Rhetoric and Music

October has come and gone much too fast and once again I find myself here on the back pages of autumn, waiting for winter to arrive. This has been a hard month, but a month of learning and a month of victories. It has been a month of glorious and burning color, and a month of too much rain and too many storms.

Driving to work in the darkness and the rain, I pour out my heart to my Heavenly Father.  My understanding doesn’t always extend to the edges of what I see and hear and deal with every day; my understanding doesn’t include why people suffer and die from cancer, especially one as slippery and sneaky as myeloma. And as the miles pass under my wheels in the darkness of early morning or the darkness of late evening, He gently reminds me that His ways are not our ways. He gently reminds me that I don’t have to understand in order to do His bidding.

We have an agreement, He and I. I have promised to be a willing vessel and to do what He has called me to do. In return He has promised to love me and guide me and keep me in all my ways.  Some days are easier than others; I am a mere mortal with the same human frailties that everyone deals with. There are days when I’m tired, days when my patience runs thin. There are days when I wake in the morning and I’m not sure I can do it again.  But His mercies never fail; He has continued to lead me and guide me, He has continued to love me and keep me close to His heart. In spite of my shortcomings, and in spite of what I have failed to say or do that day, He has never failed to keep His Word.

And no matter how hard the day, no matter how many trials and situations I face, I always leave and come home at the end of the day. I come home safe and whole, cancer-free; I come home to my wonderful husband who thinks I hung the moon and the stars. It’s more than a fair trade, for the things I do.

My sweet Summer is doing well; I am humbled as I watch her transform into a woman of grace and confidence. I am so proud, when I hear that a patient has requested that she be their nurse for the following week, or when one of the doctors requests her by name, to care for his patient. I am seeing the favor of God that I have prayed for, manifested in her life.

Once when she was about sixteen years old, she woke me gently one night to tell me something that God had revealed to her.  She told me that she had been asking Him about her purpose in life, and after several times of questioning that He had revealed something to her. She told me, "God said that I was to complete what you had started, Mom." I am seeing this come to pass, before my very eyes; how blessed I am.

And so I continue to do His bidding, and I try to do it with a spirit of excellence. I am waiting for winter, to see what wondrous things lie there, just out of sight.

And now for a few pictures……….. Our theme for Halloween at work was "Movies."

Laura as Mae West, and Donna as Elizabeth from Pirates of the Carribean

Mike as one of the Blues Brothers, and Heather as Marie Antoinette

Marty as Julia Child

Robin, Kellye and Kristin as The Pink Ladies from Grease

Sandy, our clinic director, as (what else?) the Director

Melissa and Eddy as Patch Adams and Corinne

<span style=”font-family: Comic Sans MS”>A group shot; that’s me, second from the left. I wore my pajamas and fuzzy house slippers, curlers in my hair and a sleep mask. I was Sleepless in Seattle. Our clinic was turned into a movie theater for the week, complete with projector and screen, non-stop movies, popcorn and soft drinks. The patients loved it. Hope you all had a Happy Halloween!