It’s a rainy Derby Day here in Kentuckiana, possibly the wettest on record. In honor of competition and winners I thought I’d announce the winning hat/bandana. I just checked the poll and out of 76 votes 23 of them were for the dark brown hat. It’s the declared winner!

Thanks to all who voted and even left comments. And thank you Danielle for such fun photos! Feel free to put in your vote if you haven’t yet: http://tandemliving.blogspot.com/2010/04/woman-with-many-hats-i-may-not-have.html

in the meantime
One of the questions I often get is: What are you doing now? It really depends on the day. Some days I feel great and go and meet with friends. After the second chemo I was feeling a lot better about 4 days later. Since then I’ve had a few lunches with friends or enjoy walking around Target. I also (sometimes) clean up around the house while my parents are at school. And on Sundays, if I’m feeling up to it, I hang out with the youth and spend time with my family.

Within the last few weeks I’ve also been fingerprinted for the umpteenth time in order for the state of Indiana to tell me that I’m not a criminal. This was in order to gather the last bit of paperwork for my Austrian visa. I finally have what I need and was able to mail that off yesterday. Pray that it ends up in Vienna, Austria and not Australia.

I’m almost finished with my next hard-copy missions newsletter which will give a financial update as well as a few thoughts from my heart about this journey. If you haven’t received this before and would like to be on my mailing list please let me know. Just leave a comment and I’ll send you my e-mail address.

My next chemo is on Tuesday. I hope that after recovering from this round of treatment that I can work on a research paper about Austria that I started at CIT in North Carolina. That’s one of the many items on my “Good Day List” I made for when I feel good.

yet, my lists vs. God’s plans
In the middle of all this “doing” I find that I’m learning more about my relationship with Christ and how it’s more than a list I need to check off. I probably wouldn’t have ever described my relationship with Jesus that way. But these days I clearly see my “performance-geared” self when I go through a day and can’t say I did anything productive. The day may have consisted of staying in my pajamas, watching The Price is Right, eating and sleeping. What goal did I work toward with any of that? Why do I feel the need to have every day be one that is working toward a goal?

I’m not promoting laziness, by any means, but I’m promoting for myself an embrace of grace in my daily relationship with Christ. I may not have opened my Bible that day, but I know I thought of some scriptures that are etched on my heart and mind. And I may not have taken the time to journal down thoughts or prayers, but I know in the midst of the day I said short prayers. I can’t check anything off of a “good Christ-follower” list, but I can say that I still have a relationship with the One who knows me better than I know myself.

At the same time, I also see this as a battle ground and ask that you would join me in praying that I would have the energy and desire each day to dive in and devour God’s Word. I want the place I’m in right now to push me closer and closer to Christ. Pray that this would be so. I’m so blessed by your prayers and encouragement. Here are some updated photos of my door. I don’t know if you can tell, but there are four long pieces of twine hanging from one nail with probably 30 cards or more hanging on each piece.

Here are some specific ways to pray this week:
• Pray that the chemo on Tuesday would be effective (Pac-man) and not cause me to have any type of allergic reaction, like shortness of breath, as it did the first time around.

• Pray that the five days of steroids I take would also be effective and be absorbed without upsetting my stomach.

• Pray for a quick recovery and for God to guide me in the best ways to use my time before my next chemo.

• Pray for the conversation my mom and I get to have with my oncologist on Tuesday. We’re curious to ask about when I can have my next scan and see how all of this is working.

• Pray for a good blood test before chemo and that my counts wouldn’t fall too far afterward.

• Pray that my visa documents will get to Vienna, Austria and not end up in Australia. And pray that I would be granted a visa with God working out all of the timing of me getting back to Vienna.

• Pray for the people of Austria and those who are serving there. I know it doesn’t sound like a hard place to live, but it can be spiritually dark and dead and that can make it a tough challenge. Pray that the missionaries there will be encouraged and ignited to persevere. Pray that God will move in a HUGE way in Austria.

some Jedi fun
Today I used the video footage and photos from my recent Star Wars night with Kaleb and created a movie. I think it’s hilarious, but that may only be because I’m Kaleb’s aunt and he can always make me smile. I’ll leave it up for a week because of copyright issues, so make sure to check it out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tneuBvEUadA

Hope you enjoy!

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