Measuring

Tuesday thoughts: (in case you'd like something to focus on other than all the political mess!)

 

I don't remember when he first started it, but my Daddy loved to take measurements of his children as they grew. Just inside the entry way to our kitchen, on a piece molding, he'd record each number.

One by one, he'd call us to him, then, taking a wooden ruler, he'd place it tenderly on top of each head and make a mark on the molding with number 2 pencil. 

 

Back then, we didn't think much about it. It was just a routine occurrence in our home. I don't know about my siblings, but I used to think everyone's father did the same thing. 

 

As we grew older, the marks on the wooden molding made their way farther up the wall. It was fun to pass by and see how much taller I was than my brother and sister, for a while. 

 

Many years later, as my siblings and I began having our children, Daddy continued the process with them sliding their measurements in between ours and also recording the names beside them.

Such a tiny thing gave him great joy. 

 

Today, I was thinking about that piece of molding and how I wished I had a photo of all the markings, but over time that house was sold. 

 

When Mama and Daddy moved into a new house, one of the first things he did was begin to record height measurements on the molding between the kitchen and formal living room. While he was living, every grandchild and great grandchild, had a special place on that wall. Those markings signified the passing of time but also signified growth. 

 

I wonder how we'd record the passing years of our lives? There's no way we could ever record every event with a pencil mark upon a wall, but God keeps a very accurate account. Psalm 139:16 says, "You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed." What sobering thought!

 

I'd like to imagine, when we reach Heaven, God will pull out a sort of heavenly video projector and do a quick run through of our lives. We'd get to see an instant replay of not only the good things we've done, but also the bad. I don't think God would share that with us to cause us undue pain and suffering, but merely to help us realize He was with us through every single moment, recording, measuring, and caring. 

 

My earthly father is no longer marking on the walls. He's missed recording some of our newest family members measurements, but God hasn't. 

 

Today, as you think about your life, know that God sees each moment. And remember, He's promised never to leave or forsake us. That means even when we can't see Him or sense His presence, He's still there.

Cancer is so hard

 Last night, I got a text from a friend of mine who's going through chemo. He's having a really hard time and has been struggling through treatment but was more concerned about how his wife was faring than how he was doing. As I read his message, I could "hear" his worry and fear. 

At his request, I called his wife. She had no idea he'd asked me for this favor. 

As we talked, I let her lead the conversation. I knew, from past experience, she needed a friend and needed to be heard. 

I listened as she poured out her heart. Without coming right out and saying it, she was afraid of what would happen in the near future. She was terrified of being alone. And I couldn't blame her. Her husband's prognosis is grim. 

My heart broke as I listened. She tried to hide her tears but I could hear them. Mingled with my own, we cried together. 

I tried to reassure her none of us are promised tomorrow and that we can only focus on today. I reminded her of Scripture that says we're not to worry about tomorrow. 

She told me she'd been having a very bad day. She'd been faced with spiritual and emotional attack. I explained the feelings she was having were normal and it was okay to feel them but to remember God had promised never to leave or forsake her. 

We talked for a long time. By the end of the conversation, I could tell she was doing better. It's cathartic to pour out feelings sometimes, I said, and offered to be available whenever she needed to talk.

I'm so thankful she trusted me enough to share her deepest fears and concerns but I'm so very sad for my friends. I've been on both sides of cancer and neither of them are easy. 

If there was a way I could take the pain away, I would in a heartbeat but all I can do right now is be available. I promised her I'd give a listening ear whenever she needed it and I meant it. 

If you can, please say a prayer for these two dear friends. I won't share their names to protect their privacy but God knows who they are. 

I hate cancer so much. I wish we could find a way to cure it. Maybe one of these days scientists will figure it out. Until then, we just have to muddle through.

Thankful for Cancer

It's been a while since I've written. For some reason life keeps getting in the way.

The holidays are coming and I'm so unprepared. Things seem so different since cancer came into our lives.

