Hello! Hello! Hello!  I’m sorry I missed a few days of blogging.  With Christmas festivities and radiation, it’s been a bit more challenging to find the time.  And when I finally find  the time – I am finding the need for a serious nap!

I’m on the home stretch with my radiation treatment  – 21 down and 7 to go.  You would think that would be a lot of Cha! Cha! Cha! – and happy dancing for me. But it’s not.  It’s the strangest thing…I feel like once I am done with radiation I will be sort of a sitting duck.  As long as I am being proactive, it seems like cancer can’t get me.

I talked to Dr. Doogie about this and he said that this is very common. He said that very often women will have 1 1/2 years of surgery, chemo, radiation, medication, and sometimes more surgery – and feel almost depressed when it’s all over.

I also told him I dread my next scan.  My husband keeps saying he can’t wait for that to happen and every time he says that I get this helpless feeling of – what will hit me next?  Dr. Doogie told me that most women don’t feel very “safe” until after about 2 years.  Ugh.  2 years is a long time…

I also talked to my friend Mary H. about this sitting duck phenomenon and she kind of scoffed and reminded me about my hormone therapy and said in a bit of a lecturing tone, “Of course you’re being proactive!  We’re being proactive with prayer!”  (I love the “we” in that.  Oh, how I love these people God has placed in my life. I love it when they are brave for me.)

So in the meantime…it’s a day by day thing which is probably one of the best things that has ever happened to me.  I wonder if I will ever go another day without being reliant on the Lord in a desperate kind of way. For decades I have met with Him regularly with my Bible, journal, and devotions on hand…but this is different.  He truly is the sustainer of my life.

There is something else that I’m kind of excited about. Awhile back my blog crashed and there are still some kinks in it.  Well – me and my angel lady who is a web developer are going to fix all that and also create a new and fresh look for my blog and make it easier to navigate.  It should come out sometime end of January or early February. I’m super excited and I am going to keep blogging in 2020.  And starting now – I am going to post 3 times a week – on M/W/Sat – around 12:00 noon.

I wanted to share some really cool things that people have shared with me this week that had a tremendous impact on me. The first one is for those of us who are in the midst of a “fiery” situation.

”…heroes up right now hurling after chemo, & warrior mamas hunched over sick, fighting babies, & marriages hurting bad behind tightly closed doors, & parents of prodigals with knees scraped raw because of all their begging prayers…

and don’t think for a minute this worlds not a bit in flame with a billion burning heartaches…and that’s no cliche or joke.

Everybody’s in the midst of their own burn.  And there’s Jesus looking the Brave right in the eyes, and pulling in real close:

“Staying with it – that’s what is required.  Stay with it to the end.”  Luke 21:19.    

Stay with it – stay with doing hard and holy things, stay with believing Him for impossible things, stay with brazen Hope, stay with Him in the midst of your own fire and burn.

Turns out you can be lit with a greater light, a braver flame, a brighter blaze – and you can fight fire with fire – with the heat of His greater love.”

____________________________________________

And another that I loved –

”Sometimes faith will make you look stupid; until it starts to rain.”  – Noah.

_____________________________________________

Mmmmmmm…. fire & rain.  When we find ourselves in the midst of our burn or drowning in the rains and the storms, Jesus proves Himself faithful.

The flame of our faith and the heat of Jesus’ great love overcomes the rain and the storms of our lives.  It sustains us when we feel like we’re drowning.  It lights our path as we are finding our way.

“Darkness cannot stand before the brilliant light of the Son of the living God.” –  Dieter F. Uchtdorf

So that’s my story for today! I’m going to take a quick power nap right now and I will see you …ahhh…oh dear…. this week I will post on Friday and after that I will do the M/W/Sat rhythm.  So, I’ll see you Friday!

”I survived because the fire inside of me burned brighter than the fire around me.”  – extramadness.com