"Calling In The Troops"

This past week has been very busy getting everything ready for the wedding.  We had to call in the troops today to get some crafty details taken care of.  So thankful to have friends willing to step in at any minute to help out. 

Elizabeth, Cathy, Susan, Jordan & Linda

Laurie, Linda, Cindy, Cathy, Lyn, Susan & Elizabeth

Shonda & Drake

We have 3 days left to finish any last minute details. When this journey began we were already less than 90 days away from planning a wedding. I am so thankful for the short amount of time we have had to plan. There hasn't been any room to say "we'll decide later" or any room to change our minds. The greatest thing for me will be seeing Tony walk Jordan down the aisle on Saturday and to give her to David. Everything else will be a bonus with all the detailed stuff coming together. There is absolutely no doubt David is the one that God has created for Jordan. It has been such joy to watch their relationship grow and to see how they have honored the Lord through everything. Their first kiss will be at the ceremony and what a day of celebration it will be.

My health has been great and God has given me extra strength and energy to get through each day.
Exodus 4:31 "And the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord has visited the people of Israel and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped."  The Lord has been so faithful and good to me this year and my heart wants to continue to worship Him.  I know there are a lot of people hurting and going through difficult times right now, but God promises to never leave us or forsake us.  We have to learn to worship him in the good and the difficult days and know that He alone is God. 

We have family beginning to arrive tomorrow.  We will be blessed to have all 7 of our grandchildren together this weekend and I'm looking forward to a big family picture.  Our house will be full throughout each day with family friends and we are so thankful to enjoy this time of celebration together.

"Today is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it."

"A Day of Celebrations!!!"

Today has been a great day of celebrations.  I received a phone call later this afternoon from Highlands Oncology letting me know my genetics testing came back negative.  Not sure what all that means other than it is great news for me, my kids and grandchildren.  I have a lower risk of having breast cancer as well which is wonderful to know.  I realize that God is the One in control of ALL things and so grateful for the grace He continues to pour out over me and my family.  Psalms 130:7-8 "O "Janet", hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with Him is plentiful redemption.  And He will redeem "Janet" from all "her" iniquities."

My son and daughter-in-law, Bryan and Jenna, are expecting their second baby in March.  They, or I should say Bryan, wanted to wait until the birth to find out the gender of the baby.  Today they went in for their ultrasound and had decided they wanted to go ahead and find out.  The technician turned the screen and put the answer in a sealed envelope.  We had a big reveal tonight with the family.  Jenna said wanted us to all wear pink or blue for the color of what we thought the gender would be.  Hudson has said all along that he was having a "sisther".  She and I blew up balloons and each  held the color we were hoping for.  Rhyanne Ketron came out to take pictures and she was the one that got to open the envelope and put the right color of balloons in a box for Hudson to open up.

 Tony, Me, Hudson, Bryan, Jenna, Mary, David & Jordan (Is it a boy or a girl?)

Hudson loves opening presents!!!!

 It's a BOY!!!!!! Bryan, Hudson, baby "B" & Jenna

So thankful for the blessings of today and the celebrations we have in our Savior.  He is the reason we celebrate life!!!

"Today is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it."

"God's Reminders of His Love"

It's been a busy week, but a good week. We are exactly two weeks away from the "big day". Everything is coming together and God continues to pour out so many blessings. Thursday evening Jordan had her personal shower and it was a lot of fun for all of us that attended.

Hostess for the party-Pam, Jenna, Rachel, Maegan, Jordan (Bride) and Jessica

David and Jordan were blessed to find a great apartment and almost everything is moved out of our house that belong to the couple. Thank you to Hutch and Richard for helping Tony and David move everything up 3 flights of stairs!  I think they would say it felt more like 10 flights of stairs by the time they were finished.

David & Jordan with their apartment keys.

Tony and I traded off keeping Hudson during the move and this is how I found Hudson when I got home.

I have not been able to make it out to the craft fairs that Northwest Arkansas is hosting this weekend. I had asked several people to be on the look out for some cute winter hats and if they found some, to let me know so I could go look at them. Tony and I were eating dinner tonight when Jenna called to tell me about some really cute hats at the John Q Hammonds center. Tony drove me over and pulled up to the front of the building so I could run in and look at the hats. Jenna and Mary (Jenna's mom) met me to show me the booth. I tried on several really cute hats and decided 3 of them should be enough. When I asked the young lady how much they cost, she told me that she wanted to give them to me for free.   I never dreamed a complete stranger would be willing to give me something for free.  She shared a story about what her 4 year old son had gone through this past year and he wasn't even expected to live.  He had both legs amputated and is alive today and doing well.  She shared how their lives were touched and blessed by so many and wanted the opportunity to pay it forward.  Wow!!! I was overwhelmed and the tears started flowing.  To God be the glory, great things He continues to do! 

Me & Kari (LOVE my new hats!!!)

God has reminded me so many times this week of His great love.  I have received several cards with great personal messages written to me, along with a free table cloth for the wedding and a pizza.  I would have never asked for this journey to take place in my life, but I also realize I would be missing so many blessings of His love or would be taking so much for granted.  He continues to pour out so much grace and for that I am grateful.

"Today is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it."

"Cherokee Village"

Jordan and I went to Cherokee Village Saturday afternoon and stayed the night with David's family.  The Street family have all been born and raised in Cherokee Village and their home church had a wedding shower for the couple yesterday afternoon.   His whole family was there this weekend and we had a chance to relax, visit and eat some great food.  I now know why David is such an amazing young man, he comes from a great family.  He is blessed with 4 beautiful older sisters that love and dote over him.  His whole family has done a great job of raising him.

