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Z - Baby Z

There is a story in the Old Testament of the Bible about three young Jewish boys who were taken into captivity by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. If you know the story you may know them as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego (for Veggie Tales fans -Shack, Rack and Benny). Not too many people know their real names, for those are their Babylonian names that were given to them when they were taken captive from Judah. Their Jewish, given names are, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. These three young men were among many who were told to bow down to a ginormous statue of the king, anyone who did not obey this decree was to be thrown into a fiery furnace. They refused to do so on grounds that they would not bow to any other God but the One True Living God. The king of course did not like this and commanded they be thrown into a fiery furnace. The three men of God were not afraid and said that God would deliver them and if not to let it be known that they do not serve his gods or worship them. ...
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Y - Yes!

For those of you who have made it this far in the A-Z Challenge (either as a blogger or a reader) Yes! One more letter! Yay! Thank you for being here and reading along. This has been a lot of fun for me, and I have really enjoyed coming up with new topics. I have no idea how I will continue blogging after this, what I'll write about, but I will do something. Let me know if you have any ideas.  Back to the topic for today. Over the weekend we went to a baby shower, it was Babe's first big outing since his treatments began in February. It was so nice to enjoy the day with others, to laugh and have a good time - to feel a sense of normalcy again. Yes! This coming weekend, Lord willing, we are going to a wedding. I love weddings, the celebration of two lives coming together to make a life their own is so beautiful. I am excited that we get to celebrate this young couple with their parents who have become our dear friends. And we will be there with some other friends too, this sound...
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X - X Marks the Spot!

  Ok, so it's not a true X word but it's the best I could come up with. 😊 When Babe was going through radiation treatment for his neck cancer, they made a mold of his chest, neck and face. This mold was placed over him as he lay on a table and then was screwed on to that table; it is used it to hold him still in the same exact spot every day. An X was marked on each side of the mold in the neck area where the tumors were. The radiation would hit those spots every single day (M - F) for 37 days.  One of my friends who went through radiation and had that mold made, told me that this whole thing would soon be a blur. It wasn't that long ago and here I am blurry about the details - praise God for that! Babe had an oncology appointment last week; it had been a month since we were there and that day it felt like a regular appointment. Babe looked at me and said, "It seems like a long time ago that we were doing this all the time." Seriously, praise the Lord!!  My dad o...
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W - Who Told You?

This month has been an emotional roller coaster. It's been heavy and stressful to watch my husband battle cancer and get through cancer treatments. It's always on my mind and it's a constant prayer for him to get through this. The Lord has truly held me up and I've seen His healing hand on Babe (he's doing great by the way!). A few weeks ago I received a text from my cousin letting me know that her brother had passed away and sadly, tragically took his own life. I was shocked, sad and heartbroken for his family. I cried so much for his wife and children. The thing that hit me so hard was the utter hopelessness he must have felt. To see no way out, none. I can only imagine the pain.  I've heard people who have attempted suicide say that it's not that they want to be dead, they just don't want to live any more. This life has nothing to offer anymore, no joy, nothing sounds good anymore. It's makes sense to me, it's just beyond sad. There's a co...
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V- Vibes

Have you ever met someone who immediately gives off good vibes? I don't mean the "life of the party" type but the ones who  brighten up a room when they walk in.  These people are usually unforgettable, like a best friend, a favorite aunt or uncle, favorite teacher. They are easy to talk to, are complimentary, kind, and positive. Recently my sister asked me who this person is to me, and I have to say that I have quite a few of these fantastic people in my life. One of the qualities is that they leave others feeling better about themselves. I love the idea that one is remembered for helping those they come in contact with to feel good about who they are, which implies that these good vibes are observing and noticing others. This is not a self-absorbed person. I've told my boys many times that a good friend (and more importantly a good mate) makes you feel good about who you are and they don't try to change you.  I hope that I am remembered this way.   As Ive thou...
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U - Understanding

