As surgery approaches tomorrow, I am finding such comfort in the midst of the anxiety, unknown, and fear in this verse from Isaiah 35:4. I know that I am not the only one who is approaching unknowns, surgeries, scary diagnosis', and a whole host of other things in this week ahead. I wanted to share with y'all my prayer for surgery tomorrow... I hope it will be an encouragement to those of you walking a similar path...
"God, my God, you know my fearful and terrified heart and state. I am gripped by anxiety over the surgery I have to undergo. I m very much frightened of the entire procedure and the outcome of what I will awake to hear. Lord, your word says that you will strengthen me on my bed of illness and you will sustain me on my sickbed. Yes Lord! I trust your word and turn to you for help. Human wisdom and skill are nothing before you. So please fill the doctors who attend to me with your divine wisdom Lord so that they can perform this surgery in a perfect manner. Take all of those who assist them and everyone associated with the surgery in your hands and keep them as your instruments in bringing healing to me. The prayer of my heart and so many others has been for healing and while this news and possible new scary diagnosis has caught us up short and rocked our worlds, YOU Lord are not surprised by anything. Nothing is of a surprise to you. Use this Lord to bring about healing. Use this Lord for your glory even though right now things seem dark and scary. May this situation reflect your love and goodness and showcase your love and power. Shine your light into the darkness Lord. I cling to your promises that you are always with me, wherever I go! You are already there Lord. As I am wheeled into the room, feeling alone and scared- your presence will be there to meet and to guide. You never forget the cry of the humble and needy. Lord, hold my hand tightly and grant me your peace as I move forward so that I can undergo this surgery courageously. I know you will do all of this because you are the one who perfects everything for my life. I totally and completely rest on you and thank you for always being with me and carrying me and rescuing me Lord. You are the God of miracles and we are trusting you for big miracles today."
Thank you for all of your continued prayers for surgery tomorrow. I will be checking in at the hospital around 10:30am and surgery is scheduled for noon. Thank you again dear friends for your love, prayers, and support.
These past two weeks have been a whirlwind of activity with a whole list of items to complete, doctors appointments to check off (it can be a bit complicated to have surgery when you have a host of different doctors on your medical team but everyone has been amazing), pre-op appointments, items to get in order, and the list continues. Thankfully all of the items have been checked off and after today all of the "necessary components" should be in order.
Our goal has been to have everything ready so that I can fully enjoy my birthday and we can have a wonderful weekend. I am choosing to live fully in each of these moments despite the unknowns that face us on Monday.
In many ways I think being sick is harder on your loved ones than it ever is on yourself. I admire these people that I love so much ... who keep on loving unconditionally... even when it hurts them, they love without abandon, continuously modeling Christ's love and I am in awe.
I (and my precious family) are so incredibly grateful for your kind words, your financial support (thank you so much to everyone who has given for this surgery and some that have mentioned that they will be giving HERE!), and most of all your prayers for this week ahead. I will try to update my Instagram page as I can so please feel free to follow along by clicking HERE.
As I prepare for the upcoming week, I am considering the beautiful hope, peace, and courage in Isaiah 33:6:
"He will be the sure foundation for your times..."
Truly no matter what shifts and changes and no matter what we face ...our God is our stability...our sure foundation that we can set our eyes and hearts upon... today and in all our future days.
I have shared in the past that while I know some people reflect on the past year during New Years I have always looked back on my "new years" in two different ways: (1) at the start of a new school year and (2) on my birthday.
As I approach my 37th birthday on Friday, I look back on thirty-six with so much thankfulness and gratitude from the past year. While I could list hundreds of blessings from this past year I wanted to share thirty-six moments of extreme gratitude that stand out to my heart from this past year (in no particular order).
one: the amazing generosity and kindness of so many people that have walked this journey with me and continue to stand by my side. Truly I am incredibly blessed.
two: being protected from the blood clot that was unexpectedly found a few days before my birthday and the miraculous removal of the clot
four: visiting the Mother Cabrini Shrine and discovering more about this beautiful woman who said, "I will go anywhere and do anything in order to communicate the love of Jesus to those who do not know Him or have forgotten Him."
five: Learning the beautiful truth of celebrating ordinary accomplishments
six: The joy of celebrating old-fashioned Sundays
eight: Seeing the Lord answer some intensely private prayer requests
eleven: Path of Hope Book Release in April!
twelve: the beauty that comes with forgiveness and making peace with the fact that while some friendships change, shift, and end there are the friendships that grow so deep that you could never have imagined life without them.
