GOOD NEWS!

Thanks everyone for your kindness towards me. I am so relieved and happy to tell you that the PET scan showed "no signs of metastatic disease", as the Dr put it, as soon as he opened the door to the exam room. He cautioned me to be on guard. This test looks for TUMORS and cancer cells are too small to be detected so he told me to get in to get checked anytime anything persists for more than 2 wks if it is UNUSUAL. I promise I will do that. Love you all, and thank you again.!

PET/CT Scan Causes Reflection

This is where I went today

it was my 4th PET scan.

I am not afraid.

I think it is miraculous that we have such fabulous health care. If you notice up at the top in the middle of the machine, there is an opening. It's new, so you don 't have to feel so claustrophobic. That is a tender mercy to me because today I decided NOT to take medication for the procedure. It isn't painful, just that you have to lay PERFECTLY still and calm inside the tube for almost an hour. I have never felt like I could do that, thus a little meds each time. Last year, I think I overdid it, I couldn't remember the scan AT ALL! Wasn't even sure if they really did it. :)

I feel more courage this year.

My how things can change with TIME

Today, I want to reflect on all that is good in my life. PET scans have a way of doing that to me.

Some things that I love:

Here are some of my heroes that are cancer survivors with me.

Even though these three all started out with breast cancer, two of them now have new cancers.

They continue to FIGHT, and it gives me courage.

I spend a considerable amount of time with these ladies. We meet every Monday to learn about coping skills and we have a meditation session that brings tons of Peace to me!

The one here on my left is Elaine Alder, an icon in St. George. She has given me the most strength out of all of them. She is THE BEST!!

The one next to me here is Deb (previously Torres) Christensen. She is the cancer coordinator at DRMC. She is incredibly gifted and insightful to the subject of LIFE. She has been a huge help to me in my "Life after a Cancer Diagnosis" I love all these sweet women. They make a difference in my life.

There is something special about this gal, her name is Gail. She does clinical trials with cancer research. She is overflowing with love, and I love it ..........and her.

Just in the last 3 weeks, I have had a STARK reminder that this cancer fight is NEVER over. I have a dear friend, Cathy Lindell. Before I was diagnosed with breast cancer, she had already had it TWICE. The first time, it was estrogen negative, in 12 of her lymph nodes; she went ahead with a mastectomy and chemo and radiation. Rough go.....but she survived. About 3 yrs later, a new lump in the other side.........estrogen positive this time, no lymph node involvement. Another mastectomy and a pill to take every day for the next five years. Well, it's been almost 5 yrs, and even though blood tests, which we do every 6 months, showed NOTHING to be concerned about, dizziness did. Long story short, they have found the 2nd breast cancer has spread to the brain, the brain stem, the throat, the lungs and in her hip. She is FIGHTING for her very life, even now as we speak. Brain tumor came out w/ no problem, the throat, lungs and hip will respond to some hormone treatments in an injection. (another evidence of the miraculous health care we enjoy) The brain stem is the biggest challenge. She is doing radiation to her entire brain for 15 rounds. It is tough. Her own mom passed away due to breast cancer.

My own mom passed away due to breast cancer.

Am I scared? Nope.

Do I want to stay on top of every TUMOR? Yep.

Am I shaken to remember that LIFE IS FRAGILE...............you BET!

There are many things I still want to enjoy. I don't want to take ANYTHING FOR GRANTED: Like the ones I have been blessed to still be here to see: EASTER for example:

this is Kenya, 2 1/2 yrs old, with a FEW other kids looking for very few eggs at the city Easter Egg Hunt.

tell me she is not absolutely PRECIOUS...............as are ALL 12, yes I said 12, Grandkids :)

Dying Easter Eggs is always fun for me to watch...........4 of my grandkids, and 3 of my brothers kids..........they call me" GR-Aunt Karen", cuz they don't have any grandmas alive, so I am both grandma and aunt.............I love them so much. My mom never got to see them or their sweet mother, one of my favorite people of all time............Heather McKnight.

Just in case you couldn't see how Beckett dyed his eggs, here is a close up view, you just use your WHOLE HAND to put in the egg, then leave it there for a few minutes, and voila', a colored egg!!

