Cancer Update
I often reflect on three different unrelated cancers in two years including metastatic melanoma in my lungs and brain and marvel that cancer is a past tense reality. I have not been sick since 2019 other than the mildest case of COVID ever when that was popular. My quarterly scans since immunotherapy ended in October last year have shown that the cancers are gone. I’ll have another set of scans probably in November and then slow the pace down after Dr. Mashru and I celebrate next week.
Teaching
I am progressing to my goal to get down to being a full time professor before I die. Last year was at 1.9 FTE on the clock. I’m contracted at 1.4 FTE for fall, but it seems likely that will increase in spring with some new developments in the Leadership Cohort offerings. Happily Gale Heidi is working with me to learn and take the heavy role of MABL Program Director. Western is strategizing increasing the cohort based classes so we’ll be adding some new sites over the next year. Gale and I are working hard to increase the teaching team to accommodate that but it looks like I’ll add one more cohort in Spring until we can find and prepare those faculty.
TheosU Classes
TheosU is a subscription based Bible College and Seminary done from a Pentecostal perspective. I flew to Nashville in January and July to record classes on Grace and Spiritual Warfare. Connecting with folk who are deeply committed to Jesus and from a different tribe was a blast. I also got to hang out with great friends including Jeremy and Monique Birt and their tribe. Jeremy is recording reflections on the Bible, going chapter by chapter. He has his ponderings but also questions from his family including Sophie, their 3 year old. It’s called New Song Bellevue. Check it out.
Family Time In Tuscon
Donn and Michael did a LONG father-son road trip that took them from Kansas City to Dinosaur National Monument (think fossils and wild water rafting), then the train from Williams to the Grand Canyon (same trip Sherr and I did with Cyndee last summer), got robbed!!, and then to Tucson (where Sherry’s sister and brother live). Sherry and I flew down to join the fun. Donn, MIchael, Tom, and I did the Tombstone experience including the shoot out at the OK Corral! Then they went on to Carlsbad Caverns to see the bats emerge and walk the cave before driving back to KCMO.
San Diego
Sherry, Cyndee and I took a week long trip to live with the animals: the Zoo, Safari Park, Sea World, Discovery Center (with huge turtles and rays!), Birch Aquarium and maybe most exciting of all, a boat excursion to travel with the Dolphins. And the Pandas of course!
Sherry’s arthritis limits her mobility and both Zoo and Sea World require a LOT of walking. So she had her first experience in an electric cart. It enabled her to go everywhere but was unexpectedly difficult since she had to keep griping the “go” lever and that made her hand hurt. It also has no brake so going downhill and relying on the motor to stop was unnerving!