He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
- Isaiah 40:29-31

Monday, December 21, 2009

That's What Christmas is All About Charlie Brown

Anyone who knows me, and I mean Really knows me, knows that I love me some Peanuts at Christmas. Not the nut kind but the Snoopy, Charlie Brown, Linus kind. My favorite part in the Charlie Brown Christmas movie is when Linus stands on the stage and tells everyone the true meaning of Christmas. It truly is "what Christmas is all about."


This past week, we were reminded about what is so important in life. Okay, so we were slapped in the face with it but that's besides the point. On Tuesday, I took Joshua to Hopkins for his routine weekly chemo. During the visit, a number of doctors filed into the room to tell me that some "blasts" had shown up in Joshua's blood. Okay. Bad. Leukemia is a result of bad "blasts." Scary time. Anyway, the doctors couldn't tell what type of blasts they were as your body can also spit out blasts when the bone marrow is really reved up fighting a virus or recovering from something such as chemo. This has happened only once before and that was back in October. The doctors wanted to wait on the chemo and run blood labs again on Thursday. Good for them to make sure the blasts go away. Bad for us as it was two days of complete stress. (Bye, bye to a few more years of my life!)

So Thursday came along and the moral of the story is that blasts were gone. Chemo was given and life goes back to our version of normal. But, as this scare happened so close to Christmas, it was a reminder that it doesn't matter what's under the tree, what gift you can't find at the store or any thing else. What matters is that you spend time with your family and friends. You enjoy every minute you have with them. You savor the laughs, the smiles, the memories. And remember in the end, that "that's what Christmas is all about!"

Merry Christmas everyone. I hope that you enjoy spending time with the ones that you love. And for those of you missing someone in your life, I hope that the memories you have from holiday's past bring you some comfort and smiles this holiday season.

2 comments:

Brenda said...

You are so right about everything you have said. It's just a shame that so many people have to realize what they have and only appreciate their lives when something bad or not so good happens, and sometimes are too late. You start to realize that sometimes you only pray when something isn't going your way, or when you truly get scared. Is it too late to pray then? I don't know, but it's made me pray way more often now, especially with the inspiration that you and Jeff spread every day in dealing with your boys' fun antics and Joshua's cancer REALITY. I now pray in thankfulness for good things daily instead of waiting for when I really need a favor from up above. You know how it goes when you only hear from someone in your life when they want something? Well, I don't think God is any different in that aspect of thinking than we are here. And you're right, when we're adults, we learn to think back and appreciate and remember the times we watch Rudolph, Frosty, Peanuts, the Christmas Scrooge and even Chevy Chase' National Lampoon's Christmas vacation, and those memories flood our emotions for another year. And, instead of worrying about my son getting snow and water all over the floor for the 10th time in a day with wet clothes thrown everywhere, I smile as I clean it up and thank God again that he's able to go out and enjoy the snow and have fun and just be a little boy making a memory for years to come. Thank you Ami!

A said...

Ami-

I think of you all often and keep you in my prayers! How scary- I'm so glad that it turned out to be ok!

Much love!
(nurse) Anne