An old letter...

Recently I have been going through old documents on my computer and found some really funny things that I had forgotten about. Some of them are too cute not to share. The first one I'm posting is a letter that Jim and I wrote together in June of 2005, when he was going through chemo. Jim has always teased our kids about buying him a Little Rascal and we thought it would be the perfect time to send them a letter about Little Rascals. Enjoy!

Dear Friend,

Imagine giving your ailing friend the mobility that he has lost due to his failing health. You have within you the ability to make this man MOBILE again! Yes, once again, your friend can cruise through the peaceful woods bringing him the tranquility he so desires. Picture this: One hour after daylight a dust cloud coming down the dirt road. In the midst of that gigantic cloud is “One Happy Hunter” - Your Friend! Yes, there he is astride his camouflaged Little Rascal with a 10-point buck strapped across the front of that POWERFUL vehicle. What more could one guy ask for. It doesn’t get any better than this, but wait, IT DOES!

Not only would this give him the mobility in the woods, it would also enhance his life in other ways. Your gift could help relieve the financial burden his illness has brought upon his devoted wife. With the additional purchase of the “Pull Along” your friend could earn extra income by transporting his fellow chemotherapy patients back and forth to their vehicles in the parking lot. The shuttle service provided by him would not only give him a job, but also a purpose in life.

Hold on - there’s still more! Let’s don’t leave out the most important feature of the Little Rascal. Your friend will be able to take his grandchildren to the library, the park and most important, the “Dollar General” on his Little Rascal. Think of the smiles and joy you will be bringing not only to your friend, but to his grandchildren as well! With our “add on ice chest,” your friend will have the capability to sell ice cream and/or snow cones from his Little Rascal. The possibilities are endless and just go on and on! You can have the satisfaction of knowing that you made it all possible through your generous gift of a Little Rascal with a “Pull Along.”

In closing, be aware that many people call their scooters “Little Rascals” believing they have an authentic Little Rascal. There’s only one “Little Rascal” and it is only available through us. Don’t be fooled by imitators, we are the #1 scooter company! Call us today and we’ll rush you a free brochure about our fantastic scooter. Our motto is “Don’t scoot with the rest, scoot with the best!” We, as well as your friend, eagerly wait for your phone call to put this dream into motion. As a courtesy to your friend, we have all of his information in our data base. All you need is his code: JIMMA


Sincerely,



Mike Blossom, President
Little Rascal Corporation

P.S. Pickup the phone now and call toll-free 1-800-JIM4FREEDOM. If you place your order before September 17, 2005, you will get an “add on ice-chest” absolutely free!*

*does not include shipping and handling or any other charges that may apply!

Psalm 91

We talked to Chance Friday night for a few minutes, then got an email from him telling us that he would be calling early Saturday morning. Saturday morning came and went without a phone call. After talking to him Friday night and reading the email, we put 2 and 2 together and realized that he was out on a mission and apparently things were worse than anticipated. I had prayed for him off and on, but as the hours came and went without a word from him, I set down and spent some time reading Psalm 91 and the other Bible verses I use to pray for protection over him. I kept saying that no weapon formed against him would prosper and telling God that I was standing on His promises to protect Chance.

I woke up several times during the night, each time saying a prayer for Chance’s safety and the safety of the guys with him. At 7:17 Sunday morning Chance’s girlfriend, Kellie sent me this text, “He’s OK!” Those two words brought a flood of relief to my soul and I texted her back, “Praise God!”

A little later Chance called. What started out as a two hour mission around midnight Friday lasted through early Sunday morning. It turned out to be a major battle in Afghanistan, ending with 33 insurgents killed and no injuries for our guys. Of his three deployments and the many missions Chance has been on, this was probably the most intense battle he has been in.

Most interesting is the text that Kellie sent me later Sunday afternoon. Every day since Chance deployed, she googles the number of days he has left, picks a random fact about that number and emails him the fact. Something so simple, yet something he looks forward to getting every day when he can check his emails. Kellie’s text was to let me know that on Saturday, Chance had 91 days left and she chose Pslam 91 for his random fact. Not so random, when you think about it. One of the most dangerous missions Chance went on, happened to be on day 91 and his girlfriend chose Psalm 91 for his fact, now even knowing what he was going through. That in itself was confirmation that God’s protection is over Chance and I need to trust Him more and let go of my fears. It never fails to amaze me how God sends us subtle messages to get His point across.

One short paragraph...

