Prayer Request Update!

Wow. Just WOW.

Caleb's mom had this to say on Facebook at 11:00 last night:

It's just CONFIRMED BY MRI..THEY GOT IT ALL, THE TUMOR'S ALL GONE!!!! bye bye, zip, zero, nada, nothing left...THANK YOU JESUS, PRAISE HIM!!! the doctor's & nurses are all amazed & don't quite know what to do with us...Caleb is walking, talking, eating, moving all of his extremities and his smile is wonderful! Now we wait for more pathology & oncology to plan our next steps and wait on Jesus to tell them. :)

I just received this update via email from someone who had just spoken to Caleb's dad:

Caleb is on his way home from the hospital! He had an MRI today to make sure all the tumor was gone and it confirmed that it was all taken out by the second surgery. He continues to be able to move everything. Caleb recovered from surgery much quicker than normal. He was eating within hours of the surgery and has experienced minimal pain. In the days to come they will be doing pathology on the tissue that was taken out and determining future treatment, but regardless of the results, a positive outcome is expected.

They hadn't even expected to release him until Sunday. Unbelievable!!

Thank you, Jesus, for the doctors at CHOP, the amazing strength you have given to Caleb and his family, and answering the prayers of all of us.

Prayer works, people. God. Is. LOVE.

Prayer Request

Friends of mine are going through a very hard time right now.  I won't share their names, in the interest of privacy.  They have six children; the three youngest were adopted through foster care.  One of the twin boys they adopted has bipolar disorder, and today had to be admitted to an inpatient treatment program.  He's five years old.  

As difficult as this decision was for them, they had to do what was best to get him stabilized, and for the safety of the other children.  I never knew until now that children could even be diagnosed with bipolar disorder, much less that it could be so, so bad.  It seems, from what I've read, that it's even more difficult to treat in children than adults.  

My heart breaks for this family.  Fortunately, they have an amazing support system, and incredible faith that God has a plan and will pull them through this difficult time.  If you believe in the power of prayer, please help me lift up this little guy and his family.  I think they could use all the prayer they can get right now.

Feels like Christmas came early!

It has been a WONDERFUL day!

My husband started his new job this morning. It's part time, but it's work!

We got a new Christmas tree! I haven't put up a tree in about eight years, maybe more. Since it's our first Christmas together, and my first Christmas having a child in the house, we decided we should have a tree. So Larry got my old tree down from the attic yesterday, and last night we were going to assemble it so it would be ready to decorate with Lucas on Saturday. Opened the box - no stand. Missing. Now what? I was completely bummed.

So this evening I happened to stop in Linens 'n Things to see if they had any griddles left, since the store is closing soon. Well... just inside the door they had 7.5' pre-lit trees. They were originally $200, marked down 80% to $40. Had to get it. HAD TO. Never did go look for that griddle...

No tears at bedtime tonight!! Larry and I had a class at church tonight, so his mom babysat Lucas for us. We got home about 9:30 and he was still awake, of course, waiting for Daddy. So Larry went up and gave him a hug and a kiss, turned on his music for him, and got out of there before tears could start. And they never did. Nanny's babysitting again tomorrow night while we're at my office Christmas party. Wouldn't it be nice to have a repeat performance??

Just after 10:00 tonight I received an email from T's younger daughter. T is being moved to a rehabilitation center tomorrow, and T's older daughter may be having her baby by Christmas. What a fabulous couple of Christmas gifts for all of them!

I'd like to leave you with one final thought. With our current financial/job situation, we haven't been able to buy gifts for many people this year. In fact, I think Lucas is the only one we shopped for, and that includes not getting gifts for each other even though this is our first Christmas as a married couple. At first, this really bothered me - I love giving gifts at Christmas. But in a way it's been sort of liberating, and has allowed us to focus more on what the season is really about: Jesus. It's allowed us to take a step back and focus on how blessed we truly are. A friend of mine showed me this video a week or two ago, and I was really moved by it. It just fits so well with how I've been feeling, and so I wanted to share it here too.

In case I don't write again before... Merry Christmas, and may God bless you and your families!

Counting My Blessings

1. My husband amazes me. He loves me just as I am, makes me laugh every day, and is incredibly helpful around the house. If it weren't for the financial aspect, I could totally get used to him being at home. He does all the cleaning I hate to do!
2. Speaking of my husband... he found a job yesterday! It's only part time, but lots of people are having to take part time work right now because there's such a shortage of full time jobs. It's not enough to solve all our problems, but it'll do for now, and we're grateful for it.
3. Fall semester is almost over and I'm soooo ready for Winter break. Finals tomorrow and Friday, then I'm off til mid-January!
4. I have a job that pays well. I've been here for almost 11 years and I'm ready to move on (graduation can't get here fast enough), but in these hard economic times, when so many are out of work, I'm grateful to be employed.
5. I have great parents, stepparents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, all of whom I love very much, even if I don't call or visit often enough.
6. I have wonderful friends who have been there for me over so many years, and through so much junk, and love me even through my little quirks and scattered nature.
   
