It’s been almost a year since I’ve posted and goodness what
a year it has been.
We recently
renovated our home, I celebrated 2 years being cancer free, Jett started
Kindergarten, enjoyed a summer of wonderful vacations, raised money at our 2nd
annual GIVE CANCER THE BOOT, and sadly we lost Jeremy’s daddy after a long
battle with sickness. Through the happy
times, and the sad, God has shown us once again his abundant grace and love.
In January of last year, we started the renovation process
on our home, gathering ideas, meeting with an architect and builders, to turn
our farmhouse into a dream come true.
Each room is special in some way. Our bedroom is a sanctuary of peace, allowing
us to rest in the best way. Our kitchen
is a wonderful gathering place where I truly love preparing meals for our
family and others. Jett’s room and
playroom are “the best” in his little eyes.
And probably my favorite is our new master bathroom and the claw foot
bathtub. And yes, most nights a bubble
bath calls my name. Our home is truly
our happy place. I’d rather eat meals
there, than go out-and that’s so not me.
I’d rather snuggle and watch movies than do most anything. It’s home.
It’s comfortable. And it’s all
because of our Lord that we were able to update it and make it bigger for our
family. We constantly asked for his
guidance throughout our journey and he showed out. As we moved back in, and boxes were unpacked,
I couldn’t help but give thanks over and over.
I remember singing the hymn “Great is thy faithfulness” many times
during the construction phase. The part
of the song that hits me every time is “and all I have needed Thy hand hath
provided, Lord unto me.” From the
architect being the husband of my radiation nurse, to the builders being the
husbands of dear long, time friends, the 1 million puzzle pieces that it took
to make it complete came together in a very easy way. At the beginning of the project, Jeremy’s dad
was feeling pretty well and would come by daily to check on the progress. 
He slowly became ill again, with a 3 month
hospital stay in the fall. When we were
able to move back in, in November for Thanksgiving, I’ll always remember Jeremy
wheeling Mr. Eddie through the house to show him every room. We were able to celebrate Christmas with him
and then shortly after the New Year, Heaven gained a precious man. We miss him terribly but know he isn’t
suffering. He’s golfing, fishing, and looking
down on all of us with that sweet smile.
After moving back into our house and unpacking, I came
across a box that had every card or letter that was sent to me over my cancer
journey. I’m surprised I wasn’t sitting
in a puddle of tears when I got up from my place on the floor after I reread
many of them. Those first few months
after my diagnosis seemed to be somewhat of a blur. But after reading the kind notes of encouragement
and knowing how many people were praying for healing, I made it through and
finished strong. So as I was taking a
walk down memory lane, it hit me that I really wanted to change up our cancer group
that was started to help others during their battle. Over
the past year, our cancer group “STICK BY ME” was only meeting quarterly, which
was a good idea at first, but just started to feel like it wasn’t enough. I prayed about it and God truly showed me
that he’d be wherever we met, a home, a church, or even a restaurant. So we began this new year with a new vision
for our group. We will be meeting once a
month at either our house or different locations. One place that I can’t wait to go to is the
Cancer Park downtown Greenville. If you
know of anyone that has recently been diagnosed or is in the midst of
treatment, or is even completely finished, contact me please. This group is for ANYONE…survivor,
caregivers, family, and friends. We’ve
recently had several that want to FaceTime during our meeting because they live
out of town. How awesome is that?!
So yesterday, when school let out early due to yucky winter
weather, I was excited to see the BIG snowflakes falling from the sky but also
concerned that it might not allow people to come to our meeting. But let me tell you something! When 6:30 approached, our door continuously
kept opening and closing.
Old and new friends, one that had just had a chemo
treatment, ones with upcoming infusions, healthy, sick, weak, and strong. And a
very special guest, Mrs. Pearlie Harris.
She is such a dear lady and advocate for those fighting all
cancers. She walked in with a delicious pound
cake and shared her heart, focusing on God’s goodness and promise. We enjoyed a delicious meal prepared by my
sweet mother-in-love, laughed, cried, and talked about ways to cope during hard
illnesses. One of the favorite ones that
was shared was to write down things/events that bring joy and place in a
jar. When one may have a hard day,
he/she may pull from the jar something that may bring them joy to take the
sorrow away.
As the evening came to an end, we stuffed mugs that many
brought or were lovingly donated with goodies to give to those going through a
hard time. Mugs with sayings like WARRIOR,
BRAVE, FEARLESS, SURVIVOR, FIGHT LIKE A GIRL, and FIGHTER will be placed into
the hands of those in the upstate. Our
prayer is that the one word will be a constant reminder and help them make it
through a hard day. We all have them and
some are more difficult than others.
So as this chapter of my journey closes, this will be my
last blog post. I’m hoping to compile
these posts and make a book as a reminder of God’s faithfulness and love
through my cancer journey. Thank you all
for all of your kind words of encouragement after each post. They were all read and meant a lot. My goal of writing was to help someone that
may be a little behind me in the journey, to prepare them for infusions,
surgeries, emotional rollercoasters, but most of all to share my relationship
with Jesus through it all. He’s
good. And he carried me through the fire. My hope is in Him alone.
Much love to you all.
I’ll end by sharing the song that came on the radio today as
I was driving to school. Y’all know I
love country music and when I heard the new Kenny Chesney song it did make me
smile. So listen to it.
And remember,
“Here and now
Nowhere else in this world enough
You and me, ain’t it good to be alive?
Ain’t no better place, ain’t no better time
Than here and now
Everybody’s waiting, but they’re waiting on what?
Better get to living, 'cause all we’ve got is here and now”
