Life Change Habits

November 26, 2009 marked the first anniversary of my undergoing a surgical lumpectomy  for breast cancer. On Thanksgiving Day I added to all that I have to give thanks for, most especially my life and family, gratitude that I am a survivor. I received the bad news of a negative biopsy just after Barack  Obama's  election as President. My diagnosis seemed so unreal, standing in the hospital parking lot talking on my cell phone with my son. I did not know what to expect, and felt very apprehensive. I was living alone in a city far from family, stressed out by struggling with two small business in an economy that was in free fall. That month I lost the last of my students and income from the one business. All of the appointments with my doctor and the nurse at the cancer center were a blur, as they discussed the treatments, surgery followed by radiation and possibly chemotherapy. Overwhelmed, I turned to my faith and began praying a novena to St. Anthony for a mirac...

"Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens." -- Psalm 68:19 During the past year I have experienced numerous instances of God's grace at work in my life; in this journal I will attempt to record and reflect on how grace has come to me. I have faced financial disaster, significant health problems, been on the brink of foreclosure and near bankruptcy; yet through all of these circumstances I have been able to find a way through them and the strength to keep going. Through it all I kept praying and praising God, and thanking him for answering my prayers even before I could see the answers. I had a vision that I should move to another state where I could be close to my family. I did not know how I could do this, but I trusted that God would provide. I wrote out a vision statement and kept praying, seeking God's help. I began to get ready to move by clearing things out so that I would not have so much stuff to move. I gave away carload...