January 2011

This is a hard update to write. Since my last blog, the diagnosis of kidney cancer became official for my husband.

So while I have been stressed and full of tears, I have a huge family of support to rely and immediately asked for prayers from them. I can feel God wrap his loving arms of support around me through the prayers offered. It is times like this when something so intangible as faith becomes tangible. 

Two steps forward, one step back. Sometimes listening is very hard work; especially when there are multiple voices vying for my attention. 

I went to the local grocery store (I think they know me on sight!) on Friday and kept in mind foods for family dinners rather than buying all quickie microwave items to eat on the run. 

I liked the idea recommended by a Guideposts.org reader to brown extra ground beef to keep on hand in the freezer so instead of buying one package for one meal, I bought several, but I froze them. I made a huge crockpot full of spaghetti which made two dinners and one lunch. It was nice to sit down with the kids for dinner before Eileen rushed off to her swim meet.

For the past couple of weeks my husband has had some abdominal pain and discomfort. His pain threshold is pretty high, almost literally.

He is a paraplegic so for him to feel any kind of abdominal pain it must reach a point where he can feel it above his sensory line. And for most of us it would be severe but for  him it is discomfort to moderate in intensity. 

I've heard it said that if you truly intend to keep a resolution, you need to tell someone else what you've resolved to do. That makes sense, and of course in my case I've told a world of website visitors my plans. Talk about accountability!  

My kids are having fun with my resolution and have been asking me "Do you have a FAMILY DINNER planned, Mom?"

I've stuck with my regular dinners in the last week. I made a double batch of chili which lasted two nights and I made a beef stew. (I have four crock pots!) I don't know what I was thinking saying family dinners are 20 minutes! The kids plow through the plates, I'm lucky they stay at the table for 10 minutes. We had a taco night too. My hubby called for pizza delivery on Sunday and that works for me!

Two situations occurred at work last week that challenged me in both areas of my resolutions. 

An adult I have to deal with on a periodic basis is also someone who is going out of their way to make work life difficult for me and a group of my colleagues. It is hard for me to even remain unemotional when dealing with this person. So I finally prayed from my heart, after a sleepless night, for God to love this person for me and to bring me to a place of acceptance. I do not know if this person will change but the prayer changed me.  

In the last few days, I've received encouragement from my friends who saw my post on Facebook about my goals.