"Therefore, if a man cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel of honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work." 2 Timothy 2.21. In obedience to what God has spoken to my heart and from thoughts and circumstances He has applied to my life and some recent books that I have read, may I take those words, thoughts and circumstances and share them with you. With humility of mind, I pray that no Glory comes my way, but only to Him, who was on the cross. Writing A COMMON TRAGEDY has been a life-changing experience. I wrote it during the most challenging ten years of my life. I starting working on it when I thought I was too sick to begin anything in my life. But our Great and Loving God carried me through this unbelievable journey and Blessed me along the way with His undying Love and His Constant presence. On June 21, 2006 I was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer and was read a death sentence of 6 to 9 months to live. Even though I had been living a life as "A Convenient Christian," going to church and saying the odd prayer when I wasn't on the golf course, for some reason I had been ignoring the love that God was trying to show me through the years. The death sentence made me feel the need for God in my life. Little did I know the war was about to begin and so was my education in learning who our God really is and the depth of the love He has for me. This little book will share my next nine-and-a-half years during which I experienced a total of 9 surgeries, a pancreatic transplant, the cancer spreading to my liver, 3 cyber knife procedures, 23 endoscopies, and a total of 59 admissions to the hospital from 5 weeks to 7 days. On January 5th of this year I was declared "cancer free." To GOD be the GLORY for GREAT things HE has done.