Life as a Lewis

After a fun 3-day birthday weekend with Becky, I dropped her off at the airport Sunday morning. Drove myself home, proceeded to become ill and then slept for over 7 hours throughout the day.  Thankfully, as I usually do after a day like yesterday (which happens occasionally; too often to call rare, but not a common occurrence either), I feel like a new woman today. I will blog more about all the fun things that happened (and the fun food/coffee consumed) over the weekend later. But today I wanted to let you know what's happening Wednesday.  After 6 weeks off Taxol (and I have a small bit of hair and eyelash growth to prove it), my appointment with the oncologist Wednesday will determine whether I have to take a permanent break from not only from Taxol, but also the clinical trial meds. Selfishly, I just want to be done with it all. I am perfectly satisfied to skip chemo and wait for the cancer to return. I'm ready for hair and eyelashes again. I'm ready to fee...

1. Brian and the kids spent a couple of days visiting Gram and Gramps for Fall Break. Listen, I won't say that wasn't looking forward to a little alone time, but it felt a little too quiet by the end of that first night. In hindsight, the quiet was providential because work has been increasingly busy and stressful for several weeks. I have returned to working 3 days a week (and then some). It's good, but has certainly been a time of transition. 2. Camden received an invitation to a box seat at the Austin Peay football game recently. I have mentioned before how sweet it has been to have men in our church choose to invest in Camden. I am confident this investment will impact him long after his teenage days are over. 3. With the exception of a brand new 2001 Pontiac Grand Am early in our marriage, the Lewis family drives old, cheap vehicles. It's always been a secret little dream to drive a cherry red car, and I do not want to return this rental (while our car is...

1. October is my absolute favorite month of the year. The weather is officially cooling off, humidity is down, leaves are turning yellow and orange and red. The schedule stays busy, but there's room for an extra breath or two. This year October brings fall break and tickets to see John Crist and Crowder, more cross country and the beginning of basketball. 2. I'm certainly not used to reporting such good news 3 scans in a row, but last week's scan  shows a 24% decrease in cancer tumors and my CA125 is 30. Crazy! Unfortunately, I have been experiencing significant hand/feet issues and we're taking a little chemo break. I will continue to take the trial drug via pill, but will be skipping my Taxol infusion. Dr. C will re-evaluate on a week to week basis. I'm guessing it will be a couple of weeks before I return to my full schedule. You will not find me complaining about this break. 3. I am nearly 42, but have never experienced a wreck before until yesterday. ...

"Let love be your highest goal! -I Corinthians 14:1 I woke up this morning to a cool 53 degrees, and it is perfection. Dropped the kids off at school, dashed to my chiropractic appointment, and now I'm brewing a second pot of coffee and grabbing half a second before embarking on a very busy Friday beginning with Bible Study. In the spirit of fall, I have an orange/cardamom candle burning. The weekend is going to be very busy as we end another crazy September. We're celebrating Rory's birthday tomorrow and then a very full day at church Sunday with GrowthTrack after our regular services. It will be long, but I'm also so excited to start this new phase of discipleship with our church. Fall break is going to arrive just in time (one more week to go). 1. Brian took Camden and several teens to a live Dare2Share event this past Saturday. It was a very long day for him after a very long week, but so worth it to invest in Camden and those teens. To be honest, we had ...

(the only 3 pictures I took!) I left the house bright and EARLY Tuesday morning to fly to Dallas with a group of co-workers. The following days flew by in a complete blur. Serving at the D6 Conference is always an extraordinary honor, but also incredibly tough. Sixteen-hour days in addition to being "on" at all times is difficult. Also completely worth it. I was concerned this year that I wouldn't be able to carry my weight, that I would let my team down. With the exception of a few extra breaks, I managed well. The aftermath has been difficult as I've spent the last 48 hours with my feet and legs so swollen I can hardly walk. Good news is that I've been able to prop them up and recover. I serve as speaker hospitality at the conference (which means I'm in the green room and keep the speakers happy while they're on location). It certainly provides a unique backstage perspective on the whole experience.  A few highlights: Gary Chapman, who auth...

One of these days I will find the time to edit and post our travel pictures from this summer. For now, here are two of my favorites that I grabbed on the run this week.

I am not ashamed, because I know the One I have believed in and am persuaded that He is able to guard what has been entrusted to me until that day. -2 Timothy 1:12 I know I sound like a broken record when I say September has just flown by. Our weather has been especially fall-like which is so unlike September in Tennessee. (Update: heat stroke coming this week. I knew fall weather was too good to be true.) Brian has had something going on every single night for the past 10-12 days. The good news is that I have an extra week off chemo this month, but it doesn't clear up my schedule since I'm headed to Dallas next week for the D6 conference. Super excited to be going again, but sad Brian doesn't get to go with me this year. But happy because my parents are actually joining me! 1.  Bible study started back up last week, and I love it. We're using the Beth Moore Entrusted study of 2 Timothy (hence the verse above). I know I've said it often, but you just can't...