Babies are Healing....

The past two weeks have been really full of emotional highs and lows for me.  Starting with my dad's colon surgery and cancer diagnosis to The Husband being rushed to the hospital via ambulance and then to the birth of our first granddaughter.

There have been highs and definite lows. 

Kidlet One had invited me to come stay in the Too-Far-From-Nana-City after Baby C was born.  This invitation came several months ago. 

God is so smart.  He knew I was going to need this week to bring about healing of my emotions. 

Just take a peek at these videos and see how God has blessed us!

 

 

Baby C is amazing.  Watching this Miracle of Life brings healing to my soul. 

 

Babies are healing!



What I Did Today...

I played with my granddaughter!
 

 

 

 

Grab a coffee and let's chat

Monday morning.  My day off from work.  I'm sitting at the kitchen table with a big, no, HUGE cup of coffee.  I brewed six cups of coffee in the Mr. Coffee and it is almost gone.  Wheeeeeee...can you tell how this post is going to go?  I'll probably be all over the place on a caffeine high!

So far this morning I've shopped at JCPenney.com, made out a huge grocery list and planned a day of other errands.

 JCP.com is like a second friend.  I am a little surprised I don't get a personal message pop up when I click to their site. 

"Hi Debbie, welcome back...what can we taunt you to purchase today"???

 

 

Snow is falling.  Again.  I know I should start my day of errands but watching the snow from inside the house is comforting and I just don't have the umph to get up and get going.  Umph means Get-My-Behind-Off-The-Chair-And-Get-Going and it just isn't happening.

 

This week Kidlet One and Favorite-Son-In-Law will have their baby.  The word EXCITED does not reflect how we all feel.  Readers, get ready...I will have to contain how many times I post about this baby once she is born.  Baby Claire could consume my blog but I'll try to refrain myself...

 

My dad's cancer diagnosis has been like a rug pulled out from under my feet.  Now both of my parents have had to deal with this ugly disease.  My mom is a breast cancer survivor (16 years now).  I know I am not any different than any of you in that negative thoughts go through your mind over and over again.  That is why God had recorded in His word (2 Corinthians 10:5):

We break down every thought and proud thing that puts itself up against the wisdom of God. We take hold of every thought and make it obey Christ. 



There is a choice and some action that I need to do to take hold of every thought.  When those negative thoughts come tapping into my mind, I need to say STOP IT.  Don't let my mind go over and over the thoughts that don't line up with God's Word and His character.

One of the tools I use to fight negativity is to worship God and to be thankful for Him in my life.  Also, I read His Word and a daily devotional.  And pray.  Because of His love, you won't be surprised when I tell you what today's devotional is in Max Lucado's daily devotional for today.  Here it is:

The worrisome heart pays a high price....  Worry comes from the Greek word that means "to divide the mind."  Anxiety splits us right down the middle....  Rather than take away tomorrow's trouble, worry voids today's strength.  Perception is divided, distorting your vision....  Who can afford to lose power?

But how can we stop doing so?  Paul offers a two-pronged answer:  God's part and our part.  Our part includes prayer and gratitude.  "Don't worry about anything; instead pray about everything.  Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all he has done"(Philippians 4:6).  God's part?  "If you do this, you will experience God's peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand" (Philippians 4:7).

Reader, do you have worry, anxiety or fear in your life?  Might I tempt you to stop and make a list of all the good things you have in your life.  Really.  Stop right now, grab a piece of paper and a pen.  Write down 10 things you have in your life and then thank God for each and every one of them.  He gave those to you whether you believe in Him or not. 

When those anxious thoughts come at you...read through your list.  Be thankful.  Life is too short to allow our minds to be consumed by negative-life-sucking thoughts.  Let's encourage one another to be thankful and focus on Him.

Did you stick with me to the end of this rambling?

I'm amazed you did!  My coffee cup is empty so I'll end here.  May you have an amazing day!

Cancer

Monday my dad had a routine colonoscopy.  A growth was found and the surgeon recommended surgery right away.

Tuesday morning dad had surgery with many inches of his colon removed (including the growth).

Wednesday he walked around the nurse's station four times.  He had a lot of company.

Thursday he walked seven times and sat up in the chair quite a bit.

Friday, today, he got to start eating.  Clear liquids and for supper, a soft diet.  And today he slept.  Everything is catching up with him today.

