A new blog - new website

 I built a new website to house my blog and the ministry I'm working on, called Peace In the Stillness.

I hope you'll follow me over there.

My new blog is at PeaceInTheStillness.com/blog.

To my email subscribers

 Blogger is doing away with their "subscribe" feature in mid-August, so you'll no longer receive email updates of new posts. I plan to move my blog to another platform soon so you can either subscribe when I do that (follow me on social media) or email me at archadia7@yahoo.com and I'll jot down your email address and notify you when I get set up at my "new place."

twitter @7DegreesOfMe

Instagram @7DegreesOfMe

Unity

 

A Song of Ascents. Of David. Behold, how good 

and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!

Psalm 133:1 ESV

Update on Donnie - they've called in Hospice. Please be in continued prayer. I'm personally praying for a miracle, but also, more realistically, praying that God holds onto Donnie's family and embraces them with all of His love and comfort. It's bringing back a flood of memories for me, sitting with my first husband, then years later, sitting with my dad while Hospice did their thing. They are truly a blessing.
Pray without ceasing.

*********

Please join me this week in praying for family. Pray that relationships will be strengthened. Also, pray that families will work out any differences that they have and that they will build a bond that can withstand any tribulation. Let's add to this prayer that our Heavenly Father help lead our unsaved relatives to salvation; that He help them in whatever area of their personality that separates them from others (anger, fear, language, narcissism, physical or mental restrictions, etc...) so they may form lasting relationships which will lead them to You.

I'll post daily reminders on:

twitter @7DegreesOfMe

Instagram @7DegreesOfMe
Pinterest Prayer Group #7thHourPrayerPower

Facebook group 7th Hour Prayer Power

#7thHourPrayerPower #BibleVerses #bible #family #unity #prayer #relatives #Hospice #update 

Snowmageddon

     Everyone braced for round 2 of snow this weekend, a storm that was supposed to add 3" to 12" of snow on top of the remains of our 8" deep snow storm last weekend. It was all supposed to begin around 4 in the morning, but as of 4 p.m. we still just have rain. Not that I'm complaining, I just feel like we were set up to see fireworks but all we got were some sparklers. It's a bit of a letdown, especially when you consider all of the events and plans that were changed or canceled today because of this impending snow-doom.
     For me personally, it's difficult, because once I have a plan in place, even if it's a plan to do nothing, it's difficult for me to change it. I'm not terribly spontaneous. Since we didn't see snowmageddon today, my guiltless pleasure of hanging out at my parents' house and writing all day had me feeling guilty at the prospect. So, I ran a couple of errands this morning, but I never could get into writing (until now, of course...if this counts as writing). I spent the better part of the day changing my blog theme. If you can't tell what's different, I'll tell you: I changed the top scene from one of snow-covered trees and street sign to one of just snow. I changed all of the fonts of everything and fiddled with the colors. Looking at it, it doesn't really seem like it should've taken hours to come up with, but it did and I can't get that time back, so I might as well let it go. I was thinking of adding more categories to the left, but that just seems like too much effort right now.
     Okay. Just checked in with The Weather Channel and apparently, this storm is real and even has a name: "Snow Storm Harper" and everyone North of here got snow and supposedly, we're going to get it tonight instead of last night.
     It's probably difficult to predict the weather, but what's so sad (& yeah, it's funny, too) is all of the checking in with reporters in various locations, standing in the rain, telling us that the snow will be arriving at some point in time, and they'll be there when it happens, and that it is in fact, snowing somewhere at this very moment, however, they don't have any reporters in those locations to show us snow. What they should do is spin it like "Rain in January? How crazy is that?" and make that the story instead of, "We predicted snow and by golly, we're going to stay out here until we get some." It kind of reminds me of Linus waiting for the Great Pumpkin.
     Tomorrow I'll wake up and eat my words probably, but for today, I'm under-impressed.

Updates

I've been away for the last several months (hopefully, someone has noticed), but now I'm back, barring any other life-altering, shattering, overwhelming-ness events in the near future.
Sometime in May, my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. It was a whole lot of hurry up and wait which is very draining on the entire family, but in the end, we realize that everyone we've talked to, dealt with, seen, within the healthcare community has been absolutely wonderful. I'm partial to Kettering Health Network in Kettering, Ohio because that's where I received such excellent care when I had breast cancer. I think they are absolutely the best! I have yet to meet even one person there who didn't give 110% all the time!

While all of this was going on, I had a breast MRI as a follow-up with my cancer care and it showed something suspicious. In the end, it was nothing, but I had to go back for an MRI guided needle biopsy which is double horrible for a person who is claustrophobic, like me. So, there's scheduling, waiting for the results, and a million things racing through my mind. It's really difficult to just "wait". Waiting is an unintentional cruelty that must be endured when it comes to testing and diagnosing. I knew from past experience that the best thing I could do for myself was to keep busy and try not to dwell on it, but that was just impossible. At the same time trying to be there for my mom and what she was going through often meant trying to minimize what I was really thinking and feeling. Everything else just got put on the back burner and I finally feel like I can start moving forward again.

My mom is doing great and is currently in her first week of estrogen blockers, so we'll see how that goes. So far, she's been getting headaches from it, but I'm hoping she gives it a couple of weeks before giving up on it since some side effects do lessen over time.

Anyway, this is a short, and probably dis-connected little post about what I've been up to. There's so much to write about all of this...breast cancer touches so many families. So, hopefully I will stick with following through on writing about my experiences and my mother's because our two cancers were completely different from one another.

Whatta Year!

Actually, it should be "whatta year and a half!"  My last post was January, 2013, and I think that must have been my last "normal" day.  The short and sweet version is that in the past year & a half, I have:  traveled to Romania, Switzerland, Virginia, and Hawaii, bought a new house, got married in it the day after closing, lost 2 mother-in-laws, the first one was 5 days after we got married.  Within a month of getting married, found out I had breast cancer.  Since then, I've had internal radiation, chemotherapy, and external radiation.  The chemotherapy wraps up this coming October.  Because of all of this, I had to drop out of school (again!)  And, I just found out Friday, that my 13 1/2 year old beagle has kidney disease' oh, and an eye and ear infection.

Those are just the highlights, and although they may sound mostly negative, they really aren't.  I have been very blessed through all of this, and have come through it all a much better person.  I'll elaborate on all of these things bit by bit.  I really miss writing, and although I still write in my journal/diary frequently, I miss the interaction of a blog.