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It Can Predict Cancer?

ACES — Adverse Childhood Experience Study

Had the honor of attending the Ashland Rotary on Tuesday as Tom Roepke’s guest. The principal of Ashland High School, Mike Riley, presented on the impact of ACES and what his school is thoughtfully doing in response.

It is beyond the scope of this post to detail his staff’s approach to prevent what these measures predict, and it awakened a desire to learn more about ACES, a study I had been exposed to as a student of the Allender Center.

What you can do to learn more:

  1. Click here and watch a five minute overview video on the topic.
  2. Click here to observe Oprah discuss this topic on 60-Minutes.
  3. Click here for the CDC website to learn more.
  4. Reach out to me if you’d like the presentation Mike gave on Tuesday.
  5. Reach out to Mike or someone on his staff to get a first hand view of their work. If you are an educator, I would strongly advise this. Their work is making a measurable difference.

Adverse childhood experiences, such having parents who divorced, a parent who abused drugs or alcohol, a parent who abused you verbally or physically, or a parent who abandoned you, can actually predict things like whether you will have a stroke or get cancer; whether you will become an alcoholic, become diabetic, or become obese; or whether you are likely to smoke or even commit suicide.

This study affirmed that these adverse experiences and resulting impacts occur no matter the culture, education, or income level.

Thankfully, there are ways to prevent what these metrics predict.

As an option, consider attending our free one-day event on Saturday, March 31st.  We’ve seen hope and life replace the impacts of these adverse childhood experiences for individuals across all socio-economic strata, across cultures, and across genders.

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What gets in the way? Maybe what I need healing from?

Jesus came not just so we may be saved, but also to heal us, to set us captives free, to restore us, and to plant us as oaks of righteousness, plantings for His good glory.

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
Because the Lord has anointed me [Jesus per Luke 4]
To bring good news to the afflicted;
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to captives
And freedom to prisoners;
To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord
And the day of vengeance of our God;
To comfort all who mourn,
To grant those who mourn in Zion,
Giving them a garland instead of ashes,
The oil of gladness instead of mourning,
The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting.
So they will be called oaks of righteousness,
The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified. IS 61:1-3

Wouldn’t we all want healing, restoration, and hope? You’d think, but we can be our worst enemies, allowing the very things that imprison us to prevent our freedom.

Doubt it? Can any of these identities prevent us from opening the door God is knocking upon (Rev 3:20) that could result in healing?

  • Mr. Stoic, lives alone and aloof
  • Ms. Sarcastic, turns every serious thought into a biting rebuke
  • Mr. Know-it-all, protects his secured position at all costs
  • Ms. Controlling, nothing gets past her tight-fisted grip on the world
  • Mr. Passive, just cruise dude, healing takes an effort
  • Ms. Fortress, even love can’t penetrate her massive heart-surrounding wall
  • Mr. Womanizer, lives a tiny adventure but at least has meaningless conquest
  • Ms. Steamrolled, deserves every bad thing
  • Mr. Jokester, abuses humor to deflect accountability and nearness

God knows how we pose, hide, and control to make ways in our worlds, but He still pursues us relentlessly. It says that we are drawn to repentance by His kindness (Rom 2:4), and we will be drawn to healing by His love.

Sound risky to set aside that which has “worked” so far? Do the postures of your life feel healthy and genuine, or do you sense something just isn’t right? From hundreds of our own stories and many millions beyond, freedom is dramatically better than the imprisonment within which we’ve knowingly or unknowingly lived. Trust His heart, and learn more at our site.  You can also read Wild at Heart or Captivating by John and Stasi Eldredge.

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Golden Bats and Manhood Ratings

Men, if we are meant to engage in epic battles, to live in crucial adventures, and to offer rescue to our beauties, how can these go astray?

The song says that they looked for love in all the wrong places. One of our entanglements is when we look for our strength in all the wrong places.

O Lord, my strength and my stronghold, And my refuge in the day of distress, Jer. 16:19

How often do you ask the Lord for strength before the difficult conversation, the need to humble yourself, the complex business meeting, or the challenging task? How often do you go to the Lord for refuge ? Are these even categories you live within? What do you do instead? We can . . .

Rely on our “golden bats”

In the movie The Natural, the character Roy Hobbs is a naturally gifted baseball player who believes he needs his special “golden” bat to succeed. When it is finally broken he thinks he is ruined, only to realize he’d relied far too long on that bat after he got the crucial hit without his “crutch”. What do you rely upon outside of God for your strength? How would you feel if you could come through without having to rely upon your golden bat?

Expect our beauties to rate us as men

What does it feel like to be respected by your girlfriend or wife? In Ephesians 5:33 it says that “the wife must see to it that she respects her husband.” It is part of God’s design that by this act, men are inspired and feel supported. But can we relinquish our desire to battle, to live in adventure, and to rescue, if our wife does not respect us?

But we take it a step farther. We expect our beauties to be our rating.

“Honey, can you tell me if I am a man. Can you give me the strength that I need?”

How does this request sit in your stomach?

By giving our beauties our “report card,” we ask them to offer far beyond their identity as ezer knegdo’s, expecting them to take the place of God. This exhausts and frustrates them as they are waiting for us to offer our strength without their having to be the source of that strength. The latter is destructively circular.

So what can we do?

If we are honest, we know we’ve relied on things or people other than God to be our strength, stronghold, or refuge. Want to grow out of this? Give God permission to father you away from these reliances and into an ever-deeper relationship with Him. He’ll then become more and more your source of power.