Staying in the Process

From the Flower Fairies

So many blessings in one week! I am OVERWHELMED at the support and strength, courage and hope, the Lord is sending me right now. I want to thank Him for increasing my faith in Him. There just is no doubt He is there watching and working His ways in the smallest of details of our lives. Some blessings are so obvious such as the ones I'm going to write about now, but some come in fleeting instances that we may not notice at all unless we are paying attention.

Recently we were blessed to have dinner with our friends that call themselves "The Flower Fairies" because they keep me supplied with boldly, colorful bouquets. Ilene told us about her daughter's recent spiritual answer to an incredibly difficult life situation she finds herself in. Should she stay or should she go?

The answer was to, "Stay in the Process." What an interesting turn of phrase that came highlighted in my mind.

Stay in the process.

This last transition in my life could be termed a process and I could choose to "stay in the process" and continue living each day with patience and peace. Her church leader said to "squeeze every sanctifying, purifying thing you can out of what you are going through." Her words went straight to my heart. Obviously, I am still here for a reason. I'm supposed to be here! And I would be so wise to follow this incredible advice.

Family Photo

I woke up one day to a HUGE sign in my yard saying "HAPPY WEDNESDAY DEBBIE" in another kind of bouquet of bold, colorful letters. Our dear friends Scott and Kathi Stanford had arranged this uplifting message for us to find. It is so fitting. This is what we do. We take life one day at a time... sometimes one hour at a time. Make it a happy Wednesday, Debbie. Choose to.

Chris and Caylee Riding

This week I received another incredible blessing that caused the tears to flow and flow and flow. For an hour I could not stop crying after watching a video my adorable nephew Chris Riding made for me. He emailed his cousins and asked them to record what they loved about me and send it to him as soon as possible. He combined them all in a tribute that I will treasure forever! Hearing compliments that I don't deserve but would sincerely desire to live up to gave me a reason to aspire to be the daughter of God they describe.

Family Photo

My sweet husband brought me this beautiful bouquet of sunflowers after a hike in the hills behind our home. Did you know that sunflower blossoms keep their faces toward the sun the whole day? Morning until night they hold their focus. We always think of the "S O N" when we see them and I knew exactly what he meant by gathering this beautiful bunch. And I love him for it. I want to keep my face toward the Son of God the WHOLE DAY! I want people to see His light reflected in my countenance. I pray blessings on all the people who make my life so very, very good.
Endless blessings....

Reflection

Photo Credit: Debbie's Iphone!

The Bountiful Temple in last week's rain took my breath away! The temple's holiness reflected in the mist expresses the awe I feel as I ponder the fact that I am still here on earth. 

We received the latest scan results a few days before Christmas. What could have been a dark pall over the holidays became a joyous light as we rejoiced in the knowledge I will be here awhile longer. The oncologist told me that there are patients who relapse at a disappointing year or two but they are having a lot of success at extending the life of 4th stage melanoma patients. I am one of those medical miracles! My immune system ALONE continues to hold the tumors at their present size and there is no evidence of progression. I recognize that the Lord is allowing this miracle and want to fulfill His purpose in the time I have left. I am still learning and my testimony is still growing. It is my heart's desire to share His love with those I come in contact with, that they can feel of His love through me.

Mike and I acknowledge the HUGE part faith and prayers have played in my relatively pain-free journey so far and cannot possibly repay all those who have given that most precious gift to us. Thank you and may God's blessings be upon you throughout the coming year and always!   

Much love to all,
Debbie

Doing Good

Sister Fisher and Deem

Reading melanoma survivor blogs today... surprisingly few to read... or maybe not surprisingly if you consider the eventual outcome of every stage 4 melanoma patient. So... sometimes I really appreciate having an obvious direct experience to show I still have purpose and I want to share it. 

THREE YEAR melanoma survivor from first diagnosis. Two surgeries and 10 months of immunothrapy later I am a ONE year survivor of stage 4 metastatic melanoma. At this point in time I am relying only my own immune system to find and attack melanoma. I am taking steroids to halt the side effects from the immunotherapy for another three weeks and enjoying feeling pretty good.

Jesus went about doing good. 

(Acts 10:38)

I had been out and about for hours, running through a list of errands with one after another unavoidable delay. I was tired and anxious to get home as I drove down Main Street just before 9 pm one night last week. The sight of two girls striding purposefully down the sidewalk in the growing dusk caught my eyes. I recognized the sister missionaries, still miles from their home and debated for just a second whether to stop and offer them a ride. 

Guilt raced through my heart, "Girl, you pray for opportunities to serve every day, don't you dare miss this one." I turned the car around, leaning my head out the window to see if they wanted a ride home. Sister Friendly called out, "Oh YES! We were JUST praying someone would stop and offer us a ride!"

It felt SO GOOD to know that through those seemingly frustrating delays, Heavenly Father had placed me right where I could help serve his precious missionaries. I was SO GLAD that I stopped to help them and have the opportunity to tell them how miraculous it was that I was led right to them in their moment of need. I was grateful I could bear testimony that Heavenly Father was aware of their needs. It feels GREAT to be the answer to someone's prayers!

I have no idea how long I will feel good when the steroid treatment is over or how long it will be before melanoma spreads again. I just don't know SO MANY THINGS! But I do know that Heavenly Father is aware of all of us and directing our lives in a way that we can learn all we need to learn and become worthy to live with Him forever. I pray that anything I need to endure I will be able to endure with dignity and courage and continue "doing good."

Courage... Good News and Gratitude

The good news is that the treatments are working. I can tell because I feel so much better than I did in the summer. I actually feel like exercising and doing yard work. It's wonderful!

The gratitude I feel is intense. I'm grateful for every single experience I've had this month, and there have been a plethora of positive ones! I'm grateful for every single human I've interacted with this month, and there have been the best of the best in my life!

I'm grateful for the strength my Heavenly Father gives me to keep going in this journey called life. People have commented on the courage I must have and it reminds me of a saying I have had taped to my bathroom mirror for many years.

"Courage is only the second virtue in a soldier, 

the first is endurance of fatigue."

 --Napoleon Bonaparte

We are blessed with the agency to respond to the daily emotional and physical challenges in our lives. We are also blessed with the opportunity to learn whatever Heavenly Father wants us to learn from those challenges. We make a choice every day, sometimes many times a day, as to what the legacy of our lives will be. 

“To be a warrior is not a simple matter of wishing to be one. 

It is rather an endless struggle that will go on to the very last moment of our lives. Nobody is born a warrior, in exactly the same way that nobody is born an average man. 

We make ourselves into one or the other.”

--Carlos Castaneda”

 

I'm so very very grateful for my team of warriors!

Thankful Thursday

This picture is from last Thursday on a "Gratitude Trip" to the Bountiful Temple. There have been many times I've gone to the temple desperately needing patience and peace, but that day I had gone just to say thank you for so many blessings. Our daughter had just announced her engagement to a young man we really like. We are thrilled for her! She wondered how we could be so excited… seeing that she will be the third child married within 7 months???

Any parent will tell you, when your child finds that amazing other half, that eternal companion to go through life with...you are SO HAPPY each time! The true joy is that all three will have been sealed for time and eternity to their spouses, surrounded by their families, at the beautiful altars of the Bountiful Utah Temple.

Making the night even more special, my newly married daughter and her wonderful husband unexpectedly joined the same endowment session! Such a gift! My heart was full to the brim with gratitude, full of thanks to my Heavenly Father for all our many blessings.

Taken in May but already outdated! 

Copyright Crow Candy Photography by Chelsea Leigh