Seven months ago my mother died and two days ago we welcomed a granddaughter who bears her name. Tamsin Joyce Bernard weighed in at 7 pound 14 ounces and was 19 inches long. In my mind’s eye, I could picture my mother giving her all kinds of advice before she made her way here to bless our lives. Of course, once I entered the room, she never left my arms until we were ready to go home. I couldn’t take my eyes off of her perfect little face with such even features and the healthy glow of her soft baby skin. She slept peacefully while we were there and I am sure it was because her new grandma was holding her. With several family members and two exhausted new parents in the room to celebrate her arrival, the mood was on of jubilance, joy and gratitude.
My mind then wandered to the only other time I have been in the American Fork Hospital. The mood then was tense and anxious, as many of these same family members were there to support me during my Breast Cancer surgery some 3 1/2 years ago. Suddenly, it hit me that ironically, in both of these situations, there was a common thread…..a great sense of hope. We have high hopes for Tamsin’s future and we will all play our parts in nurturing her along the road to adulthood. During my surgery we all had hope for the best scenario and that I could beat this disease. I was able to do this through faith, prayers, much support from friends and family, and the wonderful advances in medical technology.
On Sunday I read a brief book review on a book entitled,” A Perfect Brightness of Hope” by Davis S. Baxter. In this book he teaches that no success in life is possible without hope for “Without hope, we are at the mercy of life’s events.” I intend to purchase this book very soon and digest its positive message. There simply cannot be too much hope in the world; hope for success; hope for world peace; hope for good health; hope for financial security; hope for spiritual strength and hope that our loved ones, now gone, are in a better place. Whether we are welcoming new babies, bidding love ones good bye, fighting Cancer or other difficult health issues, facing any number of family struggles, or just plodding along putting one foot in front of the other each day, “A Perfect Brightness of Hope,” as Baxter so aptly phrased the title of his book, will greatly bless our lives.
Kathy Christensen
Survivor
Member, Lifting Hearts
Showing posts with label Hope. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hope. Show all posts
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Thursday, June 28, 2012
THURSDAY THOUGHTS - "There Is Always Hope, Faith, and Tomorrow Morning"
Guest Post -
Each year as Mother's Day approaches my husband, Ron, and I make a trip to the nursery to choose the bedding plants for our yard. The together we plan them so I can watch them grow all summer long. This has been my Mother's Day gift for several years and I can't think of better one. As we shopped this year, we selected three beautiful Peony bushes for the northeast corner of our front yard. They were in full bloom with hot pink flowers when we purchased them, a somewhat different choice for us, but we both liked them so we took them home and spent the day planting them along with the Geraniums we bought.
After the first blooming flowers wilted and we removed them, I became concerned because I couldn't see any new buds to replace them. The leaves looked pretty sad too and at one point, I considered replacing them altogether. I know flowers go through a shock when they are transplanted, but it had been nearly a month... longer than any plants I remember taking to adjust. Ron told me that some flowers go through a dormant phase, so we should wait a little longer and I agreed to give them a last chance. We checked them every day and before long, we saw the new buds working their way out. Not only were there more buds, but they shot up much taller than the original flowers did. I was thrilled and so grateful we didn't uproot and replace them.
This experience taught (or should I say re-taught) me the important principle of patience. Most things that are worthwhile take time to materialize. It takes time for new marriages to find their rhythm and for more mature marriages to keep their rhythm strong; it take time and patience to wait for babies to be born, especially for those moms who are pregnant through the hot summer months; it takes time and patience to build homes and for mortgages to be paid off; it takes time for Cancer surgeries to heal and for chemo and radiation treatments to be completed. And how about finishing college degrees or seeing family members through the rough patches in their lives?
Richard L. Evans, a well respected writer and spiritual leader, penned a wonderful quote that reads, "Always again there is another day. Always, eternally there is hope and faith and tomorrow morning." It is hard to wait as we discover what will or will not work in a marriage; as we endure waiting for a baby to be born and learn how to parent after they get here; as we wait until the discomfort and exhaustion of chemo and radiation treatments are over; and while we wait and watch as our loved ones struggle to learn many of life's most difficult lessons. But just as the Peony plants in my front yard took hold when they were ready, the times and seasons of our lives ebb, flow and unfold when the time is right. And thank heavens as Evans so aptly said, "There is always hope, faith and tomorrow morning."
-Kathy Christensen
Survivor
Member, Lifting Hearts
Each year as Mother's Day approaches my husband, Ron, and I make a trip to the nursery to choose the bedding plants for our yard. The together we plan them so I can watch them grow all summer long. This has been my Mother's Day gift for several years and I can't think of better one. As we shopped this year, we selected three beautiful Peony bushes for the northeast corner of our front yard. They were in full bloom with hot pink flowers when we purchased them, a somewhat different choice for us, but we both liked them so we took them home and spent the day planting them along with the Geraniums we bought.