So, after the kids went to bed, my sis-in-law and I got a little giddy, and very tired, but we HAD to have a few more eggs colored OUR WAY! I love the glitter ones!! Sparkles delight me for sure!

Then we played Easter Bunny, even though it was now 2 am, whew, fun.........even for my BIG kids.

Next day, on Saturday, we had all the eggs hidden at our CORRAL for the kids to find. Here, you see Caden is holding up his hand in VICTORY, he was SURE HE was going to find the golden egg, with $5.00 in it.............................sure enough, HE found it!


Of course, we HAD to have an Easter picnic out in our backyard, I just love the idea my sister Colleen , gave me to put easter grass down the table with colored eggs for decorations, these are even edible!!

My granddaughter, Jayda, is 17 mos, and I thought it was hilarious that she loved the LAST of the potato salad. :)Next day, ready for church. Caden is 7 and Halle on the right, (nephew and niece), love to go to church with me whenever we are together. They are some SPECIAL KIDS!! that's for sure. The matching ones are l to r : Maddux, Malakai, Jayda, and Kenya..........Tara's Kids. The only ones that live here in SG.

Now, on this Easter Sunday, Dale called me in to the front room: the light coming through the front window..........hhhmmm...........

Do you think this was JUST A COINCIDENCE?? I don't think so. I feel loved by Heaven.

then there came the BIG DAY...................MOTHER'S DAY!! I get to talk to my son , Jonathan, he is in Argentina. This is how we had to call him, very complicated if you ask me. Eric, my oldest son, is a WHIZ with the computer and figured out how to talk for 2 hours for $20. Way better than last year when the call cost us $275.00............OUCH!

Happy Mother's Day to me, Happy Girls!!

This will forever be a priceless picture to me

Sometimes I am not sure if I am loved by this boy.

He loved me on Mother's Day,

and here is proof. :)

three of the six children I have..................better than none.........I LOVE BEING A MOTHER!

The more the merrier!~!

One of my gifts for Mother's Day is a new PATHWAY from the driveway to the front door, this is just the ROUGH DRAFT..............I love it...............Thanx Dale!!

Another joy is something I have wanted to do for A LONG TIME......................take one of the empty bedrooms and put pictures up on EVERY wall of JUST the grandkids. I have worked on it and worked on it, torn it down, had grandchildren help me tear it down, and try again to put it in some sort of ORDER!! This is what I have been working with for the last 2 weeks, and I kind of like what I have come up with ...............so far..............I am sure I will change it around once every few months, but it is a good start I think......................THIS MAKES ME HAPPY :)

Krystal's family

Heather's family

Tara's family

Grandpa Dale's shelf

a pillow from Tara's baby crib (27 yrs ago), this says it all. :)

Are you bored yet of all the things that make me happy? Good, cuz I have ONE more ;)

HOW LUCKY AM I TO HAVE YET ANOTHER BIRTHDAY!!

I joke around that I am 73 so I look better for my age , but I am just 53 on the calendar! The Relief Society does a sweet thing and puts a sign in each woman's yard on her b day. I love it.

This is the FEAST that Dale, Wayne and Tara grilled for me on the BBQ!

Last of all today, I want to reflect just for one more minute on what happens when I have a PET scan. This is the very expensive test that looks for cancer in your body. The first 3 I had, in 2008, 2009, and 2010, were all of my torso. They looked everywhere from the shoulders down to the mid thigh area. I wanted more.

So today, I had one from the top of my head to the bottom of my toes. I will see the Dr. on Friday to get the results. My own mother got her results of the breast cancer spread to the liver over the phone. I happened to be with her when she got the news. I decided then that the phone is not the best way to get news about cancer spreading., or metastasis, as they call it. I will go to the Dr's office, although I will tell you the truth, I don't expect to find anything. As I left the Dr's office, it was dark and gloomy and cloudy, but the Spirit took my attention to this LIGHT on the mountain. I felt peace. I felt loved.

I am grateful for Life, even with it's ups and downs, I am glad to be here!

