two options

"Nehemiah said, 

'Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, 

and send some to those who have nothing prepared. 

This day is holy to our Lord. 

Do not grieve, 

for the joy of the Lord is your strength.'"

-Nehemiah 8:10

Man, it's already the middle of October.

Fall is here:

leaves are yellowing and falling to the ground,

the air has a crisp mountain breeze,

and the sun is deep in color.

I LOVE this time of year.

Things 'round the Martin house have been pretty crazy these past few weeks.

Dad got another PET scan and, well...

the results weren't very good.

The doctors gave him two options:

1. Do chemo again (which was highly unrecommended) 

2. Get help from hospice

Option two was chosen, and thus began the stream of nurses in and out of our house.

It was a rough week or so trying to get pain meds figured out.

Extreme waves of pain, nausea, panic attacks, and drowsiness filled each day.

Kinda felt like a whirlwind. A fog. Something you just try to get past.

Things have settled down a bit, now.

Not as many nurses,

and pain is mostly under control.

Like my dad, I realized I had two options.

I could:

1. Grieve (which is highly unrecommended) 

2. Be joyful 

I felt Satan constantly giving me reasons to grieve.

To be sad.

To feel hopeless.

Thankfully, God reminded me that with His JOY I have strength.

And let me tell you...that joy is much better than giving into grief.

It hasn't been a walk in the park, but man, it sure feels better to rely on His strength and be filled with HIS joy than with anything else.  That is really what gets you through.  It can, will, and does get you through even the darkest of times.

Hope God shows you how to pick option 2 this week.

Been working at a school a lot this semester.  Busy is right!

Found my new favorite spot to run:

Remember that bread I was baking?  Yeah, it turned out AMAZING!