It's a New Day

     The October sky is absolutely beautiful this morning.  The air is crisp and cool but not cold.  The sun is bright, and the colors on the trees are beginning to pop.  I love this time of year!  Jeans, a long-sleeved T, and flip flops.  Ah, yes, it's the perfect day.
     I am so excited about where the Lord is leading me.  Don't you just love it when he reveals something new to you?  Something fresh.  Something exciting.  Something you know nothing about.  Something you know you could never have thought up on your own.  You know, one of those moments when you say to yourself, "Where did THAT come from?"  And you look around to make sure you're alone in the room...
     That's where I am right now.  Frankly, I have taken a few days just to bask in the idea of it all.  My recovery from breast cancer is going well.  I saw my medical oncologist at the first of the month and saw my radiation oncologist yesterday.  I actually have over a month before I have to see a doctor again!  Woohoo!  I feel stronger every day.  I am enjoying this new stage of my life so much.  I am enjoying just watching what God is doing.  I love these times of life. 

 

     Jeremiah 33:3

Call to me and I will answer you and tell you

great and unsearchable things you do not know.

    

Jeremiah 29:13-14

You will seek me and find me when you

seek me with all your heart.  I will be found by you.

     This is me.  Calling.  Seeking.  Finding.  Oh, the timing of it all.  Yesterday I was a nine-month survivor.  That irony is not lost on me.  Nine months.  The time it takes for a new life to form and be ready to survive.  There is so much that a person learns on a journey through sickness.  Honestly, it does make you seek the Lord more.  You become so acutely aware of the people in your life and the precious love that is so often taken for granted.  You learn to appreciate this day and not to stress and worry about tomorrow.  You learn that God is a rock and a shelter and only he can give you the strength to get through the day, the hour, the minute, or even the second when you feel so bad you don't think you can go on.  For the rest of my life I will be pulling lessons from this journey I have taken.

     What  I know today is that God is revealing things to me I know nothing about.  It's scary.  It's intriguing.  It's got my adrenaline going!  What I know today is that I can't do this on my own.  I am going to have to seek the Lord sincerely and make sure that I am walking on the path with him, not running off after my own silly notions.  What I know today is that God and I are setting off on a new adventure --- and I can't WAIT to see where it leads!

Through the Eyes of a Child

     What if we all viewed life through the eyes of a child.  Oh, the simplicity and beauty we would see.  As grown ups we have so many worries.  Pleasing the boss at work, meeting deadlines, keeping things running smoothly at home, paying the bills, washing dishes, making sure there is clean underwear for everyone, running here and there for this meeting and that rehearsal...the list goes on and on and on.
     Putting that aside and looking through a child's eyes we might focus on seeing how many times we can jump on one foot (at my age, though, I fear getting hurt!), inspecting a bug, catching a frog, chasing bubbles, collecting rocks just because they look pretty, laughing at the fun of playing with friends, running just to feel the wind, or coloring a picture with as many crayons as possible.
     When adults see me these days, they often give me a look of sympathy because I obviously have been through a trial.  Sometimes I get smiles of encouragement.  Saturday I ran into an old friend in Walmart.  She was coming toward me to say, "I love your hair!" when she looked into my eyes and realized who I was.  We had a wonderful time laughing together as she asked about my health and rejoiced at my good outcome.  Originally she was just going to offer words of support to a stranger, but it turned out to be a fun time for us both. 
     My hair garners many comments.  The most often asked question is, will it be curly?  My answer:  I have no idea.  Right now it is less than half an inch long and way too short to curl.  A lot of it is still chemo fuzz.  It will be what it will be.  Yes, I hope to have my curl back, but whatever it is will be fine.  I get comments about the color.  People talk about the shape and direction it is growing.  There is so much concern...from adults. 
     But through the eyes of a child...

     Yesterday at church, my little six-year-old friend whom I had not seen in a couple of weeks (since going "topless" --you know, without my hat!) came running up to me after church.  He stopped short and just looked at me, seeming to be a little afraid to come too close.  That's probably from all the warnings after my surgery to be gentle.  Then he smiled and came closer.  We laughed and greeted each other, holding hands and hugging.  Then he said, "Miss Vicki, you look so pretty with your haircut."  My heart melted.  He looked at me and saw ME, Miss Vicki.  He didn't see a cancer survivor.  He didn't see a woman who had been fighting for her life this year and spends her days now trying to regain her strength and her health.  He didn't see a woman who is so tired by mid-day that she has to nap or she won't be able to take another step.  He saw his friend - the lady whose necklaces he loved to pull on as an infant.  The friend who loves to have him spend the night (though we don't do it enough) and play.  The friend who never has gum.  The friend who loves him and he loves in return.
     I was just amazed.  It was a refreshing drink of cool water to hear those words from him.  It reminded me that there is more to life than cancer...there is beauty in friendship.