After the first blooming flowers wilted and we removed them, I became concerned because I couldn't see any new buds to replace them. The leaves looked pretty sad too and at one point, I considered replacing them altogether. I know flowers go through a shock when they are transplanted, but it had been nearly a month... longer than any plants I remember taking to adjust. Ron told me that some flowers go through a dormant phase, so we should wait a little longer and I agreed to give them a last chance. We checked them every day and before long, we saw the new buds working their way out. Not only were there more buds, but they shot up much taller than the original flowers did. I was thrilled and so grateful we didn't uproot and replace them.
This experience taught (or should I say re-taught) me the important principle of patience. Most things that are worthwhile take time to materialize. It takes time for new marriages to find their rhythm and for more mature marriages to keep their rhythm strong; it take time and patience to wait for babies to be born, especially for those moms who are pregnant through the hot summer months; it takes time and patience to build homes and for mortgages to be paid off; it takes time for Cancer surgeries to heal and for chemo and radiation treatments to be completed. And how about finishing college degrees or seeing family members through the rough patches in their lives?
Richard L. Evans, a well respected writer and spiritual leader, penned a wonderful quote that reads, "Always again there is another day. Always, eternally there is hope and faith and tomorrow morning." It is hard to wait as we discover what will or will not work in a marriage; as we endure waiting for a baby to be born and learn how to parent after they get here; as we wait until the discomfort and exhaustion of chemo and radiation treatments are over; and while we wait and watch as our loved ones struggle to learn many of life's most difficult lessons. But just as the Peony plants in my front yard took hold when they were ready, the times and seasons of our lives ebb, flow and unfold when the time is right. And thank heavens as Evans so aptly said, "There is always hope, faith and tomorrow morning."
-Kathy Christensen
Survivor
Member, Lifting Hearts
Monday, August 1, 2011
MONDAY MOTIVATION - Looking At Trials Through Rose-Colored Glasses
"You can complain because roses have thorns, or you can rejoice because thorns have roses."
The other day, my husband and I got into the car to go somewhere, and Rick put on his sunglasses. He said, "I love how these sunglasses just make everything look so much better." Rick showed me how the blinding sun is cut out, and the colors come alive.. everything is vibrant and beautiful.
Have you ever heard the phrase "Looking at life through rose-colored glasses"? I was thinking about that phrase the other day. Life is wonderful, but it can be hard. We all have trials to get through during our lives, and many of the trials are very difficult. There is a huge potential for us to want to give up - to lose hope. It's easy to lose hope if we are looking at our trials, and seeing only terrible things. But, if we thinking about putting on glasses that help us see a little bit better - that help us see things through the eyes of hope, rather than despair, it's my belief that we can feel better about the things we have to deal with.
Just like Rick putting on his sunglasses, and being able to better appreciate everything there is to see in this beautiful world, we can put on our "rose-colored" glasses, and see our trials for what they really are... not events that will make us miserable, but events that will help mold us into better people; that will help us have strength, patience, and understanding; that will make us better than we were before.
And that makes life beautiful and vibrant, don't you think?
"There are always flowers for those who want to see them." -Henri Matisse
The other day, my husband and I got into the car to go somewhere, and Rick put on his sunglasses. He said, "I love how these sunglasses just make everything look so much better." Rick showed me how the blinding sun is cut out, and the colors come alive.. everything is vibrant and beautiful.
Have you ever heard the phrase "Looking at life through rose-colored glasses"? I was thinking about that phrase the other day. Life is wonderful, but it can be hard. We all have trials to get through during our lives, and many of the trials are very difficult. There is a huge potential for us to want to give up - to lose hope. It's easy to lose hope if we are looking at our trials, and seeing only terrible things. But, if we thinking about putting on glasses that help us see a little bit better - that help us see things through the eyes of hope, rather than despair, it's my belief that we can feel better about the things we have to deal with.
Just like Rick putting on his sunglasses, and being able to better appreciate everything there is to see in this beautiful world, we can put on our "rose-colored" glasses, and see our trials for what they really are... not events that will make us miserable, but events that will help mold us into better people; that will help us have strength, patience, and understanding; that will make us better than we were before.
And that makes life beautiful and vibrant, don't you think?
"There are always flowers for those who want to see them." -Henri Matisse
Thursday, March 31, 2011
THURSDAY THOUGHTS - Hope: Serene, Confident, Steady, and Strong...
Each year as winter comes to a close and the weather warms up, I find myself anticipating new flowers, new warmth, and new life. It has been said that hope is anything but wishful. It is expectation based on experience. And so each year as Spring draws closer, my spirits tend to lift as the newness of the season approaches. My heart feels lighter as the chill of Winter drops into the background once again.
I found a wonderful quote which expresses my feelings and I wish to share it with you. Once again, I don't know the author, but I hope these words resonate with you as they did with me:
"I see Hope clearly now. She is serene. Her eyes have the deep knowing look of someone well acquainted with sorrow, the luminosity of recently being wet with tears. Hope has the confidence of one who clearly sees a bright future even when the next hours seem fog shrouded. Hope is steady and strong, a friend I am glad to have beside me during my own trials."
