Time to Continue this Drama called Life

After a week camping in the Smoky Mountain National Park, "roughing it" with no showers (!), we are home again. We spent a day cleaning out the van, doing laundry, and catching up on phone calls. Cecelia spent some quality time with her parrot, Storm. He was so happy to see her that he did NOT want to go back in his cage. Then, today we packed the girls off to church camp. I was sorry to see them go after only a day home, but I know God opened the door on this for His purposes. On another note, we got the call this morning that Nick's grandma passed away last night. She has been suffering for some time and we were praying for her to be healed by God - she was ready to go home to Jesus and we're happy that she is free. She was 91-years-old, lived a good long life, and got to encounter Jesus in an amazing way two years ago. Please pray for the peace of the family as they celebrate Marcella's life and mourn her passing.
If this had happened 2 days earlier, we probably would have all driven up to Nebraska with my parents straight from Tennessee. The kids are sad, but they all (except the youngest two) got to visit her within the past few weeks during their visit.

So, Nick is prayerfully purchasing airplane tickets to fly back for the memorial and funeral services, to help his mom who has bravely been the caretaker for Marcella for the past 5 years. He is going to his first staff meeting at Encounter House of Prayer tomorrow (Monday), we're celebrating Carlo's 7th birthday on Tuesday, Nick's teaching Encounter's youth group that evening, then he's flying out on Wednesday morning. We'll have to delay celebrating out 16th wedding anniversary until he gets back next week. (It's Saturday.) Of course, there are many other things we're dealing with in the meantime. Transition is never easy. I need to finalize plans for homeschooling this year as well as finish up the kids' evaluations for this past year. There are MANY people I have to touch base with and get together with this month. And my internet is down right now. I'm typing away in Starbucks. Thank goodness for free Wi-fi.

I've been through an eye-opening, thought-provoking, life-changing weekend through the amazing Bethel School of Supernatural Evangelism hosted at OHOP just last week! My whole perspective on Holy Spirit and our lives as Christians has been shifted. How blessed we are by God who wants to BE with us! He wants us to know how much He loves us and He wants us to share it with others! He loves us all much more than we know. And you know what? Jesus wants His money's worth - He died and rose again for more than a feel-good moment here and there. He sent us Holy Spirit so that we can do more miraculous things than He did! Isn't it time we walked that out? Are you ready to get out of the boat?! I AM!

By the way, the Warrior Prayers 21 Days of Prayer for Sons is already planning on a fall session toward the beginning of September. See you then? I am in the process of writing and praying out a similar prayer focus time for Daughters. Any suggestions on focus that you would like? God has given me some great words. Look forward to sharing with you all soon and posting some great pictures soon from our recent adventures.

21 Days of Prayer for Sons - Submission to Authority (Day 2)

Antonio praying from his Bible

All right, how did everybody do yesterday? It took me a while to pray intentionally through the 10 prayers on obedience over all four of my sons. There were a few that I said out loud while they were in the room playing games or eating lunch. They may have thought I was being weird, or silly, but their faces were wreathed in smiles! Not only that, but I saw results almost immediately. Speaking the Word over our children is so powerful and God is a better parent than we could ever be. In fact, I didn't have another obedience issue for the rest of the day with the oldest 3 boys. Luca, however, never took a nap and chose to stay up and play LOUDLY. He did put away the dishes with no complaint when I asked him to, though. This is a new chore for him and I told him how proud I was!

How was your first day? Do you have any praise reports or prayer requests? Leave a comment!

I want to encourage you all to try one of these ways to pray through those 10 prayers:
1. Get up early to bathe your sons in prayer first thing in the morning.
2. Pray the prayers one at a time throughout the day.
3. Make the prayers part of your family devotion time.
4. Spend time in concentrated prayer late at night, close to bedtime.

Today's prayer focus is Submission to Authority, this flows perfectly from yesterday's topic of obedience. Throughout life, our sons will have to submit to some kind of authority. First their parents, then teachers, pastors, bosses, government officials but most importantly God Himself! We are training our sons to not only HEAR the voice of God, but to submit to His leadership and obey. If our sons can learn this now, in their youth, they will be in a better position to be able to travel the narrow path God has set before them. Oh, how my heart longs for my boys to stay on the path! It can be a rough road sometimes, but nothing compared to the brambles and rockslides that wait on either side. I pray they don't make the mistakes I made, that my sons will never wander away from the Word. Are you ready? Let's Go PRAY!