In the past, I'd start planning for Thanksgiving months in advance. I'd write out my menu, do the necessary shopping, put out decorations, and look forward to spending time with family. It was a grand gesture that always paid off but for the past few years, I just haven't been able to "get into it." In fact, I haven't even been the one to host the meal. For the past two years, my middle daughter, Laura, has been gracious enough to do the family meal at her home. It's been a real blessing and has taken so much pressure off of me, but this year, it won't be that way. The meal has fallen back into my lap.

The stress and anxiety over planning for the festivities has been overwhelming, so much so that my sweet husband has stepped in to help. "This year," he said, "I don't want you to have to cook or worry about anything. I'm going to take care of it." I was shocked by his statement and wondered what he was planning. Two days ago, I found out.

After getting off work, Phil stopped by the Honeybaked Ham store. When he came home from work, his arms were loaded with a stack of frozen side dishes. He was so excited as he began to carefully place them on the kitchen counter. "I picked up some sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes and gravy, a green bean casserole, cornbread dressing, and even some sliced apples," he said. I watched his face as he fanned out the frozen blocks of food in a neat arc. He was beaming as he waited for my approval.

I was taken aback at the thoughts of serving our guests frozen food for the holiday. As one who has always cooked from scratch, I felt taking such a shortcut was just short of sacrilege, but didn't dare utter a word. My husband had done what he could to take a burden from my shoulders and I was definitely thankful for that. Would it really be so bad to have pre-prepared food for one meal? In my head, I justified his plan, and accepted it as a broad smile spread across my face.

"You are so clever and thoughtful," I said to my dear husband. The pride was evident as he threw his shoulders back and puffed out his chest. "This will be great and will save me so much time! Thank you, honey!"

After giving him a big hug, I asked if he'd help me carry the frozen goodies to our deep freezer.

A lot has changed since my cancer diagnosis. I've learned to make concessions I never thought I'd make. Some of them have been spur of the moment decisions and others have been well thought out plans, but in each case, I'm thankful cancer has taught me to focus on what really matters- I'm still here. I'm still alive. And, I can still celebrate special holidays.

This year, I'll be grateful for so many things but one of the main ones is knowing I'm loved.

Cancer takes the blame for a lot of bad in our lives but rarely does it receive accolades for anything good. Over the past five years, its taught me an awful lot and in all honesty, I have to say, it's taught me so much more about gratitude than I ever knew before it came into my life. This year, I will be able to say thank you to cancer, and truly mean it. 

Tar Babies

It's been a while since I've written in my blog again...I apologize to my faithful readers. My intentions are good but my life is busy.

Four years ago, I wouldn't have thought I'd be as busy as I've become. Back then, I was at the beginning of my breast cancer battle. Today, I'm doing well and my busyness has increased exponentially. Of course, if I'm honest, I'll have to admit most of the busyness if of my own doing. I'm currently writing my book, writing for a cancer magazine, working on a zillion different art projects, and I've just started a Facebook group for women! I don't know why I always feel the need to stay busy but I do. Some days there just aren't enough hours in the day for all I want to do, and that, my dear friends, is why I haven't been on here.

On top of all my physical busyness, I'm been in the midst of emotional busyness. Most of that stems from burdens many of my family and friends are facing. I spend an awful lot of time on my face before the Lord. There's just so much to pray about...

Today, as I was praying, I was reminded of one of my favorite childhood stories, B'rer Rabbit and the Tar Baby. This is part of the Uncle Remus series written by Joel Chandler Harris. In today's world, even discussing the story of the Uncle Remus books would probably be unacceptable because of racism and hatred but I happen to love the stories! They were a vital part of my childhood back in the early 60's. Back then, things were easier, especially when you grew up in a home where people weren't focused on the color of someone else's skin.

If you've never read the story of B'rer Rabbit and the Tar Baby, let me give you a brief synopsis: B'rer Fox and B'rer Rabbit are arch enemies and are always looking for ways to get back at each other. Well, in this story, B'rer  Fox, still smarting over being fooled again by Brer Rabbit, mixes tar and turpentine to make a tar-baby. He sets his creation, which indeed looks like a little black figure wearing a hat, beside the road and hides himself in the bushes not far away. Soon Brer Rabbit comes walking down the road and stops in his tracks when he sees the tar-baby. He speaks to it, asks it questions, accuses it of being hard-of-hearing and impolite, and finally yells at it. The tar-baby, of course, says nothing, and Brer Fox stays hidden in the bushes, chuckling quietly to himself. Losing his temper, Brer Rabbit hits the tar-baby, first with one fist, then the other. With both hands stuck in the tar, he kicks it with both feet, getting them stuck as well. In desperation, he butts it with his head, which also sticks firmly in the soft tar. Now Brer Fox emerges from the bushes, laughing so hard at Brer Rabbit’s plight that he rolls on the ground.