The first time Babe went to speech therapy was in the beginning of the worst part of the healing process, about two weeks after all treatments were finished. Babe was not having it that day, he was sick of feeling ill, sick of not being able to eat, swallow, speak, or sleep well. He was asked to do some humming exercises to strengthen his vocal cords but even that was just over the top for him. The speech therapist was so understanding of how he felt. She was a super sweet, very patient, helpful young gal and very good at her job. I instantly liked her.  Babe was so grumpy, but she just rolled with it.  My dad was a doctor and I had a lot of friends who were his patients. Sometimes they would complain about  the gals who worked for my dad and said they had terrible bedside manner. This speech therapist was not like that at all. Just knowing that people feel crummy after cancer treatments and being sensitive to that helps people feel better and understood. She wasn't pushy...
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T - Tenderhearted

I am super excited to have gotten this far in this A-Z challenge. It's been fun and it has definitely been challenging. The empathy part has been the most difficult, but I have truly enjoyed coming up with a daily topic. I hope you get something out of my T -word as I have drawn from my ministry days from many years ago.  Have you ever tried to help someone who just didn't want to do the work it takes to make some changes? It's true that we can't help someone who doesn't want help. For those people we really do have to just wait until they're ready, it's so hard to watch especially if they are a family member. We are sometimes more understanding with strangers than we are with our own family or friends who are having a hard time.  There can be a fine line between empathy and enabling. It's good to be understanding and helpful but we can help too much, making it easy for the person to stay stuck in their cycle (of alcoholism, drug addiction, or whatever t...
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S - Shooting Our Own Wounded

Many years ago, I went through a divorce. It was the toughest decision of my life because I had come from a lot of divorce - 7 total between my parents. I was three when my parents ended their marriage, so I grew up going back and forth to each parent's home, it was all I knew.  Some people believe that divorce comes easy, maybe that is true for some, and I know the laws in certain states have made it very easy, but it took me five years to make that decision. I cried for many years about it, and asked God to forgive me for even thinking about it. The part that hurt so much was knowing, from my own experience, that my boys would forever have this defining timeline in their lives, "That's the year my parents divorced." They will always know exactly how old they were when their parents split. I hated that I was going to put that marker in their lives.  Divorce comes with a tremendous amount of shame, so much it crushes the spirit. I was married for 20 years and prior to...
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R - Rejoice!

Easter Sunday or Resurrection Day is a day for me to reflect on what my faith means to me, what Jesus did, has done, and continues to do. Last week I read the four accounts of the death of Christ and His resurrection. Each gospel, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John have a slightly different description of what took place. I like that there are four views of the same event. Depending on where each eyewitness was standing, each person would have a different testimony, and having all those viewpoints helps put the pieces together. Reading them made me pause and rejoice at knowing there were eyewitnesses to this event (by the way there were way more than just four).  Jesus gave His all for each and every one of us and made sure that it was documented for us today - all of that is definitely cause for rejoicing! On this theme of rejoicing, Babe and I have been watching our grandson this week. He is almost six, on the autism spectrum and PRE-verbal. (A friend of mine whose daughter is al...
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Q - Quilted Love

I have mentioned before that I am a seamstress, quilter and long arm quilter. For those who are new to these terms, a long arm quilter quilts other people's quilt tops for them. My customers bring their finished quilt top and the back (called backing) and the cotton batting, that goes in the center, for me to stitch together. I love this part of my job, the quilts that I get to work on are amazing, many I wouldn't even attempt to make because they are too tedious for me. It never ceases to amaze how each quilt takes on a life of it's own after it is quilted. It's magical in so many ways.  People are like quilts. Some are simple with bold colors, others are floral and fancy and then there those who are so intricate it takes time to see all the details. The backing of a quilt is important as well, some are lightweight fabrics, others are a cozy flannel and some are a thick soft, minky for extra warmth.  All of these details are what makes the quilt special - just like peo...
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