7. I am thankful that T is still with us. She is still in the ICU, had a trach tube inserted today to continue helping her breathe, and unfortunately had her right leg amputated a few inches below the knee today as well. But she is alive and we all love her and miss her and will continue to pray for her recovery.
8. I am thankful that my stepson is happy and healthy, and that we're making progress with the bedtime battles, even if it is just baby steps.
9. I am thankful for Facebook. Sound weird? I've reconnected with so many people through there and found an additional support system of other women - other moms - who can share their experiences and advice.
10. I am thankful that we have a home... a warm place and a roof over our heads. Not everyone has a place to sleep tonight.
11. I am thankful for my church and the wonderful people in it.
12. I am thankful for God, who loves me, forgives me, and amazes me more every day.

LCBC Worship - King of Heaven from Matt Goss on Vimeo.

Great God

Four days ago I started a post updating my woeful Wednesday with a fretful Friday.

• How we didn't have Lucas for the weekend because he didn't want to leave his mom and wouldn't stay in his car seat (Buckle guard?? HA! I'll just climb out of the belt!). Larry finally had to just leave him there, since he can't very well drive 20+ miles with the boy not in a safety restraint. Sigh.
  
• How my car didn't start Thursday night even though it started immediately after getting a new battery Thursday morning. My husband was still chauffeuring me. Oh, and then his car sucked up $270 for new rotors. Did I mention how we have one income (plus a teensy bit of unemployment compensation) right now?
• How, more importantly, my friend T was still in the ICU, on a ventilator, in "grave condition".

I never finished the post. Just didn't get back to it. But TODAY... Oh, do I have wonderful news to report. 

Last night, much to the shock of her daughters, T came off the ventilator. PRAISE GOD!!!

Just a little while ago I had an email from T's younger daughter, saying they had much to be thankful for. Three days ago the doctors put T's chance of recovery at less than 50%. Yesterday the doctors took her off the ventilator and dialysis, and she was able to quietly speak to her family for the first time in over a week. She's still on oxygen, and there's a long, hard recovery ahead, but she is breathing on her own. 

So this Thanksgiving, T's daughters have so much extra to be thankful for. And I am so thankful for our church family, the many people who prayed their hearts out that T be healed, and God, who heard us calling.

Oh, and my car has run fine since Friday. Just like that.

That's faith, folks. Pure and simple.

God is good.

Woeful Wednesday: Prayers & Praise

Things I am struggling with this week:

• A friend of mine from church (we'll call her "T"), is in the hospital. She was taken in by ambulance on Saturday night due to Type A Flu, and Diabetic Acidosis. When I received word on Monday she was on a ventilator. Yesterday I found out she also has pneumonia, and her kidneys were not functioning. Last night the doctors in the Intensive Care Unit placed her in a drug-induced coma so her body can rest while they try to treat her. T is 41 and has three children - a son (21), and two daughters (17 and 18). Her older daughter is pregnant and due in about six weeks. Lord, please heal T... her family needs her.

• My car wouldn't start this morning. For the last year or so it has groaned a little when starting in cold weather, and it has gotten cold here in the last few days. With our current income situation, we can't afford a big repair. I've already been a little on edge because inspection is due this month. So my husband drove me to school this morning, then picked me up and brought me to work. He and our neighbor will be trying to jump-start my car this afternoon. I just pray all it needs is a battery...

• We have Lucas this weekend. Bedtime scares me.

Things I am thankful for today:

• Our church family, who is praying for T and her family, and helping out with meals and cleaning.

• Good neighbors. After Hector and my husband took an initial look at my car, Hector fixed our piece of rain spouting that's been swaying in the wind. Hector is a contractor, and also installed our new kitchen light, and is going to help us fix up our window frames and eventually put laminate flooring down in our living and dining rooms. Hector and family, you rock!!

• Good health. It can be fragile. Protect it. (Now if only I could take my own advice...)

• Good friends. Other moms who are there to give advice and support whenever you need it.
  

• My husband, who is chauffeuring me today without complaint. Also, he brought me ice cream last night. :o)
  

• The grace of God, who gets us through, even when we think it's impossible. Who forgives us when we stumble, and we stumble a lot. Thank you.

