COURAGE! One Word 2022

I knew this year my word had to really have an impact on my brain. I knew this year was going to be a long and tough journey and my word had to be perfect to help me along the way.  It wasn't hard to come up with my word this year at all.  I knew instantly my word was to be:

My brother in law sent me this quote from John Wayne when he found out about my diagnosis:

I love it so much, I have decided it's going to be my mantra for this journey!

Courage does not mean you are always strong and always ready to fight. Sometimes it means you are weak but you choose to go forward anyway. It means you can allow the feelings and feel them all but then you must dig deep inside and pull out the strength and COURAGE you have already got buried inside and get back to the fight!

No matter how scared you are! 
THAT IS WHAT DEFINES COURAGE!

Being scared BUT still willing to FIGHT the battle! 

I may be scared, but I am ready and willing to do whatever it takes to fight this battle that I have been involuntarily enlisted in. I MUST fight!  With every fiber of my being!  I have too much to live for to not!  

HERE WE GO!!!

Fresh courage take....

Due to time I am not going to review my past ONE WORDS like I usually do. But you can see my last post about those HERE.

I also wrote an entire post (that I posted on Facebook) explaining a bit about my current journey that you can read HERE.

“COURAGE is being scared to death but saddling up anyway.” - John Wayne

 “COURAGE is being scared to death but saddling up anyway.” - John Wayne

This is what I posted on social media because I kept getting so many questions about what was going on with me.

COURAGE is my One Word for 2022.

2021 was a bit rough but I'm really going to need it for 2022!

Some of you already know, but for those who don't and for my dear customers of my It's Abundt Time cake business who have been so patient with my absence, it has been due to the devastating news that my breast cancer has metastasized to my bones and my health has become a priority over everything. I wasn't sure I wanted to post this but I felt I owed it to those of you who have supported me through this dream little business of mine. And now I ask for your support and prayers for me and my family as we forge ahead with COURAGE (even though we are a bit scared to death) on this new journey we have been forced upon.

Not many of us get to choose our trials but we will all have them. And when they come, you figure out how to deal with them. I am turning to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to help me through this journey and I have felt Him by my side every step of the way. I am going to fight this beast with all the life I have in me! And that's a lot!

I LOVE LIFE! It's such a gift. I’ve lived a lot of life in the last 60 years! Life is not something I take lightly, for I know how short and fragile it can be, so I cherish it with my whole soul. I know that each morning I arise and each breath I take is a gift!

I’ve weathered many storms, climbed many mountains and experienced the greatest vistas life has to offer. It’s been a whirlwind of highs and lows but through it all, I LIVED!

I’m not sure what’s ahead for me in the next several years… but I want to own every second, hold every minute, live every hour, and feel joy in every day. I want to RISE UP every single day and EXPECT MIRACLES! And I feel deep down in my core I will (absolutely WILL) receive them!

Life is full of challenges for each and everyone of us, and no one is going to escape the hardships along the way. The only way to live life is to find the joy in the midst of it all. I'm convinced the secret to life is to realize that we can’t wait for the hard to be gone before we find joy and peace. There’s always going to be hard, we must find it IN THE MIDDLE of the difficult!

Life is fragile Cherish the Moments!

If you want to do something for me go home and LOVE your family AND your HEALTHY body no matter what it looks like! (we are all so hard on ourselves!) And then please say a prayer for me AND FOR my family!

I'm all SADDLED UP and ready for 2022!

#yeehaw #wevegotthis #courage #takesguts #andchocolate #oneword #oneword2022

I am SO grateful for the love and support I felt from this post! I am publishing these comments here so I can read and re-read them often! They give me strength!

THOUGHTS

 About my brother Jerry. 
My brother Jerry (my only sibling) was diagnosed with Non Hodgkin's Lymphoma T cell (a very rare type). He has been through a lot. He has already done a stem cell transplant but it didn't work. He has been through a lot of chemo and other treatments and all of the awful stuff that goes with that. They have moved three or four times since he was diagnosed. I will see him today at my niece's homecoming. It's going to be an emotional one I'm sure. I am pretty surprised how hard it has hit me. I guess because it seems so hopeless right now.

He will be all happy and upbeat though because he always is. He is the most positive person I know. I haven't seen my parents yet, but I will today as well. This just stinks.

He doesn't want to do the stem cell transplant again unless it's his only chance and I don't blame him as it will be even worse than last time. And if it didn't work the first time with his OWN cells, I'm sure with someone else's the odds are even lower. He asked me to be a donor and I was more than happy to comply but unfortunately, I wasn't a match.

Dave says his particular type of cancer is hard to treat. He isn't sounding very hopeful either and that scares me because he never goes down that road unless it's very clear it will happen. I was down that road yesterday but today I am going to be upbeat and positive and just take the FAITH route because seriously... WHAT DO I HAVE TO LOSE? Nothing, but a LOT to gain. I know Heavenly Father takes our faith seriously. He always has mine and I have been blessed with GREAT faith throughout my entire life. I have seen miracles time and time again because of my faith. My patriarchal blessing tells me it is one of my gifts. I just didn't know how often I would have to apply it. I had no faith yesterday though. Pretty much had him buried. I know that is showing zero faith. I need to pull my faith back out because I know there is great power in faith and in simply believing. Heavenly Father is a healer and He WILL heal him if it be His will. I am just going to proceed as if it is! This time I will put all my faith towards his healing. I pray it happens. I don't think my sweet mom can take it if he isn't healed. Oops, I was NOT going to go down that path. I am not going to even let those thoughts come in anymore. MIRACLES have not ceased! I just got several only 2.5 years ago.

Speaking of miracles, I'm not sure if I ever wrote about the story of my cat Lightning I had as a pet growing up. We had just moved to the Terrace and we were renting a house while my parents found a home to buy. I was about 8 yrs old and I really loved that cat. One day he came up missing. We had no idea what happened. My dad felt so bad for me and so he put an ad in the Lost and Found but we heard nothing. My parents kept trying to prepare me that he was not going to be found. A week went by and nothing. 10 days. Nothing. But, I did not once think I would not get him back. I prayed for his safe return and I had complete faith he would be found and come home. After two weeks, my parents knew it was not going to happen but kept putting the ad in the paper. Bless their hearts. Then one day we got a phone call from a lady in Hooper. She said she thought she had our cat because he matched the description. My dad asked her to put the phone by the cat and then gave me the phone and I called his name. The lady got back on the phone and said, "Yes! This is your cat"!, because of how he responded to my voice. We went to her house and sure enough it was him. I never once doubted. I wasn't even really surprised. Hooper of all places! It was over a 30 minute drive away. We think he got in the neighbor's car and ended up unexpectedly taking a ride either under the engine or inside. He used to get under my dad's truck engine all the time. He rode that way to Weber State once. That little experience has been with me for my entire life and I always draw on it when I need extra faith. He lived another 10 years. That cat really did have 9 lives!

Look what my scripture of the day was today:

SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY Mormon 9:27

O then despise not, and wonder not, but hearken unto the words of the Lord, and ask the Father in the name of Jesus for what things soever ye shall stand in need. Doubt not, but be believing, and begin as in times of old, and come unto the Lord with all your heart, and work out your own salvation with fear and trembling before him. FORWARD WITH FAITH!!!!