His grace is truly AMAZING

Life is hard.  Change is necessary. And painful. I am so thankful for those in my life who are willing to show me what I need to see, even when they might be nervous about pointing out my shortcomings. Those are REAL friends. The ones that see what you need to change in order to be a better person, not for their preference, but for your good (and God's glory!). Most who know me know I am a giver. A giver of myself, my time and energy (I have no money or I'd probably give that, too!!). Those who know me well may think (rightly so) that I give myself away to a fault. Reserving little or no time for myself. If someone needs assistance (or not), or a menial task needs to be done, if I see it, I will jump to do it. As a guest I rarely just let the hostess do everything (unless I have been TOLD!). In fact, sitting and seeing something that needs to be done is one of the hardest things for me to do.  Yesterday I saw a video clip that explained this as a learned response to the adults...

Though this is a copy of an email to the Mom, written a few months ago. The gratitude extends not only to her, but to others (many who read my blog), who have been a source of stability, encouragement and love in my life for decades.  You may not realize how big of an impact you have made in my life, because often I am lousy at receiving love. But those of you who have "always been there" the ones that I can easily take for granted,  the words that were directed to Mom, fit you as well.  Without your unconditional love. Without your encouragement.  Without your prayers. Without your esteeming me higher than I do myself. I could not have come this far: "I catch a glimpse as I'm washing my hands, and I do a double take. Who is that? Me? I wish. She is pretty, happy, confident, healthy, loved, capable, comfortable in her own skin/with who she is... then I realize, it is me! How is that possible? The easy answer is God did it. How? I don't know. One day at a time. I ...

November felt like a year all by itself. And the last 10 days, like 6 months. The month was too busy to begin with.  Crammed with work, doctor and dentist appointments for all 5 of us. Mom's surgery taking a full week by itself just because of the distance from home and pre-op and other preparations. But God is so good! He knew what was coming and He knew the perfect circumstances for His plans for what was about to happen.  Mom's surgery was supposed to be the end of September, but she got a cold. The medical staff decided it would be best if the surgery was postponed until November. We were all a little unhappy about that because we were all set for it to happen in September.  But whatever. We've learned to roll with unexpected changes... The kids were able to go to Oregon for a teen conference with their dad's church, and I suggested the kids stay through Sunday and come home Monday, giving them opportunity to visit with their dad, an extra unplanned visit--good for ...