Luehrs Line --------------------: It's About Time

Saturday, December 24, 2022

It's About Time

Christmas 2022

Luehrs Family

This past year has been filled with many planned activities and some of them were a surprise. Once again our family walked the road of a cancer diagnosis. The waiting, hoping, and praying through the facts and feelings of the weight of cancer is hard to describe. We are so grateful for our family and friends that supported us with prayers, food, and donations. We were determined to not let doctor appointments, surgeries, and cancer treatments hinder our summer plans for baseball. Both Dustin (17, Junior in HS), and Zac (9, Third Grade) played travel baseball this summer. It was a blast getting to watch them play, make new friends, and improve their skills. We traveled to five states including Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, and Texas. Lots of time in the truck driving! You can’t put a price tag on time spent together as a family doing something everyone loves.

Daniel spends most of his time working on our cattle ranch at home. He has a great group of guys at church that he teaches for Sunday School. The vet clinic work is seasonal and flexible. He enjoys helping the boys with their baseball activities and is thankful his schedule allows him to attend.

Anna is in her second year of teaching eighth-grade science at Liberty Middle School. Anna’s Mom (Janis) was able to come to Missouri this summer for a visit. Anna is recovering well from multiple surgeries this past year for breast cancer. Her energy and health are looking bright for the upcoming year. She hopes to return to coaching basketball soon.

Dustin is enjoying his Junior year taking VO TECH auto mechanic class. This past summer Dustin worked as a lifeguard at the Willow Springs City Pool. He enjoys woodworking, playing video games, and of course baseball. He is working hard at perfecting his pitching.

Zac is in third grade and loves everything about baseball. His favorite player is Julio Rodriguez from the Seattle Mariners. Zac plays any position, but especially likes outfield, pitcher, and catcher. Always full of energy and very competitive no matter the activity. His 9U baseball team won 2nd place in the MO State World Series.

In life, we don’t have control over how long we get to live. We are given today, maybe tomorrow. We are told to not worry. It seems that this past year has caused us to treasure the time, make the most of every opportunity, and be thankful. Our hearts are full of gratitude to God our Father who gives us time. May we continue to keep Him first every day. The greatest gift of all TIME came in the form of a baby, wrapped in swaddling cloth, laid in a manger. Christmas is a great reminder to each of us to spend time with those we love and to remember the ones who have gone home to heaven. May you be blessed this season, spend time with family and friends, and thank God for the time.

“So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” Psalm 90:12

“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things.” Matthew 6:33-34

Scan to listen to a song by Kevin Quinn, It’s About Time: http://bit.ly/3WeK11Y

LYRICS

What you're breathin' for?What's your bettin' all your seconds on?What you're gonna wishThat you could undo when it's all said and done?Waste tick-tocks on the clockAre you gonna wound back when it stops?

Yeah, we here right now (right now)But we're never gonna be goneYeah, life's too shortTo live like it's gonna be long

It's about time and how we spend itEvery hour, every minuteIt's about knowing that we're chasingAll the beautiful things that make itWorth the rideTo the other side

It's about time we started livin'Like tomorrow ain't ever a givenEvery moment is a surrenderTo the One who holds foreverStarting nowWhat it's all aboutYeah, it's about time

It's not about usNot about getting what we deserveIt's about showin' up (showin' up)With Your love like who can we serveOpen hearts, broken parts and all (oh)

It's about time and how we spend itEvery hour, every minuteIt's about knowing that we're chasingAll the beautiful things that make itWorth the rideTo the other side

It's about time we started livin'Like tomorrow ain't ever a givenEvery moment is a surrenderTo the One who holds foreverStarting nowWhat it's all aboutYeah, it's about time

Yeah, we here right now (right now)But we're never gonna be gone (never gonna be gone)Yeah, life's too short (oh, life's too short)To live like it's gonna be longYeah, we here right now (right now)But we're never gonna be gone (never gonna be gone)Yeah, life's too short (oh, life's too short)To live like it's gonna be long

It's about time and how we spend itEvery hour, every minuteIt's about knowing that we're chasingAll the beautiful things that make itWorth the rideTo the other side

