What a difference a Year makes

So my first flashback...for those of you that don't know or have forgotten. On December 10, 2008 we sold our condo at The Oaks of Buckhead. It was a beautiful condo and we enjoyed lots of things about being there but what we didn't enjoy was feeling stuck and we had felt that way for a long time. But once again we will see God's perfect timing at work!

Over Labor Day weekend, while visiting Maribeth Herman and her family in Park City, UT, I remarked that if we sold our condo in the fall, we might as well rent in Park City for the winter since we had to live somewhere! And Richard, the adventurer that he is, loved the idea! But could it possibly become reality?! Seemed way far fetched! We had a renter on the hook but he was wanting us to change 50 items in a standard rental agreement so I was relieved when he finally walked away as I think he would have been a royal pain! Then we had a short term renter possiblity and we were going for it, Utah and all, when low and behold I got a call from a real estate agent who really liked our condo and wanted to show it over the weekend! Then her client wanted to see the night view on Sunday night! I had just come in from a Feminine Hearts Alive retreat and wasn't planning to go to church but did since I needed to leave so she could show the condo. I so vividly remember walking across the bridge from the parking deck to the foyer of Buckhead Church praying "Lord, a renter would be great and all but it sure would be nice if this guy would just buy the place!" But I honestly don't think I believed it would happen - oh me of little faith! Well that's exactly what happened! And just like that we were outta there!

So less than a month later we are headed for Utah and the Chocolate Moose Lodge, our new home for the winter! (How that all worked out is a great story for another time.) God really is so good! So January 5, 2009 at 5:21 pm Richard and I head for Park City. Yes, you read right, we left at 5:21 pm, on a week night, from Forsyth, GA headed north through Atlanta, in the pouring rain on our way to Utah! I am a poor packer and it got the best of me that day! Little did I know, we didn't need to take anything with us except for clothes because this place we rented was Bed, Bath and Beyond (thank you Greg for your generosity!) So it took us exactly 48 hours to get there. We were so excited! We had a great time driving cross country as fast as we could and I even got out and chased and caught a tumbleweed that I cherished all winter!

So here's the point. What a difference a year makes! God is so very good! But I didn't really understand why He was so good to us last winter until the events of this fall. This diagnosis: low grade B-cell follicular non hodgkin's lymphoma took us by surprise like nothing ever has but it didn't take God by surprise. He prepared the way in so many ways but especially by giving us our hearts desire, last winter, to experience and treasure in the tough days ahead. So exactly one year later January 5, 2010 I started my treatment. And the first round took about 48 hours! So what do I do with that? I have wished so many times (not really lately but not that long ago) that I could just relive the first six months of 2009 over and over and never go forward (like the movie Ground Hog Day). Real mature huh! But this life is not like that, there will always be ups and downs and we can't avoid that but right there in the midst is a good God loving us through it all and providing and loving in ways we can't always see until later. I may never get over the shock of this diagnosis but what I pray I will never get over is the faithfulness of our loving Lord. May you know and recognize His faithfulness in your life too! Thanks for checking on me. Round 2 starts Tuesday, Feb 2nd. Praying that it will go as well as the first!