Where do I start?

Cheryl and I were both in the Army and stationed in Panama in 1979. We were on our second enlistments in the Army and neither of us was "looking" to get married. However, it didn't take us long to figure out that we were in love. After only a few weeks of dating, we got engaged and planned our November wedding. Cheryl completed her enlistment and I stayed on in the Army for another 16 years, completing a career.

The thirty and a half years since we got married have been great. We both have the privilege of knowing Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and that is really what makes life worth living. God blessed us with adequate resources so Cheryl could stay home and raise our children. We were blessed with two wonderful children that have both grown up and married spouses that we love. Our daughter Michelle is married to Chris and they have added to our joy by giving us our grandkids Jonas and Susannah. Our son Jason is married to Sharon and their son Dylan is a ray of sunshine.

Back to our timeline. In 1995, we retired from the Army and began our civilian life in Midway, GA. I went to work for the local school system as a sixth grade teacher and Cheryl was able to continue staying at home being my help-mate in all things. Throughout our marriage, we have always expressed our faith through full involvement with our local church. We've served as deacon, Sunday School and discipleship training teachers, missions leaders, committee members and in any other place the Lord has given us an opportunity. Over the years, I have done quite a bit of pulpit supply, filling in when various pastors were out of their pulpits and eventually the Lord led me to seek ordination as a Baptist minister.

In June of 2006 we were thrilled to be called as pastor of Westside Baptist Church in Hinesville, GA. These four years have added to our blessings as we have grown in the Lord and been able to become knit together with this kind, warm, loving body of believers. We've had the joy of seeing people being saved, children and grandchildren being born, officiating at weddings and celebrating the accomplishments of our church family. We've also had the sorrow of standing by the bedsides of members that had finished the race and performing their funerals as they slipped off into glory.

June of 2010 has brought us a new sorrow. Cheryl has had a problem for a few weeks with a mild swelling of her upper abdomen which we thought might be attributed to a hiatal hernia. After a few tests, the hiatal hernia was ruled out and she was diagnosed with a pleural effusion which is an accumulation of fluid between her lung and chest wall. The fluid was drawn off and was sent for biopsy.

June 29, 2010 called our normal daily routine to a halt. Dr. Wumi, the pulmonologist told us "The news is not good." He went on to explain that the fluid contained metastasized cancer of unknown origin. Since then, he performed a bronchoscope and took numerous biopsies of the interior of her lungs. He did not see any evidence of cancer inside the lungs but we are still waiting those results. A visit to the GYN doctor resulted in a follow-up pelvic ultrasound, those results too are pending. Cheryl's gastoenterologist advised against a colonoscopy unless the oncologist feels that it is needed for a more accurate diagnosis. During our visit there, he told us that Cheryl has an adenocarcinoma of indeterminate origin.

July 6th will find us back at the pulmonologist's office for a follow-up. Cheryl has a PET scan scheduled for late afternoon Wednesday, July 7th. At 1PM Thursday, July 8th, we will meet with the oncologist to discuss all of the findings of the various scans and tests and to receive his diagnosis of the primary source of the cancer and our options for fighting this.

Please be in prayer for us as we face this week.