When your doctor calls and drops the kind of news on you that we received recently, you begin to think through all the things you want to do before the big day comes. From the very beginning of this journey, we have been positive, believing, confident in the hope we have in God. Nothing has changed. We still covet your prayers and lay the results at His Feet. We expect the best. But we are not so naïve to realize that things do not always turn out the way we hope and plan. I have lost two very dear friends, plus countless other family and friends, to this dreaded disease. But these two were walking a road very similar to mine. These were the most difficult to accept and move forward.
So now it’s my turn to subject myself again to the wonderful, healing, scary, sometimes deadly hand of treatment. Since my disease is chronic and not acute, I am not dying this month, unless I get hit by a bus! This allows me to choose when I want to schedule my DLI (somewhat), which is actually a process rather than a one-day occurrence. (They give you a little of the cells at a time and then watch and test you to make sure that your organs aren’t going crazy and rejecting everything.)
Anyway, back to timing. First comes our anniversary at the end of May. We have always taken trips that include some type of hiking. Last year, it was fairly minimal due to my knees and inability to walk very far, but we did as much as we could. This year, we will be heading to Wichita Falls for my cousin’s daughter’s wedding the weekend after our anniversary, so we will combine that with our anniversary trip. We have been holding out hope that we would be able to go to Palo Dura Canyon, near Amarillo, this year if my knee healed well enough. After receiving the news of the upcoming treatment, we decided that my knee was good enough! We were going come hell or high water! ☺ Paul said he would carry me if he had to. (Pray that he doesn’t have to!!) We both have camel back (water) backpacks and new tripod stools for if (and when) I need a break. Just like when we climbed Enchanted Rock back in 2014 and I felt that immense sense of accomplishment, we’re going to do it again! We need this, together…before the DLI. So Bucket List #1…Palo Dura Canyon.
Back when my great niece was 8, almost 9, Mama O and I took her to New York City. It was an awesome trip! For all of Dana’s young life, she has been asking when can I take HER to New York?! My daughter, Bethany, and I both LOVE New York and Dana is turning 10 this summer. With Mama O’s health decline, I’m not sure of her ability to make another trip. We’re waiting to see what this week’s appointment tells us. But our hope is that either all four, or at least the three, of us will be able to make that epic trek to the Big Apple as a surprise for Dana’s tenth birthday…a bit early. This one is going to be a bit harder to pull off as it is a bit pricier, and none of us have won the lottery! We are thinking, figuring, ciphering, saving, hoping, praying, and trying to make this happen. This would be a huge Bucket List item for me and my girls. Bucket List #2…New York.
If there is time before MDA gets me scheduled, there is one other trip I’d love to take. It may sound silly to those of you who don’t have grandchildren, but I would love to be able to go with as many of my kids and grandkids as possible to the Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas. It’s just a hop and a skip past Texarkana. It is very affordable. You can dig for diamonds, amethyst, garnet, jasper, agate, quartz, and more rocks and minerals. There are hiking trails and a small water park next door. This would be SO MUCH FUN!!! I want to make as many memories with my grandkids as possible. Bucket List #3…Crater of Diamonds Trip
Throughout all of this, we need to get my mom well and independent again. Please pray for our upcoming appointment on Thursday. She is bound and determined to go home. We want that for her, as well. But we want it under the best conditions. This corresponds to Bucket List #4…Time in the Country. We need things to be in order here to free up time for us to spend time away.
Our Bucket List is actually much longer than this and includes things like Paul’s early retirement, building our home and shop in the country, buying a bigger mill so we can have a retirement business that we really enjoy, can do together, and doesn’t kill Paul’s back, traveling, etc. But right now, it seems prudent to focus on the next 2-8 months rather than the next 2-8 years. God willing, we’ll get there. But as always…one day, one step, one prayer at a time.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Jeremiah 29:11
“Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.”
Isaiah 40:28-31
“I love you, LORD, my strength.
The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold….
For who is God besides the LORD?
And who is the Rock except our God?
It is God who arms me with strength
and keeps my way secure.
He makes my feet like the feet of a deer;
he causes me to stand on the heights.
He trains my hands for battle;
my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
You make your saving help my shield,
and your right hand sustains me;
your help has made me great.
You provide a broad path for my feet,
so that my ankles do not give way….
Therefore I will praise you, LORD, among the nations;
I will sing the praises of your name.”
Psalm 18:1-2, 31-36, 49
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