A Special "Guest" Posting

Hello to everyone out there - this is Liz Lundy (Barbara's daughter), and I will be your guest blogger for the evening. Given the current circumstances, mom is currently unable to get on the computer and reach out to everyone. So, she has asked me to write a little something and update all her friends (and family) on how she is doing :) Here goes nothing...

Yesterday (Tuesday) we went into Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami for the surgery. We were lucky enough to have Pastor Neil Hickem join us to anoint mom and pray over her before she went under. After we said our prayers and "see ya soons", they started the operation around 1 pm. We are blessed to say that everything went extremely well - no complications or delays during the surgery. Mom was able to go into recovery around 6 pm and was moved to her own room later that night. We kept telling her, "just keep clicking that Morphine button, baby!" 

After spending the night and morning there, she was released a few hours ago from the hospital and is now comfortably resting at home on her big bed with her new mattress. The journey is not completely over though. She has a road of recovery in front of her - but with God's strength and the support from all her loved ones she will hopefully recuperate quickly. The surgery also revealed that the cancer was slightly more progressed than we originally anticipated, but the surgeons thankfully caught it and removed all of the "infected" areas. We will have more answers about that in the upcoming weeks. Please continue to steadfastly pray that God will have his hand on her recovery and on any kind of other treatment that she might need. Thanks to everyone for the incredible outpouring of love and support that they have shown - she is truly BLESSED!!!

Faithfully

Jesus has power over life and death in the grave. That is something that we all need to hold onto when times come that we just can't control, understand, or change. Death is certain. That's one thing we will all have to do - and when others we love pass away, we need to hold on to the fact that Jesus has power over life and death. That comforts us. That strengthens us. That gives us hope in the eternal glory that we will all have - if we have faithfully given our lives to Christ.

We continue to live while others have gone on to be with Jesus. That can be difficult - but - Jesus has power over life.. as well. Our lives. His power will strengthen us through the sorrow. His power will strengthen us through the trials. His power will strengthen us through the things of life.... and that means joyful things as well as the sad. We have the power of abundant life that only comes through Him.

I need to live that way today.

Rick's mom, Rose, passed away one week ago.... and life has not been easy for the past three months leading up to this week. But, Jesus has given my family and I the strength to persevere through the most difficult of trials as we have walked this road of obstacles the size of the Grand Canyon. God made the Grand Canyon... as much as He made the vast ocean. We have just preferred to sail on that ocean and get polished by the pounding waves, rather than get crushed by the landslide of boulders that have come our way. That's how you have to do it.

And the result of that is a family that has prayed together, loved each other through this, and will walk together beyond this. Rose was loved deeply by all of us - her friends and family were many. She lived a life of plenty and plenty lived life because of her. We've got Chippie - her bird - to take care of now. And Rosie and Ronald... and Evelyn too. God picked this family to be a very unique bunch....and now He is going to watch His fruit blossom.

Stay close to your "bunch" today. Love them. Hug them. Encourage them. Tell them that God loves them very much. Keep them safe from the things that will hurt them.... keep them strong in the things that will protect them. Keep them all on the road of that leads to eternal life.

Happy trails to you....

Enough whining already!
Don't you just let everything get on your last nerve when you are up to your neck in "stuff" that doesn't really matter in the long run? So why do we do that? I know I can REALLY push it until I get to the point of aaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrghhhhhhhhh... but .... JUST before I get to the letter "aaaaa" - something kicks in. There's this little voice that always seems to turn up the volume to "listen" mode when that happens, and it brings with it a sense of "stop whining and do something better about it" conversation. I love when that happens. I can take a deep breath, blow out some of that yucky attitude that was brewing, and then regroup my thoughts to reflect the hope and joy that is deep within the foundation of who God wants me to be.
Do I really want to let others see Him through me as a complaining, talking head? Or, do I want them to know the strength to persevere through anything because I hear His still small voice inside of me telling me it's going to be ok? I think that's the better choice. And that's the great thing about God; He gives us a choice! We get to pick... Whiney Barbara? or... Shiney Barbara! As for me, I'd rather shine. Get out your sunglasses... the rough road sits before me.

So - this is what life is about. Family. Boyfriends and girlfriends, and fiances and dogs and cats and grammas and grandpas. It's about being together and loving one another through it all. That's what we do as a family unit. That's what we do when we love one another and support each other. That's what we do when we live a life that is honorable and true and holy unto the LORD.

2009 has arrived. We are still a family - but stronger than ever. RoseAnn and Ronald are part of the mix - and we're praying for completion in what God has for us.

Grandma is now in a respiratory hospital and is coming a little bit stronger every day. God works miracles.

I am still taking my steps towards the journey of recovery from my breast cancer . It's just a wave in the sea - and I'm going to get wet! - but it isn't something that will wash me away. Jesus knows - Jesus heals - Jesus restores whatever comes my way.

Life is good.

Live it. Experience the trials. Grow from them. Glorify God.

That's it!

Happy Trails.

It's Christmas Eve, everybody! Time to get the presents under the tree and make sure that the main PRESENT is in your hearts!

Today is going to be a busy one! Liz and Dan just went to the airport to pick up Rosie and Ron who are flying in from Brooklyn. Rick and I will head off to the doctor in about an hour to find out what our next step is for my surgery. The MRI showed another growth, so we are trusting in the Lord's hand of guidance for what the road looks like ahead. We always know that His hand is the best one to hold and will ALWAYS take us where we need to be.

