Hard Times
Articles mainly about trials, suffering, illness, setbacks and how to endure difficult seasons.
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Grief at the Crossroads
Smoke hangs heavy in the Spokane air. I try to block out the images the ash or smoke represent.
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Hope or Optimism
Brene Brown shared a story of a POW survivor who said the first to die were the optimists. These were the “pie on the sky” people who believed freedom would happen by Christmas.
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Solved by Walking
I found my dad’s journal where he is wrestling with what procedures to choose for cancer.
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Singing Through the Sorrow
When I was young, my dad loved a song which began, “How can I say thanks for the things you have done for me, things so undeserved yet you proved to show your love for me.
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When Life Hurts
Have you been turned upside down? Or, perhaps, it really is right side up! In essence, that is what suffering does to us.
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I Will Be Happy If
There is a question I have been pondering during Holy Week. “I will be happy if ____________.” Early in my dad’s cancer journey, he would have placed his happiness dependent upon his cure.
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When despair comes
Dad loved the Ignatian spiritual exercises. He used them diligently to listen and discern God’s will in decision making. When in despair, Ignatian cautions not to change course or make decisions when experiencing hardship and difficulty.
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Good News
In my devotional, I was feeling sad when I opened an advent book by one of my favorite authors, Henri Nouwen.
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Merry Christmas
One Christmas Season, Dad felt at the apex of frustration with his stage four cancer diagnosis. Worn out and weary to the bone, he tried to navigate both the physical and emotional work of managing his pain.
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The Importance of Pain
One of the gifts my dad gave me was curiosity and the discipline to seek out the “why” of life. My dad understood the need for curiosity around complex issues and topics such as suffering and pain.
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Just the Right Time
In my walk as a Christian for many years, one of the biggest surprises to me is how consistent God is at surprising me when I feel the most need for Him.
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GAME ON – Win the Moment!
Basketball has taught me that victory comes when you bounce back from difficulty. Lifeball is a far tougher game to play than basketball. Psalm 100 is my bedrock to come back from a rough day.
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Dear Friends
Our scripture memory verse this past week was 1 Peter 4:12-13. It begins, “Dear Friends.” The words in Greek translates as “those who are beloved, deeply loved.” Who are these dear friends in your life?
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Difficulty
The NBC office staff and I are memorizing Romans 5:3-5. It is a powerful and counterintuitive passage.
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The Miracle of Hope
My dad loved his mother. She was the saving grace in a home full of pain and suffering. Her death profoundly influenced my dad. He became agnostic for a while because of it.
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Helpless Take Heart
Hope is helpful if you find yourself in a position much like myself, helpless take heart are words that speak loudly. This sun-filled, blue-sky May morning inspired these words gleaned from David in Psalm 33 and 34.
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My Last
I am in my 35th year of marriage. It is a lovely and loving time. We survived the first year of empty nesting after 27 years of children in the home. Now the house is very silent.
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Answered Prayer
My husband Shann wrote the libretto for an opera about the life of Zechariah and Elizabeth highlighting the human suffering of barrenness.
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Wintering
In Spokane, the winter strips the leaves from our deciduous trees. I notice without the garment of green, the trees appear gnarled and exposed. I think of this image as a metaphor for difficulty.
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The Miracle of Hope
I have been praying about a few life situations for a long time. It’s easy to begin to feel discouraged because there remains no answer.
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How to Live in a Broken World
It is a serious thing Just to be alive On this fresh morning In the broken world This poem by Mary Oliver brings me back to my center. What is required of me?
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It’s Only You
When life gets so hard, we seem to be in a place we cannot describe. In fact, we do want other people, but it seems to be ONLY YOU. Please let me explain.
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A Sacred Moment
I opened my office drawer for a notecard and found the one I selected was already written on in my dad’s handwriting. It’s a card with a beautiful tree on the front.
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Great Challenge Paves the Way for a Great Encounter
One of my friends says a powerful prayer when something difficult or challenging happens in her life or in the lives of those she prays for.
