Day Thirteen: Good News
Today's blog will be shorter as I'm only a few minutes away from hopping in a car with my boys and driving to the airport. We're leaving for Atlanta, and I'll be there until the book release party. So, it really is going to happen?! :) Anyway, all of my narratives that Brian had me write in a sneaky attempt to gain more material for the restructuring of the chapters were completed about 2 days before Elias was born. I would plop on the sofa with my laptop and quickly move to a table and chair, as my laptop would no longer fit in my lap. Well, it was more about the absence of lap than the computer not being able to fit in it. But I finished them, and it felt great to know that at least that goal was accomplished before I would be out of commission for a while. It was my good news.
Shortly after we nailed down our chapter sequence and flow, I gave it a shot with my first chapter, the one Brian said was "white hot." More good news: I apparently wasn't that horrible of a writer!
Then Brian had his own good news. By the end of the year, his brother was into a treatment plan for the diagnosis of Stage 2 Hodgkin's Lymphoma. It's really funny when you've been in the spot to understand the differences between cancers and their stages because you start encouraging each other (or lamenting the news, depending on the cancer) that "Oh, thank God, at least it's not _______ cancer." It really is funny. As if cancer on the whole isn't an evil disgusting thing.
But as far as the diagnoses they were potentially looking at, this one was in the more manageable realm, and the doctors started their plan of attack. January of '09 brought the best news: Brian's brother was cancer-free! I joined in with him and their family with much celebration and tears. Brian's apparent mode for rejoicing was doing Snoopy dances at random during office hours. I wish I could have seen it.
The rest of the book, save for a chapter we'll talk about tomorrow, came along pretty easily in the writing process. This was my best news. It was going to be completed. It was going to be a real book. I had a total Dumb and Dumber moment: "We're really doing it though, aren't we buddy?!!"
Lord, I pray as Jonathan and I fly with Elias today, you grant peace and joy, as much as can be poured in a 17 month old! Just let the stress disappear and allow us to focus on the retreat we're heading in to lead. And give us great moments together, remembering how You brought us here, together, and how You've continued to use us in ministry. Thank You for the great gift and most wonderful news in my life: My family. Amen.