One of our Florida friends has cancer. Not the same kind as me, but his has also metastasized. Many of you know him. We were planning a trip to Florida in December and wanted to spend a few weeks, but when a friend goes home on palliative care, you do what you can to encourage them. NOW.
Tim had some free rental days, so we rented a nice car and drove to Florida. We looked at my oncology schedule, and found about a week when we could go between treatments. We got home late last night.
We might not have recognized him had we run into him on the street. The long beard that matched ZZ Top has been replaced by a clean shaven face, thanks to several rounds of chemo and radiation to the neck and head. I believe this is the first time we have ever seen him without facial hair. His appetite has wained. He is thinner, by about 100 pounds. His voice sounds different. He walks a little slower, but he is not bedridden.
In spite of his many physical changes, we can see he’s still the same person. He loves to play games, and he even sat at the table for several hours while the boys fought battles during Axis and Allies. (I went to dinner with the ladies.) After the game, we all reminisced. We went to church together. Played in a band together. Traveled to other countries and did rock concerts. He was our tour guide because of his impeccable memory regarding historical facts. He told a joke (I was the brunt). We all laughed. It was a great night to see our friends and hopefully provide them with a bit of a distraction from every day concerns, anticipatory grief, doctors’ visits, major life-changing decisions, and so forth.
We’ve been there. We are there. We know what it’s like to be told bad news. I am so fortunate the Lord lead me to MD Anderson and a team of specialists who found treatment to keep my body alive years longer than they expected. Not everyone’s body responds to treatment the way mine has. Not all cancers respond the same way. Sometimes treatment options run out. Many times they do. I’m praying our friends find doctors who are willing to try something else to keep going.
While I was talking to his wife, I was reminded of a song I recently heard by Dolly Parton and four other women. It’s a hope for the future where “pink is just another color.” The fact is, the researchers are closer to a cure than they ever have been. That’s what I’m praying for! If you’d like to watch the music video, here’s the link. Have some tissues handy.
We saw lots of friends on this trip, in spite of the brevity. You know who good friends are when they drop what they are doing to see you while you are in town. I wish we could have seen more! Maybe next time sick friends will be feeling better and we’ll have more time to get around town to see the rest.
I just did bloodwork, and now I’m waiting for my chemo appointment. They will infuse Zometa for my bones today, in addition to the normal Herceptin and Perjeta protocol. My oncologist got the blessing from my bone specialist. We try to plan our trips in the three weeks between visits. Tim and I often sit in a café, sip hot tea or Diet Pepsi, eat lunch together, work on projects (mostly separate ones), and bounce ideas off of each other for our next trip to wherever.
It was a quick trip all the way to Florida and back, and I’m so glad we went. We have decided not to question ourselves when the Holy Spirit leads us in a particular direction. Marker on the dry-erase wall calendar has been erased and replaced multiple times. We have learned to be flexible. Cancer does that to you. The process of going through it teaches you so much about living life to the fullest, being flexible, and spending time with the ones you live.
Now, go give your loved ones a hug. ❤️❤️
À la prochaine…hasta la próxima vez…until next time!
Support goes a long way in the healing process. Companies and individuals love to give us stuff and pray for us. It’s for a good cause! Metastatic breast cancer (MBC) is one of the leading causes of death for women, and there is currently no cure for it. The state of Virginia recently offered an incentive for the person who finds a cure. More companies are jumping on the bandwagon to help us until they do. I feel loved and supported by so many of you, as well as some companies with great programs. I recently joined some who offer free stuff for those of us battling this disease.
My latest is sponsored by a national group called “Unite for HER.” Their focus is on wellness from all angles. I believe I posted some pictures of the big box full of goodies they sent me just for joining. It’s legit! I have 6 “squares” in my National Extended Wellness Passport, which can be used in any combination of services including integrative therapies, whole food nutrition, and fitness. They also offer lots of free retreats, consultations, classes and more through their “All Access Pass.” My passport will renew each year in January, with six more squares!
I signed up for my first Farmbox Direct and I got my first box yesterday! It cost me 2 squares for 6 weeks of boxes. They deliver seasonal, farm fresh vegetables directly to my home. Fortunately it fell right between our travel dates, so we won’t miss a delivery. We were so excited to see what they included! Here’s a little video of our reveal.
