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Bad Neighbors

Cancer cells are like bad neighbors who do not abide by the rules. That is one of the things I used to tell new cancer patients when I was an oncology nurse. I'll explain what I mean.

Rule #1 is that cells are supposed to serve a purpose. Lung cells are supposed to contribute to your ability to breathe. Skin cells are supposed to work together to keep you covered. Cancer cells just don't feel obligated to contribute in any way. They are happy enough to sit around and use up your body's resources for their own satisfaction. It's kind of like an unwelcome neighbor coming in and eating all the food in your kitchen but not lifting a finger to clean up. That is just rude.

Rule #2 is that cells should not reproduce to the point of overcrowding. Cancer cells just keep on reproducing. If you lived in an apartment and the neighbors across the hall lived in their own little two bedroom apartment, you might agree they should not have 70 children. Cancer cells just don't really seem to care if it is crowded, even if it is to the point of causing damage to the apartment walls, so to speak. They don't care if they knock down their own walls and spill into your apartment. That is NOT neighborly.

Rule #3 is that cells are supposed to stay in their own yard. That is, breast cells are meant to stay in the breast. They aren't supposed to go lounging around in the lungs as that is not their yard. Colon cells aren't welcome in the liver but sometimes they go to that yard and just set up camp all over the place. Again, rude!

OK, I realize that I am personifying cancer cells. They aren't their own beings; they are actually just our own cells that have become malformed through faulty mutations.  However, some believe imagery is helpful not only to understand this process but also to put a stop to it.

So, how do you put a stop to bad neighbors? Any suggestions where to take this imagery from here? I guess we could call the cops (doctors) to come help with the eviction. That seems reasonable. Any better ideas?

Cancer has been on my mind because we just found out my Mom has some "bad neighbors" and she's got to do some evicting of her own. We have a lot of reasons to expect a good outcome but I'm just upset that she has to deal with cancer at all. She is an incredible woman who has shown her strength in both little and big ways. I know she can handle this. I just didn't want her to have to.

Cancer is a terrible neighbor.

Happy Anniversary!

Yesterday was a mixed bag of joy and other emotions and I got all tangled up with time. 

Translated that means, "Oops!" I didn't blog and note a happy day in our family. I want to do now what I meant to do yesterday. It was our daughter and son-in-law's anniversary. 

Congratulations Maria and Eric! We love you quirky people sooo much!

Father's Day

You may have noticed how much I love our granddaughters.

I want only the best for them.

When it comes to a Dad, that is exactly what they got!

Our own children also hit the "Dad Jackpot" 

and for this, I am so very grateful.

Both of these men are adored by their offspring...

and their women.

Happy Father's Day Mike & Eric!

Faith Community Nursing

One thing I've long be interested in is Parish Nursing, now called Faith Community Nursing. Recently, Mike told me I had been invited to join a group of Episcopal Nurses as they gathered to learn more about Faith Community Nursing. That program started at noon today and goes into early afternoon tomorrow, so it is a busy week-end for me.

I did some Faith Community Nursing at our church in Alamogordo and truthfully, that would be my dream job if I didn't need a job that actually paid me money.  I really, really enjoyed that. This is fun now, for me to learn more about what programs are available and all that. I'm feeling invigorated and enthused about pursuing this a bit more!

The nursing program I attended was all about treating the whole person (wholistic nursing) and I am a big believer in that. In order to accomplish a wholistic approach, people need to be offered a spiritual side to their care as well as body and mind. It is something that I think is not only intriguing but pertinent.

So, that's what I'm doing this week-end. You?

A Good Decision

No, we are not in St. Louis again. Too bad! However, I just wanted to post a picture of the two of us together as today is our 36th anniversary! Really? How could 36 years have gone by so quickly? It seems crazy to me!

What wasn't crazy, though, was our decision to spend those years together. I've been grateful over and over and over again that we get to spend our lives together. That was a good decision!

Yesterday

My Mom thinks I am too busy. You be the judge...

Yesterday:

Up before 6:00 a.m. and worked a bit on reading information in preparation for a Board Meeting.

At work by 7:45 and spent the morning working. That's what they pay me to do so that seemed right.

11:45-1:00 A long lunch with Maria, Cordelia and Elise. I may be busy but much of it is delightful.

1:00-5:00 Worked some more.

5:20 Home to find that Mike had returned from Montana!  Yay! I was happy to cook supper so we could have a meal together.

6:10 I dashed out the door for a 6:30 Policy and Procedure Meeting. I am on the Board of the local pregnancy resource center and have volunteered to be on several committees.

7:30 We had a full board meeting after our committee meeting. I really enjoy these meetings with these people. Part of last night's meeting involved our accountant going over the financial/tax exempt side of things. It is pretty dry but our accountant loves accounting and it is fun to see her all excited about all those reports.

9:ish I was home for the night!  Yay!

All of my days are not quite that busy but it I admit that I often find myself thinking something like, "After such-and-such things will slow down around here." It really doesn't. I'm no different than everyone else. While I do think I let myself get too busy, it is hard to think what I should cut out of my day. Do the rest of you have this situation as well?

So, since I've not had time to come up with a meaningful post, I will leave you with another chuckle...

Inappropriate Funnies

Sometimes I find things that are funny but maybe not appropriate for my door at work...

Yea, I try to keep it friendly and I don't want to remove that illusion that I am kind.

Funnies

I am still putting things on my office door that I hope will make people laugh. I'm thinking I'll do this one tomorrow. Is it too creepy?

