Welcome

I chose this photo as my profile picture because my sister is the one who suggested ways to communicate with others while I am on this journey in life and she is the one who suggested how to care for my needs. As you can see, I have always been able to lean on her and find comfort with her.

The name of this blog has a special meaning as well. The current trials of my life began two years ago when I went through a divorce and first began to show symptoms of a sickness that was finally diagnosed this past June as Hodgkin's stage four cancer.

My easy going, carefree life came to a sudden halt and I faced major, life changing, uphill battles for the first time in my life. I cried out to God on many occasions. I was so far removed from the child Renee Albracht and could no longer claim the title of Renee Ruthven. I no longer knew who I was or where I belonged.

I remember looking out the window of the airplane on a flight home to Texas. I cried out to God in my heart, feeling lost with no identity. He said, "You are my daughter and that is all you need to know. That is identity enough."

"Batya" means "God's daughter" in Hebrew.

He calls me Batya...and this is the story of me...