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A Time to Mourn
I am back writing Words of Hope for the remainder of the year. I took a lengthy break for several reasons. Mostly because I was sad. Grief is complex that way.
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Sacred Blue Prints When Life is Hard
God has been surprising me lately. I have been meditating on these verses, “Do not be anxious about anything but through prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” I have a section in my daily…
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Going Through
Sometimes, when I start to pray my mind wanders over the myriad of tasks I have for the day. Sometimes everywhere I turn, my mind is a space of anger and resentment.
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Beyond Crisis
I have been thinking about how crisis reveals truth. What does difficulty show about the underlying fabric of a home, marriage, business, or nation?
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Awakened
I met with a beautiful friend about grief . She asked me about my journey with Dad’s death and how it has affected me. “Like a major car wreck, like a life altering experience,” I explained.
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Facing the Unimaginable
My daughter is in her Freshman year at Pepperdine. This past week a group of senior girls were walking in a busy part of the pacific coast highway just four miles from Pepperdine when a young man lost…
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Having Faith Beyond Our Why
In our office there is a photo of my friend’s son who died recently in an accident. He is smiling and as I walk by, it looks like he is smiling at me.
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Let Your Heart Take Courage
With war stories and upsetting news, I believe the most powerful decision is to praise and pray. When we as followers of Christ become afraid, when we take our eyes off Jesus, we give fear power.
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Messages to Persevere
Sometimes, I write messages to myself when I am in the middle of a crisis. I keep them as reminders that this painful moment will pass.
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The Power of Weakness
Dad loved scripture. Memorization was a big part of our lives together. We would drive and pray scripture aloud. For example, we memorized 2 Corinthians 12:9-10.
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Psalm 20
One of the first passages we all memorized as a staff was Psalm 20. It’s my go-to passage for those in distress.
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What You Need When You Need It
We have a chalkboard with the “verse of the week” stenciled across the top hanging above the NBC Camps office sink.
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Setback to Comeback
I love the phrase, “A setback is a setup for a comeback.” I have been chanting this in my mind for the last few days. All the remarkable stories have this trajectory.
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Gratitude in Grief
Growing up my family had a daily ritual of reading Our Daily Bread every morning at the table. No matter who was staying or living at our home at the time, everyone participated.
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Time for Good News
I am often surprised by sorrow. I didn’t realize how many different shades of sadness I could experience. Small moments trigger me, and I am often triggered, especially when people say something to me about my dad.
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Good Friday
One of the gifts God has given me is a reframing of what I define as good. It’s been a long life lesson. I believe the disciples learned this lesson.
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Sifted
I have been meditating on a few lines I heard in my devotional about Peter and the devil. Jesus says, “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat.
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Brave the Wind
Driving through a beautiful college campus, I notice several ugly tree stumps in the middle of the landscaped meridian. They jut sideways with sharp points. I remember these trees.
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Tgbtg
Dad loved acronyms. He had a million different ones he used often. My newest favorite is from my brother Jay. He texted a response TGBTG which stands for To God Be The Glory.
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Enough
I have been reading my dad’s Words of Hope messages lately. I was surprised to find one in April of 2021 where my dad wrote, “My promise for 2021 is just to live in the reality that enough…
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At All Times
I have been meditating on the first part of Psalm 34:1, “I will bless the Lord at all times.” I consider the words, “at all times.” This is a topic Dad and I discussed often.
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Prepare When Life is Calm
a. Who is my mentor? Who can I call for wisdom and objectively wise counsel when I encounter a crisis next year? b. What are the character traits I want for my life in crisis?
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When Not If
I’ve written the blogs for NBC Basketball for almost twenty years now. In August 2019, I wrote the following blog—Are you prepared for the unexpected?
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What time is it?
My daughter traveled to Melbourne for her college roommate’s wedding. She left the afternoon of Christmas Eve because flights were astronomical any other time.
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The Temptation of Pain
Pain is tricky. It makes people uncomfortable. Pain can cause us to make the wrong decisions. I love the training of Ignatius of Loyola who cautions never to make decisions in our pain.
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Running the Race
I recently listened to the Pray as You Go app, and the scripture passage was from Hebrews.
