Beating Cancer

"Mimi" with granddaughter Kaylea

This week our family found out that my mother has cancer throughout her body. Thus far I’ve been able to gather that there is cancer in her lungs, liver, and spine. The thought keeps running through my mind that she could not be with us very much longer. I’m bewildered and confused. I’m not scared about what will happen to me once she’s gone. For that matter, I’m not scared about what will happen to her once she’s gone; I’m confident that she will be warmly welcomed in the arms of our Lord Jesus. She has done nothing extraordinary except serve others extraordinarily well in the name of love and the Lord. As the oldest sibling in a broken family she served as a mother to her younger sisters and brother before she became a mother to my brother and I. She has always sacrificed her time and comforts for those she loves, and sometimes those she barely even knows.

What I am scared of is watching her suffer. I know my mom will fight this to the bitter end because that is her nature. She has whipped cancer once before (23 years ago) and she is planning on beating it again. But to beat cancer again she’s going to have to endure much suffering.

But even more than this, what I fear is how my children will remember her. Will they understand what a remarkable person she was? Will they even remember her at all?

I’m also a little bit scared about how my dad will respond when this is all through. He has depended on her for so much throughout the years and has often, as we all have, taken all the little daily tasks that she does for granted.

I pray that God will grant her the strength to overcome cancer for a second time, and that we can all be the support we need to be for her throughout this fight.

There are three stages in the work of God: Impossible; Difficult; Done. – Hudson Taylor

 

Contact Church

The Dixon Heritage Campground was blessed with the presence of Contact Church of Christ members out of Tulsa OK this weekend. It was truly a labor of love. They came and gave us their time, the use of their tools and skills, their sweat, and a whole lot of encouragement. Brother Ron Babbit brought a crew of a dozen or so men and they worked from dawn ’til dusk on Saturday. In their labor they completed an amazing amount of work. They built an overhang to go over the boys end of the bathhouse, a bleacher/stairway for the front of the bathhouse, cleared at least two miles worth of trails of limbs and debris that had grown up or fallen due to the ice storm we experienced the winter before last, and they cleaned out all the bordering fence rows of the campground itself. Awesome work Contact Brothers! I can’t wait for this summer’s S.O.S camp where we get to work and worship together again! Here are a few pictures from the weekend. Love you all! God Bless!

Fuel for our tractor driver – Shaun

Steve helping clear the trails

Erwin Croney fueling the B Farmall

Ron Babbit happy at work

Jason looks on at the progress

Ron and Steve help Mom with the clean-up after a “home-cooked” meal

Greg w/ a pole saw clearing a trail

Confusion in the camp – “He did it”

Randy “Tree” giving support to the process

Jamie Dixon – Supervisor Extraordinaire

Mike helping move lumber

 

The Marine Mantra

Session 1 of the 2010 Wilderness Running Camp got off to a rough start with 3 storm cells hitting us on our first day. Registration for the camp began about 3:05 on Sunday July 11, and at 3:10 we were hammered with a torrential down pour. Amidst this heavy dose of rain was sharp lightning that flashed and crashed all around us. After about 20 minutes this storm cell moved on, but the rain stayed for quite a bit longer.  We got about a 5 hour window between the first two storms that allowed us to finish registration, run, and get supper served. Camping is difficult in rainy weather, particularly when your stuff is soaked before you even have a chance to set up your tent, which was the case with most of our campers. I witnessed the group from Kansas City come in on their chartered bus, have to unload all their belongings in the down pour, and then watch their bus driver wave at them through his windshield wipers as he slung gravel and mud up behind him.

The second storm to move in that night was worse than the first. Supper was interrupted for this one. While the campers were in the safety of some camp buses a giant tree limb fell across one group’s tent and another small tree was knocked over onto a counselor’s car.

After this storm blew through we went back to camp business and listened to our evening speaker, Tim Nixon (who delivered a fabulous presentation, as always). Following this presentation campers departed to their tents just before a third hard rain struck again. This rain sent a stream of water through  a gully that traveled directly through one set of camper’s tent and kept much of the campers awake most of the night either due to noise, damp bedding, or fighting to keep belongings dry. The rains raised the North Fork river to such a dangerously high level that the next day all the boys tents had to be moved to higher ground in anticipation of the next rain, which came last night, although it wasn’t as heavy.

However, through all this I haven’t heard one camper moan, groan, or complain. These are all teenagers mind you, the age bracket that has so perfected the art of moaning and groaning and making excuses that many think of this behavior as cool, and our culture has perceived it as scientifically natural. But many of these kids and all but one of the coaches are repeat campers. They have heard and bought into Coach Wooden’s 2 sets of 3 rules that Coach Dixon repeats often throughout the running camp – Don’t whine, Don’t complain, Don’t make excuses. Never lie, Never cheat, Never steal.

The Marine’s mantra is: Assess, improvise, and overcome. That is exactly what this group of campers have done. They have made the best of a bad situation.  What has been some of our worst conditions ever in this 21st annual Wilderness Running Camp could have made for our worst camp ever, but instead it has shown the quality of individuals that come to this camp.

