(G)Leaning on Grace

Looking back on this last year I have been mulling over what I have done, what I didn’t do, and what I have learned.  While much of my daily life is the same, the way I choose to approach it has changed because I finally realized that having dreams, making goals is not the answer without a plan to accomplish them. I confess that I did not take advantage of the wonderful opportunity I was blessed with when I was a high school graduate. I received a college scholarship that would have just about paid for everything I needed for four years. I could have gone to any college I wanted and studied any subject matter a chose. But, instead of taking that opportunity and running with it, I wasted it by being indecisive and unmotivated. I wasted four years and had pretty much nothing to show for it when I was done. Now, 27 years later, I finally have focus. Instead of spending my time thinking ‘what if’ or ‘should have’ I am choosing to do something about it. In July of 2011 I enrolled in...

Seven short years ago, I had a shocking and overwhelmingly humbling experience. Lightning struck my workplace and 4 of us were sent to the hospital to be checked out. After some tests, I was told that I had a very large brain tumor and admitted to the hospital. That was petrifying. On day two of my stay, the neurosurgeon corrected the diagnosis. It was not a tumor but an Arachnoid Cyst in the left side of my head. Taking up almost one fifth of the space allotted to my brain, this fluid filled bubble was apparently inside my head in some form my whole life. At that time, the doctors said we would monitor it, and as long as it did not change size or cause symptoms then it would be safer to leave it be. That was in May. Within three months time, I was struck by lightning, told about this huge cyst, after fourteen years of marriage, my husband Bill and I were struggling and considering separation, our 13 year old Boston terrier had a stroke and we had to put him to sleep and a close fr...