So I am not certain exactly why, but today was one of those days that the ugly word, CANCER, was on my mind. Ironic that Brother Curtis also spoke about it/touched on it in his sermon? I think not. My post after the service, "When something such as cancer enters your life, it's then you realize you truly are not in control of your own life and have no choice but to rely solely on the One true God for everything. I pray all of you come to fully understand this BEFORE that something ever has to enter your life." I didn't realize how very true this statement was until this morning sitting there listening to Brother Curtis tell about his own experience with cancer in his family. Of course I've known since I can possibly remember that God is in control, but you somehow think you are in the driver's seat at times when the honest truth is that you are never the driver. You are a passenger on the ride God has planned for you. When you place God ahead of everything else and allow him to do the driving and accept that you are not the driver, even if life isn't exactly what you think it should be, you can still see that the grander plan is so much better than your immediate wants/desires. With all of this being said, I think I may have posted that Dad had a week left last week. I was wrong. This is his last full week. I asked Dad this morning at church if they will do a colononscipy (spelling?)as soon as he finishes treatment he seems to think they will wait 6 weeks before they do anything. He has an appointment with his Oncologist around the middle of March. I find it strange that they wouldn't go ahead and do something to see how his body took the chemo/radiation, but once again what do I know? I'm not a doctor and not God. :) I am praising God that thus far Dad has went through chemo/radiation with minimal issues. He's still been able to work some with my Papa, go to church, ballgames, etc. Prayers have been answered in this aspect.
My parents joined our church this morning-another great blessing and answered prayer. There are many times that I think back over the last 4-5 years of life and can see God's hand along the way. Did I realize it then? No. Can I see it clearly now? No. Is it becoming clearer? Sure. I've prayed for my dad and parents specifically for so many years, had my dad's name on our previous church's prayer request list every week for a very long time. Am I glad the ugly word, cancer, has come into our lives? No. Am I glad that I can see God's work through it all? More than anyone could possibly know or comprehend. I am amazed at his infinite wisdom in all situations. Do I feel like we've arrived to the place where we all need to be? No. I'm still praying with hope and determination for my entire family. I am praising Him through it all knowing that His ways are so much better and wiser than my own.
At our Financial Peace class this evening, the ugly word came up again. This week's lesson was over insurance so the cancer policy insurance question came about. At the end of the lesson there was a segment about a young man who had brain cancer. Cancer, cancer, cancer. Anyhow, I had a huge urge to go by and see my Mama Donna this evening after the class. We even drove past her house. I didn't end up stopping. I know I need to do it. I'm just not sure I want to cross that bridge alone. I need to do that soon though.
Some good news as far as my goals for this year -
1. We are working on starting a ladies get together group. We are thinking either Bunco, Book Club, etc.
2. We are on our way to being debt free (not there yet, but definitely working on it.) We paid off another bill and have closed all credit card accounts. Once we receive our tax refund check, we will have our $1000 emergency fund and student loan paid off. Then we will only owe for our cars and house. I know that still sounds like a lot, but by dumping the money were paying on the other things, we can pay the vehicles off quicker!
3. On another note, I fell into a new, additional job. I know, weird. :) It's with a lady who is a dog breeder. It just consists of copying and pasting pics from her website onto other websites where puppies are sold. For every puppy that's sold from one of those websites, I can 10%. With maybe 2 hours of work in so far, I'm made $130 to help dump on paying off some things! :) That's exciting. I also took some senior pics that helped with bringing in some more cash.
So yes, caner's an ugly word, but the beauty is that God is in control. Have a great week! (Woo-hoo, it's almost March!)
