Month: January 2019

It’s January…Soccer Soccer

“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. ” Romans 1:20

The Lord is telling us, showing us “I’m HERE – Look HERE – don’t miss me!”

Isn’t God good? To see His design and how He can move color and light is amazing. I have really learned to love and experience God’s creation more and more every year. We have the opportunity to just thank Him and worship Him in these moments. What a blessing!!! Can we really look at this sunset and not wonder – who made it, how did He do it and what does He want from my life? So often we are running around so much, that we miss the BIG signs that God is here with us.

I’ve been crazy busy and I’ll admit a bit tired (I’m living life around here!) but, God has been good to keep my focused and give me the opportunity to spend with Him and worship Him. I am thankful…so thankful for these moments.

I had to pretty much finish training these girls this season. We were supposed to play in a college showcase and that got rained out. All of them will play for their High School teams and so we are unable to do both at the same time. These ladies and their families have been a blessing to me and I am honored to have them play for me and to know they have prayed for me and with me. Can’t always experience that in school ball as much, but when it’s club…there’s no line and I love it! Love you girls!


Abbey and Ashton have enjoyed time with their friends. We’ve gone to a few basketball games this year which has been fun. It’s been different not having the girls play, but also so much more relaxing…I guess for me I have kids on all these teams so I’m into every game I go to anymore. Too many kids that don’t have parents there that I know or they are in my class and some call me “mom” but, I am blessed to get to watch them play.

I have to admit, I love seeing the girls talk and share time together. They have such a good “twin” relationship and for that I’m thankful. They don’t have to be around each other, but they get along fine and as far as I know have never been in a “fight.” So thankful for that.

Nathan has been busy. He is loving music right now. He’s been to two piano lessons which he loves. We had to do lessons on Wednesdays which stinks, but we are hoping that we can change it in fall. He likes to practice and he loves to sing. So we shall see what the Lord is leading him to.

I put a bunch of pics below. Just great blessings the last couple weeks. Was blessed to get some more oils to help me in my treatment. Very thankful and I smell good! My high school soccer girls are working hard and desire to get better. I am blessed to be helped by them in so many ways. We got SNOW! I love just sitting and watching the snow come down. It was so nice to just sit and watch it come down hard and heavy. It didn’t leave any on the ground, but it was beautiful.

Scott and I went out to dinner with the Funks (our friends) and while we were there we got to see Alan and Pam (some friends from our old church) and then we got to see some other friends Angie and Scott before we walked out the door. So great! We ended up having to get a new washer and dryer after we had water all over the place. But what a blessing to get some and I love watching them do their work! Thank you Lord. The last picture….I know I look crazy as a fireman. But I loved and was blessed to go to Rick’s retirement party. Thank you for your service all these years.

I was sent this card and necklace from my friend Robyn. What a great reminder for me everyday that we are in a battle. An enemy that desires to kill, steal and destroy and I am thankful everyday for the army of angels that surround me and my Savior who stands in front of me and besides me to help me with all of my needs.

Thank you everyone for the prayers. I know the Lord is hearing them and giving me the energy and ability to do what He’s called me to do. I am thankful. I am blessed and I know that God is working and moving through this. I finished my 6th treatment so I am thankful for that. Praying for the Lord to provide my every need and for Him to live in and through me every day. He has a plan and will use THIS situation to bring glory to Himself and tell others, “listen up! Look at Me, Find Me.” I desire to be like that sunset and I know that He will show up and out BIG! Thank you FATHER!

Be Blessed! #hopewarrior

Christmas Time … is Here

This year was the year for Winter Kamp with my side of the family. It meant heading north to Minnesota to see my parents, 5 siblings and their spouses and then the 14 other grandkids. There really is no place like home.

