Recalling some God and sister moments

In preparing the first surgery, I really felt God impressing on me to be prepared but wasn't clear on what exactly that meant. Did that mean write letters to my husband and kids, have all the laundry done, what??!! I was leaning toward the write letters route when, during a women's book study class that I was taking, my friend Kim had the wisdom to let the other ladies in on what I was feeling. That's when Margie asked, "are you sure it's not be prepared for something great?" That totally resonated in my spirit, and God then told me to be prepared to go through the fire so He can do something great. I got excited--I knew we were on the cusp on something amazing. I had been telling God for quite some time that "I would do anything" and I meant it. I was ready for big changes in me. For the 9 months leading up to all this health drama Roger and I had been really fighting to save our marriage. Praise God that in August He brought people into our lives who loved us and really guided us and held us accountable to what God was already telling us to do. What does that have to do with the health issue, you ask? Let's suffice it to say that there's nothing like a little cancer to put things into perspective! God really used that time to help pull Roger and I together. And that's what I thought He meant by the something great from going through the fire. Little did I know that was just the very tip of the iceberg!!

This was really a great time of family bonding for me with my Mom and 3 sisters, also. Mom, Carol, Cheryl, and Michele really swooped in and took great care of me and my family. Cooking, cleaning, homework with the girls, grocery shopping, driving the girls to and from school. But my favorite was taking care of the never ending pile of laundry that needed to be folded and put away--even the bottomless basket of socks to be mated (Mom's specialty)!! I really don't mind DOING the laundry, I just hate FOLDING the laundry!!! Cheryl just moved right in for 3 days, which I wanted to feel guilty about but was way too thankful to feel guilty. She didn't give me the option, she just knew I needed it. She's much, much older and wiser than I! (just kiddin' Chey!)

The best bonding moment: Me and my sisters took all of our girls to a hotel with a water park over spring break. On the way home we stopped at McDonald's. We were all in the bathroom when I just happened to look in the mirror and proceeded to have a complete meltdown. One of the side effects of thyroid issues (other than emotional instability) is that your hair tends to start thinning. For whatever reason, God chose that moment to show me just how much hair I had been losing--I could see right through to my scalp over the whole top of my head. My sisters cried with me and we moved on--we did have 6 kids with us after all! Sounds pretty sad when I retell it, but it's really just another funny moment to look back on. Besides this one lady at the hotel had a really great haircut and she let me take a picture of it--it's now the haircut I have!! Shout out to Ali Doherty who took me from frumpy with thinning hair to hip and fabulous with her magic scissors! (And my hair did start regrowing after I started on the synthroid!)