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September 2010 Pastors' Letter
Dear Friends,
Our very own Pastor John Biggs has begun his required seminary course work at Luther Theological Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota. He and his family have settled in a very nice apartment on the seminary campus. Pastor John has also been offered a part-time job in the office of the seminary president. It has been a pleasure for us at Christ the Servant to go on this journey with Pastor John and his family. Read Pastor John’s blog at cslconline.org for regular updates. You may also donate to the CSLC Seminary Scholarship fund at any time.
We will continue to grow our relationship with Luther Seminary as we look forward to hosting some students at Christ the Servant during the month of January for a unique course of study in Las Vegas. If you are able to provide housing for one or two seminary students for the month of January, please let Pastor David know.
The Fall season of Ministry has already begun with our Sunday School Kick-off on August 29. We have at least one teacher for every class, but our goal is to have three teachers each. Please sign up in the lobby or call the church office. The Worship Choir returns with rehearsals beginning September 2. Join Pastor Rolfe and many others who love to praise God through music. Our Fellowship groups get in the swing of things as well as our High School and Middle School Youth Groups. Our weekday Preschool begins in September. We still have openings, so if you know someone who is looking for a preschool, send them to Christ the Servant.
As we finish the summer and look forward to the fall season of ministry, please pray about how you may continue to carry out our mission to the world: INVITE ALL – PROCLAIM JESUS – GROW AS DISCIPLES.
Thrivent Financial Has a new program. If you have any Thrivent investments, you may designate Christ the Servant as your choice for charitable outreach funds.
On a personal note, it has now been four months since my second thyroid cancer surgery. I have been very intentional in my recovery. I carefully follow my doctors orders for medication. I get enough rest. I exercise with either swimming laps, running, bicycling or all three at least 5 days a week. Thank you for all your prayers and expressions of concern. I feel great and look forward to good results from tests in September. God is good all the time!
You will be a blessing and you will be blessed. We look forward to worshiping with you.
Blessings,
Pastor David & Pastor Diane
Pastor David's Health, June 1
I received good news from all those blood tests. Everything looks fine at this point. The surgery appears to have gotten all the cancer in my neck lymph nodes. My doctor tells me she is very glad I came through this surgery so well because it is such a severe kind of procedure - now she tells me! I go back in three months for more blood tests and ultrasound of my neck. After that we will schedule a PET scan again. I must remain forever diligent in my cancer treatment but the future is very good and I feel great - better than I have felt in years. Thank you again for all your prayers and expressions of concern and care. It means a great deal to me.
Pastor David's Health, May 21
I have been recovering for three weeks now. While the incision still hurts, I feel very good over all. I am exercising about one hour early each morning. Sleeping is difficult because of the neck discomfort, but that will pass in time. In early June I will receive a report of last week's extensive blood test (22 vials!). I pray that it will all be good news. Right now I am giving thanks that it is very good to feel very good.
Pastor David's Health, May 6
It has been quite the roller coaster week of recovery at home. I would start to feel good, but that was only the medication working. As it wore off, the blahs returned. Pastor Diane told me the third day home from the hospital would be the worst. She was right. Now that I am on day seven, I am starting to feel better without any pain medication for a few days now. I am still weak, but am very tired of just sitting around the house. It is hard to concentrate, but even that is slowly coming back. Tomorrow I go to my surgeon to have the 23 staples removed. It will take a long time to get used to the rather visible, long scar on my neck. It definitely serves as a reminder to give thanks every day for the gift of life. I hope my doctor will tell me to resume normal activity soon. It will take some time to get back to normal. I look forward to worshiping with you.
Pastor David's Health, April 30, 1:00 p.m.
I am now home with a brand new 10 inch scar running from my ear to the middle of the base of my neck. It serves as another reminder of God's gift of life. It will be at least 7 days before I am able to resume a normal level of activity. Thank you for all your prayers and expressions of concern. It is good to be cancer-free once again.
Pastor David's Health, April 29, 1:00 p.m.
Pastor David is through surgery to remove the lymph nodes on the right side of his neck. The doctor said the surgery went well. He will spend the night in the hospital. Thanks for all your prayers!