Submission to Authority

May__________obey his leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over his soul, as those who will have to give an account. Let him do this with joy and not with groaning (Hebrews 13:17)

May__________submit himself therefore to God. May he resist the devil, so he will flee from him (James 4:7)

May__________submit to laborers of the Gospel and to everyone who joins in the work (1 Corinthians 16:16)

May__________submit to others out of reverence for Christ (Ephesians 5:21) 

May__________be subject to the Father of spirits and live (Hebrews 12:9) 

May__________agree with God, and be at peace; so good will come to him (Job 22:21) 

May__________be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God (Romans 13:1) 

May__________submit himself to the LORD (2 Chronicles 30:8) 

May__________, who is younger, be subject to the elders. May he clothe himself with humility toward others, for God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. (1 Peter 5:5) 

For freedom Christ has set us free; may__________stand firm therefore, and not submit again to a yoke of slavery (Galatians 5:1)

21 Days of Prayer for Sons - Obedience (Day 1)

Carlo - 6

Antonio -13

Rocky - 11

My 4 Blessed BOYS!

Luca - 5

I'm so excited to start the 21 Days of Prayer for Sons today, and so grateful to Brooke for her amazing book inspiring us to be Warrior Moms! Already this morning, I've dealt with obedience issues, broken up a fight, and dealt with brothers torturing their sisters. So, I definitely need God to change these little hearts! For those of you joining me here for the first time, for this timely purpose, I'll give you a little background on my family. I've been married for 15 years, and I am the happy, proud and frazzled mom to 7 amazing children. Four of which are boys. My oldest 2 are boys (only 18-months apart) and then 2 girls, 2 more boys (20-months apart), and the littlest is a girl. My husband and I have been involved in ministry for more than 13 years - from music ministry to youth ministry to prayer ministry. There have been ups and downs, but it's natural to have an ebb and flow in life. Currently, we are involved with a House of Prayer, including the children. On paper, it sounds awesome, but in life it is HARD and there are days when we fight to stay on the path the Lord has placed us on - feeling our way in the dark with just that spark of Love leading us on. God is always faithful.

I'm looking forward to hearing from all of you. Your stories of family, struggles, prayer requests and praise reports! I'm here to encourage you during this dedicated time of prayer for your sons and if there is anything you need prayer for, please don't hesitate to ask. You can leave a comment on here for me and the others, send me an email for more private correspondence (dixiecanuso@hotmail.com), or if you're linking up with us on Facebook you can send me a message on there too.

So, as I said, I've already been struggling with obedience at home today - let's get started! If you purchased the Warrior Prayers book, you know the layout. We'll be saying 8 specific and biblical prayers over our sons each day. Focus on that issue, the face of your son(s), his name, his future. Let him see you, hear you praying over him. If you have a grown son, I thought it was a great idea to write a short letter to him including the prayers you spoke over him each day. Imagine what an impact that would make! I'm going to keep a journal during this time to keep track of the days, prayers, and personal breakthroughs. Do you guys have any other ideas?

As you say these prayers, inserting your sons' names, hold them up to the Lord. Only He can change hearts. I encourage you to look up the Bible verses and read them, meditate upon them as you pray throughout the day. Remember, as Brooke says, "I have no idea how to raise men who will be different, respecters of women, lovers of God. I have no idea how to teach little men to work with their hands, take commitments seriously and protect the least of these. And I certainly have no idea how to raise warriors, protectors, worshippers, peacemakers and friends by myself." THE BATTLE IS BEST FOUGHT ON OUR KNEES! I've been working on Cheerful Obedience here, at home, but there are days when I'll settle for simply "no fights" when I ask them to do something. I'm hoping for "yes, Mom, I'd be happy to" when I would settle for them just walking off to DO IT! I guess you could say the training isn't going too well. I'm looking forward to the results of these prayers. Good luck, everyone! I'll be holding you up in prayer as well.

OBEDIENCE

Whether it is favorable or unfavorable, may ___________ obey the LORD our God...so that it will go well with him (Jeremiah 42:6).

May __________ obey his parents in the Lord, for this is right (Ephesians 6:1).

May __________ obey his leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over his soul, as those who will have to give an account. Let __________ do this with joy and not with groaning (Hebrews 13:17).

