Running and Readings

Nathan has a brain MRI scan at Vanderbilt this coming Tuesday and the results will be given at 8:30 Wednesday morning. The oncologist orders a MRI every 2 months and that is the standard schedule, as long as no new cancer growth is detected in the scans. As the day of the scan report approaches, they are increasingly full of anxious anticipation for all of us, as you can imagine. We would so appreciate your prayers for a good scan this week.

Other than brain cancer, Nathan is the healthiest person I know. He militantly remains on his ketosis diet. He eats only organic foods, refuses anything embedded with a long-syllabled chemical name, goes to work each day (when he is not taking chemo) and has taken up running… in a big way.

On March 6^th, he ran the Chattanooga Half Marathon (7:45/mile pace). There was a film crew that documented his training and race. I am not sure where or when this will be aired but I will let you know once it is announced. The week of the race, he was also featured on the front page of the Chattanooga Free Press. Here is the link to the article:

http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/local/story/2016/mar/03/taking-temodar-instead-tylenol-one-local-mpac/353136/

In addition to road racing, he has also taken up trail running. This morning, he ran in a 10 mile trail race and finished in the top 25%. I mention all of that to say that he is truly doing well, and to his disciple credit, trying to do all he can to give himself the best chance to beat brain cancer.

Elizabeth (wife), Jack (son), Yetti (dog) and Toodles (rabbit) are all doing fine. Elizabeth has just been a wonderful wife during all this. She has the patience of Job and has faithfully cared for Nathan during so many times when her heart was hurting and her tanks were on fumes. God bless Elizabeth and all the caregivers.

As we celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord tomorrow, it is a powerful reminder of the truth that we serve a LIVING Lord, a God so infinitely great and yet so individually concerned for each of us. As Isaiah declared, “The arm of the LORD is not too short to save.” Amen. That mighty arm of the Lord can reach deeper than death itself. That is Good News for everyone and particularly good news to an anxious family this week!

We are so grateful for your loving support, acts of service and so many faithful prayers that have truly made a difference!

 

Buddy Sexton

LOTR and Christianity

Hey! It's me.. again.

So a little back story on me when I was in middle school and high school: I used to LOVE Lord of the Rings... it was a little obsessive, I'll admit, and it followed me into my adult life when I tried to get Liz to let me have The Ring as my wedding ring (halfway joking, but yes, I bought a replica of The Ring online in high school, and I am not ashamed of it). But something inside me has been yearning to re-read LOTR. Maybe it is a subconscious way of escaping all this crap and going back to a place and time when there was no brain tumor, no seizures, etc. Back when all I had to worry about was what was for dinner (and it was always amazing) and homework (which I never did).

As I reflect on LOTR with the perspective I have now, I see it has a lot of Christian themes throughout the book.

As I tend to do, I started doing a little research on the topic, and Tolkien (the author of LOTR) was a Christian, but never meant the LOTR series to be an allegory (and example of an allegory would be CS Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia, where the Lion is supposed to be an exact representation of Jesus). Tolkien believed that his views and beliefs would come out in his work without him having to insert it in directly... and he was right.

The Ring

The Ring (represents evil and the idols in our lives) was created by the dark lord, Sauron, to gain power over all the world. Long story short, it was cut off Sauron's hand and found its way to the unlikeliest of creatures: a hobbit (small creatures with hairy feet and not fond of anything outside of their home, The Shire) by the name of Frodo Baggins.

Throughout the story, everyone who comes into contact with The Ring feels the power and temptation of it. It doesn't matter if they are powerful wizards or great Elven Kings, the ring deceives them into thinking they can use it for good, when in reality, it is just a way for them to justify not destroying the ring. But the hobbit Frodo seems to deal with the temptation of the ring exceptionally well, and is tasked with taking The Ring to the one place it can be destroyed: Mt. Doom.

Isn't that how God works? Using the weak and small to do his greatest work? As it is written in 2 Corinthians 12:9

"9 My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."

Frodo was hand picked to carry out this unthinkable task of returning to Mt. Doom to destroy the ring, because of his resilience towards it. But he didn't go alone, he had a fellowship of people that went with him. They held him accountable through the journey and showed him love and compassion all along the way. God made us to show love and be connected to each other on a deep level and in the darkest times. In the last book of the series, one of the original fellowship members, Sam, is at the foot of Mt. Doom with Frodo. Frodo can't go on due to the power of the ring sucking him dry and Sam said,

"Come, Mr. Frodo! I can't carry [The Ring] for you, but I can carry you!"

We need those kind of friendships. Ones that will carry you through the hardest of times and still love you. It's a Godly, unconditional love.


We Can't Do it Alone

Once Frodo reaches the peak of Mt. Doom he can't seem to find the will to drop the ring into the fire (the only place it can be destroyed). He is tempted by the same thoughts of power that has affected everyone throughout the journey, but then something amazing happens.. Another creature, Gollum, who used to possess the ring, was drawn to its power and frequently called it 'my precious'. Gollum had been tracking Frodo all the way to Mt. Doom, and he eventually found Frodo on the edge of Mt. Doom about to do the unthinkable deed (in Gollum's mind) of destroying the ring. Out of pure desperation, Gollum grabbed the ring from Frodo, slipped and fell into the fire, thus destroying the ring.

The theme here is we can't defeat whatever evil is inside of us alone. We need a Gollum of our own to intervene and save us from our evil, idolatrous ways.

We need God to come into our lives and help us destroy whatever evil lives in our hearts, because we can't do it alone. God has to intervene and be our Gollum.

I apologize if this doesn't make sense to those who haven't read the books or seen the movies, but I did the best I could to pack about 1,200 pages into just a couple!

much love,
Nathan

Faith and Heaven

Hey Everyone!

(Spoiler Alert for people who haven't seen Room)



I watched the movie Room and it was such a great metaphor about faith and how Heaven will be that I had to write about it. 

This movie is not about Heaven at all. It is actually about two people that were held captive for years in an enclosed space. A woman, Joy - frequently called Ma, and her young son, named Jack, finally gain their freedom, allowing the boy to experience the outside world for the first time. 

Jack was born in 'Room' and had never been outside of it. He was so used to living in it and didn't know anything different. His 'Ma' tells him of the outside world and what it is like. He initially didn't trust his mother and didn't believe what she said about the outside world. He didn't believe that 'TV' people were real people. He didn't believe there were dogs, just cartoon dogs. Slowly, he began to have faith and trust what she was saying. When Jack initially escapes and starts to see things he had only heard about through his mom, he was stunned - trees, dogs, grass, cars, etc - it was all real!

Aren't we so similar to Jack? We get so comfortable on Earth and we don't trust God when he says in John 14:2-4:

"2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going."

We often don't think about death because it is a "scary" subject. I have had the privilege (yes, privilege) of coming to terms with something we are all going to do at some point: die. Do I have my struggles? Sure, we wouldn't be human if we did not get scared every now and then, but the great thing is I do trust God and have faith that he will bring me to one of his many rooms when it is my time.

Not a very smooth transition, but wanted to give a quick update on what's ahead for me and my family: 
- Liz completed her first 5k!! She was there to support me on Sunday when I ran the half marathon in 1:41:07!!
- March 29th we are heading back up to Vandy for another scan. 
- We have the results meeting the following morning, so please keep us in your prayers during that time.

As always thank you for all the prayers and continued support from those near and far!

much love,
Nathan