BEYOND EXPECTATIONS

               BEYOND EXPECTATIONS

     While gazing at the beautiful skyline of Houston in the distance, my husband Steve and I felt relaxed, rested and serene. How we got to the setting is a thrilling story, one you must hear.

     The previous day on the airplane flight to Houston I was musing with God, reiterating to Him how much I was anticipating the next brilliant composition He had arranged for us to enjoy, possibly on this trip. The words to a song came to mind, "His mercies are fresh every morning." I began to think how his blessings are also new every morning, his promises are firm every morning and on and on.

     We have experienced many magnificent miracles in our lives and we are sometimes overwhelmed by the genius of His mind in originating the events and planning the orchestration of them so that we are struck with awe every time when we see them unfold.

     On the plane trip my husband was a little nervous about taking another blood test, a chest x-ray and another CT scan in order to chart the progress of the chemotherapy cocktails he has been receiving for the past six weeks. However, he was excited, too, to see Our Heavenly Father's hand prints displayed in such a way that we could not miss them. We are forever in awe of His acts of love shown toward His children. When this event unfolded it went beyond our wildest expectations.

     When making the reservations at the suite hotel in Houston, Steve had requested a particular configuration of the suite we had enjoyed on the last trip which was only six weeks in the recent past. That room was what I would call a studio suite because it was a huge room with two queen sized beds, a TV viewing seating arrangement with a love seat and coffee table. It had a full kitchen and a huge bathroom. The room had served us perfectly and we requested the same type of room for this particular stay.   The reservation clerk had told him that there were other requests for that type of room, also, but that she would do her best to accommodate us.

     After the flight we were picked up by the hotel shuttle service and transported to the suite hotel. At the check-in counter we were told by the young lady in charge that there were no more rooms like we had requested, but that we were getting two connecting suites for only ten dollars more than the price of the studio suite.

     Steve and I looked at each other and laughed in a kind of a Hallelujah laugh, sharing the realization that this was one of God's kisses to us, another one of his surprises that He sneaks in when we least expect them.

We expected something thrilling but we didn't anticipate anything of this magnitude.

     When we entered the connecting suites we were delighted, thrilled and in awe. Steve had his own bedroom and full bath, plus an apartment sized kitchen. I had my own bedroom and full bath. The connecting living room and kitchen area was perfect for us with the large couch and flat screen TV, office desk with Wi Fi connection and a fully equipped kitchen. A shuttered door led outside to an 8 by 16 covered balcony which contained a patio table and chairs and two lawn chair recliners.

     Steve confessed to me that having two bathrooms met the desires of his heart because he was concerned about my ability to get enough sleep in a studio suite because of his frequent trips to the bathroom after consuming the huge amounts of water he is instructed to drink after the tests. Sure enough, the desires of his heart were met without his asking for them. He had his own bedroom and bathroom. I was not disturbed at all.

     I remembered that on our previous stay at the hotel I was intrigued by the huge balcony that I could see from our studio suite, and I wondered what the rooms are like that led to the balcony. Here we were, finding out first hand what they are like, and we were enjoying their luxury for three nights.    
     Previously, Our Heavenly Father must have made note of my curiosity about the rooms and in His generosity arranged for us to nestle down during this trip in the connecting suites. The scriptures say that He knows what we need and desire before we even ask. This blessing was evidence of the truth of that particular scripture.

     We reveled in the evidence of the abundance of God's love and power.
During our stay we spent every morning drinking coffee and reading the morning paper seated at the table on the balcony, also gazing at the beautiful skyline of Houston.

     We both felt completely rested when the three days were over, even though we had to meet several appointments on those days. The layout of the connecting suites was perfectly suited to our needs.

     Yes, His mercies are new every morning toward His children. We are so fortunate to experience His mercies and His blessings, all part of our privileges that come from being His children.

     I know that the joy we had from being on the receiving end were reflections of the joy that Our Heavenly Father experienced in being able to provide such a wonderful surprise for two of his children. Just think, he did the same type of blessing for a multitudes of His other children at the same time.

     It just blows your mind; doesn't it!

CHEMOTHERAPY HAPPINESS

                                 CHEMOTHERAPY HAPPINESS

      Finishing the first round of chemotherapy was a momentous day for my husband. He hadn’t sailed right through it, but he has made it through with some good days and some bad days.

