Gifts of beauty

I have been getting number of incredible gifts in the mail from friends and family lately - I'm such a lucky girl.  It's like the best birthday ever!  Beautiful scarfs and deeply enriching books and delicious food items and letters with all sorts of encouragement.  But I think today I have gotten one of the most precious gifts I've received to date.  There is a woman that works with me that I don't know very well.  She's in another department and keeps to herself often.  Today I got a large gift bag from her with a gorgeous lavender knitted something inside.  This is what the note said:

"'He will shield you with His wings.  He will shelter you with His feathers.  His faithful promises are your armor and protection.'  Psalm 91:4

I made this for you.  As I knitted it, I have prayed for you.  As God heard my prayers for you, he transformed the simple yarn I was knitting into a prayer shawl, interwoven with pleas for healing for the one whose needs are being lifted up to Him.The shawl is a symbol of a covering of prayers for individuals who have need of God's healing grace.  This one was also held and prayed over by members of my church so that when you wrap your prayer shawl around you, you are surrounding yourself with God's love and the prayers of His people.    Know that you are covered in prayer!"

It brought tears to my eyes.  That a woman I barely know would take the time to make this, much less pray over it and give it to me.  I am humbled and undeserving. 

It is strange to be getting all of these gifts.  I still don't feel like I have cancer.  Yea, my leg hurts and it's difficult to sleep, but that's nothing new.  It really doesn't feel like anything that warrents this incredible influx of beautiful things into my home.  But I know that will change.  I know at some point I will undeniably feel like I have cancer so I just have to be thankful for my health today and thankful for all of you that have sent things, knowing that I will need that love and encouragement to sustain me over the next year. 

Since we're talking about love and encouragement, I'm going to bore you for a second and brag about my husband.  Because he's amazing.  This year has been hard for me - I moved to a new place to be with him and left my church and friends behind.  I had to find a job, which proved to be more difficult than I ever thought it would and then learn how to perform well in that job, which was also a challenge.  Danny changed his whole future plans over the past year and began down a new and exciting adventure.  We both had never married before and just learning to be with someone all of the time and have your lives so closely knit together is hard to do.  And then I got cancer, haha.  But all in all, I am so lucky.  Last night I came home from work around 11:30pm.  He met me at my car when I pulled up to help carry in all my stuff so I could use my crutches.  Then he started a bath for me and made us tea.  I got to soak in the bath and he sat in the bathroom with me so we could talk about our days together.  Then we headed to bed, but about 10 minutes after laying there I realized I wouldn't be able to sleep well because of my leg.  He got up, made up the couch for me, turned on the heater, and moved my medicine/food/water to the table.  And the crazy part is, last night wasn't special.  He does things like this all of the time.  Simply because he loves me.  Also because I'm a crippled cancer patient, but more because he loves me.  I'm so lucky to have ended up with him, lucky to be able to see how wonderful he is, lucky to come home to him every night.  I know, gag me with a spoon.  I just want so much to continue to look at all of the many many bright spots in my life while enduring cancer.  Cancer is not going to steal my joy.  There are just too many wonderful things that surround me on a daily basis.  Like my husband.  And my new prayer shawl.  And a million others.