Change of address

I have moved to Word Press. Come see what I'm up to!

"Life Change in Progress"

To coin a phrase we used at VBS this summer "Life Change in Progress" occurring here.


I am tired. I am weary. I can't focus at work worth a donut. And I do love a good donut, with a coffee regular : )


However, I am beginning to appreciate life in a whole new dimension. In the lists of things that I'm learning as I lean in towards a mile marking birthday is - an appreciation for life, daily living.


Also that a donut is good, but more worth the calories and work out if it goes with a coffee regular. I'm just sayn'.

Mrs. Mr.?

I have been living under a rock. How did I miss this?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25519830/?GT1=43001#storyContinued

Trust enables hope

I found out today that a colleague's husband has bladder cancer. I learned a little about immunotherapy treatments.

I heard it would be good if the source of Jeff's were bladder cancer. Was warned that doing more research can be very overwhelming. There appears to be a fine line between enough info to make you feel you're doing the best you can for decisions and so much information that you question so much, almost to the point of decision paralysis.

My head spins from all the things there are out there about cancer and that there are so many different cancers and what we don't yet know. HUgeMONGOUS!

Speaking to this sense of being overwhelmed, I asked one of my other colleagues, how do we know when we're trusting God? What does it look like? I imagine it feels better than I feel most of the time now. I thought I understood, but apparently not with something like this i.e., I don't really trust Him.

This disturbs me greatly as I counsel people to do this all the time, but the more I try in this situation, the more confused I am. I do know that trusting God doesn't mean it comes out the way you'd like. I know that it's not true that if I really trusted in God He'd make it all go away, that my level of trust affects the outcome.

She said we take each day as it comes, we move through it and do the best we can to focus on the events and work of that day. And soon we find that one day leads to the end of a week and a week and so on. The rest is up to Him.

So my trusting affects my ability to get through the day, to focus and do the work of that day.

In short, trust enables hope.

Benedict XVI says "The one who has hope, lives differently."

Personal Insight of the Day

When you lie down with dogs, you get fleas. When you work with people, you get drama. I'm just sayn'.

What didn't fit in my gill report - report

Worked on the blog for Jeff for quite some time today. Got overwhelmed thinking of where to post what to whom. I think I'm too extended with programs - facebook, blogger, twitter, flikr, picasa...Where to put everything? I'm beginning to think less is more.

While i work out this ADD dilema - here are some of the picts from the week that Babs visited and other.

Stalemate averted.

O.K. This cancer thing really stinks and it's easy to forget that God has this whole thing. But He reminds me, us in such subtle ways which if we're looking for them give us so much joy. Here it is for today.

Talking with my mother-in-law, a nurse, this morning only made me more fearful, at first. Then miraculously and I do mean miraculously, she broached the religious aspect of this situation and the situation with Brian's renal cell experience. I prayed that the Holy Spirit come upon our time together shortly into our medical conversation as I got overwhelmed. I kept on asking for His guidance as I saw the tide turn into the uncharted waters of theology. I know I can't convince her of anything, but I know she needs the Lord's love and comfort especially now and I so want that for her.

She's very medical and scientific and wants answers, to understand, to make the world make sense. She consults her multitudinous trusted physician friends, who give her articles, and she gets more confused. But this world can't make sense or rather there is no order in the chaos, unless you see God working in it, not as humans think He should, but as He does. This would be where our conversations usually end up- a stalemate.

I can't relate the conversation not because of privacy reasons, but because I don't remember most of the words, just the look in her eyes and an openness experienced which we've rarely shared before and definitely never on this topic. When I don't remember what we've said, but I know in my being something has happened, that's the Holy Spirit at work, not me.

We had a conversation that I think did something. I won't say she's calling the priest at her best friend's parish to join RCIA, but just maybe she'll feel a little freer to discuss these things from now on at least with God. Something has shifted if even ever so slightly.

I know it was one of the beautiful moments of this event and no matter what happens, it was a graced opportunity. Wow.