Honor and Remember...

Honoring and Remembering

this Memorial Day

Another Camping Trip in the Bag!

So if you've been around the blog for the last few years, you know how much we look forward to our camping trips... and you've probably heard about some of our famously YUCky camping trips... heart be still... they are so very much fun and relaxing and uplifting and absolutely NECESSARY for my sanity!

And the past week was no exception!

Time spent with a group of cherished friends who love us like family

There was a kayak trip or two...

And maybe some crazy hot games of volleyball...

And of course there was food... delicious, get-in-my-belly, camping food!

And bonfires...

And hikes... (on camp roads this year... cuz, well, strollers ya'll)

And smiles... beautiful, sweet smiles and crazy fun moments to fill hearts...

And such beauty for my soul...

It has been a God-gift to celebrate treasured friends this week past.

Is camping work?  Oh my yes...

And messy?  Ummmm, yes!!

Would it be easier to stay home in our comfortable, air-conditioned,

digitally-connected world?

  YES!

But oh what we would be missing!

These friends have held us up when our world was crashing around us...

and have spent time sharing their hearts in beautiful ways.

We.  Are.  Blessed.

Knees bend in gratitude for such a gift.

No matter the heartaches that attend this life, it is worth every messy, hard minute to pack up for this camping trip and re-connect...

Praying you are graced this night with a love and a "family" that is worth every messy, hard minute it takes to share your heart.

Graced, and Blessed and looking for a hot shower!

Always,

               Jane

How Deep is the Mud?

Some Truths about Pancreatic Cancer...

One of the many truths I learned in The Truth About Cancer documentary was that cancer is now an epidemic in our world.

1 in 2 people born after 1960 will be diagnosed with some form of cancer in their lifetime.

And that truth was brought home only yesterday when a good friend called to tell me her 59 year old brother has just been diagnosed with colon cancer.  59 years old... I could hear the worry edging her voice... major surgery scheduled next week, prayers breathed into the uncertain silence...

They are just beginning the journey.  This Cancer Journey.

What if they knew that their journey could end in healing, and life lived whole and healthy?

But where do you start?  The cancer journey is fraught with more than enough uncertainty and fear.  What if there was a place to lay out options... discuss possibilities... give hope?

The Truth About Cancer series was just such a place for me.  The 9 episodes were filled with a wealth of information and have given me plenty to chew on...

Perhaps we could dive in deeper and find some of that hope?

I'm going to begin by breaking it on down and doing a little research.

Here are some of the topics discussed in the documentary... in the coming weeks I will be linking posts on each of these topics, leaning towards facts more than emotion.  I want more than anything to share cancer success stories, but only if they are offering honest to goodness options... no snake oil salesman need apply here...

So here we go:

1.  White Crack... the sugar connection

2.  Dying to Have Known... the Gerson Therapy

3.  Back to Basics... the Raw Food Diet

4.  The Hoxey Formula... Biomedical Center Tijuana

5.  The Cancer Crackdown... practicing evidence-based medicine

6.  Tomography... using less radiation for detection is a good thing

7.  Eat the Rainbow... the Juice Lady

8.  The Wheat Grass Craze... Barley Life anyone?

9.  Tea Time... Essiac Tea

10.  Rigvir... a Virotherapy Superstar

11.  Plant your Pharmacy... Phytonutrients and the real medicine found in plants

12.  Hope4Cancer... a real success story

13.  Aquaporins.... the horrific Chernobyl Disaster and the surprising cancer heroes

14.  One Tiny Apricot Kernel... "Second Opinion" and Laetrile (B-17)

15.  Cancer Starving Diets... The Good Kind, Ketogenic & Budwig

16.  Cannabis Oil... jumping into a heated debate

17.  "Victory Over Cancer"  - one author's journey with his effective cancer therapy protocol

18.  "Killing Cancer...Not People"

19.  Ozone therapy... for more than just the Bends

20.  Heating Things Up... Thermal Therapy


And these are just some of the topics I jotted down as I watched The Truth About Cancer... join me as we research, question and mull over these integrative therapies to determine if they are worth pursuing in this cancer journey.

Might there be a glimmer of hope as we lean in to this fight! 

Graced to be traveling this road together...

Always,
         Jane

A Mother's Day Thought

 

So true, this Mother's Day and every day since we said goodbye...

A Road Trip and a Remembering...

This week past we have enjoyed a beautiful road trip back home to Illinois.

For an early Mother's Day visit with the sweetest mother-in-law around...

and we ate...

and laughed...

and visited with family...

and time flew by much, much too fast!!

While we were there, we had the sweet privilege of attending

an unforgettable Tree Dedication with family and friends...

it was a time of remembering and honoring

a very special soldier.

10 years have passed in a blur of grief and questions for the family...

a decade of making peace

with the terrible sacrifice Caleb made so that we could breath free,

The day was filled with

sacred moments that brought healing and hope to many...

Marcy spoke from her heart to the hundreds gathered,

of the son she loved,

the young man who loved this country,

the hero he was to her and so many others...

There was an unveiling of a new memorial at the local High School baseball field where Caleb was a legend...

and welcoming many of his brothers in arms for an honoring

of gratitude for all they have given...

It was a day of remembering...

quiet moments at a graveside

an Army flyover,

tears spilling as the single wing dipped in honor...

and the dedicated Patriot Guard riders protecting the ceremony...

with such dignity and respect,

hearts stirred as their bikes streamed in,

the low rumble heard for miles as they led a solemn procession

to the graveside... 

It was a day of celebrating one amazing life...

with a mom and 2 brothers who carry on his legacy of love and laugher...

Caleb you are so very missed...

You will Always be Remembered...and Loved Deeply

While we may never have answers to the senseless tragedies in our lives,

there is a balm and a healing in the gathering together and remembering

of those we love.

... Marcy shared this note she received shortly after the ceremony...

"I am one of the wives of the guys who served with your son. Although I never had the pleasure of meeting Caleb, it was like I knew him my whole life after this weekend. The dedication healed an empty hole in my husband that has caused many sleepless nights for the last decade. Thank you for being part of that healing process. He slept the whole night through for the first time Saturday night. I am honored to have met you and the people who Caleb touched throughout his life".

Never, never underestimate the power of that healing when we find the grace to remember in love those we have lost....

Praying for your heart this day,

knowing the remembering can tear our souls with the missing and hurt,

but asking that Grace lift your grief and turn the ache into peace...

for there can be life-giving rest in honoring a memory.

My Love, Always,

                      Jane