Tuesday, September 23, 2014

God's Mercies are New Every Morning

Reading this morning sweet Ann's post titled 
and thinking/praying for some sweet friends 
who are in the midst of some truly huge battles. 


 I so loved this quote by her. 
What a great reminder that His mercies are new every morning! 

You can print your own PDF or JPG copy HERE

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Happy Brain Surgery Anniversary

Its hard to believe it's been a year since my brain surgery.
A whole year.
365 days.
52 weeks.
8,760 hours.
525,600 minutes.
It's hard to wrap my head around that number.
In some ways it feels like it happened yesterday 
and I can vividly remember my terror and pain (oh the pain!) 
and then in other ways it seems like it's been a really long time.

I get asked often how I feel.
And I've often struggled with what to say.

Physically it's fairly easy to explain:
  • My right eye still doesn't tear {one eyed ugly crying still} & the right side of my mouth doesn't produce enough saliva so I use eye drops and a special mouthwash several times a day to help.
  • I struggle with some pretty awful headaches- especially when I'm overly tired and stressed. These aren't normal headaches- they are always on the side where my surgery was and nothing really helps to get rid of them except time and rest. I think that one lesson I needed to learn was to slow down and say no sometimes and the headaches remind me of that lesson when I forget.
  • I'm totally deaf in my right ear and that's probably been the largest daily reminder. Best part of being deaf in one ear? Put your good ear on the pillow when you go to sleep and you sleep LIKE A BABY! Learning where to sit in a place with lots of people talking {restaurants, conferences, church, etc} and learning to walk on the right side when walking with someone is becoming more normal as time passes. In super noisy spaces I have a really hard time hearing people talking to me which I hate but I'm learning to deal with. Getting used to everything being so stinkin' loud has definitely taken getting used to. I expected the opposite to be true- that everything would be super quiet but instead everything is loud- especially people on the phone. It's because all sounds are funneled into one ear instead of balanced out among two.

Emotionally it's almost impossible to explain.
Do I feel grateful? Absolutely.
Do I feel thankful? Definitely.
Do I feel relieved? So very much.
Do I feel blessed? Beyond measure.
But there's so much more to it.

As I was reading Ann Voskamp over this past year
{I heart her so!}
a word she uses often struck me as the perfect word to describe how I feel.



Quick definition from Ann:
The root word of eucharisteo is charis, meaning “grace.” Jesus took the bread and saw it as grace and gave thanks. He took the bread and knew it to be gift and gave thanks. Eucharisteo, thanksgiving, envelopes the Greek word for grace, charis. But it also holds its derivative, the Greek word chara, meaning “joy.” Charis. Grace. Eucharisteo. Thanksgiving. Chara. Joy.


Joy.
Charis.
Grace.
Thanksgiving.
Eucharisteo.

As I write this this morning, I am weepy and overwhelmed with thanksgiving. 
I am thankful that God is able and that He carries us when we can't walk on our own. 
I am thankful for my amazing friends and family that walked me through one of the darkest times in my life. For every prayer uttered on my behalf, for every meal brought to feed my family, 
for every minute sat in the hospital waiting as I was in surgery, 
for every sweet note, text, or email, for every sweet gift given to me, 
for every hug I am thankful. 

I am thankful for every awful headache I get, because it's a reminder that I am still here, 
that the outcome could have been so very different. 
I'm thankful that my story has a happy ending 
but am even more thankful for a God that is good and able 
even when the ending is not as we have hoped and prayed.
He is able. 

Thursday, September 11, 2014

I Will Remember.


You can print a PDF or JPG copy HERE

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Dude.

I say "Dude" an awful lot. 
{Probably way too much in all honesty}.
"Dude. No way."
"Dude. Seriously?"
"Dude. What the heck?"


So when Madison and I were shopping for tshirts at Baylor and found one that said 
Dude on the front and Baylor on the back she insisted I buy it. 

So I did. 

And the first time I wore it I spent 15 minutes in the 
bathroom taking selfies while making different faces
{Poor Tony just kept shaking his head}. 

That way, instead of sending a text that said "dude", 
I can send a picture of my with my dude shirt on. 

It was one of the most ridiculous things ever but I have had more
 fun commenting on Facebook with a dude pic or sending a dude pic text.  

It's the little things people.

Okay. Now you tell me something ridiculous you've done lately.


Monday, September 1, 2014

The One Who Calls You is FAITHFUL & HE Will Do It!

I don't know about you, but I so often need the reminder 
that I don't have to feel qualified to do what God is calling me to do.  
If He calls me, HE will do it. 

This is one of my favorite verses and one that I cling to 
when I feel like I am not equipped or prepared or able to do what God has before me. 
There is such comfort to me knowing it's not up to me! 
You can print a PDF or JPG copy HERE!