God bless you.

I'm still praying and waiting and praying and waiting and......for a new heart.

It's get boring. Painfully boring.

That's one reason I have been lax in posting entries on this blog.

If I am getting tired or telling you that I'm still praying and waiting for a new heart, I'm

certain that many of you get tired of reading it.

But if there is anything the devil wants me to do is get bored from and tired of

praying and waiting.

But I must remember the words of the prophet Isaiah, "Wait on the Lord. Be of

good courage and He shall strengthen thy heart."

Wait on the Lord, the prophet urges. For "they that wait upon the Lord shall renew

their strength. They shall mount up on wings of eagle. They shall run and not be weary.

They shall walk and not faint."

I thank God for people like Marie, who remains a constant encouragement to me

through her comments submitted to this blog. Her husband was paralyzed by a stroke

years ago. But she has remained ever prayerful, loving, thankful, faithful and hopeful.

After reading another recent comment from Marie, I was challenged to not

slacken in this fight for life.

I am reminded that matters most is that I am still alive and still blessed. I am

reminded that just as there is no personal credit or honor for being healed quickly,

there also is no shame in having to wait for a slower one.

If I have nothing tremendously new to report, then I must continue to testify about

what the Lord has already done for me.

I am blessed that my brain tumor was diagnosed as benign.

I am blessed that my prostate cancer was early-staged, localized and responsive to

radiation seeds treatment.

I am blessed that my prostate cancer has been aggressive, progressive remission

sufficient for me to be cleared by the Mayo Clinic to be placed on its heart transplant list.

I am blessed that the mild stroke I suffered in December of 2009 was a temporary

event that I survived with no residual paralysis.

I am blessed that I survived the cardio-genic shock I suffered on Jan 11 of 2010, then

survived two stints on life support and the open-heart surgery of having a heart pump

implanted.

I am blessed that I not only was allowed to continue working but was returned to our

paper's high-profile beat of covering the Bulls, a beat that I was hired to cover in 1972,

more than 16 years before Derrick Rose was even born.

I am blessed to have a faithful, loving wife like Joyce. She won't let me give up,

give out or give in.

She challenges me to live the sermons I've preached for 58 years. And the core

of those sermons is that I can accomplish anything through faith in Jesus Christ, who is

the real healer, the real deliverer, the real sustainer.

Thank you for continuing to read my blog. I will try harder to post entries more

often. Please continue to pray for me and I will pray for you.

Bod bless you.

God bless you.