Wednesday, the day after my infusion, consisted of lots of immense gratitude and a continued awareness that I don’t and cannot take this life for granted! I never realized just how much I took for granted before my diagnosis even though I didn’t think I was lacking in gratitude. But when I have treatment one day with anti-cancer drugs pumped into my veins, then the next day I’m out joyfully spending 3 hours staining a firewood shed & then hiking for another 2 hours, well it just makes me really thankful.
Thursday: spent the majority of my day, putting a second coat of stain on the firewood shed that John built! John and I enjoyed a nice steak dinner then relaxed in our Wilderness Room with a beautiful fire. It’s crazy when you’re married to a stair builder and your firewood is left over pieces of stunning handrail!!
Since John’s van is having the lettering and artwork removed in order to sell the van soon, we are down to one vehicle to drive around in. This is when you really know retirement is coming for him when he has the van logo professionally removed!! Here John is with his van for the last time as a work van!
Friday: We went to the shop together all day and I spent the day working on the small pieces of wood for one of the tables we’ll have in the WonderVan. The amount of prep is copious. After selecting out the pieces I liked best, I then used a chisel and mallet to remove all the bark, then used a stiff brush on a drill to smooth the edges. This took me hours and I loved doing it!
I’ve had a couple people read my blog from last week and say they were kinda worried about me from what they read. My encouragement to any readers is to remember that this is my unedited raw journal… My personal blog that I write about real feelings, ever fluctuating and changing thoughts and emotions, experiencing of highs and lows, and remembering that through it all… regardless of my temporal circumstances that I share here, that it is because of who Christ is in my life that I am always and truly fine. So please don’t fret or worry. This is just an unadulterated glimpse into my thoughts and my days that are ever-changing and always ending in looking up! Yes my back is sore. Yes my hands and feet are stiff especially when I wake up in the morning. Yes I have some skin issues. AND these are just to report briefly of the physical nuances, but that’s not who I am and it’s not my focus, but it is my reality at times.
And today I can choose joy once again as I begin my Saturday with a raspberry croissant and cup of tea while listening to my wind chimes!
The rest of Saturday consisted of John and I placing our firewood shed outside on our new driveway in the woods for when we are back in Ohio on occasion after we set off into the sunset of our days.
The rest of this glorious Saturday I continued with the menial task of cleaning up gravel from a grassy area that got this way from all the brush burning and dragging trees down our gravel drive to the burn pile in our yard. Someone has to do it, so while John continued in the shop working on our van build, I picked up rocks! Nothing amazing, and nothing inspiring…yet it was good for me! Why? Because I’m alive to do it. The birds were singing and it was a peaceful day in my life. The sun was shining! And Ever, my friend’s son, came and helped for a bit!
I also started listening to Jordan Peterson’s exposé on the book of Genesis. Fascinating…
Sunday: a beautiful day here in Ohio with blue skies and cool weather. John and I went to church then helped with a food packing ministry followed up with an afternoon hike with LillyMae on a new trail that followed along Holes creek in Centerville!
I love our hikes where we can talk about God, life and nature. LillyMae is the most mature 13 year old I’ve ever known. I’m blessed to call her a friend! We definitely have a similar sense of adventure so hiking with her fills my cup! So grateful for her.
And here I am at Tuesday again. I started my day reading and praying. I’m reading Amir Tsarfati’s book, Revealing Revelation. Then I spent today working on the same projects at the shop with gravel clean up and helping decide on wood for the map table.
My body was physically pretty tired today as I battled the dreaded gastric distress that hits me often from these meds. Thankfully, I just carry on as usual.
This week I want to honor one of my dearest friends who celebrated another year around the globe. She’s a friend that has stood the test of time, tragedy, distance, and disease. She is faithful and fun. She is honest and trustworthy. She is sacrificial, silly and serious. She is my B! And I’m so grateful for her life and friendship!
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