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Time Intolerable
Grief continues to surprise me. The other night I missed Dad so much I just lay on my bed crying for a while. The pain of his loss felt like a sharp dagger.
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Delight in Difficulty
One of the hardest lessons I have learned is the discipline to delight in difficulty. Our NBC Central office team has been practicing this for almost 10 years, but it still is not easy or natural.
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Modern Day Pilgrim’s Progress
If you read my Dad’s Words of Hope you will see how much he cared for those going through depression or cancer.
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Energy Crisis
Dad and I often discussed energy. Navigating cancer requires tremendous energy expenditures, which results in less energy for other aspects of life.
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Joan of Arc Hope
I find Dad’s title, “Words of Hope,” so crucial during difficult times. I say difficult times because I feel a deep battle raging in the world — one between joy and despair, community and division, and peace and…
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Facing the Year of Fear
On March 11, 2020, we received news the March Basketball Tournament was closing. Games were canceled across the country. We met as a staff in the conference room for the last time.
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Caretaker
I asked Mom what she would like to say in Words of Hope as my Dad’s caretaker for over twelve years. I think caretaking might be even more grueling than having cancer.
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Essential Art
Last year we were in NYC to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of 9/11. We were with some friends who are artists. For me, art is truly the only way I can process tragedies.
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The Wisdom of Sorrow
I recently went to a memorial, and one of the main verses was Ecclesiastes 7:2. I took time to look at this verse in various translations.
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Suffering Observed
When my Dad was ill during the last weeks of his life, he mostly lay on his back. His cancer treatment medication caused him to gain weight rapidly through the 12-plus years he was on it.
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Back to Basics
When I feel the deep ache of loss and start feeling sad about Dad being gone, I go back to the fundamentals. I go back to the basics; Dad taught: solitude and gratitude.
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Acquainted with Grief
We are approaching the one-year anniversary of my Dad’s death. I can feel the sorrow rising in me. I am quick to tears; my bones feel heavy, and my sleep is more troubled.
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Sing Until the Miracle Comes
I keep a few old gratitude journals on my desk that I review from time to time. Today I read about an overnight trip my daughter Ari took with her class six years ago.
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Days of Plenty
My middle daughter, Ariana, is playing at the professional summer theatre in Coeur d’ Alene in Little Women the Musical.
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The Best Medicine
Shann is genuinely a happy person. He is cheerful, lighthearted, and never moody or depressed. He sings daily and is genuinely a joy to be married to.
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When Problems Compound
One of the great gifts from my Dad was the discipline to write each day in a gratitude journal. At NBC Camps, we say daily habits reveal our future success.
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The Anchor and the Cross
A friend of mine called me. Her daughter lost her fiancé in a devasting accident a few months before their wedding. This grief feels unbearable to me.
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Ego Dying
One thing I have been marveling at since my father’s death is the realization of grief. I feel I am awakening into the color of grief as distinguishable from despair, loneliness, and anguish.
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Light in the darkness
We watched an evocative movie the other day. It was a modern parallel of the road to Calvary.
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Contentment Mindset
When I think about the many things Dad taught me, contentment is one of the most crucial. Contentment is the state of living where we are peaceful and, for the moment, happy.
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Father Kolbe
Dad and I loved to read stories of inspiring people. One day, I felt sorry for myself and justified my frustration and irritation with life.
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Our Present Darkness
I am reading Czech writer Bohumil Hrabal’s novella, Too Loud a Solitude . Hrabal experienced not only the horrors of the Nazi occupation of Prague but also the dark years of communism under Soviet Russia.
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Next Steps
The news of Ukraine and Russia is everywhere, with images of war, suffering, and trauma. Just watching it is unsettling to a high degree. It can overwhelm.
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Tears of Christ
Watching the war in Ukraine has been devasting. The cruelty of Putin, the shocking images of destruction, the terror that feels palpable around the globe.
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Mumbai
Mumbai is a city of 28 million people. There were slums and poverty everywhere we went. People live in tin slabs with tar paper roofs and tarps on the hardened mud floors.
