- Mine Again!!

Hello, all you wonderful blogger-followers, how are you all doing?? My blogs get fewer & farther between, but fear not . . . I am still a force to be reckoned with & I am still alive & kicking.

It's been so nice not having to go to the hospital every day, now that my radiation is over & done with. I feel as though my body is MINE AGAIN!!! Nobody poking or prodding it, or sticking needles in it, or chemo-ing it or radiating it, or examining it, or removing parts of it. Pretty cool, huh?

Of course, I did go for an ultrasound today - it lasted 5 minutes & cost $110!! That was the fastest $110 I ever spent, I think. The doctor who did it is one of the best in the city, so I guess it was worth it. I hope. If I'd waited for a freebie ultrasound with Medicare, it would've been a 4 - 6 month wait....so forget it!!

Anyways, my gynecologist had sent me for the ultrasound. He said he wanted to make sure there was no cancer in the ovary, as is sometimes the case when breast cancer has also been present. The ultrasound doctor saw a round thingy on the screen & so did I. "Is that a tumor?" I gasped. "No, I think it's an egg." An egg??? At my age??? Sheesh!!!

He couldn't be sure cuz it's so small. I'm thinking that when all this treatment is over, I'm going to get a hysterectomy. It'll just be one less place any more dastardly cancer cells can build their evil little nest. 

Plus it will ensure I don't get pregnant when I'm, like, 70, right? Yep.

Nothing says "bad mood" like finding out you're pregnant when you're 70, I always say.
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Well, this past weekend was a whirlwind of activity! To start it off, my Friday Morning Prayer gals threw me a gala lunch for my birthday (which was actually a month ago). We got together, prayed for awhile, and then sat down to eat lots of yummy stuff.

Here's Helen, one of my prayer partner gals, & me, wearing my birthday crown! I turned 51 on July 25.  :)

She gave me CHOCOLATES!!! Mmmmm!!!

Did you know that chocolates make a great breakfast entree? Yes, they do.

Well, on to other adventures. On Saturday, George & I were off to Cornwall, Ontario. Some of the churches there organized a Family Gospel Concert, and I was on from 2-3 pm, doing an hour of singing & comedy. Then we were treated to dinner by Pastor Brad & his cutie-pie wife, Sharon! Cool!

It's quite scary but Sharon & I have somewhat the same wacky sense of humour and an identical flair for mischief. It's probably a good thing that we live in different cities...if we hung out together, we'd probably end up getting arrested or something. Which could be an adventure in itself, come to think of it. Oh, Sha-a-a-a-a-ronnnnn.....!!!

Sunday, we were off to Franklin Centre, Quebec (near Ormstown, Quebec) to spend some time at Franklin Centre Church of the Nazarene. It's a rural church around an hour's drive outside of Montreal & it's always fun going there because people in the country actually have time to hang out with each other! 

I shared the message on Sunday morning; then George & I went back to hang out & eat lunch with our buddies Anna & Paul. I love them to bits! And Anna is a great cook!

It was so much fun sharing the message Sunday morning. It makes me feel like a preacher-girl! I spoke about having purpose in our lives & staying true to that purpose. 

I always like to clarify that statement, though...I don't believe purpose in & of itself is enough of a goal for us...that purpose must be attached to a deeper meaning.

What do I mean by that? Well, purpose is great, but if you believe that this life is just temporal; just a "dress rehearsal" for what is yet to come, then citing some earthly achievement as your main goal in life is just too short-sighted, IMHO (In My Humble Opinion).

For example, if I say that my destiny, my purpose in life is to sing, let's break that down. What is accomplished when I sing for others? Well, it makes them feel happy, or sad, or melancholy, or encouraged...it challenges them, or relaxes them, or makes them think, or motivates them to change. 

All of these results are good, but at the end of the day, those emotions or actions are mostly temporal at best. They probably have very little bearing on eternity.

One of the reasons I am so peaceful as I walk through this cancer experience is that I am not afraid of dying, nor am I afraid of future prognoses (that's not a spelling error: 'prognoses' is the plural form of 'prognosis').

As comedic actor Woody Allen said, "I'm not afraid to die; I just don't want to be there when it happens!"

Anyways, I believe our chief purpose in life is to have a relationship with God. The Westminister Catechism says, "Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever."

I totally believe that. In everything I do, whether it's funny, or serious, or difficult, or easy, I try to make it my goal to glorify God. In doing so, I am enjoying Him, enjoying the people He created in His image, and enjoying my days here on earth. 

Someone pointed this out recently from Psalm 23: "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil..."

It's "the shadow of death". Not "death", but "the shadow of death". A shadow is dark, but it's still just a shadow. It may look threatening, but it vanishes if we turn away from it...it's then behind us, out of sight. 

That's how I see my current situation. I'm not afraid of shadows - never have been, never will. They're just shadows.

Of course, I don't have my head in the sand, so to speak. I realize that once cancer strikes, it has the potential to be fatal....I fully realize that. But I'm talking about all the worrying that can go on when actually, the cancer may be fully curable. In that case, all that worrying is for nothing, and its effects on my body could be even worse than the disease itself!

A shadow in your life means that the Light is just behind you. Turn around, and there's the Light! For me, my relationship with Jesus takes away my fears & provides me with Light. He even says in the New Testament that He's the Light of the world! 

Psalm 36:9  "For with You is the fountain of life. In Thy light, we see light." (The Jewish Bible / "Old Testament")

Well, y'all, have a wonderful day, and may you walk in His Light. And remember, don't be afraid of the shadows like this little one is...poor cutie-pie! Somebody pick her up, pleassse!!