Gifts

This weekend we will be celebrating Christmas while giving and exchanging gifts.  This will be fun but as I think about this past year it is more clear to me than ever that I don't need any gifts.  The only things I'd really want is a baseball glove so I can play catch with my kids in the summer, and money towards some of the chemical free products, or sugar free products, that I have been buying or adding to my wish list as I make ditch and switches in my home in an attempt to live and eat healthier.  Really though I don't need anything.  I have the best gifts right here with me.  My little family.

Anyways, as I think back to this past year I want to write down some of the gifts we received so that I don't forget and so that I can remember the goodness of the Lord when we were in such a dark valley.

In no particular order:
My husband has been faithful since we started dating but in this last yr he has really become my rock.  He's held our family together, took on the role of caregiver to me and mommy/daddy to my kids when I was stuck in and out of the hospital from January 19 to the middle of April.  He was a constant support and I remember clearly laying next to him in my hospital bed, watching movies, or having him read emails to me and him replying (I was too tired or nauseated at times to read and write).  After my 4th surgery I couldn't move for 12 hrs so he was faithfully by my side to help bed pan me when I needed to use the washroom.  When I was unable to get in an out of bed for weeks due to all the tubes I had coming out of me and to all the pain I was dealing with he was there to help me every step of the way. What a incredible servant-hearted gift he is.

My kids are a gift.  They are what motivated me to fight.  I knew that even though I was ready to go be with Jesus my husband and my kids were not ready to see me go yet.  So I fought hard and begged doctors almost every day to let me go home. I just wanted to be with my kids as I saw how hard it was on them for me to be in the hospital and away from them.

How quickly my surgeries happened and the fact that the main surgeon was able to feel around in surgery and discover the microscopic tumors and remove them is amazing.  It's a blessing.

I had many friends overseas who took me to the ER or watched my kids so my husband could take me (that was off and on over December 2016 and January 2017) and then who took turns watching the kids or visiting me while I was in the hospital this spring.  Having friends walk with me though the valley of the shadow of death...it's indescribable how much that meant and how it deepened those friendships.

We had meals provided a few times a week.  This helped take off some of the stress which was amazing.

Friends came to paint my toe nails, braid my hair, entertain me, pray with me, visit, sleep in the hospital room with me, sneak food into my room, make me homemade chicken bone broth to help me get my protein, Friends from afar sent cards and money to help get a cleaning lady, for meals, and to help us with the expenses of packing up our home and having to move back to Canada.  We felt loved and cared for.

The doctor who delivered my daughter became a gift all over again as she lead us to the surgeon who performed my massive surgery.  She would take time out of her work (and at one point skipped out on the last part of a date with her husband to come see me in my hospital room) to check in on me.  She also is the one who convinced me to push the surgeon a bit to get my bladder tear fixed in surgery rather than continuing to wait for it to heal on it's own.

My favorite neighbor made me fresh yogurt and potatoe borek every week once she knew I was ill and it was something I could eat.

Having had local insurance was a gift as it helped us not have to worry about all the medical costs that incurred having had 4 surgeries this year.

Having family and friends come out from BC and MB to come take turns watching the kids, visiting me in the hospital and even helping to pack up our home and bring back some of our bags...a huge gift and blessing to us!  I was thankful some of our family were able to see where we lived and how we lived so that when we now talk about our time overseas they will have a greater understanding.

The Lord provided this house we now live in, He brought people alongside us to help clean our house, windows, paint the house and fill it with groceries and bless us with co-op gift cards or money to help us settle in.  We were humbled.

The Lord opened the door for my husband to have a job when we moved that is only a 3 minute walk from our home.  So amazing!  And it's a job he loves which is an added blessing.

I have been given the gift of an amazing medical team here in MB as they all try to work together to help me gain the weight needed.  I am still 83 lbs and the dietitian (who is a believer by the way...another gift) will call me every now and then to check in on me.  She wants me to get to at least 100 lbs.  The oncologist, pain doctor, urologist, family doctor, surgeon, dietitian, etc all are on my side and want to help me figure out how to get better.  I am blessed.

We were given a car to use this summer.

Someone paid for me to fly business class on the way home and Trev's aunt came to help fly with the kids so that I could get rest and be more comfortable on the long flight home.

People here have loved on us with meals, rides to appointments, prayers, help with kids etc.

It's been a gift to be closer to family on both sides and we are thankful we get to celebrate the holidays with both of our families.

We found an amazing babysitter (she and her family love well on my daughter) who helps out a couple times a week so I can get rest and also get to doctor appointments.

A friend of mine has been so gracious and willing to help often on preschool days to take my daughter to school along with her daughter.  She and another friend of mine have been so good at helping to watch my kids when I have appointments. 

I am thankful for the ability to rekindle old friendships here in town and in Canada as well as new relationships we are getting to build.  Thankful for the gift of what's app so I can stay in touch with my friends back overseas too.

On Saturday I turn another year older!  I feel humbled and thankful that I get to be alive when in all honesty I really didn't think I'd get to this point earlier in the year.  I am grateful and hope that I will have many more years yet as I long to grow old with my husband and to see my kids grown up and get married and have kids of their own.

Thank You Jesus for life, for loving me and walking with me and never leaving my side!