DORIS REFERRED TO HERSELF AS A "CRYBABY"

HE TOOK PETER AND THE TWO SONS OF ZEBEDEE ALONG WITH HIM, AND

HE BEGAN TO BE SORROWFUL AND TROUBLED. THEN HE SAID TO THEM,

"MY SOUL IS OVERWHELMED WITH SORROW TO THE POINT OF DEATH. STAY

HERE AND KEEP WATCH WITH ME."

GOING A LITTLE FARTHER, HE FELL WITH HIS FACE TO THE GROUND

AND PRAYED, "MY FATHER, IF IT IS POSSIBLE, MAY THIS CUP BE TAKEN

FROM ME. YET NOT AS I WILL, BUT AS YOU WILL."

~MATTHEW 26 : 37-39

MY FRIEND DORIS SENT ME AN E-MAIL. SHE REFERRED TO HERSELF AS A

"CRYBABY."

THIS IS NOT LIKE DORIS.....DORIS MAKES THINGS HAPPEN AND SHE IS ALWAYS

HELPING PEOPLE, WHETHER IT BE FAMILY, FRIEND, OR STRANGER.

DORIS IS IN A DARK PLACE OF UNCERTAINTY...HER BELOVED GRANDSON JAMIE

IS ON HIS WAY TO IRAQ, PROBABLY ALREADY THERE. SHE IS SO PROUD TO

HAVE HIM SERVE BUT LIKE SO MANY OTHERS, HE IS SO YOUNG AND SHE ONLY

WANTS HIM TO RETURN HOME SAFE. IRAQ IS A DARK PLACE OF UNCERTAINTY.

I AM IN A DARK PLACE OF UNCERTAINTY OVER AMY'S UP COMING SURGERY.

THERE ARE MANY PEOPLE IN DARK PLACES OF UNCERTAINTY WHETHER IT BE

THEIR HEALTH, THEIR MARRIAGE, A DEATH OF A LOVED ONE, LOSS OF JOB OR

HOME, OR THE LOSS OF BOTH OF THEM.

WHAT IS ONE PERSONS DARK PLACE OF UNCERTAINTY MAY NOT BE ANOTHER'S

BUT WE DON'T ALWAYS KNOW HOW MANY BLOCKS ARE SWAYING BACK AND FORTH

AND WHAT BLOCK WILL CAUSE THEM TO TUMBLE INTO A PIT OF DARKNESS.

HOWEVER, EVEN WHEN I WAS AT MY DARKEST POINT, IF I STRAINED REAL

HARD AND HELD ON TO WHAT I KNEW TO BE TRUE IN MY HEART I COULD SEE A VISION

OF A FAINT LIGHT, THROUGH ALL THE TEARS, BEGGING, PLEADING AND EVEN ANGER.

LORD PLEASE, I NEED AN ANSWER AND I WOULD CRY SOFTLY. THEN LIKE A CHILD THROWING

A TANTRUM I WOULD GET LOUDER AND LOUDER AND WAIL....I WAS THE QUEEN OF

CRYBABIES......ALL I GOT WAS A HEADACHE FROM MESSING UP MY SINUSES...no crown

WHEN I COULD GET MYSELF CALMED DOWN, I COULD HOLD MY BIBLE. SIMPLE

SNIPPETS WOULD COME FROM THE WORD THAT I HAD HIDDEN IN MY HEART.

I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST WHO STRENGTHENS ME!

JESUS LOVES ME AND IF HE IS FOR ME, WHO CAN BE AGAINST ME

I WOULD SING A FEW LINES OF "SWING LOW SWEET CHARIOT"....LOL....

BUT NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SEEMED I WAS BEGINNING TO SHOW GOD MY

FAITH

BY SPEAKING HIS WORD AND AS I DID I SAW MORE HOPE AROUND ME.

THE LIGHT OF HOPE WAS BEGINNING TO BE A LITTLE BRIGHTER EVEN

THOUGH I STILL HAD SOME DARKNESS OF UNCERTAINTY....BUT NOW I

WASN'T CONSTANTLY DWELLING ON THE DARKNESS.

FRIDAY NIGHT IN OUR TOWN WAS THE "RELAY FOR LIFE." THE FIRST TWO

PICTURES DIDN'T TAKE VERY WELL BUT I THOUGHT ABOUT ALL THE

PEOPLE WHO ARE IN DARK PLACES OF THEIR LIFE, AND THE PRECIOUS

HOLY SPIRIT JUST QUICKENED IN MY SPIRIT TO USE THE PICTURES.

