Happy!

My, how time flies! This week, on Wednesday, we will mark the three-month anniversary since my stroke. In many ways, it seems much longer than that,
yet I realize that this is really a very short time.

In this last week, I have achieved several significant accomplishments. For one thing, I baked a cake. From scratch! I had baked a couple of things in rehab, from a box mix. And I had another baking assignment when I began outpatient therapy, again using a box mix. But this week I baked a cake from scratch, using a recipe I had found on Pinterest. According to Pinterest, this is the World's Best Banana Cake recipe. I think that's a bit of a stretch, since I didn't really think it was all that good and certainly not good enough to justify all the effort, but I did it!

The hardest part of the cake-baking endeavor was assembling the ingredients!  Anything to do with numbers is still a really big challenge for me, so it took quite a while to check and double-check the ingredients list, but I was pretty proud of myself when it was finished!

This past week I've been walking longer distances and also working out at the gym. All this is helping me to get my strength back, and that is a really good feeling!

My reading is continuing to improve, although I confess it is still slower than I would like. My therapist is pleased with my progress and is very encouraging about prospects for my continued recovery. I have begun reading a novel, which is going much more slowly than it did in the past, but I am able to read, which makes me very happy. And I am even happier that I will resume teaching in our life group next week. Being able to do what I love to do makes me very happy indeed!

I have heard a number of different responses over the last several weeks as I have been getting out and about. You're looking good. Or You're doing well. Or You look great!

The response I love is You look so happy! Because I am!

Stroke recovery is a process. A long, challenging process. Some days are getter than others. Even in this last week, which was a very good week, there were days that were really challenging. But through all that, the good days and the challenging days, I am happy!

God has been so good to me! I am a very blessed woman, and so very grateful for how God has brought me through this very challenging time. There are good days, and challenging days, and all the in between days. But through it all, God is good.

And I me happy indeed!