Today we also got the preliminary pathology report: cancer including lymph node involvement.

The final report isn't ready yet. 

Yuck, yuck, yuck.  Not the diagnosis anyone wants to hear.

From the first phone call from my mom on Monday, I've called on my friends to pray.  From the time I was a teenager, I've seen God answer prayers miraculously.  I'm asking for the same thing from the Lord now....a miracle.

One of the first miracles this week were verses sent to me by a Friend-In-Another-City.  These verses gave me Holy Spirit Peace.  These verses are from God's Word and are truth:

Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou at mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee: and through the rivers, they shall not over-flow thee; when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. Isaiah 43

Isaiah 41:10 Fear thou not; for I am with thee; be not dismayed: for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will uphold thee with my right hand of my righteousness.

 

Another miracle is that I was able to get away from work and drive to the Way-Far-North City where dad had surgery.  Just being with my folks was a blessing and a miracle.

 

My dad's good sense of humor is a miracle.

 

The strength, courage and peace my mom has is a miracle.

 

Knowing so many people are pleading in prayer for my dad is a miracle.

 

There are so many more miracles and I want to give God the glory and honor for all of them.   I trust He will give us wisdom, strength and courage for the days ahead.

 

There are two things I'd like to leave you with:

 

1)  Get a colonoscopy.   It isn't a pleasant test but is so very important.  Schedule yours now!

2)  Pray for my dad. 

 

Thank you Amazing Friends....I remain....So Amazed.

 

 

 

Grandbaby Claire's Quilt

My grandma taught me to sew when I was in fourth grade.
I remember my first project was a jumper for my county fair 4-H project.
For days before the fair my dad or mom would drive me into
town and I would spend the day with my grandma, learning to sew.

Grandma sewed most of my clothes as I was growing up.
There were some outfits that I made, too.
That was at least 30 (ahem..more than 30) years ago.
And I still have fabric from many of those outfits.

Recently I made a quilt for our
Soon-To-Be-Born Grandbaby Claire
from fabrics I used to wear.
It is somewhat embarrassing to say that the
pink and white checked material in this
picture were pants I made in seventh or
eighth grade.  The solid pink fabric was a
matching blazer that I wore with the pants.
Wild outfit!


There are a lot of memories for me in this quilt.

Flowers were blanket-stitched onto the quilt top.

 

The top of a quilt, in this case the patchwork squares,
are joined with a middle layer of quilt batting and
a bottom layer of fabric by either machine or hand stitching
or tying the layers together.
I opted to try machine stitching  but my practicing of
fancy scrollwork often seen on quilts was
just awful.  Well, it wasn't just awful,
it was terrible. The instructional videos I watched
stressed practice, practice, practice and now
I know why!

Google search saved the day for me.
I searched for machine quilting ideas and
found a website that showed straight-stitch quilting.
Sewing rows and rows of stitching...straight lines.
Score...I can do that!

As I sewed line after line I felt like a farmer
plowing row after row in a field.  There was
progress being made with each row but there
were so many more rows to go!

What a fun time I had with this project.
The best part is yet to come...watching Baby Claire
drool and hopefully snuggle with this blankie.

 

The End of an Era

The Husband and I reached the end of an era.

All three of the Kidlets participated in city youth sports as they were growing up. From tee ball, soccer, baseball and hockey, we've been involved for over 25 years.

Last weekend it came to an end.

Kidlet Three's hockey team skated so hard and won their district playoffs.
At the regional level, they played three games and then were done.

And that ended our youth sports.

Kidlet Three will be playing high school sports from now on.

 

It was sad knowing friendships will change.
Kidlet Three's friendships with teammates
and
The Husband and I have made many friends in the parents.
Now our boys will be playing against each other
on high school teams.

The end of an era of city youth sports.
Happy, sad, and exciting.
It's been an amazing era.

Steak with Garlic Butter and Mushrooms

We haven't had steak in a very long time.  Recently we filled our freezer with a quarter of beef and one of the first meals I made was steak.

Too bad I didn't keep the recipe I used.  There was a lot of minced garlic cooked in a whole lot of butter.  As I cooked the steaks I spooned the buttery goodness over the meat.  Oh, and the sliced mushrooms soaked up the garlicky-goodness as they softened in the butter.

Our meal was complete with slices of American Soft Bread and baby carrots for some crunch.

Plate-licking was allowed...