Jul 05
When our oldest daughter was six months old, we took her on a two-week car trip out West with my parents and she was a model passenger…well, almost.
I had just finished nursing Danielle while riding in the backseat (back before that was deemed unsafe!) and was holding her in my lap when she let loose with more than her disposable diaper could contain. (Did I mention I was wearing white slacks because we were going to eat at the Officers’ Club when we reached our destination?)
My dad pulled on to a sideroad so I could change Danielle’s diaper, her outfit and wipe off my no-longer-white slacks. And that’s when he noticed the sign: Sore Finger Road.
It seemed like such a funny name out in the middle of the desert that we all just started laughing. From them on, every blowout was judged by whether or not it was “Sore Finger Road” worthy.
Poop happens.
At predictable times, at inconvenient times, sometimes too many times, occasionally not enough times…but it happens.
As a 33-year colorectal cancer survivor, I’m probably a little more obsessed with this topic than most people. But I got the idea to blog about it when I heard songwriter-musician Tim Timmons https://www.timtimmonsmusic.com give a talk on “Poop Happens” at the Bob Goff retreat where we both spoke last month.
Tim explained (and I, of course, verified at https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2015-08/documents/beneficial_uses_of_manure_final_aug2015_1.pdf ) that manure is actually extremely beneficial.
It loosens (softens) compacted soil.
When soil absorbs manure, helpful nutrients are released, contributing to overall soil health.
It produces oxygen which helps soil breathe.
Runoff is reduced by adding manure, which as Tim explained “holds together the good stuff and lets the bad stuff go.”
It improves crop yield.
No wonder that driving by farmland in the spring assaults our noses with odoriferous country air! 
But poop doesn’t just happen literally. It happens figuratively too, doesn’t it?
Something occurs in our life–or the life of someone we care about–and it really stinks! As NY Times bestselling author Rick Warren puts it, “Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you’re just coming out of one, or you’re getting ready to go into another one.”
So true! And if you’re like me, your first response is to want the “stink” gone…and fast!
But since hearing Tim’s message, I’ve been trying to view the “manure” getting dumped on me as a way God can soften my heart, increase my spiritual growth, and help me let go of the bad stuff while hanging on to the really important, good stuff.
We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance.
And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.
—Romans 5:3-4
Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.
For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.
–James 1:2-3
Tim Timmons
“I lived most of my life trying to stop manure,” Tim says. “I was trying to keep my comfort…but now I ask ‘What’s it revealing about the condition of my heart?'”
In my next blog, I’ll share Tim’s amazing 22-year journey with chronic cancer, but in the meantime, poop is going to happen to you and me. Let’s allow it soften our hearts to the goodness of the Lord and in Him find our joy.
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Be sure to open in your browser to hear “This is the Day,” a very short, upbeat, encouraging song by Tim Timmons © 2021 Integrity Music . (It’s a perfect song to sing any day when poop happens!)
Jun 21
Photo by Sherise Van Dyk on Unsplash
So, do you ever get distracted…or is it just me?
The other day while mulling the idea of blogging about “distractions,” I headed toward my bathroom (to pee), but I got so distracted by taking care of other things that I left the bathroom without ever doing what I went in there to do!
But that’s not even my best (worst?) distraction story.
That one happened decades ago so I can’t blame it on aging. I put six eggs in a covered pan with cold water to hard-boil them. I knew it would take a few moments for the water to come to a boil so I headed downstairs to take care of some laundry in the basement.
I passed by the answering machine (remember those?), noticed the blinking light, so I listened to and wrote down several messages. I also saw that someone had carried down the recyclables from the kitchen, but not taken them out to the garage…so I did.
Then I went into the laundry room, started a load of wash and emptied the dryer. Because the room doubled as my office, I glanced at my desk and decided to check my (dial-up!) email. I got thoroughly engrossed in emails and in writing an article for the local newspaper where I worked.
Eventually I heard a loud POP, but had no thought of what it could be.
Upstairs I discovered that the noise came from the saucepan which had boiled dry and flown off the stove on to the floor, scorching the linoleum. There were no eggs in the pan nor on the stove, but when I looked up, there were tiny, yellow egg bits clinging all over the textured ceiling.
I was so distracted I could have burned down the house!
