“Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”—Philippians 3:13-14 (NIV) After battling infertility for years, and finally accepting […]
So this past Saturday I asked my friends on Facebook (FB) for recommendations on where to pick up a turkey dinner since I planned on cheating this year for Thanksgiving {cough}. Thinking this was a novel idea of mine, I couldn’t understand why I hadn’t done this before. Then today a FB memory popped up […]
“Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.”—Psalm 107:6 (NIV) I remember the day Erin Brockovich, the well-known environmental activist, visited our town and confirmed what our community had feared: We were living in a cancer cluster and water contamination was to blame. Each bath, hand-washed […]
So what do you decide to do on your one year anniversary of heart surgery? With bottles of Zika-repellent, go to Haiti, of course. Yep. We decided Sunday {June 26, 2016} that I’ll be going with my 17-year-old, Maddie. Sweet. Only, my husband was supposed to go, you know, because he’s far more healthy […]
Sometimes I think God gives me devotional ideas just for my benefit, even though I’m writing them once a month for Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale. So, here comes some honesty. I had a cruddy Easter yesterday. There. I said it. My hubby was sick. Then I got sick (stomach flu, anyone?). Then I needed to […]
{Devotional} Fear is the great silencer in life. I remember the moment a friend asked if I’d speak at his crisis pregnancy fundraiser. After an uncomfortable chuckle, I refused. “I’m not a speaker,” I reminded him. He wasn’t looking for a speaker, he said, followed by something along the lines of, “God has given you […]
Guest post: Madison Hedegard {16} You’d think by now I’d be used to lying on my bed sobbing, asking God, “Why?” It’s a rude awakening for a child, the discovery that the world is not what you thought it was. And my revelations came like a freight train in the middle of a ghost town, […]
{June 26, 2015} I stared at the nurse as he asked me again, “Dabney, do you know what year it is?” The whites of his eyes grew larger each time he raised his eyebrows, like he was begging me to say something, anything. My stare shifted around the sterile holding room. Where am I? I […]
Really? Oh, to go back and erase all the years I’ve muddled through life with brain fog and fatigue. Honestly, all this time, all these years I’ve pushed my mind with much caffeine, random slogging (aka “slooow jogging”), and oodles of vitamins just to focus. And this one super-de-dooper, non-invasive procedure cleared my brain and […]
Another Surgery? Yes, ma’am. (Or sir, depending on who’s reading;) Honestly, I want to be done. Finished. Complete. If I never visited another doctor for the rest of my life, I’d be one happy lady. But that’s not the case, and we all know that from time to time, doctors are real lifesavers. In this […]
Ten days! That’s how soon I’ll have my surgery. Yippee!!!!! I’m so excited, so over-the-top thrilled! And I can’t stop praising God for His goodness. In case you’ve been following this journey, here’s an update of what’s happened and what’s happening next: Yesterday, 6.15.15, I had a TEE (transesophageal echocardiogram), which basically takes internal pictures […]
Mid-Saturday morning, I received the most hurtful email. The writer shared how her and her friends read my blog, and she basically surmised in bullet-point format their thoughts on how I had failed as a Christian. I’ll only repeat a few of their comments…so hang with me. I promise there’s a redeeming reason in why I’m […]
I’ll never forget the day I learned my cancer had returned. Standing in the kitchen, I gripped the phone as my oncologist shared the news. My knees gave out, and I slid to the floor. Deep from within, moans I’d never heard before bellowed out. Shock, fear, and then anger set in as I shouted […]
And I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t scared. I am scared. And weepy. And my emotions are slightly yo-yo-ey these days (I realize yo-yo-ey isn’t a word…but I’m giving myself grace due to my minimal thought-aligning abilities lately. My thinker is no Bueno). I almost didn’t post an update because really, who wants […]
God’s doing some soul-stretching in my life right now, that’s for sure. How do I know? Well, I’ve experienced way too many highs and lows lately for something amazing not to come of this experience. Let me explain. It all started in September of 2014. I tried jogging my normal 3-mile route, but couldn’t. Unusually […]