thirteen: learning in new ways that the Lord meets us in faraway places
fourteen: a successful port placement of #courtneytheportney
As I approach my 37th birthday on Friday, I look back on thirty-six with so much thankfulness and gratitude from the past year. While I could list hundreds of blessings from this past year I wanted to share thirty-six moments of extreme gratitude that stand out to my heart from this past year (in no particular order).
one: the amazing generosity and kindness of so many people that have walked this journey with me and continue to stand by my side. Truly I am incredibly blessed.
two: being protected from the blood clot that was unexpectedly found a few days before my birthday and the miraculous removal of the clot
three: the start of the fourth spring
five: Learning the beautiful truth of celebrating ordinary accomplishments
six: The joy of celebrating old-fashioned Sundays
seven: these two beautiful people that sacrifice every single day in so many hundreds of ways...to not only help me get better but for the ability to bring joy and laughter to each difficult day.
nine: visiting the Wildflower Loop Trail at the Desert Botanical Garden in Arizona
ten: for precious friends who have walked this long journey with me and continue to pour out their love each and every day... sharing continuous grace upon grace onto my life
twelve: the beauty that comes with forgiveness and making peace with the fact that while some friendships change, shift, and end there are the friendships that grow so deep that you could never have imagined life without them.
thirteen: learning in new ways that the Lord meets us in faraway places
fourteen: a successful port placement of #courtneytheportney
sixteen: starting treatment round #3 and then treatment round #4
seventeen: remembering so many precious memories the day before December Caravan was released
eighteen: seeing Emerald Bay at Lake Tahoe
twenty-one: the engagement party at the camp this summer
twenty-three: attending the Hearties Family Reunion with my Mom
twenty-four: writing on this little space for FOUR years (!!) It has been so lovely to connect with so many people, develop deep and lasting friendships, and to grow in this community
twenty-five: a grandmother who prays and prays and prays... and prays... and prays....
twenty-six: spending a day at Disney with friends
twenty-seven: spending a day at Disney with Emily
twenty-eight: the entire Disney Dream Cruise ... absolutely AMAZING (and visiting Castaway Cay and our exciting port adventure at Atlantis)
twenty-nine: thoughts on starting the 5th fall
thirty: the opportunity to speak on writing and marketing for Indie Author Day and speaking in Phoenix, Arizona on Lyme Disease
thirty-one: attending a dear friends wedding
thirty-two: learning personally the truth of the Lord giving strength for each day...for every battle... and for this fight for my health.
thirty-four: having so many new adventures
thirty-five: starting a new season in this Lyme Disease journey
thirty-six: learning that the Lord has a plan beyond my own little imagination.
2016 alone brought so many different, unique, and precious memories that I shared about HERE which I am also so incredibly grateful for!
Thank you so much to all of you who have made this past year such a blessing! I am so thankful for each of you in my life! Thank you again!
I am having a HUGE sale at the shop! Starting today through Sunday everything is 35% off!! Simply use the coupon code MARCHSALE to receive your discount when you checkout!
Due to my upcoming surgery I have had to make the difficult decision that my shop will be temporarily closing on Wednesday, March 15th and won't re-open until April 1st. This has been a hard and difficult decision as I so enjoy creating but is also a necessary one at this point with this unforeseen situation. SO this weekend is your chance to shop and receive a discount!
ALL proceeds from this sale will be going to benefit my upcoming medical expenses for surgery.
So head on over and check it out! You can click HERE to easily go to the shop!
Thank you again for all of your support of my shop!
I hope that you are having a wonderful start to your weekend!
Again, please use the coupon code: MARCHSALE to receive 35% off your entire purchase. Thank you so much for your support of my shop this year! What a joy and blessing y'all have been!
Happy Friday sweet friends! I hope that you have a WONDERFUL weekend!
Last year, when we
visited Emerald Bay at Lake Tahoe I
shared about one of my favorite City Chic pieces (this beautiful red and black
dress). To be honest I came across City Chic more by "accident"
when I first purchased a piece of theirs that I found at a thrift store. Feeling
unbeautiful and struggling with the changes that my body had made due
to my fight with Lyme Disease and certain meds that I am on that are necessary
for my health, I was delighted to find a dress that made me look and feel
"girly" again. After this I continued to search for more pieces from
this company at thrift stores and continue to watch the sales/clearance section
from City Chic a couple of times a month.
I was just on their website a couple
of days ago and here are a couple of my favorite things from the sale:
I love this dress from the sale and the boho kind of feel that it gives. I also love that it would be perfect for the spring and summer!