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Caesura Pause
I have been thinking about my Dad’s skills and gifts that I aspire to have in my life. One skill he had was the caesura pause.
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Shooting Star
When Dad lay dying, I told him he would soon get to spend time with Sojourner Truth one of our favorite people. We never met Sojourner Truth, but we knew her story, and it changed us.
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Pure Joy
The book of James says, “Consider it all joy my brethren when you encounter trials of various kinds.” Some translations say to consider trials, “pure” joy.
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Too Soon
I spoke to one of Dad’s lifelong friends from California. They expressed sorrow because they did not get to say goodbye in person to Dad. My dear friend from Hawaii said the same thing.
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Struggle
I looked back on my recent WOH and several begin with the words: Dad struggled. I find it important to consider unconscious repetition. The word struggle means to trample or to wrestle.
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Garment of Praise
Sorrow can feel like a heavy shroud. I sometimes feel suffocated by it if I allow my mind to think of no more time with Dad, no more calls, no more chats by the fire, or surprise trips.…
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The God of All Comfort
My Dad believed fully in Christ and in His resurrection power. He did not fear death but trusted implicitly in the message that the dead in Christ shall be raised.
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The Decision of Gratitude
Dad asked our family to be with him when he first received the news he might have cancer. We gathered around the kitchen table to wait with him when the hospital called with his results.
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Lean Back
A song comforting me during this painful loss of my Dad has been “Lean Back,” written by Tony Brown, Chris Mcclarney, Nate Moore, and Amanda Lindsay Cook.
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God supplies our Needs
God shall supply ALL my needs?! What a sentence! Do I live like I believe this? I know this is something Dad wrestled with for a long time.
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The God of Hope
Several people reached out to me after the Words of Hope in which I shared not being able to hear Dad’s voice on the voice message I saved. I wanted to follow up on that story.
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The Discipline of Prayer
Dad died two months ago. It feels like it just happened and conversely that it happened long ago. Dad’s 12 year battle with cancer carried so many thoughts and questions about when his time would be up.
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Be Anxious for Nothing
I opened up Dad’s journal from 1987 recently. The year I survived a severe car accident on my way to school.
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Right Here Right Now
Dad loved to do crazy things, like two-footed hops down the middle of main street Disneyland or teach strangers how to laugh or practice his Qi Gong breathing technique in a crowded elevator.
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Myelin Protects Hope
You must build hope, for the day will come when it is desperately needed! Myelin is a coating that covers your circulatory neurons. Every time you perform a skill, you are creating myelin.
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Three Stages of Life
In the early days, a baby spends the vast majority of time in a crib. The middle years of life are spent grinding it out for the accumulation of stuff.
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Have or Have Nots
This is the ultimate difference between contentment and discontentment. Contentment is living in abundance. Discontentment is living in scarcity.
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Life Is Hard
“Once we admit life is hard, it is no longer difficult.” – Scott Peck It baffles me when people; notably Fred Crowell, think we deserve an easy life.
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Good News – Great News
The Apostle James encourages us to consider trouble when it comes our way, to be an opportunity for great joy.
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The Climb
When we stop climbing, facing the challenges life presents every day, we lose our mission and purpose . For the toddler, the climb is learning to stand and then walk.
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3 Pills, Big Job
Approximately 160 men with metastatic prostate cancer are counting on three (3) daily pills to give them a few more good days on this earth, celebrating each new day.
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Crowellians Chapter 1
Greeting from Fred Crowell! This letter from Fred to all who have a special place in my heart.
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Death Moment(s)
KEY STATEMENT: If you have experienced a death moment you are never the same. If you have not experienced a death moment, be prepared because you will likely have a death moment experience.
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Clinical Trials
After 12 days with my new Medical Trial by UCLA, I now more fully understand why it is called a Clinical Trial. It is because the prescribed drug is on trial.
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99.9% vs. 100%
“Fred, how do you do it? How do you have such peace and joy going through the challenges you are facing? Four times in the past few days, this has been the question asked of me.
