Over flowing with more GRATITUDE

Like my earthly Dad

I’ve been waking up very early in the mornings and today as I was continuing in my daily habit of starting out with prayer and scripture reading from The Passion Translation, I just really appreciate this new translation that has helped me fall in love with reading God’s word again! On the Bible app called Holy Bible there are reading plans that vary in length and topics and tomorrow I am starting in the subject matter one most close to my heart…GRATITUDE! 

I’m grateful that God led me to the Bevin Bell company who willingly created a Gratitude Bell for me and in hopes that I could inspire others to get one either for their own use or for their local cancer infusion center to give stage 4 cancer patients a bell to ring to pause and have gratitude. If you are able to share this bell with someone please do so and let’s spread a little more gratitude in our worlds! 🔔 And for those of you who follow my blog closely…No, sadly Brandon Lake has never acknowledged the one I sent him as my sincerest thanks for the inspiration from his beautiful song called Gratitude. I’m not sure he ever opened it honestly. But I have this song and my Bell so I’m a happy camper! 

Things I’m especially grateful for today?

1. I woke up! Thank You, Yahweh!

2. I feel wonderful and have experienced the miracle of a NED after being given a stage 4 terminal breast cancer diagnosis and was told I only have 3-5 years to live at best!

3. I mountain biked at a local trail with my loving hubby and a dear friend yesterday for a sunrise ride (and yes, I listened to the Gratitude song while riding!)

4. I got to FaceTime with my precious granddaughter about 15 times yesterday! She’s almost 2 and hangs up a lot!!😂

5. I have the treasure trove of unbelievable friendships and got to see or talk to many of them these past couple weeks! Just to highlight a few…I met up with friends from over 30 years ago, Paul and Roz, who were my team leaders on a mission trip to PNG in 1987,

I supped with Wendy at her goat farm,

dined with Michaelah at North Star Café and had their life changing fries,

picked flowers early with Liz for their Under The Pines flower farm and got to pray over her,

& I walked with Doni at North Park!

6. I get to help John with the building of our WonderVan. God’s helping me be patient as it’s taking way more time than we originally thought but the reasons why are worth waiting for! 

7. I have family that loves me, supports me and prays for me and we all got together last week to celebrate our matriarch, Barb aka Babs as she reached her 8th decade! We all love this lady as she’s truly a gift from God!

I’m sending out this blog a little earlier than usual because tomorrow is my son’s 31st birthday and I want to highlight him in his own blog! Happy Early birthday, JP!

Normal Life In Between 3 Weeks

Finally with the rain behind us here in Ohio I can start riding my mountain bike regularly again.  My sweet friend, LillyMae, and I went to John Bryan State Park to get our legs back in condition after having about 2 months off! So so good to be back in the saddle again! 

Last year we offered a large area of our land to my dear friends who live next door and have successfully started a flower farm to sell bouquets to locals. This gives them a little more room to plant sunflowers which has blessed us every morning and evening as we drive down our lane! The first sunflowers popped these past couple weeks and now we get to be greeted by these beauties every morning! More to come as they are planting a new patch every few weeks!🌻 This reminds me that God’s mercies are new every morning. 
 

WonderVan update…now that I took FOUR, yes, four weeks to pick out the improperly cured epoxy in the flooring, John is going back with a multi tool to remove the residue so the next pour will be sure to work. This is taking another 2 weeks to do!! He did a test of the material to try and figure out just why in the world it didn’t set and it appears that we got a bad batch of epoxy. This will have set us back about 6 weeks. Thankfully the second pour has indeed set up and next week John will sand and smooth it to perfection!!  With that and our upcoming plans to be in Quetico Provençal Park in Canada this Fall and the UP for leaf peeping, it’s probably not going to be ready until the end of this year! But John and I are having fun working on it together!

On June 15th I had the privilege of a lifetime! Life IS like a box of chocolates and we never really know what we’re gonna bite into, and yet this sweet sister of mine was handed a box of assorted chocolates (pun was not intentional). What I can say is that this was truly the day the Lord had made! Kevin is the gold wrapped, heart-shaped chocolate that has become Melissa’s favorite flavor! He’s a loving, adoring, faithful man of God and I was privileged to perform their wedding ceremony on June 15th. I love how our Creator divinely conducted the entire ceremony! 

Father’s Day was spent hanging out with family in Rockford, Illinois and I’m very grateful my dad is still here to spend time with! 

