Christmas Time- Warrior Time

Oh Christmas time is here!  Today I had a joyful morning with the grand kids making Christmas cookies, coo coos as CeCe calls them.  My house was filled with children's voices, flour everywhere and more sugar crystals and icing than any child should eat in one day! Made them sound like little warriors!

 Ah, the ciaos that is my family. My health care worker came by in the middle of it all to check my picc line and take my vitals.  I am sure she was expecting a raised blood pressure with all the noise & laughter of the kids, but it was actually down- " so this must agree with you", she says.  Well that is an understatement!  "Yes", I said. " I refuse to let cancer stop me from having a good time with my grand babies."  This year my Christmas time is also a Warrior time.

You see Jesus is described as a "Mighty Warrior".  And we are all called to be like Him.  In fact in John 14 Jesus is quoted "whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do"  So if Jesus is a warrior I will be a warrior too, and not just in my Christmas shopping bargain hunting.  There is a store closing in my neighborhood and I got the best deals! Shorts $5, bathing suit $6.... but I digress. 

Not only is it good news that we can be a warrior like Jesus, but in Isaiah we are told that the Lord will renew our strength!

But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
    they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
    they shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:31

That's great news isn't it! We place our faith in him and He is working for us.  Working in our health, our finances, relationships, renewing our strength to get through it all.  I know it's hard to give it all over and trust, to "feel" Him renewing our strength, I need to remind myself daily, through prayer, and reading God's word.
Don't give up! Be a Warrior!

There Is No Place Like Home

Oh how good it feels to be home.  After 4 days of treatments, a total of 8, and 24 hours of being "watched".  I came home for Christmas.  Daily, sometimes it feels hourly, I get stronger.  In the first few days I could only eat very small meals, but now I'm ravenous!  Good or bad that's the way it is, maybe I'm just healing and not gaining weight. Ha wouldn't that be nice!

There are several lessons I have learned though this cancer ordeal so far, I know there will be more to come. 
One is that I am loved.  Loved by God, my friends, husband, children & my parents.
Two is I still hate needles.  Yup, that's all there is to that.
Three is only God will get you though a tough season.  He is my strength and my shelter.  The one I cry out too in frustration and in pain. The one I will praise with all my might.
Four is But for God..... But for God and through God I can do anything. 

Look I know there are people that are in a much worse place than me.  People that have lost children, spouses, parents. Maybe they have lost their homes, physical or mental abilities, or jobs.  However the lessons I am learning can be applied to any of these circumstances too.  Well maybe not the needle thing, but you know what I mean, He is with you through that too. 

But God, how many times is that phrase in the Bible?  The King James records it 43 times, here are a few-But God led, But God came,  But God shall, But God prepared, But God was with...,  and my favorite,  But God is faithful.  Through all the difficult seasons of our lives the one verse that I choose to remember is this:

 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us... Eph 2:4

So what ever you are going through remember "But God" loves you, is with you, is for you and is faithful to you.

Didn't God Hear Me?

So here we go... I say let the healing begin!  Today I head to Moffitt Cancer Center to begin the Interleukin 2  treatments.  The lymph node in my lung grew 2mm, not much but enough that the doctor wants to continue moving forward.  The good news is unlike the scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz, I do have a brain!  The MRI showed no signs of lesions, tumors or bleeding.....basically no cancer. Good news there I'd say!

I admit that with all the prayers that I have said and all the prayers that have been prayed for me and over me for healing, I am a bit disappointed that I have to go through the treatments.  No one wants to go through this, you  know?  It would be so easy to ask "Why didn't God answer my prayers? " , "Doesn't God hear my Prayers?"  or even "What's the use of even praying?"  Doesn't the bible tell us in Psalms 103:3  "The LORD forgives our sins, heals us when we are sick"? 

The first thing to remember is that God loves us.

  God's love for us is wonderful; his faithfulness never ends. Shout praises to the LORD!  Psalms 117:2

Just as a parent loves their child, God loves us.  Not everything a child wants is good for them; or perhaps the timing isn't right.  I mean my 1 year old granddaughter can take a selfie. She is so cute as

One of 30 selfies on my phone.
 

she holds the phone up in the air and says "cheese" then repeated presses on the screen taking 15 pictures, but we aren't buying her an iPhone 6 anytime soon.    This is the way we have to trust God, sometime the answer is "Yes", sometimes "No"  and sometimes it is "Wait"

Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised. Hebrews 10:36

And so I wait, God has not said "No" to me yet.  His timing is perfect and I fully trust the Lord  knows the perfect time to liberate me from this cancer season in my life. 

Thank You

Thanksgiving has come and gone.  Though it wasn't a typical Thanksgiving celebration like years in the past; my lovely daughter in law was hosting the day and came down with the flu early that morning.  So, being as this nasty bug had been floating around here lately I opted to stay home.  That didn't stop me from being grateful and thankful for all things I had been given.
Grateful & thankful for things like- friends and family that have helped me through the last weeks, with cleaning, food and sweet surprises. For grandchildren's hugs, kisses and smiles. For my Children's willingness to come help in the middle of the night, take me places anytime I ask and help prepare meals in advance.  Oh, and their hugs, kisses and smiles too.  My hard working husband, that despite his concerns about me continues to press on to work everyday and then help around the house in the evening.  The elves that showed up to decorate my house for Christmas, (they promise to un-decorate too).  I'm thankful for everyone that has said they were praying for me. This has done more for me than you can ever know.
A friend gave me a beautifully girlie perpetual calendar. One of the inspirational thoughts in November was:

"She thought about everything  

she wanted to say to God and it all started with 

"Thank You". "

How lovely is that?!    Yes everything I want to say to God begins with "Thank You". And a big "Thank You" to you all too, you are truly a blessing in my life.

Love Sherry.