 

Oh, The Places You’ll Go

I’m ashamed that it has taken me so long to write this post. I haven’t been self-disciplined in making time to write daily, so even the greatest of news has went unpublished. But I could not be more proud to announce the birth of my son and the first Dixon grandson of Coach Joe Bill Dixon: Joe Bill (Joby) Gunter Dixon.

Joby was born at 1:54 PM June 19, 2010 in the Ozarks Medical Center in West Plains, MO. He weighed 7 lb. 7 oz. and was 20 inches long. I have read Dr. Seuss’ Oh, The Places You’ll Go shortly after the birth of each of my children because it captures the essence of my feelings at that time. I can’t help but wonder about their future. There is so much potential in a new life. There are so many paths that can be taken – good and bad. The book brings these thoughts to life, but it ends with a positive message and a challenge – a challenge to move mountains. There’s no telling what  a newborn babe can accomplish in his lifetime. Think of all the good that his hands and his mind can do, if he chooses to. And herein lies the intimidating factor about parenting. We can’t always make our children’s decisions. It is scary to think about the responsibility that a parent has to, not only protect, and nourish a weak and helpless baby, but also to guide the innocent life down the narrow road of righteousness.

However, I am thrilled that God has blessed me with such a challenge.

Proud Daddy with baby Joby

 

Doing our Duty

“So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.'”

-Jesus (Luke 17:10)

I have watched a total of maybe 1 NBA game this year, until the Finals. I have enjoyed watching 4 of the 5 finals games this year for two main reasons. One, it’s the Celtics vs. Lakers – NBA doesn’t get any better than that, and the Celtics have been my favorite team since I was a little boy watching Larry Bird make opponents look silly with his skill and tenacity. The second reason is that I have been able to watch 3 of the games with my Dad. We use to get the whole family around the tv to watch Bird’s Celtics, and that seems to be an impossibility now, but Dad’s comments about the games were the ones I always loved hearing the most anyway, so at least I get to watch these games with him now. Dad has taught me so much about life through sports both as a participant and a spectator. I still long for his teachings and nuggets of wisdom that he drops every so often.

One stark difference in the players from the Bird era (80’s) and today’s players. The bulk of players today beat their chest and yell to the crowd about how great they are for doing a routine play that the coach and all the fans in the crowd expected them to do anyway. And if the player does something out of the ordinary like make a last second shot then the show is on. I saw Glen “Big Baby” Davis perform a little dance like he had just scored a touchdown after he was fouled on a made put-back.  In stark contrast I remember Larry Bird making a last second game-winning 3 pointer from the corner against the Lakers, falling into the stands and then getting up, smiling, giving a teammate a high-five as he trotted into the locker room. He acted as if he knew he was going to do that, as if it was just part of his job description. And in reality it was. He was the superstar and people expected him to make those shots, he expected to make those shots, and he didn’t try to draw attention to himself for simply doing his duty. That’s why people loved him.

I’m rooting for the Celtics because I’m a loyal fan (I even wore Celtic’s hats and clothing during the late 90’s and early 00’s) but I’m not real fond of the modern Celtics because of this fact.

Do your duty without trying to draw attention to yourself, in the long run, this is much more attractive.

 

Jim Ryun

In the history of United States distance running there is no bigger name than Jim Ryun. My Dad, Mom and I had an unbelievable experience last night of not only seeing him speak, but also visiting with him for about an hour after his presentation. What an experience!

Pastor Cordie Wimberly, a former coach at Houston high school and long time friend of Dad’s, called and invited him to his church to hear Jim Ryun speak. Dad graciously accepted the invitation and, fortunately, invited me to go along.  After the presentation Pastor Wimberly invited us to go to a Pizza Hut and visit with himself and Jim Ryun.

In telling my 7th grade students about my experience I asked them how many had heard of Jim Ryun before. Not one kid raised a hand. I wasn’t really shocked, just a little disappointed. I had to relate to them that this is a man who has been on the cover of Sports Illustrated 8 times, that in the 60’s and 70’s he was the biggest name in any sporting arena. He was our nation’s first major international superstar outside of the boxing world, every bit as well-known and popular to the world as Michael Jordan was during his prime. Roger Bannister, by breaking the 4:00 minute barrier created the majesty and beauty in the mile, but Jim Ryun perfected a dominance in the mile run that has never been matched again. Of all my sports heroes ( and I have many) that I feel would be cool to meet Jim Ryun would have been at the very top of the list.

Even though Jim Ryun was through running by the time I was born I have heard a lot about him all my life through stories that my Dad has related to me. Dad was in high school himself whenever Jim Ryun became the first high school athlete to ever run a 4:00 minute mile so he followed his career with great admiration.  I could tell that Dad was a little starstruck over the whole situation as well.

Pastor Wimberly took some pictures of us with Jim Ryun so when he sends those to me I will post those and talk about a little bit of the wisdom that Jim Ryun passed along to us.

 

Introducing coachdixon.net

It is finally here. May Day (May 1, 2010) brought the birth of coachdixon.net. I hope everyone will get a chance to check out the new website and that you can find some good information that is useful to you on the site.

