I always get a little melancholy this time of year and wish it would last forever! Literally! :) it was so bad this year that on Christmas day, my camera battery was about dead so I made the kids stop opening gifts and wait to finish until my battery was fully charged....no lie! They were of course great sports about it but it gave me the chance to make the experience last just a bit longer!
I LOVE Christmas but even more so since starting to have kids 19 years ago! To watch the excitement in their eyes and the magic of the season! Not magic like Santa magic, but in realizing what this day is TRULY all about! I try to remind them what it is all about every single year! I want them to know that it is not just about the presents, although that is a perk to it, but that our humble KING came as a baby so that one day we could spend eternity with Him. His sole purpose was to wash away our sins by coming as a baby and then dying on that old rugged cross, so that we could all have eternal life! Is there anything BETTER than that? I don't think so!
December was a pretty busy month for us as a family! Between choir concerts, basketball games, dance recitals and Christmas gatherings with family, it flew by in the blink of an eye! The older I get the more life seems to just whiz by faster and faster!
So today has been a day of reflecting over the past year and what 2014 meant to me! Even though the year started out pretty rough, can we say, sickness and chemo?!?!?! YUCK! It is ending pretty spectacular!!! Jan and February were filled with basketball, dance competitions, and chemo. Trying to be a mom while being sick with a cold/flu didn't go over very well! I think it just made things worse for me! By March, my body was TIRED!!! Scans looked GOOD so we decided to take a break and decide what I wanted to do going forward! By the end of that month God showed up and made HIS plans known to me BIG TIME! In April I started the new protocol which was a less toxic version of chemo. He was been faithful all this time and as of this writing I am still on that same protocol! I have been off chemo for almost a year now, February 25th (or there abouts) will mark 1 year of NO CHEMO!!!! I have been able to enjoy many, many things in 2014. A high school graduation AND a 2 week family vacation to the Western half of the United States! Also moving our daughter to her new home in Watertown as probably another highlight of 2014. I celebrated 5 years of stage 4 breast cancer on November 2nd, a HUGE milestone for anyone with a stage 4 cancer and I enjoyed this holiday season without feeling sick and tired! God is good all the time, all the time God is good!
What are my hopes for 2015????? Continued good scans while on my current protocol, another year of no chemo and just making memories with my family! We have another jam packed winter of basketball and dance competitions and cheer leading. It will also be a first full year in our house where we are a family of 5 under one roof instead of 6. It has been an adjustment for us but one that I feel that we have all gotten a handle on quite well! Including the girl who now lives on her own and pays her own bills while going to school as well!
I feel that 2015 is going to be a GREAT year! And no matter what....with God at the center EVERYTHING is possible!
May each and everyone of you have a blessed New Year and may God richly bless you in 2015!!!!
Cathi
