November: Thankful and Blogging About It

So, I am officially declaring November "Thankful and Blogging About It" month. Not that we can't blog about how thankful we are at other times...but, this month seems appropriate-after all-the rest of the America has it on the brain! So my posts this month will largely (give or take a few posts) focus on thankfulness, things I am thankful for, the One I am thankful to, and teachable moments for our children to learn gratitude, etc! Hope you will join me this month as I take time to give thanks!

To start things off, I will share with you why I am thankful for the last three years of my life.

In January of 2006 I was diagnosed with Stage I Endometrial Stromal Sarcoma, which is a fancy word for uterine cancer. I had a low grade version of this extremely rare cancer and at 28, almost 29 years old, I was blown away by my diagnosis. It was stage one, yes...It certainly was not the end of the world, I was thankful to be alive, I did not have to have chemo or radiation and in what seemed like a whirlwind of events, I was diagnosed, treated and given the blessing of "no evidence of disease". What I haven't told you in this story is that at 29, I had a total abdominal hysterectomy. This meant they took everything-ovaries, tubes, uterus. It also meant that I would be enjoying premature menopause. Bleck! You cannot prepare for such a thing as this. Cancer. For me, however, there was little down time. Little Time to "reflect". With a 2 year old and 1 year old, there was little time to stop and contemplate what it all meant. At times, I felt like I never even had cancer-except that every time I put on my PJ's, I see the 6 inch scar on my tummy. I struggled for many months with depression and I never fully relied on the One who saved me. I battled the hormone fluxes inwardly alone. I am however thankful for these last three years because in July of this year I became a Christian (To read more about that, click here.). Had God decided that January of '06 was "my time", I might not have gone to heaven. And the last three years have made me continually thankful for two precious children. For you see, had my husband and I waited to have children-they might not exist. I was pregnant with my daughter 3 months after getting married and pregnant with my son 7 months after my daughter was born. I was diagnosed with cancer when my son was 9 months old........I am deeply deeply thankful for my two little blessings. Cancer survivors and those in the midst of battle often say they are thankful for each day they are alive. It's not just some pithy saying...they say it because it's true.

What are you thankful for today? Won't you share it with me?