Monday, October 18, 2010

A few drops in our bucket

Hello my friends!


I have some exciting updates for you about my mom's bucket list as we have had a few drops begin to fill it! We have received such wonderful response to our celebration of my mom's life and I am pleased to share that a few items from the bucket list are already arranged and financed.


Just to clarify, this list is being worked on, but nothing has taken place as of yet. As many of you know, we had plane tickets to take my mom to Scotland but due to the advancement of her cancer, we have had to cancel that trip (but we have not given up on that item!). We plan to pick up with the rest of the list starting late in November.


Below is an update on the bucket list by item number:


1.       Visit Scotland - This will take place, albeit in a non-traditional celebration. More to come on this one so be looking out for some crazy creativity!

2.       Eat a whole Marie Calendars Pie - This has been graciously taken care of and will take place next month

3.       Visit a Castle - This is partially set up, we will visit Hearst Castle on our way to stay at a beach house (item #6)

4.       Stay on a Houseboat - We need help on this one, I am thinking of renting a VERY LARGE houseboat, and having our entire family stay on it. Mom, Dad, all the kids and their families. Nothing set as of yet.

5.       Ride in a hot air balloon - Nothing set as of yet

6.       Stay in beach house - Some ideas, but financing is still being worked on (the photography fundraiser I am running right now! We hope for this to take place some time in January as a combination of #3 and #7.

7.       Take an all girls trip - Combined with #3 and #6

8.       Do something outrageous (more to come on this!) - This is an open idea and will randomly take place

9.       Drive sports car - We have had inquiries on this one, but nothing is set up yet. 

10.     Visit the New England area - This will be the tough one. Since my mom cannot fly on a plane, I am thinking a big RV and LOTS of gas. But hey! We can visit friends all across the US on our way right?!!! I do expect this to be a monstrosity of fundraising (unless you are lending us your R.V.!!!) and effort on many people's part.

11.     Have a night out in a Limo - This has been graciously taken care of


For those of you that are asking how you can help, I hope this gives you some direction. I know we have a fabulous group out of Oklahoma that are geared up to start working on this list. I have no idea what or how they are doing it, but I am praising God for their love and their faith! In addition to this, I have already had several bookings and purchases for our photography fundraisers.


This blog has received over 460 page views in the past 3 weeks!!!! Praise God that so many people are reading about this journey and if just one of them finds comfort in God's love during a time of trial, then it will have meant so much more to my mom.


I will be away in Europe starting next week and will be picking up a little bit of Scotland while I am there! I will post as much as the Lord puts on my heart or the developments move forward on any more of this list. Please share this blog with everyone you know, email the link to the home page and have them join our adventure!



Saturday, October 16, 2010

Hillsong - From The Inside Out - Let us Worship together!


Friends, let us worship together today and pray for the 562,000 people that will die this year from cancer in this country alone.

Let our "souls cry out" to Him. Praise Him!

All things made new...

And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain for the former things have passed away. Then He who sat on the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new." And He said to me, "Write, for these words are true and faithful." Rev 21:4-5

So by faith, let us pray for His kingdom, and for everyone to believe.



Tuesday, October 12, 2010

A bend in our road

When my family began this journey, we acknowledged that we have no control over what the future would hold for my mom's final months and it seems we have met with our first bend in the road. 


Last night, my mom received a phone call from her Oncologist to inform her that her most recent PET scan results show that the cancer has spread to her femur bone, a rib bone, the L4 lumbar (spine) as well as continuing to grow in her chest bone. I regret to share with you all that my mom is losing the physical battle with her breast cancer. 



In addition to her prognosis, Her doctor instructed her that under no circumstances should she ever set foot on a plane again. That information barely registered with me as I sunk down on my bed to listen to my mom tell me that she was that much closer to the end. We both struggled not to give up our joy and by sheer will, focused on Him and His blessings in our lives. 

My dear friends, as I woke up this morning He reminded me of His promise to us, "Through the Lords’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness." (Lamentations 3:22-23) God is good all the time!



Tonight, as I update you, I have had the past 24 hours to reflect on my thoughts and feelings. I have taken all of this to God and prayed for His will to be done and He reminded me of this... the cancer cannot win! 


That's right! The cancer CANNOT WIN! Remember this one thing and believe on it with all of your heart: 


We have eternal life in Jesus Christ! 

This is not a slogan or an empty promise, if you believe on Him then you will never die! (John 11:26) Let me repeat myself unless you think I cut and pasted these words from some self-help website... here it goes, IF YOU BELIEVE ON HIM THEN YOU WILL NEVER DIE!


Wow! That felt good didn't it? And now with my usual flare for the dramatic, I say back to the Cancer, "Oh death where is your sting, oh grave where is your victory!" (1 Cor 15:55) I still believe and pray that God can fully heal my mom, but I am surrendered to His will and will praise Him every day. 


I am writing to tell you that our family will continue with the rest of the bucket list! There is no particular order to how we will accomplish these things but a few of them are already in order and I will begin planning the next one very soon! (you want to know what it is don't you?).


I hope this blog is a blessing to anyone who has or is struggling with cancer in themselves or a loved one. I am deeply touched by all the phone calls and emails I have received by people who have been inspired by our faith and our journey.


My final thought on my mom's cancelled trip to Europe is this...


If my mom cannot go to Scotland, then Scotland will just have to come to my mom! 


(We will talk soon my friends)

Monday, October 11, 2010

Join this awesome fundraiser!

Hey everyone! October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and it could not come at a more appropriate time for my family.

Many people have come forward to donate items, connections and financial needs. Thank you all so much for your support and your faith!!! You have brought us so far and I am committed to doing my part for this wonderful journey.