     Many friends and relatives had contacted us to find out how it went, if he got sick, if he lacked energy and if he had experienced all of the usual maladies that afflict chemotherapy patients. In order to answer their queries but so as neither to bore them with minute details nor to speak negatively about the experience, I sat down and decided to write a short silly song describing the events of the past three weeks. When a dear friend expressed sympathy for us, I had quickly commented, “Some days are crappy and some days are happy,” and left it at that. When I began to tap into the creative part of my brain for words to rhyme with crappy and happy, they began to flow readily. This is the song that came together that day:

Chemotherapy Lamentations

Some days are crappy,

Some days are happy,

We have to be snappy

To turn crappy days to happy.

We learned that a nappy

Changes crappy to happy.

We wake from the nappy

A happy Mom and Pappy.

     I sent emails and letters to the inquisitive friends and relatives quoting the newly written silly song, hoping to show the caring ones that it wasn’t a bed of roses, but that we had finished the first course of chemo in a good mood and with some humor.

     The weekly Bible Study that I attend met the day before the beginning of the second course of chemo, and I felt that I needed to meet with my friends for encouragement and prayers. I needed an emotional boost as well as needing a few hours away from the cancer scene at home, though it had not been as depressing as I had anticipated it would be.

    When we all gathered together, my friend Marcia commented on the song I had written and proceeded to tell us about an experience she had had that would blow our minds. The tale involved the fact that she had read to her husband the song I had written to fill him in on what was going on at the Allen household during the chemo adventure. Marcia told us that immediately after reading the song to her husband their phone rang and a friend related something that required Marcia to find a certain book. Marcia knew that she had the book but didn’t know exactly where she had put it. She looked in obvious places to no avail. For some reason the thought came to her mind to look in the drawers in the bureau in the dining room. She did and could not find the book in any of the logical places in the drawers.

     She began to leaf through a plethora of greeting cards that she keeps on hand in one of the drawers to send to people, birthday cards, sympathy cards, friendship cards and others that fit many occasions.

     Toward the bottom of the drawer her eyes fell upon the front of a card that she had no memory of buying. The front of the card showed a dog in a bent over position straining to release excrement. Then in the lower part of the front of the card it showed the same dog with a grin on his face and saying, “Smile.“

She opened the card and the inside inscription read, ”Better to be happy than crappy.”

     Marcia knew immediately who should be the recipient of the card.

     As normally happens at our weekly meetings, we all ended up laughing hysterically, knowing that the card was a confirmation from God to my husband and me, alerting us to the fact that keeping a happy attitude relieves the crappy days of depression.

     We were all laughing at the anticipated reaction of my husband Steve, that he was going to think that the card added emphasis to the chemo song in a funny way. Were we ever wrong!

      I rushed home and gave the card to Steve. He read it and was struck with awe at the miracle of the card, that Marcia had a card in her drawer at home that said the same thing that I had written in a silly song. All he could say was, “I’m in awe.”

     I left home to go to the grocery store, anticipating the new and varied menu we would again have as his appetite came and went, ebbed and flowed for the next weeks. Driving in the car I was musing about his reaction to the card, which was not what we expected when the ladies sent it to him. Then the insight of God came to my mind. He said, “You didn’t know I was sending a message to him; did you?”

     That insight deserved a big, “Wow,” from me, which is often an unusual exclamation of praise to God that I find coming from my lips. Then I gave God another contemporary act of praise by asking Him, “How do you do that? How do you do these marvelous things for us?” I didn’t expect an answer because I know it already. It’s because he loves us so much.

     A miracle? Yes. Almost too astounding to believe.

     A message? Yes. Steve told me that the next morning at the doctor’s office he told a lady who was receiving chemotherapy infusions at the same time, “You can either be crappy or you can be happy.’ I believe God got his message across.

I’m still thinking, “How did you do that, Father?” I’m not really asking to see the working behind the scenes of how it happened, I’m merely exclaiming my amazement that He is able to keep us in awe of His miraculous ways.

     He never ceases to thrill us with the way He works. I just never expected Him to use a pooping dog, but He did and it got the message across.