Lots of Life

Over the last few years coffee shops have become a second home.  I love reading and am often found at a coffee shop reading, for pleasure or studying.  This last Friday I was sitting in a local coffee shop.  While sitting there a rain storm moved through.  The large spring rain drops beat the windows and I couldn't help but smile.  I decided it was time to head back to my apartment.  After getting home I decided to sit on my small back porch, snuggled in a sweatshirt and continue reading.  

The rain had stopped and the skies turned brighter as the dark clouds moved away.  Soon the skies turned dark again and the rain moved in.  I was safe from the rain on my porch even with the wind moving the rain in sheets around me.  This cycle happened many times while I sat there and at one point there was even thunder.  I live near mountains and the mountains would disappear with each storm that rolled through.  Then in early evening the clouds parted to the west letting the sunset light shine on the bright green trees with the very dark clouds behind.  What a beautiful contrast. 

As this cycle of darkness and light, disappearing and reappearing mountains, rain and sun, and the sound of rain and the silence that follows a voice in my heart began speaking very loudly.  I was reminded that there are times in our life when it feels as though we are in darkness and wonder when or if the light will shine again or the path we thought we were to take disappears and we wonder when it will reappear, where our lives are so full of sound when will there be peaceful silence?  

God has given many promises in His Word.  
Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
Joshua 1:9b "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."
Psalms 46:10 "Be still and know that I am God."

I am also reminded of the poem Footprints in the Sand by Mary Stevenson (1936).  Most have probably heard it or a version of it.  But the last stanzas read:
       

“You promised me Lord, that if I followed you, you would walk with me always. But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life there has only been one set of footprints in the sand. Why, when I needed you most, have you not been there for me?”

The Lord replied, “The years when you have seen only one set of footprints, my child, is when I carried you.”

The storms I sat through on my back porch made me smile because I knew they would pass quickly and the sun would shine.  It reminded me that even through hard times when I don't feel like they will end, God will carry me and he promises to be with me through everything. I need to lean into Him through darkness and light.

If you are in the midst of darkness, disappearing paths, or can't quiet your spirit because of the noise that bombards you know you are not alone.  Ask for help from God your creator and allow Him to bring people into your life that can walk beside you and support you. 

Recent Recipes

I've tried a few recipes recently but hadn't posted them. Here they are for those that are curious.

Cheeseburger Pie: from my mom, Cheryl

1 lb ground beef/turkey
1 c chopped onion
1/2 tsp salt
1 c milk (I used almond milk and it was good)
2 eggs
1/2 c biscuit mix
1 c shredded cheddar cheese

1. Brown beef and onions, drain
2. Stir in salt
3. Spread in 9" pie plate or sq pan (greased)
4. Sprinkle with cheese
5. Mix remaining ingredients and pour over meat mixture covered in cheese
6. Bake for 25 min at 400 degrees


Poppy Seed Chicken: from allrecipes.com


8 cooked, boneless & skinless chicken breast halves
1 can cream of chicken soup
8 oz sour cream (I used greek yogurt)
2 Tbsp dry sherry
salt & pepper to taste
8 oz Ritz crackers
1 1/2 Tbsp poppy seeds
1/2 c butter, melted

1. Place cooked, diced chicken breasts on the bottom of a 9x13 greased baking dish.
2. Mix soup, sour cream & sherry in a bowl. Pour over chicken.
3. Sprinkle salt & pepper on top.
4. Mix poppy seeds & crushed crackers & sprinkle over chicken with soup mixture.
5. Drizzle melted butter over all.
6. Cover & bake for 30 - 45 min at 350 degrees. (take cover off for the last 5 min to crisp up the crackers.)


Cindy's Jambalaya: from allrecipes.com


1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 lb smoked sausage, cut into 1/4 inch thick slices
1 lb chicken, diced
1 large onion, chopped
1 c chopped green bell pepper
1 c chopped celery
salt to taste
1/2 tsp Cajun seasoning, or to taste
1 c uncooked white rice (I used brown)
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes w/ juice
1 Tbsp minced garlic
2 c chicken broth
3 bay leaves
1/4 tsp dried thyme leaves

1. Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven or large pot over medium heat. Stir in the sausage and cook for 2 minutes, then remove.
2. Add chicken and brown, then remove.
3. Add the onion, bell pepper and celery; season with salt and Cajun seasoning. Cook and stir until vegetables are soft, 6 to 8 minutes.
4. Add the sausage and chicken to the cooked vegetables.
5. Stir in the rice until evenly coated in the vegetable mixture, then pour in the tomatoes with juice, garlic, chicken broth, bay leaves and thyme leaves. Bring to a simmer over med-high heat, then reduce heat to med-low, cover and simmer 20 minutes.
6. Uncover and cook additional 10 minutes. Remove pot from the heat and let stand 5 minutes. Discard the bay leaves before serving.*

*This recipe originally calls for shrimp and no chicken. If using shrimp, 1 lb peeled and deveined shrimp. Original step 6 with shrimp: Uncover, stir in shrimp and cook 10 minutes until the shrimp turn pink and are no longer translucent in the center. Remove from the heat and let stand 5 minutes. Discard bay leaves before serving.


