Her Father’s Homestead

Stats, ugh, I’m so not a numbers person, witness my go-round with algebra in the last year.  Those who know me know this, and know also that I believe health issues are a private matter, to be shared if so desired, but definitely not anyone’s business if you choose to keep it to yourself.  As my brother, Steve, says regularly, there’s a reason for health privacy laws.

Close family and friends also know I’m the survivor of a health challenge over the last four years, sometimes kept private and sometimes shared.  So why now and why here?  In an early-morning phone conversation with a dear friend, I was encouraged to share some health news because, as she said, share the hope!  That is the intent here.

Yesterday, during a routine MRI/check-up, my favorite doc (I have a team) gave me a number for the very first time.  After confirming my continued healing and recovery, he shared a stat with me, a statistic, and I was surprised.  I knew, statistically speaking, the initial odds were not great, but had no idea that the point I’m at now is one that, statistically speaking, only 14 out of 100 people with this challenge would reach after four years! That’s what he said – only 14% are still breathing, let alone living well, happy and fulfilled and I’m here.

It was a moment of celebration, hugs all around – my doc, his nurses, the office staff, the friend who accompanies me to all medical appointments, everybody hugging and grinning and laughing out loud – it was a time, let me tell you!!

So here I am, a statistic – feels weird, actually, and I’m not sure I fully grasp the reality, the numbers thing, you know.    Will I dwell on it?  That’s not me, but share the joy?  You bet, for the reason of encouraging others.  I’m still standing through more than one life challenge and my belief system tells me there’s a reason – a greater purpose for this life of mine and I’m here to pursue the dream, the goal, the opportunity to bless others as I have been so richly blessed!

There is hope; there is always hope, just as there is always faith and trust.  This is a great place to be on this beautiful Tuesday morning – a regular day in a regular woman’s life – could be me, could be you or your neighbor or your friend, but a regular person just trying to live my best life on all levels.  And a big AMEN to that!

Ayez un jour béni!!

It’s been quite a week, filled with the usual ups and downs common to women everywhere – highlights and low-lights and life does go on.  Because I’m me, let’s start with a big highlight.  My favorite Auntie Arlene, mentioned often in this blog, had a birthday, 92, to be specific.  Below you see two photos of us, one taken 53 or so years ago here at the Homestead and one taken three days ago on her birthday.

Auntie Arlene and me circa 1957

92nd birthday lunch 7.22.10

We go way back and as I told her yesterday, I treasure our time together. That would be a definite highlight of the last week!

There are more -  a fun cousin’s lunch – hours spent together looking at photos, sharing stories. memories and laughs.  That would be a highlight.

Then there are low-lights: a dear friend receives a cancer diagnosis, another loses her mother, disappointing behavior from someone close to me, rain with what feels like no end.  Altogether a typical week, I guess. We give thanks for the good and take the concerns to the One in control.

On this summer morning of reflection, I’m thanking the Lord for family and friends and casting all care onto Him.   Have a beautiful day!!

Yes, indeed, I’m one fortunate woman, sharing my story and my joy with y’all today.  Four years ago right about now, a neurosurgeon and his team took a buzz saw to my skull and then a scalpel to my brain.  Later he visited me in the night and delivered the news that the tumor they removed was malignant and I had a fairly serious form of brain cancer.  Waiting daughters, family and friends had already been given information and the stats were not great; but the clinical world leaves out a huge piece and that piece is a fairly major game-changer. My Father had plans and as He says in His Book, (Jeremiah 29:11 NIV)  “I know the plans I have for you … plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Those plans included handling this tumor and four years later, I surely do have hope and a future and I’m on a mission to share the blessings and the joy!  I am well, most content and because I can, I’m heading out into the sunshine on this beautiful Sunday in April, 2010.

Bénédictions

This is a wonderful place to be.  Wrapped in warmth and not from a furnace – the gentle warmth of sunshine, surrounded by blue skies and soft breezes.  The birds are singing all around me; made it hard to hear the You-Tube video I’m thinking of putting on this post – bluegrass -  not my usual.  We’ll see.  The old “When in Rome…“ And the smells – more like early summer, plowed fields, blooming plant life.  And green hills all around me! This is absolutely delightful and that’s not a word I commonly use.

This time of year lends so much hope and that’s a theme of mine.  There is ALWAYS hope.  Miss Sarah, the neighbor, just came over to get introduced, very much the Southern lady.  I also met Miss Darlene, who joined us for dinner on my brother’s birthday and brought a gift for ME!  I love the manners, the graciousness and the hospitality.  Traditions that are carried from generation to generation and make life so much more pleasant for everyone.

And about that hope.  It makes so much difference to look at the world and one’s circumstances through hopeful eyes.  Yes, things get turned upside down, people face challenges of many kinds, but this is the world and the life we have.  We can whine our way through it or we can dance.  And let me say, as one who’s been down, dancing is a lot better way to get through a challenge!  As long as  you can get on your feet, there’s a dance on the other side just waiting for you.   Blessings!

