I bet most of you don’t know…

Hello Family & Friends,

This post is actually something I have wanted to write for a while. It is not about cancer, but definitely about one of our more recent life experiences.

Cancer update: It has been a week and I still have cancer. I actually feel perfectly normal so I have been staying as busy as possible doing normal mommy things to keep the days full. We go Friday at 3pm to get the radioactive dye injection that will allow the doctor to find the mother lymph node. They will tell us Friday what time surgery will be scheduled for Saturday. They said I will get about 3 weeks to heal and then we will start chemo.

No movement on the house yet which is frustrating, but whatcha gonna do. My mom will be watching the kids overnight and Eric and I will be staying at my aunts house. She is just about the most amazing pamperer on the planet and she lives under 5 minutes from Eric’s work. As soon as the house is ready we have teams of folks ready to help us move… can’t wait to be in my own bed with my dog snuggled at my feet.

Thank you for the prayers emails and support. I wish I could respond to everyone, and I am trying, but there just does not seem to be enough time in the day to get everything done before this weekend.

In Him,

Kelly

 

I bet most of you don’t know…

I have a mountain home up near the Lassen National Forest. It sleeps 17 comfortably and there is room to throw out at least 10 sleeping bags. The weather is perfect during the summer and during the winter; we get a ton of snow, which is always welcomed since my cabin is located in the Butte Meadows snow mobile park. One of our favorite family traditions is cutting down or Christmas tree in the Lassen Forest, and returning to my cabin for coco.

Napping with Leah by the fire after
cutting down our Christmas tree.

Did I mention that my
mountain home has a creek...

I also have a beach house located on the Northern California coast, just a tad north of Fort Bragg, near the beautiful village of Shelter Cove. My house sits right on the rocky bluffs so when you look out the window all you see in the vast ocean and waves crashing and dancing on the rocks. I just love relaxing in the hot tub at night, gazing at the magnitude of stars while listening to the crashing of the waves just feet away. Sometimes the guys take out the deep sea fishing boat… us girls like to take quiet walks down to the fish-n-chips shop or sit on the patio and talk. It really is such a treat to watch the waves crash… it’s like they are putting on a special performance just for us.

Just outside 'my' kitchen door on the patio.
That would be a splash from the waves crashing and dancing for me.

Oh, and I have a ranch too. Located on the edge of the ridge in Paradise, CA. We have 11 horses, 1 pony, 20+ chickens, 4 goats, 3 pigs, 10 hounds, occasionally roosters, and a growing number of heads of steer. There are both amazing summer & winter gardens that offer the most incredible of fresh produce. The entire ranch is landscaped beautifully and has this vintage cottage fencing dancing throughout the yard. There is also the bluest swimming pool you have ever seen which has a way of calling my name anytime I get near it. Yes, it is like paradise!

One of the many sitting gardens.
That little blue spec in the background is my pool.

My little cowboy looking at his horses.

Okay… so I don’t really personally own these things. Actually, at the present moment we are homeless and living with friends while everything I we own in crammed into a 30x10 foot storage unit on Folsom Blvd. But you see, I have aunts and uncles that do own the above retreats and they have made their blessings open to our family in a way that allows us to feel like they these blessings are ours too. I guess you can say I come from a good line of sharers.

So, what is my point today?

My point is that I want to make a huge public THANK YOU to some friends that have shared the blessing of their home with my family. When Eric was laid off in February, and our house miraculously sold and we had to be out in May, and we just needed a place for 2 weeks until Eric had his new letter of employment so that we could rent an apartment… Justin, Stacy and Zachary Orr said ‘yes’. We did not even ask them if we could stay with them, they just immediately offered when they heard of our need. They did not need to go discuss/debate/pray about it, they just said yes because they heard of a need and knew they could meet it. When we planned to move into an apartment, they offered that we stay until we found a permanent home. They have been willing to be used as needed and we are so fortunate to have been the recipient of their obedience and kindness.

Now I realize taking in a family of 4 is not for everyone… but its is for someone who has already chosen to say ‘yes’ before they even know what God is asking them to do. In fact, for someone who has chosen to say ‘yes’ they would be ready to take in a family of 9 if God told them to. You see, when I started to freak about imposing on their space, Justin said to me,

“This house is not ours. God blessed us with it, it’s His.”

In the past few months, we have received the ‘widows mite’ from a friend that I know was having a hard time with finances as her husband had just returned to work after being laid off. We received anonymous gifts in the mail, which arrived on days when we needed hope like you wouldn’t believe. We received gifts with nothing attached and we received opportunities to work and make what we needed to make ends meet. To those of you that helped us, and you know who you are, once again thank you. You have each displayed something bigger than kindness; you have shown a generosity of heart and a confidence that what you have is not yours but merely blessings that God has bestowed upon you… to use as He has called you. 

Day after day God’s daily provision has been made abundantly clear. I have no doubt that the journey we have been on these past 7 months have been a part of getting us ready for this time of complete dependence and desperation on God’s provision for healing, health and finances that we now face.

In our nine years of marriage, Eric and I have had 3 different people live with us for extended periods of time. I suppose you could say what goes around, comes around… but I think there is more to it. The gift of a home which Justin, Stacy and Zachary have given us has been bigger than anything we could have ever ask for. It has been a daily reminder to us of God’s provision and a beautiful example of the enormous impact you can make when you are willing to say “it’s not ours, it’s His.”

(By the way, depending on the season, if you have a difficult time reaching me, it’s likely because I’m on retreat at one of my vacation homes. Thanks for being such great sharers, Uncle Al & Aunt Carroll and Uncle Don & Auntie Deb. Love you all.)