It's about time we started livin'Like tomorrow ain't ever a givenEvery moment is a surrenderTo the One who holds foreverStarting nowWhat it's all aboutYeah, it's about time

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Kevin Quinn / Jordan Sapp / Walker Hayes / Paul Duncan

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My Cancer Story

Many have asked me how long have you been sick? When did this all begin? Tough questions even for me to answer...all I can say at this point is I finally found some Doctors who listened to all my symptoms and did something about it. Late in April 2011 I went to see a family practitioner who sent me to a GI specialist for a colonoscopy. This resulted in a diagnosis on May 13th, 2011 of cancer in the colon. The extent was unknown at that point in time. I had to wait until Monday May 16th, 2011 for a CT scan. Then wait till Tuesday for an appointment with the surgeon, who would later remove the colon. I was informed of the biopsy results: adenocarcinoma. The CT did not show any signs of the cancer spreading to other organs (praise the Lord). In fact the CT did not even show the tumor. It was estimated by the GI Doctor to be the size of a golf ball. So surgery was scheduled for May 31st, 2011. Surgery was successful. They removed about a foot of the sigmoid colon and 20 lympnodes. I had to wait again for lab results. On June 2nd, 2011 I was told about the lab results. The tumor had evaded through the colon wall. Two out of the twenty lymph nodes tested positive for cancer. This elevated the stage of my cancer to 3 B. This is when I knew chemotherapy would be necessary. Recovery from surgery went well. GI functions are returning on their own and pain was easily controlled. I had my first appointment with the oncology team at MSTI (Twin Falls) on Friday June 17th, 2011.

I started chemotherapy on July 13th. The plan was set to give every two weeks for infusion treatments of poison. Sounds great on paper. The reality is this: chemo drugs deplete the body of healthy cells as well as potential rouge cancer cells. Keeping this schedule of every two weeks has proven to be difficult. On my off weeks I get my blood levels checked. This is to determine if it is "safe" enough for me to get chemo again. Safe...uh...it's poison right? Anyway chemo treatments have come and gone now, twelve in all. I finished up with my last round on January 27th.

On January 29th 2012 I had a CT scan. My oncology doctor said everything looked fine. No cancer detected. Doing the party dance! I am officially on the other side of living cancer free. I am celebrating in many ways. This has been the hardest thing in my life to do. Not to mention to try to balance so called "normal" life at home on the farm.

As far as the future goes with my health I have a few more doctor appointments scheduled. I will have another colonoscpy in May. For now, it is just watch and monitor my blood work and pray cancer doesn't return. Prognosis is good and I am believing and trusting in a mighty God. He is faithful!

Fast forward seven years -- 2018! Still cancer free! After many lab tests, blood work and CT scans so far no cancer detected. Miracles still happen everyone!

Favorite Quotes

Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadow. It's what sunflowers do. Helen Keller

"Every good work should be a revelation of the glory of God. What makes the good deed an act of love is not the raw act, but the passion and the sacrifice to make God himself known as glorious. Not to aim to show God is not to love, because God is what we need most deeply. And to have all else without him is to perish in the end. The Bible says that you can give away all that you have and deliver your body to be burned and have not love (1 Corinthians 13:3). If you don't point people to God for everlasting joy, you don't love. You waste your life." John Piper ---Don't Waste Your Life

"Surrender is the key that unlocks the vault of God's best and deepest treasures." Charles Swindoll

"You can't move people to action unless you first move them with emotion. The heart comes before the head." John Maxwell

Spiritual growth is a conundrum. The key to spiritual growth is developing healthy and holy routines called spiritual disciplines. But once routine becomes routine we need to change the routine. Why? Because sacred routines become empty rituals if we do them out of left-brain memory instead of right-brain imagination. When we learn how and forget why we start going through the motions spiritually. Mark Batterson

Serenity Prayer

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time; accepting hardship as a pathway to peace; taking as Jesus did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have; trusting that You will make all things right if I surrender to Your will; so that I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with you forever in the next. --Reinhold Niebuhr

Luehrs Line --------------------

Saturday, December 24, 2022

It's About Time

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