"If I had known that, I would have stayed in the mountains!"

Life is beautiful! Our prayers continue to be answered!

After completing his second round of chemo and his first round of radiation, Alan and (some of) his entourage made the trek to the beautiful western Carolina mountains to rest, relax and celebrate all things good and glorious!

"Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves. For my part, I should like to stay here all winter or all my life or even all eternity." - John Muir

And a glorious time was had by all!

They left Macon early Friday afternoon and arrived in Cashiers, North Carolina just in time to unload and unwind before the temperature began to plummet. Ronnie kept a watchful eye on the thermometer as it dropped: 17... 14... 10... 5... all the way down to 1 degree! On Saturday, they made their way to Highlands for a visit to the Stone Lantern, Alan's favorite shopping venue. On Sunday the snows came. It snowed and snowed and snowed. Alan was thrilled! To be snowed-in with good (and talented) friends, musical instruments, and plenty of food & beverages happens to be a pretty "heavenly" experience. Ronnie, Kelli, Kim, Terry, Jason, Jonathan, Jeff, Kevin, Christina, and George all did their part to make the week perfect!

They made their way back to reality (home) on Friday so Alan would be ready to be "hooked" back up for his third round of chemo which was scheduled to begin today. Because of some side-effects Alan was having, they decided he would not be able to begin the third round until next week to which Alan replied, "Well darn! If I had known that, I would have stayed in the mountains!"

More later...

In the meantime, please keep him and his caregivers in your thoughts and prayers.

Love to all,
Juli

His eye is on the sparrow!

Happy New Year!

I know it has been way too long since the last post but life has a way of getting away from us. Now that comment really gives me pause - life is too precious for us to let it get away from us. I will try to do a better job of keeping you up to date on Alan.

First the good news - Alan and I spent the afternoon singing together (as I played the guitar) and enjoying the blessings of God through many wonderful old hymns....

Victory in Jesus, I'll Fly Away, Blessed Assurance, Balm in Gilead, In the Garden, The Lighthouse and many more. We sang together for over two hours. We finished up the afternoon with His Eye is One the Sparrow - and I know he watches me. I know he watches Alan!

Please keep Alan in your prayers - the chemo is rough. His spirit is amazing and my heart and soul are blessed after having spent the afternoon with him. Remember to call him - leave a message if he does not answer - he has good days and bad days. One of the songs (new to Alan) that touched us both was The Servant Song and I want to share some of it with you.

We are travelers on a journey,
fellow pilgrims on the road.
We are here to help each other,
walk the mile and bear the load.
I will hold the Christ-light for you,
in the night time of your fears.
I will hold my hand out to you,
speak the peace you long to hear.
I will weep when you are weeping,
when you laugh I'll laugh with you,
I will share your joys and sorrows,
'til we've seen this journey through.

We ARE all travelers on this journey and we ALL have burdens to bear - let us travel together in the light and love of God and let us bear one another's burdens and let us all see this journey through...together.

Peace and blessings to you all. Genie

Please don't forget to pray for Ronnie & Alan's parents - they are wonderful caregivers and they are surely bearing Alan's burden with him.