Songs for Surgery

Two songs God is giving me for this season (thank you, Darren):



I'm casting my cares aside. I'm leaving my past behind.
I'm setting my heart and mind on You, Jesus.
I'm reaching my hands to Yours, believing there's so much more,
Knowing that all You have in store for me is good.
Today is the day You have made! I will rejoice and be glad in it.
And I won't worry about tomorrow. I'm trusting in what You say:
Today is the day.

I'm putting my fears aside. I'm leaving my doubts behind.
I'm giving my hopes and dreams to You, Jesus.
I'm reaching my hands to Yours, believing there's so much more,
Knowing that all You have in store for me is good.
Today is the day You have made! I will rejoice and be glad in it.
And I won't worry about tomorrow. I'm trusting in what You say:
Today is the day.

I will stand upon Your truth, and all my days I'll live for You
(even days I have surgery and recovery and needs that I can't meet by myself. . .)

Today is the day You have made! I will rejoice and be glad in it.
And I won't worry about tomorrow. I'm giving You my fears and sorrows.
Where You lead me, I will follow. I'm trusting in what You say:
Today is the day.

Before you watch this next video, let me explain how this is a kiss from Jesus to me:

1. I head in for surgery again next Monday (Nov. 30th). My biggest anxiety-causer has been "Who's going to be there for Cami?" It's a Mommy thing, I think.

2. Dumbo is one of Cami's favorite movies of all time. We watched that movie every day for at least two of her nine-and-a-half years.

3. I'm struggling with God as my parent: my loving, supportive, calls-me-forth-to-do-and-be-things-that-seem-too-hard parent. I struggle with feeling abandoned by my mom and my sister, knowing all the while that they are unavailable to me because of wounds they walk in, wounds that have nothing to do with me.

I just heard this song for the first time last Sunday. My friend Melisa laid herself open before God and led us straight to the foot of His throne with this song. I wanted to post a video with the song instead of just a boring audio track. All the videos I found were cheesy.

Then I found this video, and while some may think it's cheesy, I know it's Jesus blowing me a big, fat, sloppy kiss.

Enjoy. (And remind me I said all this.)

Unredeemed

A friend of mine is facing uterine cancer surgery on Friday. When Michael said to her, "I heard some news about you, and it wasn't good," she said,

"You heard wrong."

Cancer not bad news?

She looked Michael square in the eyes and said, "I get to be a cancer survivor. I get to add that to my testimony."

Wow.

Listen to the conversation Jesus is having with me this week:

Friday: "Candi, is it enough just to know why you're hurting? Or do you want to be healed?"

Saturday: "So what if it's cancer? Am I not bigger than that? You say you'll worship Me no matter what (desert, oasis, storm, calm, death life). Really? Will you really?"

Sunday: (from Bring the Rain's blog post) "Do you want to get well?"

Monday: (from a pillar of faith in Jesus) Cancer is an opportunity; she "gets to be a cancer survivor."

TODAY: (From Beth Moore teaching from Psalm 139) " 'You know what? You're capable of more than this. I know what is in you!' And it is one of God's goals to get us to come forth and be the person He knows we can be. We will just say over and over again, 'I'm too weak for this!' And He goes, 'You know what? You can do all things through Christ Who strengthens you, Whose Spirit is inside of you. You are a warrior, not a wimp! I know what you are capable of!' "

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

Yes, I know: it's not even Halloween.

But Cami's singing Christmas songs, watching Christmas movies, and putting Christmas cards in envelopes all the same.

Yesterday, she made a snowman in the living room.

Yep. You guessed it: his name is Frosty. Earlier in the day, she watched Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July. It was truly a terrible video, but she watched it because she'd "never seen this one before." (If you're interested in a plot summary, read it on Wikipedia. Save yourself the 97 minutes of video torture.)

The faithful purple ball served as Frosty's head. We bought that ball for Cami when she was 2 years old. It's lop-sided now, but she still plays with it. She was very proud of how she balanced the broom in Frosty's hand, but she was extremely disappointed that we don't have anything that will serve as a top hat. Because that's where Frosty's magic is, you know: it's all in the hat.

"Mom, may I borrow your coat? Mine's too small to work."

"Sure, honey. And thanks for asking."

What you can't see is the vacuum cleaner which is shoring up Frosty's backside. He was leaning a bit. . .

Before the day was through, in addition to Frosty in the living room, she used her actual snow sled to make a sleigh with a bag of toys "display" in the basement. At first, her big black plastic horses were the reindeer, but I think she traded out the horses for stuffed animals (dogs, of course). (Sorry; I didn't capture that scene on camera.)

While I was making supper, I heard Cami talking in the living room. I thought she was talking to Roscoe. It turns out she was making a video.

Unfortunately, she didn't know that our digital camera takes video without recording audio. Although you can't hear her voice, you can tell what she's saying by where she's pointing the camera. Pay close attention when she shows you Frosty's corn cob pipe, his button nose, and his two eyes made out of coal. If you're prone to motion sickness, you might want to skip viewing this one. It's really just for the grandparents anyway.



In addition to inventive source material for her creations, my girl's one for details as well. For our Happy Birthday Jesus party last year, Michael bought this DVD that has different scenery videos (like screen savers, only videos to play on your TV during parties and such). These videos do have audio, so the fireplace crackles, the fireworks boom, and the aquarium bubbles.

Cami chose the snow-out-the-window scene. Guess what sound it makes?

Jingle bells. Over and over and over.

It's beginning to sound a lot like Christmas at our house. And it's only October.

Ahhhh. Life with Cami the Brilliant. How blessed am I.