Three Things On My Bulletin Board

I’ve never had a great deal of patience, just ask my family ;-)  When I want something accomplished, my style is to get in there and do it, buy it, fix it, change it, say it, etc.  Well, right now I’ve lost a great deal of control over my life, something I’m having a hard time with!

Several items have miraculously fallen in my path since my diagnosis that are helping me to rethink my general philosophy and sense of control:

1

For those of you who’ve known me a long time, I lost my dear father fourteen years ago after a long and brave fight with pancreatic cancer.  In many ways I’m like him.  While he didn’t share his personal fight openly, we saw his determination and intense will to win and live.  Yet, near the end, he exuded this incredible sense of comfort and peace, a quality I’d not noticed in him before.  Nothing seemed to ruffle his feathers, he smiled and laughed, relishing each precious moment.  Well, I was reading my Bible several days after we discovered I had breast cancer.  Mine is one in a zippered cover, often spilling contents from services or events tucked in odd places.  On this particular morning, I rediscovered some notes my Daddy had written, on the back of a photocopied book excerpt on relaxation and visualization, probably given to him by a well meaning friend.  I’d looked at this before (I still don’t know how it ended up in my Bible, but there it WILL stay), but examined it once again with new eyes.  His notes were personal, notes to himself, notes that connote a changed spirit and understanding of just what we DO have control over, because truly, God has a plan for each of us.  Here is the first thing I put on my bulletin board:  

ATTITUDE

By Charles Swindoll

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.  Attitude, to me, is more important than facts.  It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do.  It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill.  It will make or break a company... a church... a home.  The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we embrace for that day.  We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way.  We cannot change the inevitable.  The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude...  

I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.  And so it is with you... we are in charge of our attitudes.”

2

After my father passed, it was a rough time for our family, especially my sweet mother.  She pressed on, with incredible strength and dignity that I so admire in her.  As a career army officer’s wife she’s endured a lot and has, on many occasions, had to play mom and dad.  I hope I’ve inherited at least a bit of her fortitude!  Our first Christmas without Daddy was especially difficult.  In my stocking (yes, Mama still fills our stockings :) was a book on “Hope.”  I’m sure I thanked her, and certainly appreciated the gift.  But this book sat on my bookshelf for years, untouched, unopened, until a few weeks ago when I spied it (why???) while I sat in my comfy chair, thinking about how life had dealt me an ugly blow.  I went and grabbed it, and opened to the first page.  Here’s the second thing on my bulletin board:  

“Hope” is the thing with feathers

That perches in the soul

And sings the tune without the words

And never stops... at all

~Emily Dickinson

3

I’ve been reading passages in this book, not every day, but when the mood strikes me.  Many verses resonate with my soul, but one has appeared in several places, including in a FB message from a dear friend AND on a magnet in the office of a new colleague.  Here’s the third thing on my bulletin board:

And we know that in ALL things God works for the good of those who love him.

Romans 8:28

There have been so many “God” moments in the past few weeks, and so many cards, sweet gifts, meals for my family, and visits.  There are also many who are praying, and I’m grateful.  I understand the power of prayer.