To say it is interesting the sometimes subtle ways that God gets our attention, is an understatement! Yesterday I received one of those emails that you’re supposed to read, and then forward to your friends. Every time I get one of those emails, I automatically hit the “delete” button. There was nothing in this email that was of interest to me except for the first paragraph. It wasn’t even worded very well, but when I read it, I immediately knew there was a reason I had received the email. It read, “ God doesn’t give you the people you want; He gives you the people you NEED... to help you, to hurt you, to leave you, to love you and to make you into the person you were meant to be.”

I immediately thought of a couple of people in my life who I don’t like, nor do I want to be around. That one little short paragraph, made me realize that if God only put people in my life that I like, it would hinder me in becoming a better person, and living my life in a way more pleasing to Him. I count it as a huge blessing that God has put so many people in my life that I really, REALLY love and enjoy being around. Then there are the people that I prefer to stay away from. Thinking it over made me realize that, in a sense, there is even a bigger blessing that comes from having them in my life. Those are the people who will help make me into the person that God wants me to be. They are in my life to teach me patience, tolerance, forgiveness, and most of all unconditional love. The reality of it all, put me on my knees asking God for forgiveness in the way I have reacted, and felt about different people in my life. Thank you God for getting the message across. Point taken!

To worry, or not to worry...

Chance hates having his picture taken, so it’s always a challenge to get pictures of him. In the past I’ve had to beg, bribe, and promise never to ask him again, only to break the promise and then promise again. And then the cycle repeats it’s self. I learned a long time the best approach is a non-obtrusive one with my camera, and go for the sneak attack when possible. When Chance deployed the first time I was able to sneak in one last picture before he left. The second time he deployed, I managed to get him to turn around and I snagged a picture. Since this is apparently going to be a way of life for him and for me, I thought it would be cool to make the deployment picture a tradition. So when he deployed on September 5, I followed him around the airport with my camera, waiting for the right moment. Success!

First Deployment 06-29-09




Second Deployment 07-26-2011



Third Deployment - September 5, 2011




I wish I could say this deployment stuff is getting easier. It’s so hard when Chance is in Afghanistan. I’m such a control person and dealing with a situation that is out of my control, on a daily basis, is hard for me. I was thinking about it earlier and realized the only way to have complete peace is to have complete trust. Letting go and trusting is so hard for me, but that’s where God wants me to be with Him. What a disappointment it must be for God when I sit and worry about situations!

I recently read some old sermon notes that encouraged me in my struggle with worry. One of the things I wrote down was, “If you can trust God with your life, your eternity, then you can trust Him with your circumstance. There isn’t anything going on that has God nervous. He is not pacing Heaven, hoping things go His way. He has you, he’s saying, “I’ve got this, you don’t have to worry about it.”

I have two bulletin boards in my office with some of my favorite sayings, quotes and Bible verses on it, so I can look up and read them at any time. Interestingly enough, most of them deal with “worry!” Here are some of my favorites -

~Let go... and trust God!
~Worry is the misuse of imagination.
~Before me, even as behind, God is and all is well. Whittler
~I will love God supremely, I will trust God completely. There never has been, nor will there ever be, a moment when God is not present with me.
~I am not allowing worry to rob me of my peace. My faith in God and His divine plan assures me that everything will be just fine.
~Since God is in complete control of everything and everyone... And I have a personal relationship with Him and He has a personal relationship with me, I have the courage to face anything that comes my way, with no fear whatsoever.
~Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not unto your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6
~Thou will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because He trusteth in thee.” Isaiah 26:3
~And the peace of God which passes all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ. Philippians 4:7

And my new favorite quote which I made up, encourages me and speaks volumes to me ~ “My yesterdays give me faith for my tomorrows!”

What a fun summer!

A little speed bump and life goes on... My biopsy results came back good, which was a huge relief for me. Now it’s nothing more than a reminder of how blessed I am. I sit here today absolutely loving my life. Yes, there are still some heartaches and stressful situations, but that’s life. It’s never going to be perfect. Looking back on all I have gone through encourages me and gives me hope for the things I am going through now, as well as the unknowns of tomorrow.

On a lighter note... It’s been an awesome summer with some fun family time. Jami, Matt and their kids came and spent several days with us. Chance and his friend, Kellie came while Jami was here, giving us a full house. Creston, Ashley and the kids came up a couple of nights adding to the chaos and fun. Throw a day at the beach and some time at Creston’s pond into the mix, and you end up with some good times and fun memories...

And almost a recipe for disaster ~



I love that my crazy kids don't realize they're not "kids" anymore! ~



And then we have almost "perfection" ~



Eisley overcame fears and nailed her stunt ~



While the kids were here, Eisley gave me Hopscotch lessons ~



And Kirby tried to teach me to do a handstand with no success ~



Jim took Eisley fishing ~



We had a fun little birthday party for Mom's 86th birthday ~



Cade got his first surfboard and is really doing well learning to surf. As much as Creston and Chance loved surfing, this comes as no big surprise.



