Permission Slips
June, where did you go? I re-read May’s post, and it really felt like I just wrote it last week. I have to do that to make sure I’m not recycling pictures and telling you all the same things I said the last time we saw each other. It works ok in this written format…if only we had that feature for conversations as aging adults. This time of year is notorious for speed though. We hit top gear in May and then just kept the pedal down into June, racing through all the things, fortunately steering well clear of any cancer-related medical appointments for Jennings. One month closer to the 5-year mark and one more month added to the streak.
Before we officially hit June, we got to celebrate at the annual St. Jude Celebrity Chef & Wine Dinner. Lauren was on the Leadership Committee for the event this year and made great contributions securing sponsorships and helping fundraise. The night is always special for us. We have been to it while in the thick of the fight, we have been to it disoriented and fragile coming out of the fight, and we have shared our story there. This year it was all of the same feels, but with the added official capacity for Lauren to represent the Leadership Committee and thank donors & sponsors. It was a new venue, some new chefs, and a new fundraising record for the event - great success all around!
We got to see and catch up with a lot of familiar faces, as well as sharing the mission and our story with some new (to the event) colleagues and their spouses at our table. Probably the highlight for us was seeing Dr. Bolen and her husband, which was a welcome surprise. Other than Lauren and myself, she has always been, and continues to be, Jennings’s biggest advocate in getting him the care he needs when he needs it. I’ll never forget the way she worked for us when he relapsed during the holiday season in 2020. During the “most wonderful time of the year,” she walked with us on our field trip. She spent time on the phone with us after hours, on the weekends, and coordinated treatment plans with physicians and hospitals completely unaffiliated with St. Jude or Hemby. She even arranged and led a conference call with us and several of those physicians on Christmas Eve! We truly felt like Jennings was her only patient and we are forever grateful, so seeing her at a mission-focused, celebratory event was just the best.
Here's one from that and several others from our adventures since last time 👇
Left to right, top to bottom: that’s the (stunning) Leadership Committee girl, Chef Maneet Chauhan, and myself at the St. Jude event. Ok, maybe a tie for the highlight was walking around with Lauren in that dress all night. My Father’s Day was taking Jennings and Henry to play golf with my dad. It was their first time actually “playing” on a big golf course and L surprised me by getting them actual golf clothes for the occasion. We celebrated the end of Caroline’s gymnastics competition season. She got a coach’s award for Most Improved. Mama and her chickens at Carowinds for some summer fun. Ah, swim team season…we had three big kid swimmers this year (no shrimps), but it was a weird season. Due to storms and us being out of town a couple of days, I think they only got in 2 full meets and then a handful of partial ones. I played the volunteer sign-up game perfectly this season - I only signed up for 2nd half shifts (the only ones available for procrastinators like me since they last until 10p) and every single one got “thunderstormed” out. 🤙 Jennings and the AAA Iron Birds wrapped up their playoff run, making it to the championship game but losing in a close one. The second-place medals and a pizza party helped ease the pain. We got to take the whole fam to the circus craze that is the Savannah Bananas at Bank of America stadium, courtesy of Novant Health Foundation and Dunkin’ Joy. It was a fun experience, especially for the kids who were even willing to wait in a hour and a half line for some Bananas’ swag. #notforthepanthers Nope.
Thanks to Gigi & Silm, Lauren and I were able to escape for a few nights during the first, full week of summer. Caroline was at middle school church camp with New City, so they took the younger three for the week. I had surprised L with this trip back in April on our 15th anniversary. We have celebrated more of those than we like to count in Memphis, including this year, but having this trip to look forward to helped ease all of that. We went to Primland, just up the road in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. It was such a great trip and a much needed getaway coming out of the school year and heading into summer. The perfect way to celebrate 15 years of marriage. We have both grown so much over those years. One of God’s greatest gifts to each of us has been our marriage and this was definitely an investment in it.
So I mentioned our next “faith field trip” last time and we do have some updates, but maybe not as much as we would have hoped. Things are definitely moving in the right direction, but as of today, nothing is 100% finalized and it feels like we’re staring at several carts and horses, unsure of how to put them together. We have applied for financing and that is going along smoothly, though not yet closed. We have signed with our builder, but have been unsuccessful in getting him to start the plan review / permit process. Paperwork is not his strong suit and probably the thing he hates doing the most, so it’s probably also the thing that naturally falls off the list. Because of where permit and financing stood, and because of our trip, we intentionally put off trying to seriously find a rental until this week. We have one solid option in the running and have taken a leap of faith in applying for it, but have not heard back as of yet.
We are trying to be patient and let things happen as God will have them, rather than trying to force things to go our own way. That’s not to say we are not actively working towards each of the items above, but we are doing it with a lot of deep breaths and attempted patience. One day at a time, if you will. We are, however, aware that any one of those days, we could find out things are a “go” and then we face the very imminent process of moving out. Gulp.
As far as field trips go, we have brought our permission slips home and are on the verge of getting them signed. Praying for lots of wisdom, patience, and trust as we wait for things to play out and discern when to fully commit to things based on the status of others. The whole process has been a lesson in resilience. I am so quick to doubt and get discouraged. Yet, God is so faithful. We have countless examples, in scripture and our own lives, of His sure fulfillment of His promises. Those don’t include, obviously, a smooth sailing renovation to our home. But He does promise to be with us through this journey and promises to never leave us or forsake on it, or any other.
Just the other day, I was feeling so discouraged around lunch and thinking in my head that maybe this isn’t supposed to happen after all. I had been unable to get up with our builder, I had received what I perceived to be bad news on an appraisal, and had zero prospects for a rental. By the end of the day, I had a solid update from our builder, reassurance from the lender on the financing process, and a rental option that would be about an 8 out of 10. It wasn’t like everything was “fixed” when I went to bed that night, but it did feel like God was telling me, “Hey, why the long face? Why are you so quick to forget?” He is with us in this and because of that, no matter how things work out, we have reason to hope.
With this on our plates along with the normal summertime stuff, it feels like the summer will be gone before we know it. I’m doing my best not to dwell on that and lament it, but to be present in each day…another one of those “easier to type” things.
Ah, and before we go, I have an offer for you. What does everyone love and need, especially during bathing suit season? That’s right, cookies! I had faith in you. Jennings is helping promote Cookies for Kids’ Cancer through their “Tough” Cookie Collection. He has his very own “tough” cookie in one of his favorite flavor profiles, mint chocolate. Jennings “Buddy the Elf” Palmer has so many it’s hard to choose, but that’s a topic for another day. Here’s the card you’ll get if you order a box. The proceeds go directly to fund grants for pediatric cancer research. Jennings and our family would be honored if you order a box and help us move the needle in funding cures for kids.
God said through Moses to Joshua and Israel, as they prepare to enter the Promised Land and face the inhabitants of that land without Moses, their leader: “Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land that the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall put them in possession of it. It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” Deuteronomy 31:7-8
#allinforjennings