Yes, I'm still alive. Tired,
but alive & counting my blessings.
When last I blogged, I was
waiting for the results from my CT scan, packing for several weeks in Alabama
to train for my new job, and trying to get some rest. Remember, I did say I was
“trying.”
The weekend of June 14 &
15, one of my closest friends, Chris, came to visit. On Saturday, we went down
the shore to Ocean City, NJ to have breakfast & walk/sit on the beach. It
was a beautiful, warm, sunny day. We even got to watch some of the lifeguard
trials. After driving home, he went off to have dinner with another friend and
I showered, changed clothes and drove with my sister to church to sing with the
choir. Sunday morning, it was back to church to sing with my choir family &
teach KBS (Sunday School). Sunday was also Father’s Day, so we BBQ'd some brat
burgers, Chris came back over, and we enjoyed another fabulous summer evening on our back deck. Chris left early to get to his hotel because he had an early
morning flight. I finished packing my 2 suitcases and went to bed.
On Monday morning, I
realized that I had packed way too much stuff and ended up repacking my
suitcases before the shuttle picked me up. Whew!!! The flights to Birmingham weren't too bad. We left late from Philly, but I didn't miss my connection in
Charlotte.
I was in training with
another girl, Cindy, from Virginia. We got along great!! She had also worked
for Carlson, so we knew some of the same people. We also enjoyed our time
learning with our trainer, Tammy. Most days I think we laughed more than we
learned. In fact, the class on the other side of the wall thought all we did
was laugh.
And finally heard late on
Monday, June 16 that the CT scan was good or “negative”!!! WooHoo!!! Praise the
Lord!!! I am now in what I hope will be a long term relationship with NED (No
Evidence of Disease). Of course I can’t be considered cancer-free until after 5
years, but I'm confident in the healing power of the Great Physician and the
prayers of His people.
Over the 2 ½ weeks in
Birmingham, we tried a different restaurant each night – from Mongolian to
seafood, steak to Mexican. These figures were in front of the Mexican restaurant. I called them the metal Mexicans.
On the first weekend in
Birmingham, I went to the botanical gardens and wandered around and visited a
church recommended by Tammy. The church was big!! The music & message were
very good. The remainder of the first weekend, I rested and rested and then rested
some more. By Monday morning, I felt so much better. Training went well the
next week. In fact, on Friday, they advised us that they were sending us home a
day early!!!
The 2nd weekend in Birmingham, I drove to Atlanta to see our close family friends. The drive is about 3 hours, but it wasn't too bad. I arrived about 9pm and although I was tired, we stayed up and chatted until after 11pm!!! We relaxed on Saturday morning while they were getting their air-conditioning repaired. Meanwhile, I did my laundry and caught up on emails, etc. Saturday night, we went to the fabulous Georgia Aquarium. They have wonderful displays of many sea creatures. We just loved watching the Beluga whales, the dolphins, the rays, and the whale sharks. God’s creativity reaches to the depths of the sea, too!!!
On Sunday, I went to church. Again, the music and message were very good. One of the songs we sang really resounded with me, “Never Once” by written by Matt Redman, Jason Ingram, and Tim Wanstall. The video below is of Matt Redman singing these fabulous words:
Standing on this mountaintop
Looking just how far we've come
Knowing that for every step
You were with us
Kneeling on this battle ground
Seeing just how much You've done
Knowing every victory
Was Your power in us
Scars and struggles on the way
But with joy our hearts can say
Yes, our hearts can say
Never once did we ever walk alone
Never once did You leave us on our own
You are faithful, God, You are faithful
Carried by Your constant grace
Held within Your perfect peace
Never once, no, we never walk alone
Every step we are breathing in Your grace
Evermore we'll be breathing out Your praise
You are faithful, God, You are faithful
You are faithful, God, You are faithful
You are faithful, God, You are faithful
You are faithful, God, You are faithful
When we arrived back to work
on Monday, we were officially done our classroom training and we were “on the
phones.” It felt good to be talking travel again and helping people get from
point A to point B. At first, I felt a little nervous, but as the day went on,
I felt more & more comfortable on the phones and on the computer. On
Tuesday, we were back on the phones again and making sure that we had
everything we needed before we went home.
Tuesday night, I packed and
repacked all my clothes, shoes, toiletries, etc. I think I packed better going
home than I did going to Birmingham. We left the hotel at 6:30 am. We checked
in for our flights and they put me on stand-by for the earlier flight to
Atlanta. They were offering vouchers if you were willing to change to a later
flight, but as tempting as that was, I just wanted to get home. I did get on
the earlier flight; it just meant I had a longer layover in Atlanta. I found my
gate and an outlet and parked myself there until we were almost ready to leave.
My carry-on bag was so incredibly heavy – 2 laptops, a phone, my Nook, and a
notebook. I think I still have an indentation on my right shoulder!!! But
thankfully on both flights, someone helped me get it into the overhead
compartment!!!
Of course we were delayed in
taking off from Atlanta due to some bad weather in Philly. After what seemed
like an eternity, we finally made our way north. During the flight I read a bit
and napped a bit. As we were on final approach, the handsome young man sitting
in the middle seat started chatting with me. Turns out he had just been released
from the Rome Braves, one of the minor league teams of the Atlanta Braves. His
name is A.J. Holland and he’s a pitcher. It was fun talking to him. I wished
him well and told him I hoped another team would pick him up. As of this
writing, I don't think that has happened. He’s seems like a really nice guy.
If there’s one thing I
really don’t like, its baggage claim in Philly. I think it’s THE slowest
baggage claim in the world. And I've been to a lot of airports!!! It’s so slow
that my sister had to make 3 trips around the airport until I could get to the
curb!!! Ugh!!! Then of course, we got stuck in holiday traffic with people
heading down the shore. What is usually a half hour trip home from the airport
took over an hour. BUT it was great to be home and be with my family!!! And
that night, it was definitely good to sleep in my own bed. Ahhhh!!!!!
And then July 3rd came…. Part 2 on Tuesday.
God provides. I’ve known it.
I’ve seen it. I've lived it.
Only By His Strength,
Sandy