Pastor David's Health, April 1, 2010
Dear Friends,
Thank you for all your expressions of concern and your heartfelt prayers. Following Easter I will have an ultrasound of my neck followed one week later by a biopsy (Fine Needle Aspiration). This will hopefully give the clearest possible picture of what my surgeon will need to do to remove the recurrent thyroid cancer in some of my lymph nodes. The surgery is scheduled to take place the last week of April. Until then, waiting is long and slow. Some days are really good and I feel great, other days, not so great. I look forward to the beginning of May when I will recover from surgery cancer-free and feeling great. I look forward to worshiping with you.
Blessings,
Pastor David
Pastor David's Health, February, 2010
Dear Friends,
Today I spent an hour or so discussing with my doctor my continuing diagnosis and future treatment plans. At this same time last year I was undergoing tests which revealed stage two thyroid cancer which would require surgery and radiation. Five months following that initial treatment, regular testing uncovered the possibility of remaining thyroid cancer even though my entire thyroid had been removed. I thought the radiation treatment would destroy any remaining thyroid cells, but in this case it didn’t.
Recent ultrasound showed possible lymph node involvement. A PET scan confirmed the presence of additional cancerous thyroid cells in at least one lymph node on the right side of my neck. Immediately following Easter, I will have another ultrasound, followed by a Fine Needle Aspiration (FNA – a biopsy) to give all possible information to my surgeon for the necessary operation.
While I would much prefer to have a clean bill of health at this time, this series of events is actually good – if requiring surgery can be called good. Thanks to the wisdom God provides to many in the field of medicine, we have been able to identify very specifically where the disease is so that it can be removed. I give thanks to God that over the past year my health has improved dramatically and I enjoy energy and vitality that I have not known for a long time. Thank you for all your heartfelt prayers and expressions of concern. It means a lot to me and my family and lifts my spirits.
Now that I know the diagnosis and treatment plan, the waiting is much easier. Once again, I take this opportunity to remind you to make regular checkups an essential part of your life. If it has been more than a year since your last medical checkup, make an appointment today. Just over a year ago, I thought I was fine, but the concern of one doctor drastically improved and perhaps even saved my life.
Blessings,
Pastor David
Pastor David's Reflections on Living with Cancer
“For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.” Jeremiah 29:11
Sounds good to me. I want that future with hope right now. Isn’t that the desire of our hearts – that we live the Lord’s plan for our lives? We envision what that may mean for us – a life filled with blessings, free of significant problems, all things going well, happiness, prosperity, health.
One year ago this month my doctor spoke to me the dreaded words, “You have cancer.” Well now, that certainly wasn’t in my plans. I never thought about having cancer. I am the youngest of seven and both my parents have lived well into their eighties. No one in my family has had any kind of cancer. I should be home free. That has quickly changed. Now I must learn to live with it. But then questions arise, How do I have cancer and lead my congregation into God’s future with hope? How inspiring can a pastor with cancer be?
I quickly give up those worries because it is not up to me to lead my congregation. It is not up to me to be inspiring. It is the Holy Spirit who leads and inspires my congregation. I simply respond and am obedient to the Spirit’s guidance.
The next few months after my diagnosis are filled with medical appointments, tests, surgery and radiation. More than six months pass before I finally start to feel good. Just when I thought I beat cancer, my doctor spoke to me the dreaded words, “You have more cancer.” Again, that was not in my plans. While I would much prefer to have a clean bill of health at this time, this series of events is actually good. Thanks to the wisdom God provides to many in the field of medicine, they have been able to identify very specifically where the disease is in my body so that it can be treated. And yet, a second round of cancer is frightening.
It’s time to go back to those words in Jeremiah, but this time I read the verses leading up to the promise. The people to whom Jeremiah is speaking have been taken captive. They are exiles, forcibly removed from their promised land. This was certainly not in their plans. Rather than spend their lives in bitterness and anger waiting for their release, the Lord gives them these life instructions: “Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.” Jeremiah 29:5-7
Live life in all its circumstances! Whoever you are, wherever you are, whenever you are, live the life the Lord has given you. My immediate life includes more tests, biopsies, surgery, recovery and life-long medications. My future remains unknown to me other than the promise and assurance the Lord has given. “Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you. When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart, I will let you find me, says the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.” Jeremiah 29:12-14
My congregation will continue to thrive and prosper, to be inspired and to be inspiring, to pray for this city, to serve with joy. My congregation will live this life it has been given because it is not my congregation, it is the Lord’s congregation. I will live this life right now even with cancer because it is the life the Lord has given me. As for the rest of life’s concerns, “For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.” Jeremiah 29:11
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