11/15/11

     Hello, ladies and gentlemen. I am thinking about stopping my blog since my journey through the battle with cancer is apparently over. My life without that drama is not very exciting and I doubt that it would be very interesting to many. It is exciting to me because my family is involved and they are the most exciting people I have ever known. My life is beautiful and lovely and full of love because of them. I just don't think everyone else would like to read about us day after day. So I am giving you my Email address and you can let me know if you would like me to keep this going. I will understand if I don't get any replies, believe me.
     This has been a wonderful experience for me and I have enjoyed talking with you each day. It is like you are just on the other end of my computer and are listening to me go on and on. Who wouldn't like that? I enjoyed telling you what God has shown me and what He is teaching me each day. I try to get something new from Him everyday. Today He gave me a lesson from Proverbs 16:3, 4, 7, & 9 "Commit your work to the LORD, and your plans will be established. The LORD has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble."  "When a man's ways please the LORD, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him." "The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps." The best and only way to have your plans work out is to let the Lord lead us where He wants us to go. He has a purpose for us each day and will not let anything interfere with His purpose if we are yielded to Him. He makes the way straight before us, so go forth and conquer in His name.
     Anyway, my Email is angel8mmj@gmail.com let me hear from you. Thanks.

11/15/11

      Dorean went with me to an appointment with Dr. Shellenberger this afternoon. It was a follow up appointment and it went very well. He said everything looked great and I don't have to come back for 6 months when I will have a sonogram and an appointment to discuss the results of that. I will be seeing Dr. Shellenberger every 6 months for sonograms and chest x-rays occasionally. We went out afterwards to Einstein's to get a bagel to celebrate. 
     I also need to see my dermatologist every 6 months which means I will be seeing one of them every 3 months. I see my Opthamoligest (sp) every 3 months also. The dentist sees me every 6 months, of course we ladies need to have a monogram once a year and see the OBY GYN once a year. My GP wants to see me at least once year, actually it usually works out to be about twice a year. WOW, it looks like I'm going to be on the road a lot in 2012.
     While Dorean and I were riding up to our floor in the parking garage there was as man holding a Bible and 3 other people that looked like there were in their 20's. I asked the man if he was a preacher and he said he was. I said we praised the Lord, too. The older of the other 3 people said as they were leaving the elevator, "All your faces have such a peaceful look, that must be the reason why." I can't imagine anything better than that. When Moses came down from the mountain were he had seen the back of God his face was glowing. It showed that he had been with God. If someone can see that in my face it is the greatest compliment that they could give me. It really meant a lot to hear that. I wish they weren't getting off the elevator because it would have been wonderful to tell them how that can get that peaceful look too.
     All in all, it has been a great day! God has continued to answer prayer concerning my battle with cancer. He is always faithful isn't He? I can only praise Him and thank Him and marvel at His love and faithfulness towards me. What an awesome God we serve!

11/14/11

     Had a very busy day today. I was away from home most of the day and wore myself out going from place to place. I got photographs printed that we had made on the cruise. These are the professional ones that were on a CD, they turned out really nice. Started buy things for Thanksgiving dinner and will begin cooking probably on Thursday. I like to plan ahead so I'm not in the kitchen all day on Thanksgiving. We always have a big family breakfast of pumpkin pancakes, with homemade maple syrup, lots of bacon, eggs if someone wants them, and juice. We have our big dinner late in the day so it doesn't interfere with those silly football games. I think it is terrible that they have games on Thanksgiving and Christmas, but I am out numbered. I love to watch the Thanksgiving Day Parade and don't want to be cooking during that time. Everyone comes over here and it gets crazy. My dear friend, Beverly, (we have been friends since high school and she was my maid of honor in my wedding) and her husband Tom have come for the past two Thanksgivings, but Tom is getting radiation and has to be in Duneden for that, we will miss them this year.
     Enough about Thanksgiving, it is a whole week away. Of course I started my day in Billy's office reading from my Reformation Bible and listening to one of R. C. Sproul's sermons from John. I was blessed by a verse in Isaiah 25:1, "O Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you; I will praise your name, for you have done wonderful things, plans formed of old, faithful and sure." He has certainly done wonderful things in my life and I will praise His name.
     Tomorrow Dorean  will go with me to see Dr. Shellenberger for my after surgery check up. It will be great to see him again and tell him about my zip line experience, I think he will get a kick out of it.
Good night all. Love.