Veggies Free for Me, Part 1
I was even more thrilled when I discovered what I thought were turnips were actually beets (aka beetroot) 😂😂. Short video explains below, and shows you the full crop. We are so farm ignorant, but I hope to learn more. Maybe I will have my own garden one day.
Name this vegetable 😂😂😂
If you have to live with something like metastatic breast cancer, you might as well enjoy the benefits that come with it. The Lord knows we can use the perks! If you or someone you know has MBC, please comment below and I’ll send you the information on how you can join as well. It’s a great program!
À la prochaine…hasta la próxima vez…until next time!
Legacy leadership: Influences on pastoral approaches to financial leadership
Timothy B. West, D.Min, and Lucinda C. West, Ph.D.
Yesterday we were sitting on the back porch contemplating some finishing touches. By noon, we hit “enter.” We submitted our final paper to Villanova and our research fellowship is finally finished (YAY!). It was a two year project. We had to pare it down to 24 pages to meet their requirements, which only barely covered all the interesting findings. We will have a few articles to submit to journals after this.
If you remember, we originally planned to look at how pastors from the four money scripts approach financial leadership of their congregations. As it turns out, our sample was largely from one money script (money vigilance), so we had to scrap the idea of comparing groups. In fact, one of the scripts was completely missing from our sample (money status).
We only surveyed Church of God pastors, so it would be interesting to do another survey with multiple denominations to see if the dispersion of money scripts is greater across tribes or if this is a pastoral phenomenon. We think someone in the next cohort might have taken that bait.
We did do a few correlational analyses of the larger sample, but mostly focused on the themes that emerged from the interviews with pastors. We found four basic themes. For the purpose of this project, we highlighted one theme “legacy leadership.” Basically this entails the legacies brought into the equation by money scripts, family of origin, mentors, and pastors as mentors passing on legacies to their congregations. It was very interesting to hear how their families, mentors, and scripts influenced their decision-making as it pertains to finances.
We also found three other themes of financial leadership which were discussed briefly and will be brought out in more detail in our other articles. Those included spiritual leadership, visionary leadership, and practical leadership. Again, it was fascinating to hear how pastors lead finances based on these themes. Once it’s posted in the Villanova archives, we’ll let you know where you can read it.
In our second residency, we were asked by Scott Thumma (a well-known researcher in the church world, and one of the mentors at Villanova) to submit a brief article based on our findings as part of a larger project he is conducting. They are exploring the effects of the pandemic on churches. His project is funded by Lilly Endowment Inc. and conducted by the Hartford Institute for Religion Research at Hartford International University.
This was a side finding in our study, but it was interesting to hear what pastors had to say about the pandemic. Our article just got published on their website, and they paid us a small stipend for the submission. Here’s the link if you’d like to read that one.
It is wonderful to be married to someone who carries the same interests, passions and vision as I have. We want to see the Kingdom of God expand. We love the church world. We want to see pastors succeed and congregations flourish. We both enjoy doing research and are task oriented enough to see it through (even when we get a little tired of the topic).
After we submitted this research project, we asked, “what now?” We decided it’s time for us to relax a bit. I’m still working on my books, and this freed up some time to create illustrations (more on that in another blog). But it probably won’t be long before we are on to the next big project.
À la prochaine…hasta la próxima vez…until next time!
After chemo we hooked up the Airstream and headed north to Lake Tawakoni (Tah-WAH-kuh-nee). It’s near Point Texas, east of Dallas, about 3.5 hours from our house. Looks like a nice, quiet place to sit for a week. Tim will be working from the trailer, or the nearest Panera Bread, and I will be sipping tea while doing whatever it is that I do. 🤪🤪
The hook-up went much smoother than we expected. We timed it, and from start to finish we were ready to leave the storage unit in less than 45 minutes. That included hosing down the rig and putting air in the tires, which we don’t always do. This storage facility has everything from a dump station to air and water.
One tank of gas made it all the way up, but we didn’t get as good of gas mileage as we had hoped. This truck does tow better than the Ram, though, which is why we traded in the first place.