I am doing a fundraiser on Sunday, October 24thFamily Beach Pictures at La Jolla. I know many of you have been interested in beach pictures at one time, so I hope that I am fulfilling a need for you as well as a need for my mom.  


IN ADDITION to this fundraiser... from now until the end of this month, I am selling gift certificates for Jane Studios portraits for HALF OFF. So, for example if you want to donate $150 towards the bucket list, I will give you a $300 gift certificate good towards any individual service we offer; family portraits, senior pictures, kids school pics, etc... ALL of the proceeds go towards Wanda's Bucket List.

These gift certificates DO NOT EXPIRE and are FULLY TRANSFERRABLE. So you can buy one for a friend or family member.

I am looking forward to being able to thank your donation with the gift of portraits. Being able to preserve memories for a lifetime is a notion that has become even more poignant to me through my mother's sickness. I am pleased to share this experience with you!

Friday, October 8, 2010

#1 Visit Scotland

Well, it's here! Our first attempt at the bucket list is starting off with a bang! Some of you may know, since I am not good at keeping surprises to myself, that my daughter Emma and I are traveling to Europe in three weeks. One of those countries happens to be Scotland, and so this is where Wanda's bucket list starts as a "God thing."


Since the spring I have had this trip planned with my daughter. Our tickets are booked and extra camera supplies are ordered. As a photographer, I am practically salivating over the thousands of pictures I am going to take! 


We are going to visit some friends in the Netherlands and are only able to do this because of the wonderful values we are getting. We traded our airline miles for free plane tickets, thank you American Express! In addition, we are visiting some wonderful friends who have extended to us their hospitality and connections to stay and play at almost no cost to us. And so this is where my mom enters the story.


When we received the news of her terminal diagnosis, the thought crossed my mind about what she wanted to do with the remainder of her days, not knowing how many there would be. And when she replied, "visit Scotland," a light went on! You see, she did not know that Scotland was one of our destinations because we were still working out the details ourselves. I remember my mom mentioning Scotland to me many years ago as the one place she always wanted to visit. I think it might have been six or seven years ago, neither of us knowing that our paths would cross on this subject again. 


So after a discussion with my husband, we called the airline to see if we could trade what was left of our miles and pay the difference, and wouldn't you know it? There was availability on our flight using airline miles, but just one seat left!!! Isn't God so amazing?!!! Long story shortened, the one ticket disappeared the next day before we could book, the price kicked up and our story almost ended there. But in faith, we prayed about it and the Lord provided. After an hour on the phone with a wonderful Delta ticket agent, we were able to change our flights completely (they waived the fees for that) and get a ticket for my mom after all! God gives His children such good gifts. 


But still there was one more major consideration. Thankfully, my beautiful friend in the Netherlands, Cathleen, was ecstatic to meet my mom and extended her heart and her home to all three of us! So here we go, can you believe it? My mom has never been anywhere out of this country, and here she is going halfway across the world to live her dream of seeing the Scottish moors and seeing big, hairy men in kilts! (ok, so I added "big" and "hairy" for my husband's peace of mind)


Where God has opened doors, we have danced through singing His praises! Her passport is all set and we are going to be on our way. Please join us in your hearts as we leave on October 27th and will return November 16th. 


I ask with a fervent heart, please pray for my mom's health and for our safety. I want to thank two very special and yet anonymous people for contributing to my mom's plane ticket and my fabulous husband for helping us work this out and sacrificing his airline miles to get her to Europe. I have much more to share with you and look forward to my next post!







Monday, October 4, 2010

The bucket list has arrived!

So after much anticipation on my part, I received the Bucket List today. It is amazing to me how much you can learn about a person through something like a bucket list. However, I don't want to get ahead of myself here. Not everyone may know what a "Bucket List" is...

A Bucket List is basically a list of all the things you want to do before you die, or "kick the bucket." This concept was made popular by Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson in the 2007 movie of the same title directed by Rob Reiner. You can check out the theatrical trailer here. If you haven't already, I highly recommend watching this movie. Especially if you continue to follow us along our adventures. One thing about me, I love movies! I think many great stories are told through movies, I tend to view life through this lens at times. Everyone has a story (a little shout out to Don Miller there). But I digress.


My mom has written her bucket list and it is from here that we begin our adventures. I have no idea how all this is going to happen or how it will all be provided for. But I do know this, God is a loving God, full of goodness and mercy. He wants to give His children good gifts when we put Him first. I have seen my mother put the Lord first in her life and I know that this is no different. We are starting this adventure by committing it all to Him (Prov 16:3). It is by His will that my mom spends another day here on earth. It always has been and always will be so.


I know that there are several different ways of dealing with death. Some say not to give up hope, that God is the healer. Yes, He is. Some say that she can live a long and healthy life just like someone else they knew who had cancer. Yes, she could. Some say that it's a great idea for us to do this together and share it with everyone else. Yes, I think it is.


These are all true statements and we have taken every one of them to heart. God alone knows the day that my mom will die, whether it is is 6 months or 6 years (James 4:14). We do this list not to just accept death, but we are doing it to live life!


I encourage you to do one thing after reading this. What is your bucket list? If you were going to die, what would you spend your last year doing? There is no right answer to this question and we would love to hear some of your thoughts. Please feel free to post your comments here!


Wanda's Bucket List:

1.       Visit Scotland
2.       Eat a whole Marie Calendars Pie
3.       Visit a Castle
4.       Stay on a Houseboat
5.       Ride in a hot air balloon
6.       Stay in beach house
7.       Take an all girls trip
8.       Do something outrageous (more to come on this!)
9.       Drive sports car
10.     Visit the New England area
11.     Have a night out in a Limo