Stop and smell the roses

As many of you would be aware, my dear dad has been suffering with cancer. 

He was diagnosed a couple of years ago after struggling with his health for years. By the time the doctors finally figured out the problem the cancer was at an aggressive stage. However, we were all still optimistic about the future. 

He was diagnosed with Non-hodgkins lymphoma. Which the doctor told him "is one of the better cancers to have." Seems like a funny thing to say but what he meant is that the rate of remission is quite high and many people live for many years after diagnosis. Dad was lucky that he had veteran's status as his treatment progressed quickly and he was having chemotherapy within a couple of weeks of diagnosis. All through the treatment we had faith that he would be healed and I know with all my heart that the fasting and prayers of the beautiful members of the Launceston East Ward, and other family and friends, together with the incredible faith of my dad is what healed him. He went into full metabolic remission just over a year ago and we felt like that dad would have a well deserved rest. It wasn't to be though. 

Upon mum and dad's return from their amazing world trip, dad learned that the cancer was back and more aggressive than ever. Again we are all optimistic and through the power of priesthood blessings believe that this bout is just another trial to go through before dad will be healed again. Dad and mum's greatest desire is to serve missions. Not just one but 2 or more if they can. Dad is quite pragmatic about his health and will openly tell you (if you were to ask that is) that he thinks this cancer or a related health issue will be what eventually claims his life. He just desires to serve his Heavenly Father here on earth first AND desires to be the best grandad ever!! He wants to be an influence in his grand-children's lives and see them grow up. I can't think of a more righteous desire than that and it is my hope and prayer that his righteous desires will be granted. 

As anyone with a loved one with chronic health condition or disability will tell you, life is precious and relationships are the most important thing to cherish and nurture in the short time we have on earth. 


I have been really trying to take this on board. So much has happened in the last year that has made me take stock of what I have and to try and be grateful each and every day for the amazing blessings I have. I really am just trying to live one day at a time and not stress about what's happening next week, next month and not worrying about the nitty gritty details that I usually LOVE to over analyse. When Peter asks for a hug or for me to just come for a snuggle I'm trying to just drop what I'm doing and follow him. When he comes to give me a kiss when I'm at the computer I'm actually pausing and turning to return the kiss, not just turning my head slightly and continuing to look at the screen (terrible isn't it)!!

I'm trying to listen better to people. I had discovered recently that I wasn't as good at that as I thought (and as I'd fooled a lot of people to believe)....I'm trying not to get so easily distracted. I realised this week that I really am addicted to Facebook. It's not a healthy habit and I'm determined to set myself some boundaries with it. When I have time to myself I need to be more productive. Sure, I get the chores done but there are a number of projects I've been wanting to sink my teeth into but just haven't launched into them yet. This week, I'm going to start one - or maybe 2! 

When I sat down to write this post I had no idea all of this was going to spill out on the page but I'm so grateful it did. I'm so grateful for the example of strength from my parents and I'm particularly grateful today to welcome Peter home from his week away with work.

In Limbo...

I'm sure many of you will have experienced one of those times in life when you're stuck in the same situation waiting on answers that are totally out of your control before you can move forward with important life decisions. All you can do is wait and try and get on with life, even though you can't plan more than a few weeks ahead. 

For a control freak like me, this is VERY frustrating. 

Back in December, Peter and I were having a really nice talk. It was one of those conversations that went for hours but felt like minutes. We did a lot of reflecting about the direction our lives have taken - especially since the birth of our gorgeous boy, Will. We then spoke about whether we were happy. We knew we were still deeply in love, and that we were smitten with Will and adored parenthood. Whilst I was missing work, I still felt that I needed to be at home with Will for the time being and Pete was loving his job even though the pay was ordinary. We both missed Adelaide terribly though. We'd settled well enough into Melbourne. We attended a lovely ward and had made some nice new friends but we felt a hole that was left because we had few family members around and very few CLOSE friends. The ones we have are like gold though :-) 
The time it took for Peter to travel to and from work was also taking a bit of a toll. 

