We Serve an Awesome God

For I know the plans I have for you,"

declares the LORD,

"plans to prosper you and

not to harm you, plans to

give you hope

and a future.

~Jeremiah 29:11

Over the past year I've been praying for some rather ill children. You'll see their photos & links in my side bar. This week I've come across two more blogs of other very ill people - people who really can use our prayers.

But that's not why I'm writing this entry today.

I do want to help get the word out about these families & children. I do want more people to join in the battle with prayer.

But that's not why I'm writing this entry today.

I'm writing this entry today to share the faith that these families have in our great God. Our Father & Healer. The Great Physician.

I'm amazed daily - which is quite shameful really - at the deep & abiding faith that these families have for the miracles that only God can do. My faith grows stronger each time I read their blogs.

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The first child I want to talk about is Baby Noah. Now Baby Noah is now just over a year old. He's the youngest son of Kate & Jeff Estes. They run a homeschooling company called Hands & Hearts. I first "met" Kate on a Yahoo group I belong to for homeschooling. We prayed a lot for her throughout her pregnancy. I gave her advice on managing her gestational diabetes (I have type 1) & helping her figure out all the insulin pumps out there as she needed one to help her manage her severe lows. I made a scrapbook for Noah as I knew with six other children time was in short supply for hobbies such as that.

Then Noah began getting ill. At first they weren't sure what was wrong. Now they do know. He has an illness with no cure & one that will severely shorten his life span. However, the faith that shines out from their blog (Our Quiverfull) is just awe-inspiring. In fact, if you are reading this today, please keep little Noah in your prayers as he has had to head back to the ER today for a fever.

As I mentioned earlier, Noah is the youngest of seven - for a few more weeks that is. Kate is pregnant with their eighth child, a baby girl, due to arrive in the next two weeks. Please continue to pray for Baby Noah, Baby Mary Faith & all of the Estes Family.

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The next child I have been praying for is Destinee. What another story of faith. Destinee is a young girl who had liver cancer. She was in dire need of a liver transplant & received one. The amazing part here - she is adopted. Well, that's not the amazing part. What is amazing is that the family that adopted her had lost a little girl about the same age as Destinee to liver cancer. I simply cannot imagine the heart ache they felt when they learned of Destinee's diagnosis. She is doing okay but is still fighting the battle to be well. A friend of the family keeps updates on her blog (Choosing Joy) about how Destinee is doing & the most current prayer needs.

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I have to admit that I wasn't keeping up to much on this next child, simply because I wasn't sure I could handle hearing about another ill little one. Then I read their most recent post & knew that what I was feeling was just plain selfish. Little Madeline is fighting for her life & is definitely at the top of my prayer list from this point on.

I admit to not knowing her whole story, but I think it started with a congenital heart issue that has been getting worse. She currently has severe sepsis & edema & is really fighting to hang on. If you'd like to see the little one to pray over her, click on this link here to go to their website.

Update: Little Maddie went to be with the Lord today. Please continue to pray for her parents & siblings. Update is at this link.

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Lastly, I spent quite a chunk of time yesterday reading the blog of Confessions of a CF Husband. I found this blog through one of the Project 365 blogs. What caught my eye & made me want to read more was the reference to CF.

My husband & I have a friend we've known now for about 10 years or so. His name is Mark & he has CF (aka cystic fibrosis). He's a year old than I am & he's been having a hard time lately. He's spending more time in the hospital than out & could use your prayers as he is there again right now.

We have another friend who's younger sister also has CF. He even lost an older sister as a very young child to what they now feel was probably CF.

Then to cap it all off - I have a local homeschooling friend who's youngest daughter was just diagnosed with CF. She was adopted as a young child along with her three brothers. Even though she is rather old for the diagnosis (she's now 11), she has had some tests come back positive. Based on symptoms they think at least one if not two of her brothers may have it as well.

Update: My friend found out today that her daughter has just very bad asthma. Praise God!

