One of the busiest seasons of the year, and maybe of my recent adult life is about to get underway.
I’m presenting at an event tonight.
March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month and there is a lot I pour into the month to raise awareness about the importance of prevention and early detection. During the month I’m traveling to Washington, DC, for Fight Colorectal Cancer’s United in Blue and Call-on Congress events.
Television appearances
Radio interviews.
An event featuring an inflatable walk-through colon at work.
And then work, including the culmination of several projects over the next couple of months.
Travel for work and the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, where I have a new volunteer role.
Throw in life on the home front, keeping up with my health and wellness journey, being there for friends and family, serving at church, and so on, and so on.
Busy, but not overwhelming.
I’m also at an age where I’m not afraid to say “no,” or “not now,” and even, “I changed my mind.”
At an age. I’m going to be 54 in March.
I shouldn’t be here, statistically speaking, 11 years after being diagnosed with stage-3b rectal cancer. My surgeon told me years ago that I should be dead, or still in the fight. My oncologist said something similar in a December, just before he discharged me from his care.
Every day I’m alive is a privilege.
I’ve known that since March 27, 2012, the day I was diagnosed.
Too many people I have met and loved on my cancer journey no longer have the privilege. Too many people I have known and loved who didn’t have anything to do with cancer no longer have the privilege.
“Aging is a privilege.”
My friend Kate Bowler said those words during her conversation with world-renowned Bible teacher Beth Moore. It is a glorious conversation, and I highly recommend giving it a listen.
“I would not sit across from you and say differently because of course it is,” Moore responded, after talking about her memoir, her family and growing old with her husband.
None of us has any idea how much time we get on this side of the veil. I want to make the best of the time I have, and make the biggest difference I can.
In the lives of the people I love.
In my work to end cancer as we know it.
in the service of God.
It is a privilege to grtKate Bowler said, talking with with Christian teacher and wise woman Beth Moore in the latest episode of Everything Happens, Bowler’s podcast about the intersection of faith and the lives we have.
“I would not sit across from you and say differently because of course it is,” Moore says to Bowler.
It’s deeply beautiful conversation about Moore’s just-released memoir, coming to terms with her familial history and The Church’s reaction to her truth-speaking about sexual abuse. Whether you know the history or not, whether you’re a fan of Moore or not, the pod
There’s “It’s a privilege to grow old.”
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