mama mondays: sending prayers across the river

Despite the fact that I’d decided to make Mondays a little quieter here during Lent, another reason to pop in at week’s beginning has presented itself.

Vicky Westra, friend and blogger

The reason is my beautiful blogging friend Vicky. She posted a sweet comment on my blog a few days ago, prompting a reminder-to-self that I hadn’t been over to visit in a few weeks. I always love Vicky’s blog. It’s real and well-written. It’s one of those reads that lifts one’s heart and soul, no matter what the topic or day.

Vicky and I met for the first time the end of 2010, a few months after we’d bumped into one another on the blogosphere. As soon as I realized that not only was she a gem of a person but she lived just a hop, skip and jump away on the other side of the Mighty Red River, I asked if she’d ever want to meet for lunch. Once our crazy schedules allowed it, we gathered one snowy afternoon for a midday meal overlooking the Red River at a place called Usher’s in Moorhead, Minn. Our time together felt free and easy, as if we’d known each other for much longer than was the case. We swapped dreams as well as a few sorrows in our lives, some of them very similar in nature, and I walked out of the restaurant knowing that, once again, God had given me another unsolicited gift in this new friendship.

I was forewarned my recent trip to Vicky’s blog would bring some news, so I dashed over to see what it might be, anticipating something celebratory in nature. But it was not that kind of news at all. Vicky has just learned she has an aggressive stage 3 breast cancer. Over the weekend, she found out the even more troubling news that the cancer has reached beyond the anticipated bounds and is now being labeled stage 4. (I hate when that word and number are paired up.)

Vicky is the mother of two rambunctious, handsome hockey-playing boys. Her openness to life and what it might bring has inspired me from the beginning. Her continued openness to life and what it might bring even in light of this disconcerting news has rendered me in a state of awe. I can’t tell you how honored I feel to have met this amazing woman from the other side of the river.

Our river is rising and for that reason alone, we are in particular need of prayers in the Fargo-Moorhead area right now. But that seems suddenly secondary to the dramatic rise of worry in the Westra household. So I’m counting on you, dear readers, to throw in a few more petitions, this time for Vicky. My friend Carrie, also in the front lines of a cancer battle, remains in need of them, too.

You can find updates on Vicky at her blog here.

Q4U: Just as I asked when I introduced Carrie here, I’d like to ask you to share prayer requests that have emerged in the past few weeks. Let’s spread the effectiveness of our prayers by leaning on one another in our times of worry and wonder.