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God Is Good… Always
The giant enemy of the human spirit is self-pity! Years ago, one dark emotional day at an NBC Camps clinic for the Tulalip Indian Reservation in Washington, the self-pity engine engaged my mind.
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My Hope
My dear friends, I write this Word of Hope from Cabo, San Lucas. This is a wonderful place, especially when Spokane is experiencing bitter coldness – still winter!
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Heavy Heart Therapy
Imagine a valentine heart shape burdened with a heavy backpack running to jump and clear a high bar.
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Fridays With Fred
I am writing to all who call Fred Crowell brother and friend. I want you to know I love and appreciate you.
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2021 Letter from Fred
WARMEST GREETINGS TO MY DEAR FAITHFUL FRIENDS: The year 2020 had the earmarks of a very unique year. For too many, it was the worst of years, especially financially.
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Hard Teacher – Dirty Grader
It may be impossible to escape life without some Hard Teachers and Dirty Graders. Life is hard until you realize it; then it is no longer hard. – Scott Peck, Road Less Traveled.
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How to Make Hope Work for You
This Word of Hope is written to my hero Mike. He is responding to a fellow employee who has just been given a cancer diagnosis. In this respect, HOPE is our ANCHOR! It is not dormant.
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Two Choices – We Get Bitter or We Get Better
God’s mercy is for everyone. “And so dear brothers and sisters, ‘I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all He has done for you.
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The Triple A’s
Adversity – Abundance – Appreciation Is it possible to go through life without adversity? Are learning valuable life lessons possible without adversity? In your life experience, how has adversity shaped you?
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Crowell’s Irrevocable Law of the Broken Plate
A broken plate! Imagine the pain a mother experienced when her young child dropped one of her most precious treasures. It was a special plate received from her mother.
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Thanksgiving Week
In 1863, because of the Army victory at Gettysburg during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln declared a national Thanksgiving holiday for every succeeding November.
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Hope Does Not Disappoint
The best experience in life is simply living, breathing, loving people, delighting in God’s creation, and earth as our Disneyland. Life is a blessing! Yet, one of the worst experiences in life is a disappointment .
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Door of Hope
Anytime the word “HOPE” appears in writing, my eyes light up! It is my inspiration! It became my go-to word when cancer knocked at my door.
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Leave Magic Wherever You Go
Something incredibly positive has happened during my 10-year journey of over 250 oncology appointments. As always, ATTITUDE is the difference-maker in all of life experiences, cancer being no exception.
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Hang Tight to Hope
HOPE IS REAL ANTICIPATION IN A VERY TOUGH AND DIFFICULT WORLD. Hope is our medicine for depression, failure, discouragement, illness, broken dreams. Hope is the cure for dark days when it seems life really sucks.
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Hinds Feet
Difficulties and troubles in this world often cause us to cry out unthinkingly for help to be strong, brave, and invincible.
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Certain Path to Peace
With many mental parts moving about in the “Crowell Cooker” today, I wonder how do I find peace where there is so much pain in our world, both micro and macro?
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Letter to Fred
Good morning, Freddy J. Crowell. The immediate, direct question needing an answer is: How are you?
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Words of Hope
Hi Robert – Bobby MAC, Good news and bad news The self-therapy letter to myself details the good news. Read on. Dear Freddy J, Good morning, best friend. Hope with God’s hope you are enjoying today.
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Crowell Cancer War Report
Greetings dear WOH friends, Daily words of hope with Fred Crowell was inspired out of my need to fight cancer with firm resolve and a never-quit attitude. Cancer became a friend, not a foe.
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What Do You Say When There Is No Hope?
These past few days people have asked me questions that are extremely difficult. There doesn’t seem to be a helpful answer. Five years ago Bill Brick and I became friends for eternity.
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Crowell’s War on Cancer
“Cancer cannot steal my joy, rob me of hope, or destroy my love for life and people.” The past decade has been some of the best years of my life.
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Dear Fellow Cancer Fighters:
This morning the candle is lit here in my home office. Prayers for your courage, faith, and hope have been offered to our loving Heavenly Father in the glorious name of Jesus.
