Ever Singing For Joy

As part of this journey, Ashley has been spending some time writing and is wanting to update the blog more frequently.  So, she'll be taking the reigns for the foreseeable posts. ========== I had the sweetest moment in my last round of chemotherapy <3 Let's take a minute to pause and reflect on the fact that I have officially completed round NINE!! It wasn't easy, it wasn't fun, I've got the bruises to prove it... but round nine is done!! 'You are to fear the Lord your God and worship him.  Remain faithful to him and take oaths in his name.  He is your praise and he is your God, who has done for you these great and awe-inspiring works for your eyes have seen.'  -Deut. 10:20-21 David and I are always truthful with our girls about my health.  The baby is sweetly oblivious (as she should be for a 1.5 year old) about my diagnosis.  But, sometimes, when I'm really struggling, I feel this little tiny person come up from behind me and give me a

There are moments in history that change the course of life.  A year ago today was one of those moments. Realizing that we haven't updated the blog in a while, we thought that this would be a perfect time to jump back into the fray. No doubt that I'll have a pretty lengthy write up soon to recap some of my thoughts, lessons learned, current struggles, recent victories, etc. but I thought it appropriate to ask Ash to give me a write up to commemorate the day (especially given that this time last year, the last thing I ever thought she'd be doing was writing a blog post).  Below is her letter.  Thanks for reading it. I hope you'll take a minute to reflect on  your  past year and that you'll see how God has worked in and through you and those around you to bring you where you are today. To recap on last year's surgery day post: Go Here (Unexpectedly Expected) Struggles and trials are often presented to us as things we need to avoid or minimize as

Faith is the art of holding on to things your reason has once accepted in spite of your changing moods. – C. S. Lewis Writing this entry has already proven to be a challenge.  It's been a while since the last post and a lot has gone on since then.  To recap all of it would take an enormous amount of time.  The long and short of it all: we've gone through a spider bite infection, a horribly nauseous round of chemo, several rounds of sickness with the kids, plenty of doctor's visits and the ins-and-outs of life in general.  We've also gone through several moments of needed encouragement, tender moments with our girls, recharging moments as husband/wife and a boost of energy provided by the church.   Putting that quote by C.S. Lewis at the start of this post was intended to serve as a reminder that life stages are not constant, situations and circumstances are always changing... sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse, but ultimately change is an in

Wow.  A lot of life has happened in the past month and a half... DISCLAIMER For This Post : This is the first time I've had to myself in a while (Big thanks to a friend and her mom for hanging with Ashley and watching the girls for the day).  My thoughts are going 90 to nothing with this freedom.  As a result, you are probably going to struggle with how much I'm jumping around.  I just want to get something written down; to unload the past few weeks from my head and to have record of what's going on.  I'm also not proofing this article much before I post it so there will likely be poorly worded sentences and definitely some misspellings. Time is a valuable commodity today... With all of that said... Here's a quick run down of the major events that have occurred: February 9 : Lab Work / Doctor Appointments February 14 - February 18 : 1st Maintenance Chemo Treatment March 2 : Honey Went Back to Texas March 14 - March 18 : 2nd Maintenance Chemo Treat

Our God is the Lion, the Lion of Judah He's roaring with power and fighting our battles And every knee will bow before Him... - Lion and The Lamb Feeding our chunky little infant! Summary of 09FEB18: I t has been said at times that no news is good news.  I disagree.  I think good news is, in fact, good news and no news is merely the absence of information.  Let's discuss some good news.  Without dragging out the details of the day in this section (which I'll do below for those who want a more in-depth rundown), yesterday was long but good.  Lab work looked decent.  Scans were good ( other than one spot/nodule that we'll keep an eye on as we move forward).  I would say that in an ideal world that nodule wouldn't have been there, but it didn't seem to cause any immediate concern from our Neuro-Onc or Radiation-Onc.  In fact, they were pleased with the response to that phase of treatment.  We'll mark yesterday in the win column.  [ In my gut, I st

Every one has a story to tell.  Every story is different.   I'm learning through this journey that the actual story (the details, not the 'idea' or concept) is important.  It's where we eat and sleep.  It's where we struggle and relax.  It's where we yearn and where we forfeit.  The story is where we live.   It's not so much about beginnings or endings.  Sure, the start of a story is crucial (as it is where the characters and story arcs are established) and endings are just as prominent (because the arcs are pulled together and a sense of 'closure' is felt)... but the meat of the story (the actual story) is where life is lived. It's there that we grow, where we change and how we change/gain perspective. One of the peculiar aspects of brain cancer (and the subsequent surgeries/treatments) is that everything on the outside can seem so normal (aside from a pretty impressive incision/scar) with regards to appearance, physical abil

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Now, I've been slacking in the blog post department (as I didn't post once during the entire month of December).  We had such a great time celebrating Immanuel (God With Us) with our family!  To take a step back and see that God sent Jesus to be amongst us is nothing short of breath taking; but then, to realize why God had to send Jesus at all is a brilliant reminder that we are ever in need of a Savior.  I am thankful that we place such an emphasis on celebrating this season every year; even in a world that doesn't seem to go flying toward the Cross, it is nice to see Jesus being worshipped amidst our culture.  The butterflies that were there as a kid yearning for the next 'big present' have been replaced with the awe of Jesus being the ultimate gift.  This was such a needed season for our family and I'm thankful that God kept us safe and together during this time. Ashley and I would like to take a minute to thank you