Good Saturday to you from our corner of Iowa where Fall continues to grace us with all that comes with this season. We have a beautiful colorful tree in our cul-de-sac that brings joy to all of us who live on this street! Colorful leaves, geese gathering, squirrels getting their food supply stored up, the crisp morning air, warnings of overnight frost, our favorite tree, and the smells and sounds of Autumn ~ Love it.
Speaking of Autumn, we traveled back home from the cabin on Monday afternoon, stopping at the LaCrosse WI rest area where we could overlook the mighty Mississippi River. So beautiful to view. There are many parts of Minnesota we enjoy seeing, and this area with it's views of the Mississippi are at the top of the list.
This weather has me thinking of puzzles.....so I took out one of the three new ones I purchased over the summer. For some reason the colder it gets the more I think more about staying inside and working on a puzzle.
This has been another week of tests, doctors and thankfully, good news. On Tuesday I emailed "my team" at radiology oncology at Mayo for a referral regarding the Lymphedema.....and quickly received a phone call and within 1 hour I was given an appointment at their Lymphedema Clinic for November 1. That is fast........although honestly I wish it was faster! Things are not improving. I saw the urologist on Tuesday afternoon....all looks the same.....on Friday I had a CT with contrast and just 3 hours later my doctor's office called to tell me the scan of my chest wall did not show any signs of cancer. They were checking due to lymphedema.....just in case. Also, my fractured ribs (from quite awhile ago) are healing. Love good news!
Joel is off to "gabby grandpas" this morning after we took an early trip to the grocery store. He has been biking when he can, but it has been really windy. He still is working on woodworking projects, getting a few Christmas gifts done for this year. He did go walking with one guy at the mall on a particularly windy day. I'm still walking 20-30 minutes a day and keeping busy with house stuff. Day to day blah blah blah.... haha We noticed that neither of us were into cooking much this week....oatmeal became the supper of choice more than once!
I watched a conference this week put on by Randy Clark and the Voice of the Apostles. My friend Katherine from out east is there with two of her older children. It is always good to soak in the words of God's servants. I managed a podcast by Kris Vallotton and Ana Werner too. Always a blessing to fill our souls with good things.
Speaking of good things, yesterday when the nurse was getting my IV line in and ready she asked about my family...our family. It got me thinking. Today is one of those days I miss them soooooo much. Once in a while I ponder what it would be like if we had lived in one spot ( instead of 23) and our children lived and worked where we live. Even though our lonely days would be few and far between, our children have made such good lives for themselves, I could really not wish anything different for them.
Being in our seventies and having to deal with life threatening illness shifts your perspective a bit. You treasure the days, the hours, the moments more. What you have and what you make is not as important as who you love and whom you embrace. God made us for relationships with Him and others. Treasure those......don't take them for granted. I once asked Joel what he would do differently in his 40 years of ministry and he said, "I would have put my family before my calling more often than I did". As you can tell, I am doing a lot of reflecting today. Partly it is due to yesterday's CT results, The last kind of cancer I had likes to show up in the chest wall. As I waited for the results of the scan, I thought "The results of this one test could change our lives, our future". (Been there, seen that.) So hearing the good news, I am giving thanks often, wanting to reach out and hug our kids, in-loves, and grands. Grateful for more time with them........for the "guide us" and "what now, Lord's" that are ahead. With family. With others.
So, today, I am giving thanks for clear scans, good x-rays, kind nurses, Autumn, phone calls, texts and pictures, my loving, supportive husband, laughter, tears, our family, prayers of good friends, Dr. S. and his quick responses, our cul-de-sac neighborhood tree, a conference live stream, fall squash, a full fridge, a new puzzle and so much more...........
Enjoy your weekend!
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