My Bucket List

There are some things I wanna do before I KICK THE BUCKET.

I never used to think about things like this, but it's high time I do.

No, I don't have any reason to worry about me dying anytime soon.

It's just that you realize, once you have had cancer, that

LIFE DOESN'T COME WITH ANY GUARANTEES!!

I know I want to have a lot of laughs!!

this one is my sis and me and my daughter, Krystal

(I would love to get rid of the wrinkles, but that ain't happenin)

I want to spend time with some of my favorite people

My CLUB friends,

two who now have cancer, but are fighting it.

(and winning , I might add)

One BIGGY on my bucket list is to get my hair back to this style,

I know it's kind of old fashioned, but I LIKE IT!

I want to see my son look like this again.

I want to welcome him back into "the fold".

The world is very appealing to him, and he has left the church.

I guess the people in the large and spacious building were laughing

and acting like they were having so much fun

and he couldn't stand it, he had to join them.

The BIGGEST thing on my bucket list is to WELCOME him back when he comes, I know he will.

I want to be at every baby's birth possible. This is a nephew, who now walks and talks, but in the next 6 weeks, I should get to see 2 new grandbabies be born, and I want to hold them and love them, and SMELL them.........I love that smell.

I want to spend time on our houseboat. There are some sweet memories on this boat, and I love being with my family on it during the summer, even though it is only for a few days.

I want to go to the beach and enjoy the water and the sun, and the kids, and the fresh salt air.

I want to look at white beaches and blue water

I want to let EVERYONE KNOW THAT I LOVE THEM, whatever it takes to do that, I want to do.

I want to cook, and bake and have people over to dinner,

Imma add more pictures as soon as my big kids come over to help me. I am kind of lost when it comes to getting this picture stuff onto my blog.

Yep,

lots of stuff I want to do, even things that I don't think are really all that fun.

For instance,

1.I want to clean out my filing cabinet. I don't want to leave that the way it is.

It will take me a LOOOOONNNNGGG time to get it all straight, so I better get busy on it.

2.I want to get ALL my photos from the last 52 yrs of my life ( the first 20 yrs there are probably less than 100) put together in such a way that you can actually LOOK at them and enjoy them. I want them for me I mean, I want to look at them here and NOW!

3.get all my family and friends addresses updated and organized so I can find them. :)

4. I would like to make sure my girls know how to sew, yep even my married girls.

I love to sew and I don't think I took enough time to teach them.

5. I want to fix up my "grandma/grandkids" room. I want a wall for each of MY children and then have all of THEIR children's pictures ALL over that wall. I have started it several times and never gotten it how I like it, so I want to do that too.

As you can see, I have a lot of stuff to do, so I need to live forever.

Yessirree..........

I intend to live forever,

so far, so good

Now, I gotta go, got LOTS to do :)

I love you all and I will 4-ever,

Love, Karen

"Fill Me With Hope"

Fill Me With Hope

it's early Sunday morning, and it was an unusual one in that I didn't need to wake up early.

But I did anyway.

This thought was on my mind, and it wouldn't go away.

"FILL ME WITH HOPE"

this picture seemed to have that look on my face, "are we ever going to get a good family picture........aaaahhhhhhhh.." but as you can see, we did, not perfect (the little boys faces were less than perfect), but who wants a family picture that's not realistic?.....(ok, yes, we mothers do want a perfect family pic)

So, this thought of HOPE, where did that come from this morning? Believe it or not, I am not feeling hopeless today, but it is still heavy on my mind.

There are things in my life (and yours, I would dare guess), that cause me to plead with the Lord for help. (I think He wants it that way BTW, it keeps us humble).

You may have heard the latest scary news in our family, about cancer once again. This time it is Wayne, Tara's husband.

He was having pain in his abdomen last summer and wondered if it was an appendicitis or something like that. He had a CT scan and it showed that he had a double inguinal hernia.

BUT , it also showed a spot on his kidney.

The Dr told him to have that spot checked out later, but that he thought it was probably a cyst or maybe some scar tissue.

He knew he needed surgery for the hernias but that was not an emergency, it was mostly for his comfort. He put that off until later.