One of my idiosyncrasies is that I loathe tv! In fact, 13 years ago on my Match.com profile I specifically stated for my future husband’s wishlist several non-negotiables and one was that I was not interested in any one who liked watching tv or even owned a television!! Fortunately, John Wonderly fit that bill perfectly, and I love it that our days are never consumed with much screen time other than an occasional movie on our laptop. 

However, I admit that I have absolutely loved watching The Chosen, which is a beautiful portrayal of the life of Jesus and season four just came out. There are so many moving and impactful scenes in this series that I can’t recommend it highly enough! In particular in season four, episode four at the end there was this scene that moved me to tears so much so that after watching it, I had to just sit, worship and literally raise my arms and I sobbed in a posture of worship of my Heavenly Father and His Son! What Jesus has done for me is incomprehensible, and I am literally filled to the brim with gratitude for all his son Jesus has done for me! It can be watched in The Chosen app. These are the three songs I listen to afterwards which you can take time and click these to listen with me. Of course, Gratitude, by Brandon Lake, Million Little Miracles by Elevation Worship and this impromptu soaking worship time with Sunmisola and Yinka. 

Three weeks have flown by and it’s infusion time once again at The James! John and I are planning on spending the next few days in Columbia, OH for the Special Olympics State Meet afterwards and we will be volunteering as judges for tennis, bocce and volleyball! It’s been 5 years since we have been able to participate and we are looking so forward to it!!

Food, Family, Friends & Epoxy

Healthy and delicious food brings me great joy more than ever! Scrumptious stone ground, organic, whole wheat, sesame bread topped with fresh fixings, a side of walnuts and strawberries with frothed soy milk atop homemade chai is heavenly! These have become just one of the many joys in my days! 

And while Mother’s Day happened several weekends ago… and, yes, I got a sweet card from Sarah and a text from Alex…several days later my son, Jonathan, finally was in town when I was and he stopped over and offered to serve me however I needed most. The grass was getting out of control and my weekend was about to get busy with family visitors so I asked and he agreed to cut the grass!! Thank you, JP!! 

Memorial Day weekend was one for the books! I had the privilege of having my first ever sleepover with my granddaughter by herself at my house, so I asked my mama and sister to come hang with me and squeeze in some great grandma time!! When Saileigh’s mom and dad came to pick her up they graced me with exclusive time and asked to see my bench for the first time that is at Patricia Allyn Park. 

Health-wise for me, other than getting over a head cold which always ends in laryngitis, it’s the same. A few skin issues that struggle to heal, neuropathy causing numbness on one toe in particular and tingly finger tips and digestive upsets causing me to pop an Imodium almost daily, I feel perfect! 

I had yet another infusion last Friday and was blessed when I asked my nurse , Diane if she was aware of the Gratitude Bell hanging in the hallway. She said she was, and she was so thankful it was there because it is always difficult when her stage four patients hear others ringing the other bell…The victory bell and she knows that they never will. She asked me a little bit about how long I had been getting treatment at The James and what my story was. I got to share it with her and the miracle of how God healed me and how much the Brandon Lake Gratitude song has meant on my journey. I also shared with her how the creation of my Gratitude Bell came about. She stood and listened with tears in her eyes at the wonder and the miraculous of all God's doing! It is still my hope and desire that every cancer treatment center in the world would have one of these bells available for others who want to share in celebrating gratitude… Whatever that means for them in that moment. I also told her that anybody can buy one of these bells and have it personally available in their own home like I do. John and I ring it almost daily and share something were grateful for. This week I was especially grateful for my nurse, Diane and the wonderful compassionate care and listening ear as I was infused with $50,000 worth of anti-cancer drugs!

Last weekend, I had another opportunity to spend with our Amish friends in northern Ohio. The serenity and sheer beauty of the landscape and people there provided me with the gift of friendship, beauty, and a little bit of excitement! Although I wanted to take a horse and buggy ride with Amy, she informed me that she wasn’t equipped to be a buggy driver, but she was happy to take me on a ride with their e-bikes. I think the e-bike was more dangerous as I fell off 3 times because it literally was like an out of control bucking bronco at times because I didn’t understand how to work it!! We had some good laughs anyway! Mostly I love how our love for Jesus draws us close even though we live very different lives. I’m an extreme extrovert, while Amy is an extreme introvert. Yet we both love Jesus. I dress in shorts and T-shirts while she’s donning her homemade dress. But we both love God’s Word. I drive a car while she’s always a passenger. But we both enjoy worshiping Jesus. So being gifted with a friend like her is one of my great joys because we can learn about each other without judgement and we can celebrate our mutual gift of being called the daughters of God!

