Living a Blessed Life

Again, and Again, and Again! Empty rooms, undefined spaces, and a garage filled with cardboard boxes quickly enveloped our lives just over a week ago. We moved from a home we loved into a new home that we will love as well, with a great deal of mixed emotions. I am not even sure reality has fully set it in yet. There are moments that I feel like I am on vacation, staying in an AirBnb, with my own furniture and belongings. It is a fun, yet strange feeling. The home we purchased is really a gift to our family and friends. A place we call home, but share with others. We want our home to feel warm, welcoming, and comfortable, and be the place you don't want to leave (or at least do want to return to soon).  Last Saturday we had a generous crew of family and friends swoop in and help us clear out our "old" house, load our lives into a U Haul and other vehicles, and proceed to gently plant us in our new location. During the hust...

Sometimes I feel like a circus act, trying desperately to juggle way too many things at one time. That, my friends, is the current season of life we are in. If you have not heard yet, consider this your formal announcement that we have sold our home and are moving to a new home at the end of this month. Why? Great question! Darek said for many, many years that we would stay in our current home forever. We love our current home. I waited patiently for 12 years before having Cambria Quartz countertops installed in our kitchen. The kitchen remodel is one of my favorite changes that we made to this house. The location and yard are great, but we have finally agreed that we could use more space. Our kids are growing, and as they grow and have friends over it will be nice to have some larger spaces for them all to hang out. We were very intentional in purchasing a home that offered multiple "hang-out" spaces. Like many parents, we want our home to be one that all of the kids a...

“ Everything happens for a reason But you don’t know what you don’t know And you’ll never have peace if you don’t let go of tomorrow ’Cause it ain’t even faith till your plan falls apart But you still choose to follow, If it doesn’t make sense right now, it will when it’s over There will be joy in the morning There will be joy in the morning Giving in to your feelings is like drowning in the shadows Oh, you gotta keep believing Even in the middle of the unknown ’Cause grace will be there When you come to the end of your rope and you let go It may feel like you’re goin’ down now But the story isn’t over ” — Tauren Wells I feel this song so strongly! “It ain't even faith till your plan falls apart but you still choose to follow.” -Tauren Wells Today is especially one of those days that has me swirling in an emotional pool. I woke up this morning to the sound of birds singing, and the sun shining. Darek and the kids showered me with love! I love this ki...

A few weeks ago on a Thursday morning we woke up (thankfully) without our usual alarms​. This may not seem like a problem, however, if you are like us and use the google home services to run routines for things like waking the kids up, it is a big problem. Not only do we depend on wifi to run our morning routines (turning lights on, playing alarms, etc.), we also use wifi for many of our daily processes. For instance, our doorbell and thermostat are both connected to our wifi, as well as most of the lights in our home. This seems like a trivial matter, and in the grand scheme of things, it is. However, when we become used to or dependent on a process working consistently, it throws us for a loop when things stop working. This also happened to be a gross weather week with cold temps and snow in April, meaning we were stuck inside. I figured the wireless router needed a simple re-boot and everything would be fixed. Boy, was I wrong!  The 5G Service was out! Not only did...

Hello there! It has been too long again, and I have had this topic on my mind for a while now. Today I encourage you to meditate on “gratitude” and what it really means to express a grateful attitude every day. An entire week has already passed since Easter, and it was during the time leading up to Easter that this word stuck in my mind. After spending time with my extended family at Easter (who I have not seen in a few YEARS) I felt even more inclined to write on this topic. I love my family dearly and feel fortunate to have the opportunity to spend time with them. I rarely see my grandparents, and spending time with them at Easter was especially sweet. We never know how many of those moments we will have. I go into each and every day thanking God for the absolute gift that the day is to me, and for what is to come that day. I honestly believe that starting the day off with the right attitude and perspective sets the course all that follows. (Even when I don’t feel like it. Let’s b...

Praise the name of Jesus!! “ Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land. ” — 2 Chronicles 7:14 On Friday, March 24th I met with my oncologist to go over the latest CT scan and Lab results. I was feeling especially anxious as Darek and I waited in the consultation room. I think I have developed a little PTSD through this process, and I am working diligently to overcome that battle in my mind. There were words used in the report that I did not fully understand, and a finding that was new, but unrelated to anything else. I also had a couple of lab values that were on the lower side, so I was curious to know what that really meant. We waited about for what seemed like an hour (it may as well have been) but was really only 30 minutes and my oncologist cracked the door open. She peeked her head ...

I have never been great at ping pong. Let’s be real here. I have never even been good at ping pong! At least, not the physical game of ping pong. I am, however, a master at the mental game of ping pong, and let me tell you that it is good at stealing my joy. This past Monday I was initially scheduled to have a follow-up PET scan at the University of Minnesota. As the story goes, my insurance denied it because they do not find it medically necessary, so jumping through hoops again landed me a regular CT scan instead. PET scans are very expensive so I do understand why insurance companies do not want to cover them. There could also be the fact that before the scan they inject radioactive sucrose in the patient, and they do not want patients having that repeated frequently. Details, details! I am not 100% sure how they make their decisions. Instead of having to go downtown for my scan, I was able to have the CT at Southdale Hospital, which is much closer and more convenient. The CT w...