Making the drive up to MN, there’s always two things you are watching: for the snow and the temp drop. We saw no snow in Missouri and really didn’t see any in Iowa on the way up. We had to get into MN to be able to see a bit of snow. This snow slopes I’m showing is a place you can go and ski/snowboard. I always went there at least once a year. Lot’s of fun. While we were heading up to Mn there wasn’t a bunch of snow in the forecast, so I was a little bummed. There wasn’t much snow on the ground either. But, the Lord brought us some snow while we were there and it was coming down hard. Lot’s of fun to see.
For Christmas Eve services we went to my parents church. Had a great time in worship and a huge blessing to see my best friend from high school, Stephanie Erickson(Foster). I haven’t seen her for years so seeing her was a special gift to me. She and I would spend hours laughing and training and playing soccer together. Thanks Steph for waiting for me so we could get a hug in!
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I couldn’t believe how much time Nathan spent outside in the little bit of snow we had the first day. He was outside forever. The girls were the ones pulling the cousins around in the snow. They claimed their running counted as team running…LOL! Goodness the little cousins loved having older cousins to pull them around.
After being outside for a long time, it was time to come in and cuddle with the kids and help out with inside games. Garrett led the 1000 piece puzzle making. He (and some helpers) finished it in 3-4 hours. That’s the picture of us putting last piece in. We enjoyed learning some new games with the aunts and uncles. There are so many cool games out there and unfortunately we don’t play them enough. Too much going on that we don’t carve it in to do it. Going to try to do better.
  • These ladies are my aunts. My mom is in the middle and these are her sisters. It’s always a blessing to see them. They did a lot for me growing up and my early married years. Very blessed.
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One of the days we went on a sleigh ride with a couple of horses back in the woods. It was so pretty with snow all over the trees. Not going to lie, it was cold. But, with blankets and coats…. you just get used to it and it’s not bad. Scott even survived. Loved watching the kids running down the hills with the snow everywhere and just enjoying watching their little cousins enjoying the moments.
We had fun at the Mall of America. However, it was very busy. So even if you want to eat at 1:45pm for lunch, there’s going to be a wait. We went to the Aquarium there and grabbed a couple cousins and my brother to go through it. Had a good time. It’s amazing to me how much they add on to the mall as time goes on. That thing was built when I was in high school. Pretty and fun at Christmas, as long as you aren’t in a hurry.
It was a huge blessing to have two of my brothers living closer to my parents now. They were able to host a lot of what we did to give my parents a break. Plus gave us a place to stay. The kids were loud. Not going to pretend they weren’t! It was a race all the time around the houses. Garrett found that the kids loved him a bunch! He’s really great with kids and loved the hugs and chases, ha! Ashton and Abbey were always carrying a kid around and playing with the kids. They enjoyed their baby time and babysitting so my siblings and our spouses could go to dinner. Nathan grew up this time. He did a better job being the “older” person instead of wanting to be the youngest! With 18 cousins, so far, and 14 of them are under 7….it’s a crazy time!
Abbey made those verses for each of my siblings. Did I mention that I have twin nieces now? What a sweet blessing for my sister to share with me. Such sweet girls. I pray….I pray that my nieces and nephews will love Jesus as much as I have been able to. When I was giving my little nieces and nephews a hug before we left…. I almost just broke down. We have no guarantee for tomorrow no matter what we are going through. But, I never spent a lot of time thinking about “my end”, until now with my diagnosis. I don’t think about it a lot, but it occurred to me, that I may never see my little nieces and nephews grow up. But, with cancer or not, that is that case for all of us. Each day, each hug, each smile, each moment is a gift and could be the last one. How would you want that to be? How would you want to be remembered? Life is short. It is. We spend too much time complaining and looking at how “bad” things are when we should be thankful and living the blessed life we’ve been given. I pray you take time to really live this way….You will be blessed. After all of this… we said goodbye to my family and headed home…..
When we got home we went to Stuttgart to visit and have Christmas with Scott’s parents. And we got to see our only living grandparent for Scott and I – Nanny. She loves Jesus so much. I am thankful for that. I feel so blessed that she prays for me and has all of the people she knows praying for me. She’s never thinking about herself at 97. Thankful she will be spending eternity with me. That sunset….was so beautiful and such a blessing. It was a picture of joy, hope and love just all wrapped up. When we left, Nathan, Scott and I went to the house to celebrate New Year’s Eve and the older teens went to have fun with friends.
It was nice getting back to town and back to some routine. Saw some of my girls a couple times at the school. Getting ourselves ready for the soccer season. We start100% when we get back Monday! Please pray against injury for these girls and for the girls to develop as hard as they work.
I”m reading through the Bible with some ladies. I’m using a different Bible this year and using a couple of books to help me think through some things. As I was reading about Noah today, I was really reminded about how so often, we allow what’s going on around us direct us and lead us to places that we don’t need to be. Noah walked with God. No matter what was going on around him, he chose to follow the Lord. Even when he was told to build the ark, which took 120 years, he did everything God commanded of him. I’m sure his neighbors wondered and laughed at what he was doing, yet that didn’t keep him from following what God had told him. As the world around him chose to live a different way, he chose to follow what God said, no matter what happened around him. How often do we give in to others or our circumstances instead of fully relying on and depending on the Lord? Our natural self, will do what we want and what is “good for us”. And we will miss out on what the Lord has set up for us. Don’t allow your circumstances to bring you away from the Lord. Trust Him and Follow Him each and every day. Many Blessings to all of you…Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Prayer Requests:

  • That I may feel prepared and ready to really get going on soccer and school stuff on Monday. I feel more behind this year.
  • Pray that my energy level is high and my focus remains where the Lord has me
  • For the Lord to continue healing my body and killing the cancer cells
  • For us to help Garrett in his final college decisions and helping the girls as they choose where they may want to go and where they would want to play soccer.