Revolution of Love

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Do small things with great love.

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Tag Archives: brian

Theme of 2014: Work and Pray

For the last two years I have had a theme word or phrase for the year. For 2012 the word was “homemaking.” I didn’t plan it that way. It just happened. For 2013 it was “loving God” and it matched the new blog design and logo. I have been thinking about 2014 and one word kept popping into my head and it was “Discipline.” Not exactly what I wanted to hear. On the other hand, it made sense because by the end of December I felt like a wild 2 year old hopped up on birthday cake sugar. All the festivities had me eating too much, spending too much, playing too much, and whatever ever else too much I shouldn’t be doing. I can feel the desperate need for a little reigning in and disciplining.

As I was pondering all this I clicked over to Jen’s Saint Name Generator and said a prayer before receiving my randomly chosen saint for the year. I was given St. Benedict. The first thing that came to my mind? His motto – work and pray. It was as if the Holy Spirit was kicking me in the rear and letting me know what was ahead but I was still dragging my feet. It wasn’t exactly exciting. I was reading other blogs and they had really cool words. Jenny had Delight  and Sarah had Rest (in the Lord) and even Jen had something about going out and having fun. This morning I was seriously thinking about ditching the whole idea or just picking another word. But then the Holy Spirit let me know WHY I was given “work and pray.”

Today Brian went for his routine testing to make sure he is still cancer free. (If you recall, I talked about his cancer in our annual Christmas letter.) My father-in-law took him this morning and I took care of getting the kids to school etc. Then Brian called me from the doctor’s office to break the news that the cancer has returned. We were in shock. When we went through this last January, after the surgery and his recovery the doctor said everything looked great and he had a 90% chance of remaining cancer free. He went for his follow up tests 6 months later and again, everything looked good. But now it is back. In the same area and at the same size. Brian couldn’t believe it. The doctor couldn’t believe it.

So now Brian has to go through surgery once again. Plus, we are praying that the tumor is only at stage 1 (possibly 2) because if it is any more advanced he will also need to have chemo. I pray to God we will not have to go through that.

I have a very vivid imagination. A person can tell me one thing and my mind will automatically play out the whole scene in my head. So I think to myself, “My husband has cancer,” and my mind then thinks, “what if…” and I can see the funeral and the kids in tears and me being despondent like Lady Mary unable to cope with the loss of her love. Until I snap myself out of it and say, “Get a grip.” There is work to be done and kids to be taken care of and a husband that needs my support…I need to get to work…and I need to pray. Aha! Now I get it. The Holy Spirit was giving me a heads up. I need to work and pray.

It was the only way I was able to get through the rest of this day. It is the only way I will get through the days and weeks ahead. I don’t know how big this cross will be but I’m trying not to worry abut it and just focus on doing what needs to be done right now.

In the meantime, I ask you to please, please keep us in your prayers. I will keep you posted as to how things are going.

(I’m linking up with Jenny for “Naming the New Year.”)

UPDATE: Dear Diary: Chronicling the Last Few Days (and an update on Brian)

PS – You can follow RoL on Bloglovin, Feedly or another news feed. If you are a social media fan like me, we can stay in touch through Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, GoodReads or Instagram. 😉

{pretty, happy, funny, real} vol 68 & Theme Thursday: Dad

It’s a photo celebration mash-up today as I link up with Like Mother, Like Daughter with {pretty, happy, funny, real} and with Cari for Theme Thursday: Dad. (Scroll down to {real} for that. :-))

{pretty}

I took this shot yesterday at the Mission in the courtyard.

{happy}

At the end of the school year, Bella and Andrew’s school has its annual mini-Olympics.

Andrew was happy that this was his first year to participate.

Despite his befuddled look here, Matthew was the happy unofficial 5th grade mascot, especially loved by the girls.

This week Andrew also celebrated his Pre-K graduation. 🙂

John-Paul and Andrew look happy but Matthew is trying to figure out why there is a tassel hanging from Andrew’s hat.

{funny}

The other day I took off the boys’ mattress to clean under the bed and they were ecstatic to re-create the scene in Empire Strikes Back when Luke hangs on for dear life after fighting Darth Vader.

Of the three boys, Matthew has the frame closest to his mama – short and thick, poor kid. He went for his 2 year check-up and he only weighed one pound less than John-Paul (or the average weight of a 4 year old.) We have to make sure he get s a lot of exercise and little junk food so his height can catch up with his weight. (Personally, I am still waiting to reach 7 feet tall.)

Here he is working off the weight as he runs and pushed John-Paul on a ride-along toy.

{real}

(These are the photos I am linking up with Cari’s Theme Thursday: Dad.)

When we first got married, Brian was worried about being a father. He grew up as an only child and didn’t have any experience taking care of babies or little ones. While watching her son play with the kids, Brian’s mom once commented to me how surprised she was that he seemed to take to fatherhood so naturally. I couldn’t help but smile. I knew that his loving and sacrificial heart would help him become an amazing father.

I love how the kids just love to be near him. When I see him teaching them their prayers or running around with them with a light sabers, I fall in love with him all over again.