Things to remember today, this week, and always:

• "Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done." - Philippians 4:6 (NLT)
  

• "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." - Isaiah 41:10 (NIV)

I Will Praise You in This Storm (song by Casting Crowns)

My Faith Story, Part I

I was raised Catholic. It seems like a lot of people's stories start out that way, doesn't it? I never liked going to church - it bored me. After I graduated from high school I got married at 19. We had a Catholic wedding, and every Sunday we went to church with his parents. It still bored me. We separated after 2 1/2 years of marriage and our divorce was final just a few days after our 3rd anniversary.

Shortly before my 24th birthday I was married for the 2nd time. We didn't go to church. Somewhere along the line I'd become uncertain that I even believed in God. My husband wasn't much of a believer either. Two years later, we separated and divorced. I was 26. It's not a period of my life I'm particularly proud of.

Sometime during my first marriage I'd begun to suffer from depression. From that time through the middle of 2002, I was taking prescription anti-depressants, and occasionally saw a therapist. I had no interest in going to church, but found the subjects of various religions interesting. I found myself especially interested in Paganism, and Wicca, but never quite interested or motivated enough to try to put anything into practice. I was even engaged again during that time, but realized it wouldn't work and broke off the engagement before we got married.

In late Winter/early Spring 2005, the depression came creeping back. In mid-June of that year I hit an all-time low. I would come home from work, go to bed, and sob. I wanted to die. I would be driving to or from my job and just envision myself slamming my foot on the gas pedal and speeding into a bridge or a pole. I was sure that death had to be easier than living.

Fortunately, I loved my family far too much to act on those thoughts. They never knew (until now, if anyone reads this) that things had gotten quite that bad. I realized I needed to go back on the anti-depressants.

During that time, my mother and my grandmother kept encouraging me to pray. What they didn't know is that I'd already started. I felt like I didn't know how, like I couldn't remember. Growing up in the Catholic church, I wasn't accustomed to just talking to God. We always had certain prayers we prayed, but I'd never just tried having a conversation with God. I decided to start looking for a church I could go to.

I knew I didn't want to go back to the Catholic church - it felt like there were too many rules, too many rituals. A few years earlier I'd visited a church or two, but just didn't feel comfortable. I tried another, but it just didn't seem much different from what I'd experienced in the past. A friend of mine suggested I try Lancaster County Bible Church (now LCBC - Lives Changed By Christ). She'd never been there herself, but she drove past it every day going to and from work and knew there was always something going on there. A short time later, another friend suggested I check it out, though she had never been there either. I decided to give it a try.

On October 30, 2005, I decided to check out a Sunday morning service. I had no idea what to expect, but I knew the place was huge, and I thought it seemed pretty intimidating. I thoroughly expected to hate it. I was caught completely by surprise.

It had taken me a while to figure out what to wear that morning, but one of the first things I noticed was that most people were wearing jeans. The auditorium was huge, and I found a seat in the upper level, where I could see everything and hopefully not be noticed.

There was a stage, not an alter, and it was set for a band rather than the organ or piano I had grown up hearing in church. Then the worship band started to play, and I was shocked to feel tears rolling down my cheeks. And it wasn't a hymn they were playing - it was a song you might hear on the radio. It might have been something by Switchfoot, though I don't remember anymore. David Ashcraft, the senior pastor, wasn't speaking that day, but Keith Walker was doing the sermon. He was wearing jeans and a shirt that wasn't tucked in and he was funny. I was laughing in church. After the service I walked around the atrium for a few minutes, checking things out. Instead of being intimidated by the size, I blended into the crowd. Nobody noticed that I had never been there before.

When I left LCBC that day, I felt better than I had in six months. I wasn't just feeling a little less depressed - I was actually happy. And I couldn't wait to go back.

To be continued...

My Faith is Not Blind

Someone very dear to me recently brought up the subject of "blind faith" in her blog, mentioning how some who are "trained" to live this way by certain organized religions carry that practice over into matters such as politics.

I often comment on her blog posts, as she is a very intelligent, insightful, unique individual whom I love to death. The end part of this particular post, however, stirred me up a bit and it took me several days to formulate a reply that didn't come off entirely snarky. I hope I was successful. What I finally came up with was that faith in God isn't blind, but that human beings are flawed and applying that same degree of faith to people can be unwise, to say the least.

She and I have very different views, spiritually, and that's okay; I used to have a very different view myself. Thinking about how that recent post made me feel, it occurred to me that maybe I need to share my story. It might shed some light on why I have the faith in God that I do.