Do not be dismayed, this post will give you hope and encouragement,  I promise As often mentioned in these pages, I’m a traditionalist;  I believe tradition is the glue that binds us together.  Today I’ll tell a quick story about a mother who used to buy the best solid chocolate Easter bunnies for her girls, year after year.  Tradition was that early Easter morning, the mother would hide the colored eggs and then the baskets.  While the girls were hunting for eggs and baskets, the mother was cooking a special breakfast, one for each of her daughters as they had different favorites.

This particular year, the night before Easter as the mother was preparing the baskets, the temptation of those fabulous bunnies overcame her.  Just one little nibble, the mother thought, who’ll notice?  Y’all know how this goes – the edges had to be evened out and smooth, so one nibble followed another and all of a sudden one ear was gone – Horror!  What could the mother do?  She had to do the same to the other bunny; it would never work to give one daughter an intact bunny and the other, one with a missing ear.  On with the “evening-up” process.  Now two bunnies without ears, very uneven, more work to do.  Before the mother knew it, the ears were gone – all four of them.

Holy cats, what now?  May as well even things up, you know, neaten it up a bit.  One head gone, on to the next – gotta be fair.   Enough already.  So the mother tucked each bunny back into its little bag and tied them shut with the original ribbons, pink and purple.  It’s Saturday night, Easter eve, no replacing these special bunnies.  Early Easter morning, the mother went about her business, then woke the daughters to begin their hunt, while the mother went into the kitchen to begin cooking those special breakfasts, didn’t miss a beat….

All of a sudden – horrified screams.  The girls had discovered their headless bunnies in their otherwise beautiful baskets.  And they had no doubt as to the culprit.  Good thing they were of the age to know that the Easter Bunny really was the mother.  To use FDR’s words spoken years ago, this was a day that ” will live in infamy.”  And it has; brought up every Easter and shared with love and much laughter.

I promised encouragement?  You bet.  My friends, regardless what you may be thinking about your shortcomings, faults or misses, remember the mother who ate the heads off the bunnies and laugh!  You haven’t done that yet, have you?  There is HOPE and there is GRACE.  My daughters love me, forgave me and we share another precious memory.

The thing that I remember most clearly was Meghan’s absolute indignation that there were teeth marks in her bunny – eeeuuuu!!

I’m off tomorrow for a week in Kentucky with a beloved brother and his family.  I’ve got about 30 hours to finish my travel prep so it’s time to close.

Remember, there’s abundant hope and grace for all of us.  I hope you’ve found yours in our risen Lord.  Easter blessings!!!

I like countdowns; they help me remain organized in the process of leaving on a trip and generally are the source of good memories – preparing for the numerous road trips taken with my girls.  I’ve posted others, counting down to leaving on holiday, going to spend time with a daughter for Christmas, memories from childhood of my mom before vacation and the quirky habits I have now, for which I swear my mother is responsible, though she remembers differently

This countdown?  One week from today I have to be ready to leave for the rolling hills of Kentucky and a week with my youngest brother and his family – an amazing wife and two very special boys.  We’re spending Easter together, having been apart since August, when they moved away.  So having just started a new trimester of school, I have much work to complete before I go as you never know the reliability of the Internet once you’re gone.  The goal is to complete the first two week’s assignments and be partially through the third week before I leave.

Add that on top of the cleaning, laundry, packing, arrangements for pet care, banking, mail, etc.  I know what I need to do, and it’ll all happen, it’s just a lot to remember   So KENTUCKY COUNTDOWN is on!!  I’m excited and looking forward to a very effusive group hug upon arrival and many more throughout the week I’m there.  Forgot to mention that we’ll celebrate my brother’s birthday together, too.  It just gets better!!!

I’m off – the to-do list is calling and it’s now almost 8:00 a.m.  No music in this post, but not for lack of looking.  There are lists of songs about Kentucky and songs about travel, but remaining focused is the focus so no time to search YouTube today.  Blessings to all and send prayers this way for clear thought processes   Those who know me will be smiling….   Adieu!

As my dad says, “There you have it,”   My title for the day – a statement I heard from an unnamed source.  I just love it; in fact, it gets better.  The speaker went on to say it was a  “feature” strategically placed to help the listeners learn a lesson. I cannot wait to actually say that to someone and see the expression.  Hope I can do it without laughing Don’t you just love words?? I’ve got to take a break and find some music to go with this one; I’ll be back…

Kind of a futile effort so because it’s Friday and I’m feeling the challenge, I mean, feature, of daytime sleepiness with no time for a nap, we’re going to fall back on one of my all-time favorite pick-me-ups, a rousing rendition of Tom Petty’s, I Won’t Back Down. It kind of fits the theme of the day, don’t you think?  So moving forward, here it is.  Sing it with me and let it stand you up.  Nothing like a little feature to brighten your day:)

A quick google of today’s title finds it defined as a proverb; not a quote from the Bible – you gotta love a phrase that has its own wiki   It may be based on the oft-repeated phrase,  “And it came to pass,” first used in Genesis chapter four and depending on your source and version, anywhere from 120 to 630 times in the Old and/or New Testament.  One of my favorite authors,  Barbara Johnson, no longer with us, used to say that it’s important to note that the Bible never said, “And it came to stay.”  And like many of us, Barbara knew of what she spoke!