But it’s not just my everyday life where I get distracted, it’s my spiritual life, as well.
My mind wanders when I’m praying and I fail to listen for the Father’s voice.
I get busy playing word games, skip reading my Bible and the message there for me from the Lord.
I’m preoccupied with my to-do list and miss Spirit-led opportunities to love like Jesus.
I let worries and fears fill my thoughts and steal my peace.
My friend, what distracts your heart from God’s presence and His gifts? Health concerns? Money matters? Marital strife? Controlling addictions? Heavy grief? Wayward sons or daughters?
Or maybe it’s not “bad” things, but good things– like the tasks that distracted me during the egg-explosion-event. But they still divert your heart from the best things God has for you.
I don’t know the answer for how you personally can be less distracted by the weariness of life and more focused on the Lord, but the song below has become my prayer. Perhaps it will be yours, too.
In the morning, You have my attention
In the evening, You have my attention
Every season, the laughing, the breaking
The dancing, the waiting
You have my attention
So, I’ll place no other gods before You
No other gods before You
I know they don’t work
So, I’ll place no other one above You
No other thing beside You
You are God alone
You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.
— Deuteronomy 6:5
You must not have any other god but Me.
–Exodus 20:3
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Open in your browser to hear the powerful music video “No Other Gods” by Tim Timmons with whom I recently had the privilege of ministering alongside at the Bob Goff cancer survivor retreat.
Jun 07
So, who do you think you talk most to every day? 
I know who that person is for me and although I can’t prove it, I bet it’s the same for you.
I don’t usually speak out loud to this person although once in awhile I have been known to blurt out a few words.
I don’t often engage in long conversations with this person, but during the night when I’d rather be sleeping they occasionally drag on. Sometimes when I talk to this person it’s encouraging, but other times I feel worse when I hear this person speaking.
Can you guess who it is?
Well…the person with whom I converse the most each day is me! And I betting the one with whom you talk most is you.
So if we all talk that much to ourselves, what we tell ourselves becomes really important, doesn’t it?
Especially because our mind’s influence on our body can be positive as well as negative!
And while I don’t believe our thoughts can guarantee completely restored physical, emotional and mental health, I do believe they can influence all of these. Christian psychologist, the late Dr. William Backus says we need to remember three facts:
Your beliefs create your thoughts.
Your thoughts generate feelings.
Your feelings affect your body’s healing systems.
Dr. Backus advocates not just positive-thinking, but telling ourselves the truth about our situation. He has gathered many examples of truthful healing beliefs embraced by those who have survived life-threatening illnesses. Here are a few—I hope you add them to your mind’s “pharmacy” or share them with someone else who needs a healing touch:
You don’t just honor God when you speak pleasing words to Him, but you also honor Him when you speak pleasing words to yourself.
Gentle words are a tree of life; a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit.
–Proverbs 15:4
Kind words are like honey—
sweet to the soul and healthy for the body.–Proverbs 16:24
*William Backus, The Healing Power of the Christian Mind (Minneapolis: Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group, 1996) 96.
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Open in your browser to hear “Let the Words of My Mouth” by Fernando Ortega.
May 24
Do you remember the old game show “To Tell the Truth”?
My mother and I enjoyed watching that daytime show in the ’60s, but if you’re not familiar with it then or the later remakes, here’s the gist.
Three people introduce themselves as the same person–a real individual who has an incredible story to tell. Of course, only one is telling the truth. Four celebrity panelists ask the contestants questions to try and determine whom they believe.
Sometimes my mom and I spotted the truth-teller, but other times we totally believed the convincing, but wrong person.
As a trained journalist, I like to think of myself as a diehard truth-teller. But while my writing facts are accurate, I know some of the things I tell myself (and believe) are not truth-filled. Especially when I’m physically tired and emotionally overwhelmed, my self-talk can sink into lies or at least half-truths. (I don’t know about you, but those old, discouraging “tapes” in my brain can really take over!)
Christian psychologist, the late Dr. William Backus defines self-talk as “the words we tell ourselves about 
people, self, experiences, life in general, God, the future, the past…all the words you say to yourself all the time.”
Dr. Backus further explains that “In emotional and mental health, what you believe is all important…Other people, circumstances, events and material things are not what make you happy. What you believe about these things is what makes you happy or unhappy.”
