Jeff Noble's Blog, page 45
January 30, 2015
Immeasurably more..
Yesterday, we received a $2500 gift in the mail which met the goal of the GiveForward campaign! With joy and thanksgiving, I welcome Carolyn as a guest on the blog to share:
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. (Ephesians 3:20-21)
An old pic, but one that summarizes our life well at times..
The goal has been met!!! Wow! Jeff and I have just experienced immeasurably more than all we could ask or imagine. We are amazed, overwhelmed, speechless, humbled and thankful.
Back before Christmas when Cristi suggested doing a GiveForward campaign, I was unsure and hesitant. There are so many other people with bigger problems than me, I didn’t feel like we warranted such a blessing. Now looking back, I can’t believe what just happened.
Amazed. I run from the spotlight. Yet God continues to do incredible things in my life that I can not be silent about. I would have never imagined that our medical debt could be paid off in less than a month. The debt was like a cancer itself, there attached to our life, draining us and a constant source of worry. And amazingly now, it’s gone.
Overwhelmed. I don’t like to focus on or share the nitty gritty details of my life. However, I can not describe to you the undeniable peace I have inside. When I actually do allow myself to list the struggles in my life I realize I should be in a mental hospital. But because I have allowed my life to be an open book, that has only increased the prayers on my behalf. I am overwhelmed and so thankful for the financial assistance we have been given. But I wish I could share with you the overwhelming peace that your prayers have offered me. I am joyful. I have peace. I feel loved. I am thankful in the midst of the circumstances.
Speechless. I like doing things on my own. Independence is in the genes. However, if I hadn’t agreed to all of this, then all of you would have missed out on the blessing seeing God at work. I realize once again it is not about me. I am speechless and humbled. May God receive all the glory.
Thankful. Words can not express the gratitude I actually have. Thank you for your love and concern. Thank you for the prayers. Thank you for the money. Thank you for the emails. Thank you for the texts. Thank you for your kind words. Thank you for sharing the Give Forward campain with others. Thank you. Thank you.
Forever thankful,
Carolyn
Also in Our Cancer Saga
Carolyn was first diagnosed with Hodgkin's Disease in 1991. Since then, it's been a wild, crazy cancer saga.
A Sheep’s Tale
Our Story, a week in October
Health update and uncertainty
Biopsy results…
Today’s stop: surgeon consultation
Doctor update
“As you help us by your prayers”
Where we are
Health latest…
Experiencing intercession
Two birthdays of good news
The chemo word
Surgery today
A little closure…
Chemo hero
Our Story: Miracles
Another opportunity to trust
Round 6 update
A La Carte: Health Update, December Nights kickoff, Saving Change and The First Snow
Final surgery – Round 6: gratitude in busyness
Health update 2014
Denied.
A little down: health update
Miracles in the mailbox
Immeasurably more..
(Visited 500 times, 253 visits today)
January 28, 2015
Miracles in the mailbox
Many years ago, when Carolyn and I had no idea how we were going to make ends meet, we’d pour our hearts out to the Lord in prayer. As a result, God would provide in ways that have made our jaws drop. Often, we’d find money in our mailbox – literally. Sometimes it would have been mailed, and occasionally, there’d be an envelope with cash in it. On more than one occasion, it would be exactly what we needed. We began to call those heavenly gifts our miracles in the mailbox.
These days, we’re experiencing the digital version of God’s provision through the GiveForward campaign that was created for our medical bills. We’ve seen about $27,000 come in through over 100 different sources! They’ve come digitally, and yes… they’ve shown up physically in our mailbox.
More big bills paid off
This afternoon, because of people’s gifts, we were able to pay off our last two BIG bills. From here on out, there are just multiple “smaller bills” ($400 here, $300 there, etc.). We are stunned by how God has provided through people’s generosity.
We’ve been using Little Rock Hematology-Oncology since Carolyn was first diagnosed. They have been gracious with us over these long years, allowing us to pay what we could (usually about $25-50/month). Today, we paid off their bill in full – $3,268.33! In 2011, they became associated with Central Arkansas Radiation Therapy Institute (CARTI), and all new charges since then have been on that account. Today, we were able to pay that account off completely – $3,086.93!
That’s a total of $6355.26 medical bills paid off in one day!! It is so surreal to be this close to being caught up on our medical bills – the first time in our 22+ years of marriage! It’s truly stunning.
Medical update
The latest health update is this: Carolyn has an appointment with a surgeon here on Monday. The doctors in Little Rock want this rogue lymph node removed (deep in her upper leg/lower abdomen) and biopsied to find out what’s going on with this abnormal cell activity. Please continue praying for her/us as we schedule the surgery.
We are praying that it will be like 2009’s surgery and results will come back negative, testing benign.
For those of you who have walked this journey with us (and many of you who have labored in prayer for us), thank you again. We can’t say it enough. Your love, prayers and support have enabled us to rejoice in the Lord. He has been faithful to provide strength, joy and patience in these surreal days.
