Larry's Hitching Post
In December of 2016, my doctor told me that I had a raging, aggressive prostate cancer and I should start treatment as soon as possible. Guys, don’t let anybody tell you, like I was told, that “Prostate Cancer is no big deal. It is slow growing, and you will die from something else.” That is how I responded to my doctor, and he said, “Well, that’s true for about 80% of men. But you are in the 20% group.” I went and talked to another doctor, showed him my numbers, and he said, “Well, without treatment, statistically this aggressive cancer will kill you in about 18 months.” Prostate Cancer is the second leading killer of men. I questioned both of my doctors because I didn’t feel sick. Two more doctors at Huntsman Cancer Institute in Salt Lake City confirmed the diagnosis. So, 2017 was a year of countless trips to Salt Lake City for a surgery they couldn’t complete, the implanting of 44 radioactive seeds in my tumor, and 26 treatments of radiation into my pelvic area which added up to 15,000 rads of radiation. In January of 2018, I was informed that I was in remission, but the cancer would most likely be back in 5 years. Well, they were spot on. The cancer has returned with spots on my lung, close to my heart, as well as my right hip. My medicine is holding it back and thankfully my insurance is paying the $20,000 a month price tag for the medicine. Up to this time I had been a pastor for 39 years but with the effects of my treatment, I had no energy to return to being a pastor. I was having trouble with my eyesight plus I was struggling with my balance and falling down a lot. With such life changing news, I never remembering thinking “Why me?” but the question of my life was “What now?” There was no anger at God. Life is just what happens to you when you are in the midst of making other plans. (quote from John Lennon) So when you get a second chance at starting a new chapter in your life, how do you decide what that second chance will entail? Well, I loved horses and had a few children with some disabilities in my church who I had brought out to play with my horses. It felt good to see these children forget about their challenges for the moments of time they were encountering the horses. This time was not a burden for me but joy. It was giving my life a new purpose. Over the next 17 months this would evolve into the starting of a nonprofit my daughter named “Champs Heart”, because Champ was the first horse that I shared with all these children. So, I am so thankful for a second chance in life. It comes to us in many ways. Some people think of it in terms of retirement. Others a change of jobs. A new marriage. Moving to a new location, etc. I am 75 years old now, and I have come to believe that how you finish your life is more important than how you start your life. Sure, a lot of starting points shape you and determine so much, but you also have to decide how you are going to use your past to live in the present and shape your future. In any sporting event, the score at the end is always the most important thing, right? What will you do with your second chances, however many you get? Consider the passion you have in your life. Golf? Horseback riding? Fishing? Hunting? Quilting? Painting? Writing? Wood working? etc. What’s your passion in life? And then think about how you can use that passion to shape another’s life, be a significant change factor in another’s life? Is there some way to pass along your knowledge, your gifts, to another whose life will be significantly shaped by you. You don’t have to start a nonprofit. That was never a plan for me with my second chance. That was never in the cards. But it seems God had other plans for my second chance. What might his plans for you include as you think about the desires and passions God has planted deep within you. Success in life is good, but I think significance is the most important good. How will you live your life in a significant way? I would love to hear back from your thoughts on second chances. Hope you will join me again next week at “Larry’s Hitching Post”
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