With so many others today, I find myself reflecting in awe at the life of Senator John McCain. I never knew the Senator personally, but I find myself deeply attached to him, so much so that I cried myself to sleep after hearing the news of his passing.  My reaction stems from my connection to the Senator, not a political connection, not a familial one, but one deeply personal to me.  We both were drafted into a war—one I did not care to be in.  Not Vietnam, but a war against Glioblastoma (GBM), an aggressive brain cancer.  The Senator and ..read more

One day, my college women’s bible study decided to meet in the lounge of my dorm, where I happened to be studying.  Their topic for that week was on Heaven and Hell.  As I eavesdropped, I heard one of the students say, “I think I’m good enough to get into Heaven.”  The rest of the students gave a little chuckle.  But, I was deeply disturbed.  Did not one of these young women know about grace and that you cannot work your way into Heaven?  Should I interrupt and explain to them what the Bible actually says on this issue?  Sadly, I did not.  Instead, I “ch ..read more

This afternoon, I finished the first book on my nephew’s summer reading list for homeschool. A Gathering of Days, by Joan W. Blos, is a journal following a young girl’s life in New England for 17 months.  I realized that it was about 17 months ago, that doctors discovered a lime-sized tumor in my brain.  One line from the book reads: “And that is what life is all about—changes going on every minute, and you never know when something begins where it’s going to take you.” The book proceeds to follow this young, courageous Catherine through changes in her world—the remarriage of her Fat ..read more

       Have you ever felt prompted or felt an irresistible urge to do something that you know is coming from the Lord?  If you are like me, you have felt this many times during the course of your life.  If you are like me, you have also followed this prompting—at times—and ignored it—at many other times. This prompting is the Holy Spirit speaking to us, usually because God wants to do something meaningful.  Learning to discern the prompting of the Holy Spirit and then obeying God is a discipline in our Christian faith that is as challenging as it is critical ..read more

Remarks by Jeanneane Maxon Thank you Frank. President Akande, Board of Trustees, faculty, fellow bluejays; I am honored and proud to be here with my fellow awardees Alan, Bob, John, Neil, Greg, and Scott. I am so impressed with your accomplishments and honored to be a fellow alum.  Especially you Scott, because yesterday I realized that when I graduated from Westminter you were probably still in middle school. The day I learned I was to receive this award, that had just resigned from my position at Americans United for Life because of unbearable headaches.  We didn’t know until two m ..read more

  Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea--Psalm 46:2 (NIV) In preparation for the prayer event on Thursday for my healing from brain cancer, I am providing this background per my friend David Heatherly’s request.  For those of you who don’t know me well, I hope this gives you more insight into who I am as person. Before I even start, I must acknowledge that so many people have gone through worse things. For me, loosing my baby nephew Elijah to a heart condition in 2004 was more painful than anything I’m experiencing ..read more