A Thankful Heart

It has once again been a busy few days. I had my Herceptin infusion late Thursday afternoon followed by a quiet evening at home, thankful that I did not have to be out.

Friday morning before the course I was taking at Wellspring I had a phone call from my friend Marjorie, her and her husband were in the city for the weekend and they were going to go see her father's sister who was in a lodge. She asked me about my Mom and Rod's Mom. It was a surprise for both of us to find out that her aunt was in the same lodge as my Mom. Marjorie promised to try to visit both moms if they were able.

The course at Wellspring was a six hour course called 'The Healing Plan'. It was done by two of the physicians at BCSCF. An enjoyable course although six hours turned out to be a bit much for me, especially post Herceptin.

Some of the things I took away were that curing and healing were two different things. Curing is disease oriented and doesn't address the mind, heart or spirit. The word healing as used in the workshop is defined as 'to be made whole' and involves  body, mind, heart and spirit. It starts from within. A key point was that healing can occur even when a cure is not achieved. A person can also be cured even though they may still require healing.

Healing helps to restore wellness, which is defined as the highest level of physical, emotional, mental, relational and spiritual wellness that a person is capable of.

The book that was used as the basis for the course is called 'Picking up the Pieces: Moving forward after surviving cancer'  by Kathy Scalzo and Sherri Magee.

During the day I had the privilege of visiting with many of the people that were at the course, there was a variety of experiences and types of cancer and everyone was at a different stage in their experience. At lunch time we were encouraged to walk by the river alone, which I took advantage of.

There were several things that made me smile the last two days -

You would think that, after being at the triage desk in Emergency way back when and instructing a woman  who I was sure was going to deliver imminently to proceed to the Maternity area only to be told that she had her baby six months ago, that I would know better than to ever assume. However, yesterday I found myself asking a woman who had come up to talk to me how long her hair had been growing back in. She looked to be slightly ahead of me, although mine is thicker. Thankfully, she was not offended but she did laugh. Her answer - since 2008!

I was reading a book about breast cancer survivors and a woman related a story of when her hair fell out about two weeks post first chemo. Her sister was a hairdresser. She marched into the salon, her head covered by a scarf. When she reached her sister she whipped off the scarf and said ' Bonnie, we need to talk about my last perm!' The woman Bonnie was working on hesitantly asked whether she was receiving the same type of perm. They all had a good laugh once it was all explained.

Caleb brought our granddog Charlie over last evening. It was just for a visit, not to be babysat however I don't think he had been told this. Charlie greeted both of us and let us fuss over him before he went to gather his toys all together. Once this was done he went looking for Kenny, who was out. He whined a little about that, then settled again with his toys. He was quite happy when Kenny did show up and spent the requisite amount of time with him. Then Caleb said it was time to go. Charlie started running the opposite way as the door and Caleb finally had to scoop him up in his arms and carry him out to the truck - Charlie is a springer spaniel, so not a small dog ;). I laughed to see Charlie's reluctance to go and the chase - it seems Charlie felt he was being short changed of his time to be spoiled at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

My biggest smiles came today when Marjorie phoned me and asked if I had spoken to my Mom. I hadn't yet. She told me that it turns out that my Mom and her aunt live right next to each other at the lodge and that her cousin had been praying that her Mom would find someone to talk to and spend time with. They were introduced by Marjorie and Brian yesterday and it looks like it may be a match made 'in heaven' ;).

Following our earlier morning conversation I had a wonderful lunch with Marjorie, Hazel, Brenda and Evelyn. It was good to laugh and share with them over a relaxing two hour period of time.

Did I mention 'God is good'?

I will close with a reading from April 18 from Jesus Calling -

I have designed you to need Me moment by moment. As your awareness of your neediness increases, so does your realization of my abundant sufficiency. I can meet every one of your needs without draining My resources at all. Approach my throne of grace with bold confidence, receiving My Peace with a thankful heart.  

I close with a thankful heart.


Take care everyone.