"Snail Mail Support"

In the age of e-mail, text messages and quickie Facebook posts, I have come to appreciate the age-old form of communication. While, electronic messages are nice too, it is amazing the uplifting feeling you get when you open the mailbox and find that someone thought of you. A snail mail card means that someone thought of you, picked out a card, hunted down your address and spent good money on a stamp! Hey, that's hard to come by these days!

I have many people to thank for snail mail encouragement! Some are repeat offenders (you know who you are)! Some are people I haven't heard from in years and some are people I do not even know. I just received a small package the other day from a women who doesn't know me and I do not know her. She sent an uplifting card and a devotional book called "Praying Through Cancer." It is a book she said helped her in her own journey with breast cancer. I found out she attends church with my Grandparents in Oklahoma.

I got another thick envelope in the mail with a very encouraging note from another breast cancer survivor. I don't know her either, but she knows many of my family members who live in Oregon and she says she feels like she knows me. We are now Facebook friends. She sent me this necklace:

I thank everyone for every form of support that has been sent my way. You may never know how much it helps and how much it means to me! Prayers have already been answered along this journey. I know prayers are powerful and I thank everyone who puts me and my family in theirs.

"Where Does My Help Come From"

"My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth!" Psalm 121:2

The Lord sent my Mom and Dad to fill in recently. My help came from them in spades! They arrived August 1 (the day before surgery) and just left today. Mom cleaned the house, cooked every dinner, fed everyone breakfast and lunch, made several trips to the grocery store, took Kaylee to a dentist appointment and back-to- school clothes shopping. She did untold loads of laundry, took me to pre-op and post-op doctor appointments and sat in the waiting room with Kent during my surgery. She took care of the baby. Even though I'm sure she enjoyed this part the most, every feeding and diaper change and everything else was a lot of work. I'm sure Jayce is crawling around wondering where that other Mommy went. Me too.

Dad took Kaylee shopping and bought her some school shoes (the kind that only Grandparents would buy because Mom and Dad wouldn't spend that much)! He played with the kids, fixed a leaky bathtub faucet, installed a new ceiling fan, and ran all kinds of errands.

They have been steady, rock solid providers of love and care. I don't know what to say because thank you is too small and just doesn't cover it. I'm crying because it is like God's love, just something that you can't repay no matter how much you want too. I miss them already, but not because of all the "things" that they did. I just miss their loving presence.

"The Pit of Self-Pity"

Have you ever seen the pit of self-pity? Well, if you stand on the edge, squint your eyes and take a look down there you might notice that it is dark, dirty and has slimy sides. The slimy sides make it really hard to climb out of in case you should fall in. That's why I am doing everything I can to make sure I don't lose my footing and journey down that slippery slope!

I am combating the pit of self-pity with a support book. Early on, I was afraid that I might forget about all the people who love me and are praying for me. What if I wake up one morning and decide that nobody cares and start the slide? I am determined not to do that!

In case my short-term memory needs a boost, I bought a notebook. Yep, just the plain old back-to-school kind. I keep a log of every person who has touched me in a supportive way. I list the date, the person's name and what they did (whether it was send an e-mail, a supportive message on Facebook, a private message on Facebook, a card in the mail, flowers, gift, phone call or even a phone message)! It all counts! I also bought an expandable folder to hold any cards that I might receive so I can easily look at them. Now I am equipped to fight back just in case my mind tries to be sneaky and pull me over to the edge of that old pit. I won't fall in. I will grab my book and remember exactly why that pit is not the place for me!