Celebrate Life One Birthday at a Time!

This week I turned a year older. Lots of my family and friends keep asking me if it is difficult turning 25 (again). It puts such a smile on my face to hear people ask me this because the truth is....

I CAN'T BELIEVE I MADE IT TO 35!! For several years now, we have been very uncertain of how many years I had left. I know that no one is guaranteed another day, but there is something about having a terminal illness that makes you acutely aware of each day. And suddenly it stopped being hard to reach another birthday and became a BLESSING!! In fact, I woke up on my birthday wanting to do nothing but spend time praising God for the gift of life and the year of amazing time spent with my loved ones.

To put the icing on the cake (so to speak), my cardiologist informed me this week that my heart function has actually increased in the last 6 months by a good amount. God is good!! She was so impressed by the echo that she actually agreed to sign the medical forms for adoption. Wow!! That was something that Ray and I had been grieving but now God has made it a possibility. He never stops amazing me.

So, to say we are celebrating this season would be an understatement.  For the first time in four years, Ray and I are contemplating the future again.  All I can do is stand amazed at the way God keeps blessing us.  Love to you!

3 Years From Not-Transplant Day!!!

Today, January 11, marks 3 years from my not-transplant day.  On 011110 (Jan 11, 2010), I was in the hospital when the nurses asked me, "How'd you like to get a new heart today?"  Fear, excitement, nervousness, craziness, fear, uncertainty, relief, fear, anger, hesitation, (did I mention fear?) every emotion you can imagine.  My world went into super speed for a few hours while I tried to deal with the thought.

Hours later, as my family and friends surrounded me, I realized that I was not going to be able to deal with it without the peace that only my Almighty Father can provide.  He brought peace amid my storm and reassured me that if I died, He would be waiting for me and that He would take care of those I loved that I would be leaving behind.  Or if I lived, that He had a plan to give me a future of hope and possibility.  He gave me the strength and peace to face another open-heart surgery.

Many hours later, I awoke to the nurse exclaiming, "It's a miracle!"  I thought the surgery had gone better than expected but was shocked when Ray told me that God had healed my heart and that I didn't NEED the transplant.  Awe, shock, and the need to immediately thank and worship my God followed.

That was three years ago.  Today, I am still experiencing a ton of emotions (but at least they are limited to a few a day).  He is still teaching me to grab hold of his peace and strength daily.  But I am so blessed to say that He is rebuilding my heart daily from the inside out.

Miracles are happening all around us.  At any time God can take the broken pieces of your life or situations and make something beautiful out of them.  One of my favorite songs of all time exclaims, "All I had to offer Him was brokenness and strife, but He made something beautiful out of my life."

So join me in praising and thanking God today for such an amazing peace and love.  And thank you for all of your love and support.  I would never have gotten through this illness without each of you!