This month’s MRI was not the news we had been hoping for. Seems that what had been working as far as my chemo treatments with Temozolomide is no longer working and I’ve got growth in a few spots. I’m going to be going in for surgery this Friday to do what we can to treat those spots, as well as collecting a biopsy of the affected tissue so we can see what the pathology is of this new growth that is somehow different from what we’ve been treating up to this point. My oncologist says emphatically that we still have options available to us, but it’s definitely bad news. Health update, June 17, 2 ..read more

Thank you so much all of you who have been praying for me on this difficult journey of fighting brain cancer. So much goes into the fight to surrender, which sounds like an oxymoron –how do you “fight to surrender“? Hopefully you all know what I mean. It’s not easy, but I choose every day to believe that God is good and his plan for me I trust. I often think about Jesus and the level of trust required to go all the way to the cross. Every day I pray the Lord’s prayer of surrender to God, “YOUR will be done” I think about Jesus’ prayer on the night of his betrayal and his own prayer “not my wil ..read more

I have been greatly enjoying the Bible Project podcast for many years and they are in the midst of spending a year going slowly through the Sermon on the Mount. Today and last week on the podcast we have come to the part of the sermon that contains the “Lord’s prayer,” a framework for prayer I have been using for my own devotional times for many years. The breadth and depth to be found in this prayer continues to amaze me and it really is a forming prayer – it helps form our hearts to be in the right place, our mental focus to be on the right things. I might spend an hour going through it, pra ..read more

I shared this song many years ago in this space but since we just sang it at church yesterday (it tied into my sermon “Worth the Wait”) I thought I would post it here today. John 13-17, also knows as “the upper room discourse” contain some of my favorite teachings of Jesus, where even though the disciples faced forthcoming times of uncertainty, Jesus reassures them, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 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? And if I go and prepare a ..read more

“What was I made for?” the Barbie movie, Grammy-award-winning song asks? (I got to accompany my daughter singing that song a month or so ago for our annual Women’s Day, by the way, what fun! And what a great song.) What was I made for? Why am I here? As I grapple with the deepest questions of life right now, already surviving past the typical glioblastoma patient at my stage, this is something I think about every day. I want every moment to count. I want to accomplish what I was put here to do. Why am I here? In a word, “worship.” Worship is what I was made for (Isaiah 43:21). Worship You My ..read more

“See As a Child” Lyric Video Recorded in 2001, remastered in 2024. This song is about stripping away the spiritual clutter and getting back to what is most essential, seeing God with trust and innocence like a child. It was written back in 2000 as I was going through major life transition, leaving my 6 year career in marketing and product management for an uncertain future in full-time ministry. Now 24 years later I wanted to re-release the song as I have been reflecting on new changes in life. More about writing the song here ..read more

Here’s a little bit about my daughter Cora Craig’s song “Realize” from her new album, “Stay Right Here.” I love this whole album. What a joy to get to work on this project while going through my recovery from brain surgery at the beginning of last year. (I am so glad music was something I could still work on when there were many other things I was unable to do.) I love the struggle to surrender in the message of this song, ultimately choosing to trust: …the foundation has been laid, help me understand and live that way. Story behind the song “Realize” Realize Lyric Video ..read more

Last week I posted a new song about the epic cosmic struggle we are in as people of faith (and I shared personally about my present health battle). I was encouraged that the song generated a big positive response and heard about some groups singing the song already! Here is a lyric video version, suitable for online worship service or groups that use lyric videos for worshiping in smaller gatherings or ministries that don’t have live musicians. God bless ..read more

I’m in my own holy battle right now with the forces of chaos that attack my very body and brain. Fighting cancer is difficult to say the least, but it helps me when I daily choose surrender. Choose to trust my Creator along my journey and frame my own struggles within the greater cosmic battle over death that I believe has already been won. The forces of evil rejoiced as the Son of Man was brutally tortured and killed, all the fury of the Chaos Dragon focused wholly upon him (Rev 12:12). But death could not hold him. He rose from the grave, he gave us his name, and a Great Commission. No matte ..read more

I love to use this space for sharing original songs written by other disciples in my church family, and today I’d like to share a catchy and upbeat song by the campus ministry leader for the Guam Christian Church called “You Are God.” This song seems super fun and easy to learn. Please try it out, and if you can send me a recording of your group singing it, send it to me and I’ll add it to this post. Below are the lyrics and the chords you will see on the video. I like how the song first focuses on who God is (v.1) and then my response to who God is in terms of personal devotion (v.2) and spre ..read more