When I saw this dress I did a double take because it reminds me of something that Target just released for their Spring collection. I love the boho summer feel of this dress!
This dress is one of my favorites from the sale pieces for only $40. I love the way that this could be worn throughout the Spring and Summer as a cute day dress or paired with some fun jewelry for a night out.
These adorable shorts are so cute and perfect for summertime for the beach or for a casual day. They are currently on sale for $15!
So there are five of my favorite things from the City Chic Sale! What about y'all? Any favorite pieces from the sale that you would recommend? ALSO if it is your first time shopping at City Chic use the coupon 25OFF1ST to receive an ADDITIONAL 25% off of your entire purchase, INCLUDING the sale purchases AND free shipping!! Hurry! These pieces go quickly and you don't want to miss out!
Happy Friday y'all!!
1. The Cost
Compared to other photo editing bundles and prices, PicMonkey is by far the most affordable option that I have found to edit photos, add watermarks to my photos, and to create Pinterest size able images. The basic plan which allows you to have access to some of the core editing tools, basic touch up features, basic effects, and basic overlays, fonts, and textures is FREE. This is a great option for newbie bloggers and those who are on a tight budget.
But, if you want access to the advanced touch up tools, advanced and primo effects, overlays and fonts, top-shelf templates, custom effects, the option to edit after saving your work and no ads than the price will absolutely stun you as it is only $3.99 a month if you sign up for the annual plan and $7.99 if you pay month to month. This is amazing and for those, like myself, who are watching every penny it is extremely affordable to be able to have this at my fingertips at such a great price. Want to sign up right now? Click HERE.
2. The Easy Ability to Create a Watermark for Your Photos
With all of the ways that photos are "stolen" and copied now-a-days it is important to have a watermark on your photos. PicMonkey makes it easy to create this watermark! If you are looking for an easy tutorial on how to create a PicMonkey watermark for your photos I found THIS post from Pinterest to be really helpful in explaining things step-by-step!
3. Easy to Create Printables
For bloggers that are interested in offering free printables to their community, PicMonkey makes it easy and simple to create these. If you are interested in an easy tutorial on how to create free printables in PicMonkey I found THIS post one Pinterest to be really helpful!
4. The Easy and Affordable Ability to Edit Images
As bloggers we spend so much time taking and editing photos and as much as I want to be able to purchase an expensive editing software, I just can't afford that right now. I have loved that PicMonkey gives the opportunity to affordably edit images so that pictures look professional on the blog.
5. Easy to Create Pinterest Images
One of the highest ways to drive traffic to your blog is through Pinterest and creating images that are "pin-worthy" to stand out among all of the hundreds of thousands of pins that are pinned throughout the day is incredibly important. PicMonkey gives you the ability to create Pinterest images and also Pinterest board covers easily and without breaking your budget.
What about y'all? Do you use PicMonkey? If you want to sign up to try it out for a week free you can click HERE!
But, if you want access to the advanced touch up tools, advanced and primo effects, overlays and fonts, top-shelf templates, custom effects, the option to edit after saving your work and no ads than the price will absolutely stun you as it is only $3.99 a month if you sign up for the annual plan and $7.99 if you pay month to month. This is amazing and for those, like myself, who are watching every penny it is extremely affordable to be able to have this at my fingertips at such a great price. Want to sign up right now? Click HERE.
2. The Easy Ability to Create a Watermark for Your Photos
With all of the ways that photos are "stolen" and copied now-a-days it is important to have a watermark on your photos. PicMonkey makes it easy to create this watermark! If you are looking for an easy tutorial on how to create a PicMonkey watermark for your photos I found THIS post from Pinterest to be really helpful in explaining things step-by-step!
3. Easy to Create Printables
For bloggers that are interested in offering free printables to their community, PicMonkey makes it easy and simple to create these. If you are interested in an easy tutorial on how to create free printables in PicMonkey I found THIS post one Pinterest to be really helpful!
4. The Easy and Affordable Ability to Edit Images
As bloggers we spend so much time taking and editing photos and as much as I want to be able to purchase an expensive editing software, I just can't afford that right now. I have loved that PicMonkey gives the opportunity to affordably edit images so that pictures look professional on the blog.
5. Easy to Create Pinterest Images
One of the highest ways to drive traffic to your blog is through Pinterest and creating images that are "pin-worthy" to stand out among all of the hundreds of thousands of pins that are pinned throughout the day is incredibly important. PicMonkey gives you the ability to create Pinterest images and also Pinterest board covers easily and without breaking your budget.
