One of my favorite writers and speakers, Andy Andrews, often talks about how important perspective is to us all. I completely agree with him, and I try to always keep perspective in mind when I'm faced with big decisions and even little ones. Changing perspective can often open our eyes and our hearts to things we are missing and remind us to focus on the things that really matter in our lives. Yes, perspective is a wonderful thing.
As those of you who have read my past blogs know, my husband and I have had some financial struggles during the last few years. We have had to make some tough decisions, but we have learned many lessons and are grateful for the things God has shown us during this time. I made the decision to go back to school to add a teaching license to my degree, and I am super excited to have graduated and begin my first teaching job this Fall. My husband has had to rebuild his business from ground zero, but he has been blessed with new, different opportunities.
It is usually when things seem to be going well, that we hit a rough patch. For those of you who have ever flown, it's like turbulence. It doesn't show up on the radar, you know you'll get through it, but it can still be a little scary, or a lot scary, at times. So, with my new job on the horizon and things looking better every day, we flew into some turbulence at the end of last week. I know we will get through it, but it is one of those a lot scary patches. Well, it was a lot scary until I changed my perspective.
We ran into turbulence late Friday afternoon. Earlier in the day I learned that a very sweet friend had gotten the news that the breast cancer that was originally thought to be only in her right breast had been in her left breast (both of which she had removed last week along with lymph nodes from her right side). She will go back to the hospital this week to have surgery to remove lymph nodes on her left side and have a scan to determine if the cancer has spread to other parts of her body. Talk about some turbulence! So, as scary as my situation is at the moment, it is nothing like waiting to find out if and how far the cancer has spread. My news could change my lifestyle, but it certainly didn't threaten my life.
I didn't sleep well last night, so I got up pretty early this morning to begin checking email and getting a few things done while everyone else sleeps. I read the Caring Bridge post that our friend had posted late last night. She expressed her gratitude for cards, visits, meals, and phone calls. She very honestly stated that at times she is worried but that she is moving faithfully forward knowing that God is in control. She is amazing! As I wrote down her schedule for the week so that I would remember to pray each day for whatever she was facing, my perspective on my situation was once again changed. This is what I wrote down:
Tuesday.................................Surgery
Wednesday............................Pet Scan
Thursday................................Follow-up with Surgeon
Friday.....................................Meet with Oncologist
Yes, my situation is serious, and we will have to address it this week. If all goes well, it will be taken care of by the end of the day today. My week will involve some phone calls and some emails and maybe some old-fashioned letters. My week is nothing in comparison to the week that I just outlined above, and I'm so grateful for the gift of perspective to remind me.
