Five years ago, this week, I was diagnosed… After months of unexplained symptoms; extreme night sweats, weight loss of 30lbs, fevers every night, and enlarged lymph-nodes that did not respond to antibiotics… The thing that had caused so much fear, confusion, and pain had a name… Diffuse Large B Cell Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma… Tuesday night this week, I sat with nine other woman and shared MY STORY at the woman’s support group in the Cancer Center where I received treatment… I got to share truth and hope and practical ways to acknowledge and handle stress…I am struck by how things have come full circle… About a month ago I felt like God gave me the word RESTORE…since then I have been thinking about all the ways that my life has been changed in the last years and how maybe it is time for a lot of things to be ‘restored’ in my life…spiritually, relational, and physically…I have a possible opportunity coming up that will change my whole world and I couldn’t be more excited…but even more than that, I have loved the closeness I have felt to God as I think on the word restore…and this is the verse that I am …Read more
“Once you have had a wonderful dog, a life without one, is a life diminished.”—Dean Koontz Four years ago we lost Little Bit… Four days ago we adopted Hattie… I can already feel my heart healing… She certainly doesn’t make life simpler…three walks a day rain, shine, snow, ice, or dark thirty…food, treats, toys, beds…figuring out how to get her to stop jumping on people…getting up earlier to get her walk in, cleaning up after getting dirty at the dog park, and cleaning up all the dog hair… She does make my life feel more complete…smiles…laughs…someone to talk to…getting to pet her and take care of her…it fills a need in my soul that I can’t explain… Today I was taking Hattie to a fenced in baseball diamond so that I could see how she does off a leash, and play fetch for awhile to give her some exercise… When I pulled into the park I was surprised to see an actual dog park…a woman was there who let me in (I have to get a pass card from the city) and then three other woman came with five other dogs…it was nice to talk with the women while watching the …Read more
This weekend friends of mine who live in Pennsylvania had to take their baby to the emergency room…They were there from the early afternoon until evening…of course you would be hungry right? I know I have spent HOURS in an emergency room before unable to leave for food… Like magic…this photo appeared giving credit to another friend of ours who lives in Texas…She conspired with the staff at the ER and had a pizza delivered to the examining room as nervous parents awaited the results of a CT scan… This struck me as amazing for a couple of reasons… One. I would have NEVER thought you could have a pizza delivered to a room in an ER, so I would have NEVER thought to do it… Two. THIS. This is what being friends, and taking care of each other is all about…Did my friend in Texas have any control over whether or not my friend’s baby in Pennsylvania was O.K.? NO…but she did have control over how she took care of the baby’s parents… If you aren’t living life like this… YOU’RE. DOING. IT. WRONG! This example shows that even a span of half a country can’t keep you from …Read more
Soon talk will turn to reflection… Reflecting on 2014… Celebrating successes, taking account of failures, and planning for the future… Thanksgiving behind us and Christmas just a month away I am taking advantage of the holiday weekend to look back on my 2014… The words that come to mind are WHIZ…ZOOM…FLY… 2014 took me by surprise early…I started on the mountain top, lost my footing and spent the rest of the year sliding down trying to get back control… After six months of unemployment I started a new job January 2nd 2014…the commute was long and there was A LOT to learn…days flew by and it felt like all I did was get up, drive to work, drive home, put gas in the car, sleep, and repeat…May I was diagnosed with Hypothyroidism…June I spoke at Launch Out and confirmed the dream in my heart…July I turned 33 and started a new position in my company which shortened my commute by over 75%, cut my gas consumption by almost 300 a month, but required learning a new position all over again and doing a job meant for 1 3/5 people leaving me tired, and overwhelmed…. the year kept whizzing, zooming, and flying …Read more
