I’m back!  After spending the holidays in Wisconsin with family, I’m back in Upland trying to clear a ton of paperwork off of my desk before having to go to the clinic tomorrow for a stress test in preparation for surgery.  The stress test is followed by a colonoscopy a week later, and I can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to that.  That is followed by a trip down to Indianapolis where I will meet with a transplant team, and, if all goes well, news that the person who has offered me their kidney matches what I need for a transplant.  After that, surgery!  Yikes!  I don’t even like the sound of that, but I don’t like the thought of sitting through dialysis three times a week for the rest of my life either.  What a choice!

 

I’ll just be glad to get this thing behind me so that I can get on with life.  I will be 52 this year and have done more in those 52 years than I ever thought possible.  From rappelling to climbing a pyramid, from whitewater rafting to climbing to the top of Massada in Israel, it seems like I have had one adventure after another.  I’ve been on 10 mission trips, visited 12 countries, and 47 states.  And the list doesn’t stop there.  I’ve written 2 books, raised nearly a quarter of a million dollars that I’ve given away to benefit homeless kids in other countries, and have led nearly 300 people to Christ.

 

Yeah, I’m going to have surgery, but don’t you dare feel sorry for me.  Pray for me.  When Paul was sitting in prison, he wrote to the church at Philippi and said, “I want you to know, dear brothers, that what has happened has really served to advance the gospel.”  That’s my prayer, and if I may be so bold, it should also be the prayer of everyone who calls themselves Christian.  I feel a sermon coming on so let me stop here before I get carried away.  I’ll keep you posted.

Steve is the founder and president of Golden Clay Ministries, a not-for-profit organization he founded in 1990.  Donations can be made at www.goldenclay.org.