FRIDAY NIGHT WAS A LOT OF FUN UNTIL THEY HAD THE LIGHTING

CEREMONY TO REMEMBER ALL THOSE WHO HAVE PASSED FROM CANCER

AND ALL THOSE WHO HAVE CANCER AND THE HOPE TO WIPE OUT

CANCER. A LADY TOLD HOW HER PRECIOUS HUSBAND HAD HELPED HER

THROUGH BREAST CANCER AND 5 YEARS LATER SHE HELPED HER HUSBAND

THROUGH A 2 YEAR BATTLE OF CANCER AND THAT HE WAS NOW WAITING

FOR HER IN HEAVEN.

THE NIGHT WAS BALMY WITH A GENTLE BREEZE....SEVERAL PEOPLE WERE

OPENLY CRYING, SOME SOFTLY, YOU COULD HEAR ONE OF THE DOGS BROUGHT

BY HIS OWNER ALMOST HOWL AS IF HE SENSED THE SADNESS, SOMEONE

WAS LAUGHING, YOU COULD HEAR A TRAIN IN THE DISTANCE AND

I COULD JUST SENSE THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD.

THESE TWO LIGHTS AND THE TWO BELOW MIMIC THE LUMINARIES

THAT LINED THE STREET ONE AFTER ANOTHER AROUND THE SQUARE

OF THE COURTHOUSE IN ENID, OKLAHOMA.

AS WE CELEBRATE JESUS....HE INHABITS THE PRAISES OF HIS PEOPLE

AND REMEMBER THAT HE SHED HIS BLOOD FOR US SO THAT WE CAN

HAVE LIFE MORE ABUNDANTLY HERE AND IN HEAVEN FOR ALL ETERNITY.

SO WHEN WE

CELEBRATE

AND

REMEMBER

WE ARE ABLE TO

FIGHT BACK

WHILE HOLDING ON TO OUR

ANCHOR OF HOPE

WHICH IS

JESUS CHRIST.

WE DO THIS THROUGH PRAYER, STUDYING OUR BIBLE, SURROUNDING

OURSELVES WITH CHRISTIANS WHO LIVE THE WORD THROUGH THEIR

LIVES, WHO ARE NOT ASHAMED OF THE GOSPEL, BUT ARE NOT

JUDGMENTAL OR HOLIER THAN THOU. JESUS IS THE ONLY JUDGE.

AS MY HUSBAND AND OUR SCHNAUZER SAMMY WAS WALKING, I JUST

HAPPENED TO LOOK DOWN ABOUT HALF WAY AROUND THE SQUARE AND THERE

WAS OUR DAUGHTERS LUMINARY. THERE WERE SO MANY

LUMINARIES IT WOULD HAVE BEEN IMPOSSIBLE IF YOU WERE SEARCHING

FOR A PARTICULAR NAME. IT MEANT A LOT THAT WE SAW AMY'S.

THIS IS THE PICTURE OF AMY IN HER NEW RED WIG. SHE IS HOLDING

MY FUR BABY GRANDDAUGHTER AND HER NIECE IZZY. SHE IS A LITTLE

YORKIE WITH THE FACE OF AN ANGEL. SHE IS WEARING HER LITTLE

SEERSUCKER DRESS THAT HAS LITTLE PINK AND WHITE STRIPES

WITH PINK CHERRIES. SHE IS A LITTLE TOM BOY SO I BATHED HER

BEFORE WE WENT TO RELAY FOR LIFE AND SHE STOLE THE SHOW...ALL

THE LITTLE CHILDREN JUST LOVED HER AND SAMMY.

LIBERTY.......

THIS IS A WREATH I MADE FOR MY FRONT DOOR.

I LOVED THE LIBERTY STAR:

WHEN WE

CELEBRATE

AND REMEMBER

WHAT JESUS DID FOR US

WE ARE ABLE TO

FIGHT BACK

AND CLING TO HOPE.

AS WE PRAY AND STUDY GOD'S WORD WE FIND

ALL THE LIBERTY HE GAVE US

THANK YOU FOR VISITING ME TODAY. PLEASE REMEMBER AT

THERE'S AN ANGEL ON MY FRONT PORCH

I WILL ALWAYS BE PRAYING FOR YOU AND YOUR

DARK UNCERTAINTY

TOGETHER WE CAN FIGHT BACK AND

SHED JESUS'S

LIGHT OF HOPE INTO THAT DARKNESS.