Well, later came after Christmas and he decided to have the surgery so that he could get healing because come Spring, he was planning on playing football for a semi-pro team called "Dixie Rebels". He had become very involved with this team, getting the name changed from "The Blitz", to the Rebels, and he was helping get all new uniforms, changing colors to Red and Gray, and out getting sponsors for the team. He LOVES football, almost as much as he loves his wife and kids. :)

He had the surgery 3 wks ago, and after 2 days, he felt really sick, and had a fever.

He ended up in the ER and they took another CT scan to see if anything was wrong. They concluded that he had an infection and put him on an antibiotic. He felt better over the next 2 days. The INTERESTING thing was that the CT scan showed that darn spot on the kidney again. The Dr called him this week to tell him, that when he compares it with the spot 4-5 months ago, it has grown about 1 cm.

The Dr had consulted with 2 other doctors and the 3 of them concluded that nothing grows in the kidney like that unless it is cancer.

They set him up with some more doctors and plan to remove the kidney in the next 2 weeks.

Of course, everyone is in shock, Wayne is 28 yrs old.

The good news is that IF the cancer has not spread, he can have the kidney removed and all is well. NO CHEMO, NO RADIATION!

Wait a minute, is living with ONE kidney considered , "all is well"?

We know that many people give up their kidneys for others and we know that most people live just fine with one kidney. So, isn't this great news? I think it is.

However, the Dr. told Wayne, he would never be able to play football again.

That is heartbreaking for him.

If it saves his life, it's totally worth it, right?

Right.

He knows that, and when the emotional pain subsides, and his physical pain (from the surgery) is gone, then he will be thankful to only notice the loss of PLAYING football in his life.

He can still coach, and be on the sidelines for LOTS of different reasons.

He is sad, he is scared. What if it has spread?

That's another story.

I am a mother, and I have had sadnesses with my children and their experiences. I recently have had another one, besides this health scare with Wayne.

Would I rather lose a child to physical death, or spiritual death?

Of course , neither.

Will one or both happen?

Maybe.

Did I know of these possibilities when I agreed to come to earth?

Most definitely.

Do I like it?

No.

Will it all be OK?

ABSOLUTELY.

I have hope!! I am so blessed that it comes so easily for me. I realize that it doesn't come that easy to everyone. I KNOW I am given a gift of FAITH, and that leads to so much hope!!

I have many scriptures that encourage me. Maybe I did a little bit of helping myself along this road of Hope, because I spent months searching scriptures on the topic of "Hope". I FOUND MANY!!

There are 209 references to "Hope" in our scriptures.

Romans 15:4

"For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope." (is that cool , or what?)

(does patience have anything to do with this subject?)

Here are a few of my favorites

Psalms 78:7

"...that they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God,but keep his commandments.

(if we keep remembering what God has done for us, we will strengthen our ability to HOPE!)

Romans 8:24,25

"For we are saved by Hope, but Hope that is seen is not hope; for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?

But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it" (I love this)

One of my very favorites is this one:

Ether 12:4

"Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an ANCHOR TO THE SOULS OF MEN, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God."

(an anchor is what we all need!!!)

I love the scriptures!! They help me, they speak to me.

I hear these words in my heart, when I ask for things from Heavenly Father,...............

"I know thou wilt hear my prayer and give me the desires of my heart,.......

BUT IF NOT........................., I know it will be for the best"

As I lay in bed, and after I have poured out my heart to the Lord, I know HE is in control, I KNOW HE will take care of everything, and I feel to ask Him ONE MORE THING...................

"Father, FILL ME WITH HOPE"

I know there is so much more to every story than I can understand or comprehend, but I also know that I have to do my part and miracles will take place, and I will see them happen.

In the Bible Dictionary under "Prayer", we find these words.

"the object of prayer is not to change the will of God, but to secure for ourselves and for others blessings that God is already willing to grant, but that are made conditional on our asking for them"

The Holy Ghost tells me this is true.

I have hope.