11/13/11

     Today has been awesome! After getting dressed for church we got a phone call from Dorean with some very exciting news. Amanda is pregnant! We are all very excited because McKenzie will be nearly 6 years old by the time the baby gets here. I hope she is ready for this. She has been talking about having a little sister for some time so her wish is going to come true. I just hope she can share her "Honey," that is what she calls Dorean.
     Church was wonderful, as usual. Carol had another great quote on screen today by A. W. Tozer. "What I am anxious to see in Christian believers is a beautiful paradox. I want to see in them the joy of finding God while at the same time they are blessedly pursuing Him. I want to see in them the great joy of having God yet always wanting Him." I think this is truly a beautiful paradox. It is a reality in my life, I know I have Him yet I want more of Him. This is a prayer that is always in the process of being answered.
     After church we went with some dear friends, Cece and David to eat at a restaurant that was giving a free lunch to veterans. Since David and Billy are both vets they enjoyed a great mean for free. How often does that happen? Cece is British and lots of fun, she keeps us laughing when she is around.
     We came home and got our Sunday nap the had our wonderful Bible study this evening. As usual, it was fun and informative. It is the best Bible study, so I have two good Bible studies each week, one with Billy as teacher and the other with Dorean as teacher. How blessed am I?
     Time for bed now. Tomorrow is another day to learn more about Him. He is always ready to teach me something new. Love to all.

11/12/11

Great day today! Bible study was awesome. We listened to a message by R. C. Sproul on the holiness of God. It was from Isaiah 6 and we were reminded how far we have come from truly revering and respecting the holiness of God. We must refresh ourselves on this aspect of God and give Him the reverence due Him. I am trying to learn all I can about God’s holiness because it has been so easy to be lax in giving Him glory. It is sad to see the condition of this world and how they view our Holy God. His precious name has been reduced to a curse word by many. Why do we never hear the name of Mohammed or Buddha or Confucius used in that manner? Could it be because Satan doesn’t care about those other false gods, he wants only to get people to degrade the real God.
     Today was Benjamin’s actual 18th birthday so after the Bible study Benjamin, Donna, Dorean, Amanda, McKenzie and I went to Chili’s to celebrate with him. He is such a great guy. It isn’t often you can find a   teenage boy who will be comfortable with a bunch of women. He’s just wonderful!
     I spent the rest of the afternoon marking promises in the Bible. I’m not even half way through. This process is going to take awhile, but it is fun.
     The weather is cool here. This is my favorite time of year. It gets cool then warms up a little and cools down again. You never know what the weather will be when you step outside each day. That’s Florida for you.
     Looking forward to tomorrow, Sunday is always a wonderful day. Our church folks are the best in the world. We are like a big happy family.
     This is all for today. Think about the holiness of God and what you can do to make His holiness more real in your life.

11/11/11

     Isn’t it fun to write 11/11/11? We have only one more chance to do something like that and that is next year on 12/12/12. After that there will never be that opportunity again.
     Billy was off today, but spent most of the day taking his car to the dealer and getting a rental car because they are keeping his car for service. Thank God for extended warranties! It would have cost us a bundle to get it fixed.
     While he was out I spent my time looking up all the promises in Proverbs and Psalms and marking them. There are 1,000 in the book. It is going to take me awhile to get them all marked. It is a blessing to be finding them though.
     Tomorrow is going to be a great day. Bible study at Dorean’s. It’s been 2 weeks since we've been able to meet and I have missed it.

11/10/11

Nothing terribly exciting for today. I picked up McKenzie from preschool this afternoon and did some       shopping for groceries, dog treats and two book from the Christian book store on the promises of God. In reading Torrey’s book on how to pray he talks about claiming God’s promises in our prayers. God will keep His  promises and it is very effective to use His Word to emphasize our request. It also  keeps us in the Word which is another ingredient in effective prayer. I am finding so many promises that I didn’t realize were in the Bible. What great fun!

