Divine Appointments

By Charlene Ann Bumbich

This book centers on Josie Brooks, a 47 year old single woman, who begins to realize that her job is not as enjoyable as she has always thought it to be. Her life is very structured and organized but and organization is the key to her job success. However, the economy and life as she knows it begin to change and the order she so loves begins to become not-so-orderly. Throw in hot flashes which can befuddle your brain and you can immediately get where the author is going with Josie's story. As this happens, she begins to re-evaluate her life, her choices and her future. She begins to crave friends (didn't have so many before) and intimacy (not the sexual kind - the "getting to know people better" kind). There were some elements that just didn't flow well such as the snow globe with powers (that seems to represent the Holy Spirit speaking to Josie). This is in the "Snow Globe" series but a THING with powers just doesn't fit with a Christian fiction book in my opinion. The Holy Spirit and God speak to your heart in mysterious ways but something just seemed weird about it in Divine Appointments. The moral point of this story is good - it demonstrates what a person can become without friends, love, closeness with others, etc. Josie begins to realize how lonely, loveless and out of place she feels in her live. She begins to realize that other things are more important that the things she has always placed first. I love to read and this book was a good book but I just could not get fully into the story and was left feeling like the author did not go as far into depth with the character development as perhaps she could have.

NOTE: I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

3 Things Thursday February 24, 2011

I kind of like that Three Things Thursday title so I am going to try to post every week.

1. Back to normal - True to what I was told, the filgrastim shots made me feel like I had the flu & like I had been hit by a Mack truck :-( Needless to say I slept more in four days than I had in the last 3 weeks together LOL. My sternum & lower back were painful after the second day. Those are the two places in your body that make the most marrow. Strange feeling to have pain in your chest where you can't breathe & you can feel your heart beating in your bones. However after the procedure I was fully back to normal by 1 1/2 days.

2. How was the procedure & would I do it again? In a word YES I would do it again in a heartbeat. The procedure itself was relatively easy. The hardest part (besides needles) is laying still for 3-4 hours because you get stiff. They have to scratch your itches too LOL because you can't bend your arms. It was AMAZING to watch how they start the procedure, coordinate the courier, monitor the machine, etc. Do you know how large a bag of blood is? The amount of cells collected over a 4 hour period was 1/4 a bag - literally that's it. They pack it immediately & send it on its way. Funny story - the program pays for your mileage & for your meal the day of the procedure but the coordinator failed to tell me that. So I'm sure you can guess why I fell out laughing when she called & asked me to scan & email her my lunch receipt. My friend, Susan, had to get home to meet a child she tutors 3 days a week so we went through a drive-through on the way home. Since I can't have soy, gluten, dairy, eggs & other things, I had one taco and a Dr Pepper. I told Mattie, the coordinator, her that I wasn't worried about my $3 meal so she told me to go have dinner with my family & then send her the receipt.

3. What now? Since the PBSC procedure is under study (as it has been for a few years) by the FDA, I will be contacted over the next year to see how I am doing. Guess that makes me a lab rat:-) On a more hopeful note, the program will update me at 30-days, 3 months, 6 months and 12 months on how my donor recipent is doing. Unless she has problems and does not survive, then after one year we can exchange information and talk or meet. I truly look forward hopefully to February or March of 2012. February 2011 is a new beginning for her and me. I will never be the same - it's been a wonderful journey that has changed me for life. I plan to increase my running & begin running for leukemia, cancer, melanoma, etc. I also want to help with marrow drives because so few people know about the program. My recipient - she now has my blood type & she now has a part of me helping her to overcome leukemia so that she can see her children grow up and see her future grandchildren. I pray that we both forever remember how we emotionally feel at this point in our lives and that we always endeavor to remind people to be thankful, be hopeful, be positive and be the influence that God intends you to be.

Three Things Thursday

I hope a fellow blogger doesn't mind but I stole that title --she posts three things every Thursday. Me? I can only do one Thursday at a time and hope I remember next Thursday.....maybe!

1. You know it's a good day when you get up on time, your kids get up on time and your husband actually wakes up at the same time you do. And it's really a good day because your kids have been ill-mannered lately due to the family being so busy, your hubbie is NOT a morning person (no Moncrief-born person is apparently) and there are no wrecks between you and work which is 25 miles away.

2. The start of something new today---I began filgrastim shots today in preparation for a PBSC procedure on Monday. I will have two shots for five days straight with possible side effects such as bone aching, headaches, etc - like having the flu. Google the drug to find out more. I have been told repetitively that I have to be sure to "take good care" of the remainder of the drug which is in my refrigerator. At $1,000 per dose per day, I told them I would guard it with my life LOL :-) For those of you wondering, I am a marrow donor match for a 46 year old mother of two children who has leukemia. This is her last hope---I am her last hope. I figure that with all she has been through and all that she is going to go through, I can stand 10 shots over a five day period. Lord knows that if I were her, I would want someone to be a match and donate for me so that I could live to see my children grow up. So if you're my friend or family member and I seem out of sorts over the next few days, don't take it personally - it's because I don't feel so great and I've been sort of emotional over the entire thing.

3. What do you do if YOU want to become a donor? AND, I sincerely hope that some of you seriously consider signing up. Go to http://www.marrow.org and register. You will receive a cheek swab kit that creates your DNA on the registry. If you are ever a match, they will contact you for a full blood test. Then you wait to see if you are chosen as the closest donor. My recipient is in the United States - and I believe she is out of state because the coordinator mentioned having to line up airline flights and a hotel reservation for the courier who is coming in person to pick up my donation on Monday. The courier basically has to keep my donation with him or her at all times until they arrive at the recipients location so that she can receive it immediately.

LAST NOTE please pray for the recipient and her family. They have been through so much. I will receive a 30-day update and updates throughout the next year. After a year, if all goes well, the recipient and I can exchange information. I hope that next March I am blogging to tell everyone that I talked to her and that she is healthy once again :-)