Project 365, Week 10

Tax season, treatment week and active kids. All is grace.

March 6

Satisfy us each morning with your unfailing love,

    so we may sing for joy to the end of our lives.

March 7

Love mild days and walks with Aiden.

March 8

This guy. By my side, strong, patient, loving.

March 9

Quiet day, with a little company after school.

March 10

Eastern Connecticut State University wants Avery. :)

March 11

So happy to be sitting at a game.

March 12

The youth group team lead worship for Sunday services and Amanda got to be a part of it. Its a special thing to see her using her gifts.

 

Numbering Days, Week 30-33

March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness month. I hate being "in the club", but since I am, I feel like I should take time this month to encourage you to do the cancer screenings that are available. 

• Among cancers, Colorectal cancer ranks number two in cancer deaths.  
• Detecting it early often makes it quite treatable. 
• Twenty millions Americans are eligible to get screened and have not. 

If you are 45 or older, you should start screenings. Colonoscopies are a hassle and will consume the better part of two days. You will survive and then you'll be done with it for many years. Please make an appointment. Do it for the people who love you.

I've had two treatments since my last post and they've been similar. I work in the morning on Wednesday, then Shaun takes me to treatment. With travel, its about 7-8 hours. I endure the hours until Shaun disconnects the chemo pump on Friday about noon and then I can shower and start the journey to feeling better. Sunday starts out slow but throughout the day I start feeling better by the hour. On Monday, I'm feeling good and so grateful to be alive and among the living. By Tuesday most of the chemo symptoms are gone, some things as basic as my sense of taste returning to normal.

After that I dive into life the life of a working mom with three teenagers, with all the good and hard that comes with living.

For the most part, I consider it a great blessing to live with the knowledge that I'm terminal. As Tim McGraw sings....

Someday I hope you get the chance
To live like you were dying
Like tomorrow was a gift
And you've got eternity
To think about
What you'd do with it
What could you do with it
What did I do with it?

What would I do with it?

I get to live everyday with the knowledge that this life is precious and short and a gift and that eternity is close. I get to live terminal. 

And even though I'm at peace and I'm grateful for each day, I still get regular gut-punches about leaving. Like the other day when Amanda and I were at the bridal shop looking at prom dresses. In searching out the restroom, I happened upon a mom and daughter who were clearly shopping for a mother-of-the-bride dress. It was obvious they were enjoying the experience and, out of nowhere and just for a moment, a sob threatened. I desperately hope to have that experience with my own daughters, but I may not...I am terminal.

You are also terminal. Consider today that you have the chance to live like you were dying, to see tomorrow as a gift and to think about eternity. 

Before the mountains were born, before you gave birth to the 

earth and the world, from beginning to end, you are God.

You turn people back to dust, saying, “Return to dust, you mortals!”

For you, a thousand years are as a passing day, as brief as a few night hours.

You sweep people away like dreams that disappear.

They are like grass that springs up in the morning. In the morning 

it blooms and flourishes, but by evening it is dry and withered.

Seventy years are given to us! Some even live to eighty. But even the best 

years are filled with pain and trouble; soon they disappear, and we fly away.

Teach us to realize the brevity of life, to number our days, so that we may 

grow in wisdom.

Project 365, Week 9

Tax season grinds and life is hard, but as I went through the week, I noticed there were so many celebrations and special times that would have been missed if I hadn't been looking. Miracles and wonder are there to be found and behold.

February 27

The faithful love of the Lord never ends. His mercies never cease. 

Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.

Family Night and monthly fondue. Imperfectly putting in the time together.

February 28

Our first snow day of the season and dogs and kids alike were happy about it. Thankfully it was a "remote learning day", so the kids did a couple hours of school in the morning and got to count it as a day.

Unfortunately, it added a lot of Shaun's plate during a time when he's already pretty maxed. I watched him through the window at the office and just marveled at how he does all. the. things. And well.

I've always loved to watch the kids sled...snow and water bring out the most authentic moments of joy. Even though they are old enough to not need transportation or supervision, I was so glad to have the chance to watch their antics.

March 1

Yay for March!

March 2

This girl got her first college acceptance letter...to UCONN!! We had a five-minute pause in our crazy day to celebrate with caffeine drinks. There's a whole lot of work that leads up to that letter...we're so proud of her!

She was quickly humbled by the major project she had due at the end of the week. :)

March 3

Another time of pausing to celebrate as Teen Bible Quiz marked 3 years of existence at our church. There was a thriving Junior Bible Quiz Team but Katie and I had kids who were aging out of that, with no place to go. So, without having much of a clue of what we were doing, and with information oddly difficult to find, we jumped in and started the group with seven kids. 

Two weeks later, the church and the world shut down. So we met via FaceTime and then Zoom and then on the church lawn, chairs spread six feet apart. Then inside, but with masks and we had to wipe every surface, every time. The finally, normalcy.

And somewhere in that time, other kids joined and a couple left and now we have a group of 17 kids and 4 leaders. Its been a great joy of mine to know and spend time with these kids, to watch them grow into people. God's Word is life and breath to me and we've been able to study it together. What an honor and a gift!

(my new favorite part is collecting phones at the beginning ;)

I put a slideshow together...photographic evidence of our three-year evolution and the kids painted "Stones of Remembrance", a way of commemorating something good God has done in their lives, a way of remembering how He has been faithful.

SUCH a great bunch of kids, who have grown really close (just missing Nathanael, who was already off to other leadership duties).

March 4

I'm not a big prom fan...I think they are excessively expensive for what you get in return. Admittedly, I'm a little biased though. When it came time for my prom in high school, I asked my boyfriend if he'd consider going with me. Already four years out of high school, he was very uninterested. He countered with an evening in New York City for a fancy dinner and a Broadway show. It was amazing and I've never once regretted "missing" the fancy school dance.

Unbelievably, that same boyfriend and I have two daughters who are at that same age and they are considering whether to drop the money and attend their school's prom. Amanda and I joined up with our friends Sarah and Dawn for some dress shopping. The girls looked beautiful in every single one they tried.

March 5

After church, a few of us enjoyed a quiet afternoon while others worked.

Later, we had dinner with Amy and Colombo and then then many of the kids joined us at the movie theater. I laughed, I cried and it made me think.