11/09/11

     11/03 & 11/04 We just enjoyed resting and reading and walking around the ship for the last two days at sea. Donna and I attended a Q & A with the steel drum band. They were so cute and very interesting. I bought a CD which I know we will enjoy. The dining room servers did a cute napkin dance for us and some other antics. They were such a great bunch of servers. Our server was Punto and he always had a glass of iced green tea ready for me when we sat down for dinner. I wish I could sleep as well at home as I did on the ship. The little bit of rocking must have been what did it for me. Anyway, I enjoyed my last night on ship and woke up early ready to disembark. It was a prettt easy process.
     We were finally on our way home from Ft. Lauderdale. We didn't want to quit "cold turkey" on eating every 2 hours so we stopped at  Wendy's and got French Fries and Frosties. Annie and Sassy were very happy to see us. It was good to see them too.
     It was so good to see our family again. As Dorothy once said, "There's no place like home."
     11/05 We had two birthday parties in the family today.  McKenzie's was this morning at our house. After all we are the party house! Her birthday is actually Tuesday and she will be 5. Saturday night we had Benjamin's party at Donna's house. His birthday isn't until next Saturday but Daniel will be in LA then. Benjamin will turn 18.
     11/06 Sunday at last. So good to be back with our wonderful fellowship. We went to the Elephant Bar with a pastor and his family that visits our church occasionally. Their three girls sing with beautiful voice just like ours used to do before they all got married. It was a nice visit with them and a great meal too.
     11/07 Spent the day trying to get myself organized around the house. Amanda, Michael and McKenzie stayed here so I had to rearrange the refrigerator and pantry. They had to clear out a spot for their groceries. It seems like it didn't take very long for me to get back into my living rut. It is very comfortable there.
     Dorean gave me a short book to read called How to Pray by R.A. Torrey. I thought I would read the first chapter today, which turned out to be half of the book. It is very enlightening about how to pray effectively. I recommend it.
     11/08 Made a card for McKenzie's birthday. Today is her actual birthday. I don't make as many cards as I used to. It was beginning to take up my life. I really did enjoy it, but it began to put pressure on me so I cut down on it. I still make Christmas cards and cards for the family.
     11/09 Finally, I am caught up. Whew!! Today was Billy's day off so we did the shopping thing at Sam's. Did a little Christmas shopping while there. I am usually through with it by now but have been busy with other things lately, like cancer.
     We pick up McKenzie from preschool on Wednesday and I get her on Thursday. We enjoy our time with her. She is growing up so fast. Usually we wait till we have picked her up to go to Sam's and she gets to pick out a book every week. She got so much for her birthday that we thought we would skip the book at Sam's this week.
     I finished the book on prayer and it is amazing! I am going to read it again at least one more time. It makes so much sense. Dorean said all you have to do is google the name and author and since it is out of print you can just print it off the internet. (Reminder-How to Pray by R.A. Torrey.) I'm sure it will enhance your prayer life as I think it is doing for me.
    I'm glad to be caught up and I hope this hasn't been boring for you. I'll try to do better the rest of the week. Good night and God bless.

11/08/11

     I am ready to bring you up to date with our cruise. I left off last night with 10/30.  We lost an hour that night when we crossed a time line and lost another hour the night of the 31st.  I was glad to be on the ship for     Halloween because I do not like anything about Halloween and haven’t for many, many years. The idea of dressing children up as devils and witches and other negative images is not a very good idea in my book. We haven’t participated in Halloween for years and just try to go somewhere for the evening to get away from the trick or treaters. Yeah, we are the curmudgeons on the block that don’t give out any candy. I wonder how the idea of having a Saints Day where children dress up like Biblical characters and go door to door giving out candy and saying “God bless you” to the neighbors would go over. Probably not a great idea, huh? Some of the people on the ship brought things to decorate their doors but the ship didn’t do much in the way of decorations. I was glad of that.
     10/31 Today is the day we go through the Panama Canal. There were several places on the ship to get a good view of this. We had listened to a presentation by one of the crew members on the history of the canal, which was very interesting and informative. We learned that it cost $35,000.00 to get a reservation to go through the canal. If a ship doesn’t have a reservation they have to wait outside the entry to the canal until there is an opening for them to go through. There is an additional charge according to three criteria. The amount of    tonnage (weight) it is carrying, the number of berths (which is how our ship was charged) and if the ship is empty whatever its weight is. Anyway, it cost our ship $350,000.00 to go through the 3 locks that we went through. That’s right, all those zeros are correct. We went through the Gatun Locks onto Gatun Lake. There are 3 more locks on the other side of the lake. Our ship had 24”clearance on each side as it went through the locks.
     There are only 2 criteria a ship must meet to go through the canal; they must relinquish the steering of the ship to one of the pilots of the canal and they must pay in advance. It was a wonderful experience!
     We went into the little town of Colon to hunt for souvenirs. Donna and I found some beautiful tablecloths (made in China) and some pretty shawls. Did the evening things before retiring.
     11/01 we are now 2 hours behind our Florida time. Today is the zip line experience and oddly enough I am not afraid, but excited, maybe a little apprehensive. We met the bus to take us to the line. It was a 30 minute drive high up into the rain forest of Costa Rica. We passed through some very poor areas where the housing was sad but the foliage was beautiful everything is very green and beautiful.
     It took probably  about 45 minutes to an hour to get hooked up in our harnesses, hard hats and welders gloves. What a lovely site we were! The line had 13 platforms in all, one at the beginning, 11 in between and the last one at the end.  It was so much fun! I didn’t make it all the way to the 2nd platform so someone had to come out and bring me in. It was a bit scary just hanging our there in mid air over the forest. It became my goal to make it to all the rest of the platforms and I did!
     We got back one hour of our lost time tonight at 2:00 a.m. and the other one at 2:00 p. m.  We will be at sea until we get to  Ft. Lauderdale. I was actually looking forward to that. The weather is so hot and I have decided that I do not want to get any closer to the equator than Orlando, Florida from now on.
     11/02 We got up early enough to go to the Interdenominational devotional service. It was very nice. A Chaplin led it and did a very nice job. We sang a few hymns as we sat in a circle then he asked us to tell about someone living or dead that had been like a saint in our lives. Well, I couldn’t pass up an opportunity like that, so I said my “saint” was still alive and his name was Jesus Christ. As usual, when I talk about God’s love for me, I  begin to cry and can barely talk. I didn’t get far with this testimony either. Donna then gave the testimony that her saint was her mom, which made me cry even more. It is a blessing and an answer to prayer that my life through the cancer could be a testimony to my family and others.  All in all, it was a blessing to attend this little service. A lady afterwards came up to me and thanked me for my testimony. I am very thankful for that.
     The steel drum band performed in the afternoon and brought tears to my eyes when they played “To God Be The Glory” and “Amazing Grace.” It was beautiful and touching.
     I think this is long enough to hold your attention for tonight. I had hoped to get up to date with this post  but it doesn’t look like I will accomplish it. There only 2 more days to the cruise so perhaps I can finish tomorrow.
Good night and God bless.