Chunky Potato Soup: from Grandma's Kitchen
   (Sorry no picture)

3 med red potatoes (I used russett)
2 cups water
1 small onion
3 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
Crushed red pepper flakes
Ground black pepper
3 c milk (I used almond milk, which gave it a different flavor that I liked)
1/2 tsp sugar
1 c shredded cheddar cheese
1 c cubed, cooked ham

1. Peel potatoes and cut into 1 inch cubes
2. Bring water to a boil in a large saucepan. Add potatoes and cook until tender. Drain, reserving liquid. Set aside potatoes. Measure 1 c cooking liquid, adding water, if necessary: set aside.
3. Peel and finely chop onion. Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat. Add onion to saucepan; cook, stirring frequently, until onion is translucent and tender, but not brown.
4. Add flour to saucepan; season with pepper flakes and black pepper to taste. Cook 3 to 4 minutes.
5. Gradually add potatoes, reserved 1 c cooking liquid, milk and sugar to onion mixture in saucepan; stir well. Add cheese and ham. Simmer over low heat 30 minutes, stirring frequently.

Ok, there they are. My latest completed recipes. Enjoy!!

My Name

How does one pronounce my name? Well, it is not Sharon nor Sherone. The best I can say is shir-on or sure-on. People have asked if it is French? Not that I'm aware of. The spelling is half my mom's name and half my dad's name, Cheryl and Don, thus Cher-on. However, my mom thought people might say Sharon so she added the last 'n' to help with that. Nice try, but I still get Sharon sometimes.

So that is the spelling but where did they get the enunciation?!? Good question. So my dad knew someone in college with the name however spelled differently. I've always known this fact, but never knew how she spelled it or even what she looked like. Enter the world of Facebook. My mom was recently contacted by this "mystery" woman. My mom asked if she knew that "they" (she and my dad) had named me after her. She replied yes and then asked if we knew the meaning. I have searched for a very long time for a meaning to my name, to no avail. But now... get ready for this one...

"The ferryman that brings souls to safety."

How cool is that?!? As a Christian this is a perfect reminder of what God calls us to do. God is our ultimate safety and I am supposed to be a vessel to bring others to Him. Ah! I love it.

So...what does your name mean?

Update on Life

Well, my sweet mother is 1/2 way through chemo. Great news is that the 3 tumors are shrinking. They were shown to be shrinking between her 2nd and 3rd treatments. Bad news. CANCER SUCKS!!

Ok, so now that I've gotten that out. Because my mom's body is handling the chemo so well (said while rolling my eyes) they added 2 treatments for a total of 6. I know 6 is good compared to what others go through, but my mom is tired all the time now and has commented that it is getting harder. She has no energy to do anything for long. She even tried to clean a bathroom and was wiped out. So what at the beginning was 1 week down and lower energy than normal for 2 weeks before the next treatment has become 3 weeks down then another treatment. Her next treatment is tomorrow...Valentine's Day. Not that Valentine's is really any different than any other day, but it just sucks.

And here's the worst for me...I can't be there to help out. My younger brother and sister-in-law are the ones there, in person, helping and guiding where needed. My sister-in-law has organized food and people to be with my mom for about a week after treatment while dad is at work, but she has 2 little ones too.

Thank you to all who continue to be prayer warriors for my mom. Right now if you could pray specifically that her spirits can be lifted. Only 3 treatments left and then the next phase of surgery begins, which I imagine will be a little less difficult only because she won't be tired from poison being put in her body. Please lift my dad also. I can only imagine how helpless he feels toward his true love right now.

Better News

So it has been a few weeks since I found out about my mom's cancer. Yesterday my mom had an appointment with the oncologist to find out the results of her body scan and figure out the next steps. So good news...the cancer is contained to the 3 spots they biopsied. But next steps include a lot of doctor appointments including one to get a port for the chemo treatment to be administered through. Her first chemo treatment will be next week. Then she will have a treatment every 3 weeks for 3 months for a total of 4 treatments. The idea of this will shrink the cancer before her surgery in March. So, prayers are still wanted and much appreciated.