Prayers are needed for Rick's mom who is non-responsive after her heart and breathing stopped on Monday night. She is in ICU on a respirator, so we have been spending our time at the hospital these past few days (in between my doctors and working and shopping and cooking). God knows all these things, and He also will not give us more than we can handle. So we are praying for peace this Christmas in all our lives.

Peace to you all - and a bundle of great joy to everyone as we walk on the trail of life! It's always filled with surprises - but not to the One who paved the way ahead of us. MERRY CHRISTMAS!

So - this is quite a crazy Christmas season for me!

Thanksgiving was eventful, to say the least, so I should have expected nothing less than an out-of-the-ordinary Christmas adventure, right? Let's backtrack to the week before Thanksgiving.

I had a mammogram. They asked me to come back for more images. ok. nothing new - been down that road before over the past fifteen years. The Monday before Thanksgiving, Rick called me at work to tell me he was having chest pains and having trouble breathing.... zip off to the hospital (thanks to Dan and Andrew and Eric) and after many tests, pokes, prods, and an overnight stay - he is sent home with no solid diagnosis - except to say - No heart attack. Good news. The day he came home, I went back for mammogram #2. Not so good news: they found something "suspicious" and need to biopsy. ok. again - been there, done that.

Wednesday the kids came home. GREAT DAY!!!!

Thanksgiving : We ate, played ping pong, ate ate ate ate turkey turkey turkey. "stuffing" is always appro-po for Thanksgiving, isn't it? As Liz proceeds to get ready to drive grandma home, she trips - goes flying into the door and smashes up the right side of her beautiful face! Big egg on the eye - bigger knot on the cheek. Grandma proceeds to have palpitations - well, you know, it's like "The Christmas Story" only Lundy-style. Lizzy ends up with ice packs on the face - Grandma goes home.

Friday begins.

Letter from the IRS (2nd one) - not allowing our church contributions. sigh.

Phone call from the insurance company regarding Daniel's auto accident 3 weeks prior - not encouraging news. Let's leave it at that.

Saturday begins.

We take Liz to the walk-in clinic and they x-ray her cheek - not fractured. Great news. Christian and Jamie go home - with Jake the dog. We miss them.

Sunday - Liz and Nolan head out to go home and the car breaks down. We take it to the car shop (on Sunday!) and loan them Rick's Pacifica to drive up to Orlando. By the time they get to Kissimmee, they get rear-ended and the car that hit them gets stuck under their bumper. The bumper has to get broken off and it takes the exhaust with it. Now it has to get towed to Altamonte Springs so that they can both get to their homes and go to work on Monday.

Monday - two cars in the shop, two accidents to work out, Rick goes to Omaha for two weeks.

Wednesday - my biopsy. Turns into a four hour ordeal, with two biopsies done.

Thursday - I go to the accountant to call the IRS. More faxes and paperwork. Grandma has chest pains - I drive her to get medical help - she's ok. Liz's car comes back .

Saturday - Liz's car breaks down again.

Monday - the doctor tells me I have breast cancer.

It is now Thursday - December 11. I've got to tell you - I've had adventures before, but this time, it's a little more adventurous! Tomorrow I go to the surgeon to see what the road looks like over the next month. Rick will be flying home a day early so that he can come with me to the doctor and walk through this with me. You know what, though. I've had Someone walking me through this before it even began. He has begun every journey with me, because He created the road the journey takes place on! If I didn't have faith in Jesus Christ and know that the Word of God is true, I don't know how I could even take one step out of bed in the morning! "Begin where we will, God is there first." That's something that is worth remembering. God is Wonderful Counselor (He knows everything!), Mighty God (He will fight our battles), Everlasting Father (He loves us and cares for us), Prince of Peace (He has given me peace).

So - is this a crazy Christmas season? Absolutely.

Does that mean I have to go crazy? Absolutely not!

It means that God has given me an opportunity to walk through a place I've never been before - and that He will give me the chance to walk humbly with Him. This is going to be a Happy Trail, because the bottom line to loving God is trusting in the One Who loves me more.

Watch how the footprints lead to JOY.

Backtrack

Can you say "Abundant Apples at the SkyTop Orchard" three times? Off we went yesterday in our caravan of two cars over to North Carolina and the orchards were in full swing! MacIntosh, Red Delicious, Yellow, Golden Delicious, Galas, Jonathan something or others, and then some. There were families everywhere, baskets overflowing, and we were right in the thick of it. The views were tremendous and the apples were DELICIOUS! We ate our way through the orchards and then "sat a spell" just enjoying the views. What could be better? Friends in the field with fruit. The owners have been there since 1967 and have quite a following... I can't imagine the view with full foliage. I guess I'll just have to make another trip up here....SOON! Besides, the home-made caramel dip is to die for! They also have homemade donuts which I understand are delicious! I passed on the offer to eat "just one". I'm on the road to body recovery, so I can't even chance going there!

After a beautiful day in the mountains, back we went to Simpsonville and dinner at Bruce and Shannons - Bison Burgers! We caught up on life, children, work, and what great things God is doing in all of our lives. It's always the best thing when you're in the orchard of the Lord. He has so much fruit for us to fill our lives with. After dinner - Stephanie and I went back to wind down the day with her crew and then God made my flight change to a different time - yes! Danielle and I were thrilled not to have to get up at 2am! Now I'm back in Florida with my boys. Missing the mountains and my friends, but glad to know I have a place to retreat to. Even better? Rick is on his way back from CHINA! and will be home in about five hours! Now THAT's the mountaintop that I like best ... home again with family.