What about y'all? Do you use PicMonkey? If you want to sign up to try it out for a week free you can click HERE!
{update: Surgery has been moved up to Monday, March 20th}
As some of you are aware, yesterday brought unexpected and daunting news to our lives. After a routine check up and ultrasound my doctors found that there is a large mass/cyst that has been found on my right ovary that I will need to have surgery to remove. At this point and with my health history it is the safest for me to go in for surgery and to remove and biopsy this to make sure that it is not Ovarian Cancer. My doctor has been quite open and frank with me and we are praying that this will just be a simple cyst that will require minimal surgery and not be complicated and will not be cancerous.
As I type this I am receiving an IV for continued treatment for Lyme and yet still in shock from yesterday. Hearing those words and having this sudden and drastic health detour has been an incredible shock to me and to my family. There has been lots of tears, lots of prayers, and lots of learning to trust the Lord with the unknown details that are before us.
In many ways, as I shared in my last update, I have been moving forward, so this news is a bit discouraging. I am leaning and trusting the Lord that He promises that all things work together for His good and that this is just a helpful step in this healing journey.
I would covet your prayers as we move forward with a pre-op appointment on Thursday, for wisdom for me and for my medical team and the surgeons, and for the miraculous removal of this mass. We are praying that this is a benign mass that will only need a simple surgery. Our miraculous prayer request is that this would be removed miraculously.
At this point surgery is scheduled for March 29th and I will continue to update in the days and weeks ahead. Will you also pray for peace? My little heart would so appreciate that. Thank you for your continued prayers, and your love and support during this very scary and overwhelming time.
"For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty Savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With His Love, He will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs."
-Zephaniah 3:17-
-2 Chronicles 20:15-
One of the real aspects of walking the single life journey is that it can be easy to fix our eyes on our circumstances and grow discouraged. This discouragement can haunt us when we feel discouraged from the way that a circumstance didn't work out the way that we had hoped, or simply as we look at our lives and don't see a potential for a special man in it.
The dictionary defines discouragement as, "having lost confidence or enthusiasm or being disheartened" and often times, if I am honest, I feel this way about this single journey, instead of feeling hopeful. The dictionary defines my feelings exactly on this subject as I find myself losing confidence that a man will come to pursue me and often feel disheartened as I think about this tender subject area.
I know in my head that scripture says to be strong and courageous and to not be discouraged (Joshua 1:9) but truthfully I am way more discouraged than I am strong or courageous. I am way more apt and quick to become discouraged more than hopeful about this area.
Sweet friends, if you are walking this single journey and are feeling discouraged my heart breaks for you. It is tough. Really, really tough. Many times because of the disappointment that we face in this single journey we feel more like weeping then we feel like rejoicing. Social media can increase our feelings of discouragement as it can feel like everyone around us is getting engaged. I am finding great comfort that while I don't have wonderful words of wisdom for this area and tender subject, the Lord is near. He is close to the brokenhearted. He promises to give us strength and courage and mercy for the days in front of us.
Let us pray that the Lord will give us strength to rely on His promises that He is with us each and every day. We can wake up with confidence that He is with us and we are not alone in our single journey. Let us pray and trust and rest in His peace for the moments that we feel discouraged, knowing that we can rest in the promise of His word that in Him we are never disappointed.
Happy Monday sweet friends! I pray that you have a wonderful week remembering the cry to not be discouraged but to have courage as we look to the Lord. Our circumstances may look hopeless, but we have a God who delights in impossibilities. Let us be strong and take hope as we focus and hope in Him alone. (Psalm 31:24) Hold fast to Him and fix your eyes on Him.
"For we live by faith, not by sight."
-2 Corinthians 5:7-
Looking for additional encouragement in the Single Journey? My book, Prayers for the Single Journey is available where books are sold and on Amazon which you can find by clicking HERE!
One of the real aspects of walking the single life journey is that it can be easy to fix our eyes on our circumstances and grow discouraged. This discouragement can haunt us when we feel discouraged from the way that a circumstance didn't work out the way that we had hoped, or simply as we look at our lives and don't see a potential for a special man in it.
The dictionary defines discouragement as, "having lost confidence or enthusiasm or being disheartened" and often times, if I am honest, I feel this way about this single journey, instead of feeling hopeful. The dictionary defines my feelings exactly on this subject as I find myself losing confidence that a man will come to pursue me and often feel disheartened as I think about this tender subject area.