May __________ obey God rather than men (Acts 5:29).

May __________ return to the LORD His God, and obey with all his heart and all his soul all the commands God has given (Deuteronomy 30:2).

May __________ walk after the LORD His God and fear Him and keep His commandments and obey His voice. May he serve Him and hold fast to Him (Deuteronomy 13:4).

May __________ stop his sinning and begin to obey the LORD his God (Jeremiah 26:13).

May __________ obey Jesus' commandments, and remain in His love (John 15:10).

May __________ show his love for Christ by obeying His commands (John 14:15).

May we be full of joy at __________'s obedience (Romans 16:19).

A Time to Mourn...

Just got the news this morning that my Grandpa, Howard Don Huffer, passed away early today. I haven't been on here, haven't blogged at all since my trip to the midwest 2 weeks ago. It was great to see my dad - who is healing wonderfully - and connect with my family again. I got to spend some good quality time with my nieces and even a day in Lincoln to see my in-laws. The trip to Oklahoma over that weekend was another thing. While it was a blessing to be able to celebrate my Gram's birthday with her and extended family (some of whom I hadn't seen in years), it was a shock to see my Grandpa. The alzheimers and cancer had eroded his mind and body. He was not in good shape all around, but I was so grateful to see him again. I have been having a hard time processing all of this and I'm hoping this second trip to the funeral, to be with family, to examine my own heart and life from a bit of a distance from the norm will help. Please pray for comfort and God-encounters. Thank you...

Light it Up Blue!

My blog-friend Debi, over at Who Says 8 is Enough? has a little boy, Will, with autism. He is adorable and full of JOY! I know he is the delight of his mother's heart. She posted today:
"I hope there will come a day where autism isn't viewed so negatively and the key to that is awareness. Autism Speaks is an organization that gives a voice to the cause and this month, through them, we are Lighting it up Blue for Autism. I have bought blue light bulbs and on April 1st and 2nd, my home will be lit up blue.
Won't you do it too? For Will and for every child you know that is on the spectrum and for all of the ones who might be..."
Please, be a voice for these children who so rarely get to express themselves. Shine a blue light and tell others about a little boy or little girl you know who is the delight of their parents' hearts. Consider donating to Autism Speaks and say a prayer for the families who've been touched by this little-understood condition. Lord God, gather Your precious children into Your arms, touch their hearts and minds, give them peace and strength! Thank you!

A Time to Weep

I happened to call my parents this evening about 15 minutes before they hit the road to drive from Iowa to Oklahoma. My grandpa, Don, is in the hospital with clots in his legs and lungs. They're running tests, but believe this is the result of some form of cancer. They're recommending hospice care.
He's 90-years-old and his health, mentally and physically, has been declining steadily over the past few years. This year, however, has been the most dramatic. I was fortunate to be able to visit last July and, although he was obviously confused and slept a lot more, Grandpa was up playing cards, escorting my Gram to the senior center for lunch, dabbling in the yard, and walking to the post office for mail. When my mom went down last week for her spring break, he was so weak that he had to lean on her when she took him into the yard. He had little interest in things and couldn't tell the difference between the suits when they played cards. She had gone down, not only for a visit, but for a serious meeting with her brother and sisters about getting her parents into an assisted living facility with security in case Grandpa went wandering. It's a difficult transition that has been the subject of discussion for the past few years between "the kids." By the end of the week, no move had been made, and now this – just 4 days later.
I am praying peace over Grandpa. I'm praying peace and strength over Gram, Momma, Uncle Rodney, Aunt Carol, and Aunt Susan. Please join me with your prayers.

Grandpa Don Huffer – July 4, 2010

"To everything there is a season. A time for everything under heaven... A time to weep, and a time to laugh; A time to mourn, and a time to dance." Ecclesiastes 3:1,4 

Feeling More Myself

Quick update on my dad for my fellow prayer warriors out there; he was moved back to the V.A. Medical Center today after spending the last 2 days at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. I guess they still want to observe him and they had a room open at the V.A. His eyesight is still messed up to the right and his head still hurts. He's been unable to keep any food down in the past 3 days besides 1 yogurt. He's also having trouble reading. Although I'm not quite the wreck I was on Saturday, I'm still really worried about him. He's having hemorrhagic strokes, so instead of blocked vessels, it's broken vessels bleeding out into the brain. He seemed almost normal on the phone, but I can tell he still needs a lot of prayer. Thank you.