Luckily, a spot was open right on the lake. It’s idyllic. Big trees will block the heat and separate us from other guests. We have a great view of the sunset. Tim backed into the camping spot like a pro. 🤩🤩 We had to use our levelers for the first time in a while.
Just after sunset.
Unhitching the trailer and setting up camp also went pretty smoothly, with only one tiny hiccup. We were getting a little tired by this point as it was already dinnertime, and we had a long day. He hurt his hand when he was taking off the first sway bar. 😳😳🙄 I think he was trying to hurry the process along as we were getting hungry, and he took it off out of order. His hand got caught between the propane tank cover and the tool, and of course this is the one time he wasn’t wearing his gloves. I had to push the tank cover over to get it unstuck. This resulted in some fairly good scrapes on his hand and on the tank cover, but fortunately nothing is broken. There were a few tense moments that nearly cost us our religion. 😳🤪
We had spaghetti for dinner, which is when we discovered one of the propane tanks is empty. (The stove wouldn’t light.) Hopefully the other tank will last the whole week, but we may need to buy more. Also, I forgot to turn on the fridge before we left 🙄, so the cold food will need to stay in the cooler until morning.
We finished just in time to see the sunset and go for a walk around the park. Regardless of the troubles and trials we face, we are still very much in love and enjoy the time we have together. Thirty-seven years of marriage have taught us a thing or two about learning how to communicate, manage conflict, say “I’m sorry,” and forgive each other. This is the value of putting the Lord first in our marriage.
It’s a great day to be alive!
À la prochaine…hasta la próxima vez…until next time!
I’m currently on the second bag. I’ve finished Perjeta, and now I’m getting Herceptin. I have a new nurse today, and he is on top of it. We’re moving through treatment pretty quickly. Tim is in the building working, and I feel like I need a nap. 😂😂
My treatment was scheduled through lunch today, so I bought a “Think” high protein bar from the café to sustain me. I am a thinker, so it’s appropriate. It’s called “lemon delight,” but the bar looks nothing like the lemon bar pictured on the package. And, it doesn’t really taste like it either. The Atkins bars are more true to taste. I hate falling for false advertising! 😫 I bought it because it has zero (0) sugar.
Speaking of sugar. They draw blood every time I come, so I get to watch it on a regular basis. Today, my glucose was in the normal range! I wasn’t fasting and it’s still normal. It’s the first time in a very long time. I’ve been 100-110 in the “at-risk” range for a while, which is just above normal, but it has been slowly creeping up. I was concerned it might turn to diabetes some day, since it’s so common in my family. This was a nice surprise. Maybe those new supplements are working. 😁
I hear my BD AlarisTM Pump is beeping, so I should be going home soon. Have a wonderful day everyone! And remember, you are only as sweet as you THINK you are!
Here at MD Anderson for my oncology check-up. I was first diagnosed with breast cancer nine years ago this month. The second time (stage 4) I was diagnosed was five years ago this month. Always right before Christmas . I was secretly hoping to avoid any scans before Christmas, but he wants them done before the end of the year, even better since copays start over in January.
I come in to see the doc about every three or four months. Everything is still good right now. He schedules my chem and imaging, and refills my prescriptions. As of now, my blood looks good and imaging is good. It’s been about six months since my last imaging so we will do that before the year ends.
Update: Scans are scheduled for Friday, December 17th. Then, hopefully we will only receive good news Christmas week.
They are always very encouraging whenever I come in here. I love my doctors and all the people who see me at MD Anderson. Every time I come I see a lot of people, including the phlebotomist who draws my blood, the tech who takes my vitals, the nurse who knows me by name and asks lots of personal questions, the physician assistant who checks my heart and lungs, and the medical oncologist. They are like family and friends and they genuinely seem to care. I will be on round 70-something next week, so we’ve been connected for a while now. I am so thankful for my team of experts who are keeping me alive.
God is not a God of statistics…
FIVE years! FIVE! I’ve lived to see five more Christmases. We made it! God is good. My husband has been there beside me the whole time, and I couldn’t have done it without his support. To put it into perspective, only 20-30% of women who are diagnosed MBC live five years, with the average being about three. The numbers are hard to track, because there isn’t a good tracking system nationwide. So that’s the best we know.
