Anderson Silva is a mixed martial arts fighter; one of the best fighters in the world. In a fight 2 years ago he was getting beat. For nearly 5 rounds he was punished by his opponent. Relentlessly taken down, elbows and fists to the face and body. More than most could withstand. But nearly 5 rounds doesn’t win a fight. In the last minute, Anderson saw an opening and because of his ability to keep going when it seemed hopeless, he was able to choke out his opponent to win the fight.

“No one will hit you harder than life itself. It doesn’t matter how hard you hit back. Its about how much you can take and keep fighting; how much you can suffer and keep moving forward. That’s how you win.” – Anderson Silva

I love fighting.

We took a shortcut after getting to the lake. Most people didn’t see us slip out of the group, partly because we were behind them and partly because they were involved in their own conversations. We walked hand in hand through the park admiring the banks of the lake and the waterfowl. But mostly I was admiring her. The sun was warm and the wind cool. And time stood still. It was like a thousand times before in other places. We love walking together. We loved it since before we were married; walking the shores of lake Valentine dreaming of life together. We would have never dreamed of this.

I looked over to see Tara crying, watching the group of purple-shirted runners continue without us. “I want so bad to be able to run with my friends.” These were new kinds of tears; from brokenness. We had fought other tears all morning because of that feeling you get when people show their love and support for you. What do you call that emotion? When someone pours out generosity. Or they weep for you. Or when you get a card from someone you had no idea knew or cared about your situation. It isn’t sadness, and it isn’t really joy. It is gratefulness but there is a lot more. I don’t know, but it always makes me want to cry.

Anyway, our walk continued to a place that intercepted the race course. We waited by the path and looked forward to returning the show of support. But we weren’t expecting what we would happen next. It was the end of mile 6 for the 10K and near the end of mile 3 for the 5K. Runners were exhausted and breathing heavy. As the Team Tara runners noticed Tara, we watched some faces go from “I want to quit” to “I’ll never quit”. They dug in to the final leg of the race as if inspired. We heard many people say, “We are doing this for you.” or “This one is for you.”

People love that woman of mine. She hates attention usually, but today she received it well. People who know Tara well, know she is a giver not a taker in life. She sacrifices for her family and others. Tara is surprised that people would support her like this, but I am not.

So we will remember that place always, the place that intercepted the race course. Where we stood and wanted to encourage, but instead were encouraged ourselves. We have stood here before, where faith intercepts life’s race course.

Today is the day. Over 2 months in the making. People are coming to show their support for Tara (and thousands of others of course) in the Minnesota Ovarian Cancer Alliance Spring Fling Diva Dash. Wow that’s a mouthful. It was about 2 months ago that one of our friends organized “Team Tara”. We put it out on the blog and over 150 shirts were sold, many of which will be seen on the streets of Rochester today in the 10K, 5K, and 1 mile runs.

Tara is gearing up for the race. Her gut is not in the best shape, and it is not pre-rate jitters. But my guess is that she’ll be wearing a huge smile in spite of the discomfort. Her heart is so encouraged by the support of people. She wishes she could run with her friends. But she’ll be there walking, and loving it.

At the end of the day we will post some pictures. If you want to come out and cheer on the runners, the event starts around 9 am at Jefferson Elementary in Northeast Rochester (1201 10th Ave. NE)

We took the family to the Twins game tonight. We spent more time in the car than we did at the game but it was worth it. This is the first pro baseball game that any of our kids have been to. The drive home reminded me of road-tripping with the family. We usually make those long drives at night. Moonlight glowing. Sleeping kids. The monotonous hum of the road and the rhythmic thud of the tires over the expansion joints in the concrete. Man I love that. Now just a little Don Williams quietly playing to top it off and I’m ready for another 13 hours of a trip to who cares where.

Tara and I have had deep conversations on road trips like that. Tonight was no different. Very few words, and they were not minced. Long pauses in between turns to process what the other has said and deliberate our response. We concluded in agreement on this. We are not into spiritual or religious stuff right now. Maybe even kind of sick of it and kind of overwhelmed by it. We have heard it and said it over and over again and it just seems too much or too hard to do anything with. There are too many different things to process. A few simple things guide us. They are not deep and profound. They aren’t new either. “Be still and know that I am God.” And “We will praise Him forever”.

The first speaks of us DOING nothing, and God BEING everything. We cannot propel ourselves to any kind of strength. We are spent and tired. But God, well, he is God. He will sustain us even without our effort. The second speaks of obedience. No matter the circumstance. No matter how much we like it. Just like our children sometimes pout as they submit to our authority and just do what we ask, we’ll submit to His and just do what He asks. We will trust Him and give Him praise…..even though we don’t like it right now.

Good Morning! Today is one of my favorite days of the year. It is a tree-man’s holiday. Arbor Day. Where we celebrate the benefits of trees. Benefits like shade, which actually saves you a lot of money, adding up to millions of dollars in savings annually in a city like Rochester. Benefits like reduced storm water flow in our storm water sewers and rivers, also adding up to real dollar savings. Benefits like increased value of real estate. That one hits home. A house with mature trees sells for more than the same house without trees.

Ironically, Arbor Day started in Nebraska the 1870s. Nebraska of all places. Trees are most appreciated in Nebraska like water is most appreciated in the dessert. Like food is appreciated in third world countries. Like warm weather is appreciated in April.

We are most appreciative for health and life now that our family has faced cancer. I am most appreciative of my family now that it has been threatened. But I guess this phenomena is not always true. We are also now most appreciative of our friends who seem to be abundant now. We are most appreciative of our faith while it has become more real.

Appreciate your day. Happy Arbor Day!