Sometimes I need more, so I plead

"Fill me (just let it pour out all over me) with Hope"

Everything That's Broken Gets Fixed :)

I started this blog 2 1/2 yrs ago, with the help and encouragement of my daughters. It was intended to be a resource for loved ones to check in and see how I was doing with my cancer treatments without having to bother me in case I was feeling sick. I loved sharing my experiences and used it as an avenue to express gratitude for so many kindnesses shown to me. I got a lot of comments that were VERY uplifting and helpful to my situation.

It's over 2 yrs later now, and I have had to ask myself,
"why do you still have a blog?"

The young moms I notice have a fun place to post their family journal, and others that care can watch each other's families grow up. It is very enjoyable for me to peek in on some of your blogs. It is almost always about all the happy things going on in someones life. I think of it as your "Gratitude Journal", which I believe is a very good thing for all of us to have, public or not.

Then I realized, this Karen the Kancer Killer is really my Gratitude Journal. I still am a cancer patient, just one in remission for now. I hope to never have active cancer again, but cancer has it's own agenda, and no one is guaranteed to be free of it forever. At least not in this life.

Since my health has returned to what some would call "normal", I notice my posts have been about lessons I have learned and continue to learn almost on a daily basis, even though I post once a month, or less.

If you are reading this, I hope you will let me know if you get anything from my posts. I really am doing it for myself, but I also feel so worthwhile if others can benefit from something I say. I get so much, (everything really) from what others say, and I usually try to let them know because almost everyone I meet makes a difference in my life. I think it is human nature to want to feel involved, included and worthwhile to society and others around them.

This lesson I want to share with you today is about a time when I felt like I was "broken". As a matter of fact, it isn't just ONE TIME I felt this. I feel it pretty much on a weekly basis at one time or another. For the last few months, feelings have been HAUNTING me about what a "Loser" I am. When I feel more positive, I think how silly it is that I could even accept such ridiculous thoughts. I am NOT A LOSER! 52 yrs of living has helped teach me the truth.

Yet, I get sucked in time after time. It seems like my own voice is the one that says these nasty things to me.

I looked for pictures in my file to post along with this blog. You might find them funny, it was HARD to find anything about feeling sad because we in this world of ours have learned to celebrate the FUN things in life with PICTURES. so yes, these pics are a little lame, but hear me out, I think I can make a point.
this is Kimmy's friend, Hannah Larsen, one of the most popular and beautiful girls at Desert Hills High School. This was a rare moment when Kimberlee caught her just thinking. The slight smile on her face says she is not really all that sad, but I am sure we all have our "thought provoking" moments.
This is our sweet MISSIONARY.............aaahhh...............it's a joke of course. This pic was taken last Thanksgiving when we celebrate with "bubbly grape juice"

It did make me think of some of us when we might feel like GIVING UP, I know many who drink their cares away, only to have them return the next morning.

Ever felt like taking a drink, a strong drink?
Sometimes do we feel like nothing ever goes right? These 5 siblings were devastated to lose their mother AND father, yes it is very depressing. Most of them don't like to visit their graves, but I insisted. The fact that no one is looking is another reminder that sometimes we try our hardest to get the picture right, or the meal just right , or the kids dressed up and clean and neat, and IT JUST DOESN"T WORK, nothing seems to go right!!!!!!!!!!
This is Kimmy, it looks like she is on her phone, the closest thing I could find with Kimberlee not LAUGHING and smiling in a picture. From her file, you would think her life is NOTHING BUT FUN, and full of everything right.

What we don't document are the moments that we feel rotten. We don't take pictures of that usually.

And it is probably for the best.

Sometimes it feels that whatever I do, I can't "get it together". Then I think, well , I have a whole life time to "Learn to Get it Together"

This is the lesson I have learned. Once you have had cancer, and you know it could return at any time,...............................

I MAY NOT HAVE A WHOLE LIFE TIME TO GET IT TOGETHER............

Neither do you,............. we never know.................we know that.

So, I decide to do the best I can.

Cancer has taught me to ACCEPT the things I cannot change,

To change the things I can,

And Pray for the Wisdom to know the difference.

