Freeze-dried Raspberries and Tasting that the Lord is Good

 My brother Fain and his wife Regina freeze-dried  a whole boxful of fruits and vegetables to send with the Labor Day team that came to help us. I have been so grateful especially for the raspberries which I eat with my cottage cheese and flax oil each day. The dried berries are a small, tasty treat.

These last few days before chemo I am remembering to enjoy good tastes a little extra, as tastes change while taking chemo. Does anything taste good with chemo happening?

I don't know.  But long ago I made a decision to live for Christ, and not for other things, including food. 

My taste buds should not be my master.

Instead I should be in control of my appetite--at least so far as I am able.

When I can't enjoy eating, maybe I can enjoy touching soft blankets or seeing beautiful scenes...

Like this one with hay bales all lined up in a mowed field. 

I do not have to shrivel up and die like the yellow-breasted meadowlark I found along the road on my way to the mailbox recently--

just because I can't enjoy my favorite foods anymore.

 

I do pray that I will continue to be able to write. This book is the proof for my newest book that is preparing to be printed and published in the next few weeks. I understand that last night during the debate, vice-presidential can did ate Walz was asked about his claim to be in Hong Kong during the famous--or rather infamous--Tia nan men Mass acre in 1989. 

This book tells of how my next younger brother and I actually were in  C h i n a  on that fateful day--with a team that had gone with a purpose. 

So I hope I can continue to write these stories, even if I am nauseated, even if I can hardly stand to swallow my pills, even if I feel terrible. 

But if not, if not, I will still love You, Lord.

When I was twelve years old, I gave You everything.

And that included taste buds and chemo treatments. 

But oh, I have tasted and seen that You, Lord, are so good. 

Blessed is the man who trusts in You!