Peter then said something about possibilities of moving back to Adelaide. As he said this I had a sudden and discernible warmth fill my heart. From experience I recognised this as the sweet and gentle influence of the Holy Ghost. I told Peter what I felt and I was surprised to hear he had felt exactly the same way at the exact moment I had. 
I thought for a few moments that I may have exaggerated the feeling because I just wanted to move to Adelaide but because Pete felt the same way we were both sure that it was a prompting that moving back to Adelaide was the right thing to do. We talked about it some more and discussed whether it was likely Pete could get a transfer with his company to their small Adelaide office and he said he'd look into it. 
After a few weeks of considering and Pete inquiring with his line manager he told me that Ericsson are in the process of finalising a contract with a company that will require a lot of work throughout Australia. Apparently they have already budgeted to send an engineer to the Adelaide office for this contract. Pete told his manager he would love the opportunity and the manager said if it all happens he'd be the most likely candidate to go. 

Anyway, here we are almost 6 months later still waiting on confirmation that this contract will go ahead and if Pete will be sent to Adelaide. We still feel we need to move to Adelaide but we're not sure HOW that is actually going to happen at this stage. There is absolutely nothing we can do to speed up the process so being patient is very hard. Especially when we have a lease that runs out early June etc etc.

I'm sure it's going to happen but it could be as soon as a month or two or as long as a year...In the meantime we are trying to just live life as it comes and not worry so much about planning for the future (at least in a temporal sense). This is something I'm not all that good at. Maybe that's why I'm having this experience ;-) 

In awe...

I have been wanting to post for over a week now about recent events that have had a profound impact on dear friends of mine - and a lasting impact on myself. It's so hard to know how to launch into it though. Every time I've gone to write a post I just feel that I can't adequately express how much I care about these amazing people and I don't want to make them feel awkward that I'm talking about them on my personal blog. However, knowing them and the gracious people they are I know they won't care whether I'm eloquent or not.

I'm not here to tell you their story. For that you can go here yourself - and I highly recommend that you do. All I'll say is that a lovely family I know was still grieving over the recent loss of their beautiful son, Noah, when they were faced with the sudden and unbelievable loss of their dearest husband and father, Aaron. So many of us just could not believe this could happen and it has taken awhile for the reality of this tragedy to sink in. However, through this loss I believe that not only the King family, but all who know them, along with a huge international community have taken time to reflect on their love for their families and friends and have a determination to not Count the Days but make the days count - which is the King family motto.

I have been following Lisa King's blog for awhile now and I am so grateful for her insights and just the candid way she opens up her whole family to the world. Throughout the unfolding of events Lisa has been a stalwart blogger and shared her deepest hurt AND love with the world and I think that makes her one of the most courageous women I know. Hers and her family's faith has remained steadfast even though they don't understand how and why this could happen to them. I am in awe not only at the resilience and faith of the King family - and their wonderful extended family and friends but at the way thousands of people have reached out to help.

A lovely lady called Naomi has a huge following on her blog seven cherubs and she has done the most lovely thing in setting up a charity for the King family. Within days people from around the world have donated money to help and so many of them didn't even know the Kings. I have been constantly checking the tally and getting so excited as it kept hitting the targets - 10,000, 15,000 then within a few days over 30,000.

I've been crying every day since I first found out about Aaron. I wasn't even close to Aaron but I knew what a great man he is and have respected him for a long time. Most of my tears have been tears of awe and gratitude as I have witnessed the Christlike love that is sweeping over the Kings like a big comforting blanket. Some tears though are still those of grief and empathy for a family who have already endured so much. I know that while we can't take the pain away we can combat the pain with unending love.

If you want to help, you can make a contribution HERE. The charity is open to people from around the world. Feel free to post the link on your blogs or FB accounts too.

For news articles about the King family go here