Inspired!

I started out 2012 feeling like there was a life lesson to be learned, but that I just couldn't grasp what it was.  Because of separate incidents that occured in the same area of my life I just KNEW there was something I was supposed to be learning, but I just couldn't figure out what it was. 

As the year progressed my quest for this big "answer" never really got anwered, or at least not answered in an easy to sum up "What I Learned in 2012" facebook status (Not even this blog is big enough), but one thing I did learn is that there are amazing people in my life who can teach me lessons and help me grow as a person, even when they're not trying to.   Just through observing the lives of 3 friends in particular this year I have come away inspired.  Only one of these women has chosen the challenge she's faced this year, but all three of them have climbed some pretty big mountains this year (like Mt. Everest sized mountains).   Watching them struggle, stumble, succeed, and learn has caused me to look at the challenges in my own life and know they're not impossible.

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About this time last year I, along with a few others, received an e-mail from a friend of ours who had found a lump in her breast.  In the first few business days of 2012 my friend was in her car, on the freeway, when she received the offical diagnosis of breast cancer. Through her journey I have followed her progress on facebook where she's been extremely transparent about the good days and bad.  Since her diagnosis in January my friend has faced a mastectomy, chemo and finally reconstruction with a grace that just absolutely astounds me.  I've followed Jesus for about half of my life now and I have NEVER seen anyone handle adversity the way this friend has been.  This friend "works the room" whenever she has an appointment at her oncologists, at chemo, at  Herceptin treatments, at the plastic surgeon, etc.  My friend wants to get to know other women who are on the same journey with her so they can encourage each other.  My friend sees her cancer diagnosis as a journey to encourage others and bring them together.  My friend knows there is a purpose to her battle and is just being her (extremely extroverted) self as she goes along side other women in her (lack of) a bra.

In addition to encouraging others who are facing breast cancer, my friend is being very real and open about breast cancer for those of us who have never walked closely with someone during their treatment so that we would be able to have more empathy for those on this journey and so that we could be more educated.

Interestingly enough this same friend had finished chemo before she even made her diagnosis public on her regular facebook page (After 25+ years in marketing and media she knows A LOT of people)!

Whether she realizes it or not this friend's example should be the basis of a book titled "How to Handle Cancer and any other Life Altering Event"

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The only friend from this list who chose her battle is a rockstar. Ok, not literally, but she's cooler than pretty much any rock star I can think of.  Bon Jovi is cool and everything but is he a mom to 4 kids, actively involved in church, cook well enough to be a chef at his own restaurant, maintain his own blog . . . and oh yeah . . . complete an Ironman?  Yeah, I didn't think so.  That's why Missy from Sugar Coated Athlete is cooler than a rock star.

I'm not an athlete and I don't like to bake (I sure as heck  LOVE to eat sweets, though so if you want to bake me some I'll be home waiting for you!!!), but I read Missy's blog almost every day.  Seeing the workouts she does, the food she cooks, and the way she makes me laugh out loud while I'm reading her blog all inspire me.

You can read about Missy's journey to the finish line of the Arizona Ironman on her blog, but briefly it has included crashes, a trip to the ER, a long, HOT, very long, VERY HOT Phoenix summer, vacation, selling a house/moving a family of 6, potty training a toddler, and other normal life stuff that occurs when you're married and have 4 kids.

I've often said I don't have time to work out because of my kids.  Well . . . Missy has 2 more kids than I do, blogs more often than I do and still can ride her bike 90 miles on a Saturday afternoon.  What's my excuse? Yeah, I don't have one.

If Missy can train for an Ironman (quick education: An Ironman course is a 2.4mi swim, 112 mi bike ride and as if that weren't enough for one day . . . there's a full 26.2mi marathon at the end just for kicks).   I can't even run to the end of my street if I turn left out of my driveway.  (I totally kick butt when I run to the end of my street by hanging a right out of my driveway because my house IS at the end of the street)

Missy has inspired me to get off the couch and get moving!  I have no desire to ever be an Ironman, but I KNOW I'm capable of achieving my goals with enough determination and grit.

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When your husband of 14 years tells you there's someone else and he wants you and the kids to "set him free" how would you handle it?

One friend found out this fall.  Like me she said she'd always considered this marital issue to be a "deal breaker".   Through her blog and her facebook page I watched a true miracle occur when her husband (also a friend of mine.  Actually, he's one of my good friends from college and only know her as a result of her being his wife) changed his mind and decided he was willing to work it out with his wife.  I have prayed (and am continuing to pray) fervently for this couple and the reconciliation process. 

As with my friend who is just finishing up her battle with cancer I never want to find out if I'm as strong as this friend is.  I never want to find myself where I have to forgive so much and be tortured with the thoughts she is.

In the two years prior to the path this couple is walking now they've dealt with a deployment (they're a military family), their 8 year old having a brain tumor and a move.  (Their son just turned 10 and is doing great!).   Recently this family was rocked by the sudden passing of his mom and now their household is dealing with mono.

I have read my friend's blog posts and I am amazed at the faith she is showing in the midst of all this . . . YUCK.  I know God is growing her and He is changing her.   Watching her strength in the midst of this "It could never happen to us" crisis has been inspiring.  Through her blog and her facebook page I have watched her struggle with living out the Biblical commandment to forgive, while simultaneously wondering if I could forgive if I found myself in her situation and praying I never have to experience what she is facing.

Because her husband is a longtime friend of mine and because I've developed a friendship with her online in recent years I am rooting for this couple and cheering them, praying that they're able to have a marriage that thrives again!  I know this is not an easy road for them, but the fact they've made it this far and are continuing to work things out is incredibly inspring.  It's easy for me, or others, to tell them how they should handle things right now, but since I haven't ever been asked to forgive something so peronal I know all I can offer are prayers and encouragement.




I am blessed to know some amazing people but thanks to the internet I have watched as these three have climbed Mt. Everest (or maybe the entire Himilayan range) this year.  I know the journey isn't over, yet (especially for my friends dealing with healing their marriage), but the fact that they're all still laughing is encouraging in and of itself!