Anyway. Today, I'm wearing ripped jeans and a princess t-shirt. On my errands to get medical tests done, break my fast at Starbucks, and trip to the grocery store, I found myself almost strutting. Strangers talked to me out of no where. I was really feeling more myself for the first time in a long time. Years even. Now, I know that part of that is this new way of eating I'm following. I'm eating a lot of plants. Veggies, fruits, beans, seeds, some whole grains: naturally occurring food. God-made food. I've only been doing this for about 2 weeks, and not entirely faithfully. But, I've been breaking some seriously bad eating habits and it already shows. I have, unfortunately, not started exercising yet but have lost enough weight that people are noticing. I feel better. My moods have evened out, I feel more positive in general. And, even the shock of my dad's stroke hasn't dropped me in the pit. We led worship at OHOP yesterday and it was AMAZING! Holy Spirit was moving in that place and so were the people! JOY! I feel that I am safe, for the first time in a long time. Safe in God's arms. I feel that I can do whatever He calls me to! I know that the girl I used to be, artistic, bold, silly, is still me. Does that sound strange? I am STILL ME! God created me in His image and in realizing that, KNOWING it, I have become one "with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord" and I'm  "being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord." (2 Corinthians 3:18) Isn't that AWESOME?

I guess that's really what it comes down to. My face has been unveiled. GLORY!!!!
Truly "where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." (2 Corinth. 3:17) Even the freedom to wear your old ripped jeans and walk boldly.

Lord Help Me!

I need your prayers again. I've been wanting to write and share joys and the busy-ness I'm still trying to juggle. I've been meaning to give everybody an update on Rachel's progress. But, I come here today with another prayer request. Please, please pray for my Daddy, Jim. He's been admitted to the VA Medical Center in Omaha because he's had a stroke. I just got the call from my mom this evening. He just had a mini-stroke in December and he had a more serious mini-stroke in 1998. I don't know how serious this one is, but I am believing that he will be healed by the blood of Jesus. I'm kind of a wreck; been missing my family lately anyway and this happens. The outpouring of prayers from my church family and friends so far tonight has been a blessing. I would be untethered without them. My Papa (my dad's dad) died when he was 59, and now my dad is that age. To me, he still seems young. To my kids, he's Papa. Please help me pray.

Praying for a Miracle

Five days ago, my best friend from Jr. High put an urgent message on my Facebook page. "Do you know what's happened to Rachel Stotler? I don't know but all I know is we need to pray HARD for her!!! RIGHT NOW!!!!" That started a quick frantic search of Facebook to find out what was happening. I followed a link to the Omaha World-Herald newspaper article that recounted a bad car accident on icy roads that led to my friend Rachel (Stotler) Clasemann to being admitted to Creighton Hospital in Omaha. I friend requested her husband, Jon, who I'd only met at their wedding about 11 years ago and sent him a message. He was kind enough to get back to me the same day, after I'd read his journal on the Caring Bridge site set up for Rachel.

She is 35-years-old, a physical therapist, and mommy to 2 little boys: Nathan and Jacob. They are too young to be visitors at the ICU where their mom is in a coma. She is recovering from a severe brain injury. So severe, in fact, that 2 parts of her skull had to be removed to relieve the pressure from the swelling in her brain. There have been some good developments in the past few days, but we are dwelling in the needed-miracle area here.

Please join me in prayer for my friend of 23 years, Rachel Clasemann. Also, pray for peace, strength, and joy for Jon and their sons, and Rachel's parents. I know Jesus has this situation in the palm of His pierced hand. I continue to lay my fear and anguish for her at the foot of the cross. I am believing for complete, miraculous restoration! She will not only wake up, but be fully healed in the name of Jesus!

“Because he loves me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue him;
   I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
He will call on me, and I will answer him;
   I will be with him in trouble,
   I will deliver him and honor him.
With long life I will satisfy him

   and show him my salvation.” Psalm 91:14-16

Please Pray!

Okay, things are getting serious. We are coming up against some opposition on the house and we're pressing in today in prayer. Please join us. We need appliances, air conditioner, flooring, front door, and some furniture. And lots and lots of help and grace. Just spend 90 seconds right now to pray for us and our needs. Thank you sooo much!