So back to Confessions of a CF Husband. The blog is written by Nate, husband of Tricia, & new daddy to Gwyneth. Tricia has CF & just gave birth via C-section to their daughter Gwyneth earlier this month at 25 weeks gestation. Due to all the factors here, Tricia is still sedated & slowly being brought out of that so she has yet to meet her daughter. She is also on a ventilator to help with her breathing. Gwyneth is also on a vent & fighting hard to grow. Nate is holding down the fort & caring for his two girls.

Again - his faith just exudes from his blog. I found myself crying as I imagined the pain he must be feeling. My youngest spent one measly week in the NICU after he was born four years ago. In fact, today would have marked his first day there. However, he was a bruiser. He weighed in at 10lbs 3ozs. He was HUGE compared to many of the babies there. Nothing he had was life threatening. While it felt overwhelming at the time, I knew we would be going home sooner rather than later & I felt so blessed by that.

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Reading these blogs & praying for these families has been such a privilege. Our God is an awesome God.

I was listening to the radio this morning & heard a song from one of my favorite bands - Big Daddy Weave. Their song "Hold Me Jesus" came on & as I was singing along I realized how appropriate it was for this post today. (In doing a search for the lyrics I discovered that it's a remake of a Rich Mullins song.) Here's the chorus....

So hold me Jesus, 'cause I'm shaking like a leaf

You have been King of my glory

Won't You be my Prince of Peace

More Prayerful Thoughts Needed

Please continue to pray for my BIL. Read here for more information on what has been going on with him medically.

My sister told me tonight that they have found out the results of his latest MRI that was done yesterday. Unfortunately the tumor is NOT dying & shrinking as they had thought last month. It has, in fact, grown. It is now up to 3 cm. It was 4.5 cm when he had his original surgery four years ago. He will be going back in for surgery in the next few days - no later than Tuesday.

There is good news in the midst of all of this. The tumor cells (this is not a cancerous tumor but any tumor in the brain is serious) look similar to the cells that make cerebrospinal fluid. When he originally went in for surgery four years ago they (as in the docs) were hesitant to remove all of the tumor as they weren't positive it was all tumor. They also thought he would be able to handle all the extra fluid in his brain & not need a shunt. A shunt is a tube that is placed in the brain & it is threaded down in to the abdominal cavity to drain. Otherwise the fluid builds up in the brain & causes major problems. Sometimes this is placed on a temporary basis & other times it is placed permanently. My BIL has a permanent one. Normally people can handle fluid in the brain on their own on a regular basis. The lymph system takes care of this. However, when there is a brain injury, they sometimes can't. My BIL couldn't. So since he already has a shunt & they know what they are looking for this time, they are feeling like they can now completely remove the tumor. Please pray for that!

Needless to say this is a stressful time for my family & most especially for my sister & BIL. Please pray that God's peace simply surrounds them completely during this time. I will continue to post & update as I get more information.

Today

I was at my sister's again today & I tried to be proactive with the boys today. I knew that if N & my nephew were allowed too much free time, they would start picking at each other. I sent them out to play shortly after I got there for a bit. I let them play in the driveway & left the dogs in the fenced yard. J started playing with the bubble machine so I attempted to get some shots of them. It was way harder than I anticipated!

Then it was time for lunch. After lunch I kicked them back outside for a bit. J went down for a nap at that point & B was busy playing on Lego.com website. Auntie has a DSL connection so it works way better at her house then here.


After a bit I had the boys come in & they became mini-Picasso's. I had bought some 8x10 canvases at AC Moore last year with the plan to have my boys paint on them. I had done that once before with just B with a bigger canvas & it was a lot of fun. I got the idea from the mom of the little girl I used to babysit when my boys were smaller. It's a lot of fun for them. That kept them busy for a bit. They both painted two.

My nephew pausing long enough to say "cheese!"

N showing me his great grin (and his new haircut!)

At about this time, my sister called to let me know they were almost home from the hospital. My BIL was discharged today - YEAH! I spent some time outside at this point taking photos of all her great flowers that are blooming. I also spent about 20 minutes trying to get a photo of their flag unfurled by the wind. Go check out my 365 blog to see that final result. (Link to the right above.)

This is no where CLOSE to the true color, but it just wasn't coming out right no matter how I tried to get the shot.

This color isn't correct either - they are more of a deep purple. Again - no clue why it wouldn't come out right.