Lastly, I got to fist bump John yesterday afternoon as I completed picking out my very last bit of epoxy in the Wondervan floor that needed to be redone because the epoxy did not set up properly. It took me four full weeks of picking to get it done, but I’m happy to say it is finally completed and ready for John to repour it. I did have a little help from some neighbors for a few minutes!! 

The Bread of Life

The dust has settled after that whirlwind month of traveling out West in April and the Wonderlys are “all hands on deck” now working on the a WonderVan!! 

I did sneak in a trip to see my daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter last week and got to play with Saileigh at the beach and did all the fun Grandma (Granita, as I’m hoping to be called) things like reading new books, playing chase, cuddling in the mornings, etc.

 

My grandma name has become Tata which cracks me up. Perhaps as the Gra and ni are easier to say it’ll morph into Gra-ni-ta but for now she has the ending of ‘Ta’ perfected and therefore the Grandma with the breast cancer diagnosis gets to be Tata!!

With Mother’s Day on the May calendar, I couldn’t wait to spend more time with my own Mama, aka Babbs! This lady is the glue in our family and always a joy to be around.  She generously gives and gives. I’m immensely grateful she is as spunky, active and mentally sound as she is. 

Getting older can be such a challenge and watching her own friends lose what they once had both mentally and physically must be a step in our lives we all will take if we live long enough and this lady does it with such grace. Thank you, God, for giving her to me!

On our arrival back to Ohio, John and I have been diligently working on the WonderVan every day and into the night. He is continuing to finish all the custom cabinets and is applying olive ash burl veneer on the facings while I am working on a big boo-boo! Most unfortunately, the epoxy that was poured into the ash rounds on our van floor prior to us going out West did not set properly and is like stale taffy. It needs to be heated and picked out with chisels, inch by inch, until it’s removed and will need to be re-poured!

It’s a good thing I was a dental hygienist in my past life!!! It’s like scaling plaque and tartar off people’s teeth, only there’s no blood, schedule or complaints! I figure it’ll be cleaned out within 2 weeks and next time it’s poured up we will be sure to get that ratio of epoxy and hardener perfectly measured!! 

As per my usual schedule, I’m writing this blog entry following my most recent infusion of Herceptin & Perjeta up in Columbus, OH. It was an easy infusion…Oh how thankful I am for that!! I did have to explain all the nitnoid side effects for Dr Johnson that I experience from the medications ie. skin issues that don’t heal and dryness, numbness in one toe, tingling in my fingertips, digestion issues, etc., but they all seem so minor to deal with that I feel like it’s not worth telling him. I have friends with WAY more physical pain and challenges that really have something to complain about! I guess that’s another reason to ring my Gratitude Bell…which I did! The nurses up at the Stephanie Spielman are magnificent! A shout out to them all!! 

Yesterday I got to catch up with one of my favorite dentists, Eric Henize!! I had the privilege of being his hygienist for exactly 10 years and I’m glad we get to catch up on each other’s lives at Northstar Café every so often. I love how God knits people into our tapestry of life and make it pop with beauty and rich friendships. 

Spiritually, I’m in a place of peacefulness. Most mornings I read Scripture from The Passion Translation which keeps my mind daily engaged and interested in God’s Word. I only wish I could recall it better throughout the day! However, it is one of my simple pleasure rhythms.

Mentally, I’m reading a thick booked called ‘How Not to Age’ by Dr Michael Greger and learning more and more about the importance of eating exclusively a plant-based diet! This week I discovered about the barberry! One of the highest antioxidants berries out there! And thanks to Amazon.com, I’m now the consumer of them daily. They taste like cranberries and have a lovely sour flavor. Here’s the link to another guru in the field of WFPB, Dr Joel Fuhrman, who is helping to shape my new pathways of educating myself in the science of how food truly is my medicine! 

I love it when God is so good and I discover new favorites like my whole wheat, stone ground, organic wheat bread that’s crusted with toasted sesame seeds from Dan the Baker in Columbus!! I swear I’ll stop in for the rest of my life to buy this bread after every infusion!! Then I get to savor the most delicious avocado toast every day!!