I have learned for myself, THE ONE THING I CAN CHANGE IS MY THOUGHTS

That's why it is so helpful to listen to things that others say. It goes into my mind and I think it over, and when I change my thoughts, I change how I feel.

Yep, me, all by myself.............................I CHANGE THE WAY I FEEL.

Before I give you my most recent words from other people that help, let me say,

THIS IS NOT A DESTINATION. Changing the way you feel is a CONSTANT in our life.

I am sure you have heard the only thing constant in our life is CHANGE. (It's almost perfectly true. There are other constants such as GOD'S LOVE, something I am about to address)

I heard a wonderful thought (from someone else)

It says:

"Happiness is a City, in the State of Mind"

One day when I was feeling like a loser, I came across some notes I had taken in a meeting several years ago, pre-cancer as a matter of fact.

These words are from Jeffrey R. Holland, an apostle of the Lord, Jesus Christ.

He has had bad days................he's human.............. he understands.....................

and so does Jesus Christ...............................he had more than a few bad days, and a horrific ending to his earthly life where He experienced ALL of our "BAD" days.

I got the title of this post from one of his comments.

He said,

"THE MESSAGE OF CHRISTIANITY IS RESURRECTION....................

EVERYTHING THAT GETS BROKEN GETS FIXED."

He started off his message with a verse from a hymn, 4th verse to How Firm a Foundation.

"When through the deep waters I call thee to go,

The rivers of sorrow shall not thee o'erflow

For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless

And sanctify to thee, thy deepest distress."

Some days we will feel like it's never the dawn of a new day. But when it does,..........................

think of it this way, it's the "Break of Day" that brings new light. (note the word break)

He went on to say, "God loves broken things............He made alot of them. If you feel broken, you've got a lot of company" ( I loved that............I like crowds)

God is with you and is aware of what's broken and He is capable to heal it.

Let's remember how good it is to be "Broken"

he quotes a song written by Kenneth Cope:

"Broken clouds.........give rain.........

Broken soil.............................grows grain..............

Broken storms..........yield light...............

The break of day heals night .........(I LOVE this one) Many nights have been dark to me.

Broken bread feeds man.........................

Broken walls make friends...................................

Last of all..................................Broken is a good thing...................

when we experience a "Broken Heart and a Contrite Spirit"

I could never understand this phrase when I was younger.

One day I got it, someone (notice others taught me) was teaching about a

Horse being "Broken", it meant to break their rebellious attitude into a

submissive and cooperative spirit. These horses were transportation

for many that came before us, they are meant to be tame, but we

have to "break" them.

Our hearts are the same.................when it's TOUGH AND HARD and REBELLIOUS,

it's not doing what it is MEANT to do.

A broken heart is easy to mold, and work with.
I made 2 hearts out of fabric to illustrate this in a lesson once.

The one heart was CLEAR FULL of hard dirt. It was hard as a rock

You couldn't move it in any way.

The other heart was soft and pliable.

I understood... The pride is what is "Broken"................

Then, and only then........................are we
TEACHABLE.....................

I love being taught by others, I want to be teachable

Cancer has helped me be much more teachable................

So on days, (or moments as I like to refer to them.........that way it doesn't ruin a WHOLE DAY)

when you or I feel like we are BROKEN,.....................

remember................GOD LOVES BROKEN THINGS

He made a lot of them. We are in good company.

Let's see if we can take our "Brokenness" and turn it into GOOD.

I believe we can.

Even though I don't know who is reading this right now, I feel LOVE

for you, isn't that strange?

I feel so grateful for all of you that have taught me so many lessons.

I don't come up with all these ideas by myself.

We are a team................we help each other........... I love that.

It reminds me of a verse of scripture

"Behold, I speak unto you as if ye were present, and yet ye are not."

I hope to get some feedback, not because I need to be validated, but

because your words feed my soul, and teach me.

Why am I so lucky?

Why am I so lucky? Have you ever asked yourself that question? Why was I born in the United States of America? Why do I have a roof over my head and a soft comfy bed and air conditioning?

Why am I a cancer survivor? Some don't survive as long as I have.

There is something called SURVIVORS' GUILT, do I have it?? .......................Sometimes.

