Playing Catch Up

I know, there are alot of you that are curious about mom. I want to catch all of you up on the happenings of the last few weeks.

I got home from camp on Friday afternoon, okay evening by the time I made it home. I started making phone calls and calling everyone back that had called me to talk about mom. Over the next week I talked to mom and dad every day or every other day. Mom continued to be positive. She continued to walk by faith and place her trust in the Lord. Every day she shared the ways she was seeing God's grace in the midst of what she was walking through.

1 week and 1 day after mom's diagnosis, mom had her first chemo treatment (yes it all happened so fast we barely had time to think and process). Mom will have chemo every other week for 4 months. As always, I'm gonna be honest with you. I sat at my desk at work the day mom began chemo and all I could think about was her. What was happening, how was she responding, what was her attitude like? My mind raced and so did my heart. I hated that they were pouring poison into my mom's body. I was pretty emotional that day. A friend at work loaned me her Kari Jobe cd. That was really awesome. I sat at my desk and was able to pray for my mom and praise the Lord.

From everything we were told everyone responds differently to chemo and they can't promise exactly how you will respond, but they do tell you that your body will start responding 2-3 days after treatment. So we did what has started to become a continuous process for us: we sat and waited and prayed for the best. Day 1 mom felt really good, she slept well the night after the treatment. Day 2, she slept pretty much all day and felt sick to her stomach. I could tell when I talked to her that day that she didn't feel good. Day 3, well it was really bad. Mom was really sick. So sick she couldn't talk to me on the phone that evening. Day 4 things starting looking up and mom started rebounding and she continued to feel better each day.

As mom and I have talked we have both been so overwhelmed by the overflow of love. Mom describes this as the precious things that have been happening. I want to share with you in mom's own words the precious things that she is seeing:

Precious: Mom doing my ironing at 81 when she can hardly lift the iron and sitting with me all day so the guys can take care of some errands. .

Precious: My daughter calling all day long checking on me and praying over her long distance when she is so sick in Round 1.

Precious: Uncle Boyce driving to Ruidoso at night to pick up prescriptions when mom wouldn't let dad leave her alone.

Precious: Aunt Barbara monogramming everything in sight so that I can be the best dressed chemo patient while out and bringing gorgeous totes to carry my stuff back and forth from Albq.

Precious: Aunt Barbara cooking for dad when he would not have fed himself because "chemo - round 1" was so tough on me.

Precious: Scripture and more scripture coming from a precious daughter who knows and loves the Lord more than anything else.

Precious: Cards, cards, cards, calls, calls, calls, e-mails, e-mails, e-mails.

Precious: Friends and family offering to come in to take care of me - pay their own way - pay for their own food - anything - just to be here to help.

Precious: Friends and family offering to come sit with me while receiving chemo in Albq..

Precious: Friends who have donated hair and now hope some of the blonde hair comes my way.

Precious: Confirmations from family who can say they know they know Christ as their saviour and can rejoice that regardless what happens - assurance that I will be "forever" with the Lord and the comfort that brings.

Precious: A niece who has just finished her own terrific battle with this disease and is checking on me every day and coaching on meds - things that can happen - her own story to make my path easier.

It just goes on and on.......

Now it's my turn:

Precious: A boyfriend who has prayed over me and for me since I first heard about mom.

Precious: Godly roommates that immediately called me at camp and prayed over me out loud in our house, who continue to pray and love and encourage me

Precious: Seeing the Lord working in mom and dad in the midst of cancer

Precious: The ability to be a testimony and speak truth to others within 24 hrs of knowing mom might have cancer

Precious: Friends and family that have wrapped me in prayer and love

Precious: A work family that has supported me in every way they can

Precious: Phone call after phone call from people calling to check on me

Precious: My best friend crying with me and reminding me we are family and my mom is her mom

Precious: My college roommate calling mom and crying with her on the phone

Precious: A friend from high school seeking me out just to check on me (and continuing to do so) because she has walked alongside her own mom and her battle with breast cancer

Precious: The way people have sought be out to tell me how much they love my mom and that they are praying for her

Precious: God's timing being perfect in everything. His grace being so evident that all I can do is stand amazed. His peace being so strong.

I could go on and on. These are just a small portion of the ways we have been overwhelmed with love. So thank you! Thank you for blessing us and loving us! Thank you for being instruments of grace! God is so good to us!