Ever Singing For Joy

Seems that change is the only constant.  My next scan WAS planned for June 7th.  I was gearing up to be emotionally prepared for that day.  I was feeling pretty good and ready to go.  Then, what seemed like the last minute, my scans and doctor's appointment were rescheduled to THIS  Friday.  The "Let's Go!" feeling vanished and was replaced with a rock in my tummy. I needed a little time and space to cry and get it all out.  The plan was to do all of that in my home.  Obviously, that is the kind of thing to do IN. MY. HOME.  Unfortunately, I don't get to control those emotions sometimes.  They just come out when they come out.  This past Sunday at church I went from smiling to "I have scans in FIVE days."  I cried really hard at the desk in the preschool area.  The only thing that makes it less embarrassing is that there were some babies also crying.  Thank you friends of the Brook Hills Preschool Ministry for huggi...

I love Easter.  I love it so much.  I love ALL of the miracles we are reminded of during the Easter season.  I have no idea what the bunny is about, but, I do know that Easter Sunday of 1995 is when 7 year old Ashley gave her life to Christ.  BEST. DECISION. I'VE. EVER. MADE.  Seriously, the BEST! Please enjoy the picture.  It makes me smile from the inside out.  The missing tooth, the homemade Easter dress (courtesy of my mom), the glamorous red carpet, my mom's radiant smile AND (even though you can't hear it in the picture) the organ playing I Have Decided to Follow Jesus. Ok, all giggles aside, becoming a Christian course corrected  my life.  It wasn't a dramatic change on the outside (at least for me).  It was a precious first step.  Repent.  From there, God continued to work on my heart.  I grew in my faith .  Slowly.  I didn't have all of the answers overnight, but the growth in Jesus I experienced w...

Thoughts that I continually have to remind myself of: When my mind is set on God's promises, how could I possibly doubt?  When my heart is full of hope, there is no room for anxiety.  When I sing praises to the Lord, my focus shifts to Christ, not me.  When my eyes are looking toward Heaven, the world's trials and my sufferings become smaller. I am officially in the middle of my 12th round of maintenance chemotherapy! THE. LAST. ONE. It is GOOD news!  I am exhausted.  My brain is tired.  My body is worn.  I'm ready to rest.  God has been beyond gracious to me and my family during these past months of chemo.  He has brought me through, what I would consider, the unimaginable.  Not because I deserved it, but because He love me and this is part of the story He's written for me.  Thank You Lord! Blessed is the one who endures trials, because when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to ...

O Holy Night! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! God sustained me through round 10 of chemotherapy last month.  10 down and only 2 more to go!!  Round 10 was definitely brutal, but God carried me through each hour and every minute of those long days. "God, the Lord, is my strength;      he makes my feet like the deer's;      he makes me tread on my high places." -Habakkuk 3:9 This year Christmas was so sweet.  It was simple, but it was purposeful! Last year... I was physically and emotionally hanging on by a thread.  My surgery was only a few weeks prior to the Christmas season.  My heart was weary.  My body was tired, and I was acutely aware of my prognosis.  To help get into the holiday spirit, I went to Target (because, of course) and looked for new stockings with everyone's initials on them.  I found two "D's" for my husband and my youngest, an "E" for my oldest and then when I went to find an "A" f...

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 ch...