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Without God, Without Hope
With bold confidence, strong conviction, passion, and compassion, I, Fred Crowell, proclaim without God and His hope, I have no firepower to beat cancer, nothing but anger about CV-19, and deep sorrow for the current hardships facing the…
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Prepare for Battle
Today you and I are at war! The battle is raging and seeking to destroy us! There are forces who oppose us! Do you know your enemies? If not, I urge you to identify them.
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Mind Management Self-discipline
There was a time in my life I detested all pain. It was to be avoided at all costs. Certainly nothing good about it! Yet I discovered it could not be avoided.
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It Is Well with My Soul
One of my most favorite songs is “It Is Well with My Soul.” The lyrics are what I need, sometimes several times a day.
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Hope Wins, Cv-19 Loses
When fear grows in me at the least unexpected time (now concerning CV-19), I go to my secret place, my secret garden.
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Whatever Happened to Crazy?
One of the funniest comedians Jay Crowell and I enjoy is Chris Rock. In one of his monologues he makes his famous toothy, wide-eyed look; then declares, “Whatever happened to crazy?” It so fun; so good to laugh.…
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Coach Crowell’s Gratitude Story
The year 1999 is the year the gratitude story began. The world was in disarray. Brilliant minds predicated the world economy was going to collapse because the world of technology was not equipped to deal with a new…
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Dwell Together in Unity
The world’s pandemic has forced isolation upon us with a heartless vengeance. This isolation for the vast majority of Americans changed our lives in dramatic ways; some positive; some negative.
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Pain – Friend or Foe
Is it possible to get through life without experiencing pain? Seems every story has an element of pain in the narrative. Let’s imagine being able to be totally pain-free. Wow! Awesome – sounds wonderful.
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NBC Camps Delivers Hope
A great high school coach told me many years ago, “If NBC had a finger painting class my 3 children would be there.
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Dry up! Game On!
“When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” I’m reminded of a time when my fourth graders were playing for the city championship.
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Out of Egypt
This Words of Hope blog is especially for those who are experiencing hardship or helping another who is experiencing hardship, feeling defeated.
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Not My Plan
“The steps of a man are established by the Lord; when he delights in His way…” – Psalm 37 Children are remarkably amazing.
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Dear, Crowell Words of Hope Team
My dream of Hope is realized in, helping me, help you , help others. One of the most hopeless feelings is to lack the resources to help one in need or have them refuse to listen and receive…
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Pain Produces Change
No discipline seems pleasant at the time but later on, however, it produces a fruit of righteousness for those who are trained by it.
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The Crowell Beat Cancer Game Plan
This is my personal game plan for dealing with cancer. It is working! My HOPE is it can work for you as you face your possible insults, difficulties, hardships, and persecutions. FROM ST.
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A Special Rest
“So, there is a special rest still waiting for the people of God.” My beloved Susie asked me an elegant question last week.
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Consolation & Desolation
“At any given moment you are either in consolation or desolation.” – St. Ignatius of Loyola The idea of “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” speaks to the fact that two people do not necessarily see…
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How high is high? How low is low?
Unless you know how low is low, knowing how high is high is not possible. My life experience tells me rock bottom is the low of lows. It is impossible to go lower than rock bottom.
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Greater Than Science
The doctors told me I had less than single digit chances to survive the dreaded Whipple pancreatic surgery. My medical team was extraordinary. Medical science could offer me less than 10% success.
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All Things Principle
When I study the lives of Joseph, Esther, David, Job, Daniel, Jonah, Mary the mother of Jesus, John the Baptist, Andrew, Peter, Paul, and other Biblical characters, I see an “ All Things Principle .” When I study…
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Survive or Surrender
When tragedy or misfortune strikes there are two choices. The most difficult choice is to survive. The least painful way is to surrender. WIND RIVER it’s a movie based on a true story.
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Radical Challenges, Radical Choices
In our world, a challenge becomes a need for meaningful exploration. It becomes incredibly important. The late Dr. Scott Peck, psychiatrist, also saw it as perhaps a difficulty. He wrote: “Life is difficult.
