Today I give thanks...

Today I give thanks...

Thank you friends and family for giving Josh and I overwhelming amounts of love and support through words of wisdom, well wishes, prayers, and gifts that keep showing up on our doorstep.  Please know that you do not have to send gifts to make us feel your love.  Josh and I are so blessed.  God has given us so much to be thankful for in our lives. God brought us together, he has blessed us with good jobs that thankfully come with good health insurance.  We have a roof over our head, 2 adorable (yet naughty) kitty cats who we classify as our children.  And we have all of you in our lives.  Your prayers are felt.  They give us warmth and strength, especially at times when we're feeling defeated and weak.

I just wanted to take a minute to thank a few people in particular that have really touched me the last couple of days for different reasons...

1.  Karen & Kirty Miller - You two ladies rock!  It's as simple as that.  I received the most amazing card and package fom Karen on Thursday afternoon, and it could not have come at a better time.  I was starting to get nervous about what Friday was going to hold for me with starting chemo and all.  I hope she doesn't mind, but I'd like to share this card with you all because it meant so much to me. 

Steph,
"Enclosed is both a prayer shawl and an inspirational book that helped me down my cancer trail.  That book was written by a neighbor, we had never met.  But she heard I was facing cancer and she wanted me to have a copy of her book.  She has prayed for me ever since.  And I will now pray for you :)  Your name has been added to our church prayer chain.  I have called all those great praying friends to add you to their prayers."

"The prayer shawl was knit by a member of our church.  I used to wrap mine around my shoulders during difficult times.  It helped to give me comfort.  Know that Jesus is wrapping his arms around you too.  I could not have made it this far without HIS tender care!  Surrounding you with prayer and love."

- Karen Miller (Kirty's mom)

After reading the card, I immediately took the shawl out and wrapped it around my arms.  I felt an immediate sense of peace and calm that came over me.  I took the shawl with me on Friday and wrapped it around my arms to give me warmth and peace.  I know that God was with me yesterday as he knew how scared I was going into this.  The shawl will continue to be something I bring with to all my chemo treatments.  I look forward to reading the book as well.


When we got back from chemo on Friday, 2 more packages were waiting for us.  One was from Kirty this time.  She also sent a very nice card along with 2 books that I'm so looking forward to reading!  The first one is, Chicken Soup for the Unsinkable Soul - 101 Inspirational Stories of Overcoming Life's Challenges.  The other one is Chicken Soup for the Soul - The Cancer Book - 101 Stories of Courage, Support & Love.   Thank you girl!  This means a lot to me!


2. The other package was from UnitedHealthcare.  The care package was unbelievable.  It had a canvas bag stuffed to the top with a water bottle, 2 pairs of socks, 3 cancer caps, a soothing CD, body lotion, lip balm, "queasy drops", peppermint tea, a book of Hope, etc.  Thank you all for your generosity!


3. Sharon Bornfleth (aka.  mom-in-law) - Thank you for coming out on Thursday to spend some time with us.  You being here meant so much to both Josh and I.  We sure did get a kick out of Josh's new designer wig. Only the best for our Joshy, right??  Red is his color! And it goes so well with his goatee ;)  Thank you as well for my chemo bag you put together with all the cross word puzzles, lip balm, and yummy treats!  Those Hershey Bliss chocolates unfortunately didn't make it to Friday's chemo session.  I proceeded to eat them ALL pretty much the second I noticed they were in there.  Oops! You know me and chocolate.

4. Shana Anderson (former co-worker at Honeywell) - I just want to say Thank You.  You will never know how much the prayer coin means to me.  I received the news that I had Lymphoma on Tuesday, August 23rd, and received the prayer coin on the 24th on our way to my first appointment at Hubert Humphrey Cancer Center to review the CT scan.  I was scared to death and at this point unable to turn the tears off.  Everything was still so raw and new, and then my mom hands me this coin from you.  She said, "Shana wanted me to give this to you.  She carries it around with her when she feels like she needs strength from God.  She hasn't carried it around for a while but something this morning told her to grab it before heading into work.  And now she knows why." 

5. Mom - You have provided Josh and I with so much laughter the past week, and it has been SO GOOD for the soul.  Your goofy behavior used to embarrass the crap out of me - simply put!  But I embrace it now.  You're one of a kind and the hilarious things that come out of your mouth are just what the doctor ordered. I'm sure the nurses and doctors think we're crazy, but as long as we're having fun, that is all that matters :)

We love you all!
Steph & Josh