Humble

We feel entirely grateful and humble this holiday season. A couple of amazing things have happened to us.

Someone picked us to do the 12 days of Christmas for. We have done this before but have never received it. I have to say it is tough to be on the receiving side. It is amazing though how it has brought the spirit of Christmas into our home. Someone has been very generous to us. The kids, even though they are teenagers, have been abuzz with excitement and delight. We have received a gingerbread house, several goodies and a nativity piece each day. I am a lover of nativities. They are incredibly special to me. Each day, we have been so excited to see which piece we are getting. What an amazing gift this has been. Every year, as we set up this nativity, we will remember the generosity in which it was received.

The other night, the doorbell rang. Nathan came in the house with amazement and said, "Someone gave us a big jar of money." With it a note came explaining that this anonymous family had saved their money this year. It was their "Christmas Jar." The intent was to give this jar to a "deserving" family at Christmas time. The only problem is that we do not feel like a "deserving" family. We have the phrase "We're not worthy" running through our heads. Although, we have challenges up ahead, we still feel so blessed. We don't feel our struggles are any more than anyone elses, just different. We have a warm place live, food on our table, love in our hearts and an abundance of extras. We have never gone without. So naturally, when this jar came, we felt guilty. There are so many families out there that are going without. The intent with the jar was that we should use it to do something together as a family. So, we are going to humble ourselves and do with it what was intended. We understand that this is a way to tell us that we are loved.

Although we do not feel worthy for such an outpouring of love, it has brought us to tears and taught us a couple of things. One, it is not easy to receive. But, important to humble ourselves and allow others the blessings of sacrifice and service. Second, it has taught us lessons on giving and sacrafice. We cannot repay the love shown to us, but we can "pay it forward." A very valuable gift that I can teach my family. It will mean more to them now when they give, because they know how they have felt. Third, it has taught us that there are some amazing people our there that have much to teach us. We will learn from their examples. The 12 days of Christmas and the Christmas Jar will live on.

What an incredible Christmas season this has been. This love and generosity has truly brought back the "magic" of Christmas into our lives.

Family Pictures

We got our family pictures back. I am so excited. When we found out about Jim's health we talked to the girl who did the pictures for my brothers triplets. We wanted to get right in before Jim lost his hair. She got us scheduled immediately. It was so much fun. Looking at the pictures just brings back the feelings of how much fun we had. Here is a sample.





TRY TO GET THIS SHOT. CAN YOU SEE NATE?



LEAF FIGHT

Jim's Health

This is an update on how Jim is doing since his May 2008 Bone Marrow Transplant. We went for his year checkup and the pet scan detected that his lymphoma is back.

So to recap;

First diagnosis of Stage 4, Non Hodgkin's, Low Grade Lymphoma - April 2005
Spleen rupture and removal - May 2005
10 Chemo Therapy treatments - May - November 2005
Jim's own bone marrow Harvest - Jan, 2006
Recurrence - February 2008
4 Chemo Treatments - February - April, 2008
Bone Marrow Transplant [Jim's own marrow) - May- June 2008
Recurrence - October, 2009
Chemo - December, 2009- ?
Donor Bone Marrow Transplant - ?

Jim feels Healthy. The recurrence is small which means it should respond to treatment. It is strange because he doesn't feel sick. Now he will with treatment though. We knew the cancer would come back , because this is what this kind of lymphoma does, but we hoped we could get a few years out of this last transplant, because the donor transplant is much more complicated and risky. Also, because this is our last option. It also can deeply affect his quality of living. So, we need a lot of prayers sent in his behalf.

So, Like the Tim McGraw song says, once again, we decided that we had better start living like we were dying. So, we got family pictures {last ones we got when he was originally diagnosed, lovingly referred to as his "Cancer Pictures", and went on a cruise. The cruise was not planned for, we booked it and left 3 weeks later. What an amazing time. Jim para sailed and the family zip lined through the Mexican rain forest. Those are memories that can't be taken away.

So now, we muddle through the process, trying not to think about what lies ahead. Christmas is upon us and it is a great diversion. We are basking in the joy of the season and enjoying our great traditions and the warmth of family.

PS. I will post our family pictures and cruise pictures soon.