Tar babies are sticky! Could you imagine that poor rabbit stuck slap dab in the middle of all that icky tar? I'm sure he learned a valuable lesson and that is, if you lose your temper and get angry, sometimes you get into a jam. But I think there's another story here, one even more important.

Do you know any tar babies? I mean those people around you who seem to be so weighed down with burdens and problems that you just seem to avoid them? Oh, sure! You might listen to them as they tell you what's going on in their lives and you might even offer to shoot up a quick prayer for them but other than that, you can walk away unscathed. No tar on YOUR hands! But have you ever thought that sometimes, God puts people with problems in your path because there's a lesson you need to learn? Just like B'rer Rabbit, there just might be something there you need to take away?

Right now, I have several friends who are dealing with an awful lot in their lives. They're struggling with sons or daughters who have big problems and they don't know quite how to help them handle those sticky issues. I also have some family members who are struggling. Their pride has put up some big walls and they don't want anyone to interfere, even those well-intentioned folks who just might want to do anything they could to help. So what do we do in situations like that?

The tar babies might not be visibly covered in thick, black material but if you look closely enough, you can see sticky problems all around them. If you get too close, you just might get a little dirt on you. Most of those people are broken. They want someone to come and help bear some of their burden and if we're doing the Christ-like thing, that's exactly what we'll do. We'll stick our hands right into their sticky mess and get dirty...we'll get really dirty! In Galatians 6, we're told that we are to not only get dirty, but we're to pick up that sticky mess and carry it! We're to bear each other's burdens and in doing so, we fulfill the law of Christ.

If we walk away from those tar babies in our lives, we're committing spiritual snobbery! We all have problems and "dirt." One day, that tar baby's shoe might just be on our foot.

If there's someone in your life that's weighed down with sticky problems and burdens, you may not be able to physically help them but you can certainly pray. In so doing, you're helping to carry the load just a little. And if you get a little dirty, won't it be worth it?

Thank you, Uncle Remus, for teaching us so many lessons through your stories. Thank you, Joel Chandler Harris, for having the imagination to write those stories! And thank you, Lord, that you've give  us all the ability to bear one another's burdens if we'll just be on the lookout for people who might be covered in a little tar.

I'll be a kook for Christ any day

It was close to 10:00 a.m. as I was folding the last of my laundry and getting ready to head out the door to my appointment. I popped in my ear buds so I could continue the conversation I'd been having with my oldest daughter, grabbed my keys, and walked out into the bright sunshine. A wave of Georgia heat slammed me in the face. It was mid-morning but already the sun was high in the sky and the humidity made it unbearable. Climbing into the car, I turned the engine over and waited a few minutes before cranking up the air conditioning. My ride was only going to be about twenty minutes. 

I pulled into the parking lot just a few minutes before my appointment. When I went inside the dental office, I noticed a new receptionist. She stood up, greeted me with a smile and said, "You must be Mrs. Annis!" I was surprised she knew me by name. I'd never seen her before in my life. Out of curiosity, I leaned forward on the counter and said, "How did you know who I was?" She explained another one of her coworkers had brought in the feature newspaper article done on my a couple of weeks ago and everyone in the office had taken time to read it. I was shocked and even more so when several of the office staff came up to greet me. They were all smiles and made comments about how well done the article was and how grateful they were I'd been willing to do it. I thanked them for their sweet words and took my seat in the waiting room. About fifteen minutes later, I was called back for my time with the dentist. 

