Focus on the CAN...

Well, for any of you that have been around my side of the family for any length of time, you know that we tend to have cancer battles pretty often. To cancer, I have lost my great grandparents, grandparents, great aunts and uncles, aunts and uncles... I have also watched my parents both take on their own daily fight with cancer... many of you may remember that after an 11 month fight with lung cancer, my father died just three weeks before I went into early labor with Hope Noelle. What a summer we had in 2006 loosing them both so close. Many of you know that my dad's sister, my Aunt AJ, died this past December after her own repeat battle with cancer and since then, his brother, my Uncle Buddy, has been having treatments for cancer. Buddy and I speak frequently and he is coming to a close on his treatments... it will be several more weeks post treatments before they can run tests and see what his levels are doing. We continue to ask for prayers that when this round is done he will be in remission.

Needless to say, with all that has gone on my fathers side of the family, we were very shocked today when my mothers brother, my uncle Allen, learned this afternoon that he also has cancer. We are still waiting on a cell type to come back but what we do know is that his is in the chest. It is NOT lung cancer but his tumor has presented in the chest. We are once again asking for prayers for a cancer that will go into remission and for the strength to once again start down this journey. We ask still for your prayers for Uncle Buddy and that he be healed once his treatments are over and we ask for prayers that Uncle Al be able to face his battle with courage and that the doctors are able to heal him.

As a family, we have learned that cancer is not a death notice, in fact, my mother has been several years with no cancer issues, Praise God. What we have learned instead, is not to focus on the cancer, but focus on the first half, the can... through that, we have learned to live each day as though it were the last you might be given and my prayer for you is that today, you do just that. Be thankful for your family, your health, and for answered prayers that may get overlooked in the big scheme of things... I am blessed with my family, my children, my friends, and my faith. With all of these things beside me, I know that no matter what, I can... we can... and we will get through anything. As always, thanks for keeping our family in your thoughts and prayers.