My number one goal of the site is to preserve the legacy of Coach Dixon and the Zizzer cross-country and Track and Field tradition for posterity; so I hope that many of you, whether a former Zizzer, or Wilderness Running Camp camper, or fellow coach will be willing to share your Coach Dixon stories with me.

My next goal of the site is to offer inspiration. Coach Dixon is such a great motivator that uses a lot of traditional motivational pieces to inspire his athletes to greatness in running and in life. As a young coach I find myself constantly looking for material to teach and motivate my student-athletes with. I have went through a lot of Coach Dixon’s old coaching files to find some of these motivational manuscripts and so I want to share those and others that I come across with as many people as possible, because most of this material is applicable in all fields of life.

My third and final goal of the site is to offer our services. The Dixon family sees it as our duty and privilege to serve as many people as efficiently possible with the skills, abilities, and resources that God has blessed us with. For the past 20 years the Dixon family has conducted a running camp on the North Fork river that has served thousands of young, aspiring runners. We have hosted underprivileged children bible camps on our farm for about half that time period that has come to be known as the S.O.S. (seeking our salvation) camp. And Coach Dixon has sporadically had engagements for motivational speaking throughout his coaching career. We want to continue to offer these services and do more. We have a vision of conducting leadership, team-building, or family workshops or mini-camps on our farm. We want to change mis-guided lives, and touch people of faith in such a way that they continually recommit their lives and actions to the Almighty God.

I pray that coachdixon.net helps each of you in some way, and that you would allow the Dixon family to assist you if any of our talents, services or resources could enhance your life.

 

Launch Date

Last week I sent an email to all my contacts announcing the launch date of www.coachdixon.net. May 1, 2010 will be the day. I am not getting as much time to blog as I would like because I’m spending every free moment I can to work on the website. The problem is I don’t get many free moments with a 5 year old, 2 year old and a pregnant wife that has reached the point that she is asking us to pick up everything off the floor for her.

I thought I would show a picture of the people that get most of my spare moments. This is a picture of my bunnies from last Easter: Kaylea and Emma.

 

Mom’s Recovery

Mom had surgery on her broken right arm Thursday, March 4. The doctor put a prosthetic plate over her forearm, where her ulna was broke and able to be set back in place good enough to heal without the plate. He also had to replace her shattered elbow ball joint with a steel prosthesis.  The doctor said that Mom should regain the ability to fully extend her arm, but that she may not be able to pronate and supinate (be able to twist) her arm. Mom is still in quite a bit of pain, but she is now recovering at home.

Dad is, admittedly, a terrible nurse to her, and has no patience for staying indoors for long periods of time, but he is doing his best and has had my wife and Mom’s sisters and brother there to help care for her. But Mom has always been independent and able to far exceed the average person’s workload so she is bouncing back and doing things for herself that she should probably let others do for her.

 

A Sobering Incident

Thursday, February 25, my family had a close call. As my mom was driving Dad to his afternoon track practice an elderly driver ran a stop sign and plowed directly into the driver’s-side of my mom’s 1999 Chevy Venture Minivan.  Mom, who retired from full-time work in 2005, was had my daughters, Kaylea (5) and Emma (2) in the backseat with her. All were spared any major injury; however, Mom did suffer from a bad break in her lower right arm. Actually, she broke both her radius and ulna bones in her right arm. One of these bones shattered near her elbow, which is giving her immense pain They will perform surgery on her arm Wednesday, March 3, in Springfield, MO. Dad only suffered some minor swelling on his left arm and right knee. In fact, they believe that during the collision Dad’s and Mom’s forearms collided and Mom’s gave and Dad’s didn’t. That’s probably the only time he’ll ever get away with karate chopping Mom again. She’s paying him back now by making him nurse her. Kaylea and Emma came out unscathed other than a minor scrape above Kaylea’s eye, which has already disappeared. There happened to be an officer that witnessed the entire accident, and he claimed that Mom hit the brakes just in time to receive the brunt of the impact herself and to save the girls from receiving a direct impact to the middle of the van. Essentially, she saved them from a traumatizing experience at the least and possibly saved their lives. For this, I am eternally grateful to her.

This incident has been a sober reminder of how fragile life is and how it can drastically change in an instant. It was once said that life is what happens to you while you are making other plans. Tragedy hits us in the midst of our dreams and in an instant our goals can change from running a 15:00 minute 5k to just being able to walk. Our daily routine can be refashioned from Friday nights out with friends to Friday night visits to the hospital of a loved one with terminal disease. Our speech can go from talking about the latest episodes on primetime television to discussing medical treatments with a whole new vocabulary that you never knew existed.

 Mom’s daily routine has been drastically altered for a temporary time until her arm can heal. Our daily routine has been altered a little, as well, for we had to find different daycare for our daughter. But, thankfully, none of us has to face a life forever changed due to one tragic accident. It is heartbreaking to hear such stories. Life can change in the blink of an eye and that knowledge gives us the deep embedded urgency to not want to waste today. Therefore, we will live today with integrity, so that we have confidence to meet our maker; zest, so that no moment is wasted in our effort to positively affect others; and love, so that we can receive the greatest satisfaction and fulfillment that life has to offer.