Oh, how I love my dentist! (We met right after our move to this area so he's been with me through just about every step of my journey.) He's the sweetest man...so gentle, soft spoken and kind. He loves the Lord and though very humble, makes sure others know he's a man of faith. As he came around the corner, he greeted me with the biggest smile ever and held out his arms for a big bear hug. I gave him a hug and after exchanging pleasantries, he got down to business. I'd come in for a followup on some work I'd had done about 3 months ago. Dr. E explained each step of the process and started working on me. His assistant, Sharon, is a sweetheart. She told me she had been the one to bring in the newspaper clipping and she'd encouraged all the staff to read the article. She said they still had the article in their break-room on the wall. It felt funny having such a big deal made over me and I didn't know how to respond. 

At the checkout counter, Kay, the receptionist, went over the proposed bill for my services. This work was going to be done in 3 steps so it would be rather expensive. She wanted to make sure I had no surprises and I was thankful for a heads up on the financial end of things. As I stood there talking with Kay, I could feel something troubling her. I felt a deep need to share my testimony with her and as we began talking, I told her how cancer had been used by God to teach me to live in the moment. Her eyes filled with tears and she thanked me. She said she needed to hear that today. I talked a little longer and tried to give her some words of encouragement. I didn't want to take up much of her time because other patients were coming in but I was trying to be attentive to what the Holy Spirit was speaking to me, too. 

The car was unbearably hot after sitting in full sun for about an hour. I let it cool down and started to drive off. Before I reached my next destination, I felt God saying, "Call Kay. Tell her I have a plan for her. Share Jeremiah 29:11." I pulled over and fished my Iphone out of my purse. Thankfully I had Dr. E's office on speed dial. I heard Kay's sweet, soft voice on the other end of the phone and I told her I'd just been in and I felt like I was supposed to call her. I prefaced what I was going to say with "I hope you don't think I'm some kind of kook or something, but..." As I explained I felt God telling me to give her a word, she got very quiet. I asked if she'd ever heard the verse of Scripture found in Jeremiah 29:11. She said she had but couldn't remember it. I quoted it to her - " 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 a hope and a future." She thanked me and I could tell by her voice the verse impacted her in a mighty way. I was glad I was obedient to what the Lord was telling me to do. I could have easily ignored His prompting and just gone on about my day but if I had, I would have missed the blessing and Kay would have missed it, too. 

I still don't know why I prefaced what I was going to share with Kay with the words, "I hope you don't think I'm some kind of kook or something..." it really didn't matter whether she thought I was a kook or not. I guess I was just concerned because we'd just met and she had no idea who I was or anything about me other than what she'd read in the paper. I'll be a kook for Christ any day of the week, any time of day. I think it's so important for us to be sensitive to others and to do what Jesus leads us to do. 

After I completed my call to Kay. I went into our local Goodwill store. I like to peruse the aisles on Tuesdays because I can usually find some really good bargains on craft materials or toys for my grandchildren. As I was looking on the toy aisle, I saw another woman there. She was looking at a little ceramic figurine. I felt led to speak to her and just said, "Hi. Do you know what color items are today's 50% off colors?" She smiled and said, "Today's color for sale items was green. Anything with a green label would be 1/2 price." I thanked her and got to talking about how I come to Goodwill to buy items for my grandchildren. She said she did the same and was looking for something for one of her granddaughters. We talked about twenty minutes and then went our separate ways. I marveled at how God, once again, has caused me to step out of my comfort zone by prompting me to speak to complete strangers and share His love. I am learning so much by choosing to be "in the moment" and not hurrying through life any more. I have the gift of cancer to thank for that. 

P.s. I forgot to tell you Kay told me the newspaper article had really touched her heart. She said my testimony and my journey through cancer was amazing. I told her all glory goes to God and I was so thankful He used that article to reach others. It's amazing how He's been using my story. I got a Facebook message from a woman in the UK yesterday asking about the alternative methods I've been using to fight cancer. She'd read an article I'd written for Cure magazine. If my story can help others in any way, shape, or form, I will be so happy. To God be the glory for all He's done in and through my life these past 2 years. 

1 Corinthians 12:25-26 God’s purpose was that the body should not be divided but rather that all of its parts should feel the same concern for each other. If one part of the body suffers, all the other parts share its suffering. If one part is praised, all the others share in its happiness.

12. Romans 12:15-16 Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.