Life's journey can be a roller coaster ride, with its sharp turns and ups and downs. In spite of that, there is much to celebrate and be thankful for each and every day.
In December, we celebrated the graduation of our 2nd class of Pathway students. The group started up larger than this, but several moved away or had to quit due to conflicts. Carl and I were officially released from our two year church service mission as Pathway missionaries in January. We were issued this mission call the same day we were released from our 23 months of service in the New York Rochester Mission. We were missionaries for the first Pathway group in the Southeast Houston Area, serving the 31+ age group. We loved doing this and associating with great people. We also served weekly in the Houston Temple, very early in the morning, the day after hosting the weekly Thursday night Pathway Gathering (no wonder we feel so tired now -- but it was all worth it!) Carl, especially, loved being able to wear that missionary name tag again.
We love these guys! (L.-R.: Jeanette, Raven, Scott, Brooke. and Christine)
We continue to be challenged with Carl's re-occurrence of cancer. Before going to New York, he had surgery to remove the cancer, and we thought all was OK. , but a microscopic piece of tissue remained, and in December, he finished radiation treatment to hopefully clear that up. He's not out of the woods, yet, so it is a roller coaster ride. Nothing is for sure.
So we just try to take life a day at a time, celebrating each day we have together. One thing we are sure of is God's love for us and that our lives are in his hands, and that we will be together forever. Our Savior is there for us during tough times and has our back.
A big thumbs up on the last day of radiation treatment!
We celebrate the life of 4 year old granddaughter Dahlia. Her life bears witness that our God is a God of miracles. At the end of January, the Ochoa and Ellis families celebrated the anniversary of Dahlia receiving the gift of a new heart ( January 28, 2012, a few days before she turned 4 months old).
A balloon launch honored the sweet angel whose heart gives life to Dahlia's body.
We made Valentine's cards for the sick children who are at Texas Children's Hospital, where Dahlia spent the first few months of her life and received her heart transplant.
So thankful each day for this sweet girl!
So I'll take the ups and the downs, knowing that life is all about that, and much, much more! We are just not randomly tossed about during the storms of life. Hope and faith in our Savior and his great promises are the sure anchors of our souls. I know of a surety of the reality of things we cannot see with our mortal eyes.