HAVE A BLESSED SUNDAY

HUGS

debbie

APRIL IS "HEAD, ORAL, AND NECK" CANCER AWARENESS MONTH

CALLING ALL TALENTED PEOPLE.......WE ALL ASSOCIATE THE COLOR PINK

WITH BREAST CANCER. THE COLORS FOR HEAD, ORAL, AND NECK CANCER

ARE MAROON AND CREAM. IS THERE A TALENTED GRAPHIC PERSON OUT

THERE WHO WOULD BE WILLING TO VOLUNTEER YOUR TALENTS TO MAKE

A MAROON AND CREAM COLORED RIBBON OR A MAROON OR CREAM COLORED

SOMETHING THAT WOULD BE READILY RECOGNIZED AS HEAD, ORAL, AND NECK

CANCER. MY DAUGHTER "HAD" SQUAMOUS CELL CARCINOMA OF THE TONGUE

WITH NOW METASIS TO THE NECK....WHICH IS HAVING ITS' BUTT KICKED BY

JESUS, PRAYER, AND HIGH POWERED CHEMOTHERAPY BEING GIVEN BY THE

GREATEST ONCOLOGIST DR. DEXEUS

I DON'T KNOW THE FEELINGS WE HAD SETTING THERE IN THOSE BLUE,

COMFY RECLINERS WAITING TO HAVE AMY'S PORT-A-CATH ACCESSED

AGAIN AND TO HAVE CHEMO RUNNING THROUGH HER AGAIN.

I CAN'T SAY I WAS ANGRY...I WATCHED HER BUSILY TEXTING LEILA AND

I WAS DESPERATELY TRYING TO FIND A MAGAZINE THAT WOULD TAKE

ME AWAY....BUT THERE WAS NO ESCAPING THE FACES OF THE PATIENTS

THAT SET THERE IN THOSE BLUE, COMFY, "RECLINERS OF HOPE"...SOME

SLEEPING...SOME EATING...SOME LAUGHING...NO ONE CRYING. EVERY ONE

TRIES TO STAY UPBEAT. TO HAVE A PORT-A-CATH IS A GUARANTEED ONE TIME

STICK BUT EVERYONE...EVERYONE SHOWS THE SAME FACIAL PAIN WHEN STUCK.

I ASK AMY WHAT IT FEELS LIKE.....SHE SAID THAT IT IS DIFFICULT TO

DESCRIBE BUT IT IS LIKE A STABBING PAIN THAT FOR A SECOND TAKES YOUR

BREATH AWAY. ONCE HER PORT IS ACCESSED, SHE IS FINE.

MONDAY NIGHT AND TUESDAY NIGHT, SHE HAS COME HOME WITH CISPLATIN

INFUSING ALL NIGHT....IT INFUSES OVER 20 HOURS.

THE SERIOUSNESS WITH AMY IS THAT HER WHITE COUNT WAS LOW BUT

THEY COULD NOT WAIT ANY LONGER TO START CHEMO....TOMORROW SHE

WILL BE THROUGH WITH THIS ROUND OF CHEMO AND FOR 5 DAYS I WILL

GIVE HER A NEUPOGEN SHOT.....AND KEEP HER IN A BUBBLE AWAY FROM

GERMS WITH THE 10TH DAY BEING THE MOST CRITICAL FOR WHEN ALL

COUNTS SHOULD DROP FROM WBC'S TO RED BLOOD CELLS TO PLATELETS.

NOW FOR AN UPDATE FOR LEILA........YES...UTERINE CANCER IS PEACH COLOR.

IT WOULD BE WONDERFUL TO HAVE A PEACH COLORED RIBBON.

THEY ARE WAITING TO SEE IF LEILA WILL BE ACCEPTED INTO A TRIAL

PROGRAM. SHE WILL KNOW BY FRIDAY...THE DEADLINE FOR ANY ONE

TO BE IN THE PROGRAM IS FRIDAY AND IT HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR A YEAR.

IF THIS PROGRAM SUCCEEDS, IT WILL BE A TREMENDOUS BREAK THROUGH

FOR UTERINE CANCER AS THEY WILL ONLY HAVE TO TAKE CHEMO ONE DAY

VERSES THE USUAL 3 DAYS, FOR EACH ROUND.

