Mommy is Back in Action!

Greetings friends and family,

Kendra and I reached the finish line.  We slid into home plate.  We sped full-speed through the checkered flag.  and we won.  From January 1 through May 2 we were up to our eyeballs in ministry.  It was fun.  it was amazingly fulfilling.  it was time consuming and pressurized like a shook up can of soda.  and now it's over for this season.  Our team of 15 leaders led an 8-week class of 90 people and a two-day event with 43 participants.  Kendra had her first day of Chemotherapy on Thursday and then led the two-day event starting the next day.  The is the difference between doing something "for God" and doing something "from God".  Doing something for God is a struggle and difficult, but doing something from God is a joy and easy.  Just watching people go through the process of transformation and the life change that results is more rewarding than i can describe.  We will take about a month off from ministry to recuperate, reconnect, rest, relax, and all the other re- words.  

No matter what is going on in the world or in us, the one thing that remains constant is birthdays.  We had Logan and Bree over to celebrate hers.  any time cake is involved you know the twins are sure to be right in the middle of it.  Throw in a "happy birthday" song and it's almost impossible for them to stay away from the action.  I especially like Easton's wink.  His personality is showing up more every day.

Speaking of personality...  Kendra is really amazing with how she treats others.  I know it's normal for businesses to send out "thank you" cards, but I read this one from Layla's dentist.  It says, "I just wanted you to know how much you touched my hear today.  You have such a beautiful spirit and wonderful children..."  I wasn't there to know how that conversation happened, but I just shook my head and smiled when I read that because it's normal and expected for Kendra to spread her happy sunshine-personality around everywhere she goes.

 One of the highlights for Kendra is her friend Megan coming into town.  She's been looking forward to this weekend for weeks now.  Megan has been an extraordinary help for Kendra with her support in friendship and buying her dresses and just being there as much as she can with a long-distance friendship.  Kendra is sad about not spending the summer with Megan and the other moms.  We'll settle for having her here for a few days and Kendra will sponge all the happiness she can get out of these days together.   The Webb house has seen more visitors in the past 8 weeks than in the past year combined, but we are extremely grateful for those who are giving their resources and themselves to support us through this year.

 The big announcement of the week is:  Mommy is BACK!   There is a play on words there because I mean Kendra's back is healing and she is getting involved again with the kids and the household.  She was bedridden for weeks, but each day she finds there are improvements and things she couldn't do the day before.  and the best part is that she's off the narcotics and even slept a few times without any ibuprofen or Tylenol.  Simple things in life mean 1,000 times more to me.  Such as this moment when I walked into the kitchen to find Easton frustrated about having to work on his penmanship.  Kendra was sitting there with him working on letters.  Something so basic and normal becomes extraordinary because it was impossible just a couple of weeks ago.

and seeing her walk in her swimsuit without a brace was pure joy.  Yes, she is slow and stiff, but this is a miracle if I've ever seen one.  She's back in the pool and being the great mom she's always been.  Oh, and welcome to summer (no matter what the calendar says).

Kendra's chemotherapy was six hours of dumping toxic chemicals directly into her bloodstream.  It's probably not technically correct to say it that way, but that's what I experienced sitting there with her.  She's getting two "kill the cancer" medications and one "rebuild the vertebrae" medication.  whatever the names are... i don't need to concern myself with that.  I'll gladly just get to be husband and father with the greatest amount of gusto I have inside.  Some day our dates will not involve doctors, hospitals, or medicine, but for now we gladly spend our time together enjoying every moment no matter where we are or what we are doing. 

Will Kendra lose her hair?  I don't know.  neither of us really care either.  Will she experience side effects?  Nothing yet other than the taste of metal and a little indigestion.  Doesn't really change anything about the situation either way though.  side effects just mean temporary discomfort for the next few months.  There are so many unknowns and unaswerable questions that we could easily fill our entire day with just asking questions.  We just don't.  It's that simple.  We are where we are, but we won't be here for long!  Even in the middle of wherever we are, the following list of characteristics is what we have and the atmosphere around us:

love
joy
peace
patience
kindness
goodness
faithfulness
gentleness
self-control

This is what we carry inside of us and the atmosphere around us is full of these characteristics because of what we bring to every situation, every room, every uncertainty, every disappointment, every pain, and every person we come into contact with.  Some people choose to let circumstances determine their state of being.  Kendra and I chose a long time before cancer and fractured bones that our state of being will affect our circumstances no matter what they may be.  Now we are just proving out what we really believe.

see you soon!