A Blessing

Today I received a blessing from my home teacher, James. My brother-in-law also participated. My sister,  my 14 year-old daughter and, of course, Dave were also there. To say it was wonderful is an understatement, but I can think of no other way to describe it besides WONDERFUL!

In the blessing, James said more than once that I will overcome this. He used that word--'overcome.' What a powerful word! He said Heavenly Father has a mission for me to do here--to teach the Gospel to my children. That is just what has been on my heart. He said because I am going through this, there are people I can serve and comfort whom I would not otherwise be able to reach. How awesome! Bring them on! He said my husband and I would grow closer. This has already happened!

During the blessing I was so pleased and touched and relieved by all that was said, that peaceful tears rolled down my cheeks. But James was audibly moved, and his hands trembled with emotion.

When it was over and all tears were dried, there was an awkward moment when no one knew what to say or do next. I said, "Am I supposed to serve dessert?" Someone said, "Well, yeah! We are Mormons after all." I said, "But this isn't a Mormon event. This is a cancer event. They have a whole other set of rules." We all laughed. We laughed perhaps less because it was funny, and more because of the wonderful feeling we all shared. Palpable joy.

But I was surprised and curious about James' strong emotions. I asked if he had anyone close to him who was affected by breast cancer. He said no, and I didn't want to put him on the spot by pressing more. Later, we exchanged the following texts:

ME:    I didn't want to ask and put you on

the spot, but I am curious about the

experience you had while blessing

me. Your emotion surprised me.

Can you share?

HIM:    I prayed before I came over to your

house that I would be inspired to

know what to say, but I wasn't sure

what the will of The Lord would be.

As I gave the blessing it felt so

right to let you know that everything

would be ok. I was overwhelmed

with gratitude that it turned out that

way, and humbled that I could feel

that inspiration.

In its early stages, this trial---this cancer---has brought great blessings to me. I know I haven't hit the hard part yet, but I feel COURAGEOUS and I have GREAT HOPE!