The Holiday Weekend!

Hey there!  Yes, it has been since Thursday since I have been on here at CB, but it is difficult when there is not a good reception on your phone and your at the lake.

It has been eventful I must say. Thursday night Pat and I went out to eat and went to pick up the RV.  It finally started after a few hours of charging, but we new it needed a couple of new batteries.  So Friday morning Pat took care of that and I got the house cleaned and went to the grocery store.  As I was leaving the store about 3 PM, Pat asked me to go to the auto store to get some starter fluid.  To make a long story of four hours short, the RV was parked in front of our house, but would not start.  It so happens that Garrett's girlfriend's dad has an RV business with mechanics, so he stopped by Friday night and took a look at it.  He told us to expect his repair men the next morning.  They fiddled around with it and got it started quickly.  So, we loaded up and was out of here by Saturday at noon headed to Lake Whitney.  

When we arrived at 1000 Trails at Lake Whitney, most of the good spots were taken around our friends that we were joining, so we finally found a good place.  We set up and ready to have a good time. While we were there Garrett and Matt had great luck fishing.  Elizabeth and I had some good pool time.  Pat went scouting around Whitney to locate his great, great grandfather's grave.  

Saturday after lunch the boys wanted to go back to the cliffs and jump and asked us to go with them.  All five of us loaded up and walked on the trail to the cliffs.  Matt gets up there, about 30 ft. and jumps, followed by Garrett.  There were a couple of other guys jumping too. The boys talked Elizabeth into jumping and she gets right up to the edge and off she jumps.  Pat, Cash and I watched them for a bit and  I hear, "Mom, you try it!"  I said, "Nah, I don't want to."  One kid says "Aw, come on Mom, you can do it. Why not?"  I answer, "I really don't want to do my hair".  (That answer didn't work either.)  They kept trying to talk me into it and I heard Pat say, "Mom, you can do it!".  Okay, I decided I would (too quickly).  I take off my earrings and wedding ring and go to the edge.  The water looks far away.  I peak out there and look down.  I stand there.  I stand there.  I keep standing there.  The kids are encouraging me.  Pat is telling me that I can do it. There is a guy next to me and he says, "I did it with my shoes on".  I am thinking so?  All three of the kids said they would do it again and I can watch.  Garrett jumps.  Elizabeth jumps and they both are treading water.  Matt is sitting bedside me as I stare into the water.  He quietly says, "Mom, this is what it was like at Camp Redcloud when little kids would stand there for three hours before they did ropes".  Well, I wasn't going to take three hours.  My mind was convinced that I could do this, but I was scared to death.  I couldn't picture myself jumping.  I wasn't scared of the water, I was scared of the feeling of jumping.  You know the stomach in the throat feeling.  After about ten minutes Pat said "I am not waiting anymore."  I said "Wait! I will".  I stood there another five minutes and all were tired of waiting.  I wanted to jump so bad.  A couple of times I had a false start and I scared them and they all yelled at me.  Finally,  I said I am going to do it and I did!  I plunged into the water and when I came up I heard cheering!  I survived and it wasn't that bad.  No, I didn't do it again!

We had dinner each night with our friends the Greens, Vernons, Haralsons and the Williams. They are all camping pros, and had this group thing down.  What fun!  It was time to load up and head home this morning, but we were going to make a stop at the donut shop on the way home.   The boys were riding in the RV with Pat and Elizabeth and I were each driving a pickup.   We arrive at the donut shop and the boys get out and said that they heard a loud pop and all of the dash lights were blinking. It wouldn't start.  We go into the donut shop and they have about 12 donuts left and not too many of our favorites. (The trip was going down hill by the minute.)  We each ordered and head back to the RV to sit and make some calls. Pat and I sent the kids home with the food and two and a half hours later, the tow truck came and off it went with the RV and we head home. That is our weekend full of fun and frustration, but we had a great time together.  

Tomorrow Elizabeth starts her new job working two days this week while finishing up her other part-time job.  She is excited and we are too!