So many others don't have the same things I do.

I know there are others with much more than me, but for some reason I don't feel jealous or deprived anymore like I used to when I was young...... I feel lucky...........and blessed.

But how does this all work? How is it that I have many blessings that I do not deserve?

I go to cancer support groups weekly. I realize that I am different than anyone else there. Everyone there is different from everyone else. How does it fit together that we all have different blessings, and a multitude of different challenges?

I have thought about this before, and believe it or not, I haven't ever traveled outside the United States (with the exception of Tijuana when I was in 8th grade with my Spanish class.) I hear other people say how blessed we are to live here.

Before cancer I never appreciated it.

I was listening to a song, (I know that surprises you, ;) but I love music)

Michael McLean wrote it and it is called "One of the Lucky Ones"

As I listened,............... a flood of thoughts came to my mind.

I agreed....................................... "YES, WHY AM I ONE OF THE LUCKY ONES?

He tries to answer that question, and it is an intriguing answer to me. One I am still figuring out.

Help me if you will.

This is a map of Argentina, in the blue area is Mendoza. My son, Jonny is living there right now. It's a little less luxurious than our lovely city of St George, and state of Utah.

He saved up about $7000 before he left for this 2 yr mission, to help pay for his expenses since he won't have any income while he is there. He doesn't look too deprived, he actually looks happy, doesn't he?


It doesn't appear that "things" are making him happy. I know his food budget is about $25 a week, and he probably would love to have more food to eat, but he doesn't seem to notice that.

I actually think he is enjoying sharing his message of Eternal Families, and teaching the people there how to accomplish that. He is teaching them about Jesus Christ, and giving them hope.

Not comfy beds, or air conditioning, but HOPE!

These sweet little precious kids are 4 of my grandkids. They have no idea how lucky they are. I think I heard my parents, mostly my mom, say that to me a few times. She was right. I had no idea how lucky I was.

They have a terrific mother and father, they have all the food and clothes they need, and lots of good lovin', and then they get to live 10 minutes from this beautiful temple. They sing a sweet song, "I love to see the temple , I am going there someday".

Childhood is precious. They are lucky!

when I see the face of this sweet thing, I am reminded of priceless relationships. She reminds me of all that is good. So pure and sweet. She represents all 10 of my grandchildren, that I am privileged to have and to get to be around several times a year, sometimes more. I have a car and money for gas to go see them, and them..........me.
WHAT HAVE I DONE TO DESERVE THESE THINGS?

Here are the words to the song that really got me thinking,

TELL ME WHAT YOU HEAR THIS SONG SAY TO YOU?

I am a lucky one,............ one of the lucky ones.

Watching a photograph of a terrible loss

nobody seems to be sure how much damage was done

or how much it will cost

Oh why am I one of the lucky ones?

Why can I fly when so many cannot run?

Why does a stranger who’s dreams were denied

have me wondering why I’m one of the lucky ones

I am a lucky one, don’t know how this could be fair

to be one of the lucky ones

Could have been me who could have been there

I can hear voices unspoken, they’re calling my name

and the eyes of those who’ve been broken

keep on staring at me begging me to explain

Why am I one of the lucky ones?

Why can I fly when so many cannot run?

And why does a stranger who’s dreams were denied

have me wondering why I’m one of the lucky ones?

This yearning I feel..... it won’t go quietly

The answer I seek is somewhere inside of me

Oh why am I one of the lucky ones?...................................

Now I know why ...................................

... I know why I can fly when so many cannot run!

..........A stranger’s misfortune brings a promise tonight

that I’ll do what’s right,

and feel someone’s plight

and help them take flight

like one of the lucky ones.…

(could I help to...........) Bless the unlucky ones?

Maybe like Jonny is??

Could we do more to help others? Could it be possible that all of our blessings are in reality a RESPONSIBILITY to help. What do we learn from all of us being "Different"?

Does everyone play a different part?

Is there any good in the world that I could do today?

Cancer has really changed the things I think about, and I am

SO LUCKY to be one of the lucky ones.

I think I will go find some good to do today!!

All my love to you, .............Karen