Also as a point of interest (and a shameless plug), “only 2%-5% of funds raised for breast cancer research is focused on research for the already metastasized patient.” Much more research needs to be done to better understand this disease. Metavivor is my favorite organization, since 100% their donated funds go to research.
As a friend of ours reminded us nine years ago this month after I was first diagnosed, “God is not a God of statistics.” Only He knows the future. He is the supernatural healer and certainly defies the odds. I trust Him.
A few weeks ago I shared the sad story of Midnight, our daughter’s puppy who we fostered for five days. Due to their apartment restrictions and allergies in the family, they could no longer keep him. The shelter was closed when they moved, so we let them put him in our back yard until he could be taken to the shelter.
He was such a sweet puppy, only ten months old, and we fell in love with him. I became much more attached than I imagined I could. You can read more in my former blog about Midnight. We did have fun with him while we had him. He proved to be fast, smart, sweet, and he could jump! (Our fan remote which we left on the table has seen better days 🙄.)
A short video of our fun with Midnight.
It was time for our big bike trip to Lake Michigan, so we could no longer keep him in our yard. Also, we have too much stress to have a pet given my diagnosis and all our commitments. After many pleas, multiple connections, and no results, we took him to the Conroe animal shelter. I had heard horrible things about them, and I experienced it as well. However, we were left with no option but to leave him there and pray for this dear dog’s life.
I am so happy to reporthe has been rescued!A rescue organization called Forgotten Dogs of the Fifth Ward tagged him in less than a week to be saved. They found him a foster home not far from us. He got a virus in the shelter, so they gave him some medicine before he was to go home. They x-rayed a leg. They gave him shots. And, they neutered him. Many thanks to Kelle Mann and the Forgotten Dogs for saving his life.
The new owner is going to foster him until a forever home can be found, but I suspect they may turn into his forever home. They built him a new kennel in their air conditioned and heated garage where he will stay at night. They also have a great set-up outside for the dogs. Watch the video at the end for a great invention to keep dogs hydrated!
It took a few weeks for them to get him due to the virus, vet visits, and then they went on vacation. I waited until he was in his new home to blog about it as I was on pins and needles hoping it would go through. She kept updating me with information about him, and it was good to hear from her.
While they were on vacation, he stayed at the Kickapoo Ranch where he was trained. (Apparently he was running over and knocking down the older, little pugs at their home🤪, so he needed some attention.) The new owners also went for training, just before they brought him home on October 5th.
He has a new name!
Midnight is now “Blackberry.” I love that name, and so does Elizabeth. She was happy to see the updates and hear he is doing so well. It is not uncommon for new owners to give a pet a new name. It is unlike people who are very attached to their names. Dogs respond to whatever prompt they are given (and we given dogs many nicknames anyway).
The Bible talks about names. People were assigned a new name as a sign of hope, new beginnings, and new blessings. Abram was changed to Abraham, Sarai became Sarah, Jacob became Israel, and Simon was called Peter by Jesus. Blackberry is filled with hope for the future and blessings. I like that.
Here is a brief conglomeration of the pictures and movies sent to me by the new owner. It was so good to keep up and see he is happy and healthy. I love happy endings! ❤️❤️ I thought you might as well.
And now he is Blackberry! Getting trained and settled into his new home.
Rewind to Sunday, the beginning of this week. I was helping our daughter’s family move out of her apartment into another apartment. Midnight was their puppy, now ten months old. Still growing, and soon to be a big dog. Too big to live in a crate while mom and dad go to work.
Ambivalent about whether to keep him, they kept waiting to make that decision. I must have asked a dozen or more times, “what are you going to do about the dog?”
They have had several job changes, cuts in pay, medical bills, and moving into the apartment would require vet visits, shots, neutering, pet deposit, and monthly pet fees. Their whole reason for moving was to decrease their monthly costs. The children’s asthma, mixed with the challenges of feeding and caring for a big dog, was too much for a family with a tiny apartment. After much contemplation, they came to the realization they did not have the means to keep him. They decided it was in the best interest of the family to give him up.
What’s next?
