right brain - what's left

So it's been awhile since I've updated the blog, but we've had a few things on our plate. Mom moved into our place after surgery, and we began the process of trying to squeeze the joy out of every moment even more than usual.

A few weeks into mom's stay at Club Culbertson, patient #2 came to join us. My grandparents had been taking care of my dad (with autoimmune hepatitis) since my mom had been in the hospital, but my grandma hurt her back and needed time to rest. So we picked up another patient, moved the girls downstairs and turned into a full time care facility.

Since I last had a moment to blog, mom finished her six weeks of radiation and chemo with very few side effects. She still hasn't had any pain, just a little more loss of mobility from the radiation fatigue. We've had the first two (of three) appointments with the University of Washington to get dad on the transplant list. So far we haven't had anything to disqualify us, which is really good. It's quite a process just to get to the board that decides if you will qualify for the list. Hopefully in the next couple of months we'll know if he made it. It's a long wait for a liver, but it's nice to have a little hope on the horizon there. The Navy has been gracious enough to keep Stan home (stateside) for the time being. It's a tremendous blessing to have my rock here at home.

I'm sure there is much more that I could add to this update, but whenever I sit down to write I draw a blank. So I'll add some captions to a few pictures and call it good. Thank you all for your prayers through the last few months. God is good.

"Do not think that love in order to be genuine has to be extraordinary. What we need is to love without getting tired. Be faithful in the small things because it is in them that your strength lies."

-Mother Teresa

 Part of the family in our "team jackie" shirts from CustomInk
(I even got an email from them, and the company making a donation
toward my mom's medical bills! Thank you CustomInk!)

Mom with three of her four kids

team jackie

the shirts

after waking up several mornings with gobs of hair on her pillow,
Stan assisted the chemo with the clippers

dad shaved his head in support of mom

opposites attract.

if you can't beat them, join them

my mom and dad

mom's first look at the new 'do

my mom and dad

i'm a lucky girl.

Wisdom of the Ages

I was talking to my dad this afternoon about getting older. With all four of his kids into their thirties, a marriage of 39 years and his 60th birthday around the corner there is a treasure chest of wisdom on file. He was telling me that each year he meets new people and deepens old friendships, he's seen the joys and ravages of life on peoples' hearts. How it increases your empathy for the souls you meet, but sometimes makes it hard to bear so many burdens. We talked about bearing one another's burdens in love. We talked about prayer and kindness and forgiveness. Just reminded me of one of the thousand reasons I am so thankful for my dad.

Now for a few pictures of my daddy's girl. Loved how the snow reflected onto her eyes and really made that gorgeous blue pop.

Chesterton Quote of the Day

"The world will never starve for want of wonders; but only for want of wonder."
-G.K. Chesterton, Tremendous Trifles

Count Your Blessings

I spent the day with Torrey who was home sick from school. We snuggled, watched an old movie and just rested. She's 10 now, and these snuggly moments seem to be a little fewer and farther between than they used to be. She's just a few inches shorter than me, but the two of us can still curl up in one chair, barely. She still gets cozy under the quilt my mom made for her when she was born, and she still needs the special comfort you can only get from your mom when you're feeling crummy. She has sharp green eyes, and a sly smirk. She's changing and growing, yet remains much the same as ever. It's these little moments that make up my million tiny blessings. They're just little bits of everyday life, but they are gifts from God every one of them. In a world so wrought with pain and injustice, it helps me to look at life through the lens of daily blessings, to see the beauty in tiny moments. Hopefully taking one step, then another, in the right direction.

If you're looking for a little extra dose of sunshine and inspiration, I found a new source of inspiration through The Shine Project blog.

“When we lose one blessing, another is often most unexpectedly given in its place”
-C.S. Lewis

“The love of heaven makes one heavenly.”
-William Shakespeare

 "That's a negative, Ghost Rider, the pattern is full."
-Top Gun

My super cool husband called to tell us he was going to do a fly-by on the house the other night. The sun was setting, the sky was beautiful... he dipped the wing to wave to us and flashed the landing lights as the girls jumped and waved to their daddy in the plane. Yah, we're pretty darn blessed.