We are HOME!

Ahh, what a good place to be! Our humble little house has never looked so good...literally. My awesome in-laws had someone come clean our house top to bottom and it hasn't looked so good since the day we moved in. I'm talented in a lot of areas, but deep cleaning is not one of them. :)

Ryan is doing really well. He's tired and has been hiccuping most of the day, which I learned from a quick Google search is a very typical side effect of one of his chemo drugs, and also anti-nausea meds. He's super tired right now at 7 p.m. and he keeps falling asleep, but the nausea hasn't set in...yet. We'll wait and see what tonight and tomorrow bring.

Colton has been in a fabulous mood ever since we got home. "MY TOYS! MY BED! MY TUPPERWARE DRAWER! MY DAD'S DRESSER, WHERE I CAN PULL ALL OF HIS CLOTHES OUT!" Thanks for praying for this little guy, he had a very good ride home and there really wasn't much protesting, and even two naps!

It is looking like a reality that we will be able to be home for about three weeks, and maybe even go back to work for some of that time (YAY! I miss my students and coworkers so much). Ryan has dr. appointments and chemotherapy treatment next week again, but the following week (May 9-13), I think we might be able to work a pretty full week since he has no treatment! Colton will be so excited to play with his daycare buddies and see Miss Rene and Miss April. And I know that Grace Adventures will be glad to get their marketing director back whenever they can. Ryan and I (and Steve & Cathey too, for that matter) are so blessed to have jobs where we do. Our employers have both been so incredibly supportive of us up and leaving for three weeks and delegating responsibilities. It has been such a relief to know that we are able to concentrate on Ryan's well-being at this time and make that our top priority.

Thought for the day:

Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” WHY, YOU DO NOT EVEN KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN TOMORROW. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” James 4:13-15

If something in your life were to happen and everything changed in one day, or even in the blink of an eye - is your life focused where it should be? Are you serving and cherishing the people around you? Are you focused on what's important? Who knows what tomorrow will bring. Tomorrow will be four weeks since we got the phone call from University of Chicago that flipped our world upside down, and we were not expecting that sort of news in the least. I picked up the phone when Ryan called me as I was pulling in our driveway, and I immediately started chattering at him about something that I thought was terribly significant at that moment - how I was frustrated with somebody. Then in the space of about 20 seconds, that frustration was totally unimportant. Since that day, Ryan and I have taken a hard look at where we spend our energy. We decided to stop arguing about things that don't matter, and to focus more on serving the other person than serving ourselves (which we should have been doing the last five years of marriage, I know). An extensive addition to our house this fall, which was a huge priority of mine, seems much less important (plus also totally unrealistic). I have made a conscious decision to stop putting energy into situations or relationships that don't need or deserve my attention, and to start investing more in things that matter - the people that care about me, especially my son, my husband, and my Lord and Savior. Church. Ministry. Impacting people for Christ. Ya know, these are really the only things that matter.

This is what high definition means - seeing the important aspects of life clearly. Are you living in high definition or are you still stuck in standard definition?