As we get closer to the end of the 31 day challenge, I want to share a joy and get back in line with the tagline of my blog: Living an awesome life daily

My youngest daughter is in the marching band at her high school. She plays the french horn, but during marching season she is in Color Guard. Marching band is a big deal around here.

In Texas, Marching contest is an every other year event due to the shear number of bands (i.e if you are a 2A school, you only compete for the opportunity to go to state in the odd years, while the 5A schools compete during even years). This year is an advancing year for our size school.

The bands start off at Regionals. If they receive a score of 1, they advance to Area. For those of you unfamiliar, Area competition determines who will go to State. The number of bands that compete at Area then determines how many bands will go to State. This year that number was 4 for our Area competition.

I cannot remember every year’s competition, but two years ago, the finals were rained out and the band just missed the opportunity to advance to State. This year they marched well enough to march in the finals. Only the top 10 bands get to do that.

Our band director has been a huge blessing to all of the kids who participate in band during her tenure. Numerous students have gone on to college and either participated in the band at college or have majored in a music related field.

I have had the pleasure to know Beth (the Band Director) for 10 years now. She is a strong Christian who loves “her kiddos.”

As I write this, I am sitting here anxiously waiting to hear how they did tonight. You see, this will be our last year to participate since my youngest will be graduating in May.

I am so thankful for the gift of music that Beth has shared with my kids and all of the others that have come through her band hall.

Today’s verse in honor of Beth and the Thrall Tiger Marching Band is Psalm 95:2

Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.

Some might call me stubborn, but I prefer to think that I have perseverance.

Webster’s defines perseverance as “continued effort to do or achieve something, despite difficulties, failures or opposition.”

According to dictionary.com the theological meaning is “continuance in a state of grace to the end.” Wow. Think about that for a few minutes.

This evening I was trying to find some inspiration for today and for finishing this 31 day challenge (5 more posts after this one). I stumbled across this verse from James 1:2-3

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.

Based on the definition we just looked at, we should have joy, because the trials produces perseverance, or a continuance in a state of grace to the end.

Finding joy during times of trials is not as easy as it sounds. But we must remember that joy and happiness are NOT the same thing. We have all heard that before, but what does it really mean?

My personal description is that joy is internal and happiness is external. I can find momentary happiness when I am surrounded by people at a party. But when I am alone, it is joy that comforts me.

Unfortunately, our family has had its share of trials this year, but through a continued state of grace – perseverance there can still be joy.

So as we move into the upcoming month of Thanksgiving, remember to say thanks for those trials that have tested your faith producing perseverance.

There is one week left in this 31 Day writing challenge. When I began, I thought it would be about our discovery of a new life after my husband’s diagnosis. Then, as the month progressed, it became a way for me to find and share encouragement from the bible.

Some days were easy, some were harder.

I thought the discovery of our new life would be enough to keep the writing going. When I was diagnosed it seemed like things moved at lightening speed. But I have found out through this process that each person’s cancer journey is unique.

I have learned patience. Patience with the doctors. Patience with the process. Patience with my husband.

Ephesians 4:2

Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.

I’m not sure if I truly understood this until this month. While I was the one who needed caring for, my husband was patient, humble and gentle (most of the time). Realizing that he has done that for twelve years is very humbling to me.

I had no idea how patient he had been until it was my turn to demonstrate patience.

When we came home from the hospital, he was very weak. He was unable to do much around the house. He did not have any appetite. He was unable to do the things that he had been doing primarily for the last 5 years since my cancer returned.

Perhaps patience is not the right word, but I have learned to ask before I sit down if he needs anything else. I have learned to not respond sharply when I can’t understand what he says. I have learned to be attentive to how he moves and when he is in pain.

This has been a huge change for us. While I don’t think I took advantage of this, I did allow him to do a lot of things for me that I may have been able to do. In the beginning, I was unable to do much because of where the cancer attacked (I will be continuing that story in November when the challenge is over), but over time I have learned how to adjust.

Now, as I serve my husband in this new role, I realize that the patience and the gentleness is so much easier because it comes from a place of love.

If we act out of love then patience, humility and gentleness will flow easily.

Friends that we have known our entire married life brought dinner tonight (we are blessed to have great people helping us out since the cancer diagnosis). As we were in the kitchen getting things together to eat, one of them told me “It wasn’t what we planned.”

I laughed and replied, “Well, there isn’t much going on in my life right now that I planned.”

Our friends like to cook on the grill. Steaks, brisket, sausage, pretty much anything. They were going to barbecue a brisket and come over to watch football. The rain (we live in Texas) today put a kink in that plan. So instead, they got some pre-cooked brisket and sausage from the store.

It was still an awesome dinner. Just not what they had planned. We enjoyed the food and the company.

If you haven’t realized by now that life does not always turn out as planned, then I would love to meet you and know your secret.

If I had been asked in high school to describe my life in 2015, I’m am certain it would not look anything like what my life looks like now.

In 1984, I was graduating from High School and heading off to college. I had no idea what I was majoring in. I had no idea where life would lead. I’m sure I thought that I would be married (ok, got that one right) and that I would have kids (got that one, too).

But the path that has lead me to where I am now is nothing like I would have drawn out, for example:

• I graduated from college and moved to Washington, D.C. I worked in public accounting for a year and thought I really wanted to live in “the big city.” A year passed and I was ready to move back to Texas. I worked in Dallas for several years until I got married (see below). I was a city girl. Fast forward to 2015, I live in a town with a population of 800 and while I miss the ability to run to the store, I do not miss the hustle and bustle of people crowding me where ever I am.
• I married a football coach. I expected to be married to a football coach for years to come. But life changed and my husband changed careers. He has been involved with grass-fed beef at the family farm and is an consultant for farmers that want to go organic. As a kid I never even went to a farm except for one time when I rode with my grandfather in his milk truck (he picked up milk from dairies, it was quite an experience). Farming was not in my long range plans.
• In 2003, I was first diagnosed with cancer (certainly wasn’t part of the plan – you can read more about that here). That changed my plans again. I worked for a school district and was doing well. With two young daughters, we made the jump to pursuing the dream of our own business in the organic consulting field.

So life has once again thrown us a curve ball and we are adjusting to what this new life looks like. It was not in our plans. But, just like our dinner tonight, we make adjustments when life isn’t what we planned.