We were out of town on a preaching gig when we got the call. Elizabeth was insistent he not go with them to the new apartment. (It is impossible to sneak a big dog into your apartment, let alone keep him quiet when you live right in front of the office.) They asked if they could drop him in our backyard until he could be taken to the shelter, which had closed for the day. We didn’t want to do it, but they were insistent on not moving him into their new apartment, so we acquiesced. We would be home later that evening to feed him.
It’s easy to fall in love with such a wonderful pet. I recognize the grave and arduous difficulty of this decision. It was not easy for them. He is part black lab, part blue heeler. Looks like a lab with some blue heeler traits. He’s super smart, fun, sweet, loves to play, and loves to jump. Remarkably fast. Didn’t bark the entire time we had him.
As it turned out, the Montgomery County Shelter was closed the next day, and the next. They would be closed for accepting new animals for the next two weeks because of Covid, so this bought me some time. Tim agreed to keep him a few more days, but Friday was it.
I immediately started on a mission to rescue him. We couldn’t keep him, but maybe someone else could. I tried many foster and rescue organizations. Called the shelter to get their information. Reached out to friends, family, neighbors. I put his picture on FaceBook, in rescue groups, on Instagram. I did everything but take him to Walmart with a “free puppy” sign attached.
Somehow it was shared with groups near and far, including a rescue group in Arizona. While I was getting chemo I was in touch with a lady who sounded perfect for Midnight. Had there been transportation, we would have had a home for him there. Our daughter and son-in-law started questioning whether they should take him back home, but the texts confirmed their intentions not to do so.
I learned some things along the way. For example, there is a current animal crisis (another result of Covid). Covid puppies like Midnight are in excess, and the shelters are overcrowded. People took in puppies, and their dogs couldn’t get fixed due to the veterinarian rules during covid, so more puppies were born. Many, many puppies. And kittens. Now that we are nearly post-pandemic, people are going back to work. Reality of life is setting in, and they can no longer care for a pet. All the rescues want to find a foster home until they can find a forever home. This takes time. And money.
SO many pets need adopting right now.
Several times I thought we had a home for Midnight. Cattle ranches, horse ranches, talk about friends taking him, amongst other things. We kept waiting to see if any of these plans would materialize. Every day we said, “one more day.” But every trail went cold, and it seemed this puppy was destined for the shelter.
He thinks our patio table is his bed. Cooling off under the ceiling fan.
He was starting to get restless, digging in the yard, chewing our remote, taking over our patio furniture and sleeping on the table. Generally making a big dog’s mess in the yard. Yeah, you know the kind.
We didn’t sign up for this. We can’t even enjoy our own backyard! There’s a million reasons we don’t have a pet! We travel, leave home a lot, do not have time or know-how to train him properly, and we don’t really have the kind of space he needs.
If we were going to keep him, we would approach this very differently. But it just isn’t possible. At the end of the day, today, there were no other options.
We live in Conroe, so we can only take him two places. Montgomery County or Conroe animal shelter. Since Montgomery County was closed, Conroe was our only option. I reached out to people once more. I was starting to hear crickets, even from our daughter.
Conroe shelter reviews are horrible. I get it. We didn’t want to do it. We actually considered driving him to the country and dropping him off where he could find a farm to live on, but that would likely just prolong the inevitable. I would feel even worse if I read about an accident because this dog jumped in front of their car. Plus, a long drive to the country did not seem doable given our current circumstances.
He enjoyed the ride in the back of the pickup, totally unaware of the purpose for being there. He tried to jump out, skinning his paw, but fortunately we were able to catch him before he was seriously injured.
We decided Tim would watch Midnight while I went in to talk. These workers must have no soul. Not an ounce of compassion for our situation or our feelings. I confirm what the reviewers say about the workers. I left in tears, which continued to flow for the remainder of the day.
I made the mistake of telling them his name. “How do you know his name?” was her snide retort. When I explained the situation, she said owners have to pay $50 to surrender him. “He’s your responsibility.” Another curt response, mean even. Even though he was never our dog, they considered us the owners. They wouldn’t take him if we didn’t pay the money.
“What if I told you he was a stray?” At this point the lady threatened me. “You’d better be careful. You’re on camera.” She pointed to the camera. “You told us the story. You need to be careful what you say.”