Kirby is learning to skimboard ~


And, she gave her first cooking class ~



Even though these were taken earlier this summer, they're too cute not to include ~

I love the look on Beck's face ~



This is one of my favorite pictures of Jami and Eisley ~



pure sweetness!



one of the best big sisters a little boy could ever hope for!




And so ends summer, and what a fun one it was!!!

Faith or Fear?

A little over fifteen years ago, I went in for my annual check-up. The doctor commented on how she had never seen me looking so healthy. Not only was I eating right and exercising, I was learning to slow down, to let go of things that stressed me and was enjoying life more than ever. We were talking and as she examined my right breast, she asked if I had ever felt the small, tiny lump she found. I hadn’t and could barely feel it when she put my finger on it. She assumed it was nothing and told me to come back in six months and have a mammogram before I came back. I laughed and told her I would be getting my mammogram that week since it was December and I had met my deductible.

I left her office worry free. I knew there was no reason for worry. Me, having cancer? Impossible. Not only was there no family history, I was feeling great, and doing everything to maintain a healthy lifestyle. I completely rejected the possibility that I could have cancer and was in no way prepared for the cancer diagnosis I got four days later.

Fast forward to this past Tuesday, the day I went for my annual cancer check-up. To say all those check-ups through the years have stressed me, would be an understatement. I’ve never gone without trepidation over what the outcome might be. For some reason, this year it was different. I walked in stress and worry free. The only fear I had was the needle stick for my labs, which I’ve hated every since I had chemo.

I told the oncologist that I’m feeling healthier than ever, walking every day, eating healthy and I’m determined to keep my weight off. Not only was my physical exam with him perfect, my labs were perfect as well. Dr. Marks said the odds of me not having a re-occurrence are overwhelmingly in my favor! It was an awesome feeling walking out of his office, knowing I have finally let go of the fears that used to come with my check-ups.

Friday, I went to my internist for my annual check-up. Dr. P and I talked a few minutes before the exam and he read over the report from the oncologist. He was pleased with how well I’m doing until... he felt a nodule in my thyroid. Dr. P said it probably isn’t anything serious, but I need to have a sono and lab work done to find out what is going on.

Pre- cancer diagnosis I wouldn’t give this a second thought. Post cancer diagnosis and my mind and thoughts are all over the place. I start thinking back to the conversation with the doctor who found the lump and realize I repeated almost the same conversation with Dr. Marks and Dr. P about how healthy I’m feeling. Is this the end of the similarities?

Can I go forward with the same confidence I had when my GYN found the lump in my breast? I was so over confident, that my world was shattered when the surgeon told me it was breast cancer. Dare I take that risk again? The GYN said the lump was so small it couldn’t be anything. The internist said that more than likely, the nodule isn’t cancer. The odds are in my favor this time, but they were in my favor last time. How can I be positive when I got burnt last time? Part of me says I should take what I learned from that experience and coward into fear, preparing for the worse, just in case things don’t go the way I WANT them to go.

The nodule has brought unrest back into my life, putting me once again in a battle against fear, against worry. Is this how I should react? I know what I am supposed to do. It’s called “having complete faith and trust in God.” So I ask myself, “Can I let go and believe that God knows what He is doing in my life, that none of this has caught Him by surprise and it’s all part of His master plan for me? If everything is done out of His perfect love for me and in my best interest, is there a reason to worry? Where I see part of the picture, He sees the big picture. Faith isn’t about God doing things my way, it’s knowing God is doing them the BEST way for me. God has brought me and my family through so much, dare I not trust Him to bring me through this as well?

Just writing it all out has helped me realize what I knew all along. I have to let go and trust in the one who holds my future, the same one who created the universe and loved me so much, He sent His only son to die for me! Complete trust in Him relieves me from the need to worry and is a “win win” for me!

Thou will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee. Isaiah 26:3

Buffalo Wing Dip

I recently attended a graduation party for my friend's daughter. Someone brought this dip and it was a huge hit. Lucy said that of all the food served, this was the recipe that everyone asked for. I carried it to a luncheon yesterday and it went fast!!! A friend even asked if she could lick the spoon! Enjoy!

Buffalo Wing Dip
2 large cans of white meat chicken
2 - 8 oz. packs of cream cheese - softened
1 cup ranch dressing
3/4 cup of buffalo wing sauce
1 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese


Drain chicken and break it up. Beat the cream cheese, add dressing and wing sauce. Stir in the chicken and cheddar cheese. Pour in greased 9/13 pan or casserole dish. Bake 400 until bubbly. Serve with tortilla chips.