“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.” (Philippians 4:4)
No visits yet
January 25, 2015
January 24, 2015
January 23, 2015
Nuff said: Cool air, on the wrong side of history, iPhone history, utilitarianism, Gmail helps, a heavenly visit?
Nuff said is a collection of saved entries from across the interwebs. Here are some interesting, provocative and fun things for your reading and viewing:
“On the wrong side of history”
Ever had someone tell you that? It’s generally used in a demeaning way and is meant to undercut not only your opinion but also all those who may hold to your worldview. Kevin DeYoung has a great contribution to why this phrase is impotent.
No doubt, the “wrong side of history” retort is rhetorically powerful. But it also happens to be intellectually bankrupt. What’s wrong with the phrase? At least three things.
Cool Air
Not only is Kevin Delaney from Little Rock, Arkansas and is on staff with the Museum of Natural History. His guest appearance on Jimmy Fallon’s show is fantastic as he demonstrates some “cool air.”
The history of the iPhone
This is a fantastic walk-through of the history of the iPhone. Smart phones glut the market these days, but I can still remember 2007 when I had the first iPhone on the day of its release. People would literally crowd around me to watch me demonstrate how you could flip through icons, take pictures, and see the interactivity of its touch screen. It was released in April 2007, but in December 2006, I wrote this post and said:
If you were preparing to upgrade your phone, you might want to wait. The iPhone, I predict, will eventually dominate the cellular industry like the iPod has the digital music one.
I feel like a prophet.
Beware utilitarianism
It’s another -ism that has consumed American culture. Essentially, utilitarianism is a mindset that focuses on “what works.” If it leads to a desired outcome, it must be morally acceptable. It also embraces an avoidance of pain and a pursuit of pleasure (because it would make sense to avoid pain and seek pleasure). At times, utilitarianism can be misconstrued as good old common sense. When this perspective dominates your thinking, you may discover that it’s at odds with the Christian faith.
God is not as concerned with outcomes as He is with the intentions of our hearts. Good actions with bad intentions do not please God. (Source)
If you’d like to read more about this philosophy, here is another source to get you started:
The History of Utilitarianism
I’d also love to hear if you know of other sources and books about it.
Make your Gmail experience better
This article gives you five add-ons that will make your web Gmail experience better. Of the five, I can vouch for Boomerang. This service allows you to schedule your email responses. I will sometimes do use it when I don’t want to bother someone on a particular day (i.e., a staff member’s day off), and so I schedule the email to be sent the following morning.
Boy’s visit to heaven admitted false
“…the story of Alex Malarkey that inspired the book The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven was fabricated, Tyndale House Publishers immediately put the book and all other ancillary products into out-of-print status.” (Source)
This cartoon says it all.
Via http://adam4d.com/in-heaven/
Related: Visiting Heaven… for real?
No visits yet
January 22, 2015
A former paper boy
I started out as a walker. It was torturous. On some mornings I really did feel like a zombie from Walking Dead. To walk my paper route in Little Rock, Arkansas would take me a least an hour on most mornings. My dad would kindly drive me on Sunday mornings when the job was overwhelming. Those Sunday papers were larger than a chihuahua, although more loveable.
It all changed when I got my first car – a 1981 Subaru GL ( read more about my Fast and Furious prototype here). Soon, I was zipping around Marlow Manor between 5:00 and 5:45 a.m. flinging papers with deadly accuracy. In fact, a car was a large reason of why I took the Arkansas Democrat paper route to begin with. My uncle kindly sold me the Subaru after he bought a new car and set up a payment plan of $100/month. I made about $400/month with the paper route (to the best of my recollection), so it was a great job for the last two years as a high school student.
The paper truck would drop the bundle of newspapers on the concrete sewer cover at the corner of our yard. I’d carry it up to our front porch. After cutting the plastic binding, I’d begin to rubberband the papers and toss them into my yellow paper bag. It displayed the proud logo of the Democrat emblazoned across its front.
From Arkansas Democrat-Gazette History page
The Democrat in those days was the underdog competing against the much older and established Arkansas Gazette. Here’s a fascinating history of Little Rock’s paper war which resulted in the 1991 closure of the Gazette. The Democrat bought all its assets at the time and changed its name to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette to reflect “The Best of Both.” (source)
It wasn’t long before I got so nimble at rolling and banding papers that I simply tossed the paper bundle into the backseat of the Subaru and was able to reach back, grab an paper, roll it, band it and throw it while driving, even managing to hit the driveway on consecutive houses. Before there was Tom Brady setting records for touchdown passes with under inflated footballs, there was Jeff Noble, hitting driveways with eerie accuracy. On occasion, I was known to even stun a cat or two.
Managing a paper route taught me a lot besides cat concussing. Money management and stewardship (it was the first time I began to tithe a portion of my income to my church), customer service, growing a business, and billing and collections were some of the main lessons. I also developed skills such as tossing a seven pound Sunday paper over the roof of my car and watching it smack loudly on a driveway.
