Special Cousins Day 2009

 

Last weekend was such a fun time for us all. My sister Julie and her daughter Sarah came for a visit. Sarah and Lulea were adopted at the same time from the same orphange in China in March of 2006. In fact, they were residing in the same baby room. Ever since then we have held a "Special Cousins Day" for them each year. We haven't set an official date for it as our schedules vary from year to year. But they know they can count on having a special time together some time in the spring. I hope they never lose that special excitement about being special cousins.

Monday of course was chemo. My numbers were great again! We had a few scary moments when they couldn't get a blood return from my port. They flushed it and ran in some Heparin. Unfortunately there was still no blood return. At that point they decided to do a chest x-ray and make sure that it was still in one piece. Then it got a bit worse when they decided to send me to the hospital instead for contrast studies. That would have meant that I couldn't do chemo that day. But I had to do it that day as my schedule just wouldn't permit it any other day. So when Miss Stubborn As A Mule (that's me if you didn't already guess) insisted, they tried to access it one more time. Sucess! Thank you God! So I went ahead with my chemo.

It was a bit rougher week than usual and I'm really just now beginning to bounce back from it. Hopefully I will feel really well for Mother's Day. As always, I'm so grateful for all the prayers and support we have received. Our church has graciously supplied us with meals on my chemo week since last September. That's just unbelievable to me that so many people have come forward to bless us like this.

We also received another anonymous gift card this weekend, this time for Bojangles. Now who could possibly resist that! I have an idea as to who the giver may have been, but in case I'm wrong, let me just issue a blanket thank you to a very generous and loving individual.

It's so hard to believe that this our fourth Mother's Day since Sarah and Lulea came home to Julie and I from China. These little girls have come so far in such a short time. One day, in my spare time, I'll post a bit more about the circumstances from which they came. After having been there, it is a true miracle that they are loving, bonded, and well attached little girls at this point. I have to believe that God had his hand firmly in their situation before either of us even dared to dream of them.

For thou didst form my inward parts, thou didst knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise thee, for thou art fearful and wonderful. Wonderful are thy works! Thou knowest me right well; my frame was not hidden from thee, when I was being made in secret, intricately wrought in the depths of the earth. Thy eyes beheld my unformed substance; in thy book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.
Psalms 139:13-16

Don't you just love it when God so clearly tells you that He's got it under control. Now if only we'd let him do it His way and not try to take back that control. We could be so much happier letting Him do His job while we did our own.