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The Silent Yet Deadly Unseen War, Part 2
Each morning in Africa, the lion and tiger wake up hungry. They spend their day hunting for a good meal.
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Hang on to Hope
Saint Ignatius trained his Jesuit priests to be aware of and to recognize the difference between consolation and desolation.
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Finding Hope in a Corrupt World, Part 2
The present world problems do not create anger, vengeful talk, bitterness and aggression in me. This is unlike so many others today. Why? Because I have HOPE as the anchor to my soul.
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Finish Strong
“Work hard and continue to struggle.” – Timothy Last week a friend sent me a text with this question, “Why do we have to struggle?” Honestly, my first thought was, “why should we not have to struggle?” This…
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Beating the Big C History
Very high chances, you have a person in your life who is fighting MR. C, the dirty player Cancer.
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The Defeat to Victory Factor
Former NBC Camps student-athlete Jay Huff on April 8th helped the Virginia Cavaliers win the collegiate men’s basketball national championships in Minneapolis. This past season he was ranked as the #15 power forward in the nation.
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Home Base (Plate)
“The day basketball season ended, my second love, baseball began. Throwing strikes was my passion.” – Fred Where do you go mentally and or physically when life seems to be sucking the air out of you?
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Existential Diagnosis of Self-love, Part 3
How does Self-Love work in the midst of a crisis? This is how it works for me. On January 3, 2014, Dr. Anthony showed me my Pet Scan results.
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Beg and Plead, Part 2
PURIFICATION, HEALTH, ENERGY, ALIVENESS, PASSION . It seems impossible to experience these five miracle life skills if the body is in poor health. Again, it starts with the body.
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The Plain Pain Truth
Mother speaking to her distraught daughter says, “Sorry, honey we can’t teach pain to stop hurting.” A little boy falls in the bathtub; cuts his forehead; cries out, “Stop the pain, mommy, I’ll be good!” The Pain Truth…
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Broken but Not Beaten
A business partner emailed me this week with these words, “You could never fail me–you have already won.” Of course, this was music to my ears and joy to my heart.
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Tstvs-life Savings Letters
5 letters to memorize in this order T = TAKE S = SUICIDE T = THREATS V = VERY S = SERIOUSLY Take Suicide threats very seriously!
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Extreme Dislike or Strong Distrust, Part III
To me, desperate times need our desperate action . It seems possible when we righteously hate something evil, we gain power and energy to fight the enemy.
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Comfortable in the Uncomfortable
Being comfortable in uncomfortable circumstances is an oxymoron. It is a contradiction… or is it? Basketball coaching helped me understand this oxymoron and complex life paradigm.
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Too Much Suffering, Part 2
Suffering shows itself in many different ways: pain, distress, hardship, defeat, loss, damage, illness, injury. Often life is “worse” because of being badly affected by an experience.
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Too Much Suffering, Part I
Hardly a day goes by without someone telling me of their intense suffering. Most recent examples are: An Alaskan village friend sharing about a murder in a neighboring village.
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Man on a Mission
Get out of my way if you don’t want to be loved; if you don’t want to receive kindness, if you don’t want to be told over and over again that you are a miracle if you don’t…
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Body Truth – Heart Truth
The skill to know when the body and the mind are telling us the truth is equally important as knowing when the body and the mind are telling us a lie.
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Sweep “It”under the Rug
The “ IT ” can be dust and dirt; depression, anger, resentment, bitterness, addictions, and even suicide. The thinking is: If you don’t see the problem,“ IT ” will go away.
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From Now On
Movies are delightful experiences for the Crowell – Ferch families. Recently we watched Hugh Jackman star in the life story of PT Barnham. THE GREATEST SHOWMAN is in the top five 2017 money makers.
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Isabella
At age 6 Isabella declared, “Papa you have to live long enough to see my first baby born, but not my second one.” Bella and her two sisters, Natalya and Ariana, have been encouragement/oxygen for me in the…
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Be Strong, Be Brave
In the wee hours of this morning, it seemed crystal clear the challenge before me is to be strong & brave. I expected Matthew 14 to have a teaching point for me on forgiveness. Not so!