I was having a hard time holding it together. I walked out when she said I would have to sign a euthanasia agreement. It was the way she said, “He’ll be euthanized.” Cold. Calculated. Absolutely no compassion whatsoever. For me or the dog. What I’ve been told about this shelter was confirmed.
A family came in looking for a puppy. I told them we had one out in the truck if they wanted to take a look. That resulted in another hurtful comment. “You can’t rehome here.” They wanted to take a look, but they wanted a smaller dog anyway.
I went back outside to where Tim was keeping an eye on Midnight, who was panting in the heat, getting some shade from the bed cover. I almost said to Tim, “let’s take him home.” But I value my marriage way more than a dog we have only had in our yard for five days. I explained to him what just happened. I couldn’t deal with them any more. Could he please finish up. I’ll watch the dog.
Fortunately for me, my hubby is my protector. He has broad shoulders. While I didn’t want him to experience what I had just experienced, I knew he could handle it. He agreed. They are heartless.
After the papers were signed, and the fee was paid, we walked Midnight to the side of the building where the handler was ready to receive him. He was the kindest of all the workers. Looked him over, and gave him some pats. Midnight seemed happy to meet his new friend.
That’s the last we saw of this precious puppy.
Our only hope is to pray someone falls in love with him like we did. Someone to adopt him. Someone with land and a family, or a farm where he can be put to work. Someone who can rescue him from the Conroe Animal Shelter monsters.
This was so much more difficult than I ever expected. I thought about it and contemplated for quite a while, wondering, “why?” He’s a dog! And we really only knew him for about a week. How did I get so attached to a dog in just five days?
As the tears flowed, I am still a bit unearthed by the experience. I’m still processing it all. He was part of my daughter’s and my grandchildren’s family for nearly a year. Perhaps that’s it. I do not want to be remembered as “the one who took Midnight to the pound.” I will gladly relinquish that title to my husband.
While all things aren’t necessarily a part of my cancer journey, I can’t help but wonder how much of this experience is related. I’m much more sensitive now. More compassionate. More vulnerable. More aware of life and death than ever before. With cancer, there is constant loss. Constant good-byes. Bad news comes just as frequent, or more frequent in many cases, as the good. I guess I was hoping for a happy ending here, and it just doesn’t seem like we’re going to see it.
Á la prochaine…until next time.
If you or someone you know would like to foster or adopt Midnight, please act quickly! He is at the Conroe Animal Shelter, 407 Sargent Holcomb Blvd., Conroe Texas. His ID is A034130. Phone: 936-522-3550. Call TODAY!
Today is my big sister’s birthday. Shhh. Don’t tell anyone, but she is SIXTY years old today. How did we get to be so OLD? 🤪 Happy Birthday Bonnie! I’m getting treatment at MD Anderson today. This is her birthday present… live to see another day. She is in Ohio and we are in Texas. If we lived closer she might be here with me, laughing about memories of childhood. Or, I might take her to dinner.
I guess this blog will have to suffice.
One of my earliest memories in life starts with my sister Bonnie. I was about a year old. Our parents were entertaining company downstairs, and I was playing upstairs. According to the story I’ve been told, I got into my mother’s dressing gown, then tried to come downstairs in it. Tangled in the sea of material, I fell down the entire flight of stairs (that part I remember). I would have cried if it weren’t for my siblings.
It is interesting how certain images are so vivid in my mind. This memory is one of them. I can still see my sister Bonnie’s three-year old face peering around the corner of the stairs, a worried and inquisitive look on her brow, checking to see if I was alright. That look was comforting.
Then came my five-year old brother, racing in his little red fire truck making siren sounds, “rrrrRRRRRrrrr, Gotta take her to the hospital. Gotta take her to the hospital. rrrRRRRRrrr.” He made me smile, laugh even.
Two years were between each of us. Shawn was first, and then Bonnie, and I’m the third of three. The baby. The one who wanted to be into everything her big brother and sister were into, but instead got teased, pushed aside, sheltered, and treated like all babies in families tend to be handled (or was it just me? 🤔).