Ugh...

You know when your husband's sick and you feel bad for him, and try to take care of him, and keep the kids away from him while he's napping? But, after a couple days, you feel kind of irritated that he's not pulling himself together and getting over it? Well, that was me a week ago. Then, the illness hit me. So NOT fun. I tried to pull out of it over the weekend, but Nick took me out to a movie Sunday night for Mother's Day and I think I just overdid it. I stayed in bed almost all day Monday. On Tuesday, I was either in bed or on the couch. My head hurt too much to even watch T.V. Well, it was Nick's turn to get a little annoyed that I wasn't doing anything. I can't really blame him. So, today, I valiantly got up, got dressed and got the kids motivated to straighten up, do schoolwork, and I actually folded 3 loads of laundry. I did rest a bit this afternoon, but I managed to make a healthy dinner! It's been a trying week, I'm just thankful that none of the kids have gotten really sick.
Please say a prayer for us as there is still quite a bit of hacking coughing going on around here. And I have 2 mountains of laundry in the garage to attend to by Saturday morning. ;)

A Moment of Reflection...

On our recent trip to St. Augustine, partly to celebrate my husband, Nick's birthday, we stopped in the Greek Orthodox shrine. It's so beautiful, and has an interesting history recorded there from the earliest years of settlement in the area. We have a Catholic background, and the idea of prayer candles really spoke to our children. Nick paid for a candle, we all laid fingers on it (all 9 of us) and offered up prayers to God for our family. Then, the wick was gently tipped into the flame of another candle before Keliah planted it as firmly as she could in the sand. It was a beautiful moment.
Those candles are only representing the prayers going forth to the throne room, but I thought it was a special reminder that the flame from someone's heart can spark the prayer from another's. Just as our prayers for the children battling cancer can spread to the community, sending warmth and support to the families contending for the life and health of their children.
Please take a moment to pray for them, take a few minutes to visit the other blogs participating in the 2nd Annual Tuesday Blog Party. Thank God for the health of your own children, and remember the moms who are spending this Mother's Day weekend with their children in hospital beds. You can help with your small flame. Thank you.

HEY! Please help for pediatric cancer!

Hi! Just wanted to post quickly about the amazing work my friend Debi is doing over at Who Says 8 is Enough. She's hosting this blog party in memory of little Tuesday Whitt to help raise funds for those battling and dealing with pediatric cancer. Please follow the links in my previous post to donate and possibly win awesome give-aways, even my own! (see post below!) It all goes through the 8th! Get involved, say a prayer, and do your part! Thank you! Bless you!

Newest Update on Baby Hope

So, you know my niece Hope (7 months) was born without an ear canal in her right ear. She is adorable and cuddly and smart. I haven't seen her since she was a couple weeks old, but I get the updates on my sister's blog Dear Blank, and in our long 2 hour phone calls that are infrequent because we both have little ones that make talking so long almost impossible. (Especially on my end.) I have pressed in with prayer for her little ear, I have put out numerous prayer requests on Hope's behalf, I have believed in miracles. It looks like the miracle is in progress. The specialists finally got to do the echo test on her. Here is Holly's report (taken from her blog entry on January 20th):

Hope had her bone conduction hearing test today. We didn’t have to endure the worrisome fasting, the ultra-early morning drive across town, the scary general anesthetic or the endless hours of waiting, all of which colored our previous ABR attempt (thank God).

Instead we drove five minutes to the Research Hospital on our side of town. Hope nursed until an hour before her appointment. Granted, she did have to choke down some vile-tasting chloral hydrate (screaming her head off the whole time), but that was the worst of it. We were in the room with her while she had the ABR, and once it was done, we were pretty much okay to leave. Just had to hang around for a half-hour after she woke up for a little safety monitoring.

(BTW, babies waking up from sedation are hilarious. Hope was full of grins, but totally loopy. Like an incredibly cheerful drunk.)

Anyway. The results were good. Her right ear is functional, pretty much at the exact same level as her left. So, good. Yay.

But the test couldn’t answer my next question: does she hear with that ear? The inner ear can hear (is capable of hearing), but do the sound waves reach her inner ear?

We don’t know. I thought we would. And we don’t.