Trials come in all varieties and it seem they are everywhere around us. Whether they involve our health,finances, social injustice, family issues, or emotional insecurities, the serenity of hope can give us the strength to keep going; to "Keep on Keepin' on" as my Grandma Belle always used to say. Hope is never far away and is a friend that each of us can hang on to when the going gets tough.
Kathy Christensen
Guest Blogger
Sister Survivor
I found a wonderful quote which expresses my feelings and I wish to share it with you. Once again, I don't know the author, but I hope these words resonate with you as they did with me:
"I see Hope clearly now. She is serene. Her eyes have the deep knowing look of someone well acquainted with sorrow, the luminosity of recently being wet with tears. Hope has the confidence of one who clearly sees a bright future even when the next hours seem fog shrouded. Hope is steady and strong, a friend I am glad to have beside me during my own trials."
Trials come in all varieties and it seem they are everywhere around us. Whether they involve our health,finances, social injustice, family issues, or emotional insecurities, the serenity of hope can give us the strength to keep going; to "Keep on Keepin' on" as my Grandma Belle always used to say. Hope is never far away and is a friend that each of us can hang on to when the going gets tough.
Kathy Christensen
Guest Blogger
Sister Survivor
Thursday, December 30, 2010
THURSDAY THOUGHTS - Brenda Coffee's Blog Post - Holidays, Cancer, and Hope...
Finally back from the holiday bustle! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. Today, I thought I'd share a blog post I read a few days ago on Brenda Coffee's blog. She is such a great writer, and said many things that resonated with me. The post was called "Holidays, Cancer, and Hope", and can be found on the home page of her blog - BREAST CANCER SISTERHOOD. This is a blog I read often, because I signed up for her newsletter. While you're visiting her blog, go ahead and sign up for the newsletter. You'll get an email whenever she posts something. It's really nice.
Tomorrow, I'll try to post some of the yummy recipes we enjoyed at our Sister Survivors Christmas party a few weeks ago.
Have a great day!
-Kara
Tomorrow, I'll try to post some of the yummy recipes we enjoyed at our Sister Survivors Christmas party a few weeks ago.
Have a great day!
-Kara
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
TUESDAY TIDINGS - Giving up "Hope"...
One of our Sister Survivors sent in a link to the National Breast Cancer Coalition's Breast Cancer Deadline website. It's an interesting thing to watch/read. The basic idea is that for years we've had "HOPE" that there would be a cure for breast cancer. In the last decade, there has not been a significant decrease in the number of daily breast cancer deaths - even though there has been lots of time and money pumped into research for a cure. Now, they have decided that hope is not enough - that we need a deadline to come up with a cure. Here are just a few words of explanation from their website:
"Plainly, we need something more powerful than hope.
We didn’t hope our way to the moon. If all we ventured was hope, we’d still be on the ground.
We got to the moon because we set a deadline for getting there. We have never had a deadline for the end of breast cancer. It’s not that we tried and it failed. We’ve never tried. We have never had one. Never.
No date. No goal. No rush. Nothing to hold ourselves accountable to. No one on the hook. No reputations at stake. Is it any wonder we haven’t ended it? How can we possibly achieve a goal if we don’t have one?
Consoled by hope, we keep giving breast cancer more time.
No more.
Today we give up hope. It’s the most optimistic step ever taken in the history of the breast cancer battle.
Today we set a goal. Today we set a deadline. January 1, 2020. The end of breast cancer. Hope is a wish. The deadline is a commitment. Hope says whenever. The deadline says within ten years. What if we fail? We already have. What about pink? It’s time to show our true colors. Ten years is too short? We ended polio in seven."
Here is the link if you'd like to read more or watch the video...
http://www.breastcancerdeadline2020.org/
There is also a huge countdown clock on the site.
"Plainly, we need something more powerful than hope.
We didn’t hope our way to the moon. If all we ventured was hope, we’d still be on the ground.
We got to the moon because we set a deadline for getting there. We have never had a deadline for the end of breast cancer. It’s not that we tried and it failed. We’ve never tried. We have never had one. Never.
No date. No goal. No rush. Nothing to hold ourselves accountable to. No one on the hook. No reputations at stake. Is it any wonder we haven’t ended it? How can we possibly achieve a goal if we don’t have one?
Consoled by hope, we keep giving breast cancer more time.
No more.
Today we give up hope. It’s the most optimistic step ever taken in the history of the breast cancer battle.
Today we set a goal. Today we set a deadline. January 1, 2020. The end of breast cancer. Hope is a wish. The deadline is a commitment. Hope says whenever. The deadline says within ten years. What if we fail? We already have. What about pink? It’s time to show our true colors. Ten years is too short? We ended polio in seven."
Here is the link if you'd like to read more or watch the video...
http://www.breastcancerdeadline2020.org/
There is also a huge countdown clock on the site.
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