Step One

November is officially over. Only by a couple hours as I am awake in the middle of the night, perhaps because Sawyer just randomly woke up, walked into the bathroom and picked up the hand soap, or because there is something on my heart. I know the latter is the real reason, but can we also hope my child is not starting a new sleepwalking trend. :-)

All month long, I wanted to sit down and write my 'thankful for..." post and well, you can see it didn't happen. Then I started to feel guilty, like I missed my only opportunity to do it. Alas, I am wide awake at 3:00am on December 1st, catching up on my devotions (car duty REALLY throws this girl off), deleting the 50 "cyber Monday" emails I didn't even open, checking in on my blogger friends, and inquiring on the Times News site to find out what time the parade starts in the morning, when I stumble upon a column written by J. Mark Fox that reminds me of this important truth:

"The word says these three things are the will of God for you who are in Christ Jesus: Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and give thanks in all circumstances."

To me, that was a nudge from the Big Guy saying, "Suzanne, it doesn't matter that you didn't post this on Thanksgiving, you can do it anytime!"

Mr. Fox goes on to give three steps to developing a heart of thanksgiving.

1. Make a list of the top ten things or people on your "I am thankful for" list.

2. Thank God for each one of your top ten.

3. Tell the people on your list how much you are thankful for them. They need to hear it. We need to say it.

So friends, since I love lists and can't seem to get anything done without them lately, I will use Mr. Fox's approach to tackle sharing with you, my heart of Thanksgiving.

Step One:

My Top Ten
1. My Almighty God
2. My boys
3. My family
4. My church family
5. My friends, old and new
6. My Roadrunner Rockers
7. My Facebook friends
8. My sisters in pink
9. My Cheerleaders
10. My new normal

The list could go on and on and in my heart it wilI, but for now I have completed step one and I have some long overdue thank you's to write. My plan is to dedicate a post to each of my top ten. I would like to say it will all happen in 10 days, but the reality is, it won't! I do hope you'll keep checking back because if you read this blog then you are a part of my top ten and since I am almost a year behind on actual thank you cards, I hope you'll accept my thank you blogs in the mean time.

**So after publishing this, I noticed that it says November 22, not sure what is going on. It is in fact December 1 and since I have already confessed to not posting on Thanksgiving, I will stick with my story! :-)

8 months or 243 days...

either way I look at it, it flew by! 

Sawyer was with me to whack the gong on October 22!  

He LOVED it!

Then my boys took me out to dinner to celebrate.


Silly Sawyer wouldn't open his eyes (we tried 3 pictures).
 

It was when I went to bed that night that I realized it was the 22nd, eight months to the day after I first heard the words 'breast cancer.'   I was awake that night thinking about the date, which to me was God's perfect timing, and all the good that had come from those 2 little words.    


*Having my first, second, and last EVER mammogram
*Going  from 1 doctor to now having a medical oncologist, a radiation oncologist, a surgeon, a plastic surgeon and even a gynecological oncologist who have all been a perfect fit for us
*8 chemo infusions which equated to lots of quality time with Jason, my Mom, Kelly and Mo and a whole list of folks who came to hang out with me on the days following
*2 "currently being expanded, soon-to-be-new" girls and 26 less lymph nodes and I honestly can't complain one bit about not having to wear a bra (I know, TMI as some would say, but we celebrate the little things around here)
*25 radiation treatments which meant LOTS of time in the car, but I got to spend that time either with good friends or singing at the top of my lungs to K-Love
*well over 60 meals all cooked by friends and family members, each delicious and appreciated more than you'll ever know
*243 cards, if not more (I have them all, but never counted them), because for a while I know I got at least 3 every day
*hundreds of phone calls, text messages, emails, and Facebook posts all of which I have saved (just like the cards) to pull out and read whenever I want
*more prayers than I can count from those I know and from those that I've never even met

This list could go on and on, don't get me wrong, those 2 words changed everything and I still get physically ill when I hear of someone going down the same path, but I honestly can't look back without seeing all the kindness, love, generosity and faith that surrounded us and think, it wasn't all bad!  We've come a long way in 243 days and I couldn't have done it without each and every one of you.  I am thankful to have all treatments behind me (even if there are a few more decisions to make), a little hair on my head just in time for cold weather, and the HOPE and FUTURE that comes from our amazing God!

"There is unlimited grace, mercy, forgiveness, healing and newness of life for anyone who calls upon the name of the Lord.  So, keep pressing on in the journey to which God has called you." 
Doug Fields
Homeward's Daily Devotional