catch-up

Breakfast with my newest girl crush, Karisse.

Happy....wait, what day is it?

I have been in a fog for the past few days. It is hilarious how quickly one can be knocked on their tail from the flu! I have literally been in pajamas since Saturday, showered once, barely eaten, I did manage to go to starbucks and Andrew was disgusted that I went in the pajamas I had worn since Saturday. I don’t even fully recall going, but there is a starbucks cup in our trash, so i guess it did happen. I think fever driving is probably as dangerous as drunk driving. But, thanks to ny and day quil, tamaflu, soup from my austin mama-susan whiteside- and andrew blowing kisses, because he doesn’t want to be infected, and 3 nights of 14 plus hours of sleep, i believe i am on the mend. I am going to try to work tomorrow. I am pretty nervous to go. 18 month olds tend to have one speed, GO. I doubt if I walk in tomorrow and tell Caitlin and Isabel, "Whitney has been sick so today we are going to lay on the couch and sleep..." that they will respond with "yes mam". The response is sure to be wanting me to hold them both, wrestle with them both and chase them both...but reality is, when mom's get the flu, you don’t get 3 days off, so i know I can do it...Plus, we need our income :)

I wanted to share with you all my amazing experience last week. I got a chance to spend some time with a friend I had not seen in 8 years. Quick history for those of you that don't know, after high school I took a year off between high school and college and took part in a Discipleship Training School (DTS) with an organization called Youth With A Mission (YWAM). I trained in LA for 3 months and then went to South Africa on outreach for 2 months. It was such an amazing experience of a lifetime. I met so many amazing people and experienced the Lord in an amazing way i had never known. It was a priceless time of self-discovery and faith forming for me. One of the friends I made while at dts was Karisse. Karisse lived across the hall from me and her roomie was my bff nicole, so we spent lots of time together. Now, i was 18 as was 90 percent of the other students in our dts. Most of us had left home for the first time and we were children, babies! Not Karisse, she was 22, graduated from college and was our mom. I have NO IDEA how she dealt with us. We all loved boys, missed out mommies and got our feelings hurt all the time. But Karisse was so patient with us and loved us-even when we were ridiculous... Well, Karisse was in Austin last week and we got to spend some time together. When she asked what had been going on with me in the past 8 years i responded with, " Well, i graduated from college, got married, worked at a church, went crazy for a while, quit my job at the church, got sane, now i nanny. you?" Here is what Karisse said, " Well, I have been diagnosed with cancer 3 times-including melanoma, breast cancer and a brain tumor, had a bazillion surgeries to remove my cancers, been told I was going to die, been healed time and time again, and now I talk to groups about human trafficking. So, not much." I know, my jaw was on the ground also. Karisse has been to hell and back and still loves and trusts Jesus with everything in her. She and i had really reconnected recently over our blogs. Karisse is also trying to get "healthy"-whatever that means for someone who seems to always have cancer. But she is working to lose a few lb's as well. I was so struck during our time together, because my desire to get healthy is highly influenced by wanting to look good, by wanting to wear designer jeans, by wanting to be proud of how I look...But for her, she chooses to eat healthy food because these foods can help FIGHT CANCER. These foods can give her life. These foods can SAVE her life. It is so convicting to realize what it means to eat foods that can give you life. It re charged my desire to eat well. It recharged my desire to eat clean. It also recharged my desire to hate cancer. Ick. What a bitch. I hate it, but praise God because what the world has meant for harm, He has used for good in Karisse. She is beautiful. She is alive. She is living each day for Gods glory and not in fear of cancer. Lets all eat foods that give us life and rejoice in THE giver of life. Oh Praise Him!