Have You Ever Tried...

Have you ever tried to take a photo of your phone? I'm sure my teenaged friends have an obvious, simple solution, but it eluded me the other day. So I ended up with this:

And this:

Pretty cool effect, but it does not exactly capture what I was trying to show you, which is my sad, shattered screen.

Happily, I broke my phone when an expert phone-breaker was on hand. She recommended the Otter case, which stands up to frequent drops (and her inevitably subsequent kick-when-bending-to-retrieve-phone) as well as dog teeth (because she's trained her dogs to bring her the phone). 

She also informed me that Craigslist sells new screens and YouTube has videos (obviously) on how to install them, which is easy if you're good with that kind of thing.

My husband purchased a new screen on eBay. My dad and I looked up YouTube videos. We found a video better titled "20+ Steps to Turn Your iPhone into a Million Separate Pieces," which concludes by staying, "To reassemble your phone, simply follow these directions in reverse." They edited out the evil laughter, but we heard are sure it was there.

Needless to say, we were sufficiently intimidated and hemmed and hawed our way through the week, never "finding" the time to tackle the phone disassembly.

With great organization, notes, and step-by-step photos, I'm sure it's not too hard. Really.

But still...

My phone works and I haven't cut myself the glass shards yet. (My expert phone-breaker also recommended a screen protector to prevent cuts. After turning the house upside down, I realized I'd thrown my screen protectors away in a fit of purging last year. I was at the Apple store last week and should have bought some, but I was looking for a new laptop charger and the $80 price tag - !!! - scared all other needs out of my head.)

In the meantime, I've started a Bible study on Gideon. If you're familiar with the Bible, this is the guy who put out fleeces, asking God to confirm His directions by making the fleece dewy and the ground dry, and then doing the reverse the next morning. 

We haven't gotten to the fleece part yet.

First, we are learning the context: this is in the Old Testament, after Moses leads the Israelites out of Egypt and through the desert for 40 years. They've settled in Canaan, and now their enemies, the Midianites, are oppressing them by chasing them out of their cities and destroying all of their crops. The story opens with Gideon threshing wheat in a wine press: hiding out, doing chores in the wrong place so the Midianites won't find him.

The first lesson focused on Gideon's task: a tedious, difficult chore, made more tedious and difficult because it had to be done in the wrong place with less-than-ideal tools. Never mind the fear factor of being found and losing your family's food supply. The point was that Gideon was faithfully doing his job, even though it was far from glamorous. The Bible says that "He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much" (Luke 16:10), and Gideon's threshing is interrupted by an angel who tells him that God has commissioned him to lead the Israelites into battle and conquer the Midianites. The angel called this terrified farmer a valiant warrior.

The lesson encouraged us to faithfully do the mundane, daily tasks in our lives. Because it honors God, and because the small things could be preparing us for greater things. 

[Aside: I don't think anyone gets mundane more than moms of young kids. If it's the 912th time you're changing diapers or making mac 'n' cheese, hang in there! You have been chosen to protect and cultivate these young lives, and I sincerely hope all those munchkins love you and honor you and spoil you rotten. Even if it takes 30 years for them to get there.]

The lesson had another application point. It highlighted that the tedious task of threshing meant that God had blessed Gideon with a harvest, in spite of the malicious Midianites. The writer (Priscillia Shirer) says, "Gideon's story reveals that even your most mundane duty has a twinkle of the favor of God." So diapers & Kraft dinner = beautiful babies with well-functioning digestive systems. For me: Picking up dog poop = a wonderful companion. Commuting = work and a paycheck. Chemo side effect management = good insurance for multiple treatment options, and most of my day to do non-cancer things.

So I started thinking... where can I recognize God in the little things in life and learn to find more meaning in the mundane? 

While I was pondering this, I had my broken phone in hand. "What can I learn from THIS?" I wondered. The screen looks terrible, but the phone works just fine. It's broken, but it hasn't actually injured me yet. Hm. Sounds kind of like my body: scarred and changed by cancer, but still working quite well, all things considered, and likely to recover almost fully once treatment has ended. 

Some days, cancer's effects on me just mean a few extra minutes of TLC when I get ready in the morning. Some days, the inconveniences are more, well, inconvenient. And annoying. And I get frustrated. My takeaway from Gideon is to be encouraged: perhaps by being faithful in doing those tedious tasks and living with those inconveniences, I am being prepared for something else that will have more evident meaning. 

That's exciting to consider!

As you slog through the everyday chores of life, be faithful and may you find meaning and purpose in the little things. xoxo

Let's Talk About Hair

Warning: this truly is about hair. Fluffy and probably self-indulgent, without deep content or analogy, so if you're looking for meaning, this isn't the place today. But I'm content and happy at this moment, so I'm floating and typing in substance-less land. Enjoy!

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Well, so much for the hair growth video while I was on vacation! I need an expert to help me - after I sift through all my photos and pull out the right ones. How does one make such a video? I sure hope there's an app out there for that! Because I can't imagine doing it frame-by-frame, especially lining up my face in every photo and cropping accordingly. But someday, in my spare time, it'll happen.

In the meantime, I've made a Major Life Decision.

Well, not really.

But it's a big decision by American standards.

I'm keeping my hair short.

I would have never believed this. Growing up, my mom had a lot to say about how long my hair should (not) be. So when I left for college, I grew out my hair and never looked back.

Well, there was that first time I cut it off for Locks of Love. It was wedged in the back and my husband hated it.

But even then, it was past my jawline.

And I got compliments on my hair All The Time. Really, it was my crowning glory, and I was pretty nervous when I found out I would lose it to chemotherapy.

Who am I without my hair? ...Er, I mean, what will I look like?

Now, After alopecia (fancy term for hair loss), I love to reassure women who are about to lose their hair due to chemo. It's different for everyone, but I found it incredibly freeing. Not to mention the time savings when you don't have to wash and style your hair! And when you're hot during the summer, a breeze feels lovely against your scalp.

(But I have to admit, if I had to do it again, I'd get a wig for those situations when you don't want to stand out as Cancer Patient. Especially at work, especially since no one there knows I'm still in treatment.)

As my hair has grown back, much to my surprise, I'm digging the short hair! Who knew?

(Maybe my mom, since she always enforced the shorter cuts... there we go, she was right again! Perhaps we should just believe our moms more often... we could save some face down the road.)

The clincher for me was a friend's Facebook photo. She was with a group of women. Most had long hair, but a few had short hair, and I realized that I was thinking the ones with short hair looked more hip and interesting.

(Not to judge a book by it's cover, but there you go.)

So for now, I'm choosing the "hip and interesting" camp, which has the added benefit of showing off my fun earring collection. Here's my latest cut: thanks to Jennifer Lawrence for the inspiration!