Other good news is on the financial front. As I have been absorbing this next chapter in my family's life I was hearing "cha-ching" in my mind with the medical bills start adding up. So many different appointments and procedures. I started wondering what that meant for me and my brothers and helping our parents. Not that any of us have the finances to really do anything, but it is our mom. Well, my folks got some advice while talking to their doctor's office the week after Thanksgiving. Apparently in CA, there is a program to help financially if you qualify. What does it take to qualify?
   1. Live in CA
   2. Be a woman
   3. Have insurance with a high deductible or no insurance
   4. Have a diagnosis breast cancer (or another one I'm forgetting)

Can you say...yes, yes, yes, yes. So earlier this week my folks applied for this assistance. Oh, did I mention what that assistance is?!? 100% paid medical expenses of what insurance will not cover. Praise God! So, that is the focus of prayers right now. That mom will be accepted and receive this next blessing. 

Mom has also found out that a woman we have known for years has been diagnosed also. She is thinking they can be "cancer buddies." Only they will know what each other is feeling at any given point in this process. God will use these women for greatness during this time in their lives. 

Thank you for all your prayers.

Such a Whirlwind

Well, it has almost been a full week since I got a call from my mom with the words, "It's cancer." My heart dropped, but mom sounded pretty good so I kept upbeat with her on phone. Needless to say as soon as I hung up the phone I through it on my couch and said, "bleep." Sometimes there are just no other words for me and this was one of them. The waterworks started then. I immediately texted a friend and then emailed my church family to ask for prayers. A friend and neighbor showed up at my door soon after the email was sent and I was able to have a shoulder to cry on.

While this is not completely about me, my thoughts quickly went to the fact that I am single and don't have someone at home to comfort me through this. Yes, my friends are there for me, but it is hard to be completely vulnerable. And yes I have God and I pray that I will feel his arms around me when I'm really low, as I'm sure it will happen.

The next day we found out more details. It is the best kind of breast cancer and the most treatable. My mom's insurance is covering all that needs to be covered and she has the best surgeon in the Central Valley of CA. Ok, some good news mixed in with the bad. 

In the meantime, my older sister-in-laws mother had a small stroke. Turns out it was her 3rd. REALLY!!! WHAT IS GOING ON? So, while my brother and sister-in-law have each other, they both have mother's dealing with new health issues. Then I find out that my younger brother and his entire family have the flu. Ugh! Ok God, I'm single and can only deal with my mom. However, I love each and every one of these people in my life so I kinda feel like I got with all 3. At least emotionally.

Yesterday mom had a full body scan to make sure the cancer is confined to the areas already identified. So again we get to wait for results. This also means that breast cancer is now part of my family history so I have emailed my doctor just to make sure I know what to expect going forward. My doctor suggested going to the Susan G. Komen website for information and that for now I just monitor myself. I read the words Susan G. Komen and again my heart dropped. Wow. Another reality check as to what we are dealing with now. I checked out the risk factors and was shocked by 2, having kids after 35 and never having kids. Well, either way I qualify there. 

So I write this to ask for prayers from friends and family. Right now I don't want other peoples advice, if I want it I'll ask for it. Prayers are what is needed and requested right now.

Wow

Has it really been that long since I blogged about anything.  2011 ended up being quit exciting.  In August I got to visit my brother and his family in Santa Rosa, CA.  Although, the excitement was that the night before I left I broke a toe.  Who knew your pinky toe was so important.  It really has everything to do with your balance.  Well, with a broken toe and being signed up to run a marathon just 2 months later, let's just say I really didn't train.  My older brother and I completed the 2011 Portland Marathon.  Of course, he went shopping, had some lunch and saw his family and still had a little down time before I finished.  But we are both marathon runners now.

Let's see...after the marathon, with my immune system a little down I kept getting sick.  Just your run of the mill colds, but at the beginning of November it turned into more.  After a few visits to the doctor turns out I had mono.  My lowest point was Thanksgiving weekend.  Didn't eat much that entire weekend.  Was released to go back to work the next week only to get some other sickness.  For which I was able to get antibiotics.  In the end I lost some weight.  Now to keep it off. :)

I am healthy after almost 3 months of having something and I'm feeling great.  I recently got a new couch and this weekend I finally started to put decor on my walls.  I know,  I've been here for over a year, but I had company stay here and I decided I needed to decorate a little more.  And tonight experienced something new...brussel sprouts.  Roasted with asparagus, onion and zucchini.  Also made turkey burgers.  I am one happy girl tonight.