Happy 2011!

2011! Are you sure? It is hard to believe that it has been over a year since I've posted.

This has been one crazy year. There has been much sorrow and happiness in this time period. I've lost 2 very loved family members. I've also received news that my cancer has not returned. I have had to take the time to re-evaluate what is important and what is trivial.

My husband and I have been very frugal. It always seemed as if we would never get ahead. After hearing some great preaching and teaching from people who have been there, we are getting back on track. Again, we evaluate things by what is important versus trivial. We have had our ups and downs, but have perservered.

There have been many times that my husband and I have gone to work and heard people talking about the "recession". During 2010, we got some things straightened out and I truly believe that we were protected during this time by the Great Protector.

Believe me, it wasn't easy. In the Fall of 2009, I suffered a great loss in the loss of my Great-Grandmother. The Christmas of 2009, she was supposed to meet 4 more of her great-grandchildren. Up until that point she had only met 1 (my oldest). I still have the picture of the 5 generations. All of us were looking at the camera except for Great-Grandma. She was staring at the 5th generation with the biggest smile on her face. I kept her updated with pictures and my mom kept her laughing with anecdotes of the great-grandchildren. When I learned of her death, there was one phrase that kept going through my mind and I'm not sure who/where I heard it. "Children will make you grand. Grandchildren will make you great." How true that is! She was such a fighter.

My grandfather passed just this past fall (2010). As I'm still going through the grieving process, I will refrain from sharing too much. The pain is still too sharp. I will, however, say that I'm glad my Dad, Mom, brother, sister, our children and I were there to spend his last Christmas with him. So many memories!

As for the cancer that is always looming in the shadows, I had a recent scare. When I went in for my 1 year check-up, the doctor told me that they found another lump and wanted to biopsy it right away. He pushed some appointments aside to do the biopsy. Sorry to the other patients. I then had to go through Christmas wondering what the results were. I tried to stay positive to not ruin the holidays for my husband or children. We had a good time as a family. I did tire easily that weekend, but made it through. The results came back as NORMAL. That little 6-letter word was music to my ears. I just wanted to stand on my roof and scream "Praise the Lord!"

I'm truly thankful for all the friends that I've been able to keep in contact with and reconnect with in 2010.