My own version of Make a Wish

We're relatively new to the church we're attending. Met a couple awhile back that aren't too far from us in age, and they have a son that is close to Victoria in age. The son once held Victoria's hand in the nursery (I missed it). Troy has played with the husband together on the worship team once.

Found out about a week ago, on October 17, that the wife (who is only 26 years old) has a blood clot and a 10 x 9 cm mass next to her heart. She has Stage One High Impact Lymphoma.

This past Friday was her first chemotherapy session.

I was surprised to see the family at church yesterday. Spoke with the wife to see how she was doing and see what needs she might have. Her son is nearing 7 months. She had been breastfeeding him, but with chemotherapy, her breast milk was no longer an option.

I offered to pump some breast milk for her. Even though her son is eating some baby food now, she wants him to continue having some breast milk if possible. Since I am capable of helping her, making her wish come true, I shall do my best to provide her with some breast milk.

People who know me well realize that this is a bit of a sacrifice. I pumped a lot with my first born, since I did return to teaching part-time. The second time around, I'm trying something different. Victoria's never had a bottle. I've pumped at most twice during her life (she's about 5 and a half months old). Why bother wasting time and energy washing those millions of parts to the pumping device and the bottles for feeding, when I can just take her directly to the source? Anyways, pray for my diligence in pumping as often as I can to help the family.

Feelings of inadequacy

The move didn't and doesn't help. I know my friends miss me, but I can't figure why. How it is that I can miss them is a no brainer for me, but how significant I am to them seems strange and foreign. Even more recently, I've had some childhood acquaintances add me as 'friends' on facebook. Took me back to childhood, in which everything was a competition or comparison of who did what better. Hated my childhood, at least that aspect of it. Somebody else was always smarter, accomplished more, looked prettier. The list goes on and on and on. And here I am. Nothing to write home about. One significant difference between then and now, where I am concerned, is that I am more confident now, insofar as I rest more peacefully knowing that I am exactly as the Lord desires me to be. He loves me as I am.

China's continual humans rights abuses and the Olympics; and how is this a surprise?!

In the news, we continue to hear about how residents in Beijing aren't being treated especially well, particularly the impoverished residents. We've heard plenty recently about the crackdown on protesters in Tibet. How are we surprised that the Chinese government is doing all this? We should have never entertained the possibility of China hosting the Olympics to begin with. The Chinese government hasn't shown any evidence that they are interested in taking care of its citizens, let alone other people. It's a totalitarian regime, for crying out loud!

It's late, and I'm frustrated that China was EVER considered as a possibility for hosting the Olympics.

Earning trust back after it's lost

I need to vent my thoughts at the moment. Someone very near and dear to my heart has violated my trust in one specific area. This person is trustworthy in all other areas but one. The situation is complicated by the fact that the issue is one in which deceit has been involved and lies have been told. It involves a substance that is easily abused and an addiction can be formed.

Today, a somewhat suspicious event occurred. I don't know whether I was supposed to see it happen. Probably not. Perhaps it wasn't a big deal. But, I saw the person throw something away in the dumpster, likely unsuspecting that I would be there to see it happen. Was the person throwing away evidence or merely throwing out regular trash? This person isn't usually known for tossing out full trash cans or thinning out clutter. But, perhaps I'm getting suspicious for no substantive reason.

My prayer is that if the person was in fact engaging in deceiving and tossing away evidence of any clandestine activities of the sort I have been speaking, God convicts this person and makes them feel guilty without fail. One of the big lessons I've learned from this situation is that I cannot turn this person from his or her sinful and damaging behavior on my own. I also know that I want to be a rock on which this person can lean for strength, not a threat. As best as I can, I do not want any of my responses to be completely from feeling threatened and angry that the person could continue to do actions that are damaging to those closest to that person. Our Father, our Lord Jesus Christ, guide us through this valley of darkness into your bright light.