Plink, Plink, PLUNK

Yes, those are mini soft ice cream cones...Janie has a problem with soft ice cream...a soft ice cream wino if you will. Plus, she loves anything 'mini,' so...a mini-soft-ice-cream-on-a-mini-cone truly is to her the best thing ever.

Here is an update about Janie written by Janie in an email to our praying friends. "Whew!" you say, "good! Enough of Chris! We want more Janie!" Well, I couldn't agree more, so here she is, in her own words once again:

August 17, 2009

Hey Everybody!

It has been an eventful week. First, I had to explain to Carly that no we cannot get a dog because I am shedding quite nicely on my own. Plink, plink, plink, go the hairs during the day. At night they cover my pillow. But the big PLUNK comes during the shower. I try to be oh-so-gentle but gobs still come out. I have taken to being quite creative with covering the thinning spots (think COMBOVER!) and it has worked quite nicely up to this point. If I’m with friends, you’re stuck with me. If I’m out and about it’s a hat. Soon it will be a luscious hair piece that you all will be insanely jealous over! Just think, no more
bad hair days! I was a bit whiny and vain-ish two weeks ago. But I have finally come to the conclusion that hair or no hair really doesn’t define who I am, just what I look like. So, bring on the bald! (I’m trying to be positive here folks!)

I will probably be quite a bit wordy today seeing that I have 40 mg of steroid coursing through my body. Today will be my second treatment of the chemo drug Taxol. I’m scheduled weekly and I see my oncologist on the 31st. Anyway, apparently the drug can cause allergic reactions so as a result I take this huge dose of steroids. I’m hoping that along with feeling hyper I will also be able to compete in the next Olympics. No incredible biceps or pecs yet. Do I actually have to lift weights or do they just magically appear? Along with Taxol I’ll be getting Benedryl, Pepcid for heartburn, anti-nausea with more steroids, a 2 liter bag of saline, and a 2+liter bag of bone-strengthening medicine which I get every three months. Yikes! It cracks me up because prior to 2004 I didn’t like taking any medicine. Oh, I’m also on an antiobiotic for an infection! I am amazed how my body tolerates all of this and we all pray it’s doing it’s job!

We had a fun day on Friday meeting up with some great friends we lived near us in Massachusetts. They now live in Vermont and brought their daughter down for her senior pictures. It was a wonderful day of catching up and fond memories. That night we ate a feast at Dia’s with family and Ben and his marvelous girlfriend Rachel. Saturday night brought our kid’s band Till We Have Faces doing their last show at Roadside Chapel since 3 of the members are off to college. We were so appreciative to all the supporters who came out to hear these guys singing for the Lord. Loudly singing I should say but a great end to a two year ministry. You can check out more at Chris’s blog from the link below. We are proud of each of them and are excited to see where God will lead them now. Sunday brought church and a NAP! Then a good-bye bonfire to Wesley Davis who will be traveling to Russia for the semester on Tuesday. All these changes and I haven’t cried once! (I hate change.) It was a tremendous answer to prayer and a huge blessing from the Lord that I was able to do all of these fun activities.

Now to the important stuff. I read a daily devotional this week that was very encouraging. It was about a family that went on vacation and the Dad lost his credit card. He didn’t use it often but he knew it was not something to lose. I’m going to type an excerpt below for your reading pleasure and hopefully encouragement! Here goes:

“I felt no worries about losing the Mastercard. Now, mind you, that’s not natural for me. I am by nature a pessismist, and under ordinary circumstances I would have concluded that someone had already charged the limit on my card. I would have gotten mad at myself or my family and taken out my frustration on everybody. I would have looked hard for some divine purpose in all the trouble and had an awful time being happy. But this time was different. I felt no worries at all. I didn’t get angry with anyone. I never felt any frustration. I was happy the whole way through. What a victory! The whole time it was lost I went about my business as usual, trusted God, and loved my family. And when I got back from vacation, there it was in an envelope mailed from a friend in California. I had dropped it in his car.

Do you know what the secret to my happiness was? I never knew I had lost the card until I saw it in the mail when I got home. What I learned is this: As soon as we discover we have a problem, God has already been working on it and the solution is on the way. If we believe in the God of Romans 8:28 we will always remember that by the time we know a problem exists, God has already been working on it and His solution is on the way. God is eager to work for us. That is what was happening before I knew I had a problem. And that is what God is doing all the time for those who trust Him. Of course, the point here is not that God spares His people trouble. And all of us know that a lost credit card is the least of our worries in a world of suffering like ours. The lost credit card is merely a parable of much great things. They will not always turn out the way we think is best. But that does not mean God is not at work. He is always at work. And He is turning all our losses and all our pains into something good for us as we trust Him. This is His promise.” A Godward Life Book 2 John Piper pgs. 23-24

This isn’t new information. It’s just a good reminder. And it shows how we can truly keep working on the hardest verses in the Bible: Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. I Thessalonians 5:16-18

And so that’s what we do. Go about our business as usual, trust God, and love our family and friends. God has a plan for our life and for yours. I try not to forget. "Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you." 1 Peter 5:7 We are so thankful for each and every one of you. I tell the cancer center they are not just treating me but a whole bunch of other folks, too. It reminds me of the Verizon tv ads where one person is on the phone but he has a giant network of supporters behind him. God has blessed us in so many ways through all of this: it has honed our spiritual thinking, Chris works close to home, the hospital is close by, the Linds and my parents have had vast knowledge, input, and information about college and Houghton that have made leaving our daughter and her best friend at a school several hours away much less nerve-wracking. And those are just the tip of the iceberg! So thank you again for all your prayers, support, and kindnesses to our family. We couldn’t do it without you! I’m off to try to accomplish my list I made for myself at 7 am when the steroids kicked in! Talk to you soon. Lots of love, Janie