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Son, Stand Up!
A father, with a soft hand on his son’s shoulder, whispered, “Son, stand up,” as they watched the son’s wife of 40 years being lowered in her casket to her grave.
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The Bad Ol’ Days
Newsflash, history repeats itself. In my lifetime I’ve never seen the world in such terrible shape as it is today. I fear for our future.
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Crowell Wins Cancer Loses
Crowell 99.9. Cancer 0.1 My dedicated oncologist gave the Crowell’s this news. These are the best scores you have had in 3 years. The drugs are doing their job.
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It’s Gonna Be Alright
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
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Church This Morning
This is where I am having church this morning. A cup of coffee. Beautiful Sea of Cortez. An opportunity to pray. This is what’s on my mind today: Pray, give thanks in all things.
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Life Is Not an Accident
“The motorcycle crash that nearly killed me taught me how to live; to be a better person.” – Jay Williams At a management conference, I was asked this question.
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75Th Celebration
March 18 is always a special day in the Crowell’s life. Mom wanted her Saint Patrick’s Day boy to be named after Ireland’s Patron Saint Patrick. Dad wanted the name Frederic after his dad.
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True Grit
“People can see the size of your body but no one can see the size of your heart.” March madness is the time for basketball.
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Basketball – Madness
“The game I love can be so cruel” -F. Crowell Basketball became the love of my life in fourth grade. Anacortes, Washington, a small town on Fidalgo Island was a hotbed for good basketball.
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Hello My Hero!
Four words, Needed this….my struggle! From early morning hours to nearly lunch time no words for Daily Words of Hope with Fred came to my mind. Susie encouraged me to wait and let it happen.
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Be Brave Letter
“If you want to be brave do brave things.” Early in the dark silence of a new day, my mind thinks; my heart suffers for a beautiful, kind, gentle, strong, wife and mother in the loving village I…
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Pain Produces Change
Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory He will reveal to us later.
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P+f+e+pc = Success
True success is how far you are able to rise above the place of beginning. If you start at zero and end up at 10 you are a true success.
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Stops and Starts
When the going gets tough, stick with the game plan. As I was reading the letter to the Philippians today, I observed Paul encountering STOPS. Stops can create negative emotions. Each stop demands a new start.
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It Is Well with My Soul
“A life lesson in being an over-comer not under-comer” Saturday in Spokane is a lazy day for me. Lazy means I don’t have important tasks for NBC.
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Stories – Three Principles
The Pain Principle. The David Principle. The Mephibosheth Principle. The Biblical story of two men, David and Mephibosheth, which depicts the pain principle so well; can be found in both Hollywood and life stories.
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Bang! What Happened?
A missile projectile, called a Dodge Charger, ran through a stop light smashing into Susie Crowell’s car.
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The Agony of Defeat
“The thrill of victory is worth the risk of the agony of defeat.” – Mike Tauriainen, civil engineer, former Crowell player at UAF. Spokanites are grieving Gonzaga’s heart breaking give away loss to Syracuse.
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Words You Don’t Want to Hear; You’re Fired!
March Madness is not only about the NCAA Basketball Tournament. It is also about the madness in firing of coaches!
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You Just Got Crowelled
Scott Rueck, sensational women’s basketball coach at Oregon State coined “ Got Crowelled .” Scott was a master coach at an NBC Camp in Hawaii a few years ago.
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More Than Conquerors – Romans 8
“Death where is thy victory? Where is thy sting?” 1 Corinthians 15:55 David Tucker Story My beloved friend is on his final journey to have victory over death.
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Breaking News 0001 A.d.
JUDAS HANGS HIMSELF- a lesson in self-destruction. Matthew 27 Breaking news October 2015 Violent man guns down people in Oregon college. He hung others and himself with a gun!
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Red Skies in the Morning
“The art of changing foul days to blue sky days” MATTHEW 17 500 years ago a young Spanish soldier led his troops to battle against France. A cannon ball ripped between his legs, one being severely injured.
