her mom, dad CJ, and adoring family and friends.   I loved the picture-post updates of this precious baby with her luminously expressive eyes. At Aria’s two-month check-up, the doctors became concerned about her small size and poor muscle tone. Tests, specialists, and tense waiting followed. Just a couple weeks later, the doctors confirmed the worst news—she had Type 1 spinal muscular atrophy (SMA)—a terminal disease with no cure. Aria’s grandma Veda describes SMA as a children’s Lou Gehrig’s disease. As horrible and daunting as that sounds, this family treasures each day they have with Aria and are sharing her story to raise awareness about SMA—the genetic disorder that claims the live...

Thanks to social media, millions are fully aware of poor Cecil the lion’s demise. News reports, blogs, and demonstrators said it all. But the bigger story was missed.    And it’s vastly more important than Cecil. It’s about Cecil’s homeland and the suffering people living in Zimbabwe. Robert Mugabe Photo by Sgt. Jeremy Lock (USAF) The story goes way back to 1980 when Robert Mugabe became president. A country that was once the proud breadbasket of southern Africa became one the poorest nations in the world.  In less than 30 years Mugabe destroyed the economy. With 90% of his population unemployed and a national inflation rate of 250 million percent, the utter hopelessness caused 2 million people to flee. "Demonstration against Mugabe" Photo by TwoWings Besides economic disaster, Mugabe unleashed horrific brutalities on his people. He’s been blamed for the bloody massacre of over 20,000 people of the Ndebele tribe...

Wanna Be Rock Stars Long, long ago as financially strapped newlyweds, our dreams gave us hope for a future we couldn’t see. Our day job wasn’t what we wanted to “do with our lives”. It was just the means to pay our bills and buy music gear so we could “do what we really wanted to do”—which was to be famous musicians. How easy it is to look ahead and forget to appreciate where we are. While our music dreams would mean working together, making money at what we loved doing, we often overlooked that we were already working together and making money—even if it wasn’t writing and performing music.   Could we appreciate what we had even if it meant never making it in the music world? I gave up first. Playing music in a lounge wasn’t my idea of success. Writing catchy advertisement jingles seemed to cheapen it even more.  I won’t even discuss my brief stint as a DJ. My music dream wasn’t just delayed; it had di...

God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil.                                                      John 3:19      Each summer I’m blessed with carefree days with my grandson. At ten, he’s busier than before. Soccer, chess, and basketball camps dot his calendar. Playtime with friends, summer reading, and approved video games fill his days. Like most kids, he’s computer savvy and can connect to a larger world I never imagined at his age. That can be scary. What’s worse is that one in three 10-year-olds access porn. This is the worst news for any parent or grandparent. Recently health experts gathered in Washington DC to discuss the epidemic of pornography. Children are the youngest victims. Now over half of 12-15 year olds ar...

Donald Trump is running as a Republican, but a list of his past political donations indicate he could be a closet Democrat. But regardless of the confusion, the polls show Trump on top among Republican contenders.  One commentator called him a circus act. Others say The Donald as an equal opportunity offender.   For some Americans, his brand of honesty works—hence the poll numbers. As a nation, we’ve gotten weary of political speak—doubletalk that tells us what we want to hear. Trump has no need for that. Trump built an empire on American ingenuity and incredibly wise investments. You can hate the man but you can’t argue that he’s been successful.  Trump's the richest person to ever run for president. No need to make promises to garner financial support. The media doesn’t scare him. And with zero political correctness, he lambasts poor political performances and tells our nation’s enemies what he’ll do once elected. National security is a huge concern...