Mission Possible

All my life I've been a student. As a student, I have mastered the art of procrastination. It's safe to say that without deadlines, nothing would ever be accomplished. At least not in a timely manner. My boyfriend's family had gotten back from a trip late last night - completely exhausted from fighting bad weather and traffic for over 4 hours. We were watching the Packers v. 49ers game on tv and eating Taco Bell when they arrived - being totally useless and lazy. They unpacked, settled in and began to watch the game with us. I noticed that we were missing someone and got up to investigate. I went into the kitchen to see his sweet little sister slaving away on her homework. She looked up with a face I know all too well - the overwhelmed "I hate myself for waiting to the last minute" face. She had math and history and essays...entirely too much to do after a long weekend of driving and freezing temps. Sometimes we have to do things we don't want to do, because they have to be done. As I drove home from their house, I got a phone call from my mom's best friend. We talked a long time about doing things we didn't want to do - and doing things because they're expected and you have no choice. Throughout my mom's fight against cancer, I have grown up a lot. I don't mean that I was immature - I mean that I've had to take on a lot of new responsibilities that most people my age wouldn't care about or understand. I haven't been surprised that I could do it - because I truly believe you can do whatever you set your mind to...but I've been surprised that I could accomplish so much, so well, in such a small amount of time. I don't have deadlines per say, but in a household you've got chores that HAVE to be done. I never thought that I could juggle all my responsibilities so well, but I didn't have a choice - things needed to be done for my mom and my family.

When my mom was in ICU at Roanoke Memorial Hospital, we lived with my aunt and uncle. My cousin moved in, with her two little people, to keep us company. This cousin in particular has always been one of my favorites; we've always had such a special connection that can't really be explained or described. Throughout that month, we all spent a lot of time together on "Mauney Island"; I lost a cousin and gained an older sister. She had always been my role model and hero, but she became so much more. She was brave, caring, always smelled good and was ready to drop everything and give me a hug. Hugs are timeless and always welcome. She was the first person I hugged when the doctor told me our fate. She was the one standing in that ER room when we saw the tumor on the monitor, holding me as I was sobbing uncontrollably. God was there that day, in that room, at that time holding my cousin and I. She was strong for me - demonstrating that God has a plan and has given us people with purpose to help us get through this "mission impossible" scenario.

The devotion for today is from Genesis 21:1-7. "The Lord kept his word and did for Sarah exactly what he had promised. She became pregnant, and she gave birth to a son for Abraham in his old age." This would be impossible - without God. Abraham was 100 years old when his son was born. Not only is it slightly gross and weird to think about having a child at 100 years old...it's a reminder that God can do anything - there is no "mission impossible". I do recall he helped the Virgin Mary become pregnant with Jesus...that's pretty impossible too. He performs miracles that our intellect can not process, but they happen every day on smaller and more recognizable scales. The more I think about my family and my mom and this tumor that's taking over her brain...I start to think that maybe this is "mission possible". None of us can predict the future - we have special medications, CT scans and MRIs that help provide information...but they're not 100% accurate. My mom was given 1 month to live without any treatments and 13 months with treatments. It is now January and she shows no signs of slowing down any time soon. She's a fighter and she's in this to win it - she certainly won't go down without a fight.

There's a show on the Food Network called "Restaurant Impossible" about a chef that visits failing restaurants and helps them make necessary changes to remain in business. The episode always ends with the restaurant successfully making changes and doing better business than ever before - so why isn't the show "Restaurant Possible"? I think we need a safety net - a back up plan. If the restaurant were to not be successful, it would live up to the name "Restaurant Impossible" but if they fix the restaurant for good, it proves that phrase wrong. Doctors tend to be very negative when giving diagnosis and recommendations...and I think it's because they'd like to be wrong. Nobody wants to be told "you've got 15 years to live" and then die of the disease tomorrow. If you're told you've got 13 months and you make it the best 13 months of that persons life...it'll be as if they've lived a lifetime - and who's to say she won't make it longer?! There is nothing God cannot do. He does everything with a purpose. We don't always understand - but I don't know if I could handle his reasoning right now anyways. This fight with cancer relies a lot on attitude and perspective - I'm looking at this the way Rocky looks at a fight - this is our mission, and it's Mission Possible.