I know Who knows. Her Great Daddy who loves her and is so jealous over her. The Holy Spirit, who is doing a creative miracle in her ear. Her best friend, Jesus, in whose name I pray. My children continue to lift up their baby cousin each Saturday at the Children's Prayer Watch; they are still believing in the miraculous.

Also, when I talked to my sister before Christmas, she confessed that she and her mother-in-law have noticed a change in that little right ear. It is bigger. On the outside, you can hardly tell a difference between Hope's 2 ears anymore. It used to be much smaller than her left ear and have a squished appearance. The doctors mentioned future cosmetic surgery. I don't think that will be necessary, do you? I believe that God is working slowly in Hope's ear so that she doesn't experience any pain in this process. I believe, in the name of Jesus, that Hope will not need any surgery on her ear AT ALL and by the time she's old enough for school, she will be blessed with perfect hearing.

Thank you for joining your prayers with mine. They are as incense.

Update on Baby Hope

I want to thank you all for responding to my prayer request for my little 6-month-old niece, Hope.

Here is the "official Mommy report" on the surgery taken from my sister, Holly's blog "Dear Blank":

Hope’s surgery went relatively well. The two little bumps are history, as is the cartilage root that was hidden beneath one of them. Her stitches are already out, and her skin is healing wonderfully. She barely even needed the painkillers the surgeon prescribed. So, yay, God!

On the less great front, prior to the surgery, she developed a serious ear infection in her “good” ear, so they couldn’t do the hearing test. So we still don’t know if she has hearing in her right ear. Which was the whole reason for having the general anesthesia in the first place.

Grf.

She just finished up a course of antibiotics, and on Monday we’ll see if the infection has cleared up. If it has, we’ll reschedule the hearing test, which will mean another half-day at the hospital, more (but milder) general anesthesia, and more medical bills.

For further Hope news and a funny blog on Mommy-hood, food, and other interesting tidbits, please visit Holly over on Wordpress. I always get a kick out of her point of view and news of the precocious Sophia.

Again, your prayers are so much appreciated. We are still believing for a creative miracle in Hope's right ear. She goes in for the hearing test on Jan. 19th, I believe. Press in with us and claim perfection in Hope's ear in the name of Jesus!

Sorry I don't have a new picture to share with you all of the cutie fuzz-head with her new little tooth. Gotta start claiming my Auntie rights, I guess.

Prayer Request & Funny Carlo Story

Okay beautiful people, I am coming before you, once again, to plea for prayer.
Tomorrow morning, my amazing little niece Hope (6 months) is going in for surgery. They will be removing some bumps from her face that developed in the womb the same time that her right ear mis-developed. They will also be echo testing her hearing in that ear while she's under. Please pray that she is kept safe and totally healed in Jesus' name. Also, please pray for strength and wisdom for the medical staff that comes into contact with her.
And, PLEASE pray for my sister Holly. She is somewhat afraid of the possible side-effects the anesthesia could have on her baby daughter. Pray for peace and strength in Jesus' name for her.
Above all, pray that His name be glorified in the whole process.
Thank you so much.

Now, for that funny story...

Carlo making a funny face

The other day I was driving to Barnes & Noble with (only) Carlo in the backseat. He's 5 and needed a break from everybody - as did I. We have the Christmas music station going non-stop in the car, so I was singing along to Jimmy Buffett's rendition of "Meli Kaliki Maka" which I so totally know because we had the Bing Crosby album while I was growing up. Anyway, when the song was over, I glanced in the rearview mirror and said, "Meli kaliki-maka, Carlo."
Without missing a beat, he responded, "No comprendo."
I laughed so hard I cried.

Coleman's (prayerfully) Last Treatment & BPS

Today is Coleman's last chemo treatment for Lymphoma. Please keep him and the medical team lifted up in prayer! Soon he'll have another scan and I'm believing for a clean result, in the name of Jesus!

I taught the 4 & 5-year-olds at children's church this morning and we learned about the authority we have to ask for anything in Jesus' name. I am claiming it (although I lost my little cardboard police shield with JESUS written on it)! I encourage you all to do the same in your lives. "Headache go away, in the name of Jesus!" "Car, start in the name of Jesus!" "Luca, go to bed in the name of Jesus!"

Baby Picture Sunday - why I'm thankful:

Yes, I've used this pic of Sabina before, but it makes me feel happy!

Coleman Update - Press in!