She sits on our bed and watches out the window, like she does every evening after dinner. She loves the birds; cardinals are her favorite. And the trees; especially the ones we labored to plant. She expectantly waits for spring. The sun and fresh air have always been therapeutic for her and this year it has been hard to come by. Her heart is thankful for what we have.

But her body is tired of being sick. The discomfort of a gut that isn’t working right. The resulting inability to eat well. The fatigue of doing simple tasks. Honestly we both thought she would be much further along by now. I imagined us being able to take spring walks by mid April. Maybe spring knew we would not quite be ready and that is why it waited.

We cannot be too discouraged. She smiles regularly. I occasionally even get a laugh. She is up throughout the day and involved in the kids lives. She enjoys the dog, her friends and time with me. There is a lot of joy daily. Its kind of weird to think that life is pretty darn good.

The weight on me is getting heavy. Business will soon be in its busiest season. I feel the need to be both home and at work and the tension is…well….its tense. Both places need me and by the end of the day, I have nothing left to give. My mind and body are able to be efficient, but my heart bears the weight of being insufficient, especially at home.

Prayers for us should shift. It seems like we have prayed everything we can pray about Tara’s healing. We feel that God is answering those prayers through the cancer numbers going in the right direction. Now we need prayers for endurance in discomfort (and relief from it), wisdom at home, provision at work. We need prayers for spiritual renewal. This is day 83, and God is even more faithful to us. We will trust him again to answer our new prayers.

I am the middlest child. I am 10. And I have another perspective. You know that over the last few months my mom has been struggling with stage 4 ovarian cancer. It was strange because I would have never thought anyone in my family could have cancer.

I remember the day when my dad told us. It was the worst day of my life. I thought he was kidding. When he told us he was serious, then I thought she was going to die and I was scared. I am still worried, but I know that God has a plan for her and for me.

Everyone has been helping us so much and we are thankful. My friends write nice notes that encourage me. My teachers at school tell me they are praying for me. My brother and sisters are getting closer because we are all helping mom and dad together. It is also helping us to not fight (at least not as much). My faith has grown in this. I believe God will protect our family. I take church more seriously now. I always listened to the sermons, but now I understand them more.

I wish my mom could come out and jump on the trampoline with us. But dad says she has her own ups and downs even without the trampoline.

My mom’s dad was a business man. He repaired oil rigs down in Mississippi, east of Jackson. He answered the call of his customers all around that region, and all around the clock. He grew his business over a number of years and labored hard for it.

He and Grandmother planted their roots in a little town called Laurel, and raised my mom and her sister there. Grandaddy loved his family. He would do anything for them. Mom wanted to ski. So Grandaddy built her a lake. To build her a lake he needed land. So he bought a farm. Once he had a farm, he needed to fill it. So he bought a herd of cattle and some chickens.

It was his latest years that he spent the most time with his family. After his first heart attack he began to appreciate what he had. That was his gift. The heart attack taught him to appreciate what he had. From then on he was a new man. Grandaddy died at 67 years old. As Grandmother said, “He just woke up dead one morning.” I remember. Thanksgiving 1977.

Cancer is our gift. Consider this my first heart attack. Thank God I am getting it early in life.

Tara is still uncomfortable. The chemo is taking its toll on her body with side effects. Her gut has been a wreck for almost 2 weeks now. We pray that will end soon. Thank God though it is working on the cancer. And thank him for sustaining us and giving us peace.

My day was soooo not interesting, because I basically did nothing. I’d prefer to do something. But I don’t even know what I would like to do. We used to do a lot of stuff as a family, like help at Next Chapter, pack back packs at church, cook at home, have friends over and more. My parents were gone more in the evenings before cancer. Now we stay home a lot more. I notice most that my dad has been home more, and that is good. I have always had a lot of time with my mom. That hasn’t changed.

When I found out mom had cancer I had no idea what to think. I really didn’t know anything about it except it was bad. I did not like mom and dad crying because it made it all seem worse. I have a friend who also has cancer. I understand more how she feels. I now know what it is like to be in a family who has cancer.

Over the last few months, I have asked God a lot more questions about the world. How many people in the world have cancer? How many people struggle with different things, like poverty or sickness or other suffering? Out of those people, how many don’t know God? I haven’t come to any conclusions but I would like to somehow find out. I can’t say my faith has grown since my mom got cancer. But it hasn’t gotten worse either.

It seems like everyone is praying for us. My friends tell me they are praying for me and mom and I am grateful for that. A lot of people help us and I am overwhelmed by how great of a community we live in. I am excited for this to be over and our life to go back to kind of like it was before.

These are the thoughts of an 11 year old girl, the second oldest kid in the Maier family.

A chord is built with a triad of notes, typically the 1, 3 and 5 of a scale. For example, in the key of C, the major triad is C, E and G. You can add extra notes to change the sound of the chord. For example, you can add the major 7 of the chord to make it sound jazzy or the dominant 7 to make is sound bluesy. There are many of other notes or combinations of notes that can be added to change the sound of the chord that are equally impactful.

You can also change the main triad of notes to a minor (flat 3), diminished (flat 3 and 5), or augmented (sharp 5). And just like the major triad, you can add numerous other notes to change the sounds of these chords too. The chord possibilities are almost endless. And over these chords, melodies arise. Endless combinations of notes and rhythms. The same melody can even be played over different chords and sound quite different.

Music is a huge part of our home. One of the most impactful things I have seen happened in the first week that we found out Tara had cancer. I saw her sitting at the piano playing and singing Laura Story’s Blessings. It was a testament to where she was when we found out the news.

The melody of our life is no different than it was before. But the chords have changed. The building blocks of our song have shifted and it sounds quite different now. But trust me when I say the melody is the same. Even the lyrics are the same. It is a song we have been singing imperfectly our whole life. A song of broken dependence on God. Before we were broken for other things that didn’t seem as big, but they still made us broken and dependent.