Pat has been feeling pretty good.  He has what we call episodes where he feels an extreme fatigue and has to work through that, but overall good.  He gets another two weeks off before we return to Tulsa.

Hope you enjoy your short week this week.

Hugs!

xoxo

Wow! What A Day!

Today has been one of those days that began great and had good things happen all day...kinda of a high that really doesn't go away.  I am thankful for these type of days when I am given one and it is hard to keep it to myself. 

Today Pat's care manager nurse, Adaline, called to check on Pat.  She has a wonderful accent and if I concentrate I can memick her a bit.  She was so excited with Pat's tumor markers and were bragging that they were at 105.  I immediately said, "Wait.  They were 114."  She no that was two weeks ago!  Wow!  I called Pat and told him his markers are still going down and he didn't have to go anywhere.  How exciting! 

This morning I woke up earlier than normal, got my coffee and sat down in my chair.  Today's reading in my 365 day Bible was 2 Samuel 7.  I have to admit that I am not one who loves spending all of my reading in the Old Testament, but God certainly got my attention this morning.  Before I go further here with my thoughts, I want to go back to October.  When Pat was diagnosed and we started this journey, God gave me Exodus 14:13: "But Moses told the people, "Don't be afraid. Just stand still and watch the Lord rescue you today.  The Egyptians you see today will never be seen again.  The Lord himself will fight for you, just stay calm." In the past months, he has shown me this verse again.  Several weeks later he directed me to Exodus 34:10:  "The Lord replied, "Listen, I am making a covenant with you in the presence of all your people.  I will perform miracles that have never been performed anywhere in all the earth or in any nation.  And all the people around you will see the power of the Lord--the awesome power I will display for you."  Of course when I read these verses, they leaped out at me...kind of that jaw dropping aha moment. 

So, if I look back at the very beginning of my walk with Christ, I claimed Jeremiah 29:11: "For I know the plans I have for you..." as my life verse.  When June of 2008 arrived and Pat was diagnosed with esophageal cancer, he showed me my new life verse, John 13:7:  "You don't understand now what I am doing, but someday you will."   I felt that God gave me a visual of where we started to where we are now.  His reminder that He is in control and there is purpose and meaning in the midst of all of this. 

Okay, back to 2 Samuel 7:23.  It reads "You made a great name for yourself when you redeemed your people from Egypt.  You performed awesome miracles and drove out the nations and Gods that stood in their way."  Verse 23:18 "Who am I, O Sovereign Lord, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far? "  That is how I feel.  Lord that you have been so faithful to this family and that you have blessed us in Pat's remarkable fight.  So humbling.

God revealed Himself to David and gave Him many promises in this chapter, and when I read this my first thought is "Lord, are you revealing more of yourself to me?"  "Are these promises for me?".  Only God knows right now, so I right down these verses and my thoughts to wait.   I get up and get ready for work not really knowing how to process all of this.  Just before I was to walk out the door, I got an email from a guy named Wayne, who is one of the radiologist at the Cancer Center and he has a Healing Ministry.  He also has a son who was diagnosed with leukemia which is how his ministry was started.  He sends out frequent emails with his teaching and devotions.  They are usually quite lengthy and I am surprised that I read it this morning, but what I read was amazing. 

I would like to share a scripture that speaks of writing down
God’s vision. We make it clear so that we can keep it in front of us so we can be
reminded of it. This is from the Good News bible translation.
>
> Hab 2:1 I will climb my watchtower and wait to see what the LORD will tell me
to say and what answer he will give to my complaint.
>
> Hab 2:2 The LORD gave me this answer: "Write down clearly on tablets what I
> reveal to you, so that it can be read at a glance.
>
Hab 2:3 Put it in writing, because it is not yet time for it to come true.
But the time is coming quickly, and what I show you will come true. It may seem
slow in coming, but wait for it; it will certainly take place, and it will not be
> delayed.

I wrote it down. I will wait.