Does it help?  Well, those who know me know that I believe words matter;  when it comes to unpleasantness, discomfort, pain – physical or emotional – you have a choice – dwell or pass through it.  Personally, unless it comes covered in milk chocolate, I believe in letting it pass or passing through it. And while we’re at it, let’s look quickly at the word dwell, a favorite.  It sounds so much nicer to suggest that someone not dwell in or “stay focused” on their perceived misery, than to suggest that they’re wallowing   I’ve come a long way from the days of being famous for saying something like, “Oh for Pete’s sake, buck up, buddy!”  Now I strive to be nicer, so I use gentler words like dwell.

But when it came down to it, when the walk met the talk, it really was a matter of speaking the result.  I spoke healing and more healing, to myself, my daughters, my extended family.  Fear was not an option, not ever, not allowed and it truly comes down to that.  Cancer, two brain surgeries, chemo, radiation, all came to pass.  Did not come to stay, but came to pass!!

As we move toward Easter 2010,  four years from that fateful day of brain tumor discovery, it came to pass and pass it did, an event in my history that has been handled by my Father in heaven.  And I encourage you, no matter what the situation or challenge you face, it, too, shall pass.  And that can be a most comforting place to dwell as you go through the passing of your challenge.  Be encouraged and be blessed!!

Bénédictions!

Here’s a switch, music from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, this piece being Spring; not my usual rock’n'roll, but it fits the title and I am a pianist/musician so enjoy! We’re rapidly approaching a new season on the calendar; Spring is a week away and definitely in the air. But in the last week I’ve had a couple conversations in which I used the words, “it’s a season; not a permanent state, but a season through which we pass.”

Got me thinking about the seasons of our lives.  We may have fantastic seasons of growth and beauty, then we may have seasons of darkness and what feels like dead-of-winter, harsh and unrelenting cold.  We may have friendships born of the season and perhaps limited to the season.  We might experience a rainy season and move toward the end of it to see a glorious double rainbow. There are seasons of health and  seasons of illness, seasons of laughter and seasons of tears.

The season for me now?  On this rainy, foggy Saturday morning, I’m  in transition, still in the season of  “higher education”, successfully finishing,  just yesterday, another trimester of school, and  did indeed dance around my kitchen last night. I completed two excellent classes, learned so much and had the opportunity to engage my dad in good discussion in the course of completing Theology  for Today and Survey of the New Testament, both with an A, I might add.  Now, as my favorite Auntie Arlene said when I started those two classes, “That’s right up your alley,” and how right she was.  All those words, English and Greek, all the “ologies” and “isms” and writing about them – I was in my element and had a ball.  How very different from algebra, but a just reward as far as I’m concerned.  Having traversed the season of Algebra – very ugly, I emerged to religion/history and getting to write about it!

The season continues, with nuances of change.  Two new classes begin after a week off, no idea what to expect and the season of higher education while living daily life continues.  A challenge?  You bet, sometimes I’m so very tired, but it’s the chosen path for now and as I counseled the other day, it’s a season through which we pass, not where we dwell.  We’ll wrap today with a favorite Scripture, “To everything there is a season,” and get this, a proverb, “This too, shall pass.”  I just may have found my next blog subject:)

Bénédictions!!

Surely some of you know the rest of that aphorism.  Because of my belief in the power of words, often stated here – words matter – I won’t be finishing the statement;  in fact today we’ll  do a test run on a new ending, give it a new spin. And I do love spin

So if I say No Good Deed Goes Unrewarded, what do you think?    The question becomes unrewarded by whom. It doesn’t matter. Since I operate under the belief system that says you don’t work your way to your final resting place, the reward for a good deed is internal.  You saw something, you addressed it, and you know in your heart that you did a good thing.

The person or persons for whom you did this good thing may or may not even realize it.  Doesn’t matter. Let me clarify, it doesn’t matter on an outward level.  Here we go again, semantics.  You bet, I love it So where does it matter? Inside, inside you and that’s what counts in this discussion.

Every time you take the opportunity to  do a “good deed” however small, it matters in you.  Note I say IN you, not to you.  We grow every time we take an opportunity to make a difference, something as small as smiling at the elderly man for whom you hold the door, every time you offer an encouraging word or turn aside an angry retort.  It matters IN you and that’s why I’m pretty comfortable saying that No Good Deed Goes Unrewarded.

The reward is the growth that comes inside because you stepped out and did it.  That’s what matters.  Keep doing it and you will keep doing it.  It’s a mindset, a way of looking at the world, a philosophy, if you will. Go on out and have a fabulous day and when you have the chance (not IF, WHEN) take it.  Look for these opportunities – they’re everywhere.  Here’s to growing as we go …..

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