The Sun emerges, birds return, and fruit trees bud. Students and teachers are released from studies or teaching for a week of rest, and those of us in Austin search diligently for excuses to leave the SXSW madness and visit family or friends with Spring Breaks. This Spring we "breaked" for all these reasons - and to spend that precious time with my parents, "Nana" and "Granddad". 

Our time with my parents and brothers was sweet. Most of it we spent out of doors - with gorgeous weather and plenty of "lawn games" (this time I almost won bocce ball!). There were a couple of bonfires on the colder nights, plenty of riding lawn mower trips for K, and swinging galore for J. 

The week wasn't all about play - Kenzie jumped in to help her granddad build some raised beds for the garden, literally, and learned the joys of construction unto completion.    

As I wrote about in my last post, my mom has been diagnosed with cancer. During this Spring Break my parents had numerous appointments at MD Anderson in Houston. We learned that the cancer (breast cancer) is Stage One (caught extremely early and able to be removed with a local surgery), and triple negative (an aggressive form). The chemo treatments will start next week and last for 6 months, at which point they will operate and then place her on radiation treatments for another 6 months. 

 The year facing my mother will be one of the toughest in her life. I have no doubt she will endure it with fortitude, wisdom, and humor - for I have no doubt she will be turning every moment over to our Lord Jesus Christ. It is times like these that make me stand in awe of the incarnation. God chose to step into human form - frail, dependent, perishable. He did so to pay our debt, to redeem us, and to glorify Himself. When my mother, who is also frail, dependent, and inhabiting a perishable body, turns to her Savior and Lord she is participating in that same glorification of Him. Thank you Lord that we too carry out Christ's mission - not to glorify ourselves, but You.