Christmas is over. The children have returned from whence they came. This was likely the last Christmas with their mom. In a sense it might be hard to grasp because mom cooked for them and was her usual bubbly self, but lacking the energy to go at full speed all the time.
To me their visit seemed like a pause in the progress of her cancer and its treatment. Tomorrow, we end the year with yet another visit to the oncologist. In December we have had biopsies with more cancer and findings of malignant cells. Mom now admits that she is experiencing stage 4 cancer. The cancerous cyst removed from her back appears to be growing back and feels larger than the one removed just a few short weeks ago.
2025 will begin with one of three possibilities; immunotherapy, chemotherapy, or no further treatment because it won’t matter. Due to chemotherapy being ineffective, I think that is not the most likely option. Immunotherapy ended last time in hospitalization and the beginnings of several organs starting to fail. I think my wife is hoping for this option but with better monitoring. The option that further treatment is futile is one that polite conversations don’t discuss.
Jimmy Carter died yesterday. He was arguably the worst president of the 20th Century. Carter’s biggest claim to fame was making it to 100 years old. Joe Biden makes Jimmy look good by comparison; however, Biden has been functionally braindead for most of his term in office. Who was running the country is not known yet. The “tell” as they say in magic and gambling is whether Democrats will fight over credit for Biden’s Administration or just ignore his failure and look to the future (2028).
Trump is casting a large shadow over the political landscape and Biden becomes more irrelevant every day. As I said last time Trump was in office, I don’t care what he says. The only thing that matters is what he does. To have any lasting legacy, he needs to get legislation approved by the Congress and signed into law. At a minimum he has two years to do that. I hope Trump will unleash hell on the swamp from day one.
As for the Elon Musk committee to cut waste, I have doubts that much will really happen. I think it’s doomed just as the Grace Commission was under Ronald Reagan. Look for Republicans to campaign on the Committee’s findings but fail to implement the suggestions into law.
As for church stuff, I’m really getting excited about the Bible thanks to Brian Godawa and his writings. I also have been going through a podcast that he participates in called Iron and Myth. I have added what they describe as a supernatural view of the Bible to my other beliefs about God.
I also have benefitted from some sermons that I downloaded from Doug Wilson. Both Wilson and David Chilton have teachings that touch on the supernatural view of the Bible, but they don’t elaborate on it much.
Lastly, I have been going through training to be a Deacon at my church. Mostly, it has consisted of going through the Westminster Larger Catechism, although we will eventually get into another book as well.
The church which we attend has been very generous to us. Frankly, Christmas wouldn’t have happened without their support and caring. I wanted to give them a “shout out” without going into details.
Have a good New Year.