A Spring of Joy

Saturday, September 29

We are driving home now, and I can’t believe how quickly the week passed. I have been reliving memories from this week, so I thought I’d share a few…

• The trip down, talking to Brian and philosophizing about several different topics. It is good to be able to do more than just ride in a car. How thankful we are for kids who enjoy car rides!
• How excited the boys were to go through the tunnel (and Audrey was as scared as they were excited).

Friday, September 28

Today is my birthday, and it has been a wonderful day. We had gorgeous weather all week, and today was no less beautiful. We spent hours on the beach this morning, and Brian was able to finally convince Audrey to play in the sand. Now she walks everywhere, digs with the boys, and throws sand all over herself, looking up in confusion whenever it showers around her. She has brought me a lot of laughter today…

Wednesday, September 26th

We have been enjoying our time here at Nags Head and are so thankful that we were able to come. It is good to be with my parents and grandparents… some normalcy before our life implodes into chemo world. Brian’s parents came by for the day on Monday before they begin their RV trek back to Phoenix (and hopefully their newest grandbaby). Micah was in Grandma-heaven, exclaiming all day, “Mommy, look! Two Grandmas!” It has been fun having everyone together.

Tuesday, September 25th

Nags Head must be my favorite place on earth—or at least of the places to which I’ve been. We have been waking up every morning to sunshine, sea air, the sound of waves…oh, and the noise of little children. Hearing Audrey cry, “Mom—Meeeeee” at 6:30 in the morning isn’t the most therapeutic, but it’s still wonderful to be here and have time together as a family. The boys are loving it here… especially building their sand castles. It never gets old.

Just a quick note- the results of Angie’s bone scan last week came back clear as well. With all of that behind now, on to Chemo… We still expect she’ll start on Thursday, but given the amount of pain she is still in from the surgery I don’t know. The doc said he doesn’t want to start treatment until she’s recovered.

On the way down to Nags Head Saturday we passed a little country church whose marquis read, “Singing canceled”. We had to laugh at how funny that sounded. But then as I thought about it, I realized how true that can be. I have made a god out of worship “my way”. The church today is at war over how worship should “be done”. Do we sing or play this song the way we’ve always done it? Is it too fast or too slow? Did we sing too many hymns today? Or not enough? Are we too liturgical or not liturgical enough? Does the worship leader say too much or say too little? Every single one of those questions makes worship about me or about what I like or think it should be… and when I make it about my personal preference, I have taken God out of the equation, and essentially, the singing has been canceled in my heart.

Okay… so in case there was any doubt about Brian’s love… my dear hubby just turned down tickets to a Redskins game.

What?! There are some of you who are flabbergasted by this. I; however, am not. First off, being a Dallas fan, I question why anyone would want to waste a day watching the ’skins play. Secondly, we are going to the BEACH Saturday. A week in Nags Head to just relax, soak in the sun, prepare for the next step in our journey…

We met with our Oncologist Friday for the first time to get an idea of what treatment for Angie is going to look like from here. From here out he’s pretty much our guy. He’ll coordinate the rest of her care… That’s the good news; we really like our doctor.

Our kids have been basking in the glow of September’s sunny days, and they have had lots of special times over the past weeks. From playing in the park or going to the children’s museum with babysitters to fishing trips & JMU games with Brian, Asher and Micah have reveled in all the fun.

Audrey loves to “go” and brings me a different pair of shoes all throughout the day to put on. I’ve especially enjoyed the snuggle times and quiet times just reading… and today I loved eating a picnic lunch with my kids and Miss Tiff.

LORD, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure. (Psalm 16:5)