[Oe List ...] Holiday Greetings

[Margaret Helen Aiseayew]

Dear Friends,
It seems that it has been a long time since I have written a holiday letter, but this has been such an exceptional year that I feel compelled to say thanks to all of you.

Someone asked me how I felt just the day after my last chemo. I really didn't feel well, but I felt like I was dancing in God's umbrella upside down. There was absolutely no protection from the rain(reign) of his grace. There is something really stable to hold on to. There are lots of things to trip over. And every time you trip, you splash more of her grace upon yourself.

Since the diagnosis of breast cancer last December, that has been the story of my life. Small and large bills in Christmas cards took care of December and then the Get Well cards with gifts were certainly timed by someone month after month. Even when I was back at work part time and anxious about trying to get back to full time, there would come a "Thinking of You." card that would tell me to do something special and the money to do it was still there at the end of the month. I don't know how to thank you all enough for all these gifts that truly sustained me, but they were only the beginning.

Friends and relations drove me to appointments for more tests, chemo and follow-ups with the surgeon from January through July. That is a lot to ask in Iowa weather. I never missed an appointment, in spite of ice and blizzards and even my own blocked driveway. This poisoning yourself with chemo is really serious business. When my energy would flag or I felt particularly ill, I would go to my recliner. It sits opposite a huge front window in my house and on the walls of that corner of the room I have my family and my family history embracing me. When I would recline, I would feel all the prayers coming my way: across the miles or blocks and through my window or across continents from my computer just inside the archway to my office. They would lift me up and lie me down more comfortably.

Words are so magical and so inadequate. I haven't mentioned the food that came this way. I haven't mentioned the care through a circle of Breast Cancer Buddies. I haven't mentioned my churches--both my membership church and the one I pastor. They have been so gracious and giving. Friends that came by for tea, frequent calls from my girls and grands, and social service systems that stepped up and said yes to many different needs.

There has been no limit to the outpouring of support, love and grace. Things my head has believed for years, my body now knows at every level. I can't say thank you enough for every thought and prayer, for every ride, for every phone call. Dad mowed my lawn all summer. Dorothy would come by to do dishes and visit. They are both doing well. 

I had the joy of visiting my girls late in the fall and then attending a conference at Wesley Theological Seminary in December. Brother Bill and Joyce gave me the tickets for Christmas and I am not sure that I have ever had a better one. The folks are leaving for Texas on the fifth so I will miss them terribly. I am taking them out for New Year's Eve. Life can't get better or fuller than this. The hope, joy, peace and love that flooded the earth that first Christmas are here for us all the time. Recognize it and pass the word on. 

Emmanuel, Margaret Helen Aiseayew
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://wedgeblade.net/pipermail/oe_wedgeblade.net/attachments/20091231/8f3dbc03/attachment.html>