Preparing For The New Year

As the holiday's come to a close and we prepare for the new year, I have been reflecting on this past year. It has truly been a roller coaster of a year. From stoping the Cytoxan treatment early, doing weekly methotrexate, meeting with the transplant team at Texas Children's Hospital (still waiting to hear back from them), to my grandfather having to have to major surgeries, and maybe undergoing another one in the next few months, my mother finally earning her PhD, and learning that I need to have a hysterectomy, it has been a crazy year for me and my family. Despite all of that we are still going strong, and are family is as close as ever. I am also beginning to reflect on the year 2013, and how I know it is truly going to be an awesome year. I know God is going to bestow even more blessings on me and my family. Although my year may not start out the best with me having to have a hysterectomy on the 17th, it will get better as we prepare for the transplant. I am not just simply hoping for it but preparing for it. Scripture talks about how in order for us to make something happen we have to talk and plan like it is a for sure thing. Some people may think that a BMT isn't something to look forward to, but for me it is. I know that the transplant will give me a new life and a cure. I will be able to walk, and maybe even run, I will be able to breath better, and have less joint pain, swelling, fatigue, and muscle weakness, and that is definitely something to look forward to. I will finally be able to go to college, and travel, and be a "normal" young adult. 

As the new year approaches, we all make resolutions; eat healthier, exercise more, go to church, and do more volunteer work. Although that is a great thing to do, I personally like to think of the new year as a fresh start, and a time for rejuvenation. A time to close the doors on the previous year and begin again. As Romans 15:32 says, "So that I may come to you with joy, by God's will, and in your company be refreshed." I think this a perfect verse for the new year, because it says that with God will be refreshed. And each new year that does happens. As you and your family prepare for the new year, I hope that you find it as a time for refreshment and new beginnings. I wish you all a Happy New Year!!!!


Joyful Love
         &
Blessings In The Lord 
Alexandra K. Acosta