My 10-yr.-old cousin, Coleman, is battling Lymphoma and winning! This last treatment time was scary and just underscores the importance of praying for wisdom for the medical staff involved. This precious boy is a warrior and in Jesus' name he is healed and his battle has come to an end! Please continue lifting him and his family up for strength and peace. Thank you!
This is the update from his grandma:

Coleman had a treatment on Oct. 29th that was not the best. This was a treatment where he had to stay overnight. The doctor over prescribed his steroid medicine while in the hospital. Michele questioned the nurse about the amount of steroid they were giving him. She had remarked that it was 3 times what he had been taking.

When Michele tried to get the prescription filled the pharmacist refused to fill it. Thank God the pharmacist was alert enough to refuse to fill the prescription stating that it was too large a dosage for Coleman's age and size. In the mean time, Coleman was complaining that he felt like fleas were crawling all over him and that something in his chest needed to pop out. The Lord was looking out for Coleman because Michele did not give him the full dosage when they first came home, due to being so busy, or it could have been worse. Needless to say Coleman's parents were not real happy with what went on. They have the dosage straightened out and he is doing just fine now.

The only good thing that came from being in the hospital for this treatment was Coleman got to meet coach Bob Stoops, get his picture taken with him and receive an autograph football. This made his day.

Coleman does not have to take another treatment until November 29th. This will be a spinal treatment, but he will not have to stay overnight at the hospital. After this treatment he will have a cat scan done and they will decide if more treatment is needed or not (Praying not). Will let you know when this is done.

Coleman's spirit has been good and his health has been pretty good. Your prayers has helped tremendously with this.

Thanks to each one of you for praying for Coleman and for caring.

God Bless each of you,

Nona

Coleman's Continuing Battle

Coleman heading for a treatment. What a trooper!

This is the latest about my cousin, Coleman, and his battle against Lymphoma from his grandma, my Aunt Nona. Praying for him has just blessed my heart. He's halfway through his chemo treatments. Please continue lifting him and his family up during this trying time. Thank you!

Coleman had his 10th Birthday Wednesday October 7th. His immune system was way down so he couldn't go anywhere or have anyone over. The kids in his class at school brought gifts to school . the teacher brought them to him along with some flowers and balloons. This really made his day.

Coleman just had his 4th treatment Friday October 9th. This time he was to be admitted and kept over night in the hospital. He has 4 more treatments to go.

I got to go into the room where they do the treatment and it was something. They have the room decorated like an ocean. They turn on a projector and it projects the images on a curtain which makes it move like its actually a body of water. Very relaxing in there. Didn't care to watch the procedure itself but the Doctor and nurse were very nice and made Coleman feel very comfortable. They kept him talking practically the whole time. The treatment this time involved the spine. They took from fluid off the spine then administered the medicine. This whole procedure probably lasted about 30 to 45 minutes. Coleman was sedated so he really didn't feel a thing. He just started talking a little silly about watching some beavers playing.

What amazed me was Coleman. He was a little groggy getting back to his room, but as soon as he got in bed and raised his head up, all he wanted to do was eat. And eat he did, nacho cheese chips (a $1.29 bag of chips), a candy bar, some twizzlers, then came lunch of pizza and chocolate cake. This satisfied him for a little while. For dinner he had 2 cheese enchiladas.

As you can see he is doing pretty good.

Later that evening he got to feeling bad and feeling hot. This is a side effect of the medicines he has to take. After the spinal treatment he has to have three different kinds of medicine, which is administered through his port. This happens right after he gets to his room and then later in the day. This is why he has to stay overnight in the hospital. Saturday he came home feeling pretty good.

He still gets tired late in the afternoon and sometimes just hurts all over. He says he cannot explain how it feels other then it just hurts.

The family is well and doing good. Thank you for your prayers.

PRAISE GOD PRAYERS ARE BEING ANSWERED. Treatments could have been worse, family could still be sick, but all this has been taken care of only through all your prayers.

Coleman also wanted me to tell you Thank You for your prayers.

Nona

Thankful Thursday

Today I am thankful for the hard places.

This is where we remember our blessings, remember other rocky times, and remember that God is Good ALL the Time.

I am also thankful for amazing women who use their limited time and resources to reach out to others. Busy moms like Lani and Debi who love others as themselves.

Today I am thankful that my children are safe, healthy, fed and clothed.

I am thankful for new friends who can share heart burdens in prayer.

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