One exception was the time they invited me to watch a movie with them, and they introduced me to Carrie. Yeah, that’s the one 😳. I was still just a kid, but they were probably pre-teens or teen-agers by now. Thrilled to be invited, yet unaware their invitation was another method of torture. 😬😬
Siblings… 🙄🙄
Bonnie probably remembers their true motives. She remembers way more details from our childhood than I do. Maybe it’s chemo brain, or maybe I was just too young at the time it happened. Or, maybe I’ve tried to block that one out. Who knows 🤷♀️? (Shudder….)
I do recall our mother walking into the room and asking what we were watching. They probably gave her some lame story about a teenager who was growing up. Or something like that. I’m sure she and Dad would not have approved us to watch that movie if they knew what it contained. (I hate horror movies to this day. That particular one left a bitter tasting pill in my mouth.)
I remember when we were just little tykes running around in our PJs. We always shared a room growing up, and got to know each other pretty well. Yet our rivalry was a bit like The Queen and Princess Margaret (can you tell what series we are currently watching??). I’m pretty sure she was The Queen in our household. She was the one in charge. I got to play and be a kid, while she had to act more like a grown-up. It must have been a heavy crown to bear.
They also did due diligence as the older siblings to protect me. It was their job. If I got in trouble, they got it two or threefold. They may have felt it was their right as older siblings to torture me 🤪, but no one else better try! Bonnie may have been a bit mischievous as a kid, and even mores as a teen (I could tell you some interesting stories–I’ll spare her the embarrassing details 😂), but she looked out for me.
Having Bonnie in my life has given me many fond memories. I can’t imagine life without her. Happy birthday sweet sister!
I got my bloodwork done, put cream on the port, now I’m waiting to go back. Almost finished with this blog when they called my name.
Today was #chemoday. Truthfully I am on biotherapy, but most people don’t understand what that means. So, we call it chemo. It’s maintenance drips of Herceptin and Perjeta, which I get infused in the chemo room at MD Anderson, given by the chemo nurses every three weeks. No major side effects to date, and I’ve had more than 50 of these.
They got me in for treatment and even finished early, so we jumped in the car and took a drive to Dallas to look at an RV — a 2021 Airstream International 30RB Twin to be exact. If you haven’t been following the RV industry lately, it is hopping! It’s nearly impossible to find anything locally, or anywhere for that matter, as people are working from home and staying in the USA due to COVID, meaning they are buying up recreational vehicles.
We are in the process of launching a new ministry, where both of our skill sets will be vital to its success. We love doing ministry together, and we love challenging people to a spirit of adventure. We will be sharing more about this ministry as it unfolds, but the ride up and back included dreaming and planning how an Airstream can help fulfill our ministry goals.
We were “full-timers” about 8 years ago, in the latter half of 2012. We lived in a fifth-wheel with our then 9th grade daughter and our little dog Midge, traveling from location to location where we served the churches in Texas. We learned a lot about the RV lifestyle. This was brought to a screeching halt when I was diagnosed with breast cancer the first time. We sold the fifth wheel in exchange for chemo, surgery, radiation, and more treatment.
We have always dreamed of going back on the road, and God seems to be saying “now.”
No, we aren’t selling our house. No, we aren’t going full-time on the road. But, yes, we will be doing life and ministry together and it has the potential to happen in a silver RV.
A fifth wheel requires a lot more set-up than a travel trailer, is heavier to pull, and in general has more potential for things to go wrong with it. We crossed fifth wheel off the options. Our final debate was between a Class A motorhome or bumper pull. We really wanted the motor coach, but could not justify spending the money. We looked at cheaper travel trailers, but most bumper pulls as well as fifth wheels are made with formaldehyde (we can smell it and it burns my sensitive eyes!).
In the past two years we have done a LOT of research, and the Airstream checks the most boxes in our “must have” list. It has quality parts as well as an iconic history. Without the challenge of navigating slides, we feel this will give us the most flexibility as well as comfort on those longer road trips. Our research shows it has the highest resale of all products on the market as well.
This is definitely a leap of faith, and we are looking forward to seeing what God has in store!
“And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”
. I was secretly hoping to avoid any scans before Christmas, but he wants them done before the end of the year, even better since copays start over in January. 
