patience is a virtue

Another warm, muggy June day has passed and we are no closer to any kind of resolution than we were yesterday... Time to learn to enjoy each day for what gifts God is giving to me in that moment. Today's biggest gift was CLEANING!!!! What a luxury and a relief for me to have wonderful Amanda here to clean my house. I got so many other things accomplished today AND my house is clean (in case you were wondering, it is infinitely better to have cancer in a clean house!). I will definitely treasure this gift... I got out of the house for a little while with Neely while the boys spent the morning with Grandma. We returned some shoes, looked for soft shirts that button up the front (apparently you can't lift your arms over your head for weeks following surgery... fun...) and found some amazing size 7 boys jeans on super sale at the Gap (not on my list, but who knows if I'll be able to be bargain hunting in September??). All in all, a successful day. I'm even starting to chip away at my ridiculous email inbox and never ending list of people to call. I've spent many hours pouring over the beautiful pictures that Andrea Schilling took (btw Coz... we weren't just wearing those cute outfits for Hartwood, we had our pictures taken there prior to the "show". And to think that we were contemplating taking along some other shirts so that we wouldn't look foolish... no one ever even looked at us funny until YOU!! ha ha...) and am desperately trying to decide how to narrow down the choices. We have been wondering what to do about artwork in this house... now we're thinking that we'll just cover the walls with pictures of our beautiful family!!

Other gifts for today... funny, silly conversations with my two lively little boys, watching Neely "score" with her little pink soccer ball (thanks Jim & Noel!) while throwing her arms up in the air & clapping for herself and still being able to get myself out of bed at 5:30 in the morning to exercise. (believe it or not, I know that this is something that I will sorely miss - no pun intended - in the coming months...) I made a fantastic Greek chicken bulgur salad (it really was delicious) and am still down those initial 5 pounds despite indulging in a lot of the treats that many of you have sent!

Last night we finished an unbelievable box of Godiva chocolates that arrived only days after my initial diagnosis (with a card that read: "this calls for some serious chocolate"... how can I fail with friends like this?!??) and in some ways it felt like the first chapter was over with that empty box. I've survived the initial onslaught of cancer (although not without the help of serious chocolate...) and am now ready to begin the work that will drive it from my body. A little book called "Hope" has a quote in it that I think is perfectly fitting for this next chapter -

"Courage is doing what you must when doing what you must is the hardest thing of all"

Fortunately I do not have to come up with this courage on my own... Psalm 56: 3-4 reminds me that, "When I am afraid, I will trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust: I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me?" I also love these words from Philippians 1:20: "I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death."