Icy or snowy driveways were my favorite times to throw. With the paper encased safely in a clear plastic baggie, it would slide all the way up to customers’ garage doors if you adjusted your throw and timing. If I waited too long, I’d have to stop the car and backtrack to find where it had slid down the side yard or buried itself in the snow off the driveway.
Another perk to being a paper boy was being the most informed person in town (after the editors, reporters and columnists), even if it was for only an hour or so before the town woke up and began to read the daily. This was 1984-1986, pre-Twitter. There were no smart phones to get your news from, and CNN (the first 24-hour news channel) was only four years old. I remember many a morning, sitting in my Subaru and simply… reading the paper. Those were slower days of enjoying news. These days, it’s like putting your mouth to a fire hydrant. Then, it was sipping slowly. After reading it, I threw it away… to my customers.
One of the few downsides (besides inclement weather and unhappy customers) was actually a health hazard. I can’t tell you how many times a rubber band would break while in the middle of being stretched around a paper. The resulting missile was uncannily accurate. It was a split-second between “snap” and pain. Getting popped in the face was the most common result and would often bring newsworthy language.
These days, “breaking news” means a major story is being broadcast immediately for the first time. Those days, breaking news usually meant I’d hit a mailbox with a Sunday paper. Thanks to the folks at the Arkansas Democrat for giving me my first job and making every morning for two years of my life a good news day.
(Visited 1 times, 1 visits today)
January 21, 2015
January 20, 2015
A little down: health update
I will commit to churning out a non health-related blog post this week just to lighten the mood here at Notes from the Trail. Let me bring up to speed those of you just now tuning in – my wife Carolyn is in Little Rock tonight, having had a PET scan Monday. She received the results from today (Tuesday). We’re trying to discover what’s up with some lymph nodes that tested for growth in a CT scan in March.
Her health journey is the stuff that can fill a medical text book. She’s fought cancer toe-to-toe in various forms since she was 19. Her medical resume reads like this:
Hodgkin’s Disease (2x)
Shingles
Bell’s palsy
Radiation-induced thyroid cancer (had thyroid removed)
Vitiligo
Lymphoma
Radiation-induced breast cancer (had lumpectomy first time, then in recurrence a double mastectomy)
She’ll fly back home tomorrow, and here’s where we are after today’s results and doctor recommendations…
Carolyn’s PET scan showed that the lymph node is “hot” which indicates abnormal activity. There are a few smaller ones in the region (upper leg/abdomen) that also show activity, but this particular one is way outside the range for normal. The doctor has encouraged her to have to have it removed (which means surgery).
We are still not sure if it is malignant. Her cancer history is such that we can’t afford not to have it removed for further testing. This is an almost identical situation to 2009 when she had a different “hot” node show up on a PET. After it was surgically removed, the biopsy then revealed lymphoid hyperplasia but NOT malignancy.
They are going to review her 2009 biopsy again and contact us Thursday with further thoughts, but at present, the recommendation is surgical removal of the node to see what is going on. Some possibilities that have been mentioned are Sarcoidosis, Lymphoma or over-production of lymphatic tissue.
That’s where we are, and we’ll continue to keep you updated. It’s a disquieting journey. We are in a similar place to the one in which the man went to the doctor and said, “Doc, I swallowed my pillow.” After examination, the doctor said, “How do you feel?” The man replied, “A little down in the mouth.”
We may be a little down – simply for still being in this “no man’s land” of not-knowing. However, we have been encouraged and sustained by people’s gracious kindness, prayers, and thoughtfulness expressed to us in so many ways these past weeks.
It’s at times like these that we return and focus on high truth. It grounds us, renews our mind and hearts and strengthens us in faith:
For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:17-18)
We boldly ask you to pray for wisdom as we make decisions on surgery. We will most likely have the surgery done in Virginia. Practically, pray for Carolyn’s peace of mind and for wisdom from the doctors as they determine appropriate health paths. Ask God for smooth interactions with the insurance company as we move forward.
Finally, rejoice with us, please. We have far too many blessings to even begin counting, and we are confident in God’s loving presence in the days ahead.
Also in Our Cancer Saga
Carolyn was first diagnosed with Hodgkin's Disease in 1991. Since then, it's been a wild, crazy cancer saga.
A Sheep’s Tale
Our Story, a week in October
Health update and uncertainty
Biopsy results…
Today’s stop: surgeon consultation
Doctor update
“As you help us by your prayers”
Where we are
Health latest…
Experiencing intercession
Two birthdays of good news
The chemo word
Surgery today
A little closure…
Chemo hero
Our Story: Miracles
Another opportunity to trust
Round 6 update
A La Carte: Health Update, December Nights kickoff, Saving Change and The First Snow
Final surgery – Round 6: gratitude in busyness
Health update 2014
Denied.
A little down: health update
(Visited 1,012 times, 24 visits today)