LEILA WENT TODAY FOR EKG AND CT SCAN. SHE HAS DONE VERY WELL AND

SHE FOLLOWS WHAT THE DR. SAYS TO THE LAW. SHE DOES NOT HAVE QUITE

THE BANTY ROOSTER IN HER THAT MY AMY HAS.

I AM THANKFUL FOR SO MANY THINGS TODAY....AMY'S LAUGH...I SAW SOME

BEAUTIFUL TULIPS AND PANSIES...FOR MY HUSBAND, MY SON AND DAUGHTER

IN LOVE...FOR LEILA AND CORBY...MY PARENTS, MY PARENTS IN LOVE, MY

SISTER SHERRY AND MY BROTHER IN LOVE TONY, MY DEAR FRIENDS ROBBI

AND DORIS, MY BROTHER TED, MY SISTER IN LOVE SUSIE AND MELT,

MY SISTER IN LOVE NANCY AND BOB

THE SUN SHINED BOTH MONDAY AND TUESDAY, THE LOVE OF THE LORD,

ALL 66 BEAUTIFUL FOLLOWERS OF MY BLOG AND ALL THE FRIENDS THAT

STOP BY AND LEAVE SUCH INSPIRING COMMENTS.

THE WORLD HAS BECOME SUCH A UGLY PLACE AT TIMES AND SUCH HORRIBLE

THINGS IN THE NEWS AND PEOPLE ARE AFRAID OF LOSING THEIR JOBS

AND/OR HAVE LOST THEIR JOBS.

WHAT THE LORD HAS SHOWN ME IS "HOPE." THAT IS THE WORD OF THE HOUR.

WE MUST NOT GIVE UP HOPE.

I READ ON JOHNATHAN'S SITE A QUOTE BY ONE OF HIS HEROES:

"YOU CAN GO A MONTH WITHOUT FOOD, YOU CAN LIVE THREE DAYS

WITHOUT WATER, BUT YOU CAN'T GO MORE THAN SIXTY SECONDS

WITHOUT HOPE."

~~SEAN SWAMER

FIND REST, O MY SOUL, IN GOD ALONE;

MY HOPE COMES FROM HIM.

HE ALONE IS MY ROCK AND MY SALVATION;

HE IS MY FORTRESS, I WILL NOT BE

SHAKEN.

MY SALVATION AND MY HONOR DEPEND ON

GOD;

HE IS MY MIGHTY ROCK, MY REFUGE.

TRUST IN HIM AT ALL TIMES, O PEOPLE;

POUR OUT YOUR HEARTS TO HIM,

FOR GOD IS OUR REFUGE.

~PSALM 62: 5-8

I LOVE THE SENTENCE THAT SAYS, "I WILL NOT BE SHAKEN."

NO MATTER WHAT WE ARE GOING THROUGH....WHAT WE MUST FACE...

WHAT PAIN AND SORROW, WE MUST NOT BE SHAKEN AND TO CRY OUT

TO THE LORD. HE CERTAINLY KNOWS MY CRY AND HE KNOWS MY

WHINE....HE ANSWERS MY CRY.

THANK YOU FOR SPENDING A PART OF YOUR DAY WITH ME AND FOR

YOUR PRAYERS. YOU ARE EACH SPECIAL AND UNIQUE.

BLESSINGS

HUGS

debbie

><>

PRAYER: AMY, LEILA, OLIVIA, ROY AND ELISABETH, BEVERLY'S

MOTHER, EDWARD, MARIA, PATRICIA, CAROL, RICHARD, DENNIS, BOBBY, JENNIFER,

JENNIFER AND DAVID, IRENE, PEGGY, TED, BRUISER, CINDY J'S MOTHER,

BECKY, ALL THOSE WHO HAVE FAMILY MEMBERS IN THE HOSPITAL,

FOR THOSE WITH ALHEIMERS OR DEMENTIA, ALL OUR POLICE MEN AND

WOMAN, FIRE MEN AND WOMAN, ALL THOSE MILITARY WHO HAVE AND ARE

SERVING THIS COUNTRY, OUR SCHOOLS, HOSPITALS, NURSING HOMES,

AGAINST VIOLENCE IN THE WORK PLACE, FOR JOBS THAT ARE NEEDED

HOPE......HOPE......HOPE......HOPE