Pray for my Dad

Snippet of Sermon preached by my brother about the impact
of my father's faith.

Updated September 20, 2006 - My brother, Rev. Bob Riedy, recently mentioned my father, and his impact on his life at a young age on the clip shown above (click on the arrow to play). This clip is a small snippet of the entire sermon that can be found here, which was preached on August 27, 2006, his sermon starts at the 34:00 mark. This was Bob’s first sermon preached at The Church of the Open Door, a church he just started ministering at this summer, after serving in a church in New England for many years.

My father tried chemotherapy for a week, and he had to stop due to the side effects and weight loss he experienced. Currently my parents are seeking an appointment at Fox Chase Cancer Center. Thank you for all who have commented and are offering prayers for my Dad and our family.

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Original Post

I have written about my father and his impact on living a Godly life in front of his family on a on going basis here before. How his simple faith and his willingness to share it with anyone he meets (he has been involved in the local prison ministry for many years with Yoke Fellowship), and the dignified manner in which he has conducted himself as he has fought cancer these past five years. The scans from the doctors this week are rather grim. A man who was in good physical shape most of his life (he was a bricklayer by trade), now weighs in at 115. There is a confirmed cancerous mass growing again in the area where his esophagus meets his intestine (he had his stomach removed 4 years ago, due to stomach cancer). Certain lymph nodes are twice the size they should be (not a good sign). He will be 74 this October, and if he lives until April of next year, he and my mother will celebrate 50 years of marriage. A feat not possible in most of marriages today that last a few years at best.

More tests are coming to determine possible treatments, but with his age, and current weight, I don't see how he can undergo any type of radiation treatments or major surgery. So pray for guidance, we pray for the Lord to perform a healing miracle that only He can do, and short of that, if it is his time to "stand in the presence of the Lord", that is would come without a long drawn out illness and much pain and suffering.





{{{Candleman}}}



BTW - The reason I blog with the name Candleman, is because back in the mid-70's, my parents bought me a candle kit for my birthday. I didn’t tinker with its contents much, but my father did. After spending a hard day at work laying bricks and building buildings, he would come home and make candles. Soon a few stores asked for them locally here, and after a while he had enough stores and other customers to be able to quit laying bricks. He treasured going down to the basement to make candles for his livelihood.

While I didn’t care much for the making of the candles, I did like to sell them. So prior to the rise of the Internet, I marketed the candles under my company… American Candle Classics, via mail order. In the mid-90’s I moved the selling of the candles to the Internet, and this continued until just a few weeks ago, when, due to his recent rapid weight loss, he did not have the strength to make candles in his current condition, and I had to write a rather difficult letter to our customers. So when you Google “Candleman” and this blog comes up in the top three, now you now why ;)