11/07/11

I’m baaaaaaaaak.
     After spending 11 fun filled and restful days and nights in the Caribbean we are back home and back to the simple life. I am going to try and give you a thumbnail sketch of our wonderful vacation. I’ll start with Monday the 24th, the day we left.
     11/24 It took us (Donna, Daniel, Billy and I) about 3 1/2 hours to drive to Ft. Lauderdale. When we got on the ship, the Zuiderdam, Holland America Line, we were a little disappointed in the accommodations, but before the end of the cruise we decided they were actually very good. Our rooms were not very cool and never did really reach a comfortable temperature during the day, but we spent most of the days in one of the cooler areas of the ship. Dinner was very good, better food than any of the other lines we have been on. Not that the other lines weren’t good, this was just a step above.
     I listened to music on my iPod before going to sleep, it was very relaxing. It was a great nights sleep. I miss my home routine of devotions and keeping God’s presence through my regular routine.
     11/25 We took tender’s to the Line’s private island, Half Moon Cay. As we pulled into the dock a little bird was chirping a pretty little song like a welcome to us. We found a beautiful shady spot with beach chairs and sat there for a long while. I was able to listen to my music and one of R. C.’s sermons. After a Bar-B-Q lunch we went back to the ship. Had dinner and then a good show from a impressionist. We played Wahoo in the Ledo restaurant, the girls won! Another great nights sleep.
     11/26 Day at sea. Had excellent dinner in Pennicle Grill, it was formal night.
     11/27 Went ashore in Aruba. I was going to keep the boycott for Natalie Holloway's mother and not spend any money in Aruba. It was too hot to even see much of it. Daniel and I went back to ship after about 30 minutes. I am enjoying each morning on our veranda reading Proverbs for the day and other Bible devotions I have   chosen. My ipod has been so handy to listen to music and   R. C.’s messages. All of us are taking a little nap every afternoon and really enjoying it. Saw the movie “Water For Elephants” in the Vista Lounge.
     11/28 Went to the second island in what is called the A B C islands. Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao. We bought some souvenirs in a lovely little market. Once again it was too hot to enjoy a long visit to the island. We are getting too close to the equator for my comfort. Had a good comedian in the Vista Lounge tonight.
    11/29 Docked at the last island in the A B C chain, Curacao. This is the loveliest island we have seen. It had beautiful colors and architecture. Each house in the neighborhoods had to be painted a different color. We took a 2 hour bus tour of the island. Saw poisonous red frogs, and Iguana at a distillery.
     11/30  Day at sea. Over slept so we missed the Interdenominational service on ship. Billy and I had portraits made by an excellent photographer. We have all finally started having big breakfasts and very small lunches so we have room for one of the great dinners. Tonight it was shrimp cocktails and steak, mmmmmmmmmmmm.  
     Daniel had three shrimp cocktails, he loves shrimp. There was a steel drum band in the Vista Lounge. They were unbelievable! The audience went wild for them.
     I am going to retire for the night and finish bringing you up to date tomorrow. I hope this isn’t too boring for you. The trip was much more fun than the reading of this is. It was wonderful each day to get to listen to one of R. C.’s messages on my ipod. Bible reading on the veranda was a beautiful experience with the ocean all around me and sometimes the sun riding behind the clouds and making each one have a beautiful golden lining. It was just me and the whole ocean before me listening to beautiful music and reading the beautiful Word of God. Good night.