I won’t write next week as we have Spring Break. John Turner and I plan to go to Iowa to visit a junior college that wants John to wrestle for them. We also plan to visit Troy Bendickson and his family while in the state. The Bendicksons run Heart Shot Ministry as an outreach to young people and widows. John and I have fond memories of earlier visits.
John’s conclusion to his senior year of high school wrestling was too difficult to write about when it took place. You may remember he finished 4th in the largest classification of schools in Alabama last year and entered his senior season ranked 2nd in the 220 pound division. He fought through a concussion and a couple of other injuries during the year but seemed poised for a shot at the state title… which was his goal.
Susan and I could not make it to the Friday first round of the February sectionals in Montgomery but left early Saturday morning to arrive in time to watch the second round. Friday evening John pinned his first round opponent and just needed to win one more match to qualify for the state tournament held in Huntsville the following weekend.
As we entered the parking lot of the arena, John’s mom Terri called Susan in a panic. We parked and entered the door to meet Terri and her shattered son. At the morning weigh-ins, John did not make weight. Appeals were made, but nothing changed — he was out of the tournament. The certified scales John’s high school carried on their team bus showed him under the limit by a pound. But the scales in the arena registered John being four tenths of a pound over. He had never missed weight in his wrestling career. He was devastated.
Terri handled the crisis very well, Susan and I thought, but it was hard. Time seems to have healed John’s wounds, but this was a tough way to end a season. Two four-year colleges have asked him to wrestle, but he seems to be leaning toward the junior college in Iowa, where the sport is huge. Please pray for God’s wisdom and direction and continued guidance for a young man we love as our own.
Here’s an updated health report: I did three rounds of chemotherapy before Christmas but had to cease when we found a negative impact on my eyes, a common side effect of the drug. We stopped all treatment for three months, but soon I felt a familiar pain in my ribs. Tests proved the cancer had returned. After I passed a February eye test and went through one more round of chemotherapy, the bad numbers dropped and I am back in remission. I started another round last week.
Besides the multiple myeloma, our biggest challenge is that my bone marrow does not produce platelets or red blood cells. I go to Emory for infusions twice a week. Over the next few days, doctors are planning to try some other drugs to boost my counts. We would appreciate your prayers for improvement. Susan is the best caretaker in the world… and I’m the patient who is always trying to get out of stuff. I think my middle school students are rubbing off on me.
May the Lord’s will be done in all our lives. We are His children, the sheep of His pasture… and we follow the Perfect Shepherd.
“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 6:12
“Know that the Lord is God. It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, the sheep of His pasture.” Psalm 100:3