Cordy Time

Last night was fun, having Cordy for a sleep-over. She woke up this morning and explained to me that when she and her Mommy have their eyes wake up before their bodies are ready to wake up, they just snuggle. So, I got to enjoy that snuggling time. It was great!

Here are more photos of this charming and VERY active little granddaughters of our's.

At her request, we had baby corn with our picnic.

 In the background you see the port-a-potty that she'd just experienced for the first time.

Don't worry, Mommy, they had hand sanitizer for us.

 She makes friends very, very quickly.

 She was full of joy!

 She LOVED this outdoor exercise equipment.

 She ran and she ran and she ran and she ran!

 She just kept moving!

 She also kept smiling.

 She loved exploring down by the river.

 She looks kind of contemplative here, doesn't she?

 I love this little person.

The Inviter

Earlier this week I asked Cordelia if she'd like to have another sleep-over. She was quite excited! 

One thing about Cordelia, she is an inviter.  That's a word, right? She loves to include others in fun times. She kept inviting so many people to her birthday party her mom had to finally tell her she couldn't invite any one else. I happened to be there when she said to her Sunday School teacher, "Sorry you can't come to my party. My mom said I can't invite anyone else." 

Maria said that last week, when Cordy was a flower girl in a wedding, she invited people all over town to come to the wedding!

Well, when we were going through the line at Subway earlier this week, Cordelia invited the sandwich artist person to come to our sleep-over. That wasn't at all awkward or anything. 

Anyway, we are having our sleep-over and even as I type this, we are watching Tangled. I don't want to use my precious granddaughter time blogging so for now, I'll just leave you with a photo from this afternoon.

OK, one more.

I Will, and I Ask God to Help Me

Thank you all for indulging me as I documented the celebration we had for Mike's 25th ordination anniversary. I also thank you for the kind comments.

When Mike was asked if he accepted the call to the ministry of word and sacrament he said, 

I will, and I ask God to help me. 

He agreed that the holy scriptures are the word of God.  When he was asked if he promised to preach and teach in accordance with the holy scriptures his words were, 

I will, and I ask God to help me.

He's been a man of his word.

And that is why we were celebrating!

We all enjoyed the stories people told, some tender, some funny.

Cordelia took the microphone to say,

"This is my Grandpa.

I love him..."

Ordination Celebration Part 4, Wyoming

...and still continuing with Sunday's presentation for Mike's ordination celebration of 25 years...

When Mike started feeling his work was done in Alamogordo, he heard from or about other congregations but none seemed like where he was supposed to go. THEN one evening the phone rang. I answered and it was a guy named Bob on the line. He made some comment about making "first contact" and I knew he was going to hit it off with Mike. You see, that "first contact" comment came from Star Trek and Mike was most definitely a Trekkie.

So.... on to Casper.  By that time Sam was the only one living at home. He wasn't thrilled about leaving his friends but he was brave.

We found Prince of Peace to be filled with angels!

Mike had his 50th birthday here. Some of you may remember that he was rather cruel to the ladies in this congregation who turned 50 just a few months before him.

Well, we got even as we inducted him into his own little Red Hat Society. Doesn't he look pretty?

One of the most memorable experiences here at this church so far has been the crazy idea of swapping buildings with another congregation.

What an absurd idea, to pack up our congregation and to move to such a big facility!

It was most definitely a God thing!

This photo was taken at one of the several hayrides we've enjoyed at a parishioner's family farm.

The people of the congregations are what Mike's ministry is all about... the people.  Now you will see that I found it hard to edit photos. I found quite a few of sweet people here and I just thought you all would like to see them as well...

Betty and all of us enjoying a picnic.

.   (I am omitting some of the recent photos of kids as I didn't ask permission to put them here)

And here's Renee, in her natural habitat, serving in the kitchen.

(Here I have omitted a photo of my friend, Renee...at her request.)

Mary and Diane look like they were praying but I don't think they were as I don't think I'd be rude enough to photograph during a prayer.

One of the things you may not know about Mike is that he is a photo-hog. I'm not kidding. I was wondering recently, "How many families have photos of him in their photo albumns for weddings, confirmations and such?"

Do you know how hard it is to take a photo of Susanne? This may not be a great photo but it sure captures her spirit. She is always, always working for this church.

The amazing thing is, she has been the only secretary Mike has worked with here and they've worked together for 10 years! That may not seem so unbelievable to you all but consider this... during his 9 years in Alamogordo, Mike went through 9 secretaries! Thank you, Susanne, for putting up with him as he is obviously quite difficult to work with.

Here you have witnessed Mike developing as a grandfather. It has been fun to see "Pastor Grandpa" in motion here.

Mike has had the joy of baptizing our two granddaughters into this congregation.

We've enjoyed a lot of years of Christmas Caroling here, and felt warmed by the parties that followed.

One thing about Mike, he's always so serious about his work...

a pastor does a LOT of teaching.  Here he is teaching the fine art of office golfing with his shepherd's staff...

This is Mike in his favorite fabric... denim.

Mike's parishioners are always so excited to come to church!

I don't know WHAT to say about this photo...

...Or this one...

So... Mike,

For delivering 1500+ sermons, 

for welcoming so many into God's family, 

for braving confirmation students, 

for inspiring preschoolers, 

for caring for the sick, 

lonely and wounded, 

for preparing so many couples for marriage, 

for praying with the dying, 

for comforting the grieving, 

for counseling the hurting, 

for showing God's love to the lonely, 

for sacrificing your days off over and over, 

for being on call around the clock, 

for sharing your strength and insight, 

for your gentle but dependable leadership, 

for sharing your quirky sense of humor 

and for your steady example of letting God guide the way...

We, your flock, say "Thank you".