After the Rain...

Ok~ yes, I actually do know that song, but more than that I thought it would make for a catchy title. :)

So, if you read the post right below this one, you will realize that I had to fly to New Mexico, and was gone for 5 days. Well after I got home from that, I was home for one day before we were in the throws of our churches world missions conference~ which took all my time from Thursday to Sunday afternoon. So, I did not get anytime with my kids for quite a while. Needless to say, I missed them and they missed me. Well, Monday there was no school! WOO HOO. And what do Eckley's do when there is no school? Lots of crazy, fun stuff. We spent the day hangin' with eachother, we went to lunch with Daddy...and then went to a movie and a museum. We had a blast, and were a little silly.

Deep in the Fog

To say the least, the last two weeks have been a test of faith for our family. Monday the 7th my dad called me and told me that he had been to an ear, nose and throat doctor. That he had a lump in his throat and where that lump is, 99% of the time it is cancer. He was supposed to go for a stress test, a biopsy and a CT scan with in a week from then. Extremely long story put into a compact version~ all of those things happened the next day. It is cancer. He has a large tumor on his voice box and also two tumors in lymph nodes. The doctor told him that if he had not recv'd treatment with in a week, he would have been gone because the tumor was cutting off his airway.

Well, let me say that in this time I have found out that all I believe in is absolutely, 100% truth. God showed up for my dad in those moments, He showed up for me in ways like I could not have imagined. As I told my bible study group last night, the only strong hold that the enemy had with me was that my dad could not talk. I cannot tell you the prison that I felt surrounding me with that. My dad and I talk a lot. We are huge communicators, and to not be able to talk...ugh. There are not words for how I felt about that. To top it off, he had left me a message the week before, and I had erased that message. Were he not able to talk again, I would have been responsible for erasing the last message he would have ever left me. Pain gripped my heart like I had never felt before, but God is so faithful to me.

On the way back to New Mexico, I missed a flight. Instead of getting mad about it, I told God that I did not understand, but I was just going to trust him. I had made the choice to trust his timing. Missing that flight put me there too late that night to see dad. When I got there the next morning, I walked in the room right before the respiratory specialist who was bringing in a piece to hook onto Dad's trach that made it possible for us to hear him speak. I cannot tell you how sweet it was for me to hear him speak to me.

Well, a week from the time that the dr had said that my dad would have only had one more week had he not sought treatment, we took Dad home. The picture of me and dad was taken that day. I cannot imagine that dad was all that happy with me taking a picture of him that day, but that is our victory shot. I have a copy of that pic hanging on the cork board in front of my desk, and as I look at it it reminds me of the song, Victory in Jesus... Because from here on out it does not matter how hard the road is, all that matters is that one day, that moment...when we were able to stand together and claim victory over cancer...

The other picture that I put on here is one that I took on the plane ride home. It was taken after we came through the fog. I hate to fly...hate is not even the word for it, probably more along the lines of loathing...but in any case, not my favorite activity. The morning that I went to get on the plane to come home, there was a dense fog. I was gripped with fear. To be honest, I almost did not get on the plane. But I did, and as the plane came about 20 or 30 feet off the ground, we came out of the fog. A tear came to my eye as I saw the beautiful scene below me, and I was reminded of what my dad had told me so many times before. It does not matter what it looks like on the outside, all that matter is what God is doing on the inside. I was afraid because of what I could see...but the reality of the fog was short lived... and I believe the same will be said of this cancer. The reality of it will be very short lived.

My Thanksgiving Day...

January 4th. A year ago my husband had a pretty serious medical "incident". That is what I call it, an incident. I cannot believe how thankful I am to have him with me. I have given much consideration today to the past year. To the times that we have had that were happy and sad and hard and wonderful and trying and beautiful. Not that much unlike any of the other years that we have spent together really, other than for the fact that I am uniquely aware of the fact that this life is inherently temporal...and that every day I have with this man, this amazing gift from above...each single day is just that, a gift. Another chance to be thankful for what we have with each other. Another chance to see who he is, and who I am when I am with him. Another chance to enjoy the little people we are blessed to have and the friends and family that we share.

That day for me was a defining moment, a slice of time that is forever etched in my mind. I will never forget the way that it felt to go through that time, nor will I ever forget the people that were faithful to walk through it with me. But it is one I would wish on no one and one that I hope to never have to repeat. Amazingly enough though it is one that I am thankful for, because it put me in touch with reality. It made me intimately acquainted with how close God is to us, how much we really need to depend on him for every single moment. How extremely fragile our existence is. And it opened my eyes to something that I had not given consideration to before. My husband, my closest and most intimate friend, is a blessing in my life. One that I need to remember to thank God for everyday, because there is no promise of tomorrow, there is only right now. So as we all celebrate thanksgiving in November, this is my own personal Thanksgiving day, January 4th.

Quirks

As most everyone who knows me at all knows...I love REO Speedwagon. For reasons that are too many to list, but most all relate to my father, I love them. Well...this week I got to enjoy one of the other things that I love more than life itself. Lefse. {Pronounced lef-sa}. It is delightful. But it is something that you really only get in the north...where I am from. Here is the great state of Texas, we are much more prone to be found partaking in a kolache than a nice slice of lefse.. I have been in heaven since she got here, and yes, I am reluctantly sharing with the children. :)

More important than the lefse is the person that brought it to me. This week my mom and Russ came to visit us!! We have been really blessed in the last few months to get visits from Brent's dad and now my mom! We had a lot of fun checking out the Dr. Pepper museum, the Suspension bridge and being touristy all over our own city. Kind of neat though, the kids really liked it. Hope you enjoy the pics of our outings, and for your enjoyment may I also include a useless piece of knowledge for you...did you know that there is actually no prune juice in Dr. Pepper??? I had no idea... well... enjoy!!