Started the day off like any other day…prayer, a little bit of work, waking kids…and the hubby up, preparing breakfast, getting kids on the bus and the hubby out the door. Finally I am able to start working again but my phone rings, immediately bringing me to tears.

The lady on the other end of the phone explains that we had been nominated (by Dave and Angie) and we were selected as one of six families in Iowa to receive “The Way We Live” award in which we will receive at the Iowa State Fair!!!! How awesome is that?! We will get some really cool perks, but I am truly most excited about the plaque we will receive!! I am just so extremely proud of my husband for all of his hard work and dedication to not only his job but to his family!! He has worked so hard to get our cattle business up and running and while we still struggle at times, God always provides exactly what we need when we need it! We are so honored that Dave and Angie thought of us and actually took the time to nominate us! The following lists the qualities wanted…
As if that wasn’t enough…change the subject and let me ask, how are you liking my blog? Do you like what you are reading, what I post about? I know some of it’s difficult to read in regard to my health. But, don’t you get a kick out of our crazy life? We always have new experiences to share and unusual stories to tell! Well how about one more big doozie….here it goes…are you ready?! 

Shortly after the wonderful news about the award we will be receiving…I got an email confirming something I have been praying for over a really really long period of time. 

It’s finally official…I wrote a book AND I was blessed to have my book accepted by Westbow, who works closely with Zondervan, a huge Christian publishing agency! Thanks to the support and encouragement from Tim, my book is officially in the works of being published and should be available hopefully sometime by August!

Ahhhhh!! There, the secret is out! Only a few of my family members, along with some friends were aware that I had been working on this for over the last year and a half! Now you have the opportunity to read from the beginning, where this whole journey started!

I had started a journal when first diagnosed, and actually kept up on it throughout most of the years. It was back in 2013 when my disease began to attack full force, that I added to that journal…more ups but even more downs. I was broken, thinking how miserable life was…but I kept writing, which helped me to regain focus on how my life had really turned out….not miserable, but absolutely amazing by God’s grace.

Between July 2013 and December 2013, I truly believed I would be dead at any time….I felt that awful, that scared…and that hopeless. So, I took all my writings and put them in to book format. My intention was simply for my kids to have this to remember me by. Morbid, kind of but, the more I wrote and read through my past, the more I was able to see how God had been with me through this whole horrific journey. It was then after Tim read it that we decided I needed to share my story to not only bring awareness to this silent killing disease, but to also show how loving and faithful our God is.

Because of my struggles I now have more faith, more trust and more comfort knowing God is always with me. And when you have that sense of peace and calmness, it really does helps lessen the burdens.

This is way out of my comfort zone, something God has been tugging at my heart to do, as far as stepping out and exposing myself through writing! But, I am now ready to share my story because I do truly believe I am a walking miracle, something I have been referred to on several occasions.

When first diagnosed I was naive and really figured damage this disease could do, was done. But this disease has a mind of its own….and that is why I feel this is what I must do for my next step to honor God, something He has called me to do. Especially when Dave and Angie, a couple in our small group, and the stinkers who nominated us for that awesome award, had the ability to do our cover for my book! Another example of God putting the right people in the right places all for a part of His greater plan.

So, for those of you who know me and Tim as a happy couple with a great marriage and great family….a great life, you now have the chance to read the details of not only the good times but also some of the obstacles we have encountered as newlyweds, and how soon we would be tested with the vows we had promised each other in front of God…specifically to love each other through sickness and health and for richer or for poorer. It hasn’t been easy but we are giving it all we’ve got!

I have finally discovered that life truly is what you make of it. Sometimes, some of our situations aren’t by choice but it’s up to us to be responsible with how God wants us to handle them. 

So there you have it…the quiet girl who always keeps to herself, the one who has been called name after name because people misunderstand my extreme shyness, here I am completely vulnerable, exposing my deepest thoughts, fears, feelings, hope, our life for anyone and everyone who wants to read!

Again, I am doing all of this to bring awareness to my disease and Fibrosing Mediastinitis is starting to be heard of so please feel free to invite others to like my actual Facebook page Faith, Family, Cows, Fibrosing Mediastinitis #Mylife. 😉 

I am so grateful for an awesome God, He has never and will never abandon us!

And thank you again so much to Dave and Angie for all your kindness!!