Prayful Thoughts

Four years ago in November, I received a phone call from my sister. She had taken my BIL to the hospital that morning with the "worst headache of my life" situation. They found a large brain tumor. He was being transported to the big city hospital & ended up in surgery that very afternoon to remove the tumor. Thankfully it was not cancer, but it was still a brain tumor. Still scary.

He was in the hospital for about 4-6 weeks. There son was not even a year old at this point. We all rallied around to babysit him & help as we could. Both of their work places showered them with so many blessings - too many to recall. He recovered well. The only issue he seemed to have was some short term memory loss. It didn't slow him down. He recovered enough to go back to work as a police officer with the local city department. He eventually left that job & took a job with the county sheriff's office. He is now the head detective for them. He loves his job.

Two years ago he suffered a grand mal seizure while at home in the shower. My sister was here alone with him. It took two of his co-workers & the ambulance crew to restrain him enough to medicate him. He began seizure drugs. He did fine. He was out of work for a bit since once you have a seizure you can't drive for three months & those have to be seizure-free months.

He was still doing well. He is active in his job for the sheriff's office & he is also very active in the Army National Guard. He left on 6/21 & drove out to Missouri for his two week AT (active training). All seemed well.

My sister called me on the morning of 6/25, my BIL had had a seizure. He wasn't alone & it was a smaller seizure - a petite mal this time. She needed me to watch my nephew. I packed all my boys up & headed down to get him. My brother was going to bring her to the airport to catch her evening flight & then watch the dogs for a couple of days.

The flights were delayed & postponed & it took her forever to get to Missouri. She was suppose to be there by 11pm on Monday. She finally arrived by 7am on Tuesday - minus her checked bag & all her hand cream (the airlines made her toss it). But she was with her husband & could see how he was doing. He was in the hospital on base.

There was much discussion about what to do next. Would they drive home? Would they airlift him to the hospital here? Would they keep him there to treat him? The decision was finally made to release him & send them on their way with some medications for him to help control his seizures. It's normally at least a two day drive. They were two days from home - from the familiar - from help - from family.

My sister drove six hours the first night. She drove about ten hours last night. Then my BIL had more seizures. They make a stop at a local hospital & spend the night in the ER. She calls for back-up. :-) Two guys that work with my BIL drive down in a cruiser to meet them & bring them the rest of the way back. Now my sister can just ride - no more concentrating on driving or how my BIL is doing - although they are in separate cars. He has another seizure, they are still trying to get to the city hospital where his neurosurgeon is - they should be there soon.

So I am posting asking for prayers - lots of them. The Lord knows what he is doing so the rest of us need peace with what is happening. I'll continue to keep people updated.

And while you are praying for them, please keep these families in your prayers too....
The Estes Family whose youngest son is very sick & they do not have a complete diagnosis yet. Plus some of their other children are having some very stressful times as well including their three year old daughter who is having rabies shots after an encounter with a squirrel, a son who has a broken leg, and more.
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/ourquiverfull

Heather - a homeschooling mom going through treatment for a cancerous brain tumor -
http://www.especiallyheather.com/

There are also many prayer requests on the SHS Yahoo group & CWOLF groups that I am on. There are military families in the midst of moving, families experiencing one crisis after another (broken vehicles, loss of jobs, sick children). So in the midst of all our hardships here, we can only trust in the one true God.

Matthew 17:20

He replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."

UPDATE:
The general thought at this time is that the tumor is having swelling (edema). The cause of it is the radiosurgery he had at the beginning of the year. It is swelling because it is DYING! :-) This is GOOD news! The doctors feel that in 6-8 weeks the tumor could be COMPLETELY GONE!!!!!!!!!! This was the outcome we prayed for!

He has also seen a neurologist who feels that his speech finding issues & other small issues he is experiencing are mini-seizures. They are going to try some new meds to get that under control.

He is still waiting on a bed & will be there at least until Sunday. His regular doc is on vacation & will be back then.

Beth will come home once he is settled in for the night. Her dogs & her son (not to mention me!) will be glad to have her back. I'll be heading home for the weekend.

Thank you for all your prayers - please continue!