Sweet dreams,
Paige
xoxo

No More Storms

Those storms are too close for comfort!  At 4:00 today I was watching OKC television on my laptop and I actually had tears in my eyes watching the radar around Kelly's house in Yukon.  Fortunately, we have technology and I found her via text while she was in a friend's basement. They didn't have any damage, but Brianna's graduation was canceled.  Later, I find that Mom had to go to the cellar and my cousins in Flower Mound were all in the closet!  I am thankful everyone is well, but my heart goes out to those who are facing devastation now in Oklahoma and Missouri. 

What a great game last night!  Mavs beat Thunder!  The Texas cousins would say to the Oklahoma cousins,"Texas beat Oklahoma!" Pat went to bed early last night and missed the grand finale. 

Speaking of Pat, he has had a couple of good days.  The biggest thing he fights is extreme fatigue.  It makes such a huge difference when he doesn't have to have the Neulasta shot and I feel he is going to have a good three weeks before we return to Tulsa. 

Have a great night and watch the radar!
Paige
xoxo

Thankful!

The Mavs are playing again!  Two of the guys are watching the Mavs and one is at the Ranger's game.  If you know my boys, you know what kid is watching what game.  

You want to hear a cool story? I talked about my dad and his barn being blown apart from the tornado that passed through Madill in April and he was featured on television. (Click here to see the news coverage video.) I saw my dad this weekend at my sister's and he told me that his church family, First Baptist in Madill, was building his barn back next month.  I want to thank Rick Clement and his buddies that are coordinating the barn raisin!  What an amazing gift to give my dad. This has been a huge burden for dad and to know that he doesn't have to worry anymore just warms my heart. Kelly and I are so thankful that he has friends and a church family that loves and cares for him so much. 

Speaking of Rick, he and his wife, Carla have been a huge inspiration to me the past couple of years as they have walked a similar journey as Pat and I are walking now.  They have both encouraged and prayed for our family and have been just a phone call away. Rick's journey began with Leukemia in February 2007 and he went to MD Anderson for a bone marrow transplant in the fall of 2009.  Recently, he had bad blood counts, so they are headed back to Houston tomorrow.  I ask that you pray for Rick and Carla as they make the trip not knowing what lies ahead.   

Again, please allow me to remind you how precious life is and that each day matters.  God has all of our days planned and He only wants us to trust Him each day.  

This is what I read in my devotion today:  "Approach each day with desire to find me.  Before you get out of bed I have already been working to prepare the path that will get you through this day. There are hidden treasures strategically placed along the way.  Some of the treasurers are trials.  Others are blessings that reveal my presence:  sunshine, flowers, birds, friendships, answered prayers.  Search for deep treasure through the day.  You will find me along the way.  Col 2:2-3; Isaiah 33:6.  Sadly I have another friend who is facing a medical crisis and I sent this to her early this morning.  

We are all "In His Grip",

xoxo 

God Rocks!

This girl is doing the happy dance! Pat's tumor markers have gone down from 152 to 114!  I am absolutely humbled and thankful for this wonderful news.  Pat's doctor said he is getting amazing results with his treatment and she is excited as we are.  We are making huge progress with this type of cancer.  He didn't lose any weight either so that is another plus.  Thank you, prayer warriors!  I know your prayers make a difference and you are faithful to pray when I ask.

We left the house at 5:40 this morning and this girl is pooped!  I have gone to bed too late this week and it is catching up with me.  It also rained all the way here so that caused my knuckles to grip harder on that steering wheel.   A big thanks to Garrett for allowing us to use his new truck.  It is very challenging to have the perfect seating arrangements with  6'3 and 6'0 men and a nice comfortable place for all of the heads to rest!  I read on Elizabeth's FB status that she wished she was an only child for about four hours this morning!  My kids crack me up.  Thank you Murray and Misty for meeting us on the freeway (when I got lost) and picking up the kids. 

It looks like we are going to get out of here earlier than expected.  Pat began his chemo treatment about 3 PM and that will put us back in OKC earlier than we expected.

This weekend will be about Brianna and all her friends and family gathering on behalf of this precious graduate.  She is speaking Sunday at baccalaureate and I am so proud of her. 

Going to close my eyes for a bit.

Praising God,
xoxo