I know in my head that scripture says to be strong and courageous and to not be discouraged (Joshua 1:9) but truthfully I am way more discouraged than I am strong or courageous. I am way more apt and quick to become discouraged more than hopeful about this area.
Sweet friends, if you are walking this single journey and are feeling discouraged my heart breaks for you. It is tough. Really, really tough. Many times because of the disappointment that we face in this single journey we feel more like weeping then we feel like rejoicing. Social media can increase our feelings of discouragement as it can feel like everyone around us is getting engaged. I am finding great comfort that while I don't have wonderful words of wisdom for this area and tender subject, the Lord is near. He is close to the brokenhearted. He promises to give us strength and courage and mercy for the days in front of us.
Let us pray that the Lord will give us strength to rely on His promises that He is with us each and every day. We can wake up with confidence that He is with us and we are not alone in our single journey. Let us pray and trust and rest in His peace for the moments that we feel discouraged, knowing that we can rest in the promise of His word that in Him we are never disappointed.
Happy Monday sweet friends! I pray that you have a wonderful week remembering the cry to not be discouraged but to have courage as we look to the Lord. Our circumstances may look hopeless, but we have a God who delights in impossibilities. Let us be strong and take hope as we focus and hope in Him alone. (Psalm 31:24) Hold fast to Him and fix your eyes on Him.
"For we live by faith, not by sight."
-2 Corinthians 5:7-
Looking for additional encouragement in the Single Journey? My book, Prayers for the Single Journey is available where books are sold and on Amazon which you can find by clicking HERE!
Last week on IG I said, "Every serious illness journey is filled with hundreds of people who play such important and key roles in it. Words could never describe the gratitude I continue to have for each of you that are walking this difficult road with me" and it is so true. I know that the illness journey often seems long and lonely and in many ways it is.
But recently I have been thinking that it the illness journey is actually very full. Full of people who are constantly giving their time, their energy, their best to help me in this critical time in my life. When I consider this I don't feel lonely, in fact, I feel overwhelmed with the way that love is full in my life.
My life is particularly full every single Monday when I spend a lot of time in the hospital as #courtneytheportney is specifically cared for and I am treated with extreme compassion. From the moment we arrive we are greeted with workers who park the car for us and always greet us with a smile and ask how things are going. I check in and I am embraced by the three receptionists who not only know my name and my story, but always have an encouraging word for this little heart of mine. When we need to make new appointments or change things around, the schedulers work so hard to help us, making us feel like we are the only patients that they deal with.
And as #courtneytheportney is cleaned, watched and monitored and dealt with and accessed I am met with compassion. Compassion in listening to me tell "just one more story" from teaching days, of listening to me share about longings for a husband and kiddos, and support for the journey that I am walking. Even as I write this I have tears of gratitude running down my cheeks. Every single word of encouragement, smile, and laughter we have shared has been a precious gift to me on this journey. Every time that I have had a concern it has been met with wisdom and knowledge. No complaint or concern of mine has been dismissed lightly. These nurses and medical assistants have been in the trenches with me, helping me through.
So last weekend my mom and I spent some of Sunday afternoon having fun making these chocolate covered pretzels with spring colors. (We are still in the midst of winter here in the north so we are dreaming of spring days *smiles*) It was so fun and we loved the final results and we were so excited that every person we gave these goodies too saw our overwhelmed hearts of love and gratitude in this small present.
It was so much fun and it was very easy to do. Here are the supplies that we used for those who might be interested:
2 bags of Hershey's Dark Chocolate Chips
1 bag of Snyders "Old Tyme" pretzels
1 bag of Snyders Gluten Free Pretzels (these are the mini looking pretzels you see in the pictures)
Disposable Trays, Cellophane, and Cupcake Holders from Michaels in Spring Design
Wilton Sprinkles (Purchased from Michaels)
To make these adorable pretzels simply:
(1) Heat the bags of Hershey's Dark Chocolate Chips, mixing until the chocolate is completely melted (some people add 1 tablespoon of oil to help thin out the chocolate but we did not do this)
(2) Simply dip the pretzels into the chocolate and sprinkle on your sprinkles while the chocolate is still warm
(3) Let the mixture dry for approximately 1 hour
(4) We put the big pretzels directly on the tray and then put the gluten free pretzels in cupcake wrappers to keep them separated.
(5) Enjoy!
A huge thank you again to all of the nurses and medical staff that work so hard to help me in my journey and to those who are working tirelessly around the world to help patients. You are treasured!!
Happy Saturday again friends! I hope you have a wonderful day and weekend!
Happy Saturday again friends! I hope you have a wonderful day and weekend!
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