Three Months

 

Jesus: "Consider the birds ~ do you think they worry about their existence? They don't plant or reap or store up food, yet your heavenly Father provides them each with food. Aren't you much more valuable to your Father than they? So, which of you by worrying can add anything to your life? And why would you worry about your clothing? Look at all the beautiful flowers of the field. They don't work or toil, and yet not even Solomon in all his splendor was robed in beauty like one of these!"

Matthew 6:26-29

Passion flower I saw recently at Home Depot. 😊

Dahlias ~ one of mom's faves.

Ginger flowers in Zihuatanejo... stunning!

Mom and Dad ~ Mother's Day 2020. I love this photo of them.

Today marks three months since July 4th, when dad called the paramedics to take mom to Mission Hospital. It has been quite the roller coaster ride full of highs and lows, twists and turns ~ physically, mentally, emotionally and even spiritually. I'm grateful that God has created humans to be so resilient because we've experienced the gamut of emotions these past three months: confusion, despair, worry, elation, fear, gratitude and more.

This is one of the reasons I wanted to share Jesus's words from Matthew 6. One of my favorite aspects of how Jesus taught in the gospels is that He used the most common things in nature. In these verses He points to birds and flowers as examples of God's provision. These are visual cues for us to remember that we are deeply loved and cared for. Worry is pointless since it does nothing productive... I can't add a single hour to my life by worrying. 

Does this mean I don't worry? Sadly, no. In our family (on the Rupp side), we sometimes make light of our propensity to worry by explaining that we come from a long line of worriers. My Aunt Leone ~ worrier, Dad ~ worrier, me ~ worrier... Fortunately on Mom's side there doesn't appear to be a strong worry gene. 😀 When friends have asked how I'm doing these past three months, I have expressed that I am endeavoring to live in this present moment. Not to project or speculate about the future but to cherish what is right now.

Right now we have much for which to be grateful. Mom has responded really well to treatment. She continues to grow stronger as her body heals from radiation. An MRI will be scheduled in the near future to be able to assess the effectiveness of radiation and chemo so far and determine the "next steps".

Praise & Prayer Requests:

• Praise for mom's amazing progress. When I was with mom and dad last Tuesday I was delighted to see the banter between them. This is one of my favorite things about their relationship ~ how they play off each other's sense of humor.
• Praise for the wonderful caregivers who have taken such good care of mom and been a great blessing to dad as well. SO thankful!!!
• Praise that mom/nanny and dad/poppa will be seeing their eldest granddaughter, Katherine and her wife, Laura when they visit from England in the next few weeks.
• Praise & thanksgiving for all of our family and friends who have prayed, visited, encouraged and generally been a source of strength to mom and our entire family. We love you!
• Prayer: for the chemo oncologist's office to get Temodar (oral chemo) squared away. Mom was supposed to begin her maintenance dose yesterday (5 days on/4 weeks off).
• Prayer: For a good MRI.
• Prayer: For wisdom regarding which treatment path is best depending on the results of the MRI.
• Prayer for mom to continue to gain strength to walk, etc. 

Trading worry for trust... one day at a time,

Terrie