So my reader friends and family, until next time…smile at a stranger and greet them with a genuine hello, look into the eyes of someone you love and tell them why you think they’re special, stop and smell a beautifully scented flower, pause and take a deep breath while thanking God for your lungs, forgive someone who has hurt you, live today truly as if it’s your last day, have no regrets and most importantly.. entrust your soul into the Hands of Jesus who is crazy in love with you no matter who you are or what you’ve done! May His peace be yours. 

Arizona Heat to Amish Warmth

Since my last blog entry, I have traversed many miles and am finally back home to beautiful Ohio where spring is still in the air and dogwoods are in bloom! Arizona should be renamed AridZone-Ugh! While it is a very interesting and sunny state to visit, I don’t think the saguaro cactus state

is one we would move to. Too much heat! At least the southern part of it! But Ohio…it is home! 

John had his annual (SMA) stair builders meeting in Tucson, Arizona last week, where we got to be reunited with so many friends and I participated in several of the extracurricular activities, which educated me on the flora and fauna of the area. I have held a desert tortoise hatchling,

 

ridden a horse named Callie on desert trails that are often crossed with rattlesnakes and horny toad lizards,

learned how to cook from scratch… several Southwestern dishes, including churros and taquitos. Several of us took a jeep tour through White Stallion Ranch and we tasted fishhook barrel cactus fruit,

and ate mesquite flour chocolate chip cookies! However, the best part of the conference was the people! I rekindled past friendships, made new friendships and sadly, missed those friends who were not in attendance (especially Chaz & Robin). 

One highlight was being asked to share my Gratitude Bell story at the conference and auction one off as a fund raiser for their organization, which I’m so very proud to say brought in $1,500 for the SMA! I am always profoundly grateful for any opportunity to share what God has done in my life! And the special woman who won it is also a fighter and my prayer is that Nancy C. will always ring it with a heart of gratitude for God and His great love for her! Listen and know that this Gratitude song is especially for you!

After the conference ended, John and I had the privilege of visiting with friends. One of John’s childhood buddies, Ted M, took us out to eat at the most famous vegan restaurant!!

Then John and I had a truly magnificent and memorable wild/dispersed camping experience, actually our very first van camping meet up with friends up in the beautiful Mount Lemmon area outside of Tucson. The moon was so bright we could see brilliant shadows all night! To do this with dear friends like the Vogels who love the Lord and share much in common made it a really precious time! And, yes!!! that is snow! There’s often a 30–40° difference from the top of the mountain down to the cactus-filled desert floor in Tucson!

Finally, our time together in Arizona came to an end and John dropped me off at Phoenix airport so I could return home and he could continue enjoying several hiking and mountain biking rides in Moab, UT and then drive home in a couple weeks. 

Meanwhile, I got my infusion treatments at The James to continue help keep my body in the beautiful state of health that someone diagnosed with stage four breast cancer could ever wish for! What I didn’t realize was how difficult getting my body clock turned around from Pacific time zone to Eastern time zone would be. I haven’t stayed up until 2 AM so many nights in a row in my life wishing I could just fall asleep! Thankfully, I got a little rest during my infusion… 

I’m really proud of how well John and I loved on each other, enjoyed each other‘s company, and recovered quickly from one little bump in the road conflict during the 2.5 weeks of being together almost constantly! If this was a test of life in the real WonderVan that is about to launch in a few months, with God’s help, we will be just fine and we are both bursting with excitement to see it come to fruition! 

It’s also important to be with other friends, have solitude alone with God, and to visit with family! So this past week I had 2 much needed dates with my son, caught up with family on FaceTime and phone calls and had my regular lunch date with this lady whom I love deeply! 

I had the child-like joy of morel mushroom hunting and, yes, I found a way to prepare them with my new way of eating…stuffed with scallion herb cashew cheese and air frying them! Very umami and delicious!

Two last blessings I’d like to share before saying adieu are ones where I’ve been touched by God’s generosity beyond measure! 

A very special person in my life introduced me to a niche bakery in Columbus, OH called Dan The Baker! Dan gave me a personal tour of his bakery behind the scenes and then GIFTED me not only with BEAUTIFUL loaves of bread and sweet croissants, but with some of his very own sourdough starter for an Amish friend of mine who just told me days before that she wanted to start making sourdough, but didn’t have a starter!! God is always a million steps ahead of me! 

Then I drove to the bucolic Amish Holmes County in Ohio and truly rested for 2 days enjoying perfect weather, perfect hilly scenery, perfect baked goods (the best sourdough bread and croissant I’ve ever tasted from Dan the Baker!), and perfect friendship that was exactly what this travel weary lady needed! Thank you RoyAmy!