"...shake the world..."

I was working on this post before my little speed bump of a hospital stay.  Wednesday morning I felt pretty good.  By early afternoon the pressure and tightness were back in my chest.  With Rick scheduled to leave with Nolan for three days for a hockey tournament, I had to call in to the oncologist's office on Thursday. They suggested I get myself to the ER and that no, the walk in clinic would not see me.  As I made plans for the kids... there was a knock on my door.

I went to the door and "love" floated in like a hot air balloon anchored to a basket.  And after freeing the basket from its shroud of plastic, we stepped back and oohed and awed over it.  Then someone plucked one of the skewers and the smile in their eyes as they ate their flower was enough for all of us to dive right in.  It was sweet and perfectly ripe, and we ate and ate.  What else would you expect love to taste like? Thank you Barb and Russ!

Rick left with Nolan on Friday and I came home and slept, and rested, and slept again.  Colton and I had 4 hockey games over the weekend and were on the run the whole time.  Our whole family is exhausted today.

But we're feeling rather spoiled.  I know its an odd thing to say given our situation right now.  But we don't take lightly the kindnesses and the generous blessings that have come our way.  We're completely humbled by it all and continue to be blown away by the abundance in our lives.  We continually seek to pay it forward in whatever ways we can.  

Saturday we were completely surprised by another knock at the door.  Can you guess who may have been thinking of us and sent us Cullen t-shirts and Wild hats from the The Hockey Lodge?  Bridget and Matt Cullen.  Lets just say there may have been "squeals of delight," involved.  The Cullen's do so much  for families with cancer, and our family has been no exception.

This morning, I grabbed clean clothes for the boys to wear to school and they ignored them.  Instead they ran for the Wild t-shirts and hats and socks and decked themselves out before leaving.  Plus they ASKED me to take their picture.  

Matt will play in a career defining game tomorrow- his 1,000th game in the NHL!  Help us cheer on #7 tomorrow of the Minnesota Wild! 

 Bridget wrote us a note and then added a quote that spoke to my heart at the end.  She got to see the photos Rick took at the Wild game we attended a few weeks back on my blog and read my blog for the first time. She left me with this...

“In a gentle way, you can shake the world.”

Mahatma Gandhi

Thank you Bridget, I'm honored. 

I think in our own way,  each and every one of us can find a way to gently shake the world.  What is YOUR way?  

Dr. Panwalkar and chemo tomorrow.  I have a list of questions prepared for him... smile... I'll let you know what he says...