Happy Father’s Day to my sweet man! Thank you for taking such tender care of all of us.

And Happy Father’s Day to my own daddy, to my father-in-law Bill, my brother Rob whose son was just born yesterday, my brother-in-law Vinnie and to all the amazing dads who set an example of strength, courage and sacrificial love every day. 🙂

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{pretty, happy, funny, real} vol. 58: Brian’s Recovery Edition

Hosted by Like Mother, Like Daughter

{pretty}

Before my mom went back home (sniff) we took the scenic way home after picking up John-Paul from school. I pulled to the side of the road and quickly shot this.

{happy}

On Thursday Brian met with an oncologist. Thankfully he was given a clean bill of health. The surgery was successful and no radiation will be needed. The doc said it was the best case scenario for a person with cancer and he has a 90% chance that it will not return. Of course, he will now have to have regular screenings but this is still great news. Thank you so much for you prayers!! We are both very happy. (And a little tired looking. ;-))

The kids were happy to have dad back on the deck playing with them. (You could also count this as {funny} since shark-loving Andrew is wearing his shark fin head piece. LOL)

{funny}

The kids regularly get on a movie fixation where there is only one movie they want to watch over and over again. During Brian’s hospital stay it was Despicable Me. Now that he is home is is Cars & Mater Tales. Matthew is watching one of his favorite scenes.

Here I found Matthew and John-Paul recreating one of the crash scenes. I am still not sure what the animal crackers were supposed to be.

{real}

Brian returned to work last week, easing in slowly with 4 hour shifts. His co-workers were so supportive and happy to hear that he is doing well, that they wanted to help out the family by making us meals for a week. Brian and I were so touched by their generosity! You should have seen the food. Each meal was enough for two dinners so I froze half of each. To top it off, they must have heard Brian had a sweet tooth because the deserts made our home look like a church bake sale!  We enjoyed the food, shared with other family members and have plenty of meals and desserts in the freezer for later. God bless them and their generosity. They rock!

Have a geat Sunday and enjoy watching the Super Bowl Downton Abbey tonight!

An Update on Brian (1/15/13)

It is late on Tuesday night and it’s been an exhausting day but so many of you have been praying and emailing me about Brian, I wanted to give you  quick update.

Recovering – As I mentioned the other day, Brian needed to have surgery on Sunday to remove a polyp they found. The surgery went well and they were able to remove the polyp (as well as his appendix, which was very close to it.) Afterwards, he was in some pain and just needed to rest, but that was to be expected. On Monday he was feeling a little better and was able to get out of bed. By the afternoon he was taking small walks around the hospital with his IV Pole on rollers. We’d go from his room to the fountain/fish pond area.

 

Fresh Air – This morning when I visited Brian he talked the nurse into letting him unhook his IV for 15 minutes so we could walk out in the “healing garden” where they had fountains and a small waterfall. (I posted a photo of the view from Brian’s window last week.)

He bundled up and looked like a kid on Christmas morning, he was so eager to be outside in the fresh air. We walked hand in hand and talked and enjoyed this moment of happiness in our rollercoaster week. Surprisingly, he even let me snap a picture.

 

Good Bad News – By Tuesday evening we received the news from Brian’s biopsy. The polyp they removed was stage 1 cancer. However, his doctor and the surgeon were very pleased with the results because the infected area was removed and the tests they ran on his lymph nodes, bloodwork and other panels all came out clean. They said it was a good thing that Brian pursued the problem and took care of things immediately, otherwise we may have had a different result.

St. Peregrine, Pray for Us. – It is a relief to know that it is out of him and that my sweetheart can come back home (hopefully) on Friday but it is still scary. I am trying to look at all the positive and be thankful for how God (over and over again) took care of all the big and little details to help us get through this but it still scares me. Now that it has been in Brian once, he’ll have to get tested regularly to make sure nothing else starts to grow. My mind wants to play “what if…” But I have to push that out of my head. I can’t dwell on that. God spared him and that is what matters.

Blessed – On another positive note, Brian and I have been completely touched by the prayers, well wishes and generosity of family and friends – both “real time” and “virtual.” I was reading Brian some of the emails and he couldn’t believe how many people cared about him and us as a family. And I know all your prayers are what helped us get through this! (Yesterday Brian’s dad told me that it was people like this that showed him that there is still goodness in the world.)

Sisters…Sisters – Lastly, I give a big thank you to my sis (and her boss who gave her the time off) for staying with me this week. It meant sooo much to me to know my kids were in good hands and to know that all the housework and laundry was being done and to know that when I came home from the hospital at night all I wanted to do was have a scoop of ice cream and laugh with her as we watch a funny show on TV. You kept me sane, sis. Thanks!

My sis has to leave in a couple days but thank God my mom is flying in on Sunday evening and will stay with us for a week as Brian will be on modified bed rest. Blessed be God. I could really use a hug from mom right now!

Okay, this was supposed to be brief. Sorry I went on and on. I’m physically and emotionally exhausted and it is officially Wednesday morning so I better get some sleep. Thanks again for all your love, support and prayers. I love you guys!

UPDATE #3 (1/18/13) is here.