Overcomers Series Episode 5 - One Tough Cookie

I would love for all of you to know my friend, Lucy.  Some of you may have already had the chance to get to interact with her through a mutual community on Twitter, Instagram or Substack.  Lucy and I actually bonded over a music group, For King and Country, that we both enjoy.  I posted a song of theirs and she responded that she was going to their concert and that she would share photos and tell me about her experience.  That was the beginning of a friendship, all online mind you, that has blessed me and inspired me in so many ways. 

Before I even knew what Lucy had been through in recent years, I found her enthusiasm for life and deep faith so contagious.  She was a little ray of sunshine on the social media sites, posting Scripture and uplifting quotes.  Then she shared her story.  I know you will be as inspired as I was when I first read it.  Lucy is one of a kind and I have no doubt she’s one of God’s favorites. 

A few years ago, Lucy was diagnosed with Stage 3 squamous cell carcinoma, a type of skin cancer that had invaded her sinuses, cheek, mouth and eye socket.  Having had a bout with cancer myself, I had some sense of how it affects your life in profound ways, but what I went through was a walk in the park compared to what Lucy has endured. What cancer meant for her was countless surgeries and treatments and grafts. Her doctors pretty much had to rearrange her face to get after the cancer.  Some of the surgeries were successful and some failed. To say it was a difficult journey is a massive understatement.  It was climbing Mount Everest.  She eventually sought a second opinion at the Mayo Clinic and became an in-stay resident at the Clinic’s Hope Lodge as they sought to reconstruct her facial features and give her back her life.  She has endured 28 surgeries to date.  There is one more surgery she is anxious to have with hopes of it being her last.  Lucy is one of the most positive people I’ve ever known, but what she has been through is something most of us can’t even imagine.  It was an uphill battle of surgery after surgery, not being able to eat or speak, and incredible pain.  There were times she didn’t feel positive or hopeful.  There were very hard days. But with the help of her strong and supportive husband and faith in the God who loves her and carries her, Lucy found a way to persevere and not only survive, but thrive. 

While Lucy was a resident at Hope Lodge, she began using her culinary expertise to create elaborate meals for the other residents.  She found solace and satisfaction, and perhaps a little distraction, in preparing and serving the meals.  She became everyone’s friend and inspiration.  Knowing Lucy now, I understand that this was only the beginning of her using her gifts to inspire and love on all kinds of people.  Upon returning to her home in North Dakota, she began to bake….and bake…..and bake for individuals and groups she wanted to bless.  Lucy says the baking gives her a sense of purpose and in some ways it’s like therapy.  And with a faith that bubbles over in all she does, it’s no surprise that she prays over the gifts she hands out in her community. 

What I want you to know about Lucy is not as much what she has been through, but how she has responded to what she has been through.  Lucy is an amazing example of what it means to overcome. When I see Lucy, I don’t see her scars.  I see her incredible smile and zest for life.  I see her huge heart and desire to encourage and uplift people.  I see her being the hands and feet of Jesus to those around her.  I feel the joy that comes from being a helper.  When I chat with her, I feel first-hand her sincerity and enthusiasm. She is literally an “energizer bunny”.  She calls all she has been through her “beautification journey”.  But I think Lucy is already beautiful inside and out. 

Lucy shares parts of her journey and her thoughts and prayers in a newsletter on the Substack site:  lucybernas.substack.com.  

Saint Patrick's Day 2022

Best wishes on this Day of St. Patrick, patron saint of Ireland!  I have a bit of Irish heritage on my mom’s side, so I like to claim it on this day, not that we need to be Irish to celebrate Patrick bringing Christianity to Ireland.  I have yet to visit Ireland but it’s long been on my bucket list of places I want to see.  I have an appreciation for all things Irish, but what I love most is the music.  Celtic music has its own unique sound and instrumentation that strikes a chord somewhere deep inside me.   Most of us are familiar with a song that has become a bit of an anthem when we think of Ireland so I thought I’d dig out how it came to be so popular not only in Ireland, but worldwide. 

As soon as I mention the title of the song “Danny Boy”, we can all hear the haunting melody in our heads and most of us know at least some of the lyrics.  The song has come to represent the Irish Diaspora and Irish national pride, but the author of the song wasn’t Irish at all, he was British.  Frederic Weatherly was a lawyer, author and songwriter from Great Britain.  He wrote the lyrics for over 1500  ballads,  “Danny Boy” being by far the most popular.  He penned the words in 1910, but it was not put to melody till some years later when his sister sent him the tune to an existing folk song and he thought it perfectly fit his lyrics.  No one knows exactly where the tune originated, but Weatherly’s mournful words made it famous. 

There’s a bit of a mystery as to what the song means.  Who is Danny and why does he have to leave? The song has universally come to represent loss and separation and finality of death.  It’s  been sung by myriads of artists from every genre of music.  On this day, when we’re all “a little bit Irish”, I’ll leave you with the words written so long ago that still resound today and a beautiful photo  by Leighton Smith.  Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!

O Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling
From glen to glen and down the mountainside
The summer's gone and all the roses falling
'Tis you, 'tis you must go and I must bide

But come ye back when summer's in the meadow
Or all the valley's hushed and white with snow
'Tis I'll be here in sunshine or in shadow
O Danny boy, O Danny boy, I love you so

When winter's come and all the flowers are dying
And I am dead, as dead I well may be
You'll come and find the place where I am lying
And kneel and say an "Ave" there for me

But I shall hear though soft you tread above me
And all my grave shall warmer, sweeter be
And you will bend and tell me that you love me
And I shall sleep in peace until you come to me

Another Year, Another Birthday

Birthdays.  They keep coming, don’t they?  Don’t get me wrong; I like having them.  I love hearing from friends and family, and all those cards in the mail and online birthday wishes, lunches out with friends, hanging with my kids and grands.  And I also like having them because no matter how many I’ve had, they mean I’m still alive.  There was a time in my life that it was questionable whether I would be.  It’s amazing how strong that will to live becomes when you are faced with your own mortality.  So now every year is a celebration of God’s grace to me. 

Birthday presents are great, but what I really love is spending time with people.  There is nothing more valuable to me than relationships and spending time with those people who love me for who I am is my favorite way to celebrate.  I am sometimes completely humbled and amazed at the people who have been here for me, shared special memories with me, and continue to connect and reach out whether near or far. 

As the years add up and seasons in my life transcend, it makes me reflect and rejoice.  Mind you, not every day of my life has been cause for celebration.  There have been many hard things mixed in the with joyful.  But I feel completely blessed by the people God has brought into my life for seasons and purposes only He could foresee.  Each year when my birthday rolls around, I tick back through the list of people I have known and loved.  They are all treasures I don’t take for granted. 

So today is a day I celebrate and I try very hard to make March a birthday month to enjoy the people in my life.  The actual day of my birth matters not so much.  I will take a free lunch or dinner anytime this month.  I’ve already had some great outings and special time with dear friends.  My hubby is taking me out for a special day today at one of our favorite tasting rooms and dinner at our “special” restaurant.  After that we’ll Facebook Portal with friends in another state. 

Know that if we have connected even in some small way, I am grateful for you.  I know some amazing people who make me appreciate every day that I’ve been given.  So happy birthday to me….but I’d just as soon celebrate each and every one of you who makes my life so meaningful and special.  It’s a beautiful life year after year.  Thanks to John Lennon and Paul McCartney for their sentiments for this milestone birthday.  “When I get older, losing my hair many years from now.  Will you still be sending me a Valentine, birthday greeting, bottle of wine?  Will you still feed me, will you still need me, when I’m 64?” 

Hope of Spring

I usually feel it right around the first of March.  It’s a mental and emotional shift after the long, dark winter months.  The days finally feel longer. Everything seems a little brighter.  At our house we begin talking about taking the 5^th wheel out of storage and preparing it for travel adventures.  By March 1^st I begin to get itchy about being out in the yard and spotting those first shoots of new grass, buds on the trees and early flowers.  It’s a hopeful feeling that looks ahead to putting away the heavy coats and switching from boots to sandals.   It’s time to start placing the feeders for the returning hummingbirds.  Everything about this time of year feels new and fresh, like life starting over.  Sometimes the weather can still remind us that it’s not officially spring yet, but it doesn’t tend to dampen my spirits, knowing that frosty mornings and flakes of snow will be short-lived.

I’m a summer girl through and through, but there’s something special and optimistic about early spring.  It always feels like a great time to start something new.  I have more ambition and energy and I feel inspired to take on new projects or explore new ideas.  I realize that this phenomenon is a northern hemisphere thing as below the equator, they’re moving into fall.  The farther north you live, the more you appreciate the first signs of pre-spring in March.

This is the first March in over 20 years that I have not been working and it comes with a newfound freedom to enjoy the turning of the seasons.  It feels especially celebratory.  I have time to play more, get outside and wander more, read and write more. I can take advantage of sunny days on my mini deck soaking up a bit of extra Vitamin D.  I appreciate the flexibility I have to enjoy lunches out with friends and additional date nights with my favorite date. I’m loving slow-start mornings and the more relaxed schedule.  I like this new phase of life and I’m enjoying that my head and heart feel more content. I’m grateful and blessed by the difference that affords new possibility and I don’t want to take it for granted.

So here’s to March.  It’s one of my favorites.  Even though there are very hard things happening in our world right now, I wish you peace and contentment, and joy in the change of seasons.  Or as the Irish blessing says, “May your days be many and your troubles be few.  May all God’s blessings descend upon you.  May peace be within you and may your heart be strong.  May you find what you’re seeking wherever you roam.”  Cheers!