Ever Singing For Joy

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 T...

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....

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, phys...

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...

If you've ever read through Daniel 3, you'll be familiar with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.  These three were thrown into a furnace for failure to yield to the King.  The furnace they were thrown into was scorching hot; so hot it killed some of the king's guards.  Yet, they stood, praised God almighty and He carried them through.  It was such a stark example of God putting his power on display that the King altered course and radically changed his behavior and saw God as the One who was worthy of it all; that only He could rescue in the way that He did.  The kicker is, even if God hadn't delivered the three through the fire, He was/is no less worthy of everything we have.  I hope that you hear that in the following words.  I pray that you see that through Ashley and me.  The only way out is through and the only one worthy of any glory is God in Heaven. If you've been following the Facebook updates, you'll know that we were discharged from the ...