The 4 sisters, his mom and Jordan
Sara, Bethany, David, Jordan, Anna, Leah and Louann

This couple has truly honored the Lord in their relationship and His blessings continue to fall upon them.  We arrived home late last night and unloaded the cars.  For now everything is being stored in our front bedroom and not sure there is any room to spare.

Our front bedroom!

This Friday they will be able to move all their things into an apartment.  It's going to take some time to organize and put everything away, but it will be a lot of fun seeing what all they have received. Jordan was excited to tell me this morning they are now down into the "teens" until their wedding day.

"The Cute Couple!"


"Today is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it."

"Hawaii Five-0"

This is what I came home to today after lunch.  Tony said he wanted to show me something.  He pulled up the old Hawaii Five-0 episodes theme song for me to watch.  I kept waiting for something to happen and after he played it for me 3 different times, he finally had to keep it on the above picture.  I will be turning Five-0 (50) in December on Christmas Day and he is taking me to Hawaii!!!!  He wanted to surprise me on my actual birthday but obviously he isn't good about keeping secrets.  The Lord continues to shower us with blessings through a couple at our church that has a time share, and we are not going until the end of March.  We will have five things to celebrate by then:
1.  Cancer Free
2.  Jordan's Wedding
3.  I'll be "50"
4.  A New Grand-baby
5.  Our 19th Wedding Anniversary 

We've always wanted to go to Hawaii and the Lord willing, it will finally happen.  So thankful for the love and patience of my husband through this year's journey.  I personally know it isn't easy taking care of your spouse with a disease but thankful to have God's grace to help carry you.  We both feel so blessed to have each other and cherish our time together.  I am so grateful God brought our paths together and never want to take what we have for granted.  I love you Tony Pate!!!!

"Today is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it."

"Still Believing"

We decided a second opinion from my doctor's appointment on Tuesday would be the best thing for me at this time.  Who better to turn to than my original doctor, Dr. Ivy.  I haven't seen him since my post-op from surgery back in April.  He no longer does chemo at his office so he released me to be treated at Highlands Oncology.  God has been with me the whole time on this journey,  Deuteronomy 31:6 "Be strong and courageous.  Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you."  

I was going to call Dr. Ivy's office Wednesday to make an appointment, but when I woke up there was a text message from Jenna that she left at 6:30am.  She works at Washington Regional, and one of the first people she saw when she arrived at work was Dr. Ivy's assistant, Dianna.  Dianna and Jenna have seen each other many times and she always asks Jenna how I am doing.  Jenna told her how our appointment went from Tuesday and we all felt it would be a good idea to get a second opinion.  Dianna immediately contacted the office and by 8:30am I had a message letting me know that I had an appointment today at 1:45.

Tony, Jordan, Jenna and I all went together and it was great seeing Dianna and Dr. Ivy again.  I have no doubt that God led me to them from the very beginning.  Dr. Ivy is very confident in what he does and seems to be in on the latest treatment plan.  He sees no reason to jump into chemo right away.  He wants to give my body some rest and recheck my cancer markers (CA125) in a month and then decide what the next step should be.  I will see him again on November 15th.  My prayer is that my numbers begin to go down without chemo.  I am not putting my hope in a doctor. My hope is in the Lord.  I am trusting and praying for a miracle in my life.  Ovarian Cancer is very hard to detect but also hard to get rid of once it is detected.  It can be very microscopic and go unnoticed.  I know God knows every part of my body and nothing is hidden from Him.  I am asking for God to do something amazing in my body and get every ounce of cancer that could possibly hide out of my body.  I've quoted it several times: Psalms 139:13-14 "For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb.  I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made."

Jenna, Jordan and Me (Love these girls!)

Micah 7:7 "But as for me, I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me."  I know God is working in me and is not finished with me yet.  I will continue to place my hope and trust in him.  Thank you for the many prayers on my behalf!

"Today is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it."

"Results"

My appointment was at 2:30 today and at 3:45 the doctor came in to talk to me and my family.  I was thankful to have the posse with me.  Tony, Bryan, Jenna, Jordan and David were able to be with me.  My CT scan shows no sign of cancer (to God be the glory!!!!).  There is a small spot on my liver, but the doctor feels it is a cyst and sees no concern for further testing.  We were hoping my cancer markers (CA125) would be way down from last month's 40.2.  Ideally we would like them to be at 0 or in the teens.  They are up to 65.5.   We are not sure why they are going back up but she feels more treatment with a different form of chemo drug is necessary.   The original plan was to put me on a maintenance program for a year with the current chemo drug I have been on (takes 3 hours to administer), but since my markers aren't down she wants to put me on a different drug all together (will take 1 hour to administer).  She suggested I get a second opinion from my original doctor, Dr. Ivy.  As for now, no chemo will be done until after the wedding and I am grateful for that.  I would love to say I am in complete remission, but apparently God has other  plans for me and I will not doubt Him.  My eyes will stay looking up and I am so grateful for the peace I have had today and I know many have lifted me up in prayer.  Psalms 94:22 "But the Lord has become my stronghold, and my God the rock of my refuge."

Tony, Jordan, David, Me and Bryan (Jenna took the picture and I'm sad she's not in it)

We are going to Shogun's to celebrate the news and enjoy family time together.  Hudson is going to love the "hot" (that's what he calls fire) and we will love watching his expressions.  

"Today is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it."