No Lord.. not the "C" word.......

I did not sleep well lastnight... in fact, I don't think I slept at all.  I have been dealing with shoulder and neck pain for quite some time. But that was not the reason for my sleeplessness.  There are few things in this life that should keep a person from getting that sweet, peaceful sleep that God talks about in His word.  However, having someone you know and care about fighting the biggest, meanest battle of his life is one such time when sleep should elude you, and the prayer warrior within needs to step up and do battle with the enemy.  It is funny how the Lord works... very funny... and difficult to understand sometimes.  Mark and I have a dear friend who was given the heart breaking news that he has inoperable pancreatic cancer.  We had lost touch with him and his wife for a number of years due to a sad and difficult situation that had taken place some time ago.  Basically, we went on with our lives and they did the same.  So now we find ourselves 5.. 6 years later, barely uttering a word to one another.. and this terrible news reaches our ears.  I actually found out quite by accident.  When I emailed my dear friend, Jen and asked her about it, she said that she did not want to post anything on FB because she did not want to "take away" from our daughter, Megan's wedding.  So here I am celebrating one of the most beautiful, God-honoring events of my lifetime, and her world is being shaken to the core!  The day I found out, I went upstairs to tell  Mark.  He was Sean's best man at his wedding.  He was watching a cooking show, something he loves to do!  "Mark, I need to tell you something...".  At first he kept watching the TV and said, "Ok,,, what is it?"  "I heard some really bad news about Sean...  he has pancreatic cancer."  Mark's face dropped and he just said, "No!"  He shook his head and looked at the ground.  "Oh my God... "   The C word has hit very close to home several times in our life.  My dear mother in law, Mark's mom, died of ovarian cancer.  She battled with it for 3 years before succumbing to it.... cancer also took the life of my dear friend, Francis, a 72 year old, vibrant woman who lost the will to live after her only son passed away from heart problems.    The shock of it all has not gone away.  It's still there, just under the surface... it'll probably never go away. Mark called Sean yesterday.  They spoke for quite a long time.  It was as if they never lost touch at all... that those 5 or 6 years of not talking didn't make a bit of difference.  God is funny like that.  It's that "Jesus" bond... that bond that knits believer's hearts together.. it's that love that forgives and allows us to let go of anything that threatens to destroy that bond.  It is a beautiful, nonsensical thing that only Jesus himself can create.  It's called friendship.

"Friends are friends forever.. if the Lord's the Lord of them...."

Apple Pancakes

Tonight, I had a bit of a dilemma not unlike most mothers have when 6:00 rolls around and the kid's tummys are grumbling.  "What am I going to make for dinner??"  I try to make at least 4 big meals a week.  By "big" I mean a meal consisting of all the four food groups.... meats , fruits & vegetables, breads/grain and dairy etc.  That might mean a nice Swiss Chicken (meat) topped with bread crumbs (breads) swiss cheese and sour cream (dairy) peas and cranberry sauce (fruits and veggies).  This happens to be one of my families favorite meals.  Another meal might be, let's say, a corn chowder... with potatoes, bacon  served with homemade rolls.  Again containing all four food groups.  But tonight... I was at a loss for ideas!  And this after having dropped a small fortune on groceries at BJ's.   What to do... what to do?  So since it was getting rather late (7:30 to be exact)... I resolved myself to the idea of PANCAKES!  Everyone was in favor of it, except for Rex, who does not like pancakes.  I pulled the huge box of Bisquick out of the pantry... and there it sat for another 15... 20 minutes.  Just when I thought all hope was lost, my very handsome, very creative husband came into the kitchen and asked, "What's for dinner my love?"  Our eyes met and then my eyes slowly drifted to the big box of pancake mix.  "Pancakes??" he said with a concerned grimace.   I nod yes.  Suddenly, it was as if a gigantic light bulb lit up inside his head and my big hunk of burning love sprung into action and took the situation into his strong, capable hands.  He opened the fridge and proceeded to pull out various ingredients and condiments.  Then he went over to the computer and typed in PANCAKES....   the recipe that he selected required buttermilk, of which we had none.  So what did he do?  Did he throw his hands up in despair and select another recipe? (I think not!)  Did he scrap the  whole idea of pancakes and settle for cereal?  (shudder the thought!)  No!  He decided to "make" buttermilk!!!!!!!!!  WOW!!  It was an amazing sight to behold!  Truly mesmerizing!  I felt like I had a front row seat to Food Network's Iron Chef... one of our favorite shows!  He chopped and stirred and folded and sprinkled various ingredients into a bowl and dropped the batter onto a heated griddle.  The smell of the pancakes permeated the entire house... even the next door neighbor stepped out onto his deck to get a better sniff!!  (Just kidding!)  He served me first... as I took the first bite, for a brief, solemn moment... it was as if all was right in the world.... I felt like I was floating on a fluffy cloud.  As the kids ate, they too had the same reaction as I did...  Aaaaahhhh!!  Dinner was saved thanks to my "iron chef"....  Can't wait to see what's for dinner tomorrow night!!

Welcome to my blog.....

What a day!  I am so excited to start a blog, yet still fumbling my way through it all.  I had the most difficult time selecting a name for my blog.... many of the first titles I chose were taken... others I had typed out were really... well... dumb!  I have a few friends who have these great blogs with great names!!   So I thought, perhaps I should open my bible and see what jumps out at me.  Still... nothing.  Then I turned to Proverbs which happens to be one of my favorite books. I flipped over to Proverbs 31.  "A Wife of Noble Character."  I recalled a song that my daugther wrote for me for Mother's Day some years ago...  she actually sang it at our church and let me just say, there was not a dry eye in the place.   As she sang, I felt people's eyes looking over at me wanting to see my reaction.  I cried, of course, and was very proud of my Meggy!  It was beautiful!  Anyway, the song mentioned this verse in it... "her children arise and call her blessed..."   I felt very blessed that day.  I chose "more precious than rubies" because I feel that it sums up how I feel toward others... my mother, my daughters, my sisters, my friends.... heck my husband and sons for that matter!  Those whom I have had the blessing of knowing, rearing, befriending, marrying are far more precious than any jewel or gold or silver.  So I thought that it would fit just right!  My hope is that I will be able to share my heart with others and that others would in turn share their heart with me.  Be blessed....