That’s why if you don’t want to be fooled by untruths, Dr.Backus says you need to do three things:
Here are just a few truths Dr. Backus recommends we tell ourselves:
Jesus explained the real source of lies is Satan himself: “He has always hated the truth because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies.”
In contrast, one of the phrases Jesus often spoke was “I tell you the truth” or “Verily, verily” as the KJV translates it. He is the ultimate truth-teller and can be trusted.
Does anyone want to live a life that is long and prosperous?
Then keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies. –Psalm 34:12-13
The psalmist might have been thinking about not lying to others, but I believe that spiritual truth applies also to what we tell ourselves.
So what are you facing that needs some truth-telling? Illness? A chronic health condition? Divorce? Financial struggles? A wayward child? Grief? Loneliness?
Whatever it is, dear friend, please tell yourself and believe this truth from Dr. Backus: “My circumstances don’t have to be pleasant or happy because my joy comes from my relationship with God and His unchanging faithfulness.”
And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise…Then the God of peace will be with you. –Philippians 4:8-9
NEXT BLOG: THE HEALING POWER OF A CHRISTIAN MIND
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Open in your browser to hear the powerful song “Voice of Truth” © 2003 by Casting Crowns.
May 10
A few years ago when my grandson Ben was only 3, we chatted while browsing my wedding album from 1973.
My engagement photo
ME: Do you know who that is?
BEN: Grandma.
ME: That’s right. Grandma when I was young.
BEN: Why you turn out not young anymore?
ME: That’s the same thing I’ve been wondering.
“Where has the time gone?” is just one of the many things I wonder about these days as my 70th birthday nears.
I wonder, too, about scientific things, because despite my father teaching high school biology, I find much of science mind-boggling—especially the fact that most of this world is invisible to us.
The only portion of the electromagnet spectrum that the human eye can detect is visible light, but we sure depend on the rest of those electromagnetic waves to get us through the day. Very long radio waves allow us not only to listen to the radio, but also watch TV, use the microwave, and talk on cell phones. And at the other end of the spectrum, short X-rays give us useful information about our health, while even shorter gamma rays make possible specialized radiation treatment.
And much of the world isn’t just invisible, it’s inaudible, too. The human ear only can hear a portion of sounds—those in the 2-20 kilohertz range. Dogs can hear much higher frequencies (up to 60KHz,) as can cats, who always pretend they can’t.
A 2016 CNN report described a dog named Lucy, who was kicked out of guide dog school because she was too distracted by odors. So her owners decided to take advantage of her sniffing prowess and train her to find malignancies. Lucy was reported to correctly sniff out cancer 95-percent of the time over a seven-year period.
Other dogs have accurately identified melanoma by sniffing moles and prostate cancer by taking a whiff of urine. (We already have CAT scans, why not DOG sniffs?)
And if you really want to blow your mind about the invisibility of our world, check out all the scientists and science writers who say what we can see is only a fraction of the whole universe. Most of them say the stars, planets and galaxies that can be seen make up only 2- to 4-percent of the universe. The remaining 96- to 98-percent can’t be seen, detected or even comprehended by astronomers!
Nature reminds us that what we see is not all there is.
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18
All of us truly are visibly “wasting away”—either from the effects of disease, or because you, like me, inevitably are closer to “turn out not young anymore.” Yet deep inside our invisible souls, God is able to renew and refresh.
And when we see Him one day face-to-face, the incredible joy, love, peace and glory awaiting all Christ-followers will make cancer and every one of earth’s trials seem like “light and momentary troubles.”
Don’t fix your eyes on what is seen. Don’t fix them on pathology reports, news headlines, statistics or anything else you can see. No matter what this life brings, fix your eyes on what is unseen.
Now may the LORD of peace himself give you his peace at all times and in every situation.
The LORD be with you all. 2 Thessalonians 3:16
Excerpted from Peace in the Face of Cancer, Lynn Eib ©2017.
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Open in your browser to enjoy “God of Wonders” with Third Day.
I’m a newspaper reporter-turned-author. And I’m a passionate encourager, but always a truth-teller. I worked for nearly two decades in a unique position as a patient advocate in my oncologist’s office and the Cancer Prayer Support Group I founded in 1991 is the country’s oldest such faith-based group.
