Happy New Year -- 2012!

Sheesh, I can't believe how long it has been since I have written. I probably won't write much now, but I just felt that I needed to say something.

I am glad 2011 is over and we have moved on to a new year. I don't know what this year will bring, but it has to be better than last year.  The year 2011 was the year that my dad was diagnosed with a bad cancerous brain tumor, a Glioblastoma Multiforme to be exact, and it is the year he died from said tumor. A lot of bad stuff, and a couple bad people, came along with the tumor, but that is all in the past and I won't go into it here.

There were some good things about last year as well.  I got to spend more time with Nancy, Steve, Andrew, Hannah, and Thomas. I also got to spend more time with my sister Diana, and I saw my nephew Justin for the first time in a few years and was able to spend a little time with him. We all got to spend some time with Daddy as his illness progressed.  We got to say a lot of things that needed to be said, and we came closer, in some ways, as a family.

Daddy died peacefully in his sleep at about 7:10 p.m. on November 12, 2011.  With the exception of James (unfortunately we couldn't afford a ticket for him to come) we were all there with Daddy when he left us.  We miss him, but he is in Heaven now with Mama and with Jesus, and that is a good thing.

I am looking forward to 2012.  I hope to come closer and closer to God.  I don't want to be a Christian in name only--I want to live a life that cannot be mistaken for anything other than a Christian life.  I want to delve deeper into God's Word, and I want to cultivate a richer prayer life.  I have a long way to go.

I Needed My Mom

I was kind of down yesterday. We are both out of work and have gotten behind on some bills, so we are having some major financial problems. This has created a lot of stress, as I'm sure you can imagine. Even though we are definitely trusting God to get us through this, as He has always done, it does hit me now and then, and I get a little down. When this happened yesterday, I stopped and had a mini pity party.

Right about then, I noticed Soleil Moonfrye's question of the day, at Twitter. She asked what living person and what person who had passed away we would want to have dinner with. My mom died, way too young, several years ago, and she was the obvious choice for the second part of the question.

I know my mom is in a wonderful place now. If I were not confident about that, it would kill me for her to be gone. I would never begrudge her the joys of spending her time with Jesus and the angels, and I look forward to doing that myself someday. But I do have those days, like yesterday, when I really need my mom.