My Savior, My God

Some days are hard without Rocke here. He makes my life complete. It never compares with the feelings I had the day he was diagnosed with luekemia. The day was cloudy when I got the call he was on his way to the hospital. I was rushing to the hospital to be with him, not knowing what the outcome may be. I was listening to WWIB radio out of Eau Claire on my way. As I turned the corner to turn towards the hospital, the tears flowed as I listened to the words of the song, "MY SAVIOR, MY GOD" by Aaron Shust.

I didn't understand what God had planned or what his will was. All I do know is that he chose to keep Rocke alive. He has given Rocke the strength to continue working. He gave me the strength to find my inner strength. He brought us back to him. We were not living our faith. We are now!! Our Lord and Savior is alive and continueing to guide our lives. I praise the Lord for all he has done, including Rocke's illness and allowing him to have the treatable leukemia. Thank you GOD!!

Father's Day

Today was Father's Day and I not only honor my father (Bob Weatherhead) but the Father of my children.

Rocke was born in the Ladysmith hospital on May 4, 1960 to John & Lila Baker. He grew up working on his parent's and grandparent's farm, so he always knew hard work. When he was 21 he met the love of his life (me!). We were married on December 4, 1981. (I just noticed that the 4th is significant for his dates) We had 3 children Amber (who is 25), Kitty (who is 22), Cody (who just turned 21 on the 11th of this month). Amber has 3 little girls whom I mentioned earlier in a blog (Destiny, 7; Jasmin, 6; Hailie, 3). Rocke worked as a farmer, then a A.I. technician, a herdsman, a hamburger flipper @ McDonald's, a foundry worker, a truck driver, and now a pipeline worker. He has never set idle. I have rarely seen a man work so hard and there was no job that "was beneath him". He did whatever he had to do to take care of his family. While he was driving milk truck, he became very ill. He was throwing up and running a high temp. He had been sick for almost a week, but he finally told his boss he was too sick to drive. He was still on his route over by Glen Flora picking up milk. The boss and his wife came to the farm he was at, and Jeanne (the wife) said she was taking him straight to the hospital. I was on my way to church with Amber & the girls when I got the phone call asking me which hospital to take him too. I told them to take him to Rice Lake. Now we are talking about a man who had never been sick other than a cold. I rushed to the hospital beating them there. Once he was admitted, they took all kinds of tests to see what was wrong. He was still throwing up and his temp was 103 degrees. The doctor came and said he didn't really know what was wrong but his blood counts were "out of this world". The next few days were a blur as he continued with tests and was taken by ambulance to Eau Claire. It was there that he was diagnosed with leukemia. There are different types of leukemia. The type he had was treatable but not curable. Hew is now said to be in remission thanks to the daily pill he has to take called Gleevec. Even as battled his disease, he worked if not on a job, he went every day to Mom & Dad's and helped on the beef farm. He is the hardest working, most caring, loving Christian man I know. The thought of losing him caused both of us to turn our focus to our Lord & Savior. We were both Christians before this, but we both have became so much stronger in our faith. I thank God every day for this man. Right now he is off working in Fond Du Lac, WI. Cheers to my man, I am the luckiest girl in the world!!

Beautiful Baptism video

It is so hard to beleive that it will have been 3 years ago that Amber came home with 3 little babies in tow. She was so depressed, angry and felt like she wasn't worth anything. She had been married to a man who abused her for their entire relationship. Then she came home in August of 2005. Then her Grandma died (Rocke's mom) in November. I lost my job in June, then in July Rocke was diagnosed with leukemia. Amber hated the world. She was angry with her ex-husband but more than that she was angry with God for allowing all of this to happen. Her Dad had never been sick. He was strong & tough and was now flat on his back in the hospital. The winter of 2007, she attended ALPHA (a program through church that taught about Jesus in a safe enviroment, where no question was a bad one). I started to go with her, but it was getting to be too late for the grandkids to get up for school, so I volunteered to watch the girls so she could go. She met Nate & Patti Yoder. They helped her through her anger with God. She was baptized in the summer of 2007. That was one of the best day. Rocke & I were so blessed that she has blossomed. I continue to pray for her as she continues to struggle with anger & low self esteem. I want her to know what a beautiful person she is and that I am so proud of her. Some of the choices she continues to make are not the best ones in my opinion, but she is stronger and happier than 3 years ago. This is a tribute to her! I love you Bambi girl!!

Time flies when your'e busy

It really has been a while since I have even wrote in here. Rocke had to go to Fon du Lac on the pipeline. He will be gone until November. Kitty is getting married in July. Cody got a cycle. Amber is making plans to move out.God surrounds me with such great people in my life. And some just flit in when I need them and then flit out again. Yesterday I was just walking around the corner at Wal-Mart and there was Pastor Loretta. She know exactly how I feel, her hubby is gone off working too. Then today, Pastor Heath came by today shopping and I had a nice visit with him. God love us. It reminds of how God shows us little things that can bring a smile to our faces. He is in the friend who stops to say hi while you are at work. It is the e-mail that someone sends you. It is a phone call from your sis just needing someone to talk to and she calls you. Life is Good.

Some normal days can be rough

I have been feeling really out of sorts the last few weeks. We have had a lot of drama in our family. Kitty lost her baby. It was so sad. She was so excited and so was I. So I have been feeling just out of sorts. I can't describe it, except I felt the world was out of control. My feelings were out of control. I was greiving, I see that now but when a person is going through it they don't see it that way. So the week went by with me having a bad attitude, and feeling lonely, unworthy and sinful. So the week went by and many friends stopped or call to let me know that they cared. That didn't even seem to make a difference. Then to top the whole work week off, I stopped at the Holiday station to put gas in the jeep. And as I was getting out of the car and attempting to shut the car door my sleeve hooked on the lock switch and I locked my car keys, my wallet and my phone all in the vehicle. I couldn't get mad. I couldn't even cry. I just laughed and called Rocke to come and rescue me as I sat in the Holiday and got my thoughts together. It took him over 1/2 hour to get there. It was the ending to the terrible week I had just experienced. I learned that God was there all the time and I should have reached out to him rather than try to deal with all those icky feelings all by myself.

Barneberkie

Today I went to the Barnebirkie to watch Destiny race. For those that don't know what a birkie race is, it is a cross country ski race held in Hayward every year. It was quite a feat for me to go. I hate the cold, but the warmth in my heart to see little Destiny and all the other skiers working and trying so hard kept me warm. Past0r Mark said that he thought there was a lesson there somewhere. What I came away with was this:

We are all running a race. All of us are at different stages in life. Some are little ones just learning to ski, some are in elementary school, some are middle schoolers, some are veterans cheering us on, and yet some are the leaders teaching others the way. Just like all those little skiers today, we will all win a prize at the end of the race. We will win the ultimate prize of seeing Christ face to face. We only have to learn from those ahead of us and give it all we've got.

Maybe I might just take the Barnebirkie off so that I can see the whole thing. Great day!!

Brrrrrr it's cold outside

Today it was 15 below zero. It will be even colder tomorrow, I guess. That is why we live in northern Wisconsin. A lot has happened around her since my last blog. Amber got a new vehicle. I am a little worried that she will not be able to afford it. She did need a more reliable vehicle. Rocke continues to look for work. He would like to get a job around here that requires him to have normal hours, with weekends off. That way we can go to church together on Sundays and have Saturdays for riding cycle.