December is a time of joy.

My 50 something year old cousin died suddenly last week. Suddenly.

Life and death can be so abrupt. Well, perhaps that is not true. Life, we get 9 months or sometimes more to prepare for, and we live life daily...sometimes very purposefully or busily.

I have been attempting to live life more on purpose since overcoming the unspoken and jagged fear of cancer recurrence.

Since cancer reared its head again (last April) I am here to testify that fear doesn't really grip me any longer. Not knowing doesn't make me uneasy. Trusting in God places me in the comfort of His purpose and plan. Not a scary valley that I envisioned. In fact, I have these mini-mountaintop experiences spiritually since the confirmed recurrence.

I am living in it daily. Grateful. Joyful even.

Laughter, and time living helps feed the joy.

I wait, watch & live for God doing His great and mighty work in my life-even in my death-even if it comes suddenly.

In April 2009, I began to understand this saying I heard at a New Life weekend:

"If it is not one thing-it is another, and you just never know."

I find myself saying this to people in my life...it's become almost a commentary of my life since then...