Celebrate a GREAT week!

If they obey and serve him, they will spend the rest of their days in prosperity and their years in contentment. Job 36:11


Good morning! I hope each of you have had a good week and are looking forward to the weekend. As for Memphis, it sounds like we are going to enjoy MORE April Showers... I can't wait to enjoy all of the May Flowers these showers are supposed to be bringing!!

It seems that all of our friends have good reports from this week. We are so thankful for that, I got to visit with Mallerie and Clay a couple of times this week, both seem to be feeling pretty well. I saw smiles on both faces, that makes for a good visit! Mallerie is not getting sick as much, this is a blessing and an answer to prayers. She has been working on a word search book and I must say, she is pretty fast with those things. We pray that she continues to do well, and her new cells begin to grow soon.

Clay, is doing well too. Mom has ask for specific prayers for his lungs. He is doing well for now, his lungs are clear but the concern is when he starts growing his new cells that they might go to his lungs and cause the "gunk" in his lungs again. She explains this in her update, so I'll let you read about it there. She has ask for us to pray for his lung disease to be healed and for his lungs to remain healthy lungs. Also, pray for his other organs to remain healthy during this transplant process. He is beginning to eat a little, this is good news too. Pray for his appetite to increase. He is really doing well and is such a cutie pie!

I talked to LaDonna last night. Salena is doing very well. She says to see her you would not know anything is going on. They miss Memphis very much and look forward to coming back. I miss them too and look forward to getting them back here. She says Chicago is very nice, but just not the same, I think we spoiled them here!! At this time, she has started her pre-chemo to prepare for transplant. Transplant is scheduled for April 22nd. Please pray for her successful transplant and also please keep her donor in prayer. He will be harvesting on April 21st, and transplant will be the next day. We need to keep the donor in prayer for him to remain healthy and have no complications so the transplant can go forward. I am so in awe of these wonderful donors who are willing to do this. Again, I ask for you to consider becoming a donor or even setting up a Bone Marrow Donor Drive in your local area. If you are interested in doing one and need some info, please leave a comment on this post and leave an email address where I can get back with you with the info. There are organizations that will come and for the most part set up and do it all for you. You just provide the location and help to get the word out. Most churches and many schools are willing to allow you to have them at their locations.

Jonathan is out of the hospital, that is good news. Mom's has been updating, check out his link.

I have not seen Trevor or Elizabeth this week, but it sounds like they are having an excellent week... you really should read their updates... they are having way to much fun! I am very happy to hear this, and am so thankful they are doing so well. It does not sound like Trevor will be around here much longer, but I know they are so ready to get back home with the rest of the family.

Please read everyone's updates, they each have specific needs. Also, don't forget to leave them a note of encouragement on their comment sections.

Rylee's surgery is coming up soon, let's keep her and her family in our prayers. They have alot going on right now getting ready for the surgery and the trip to Little Rock for the surgery. I got to spend some time with them this past weekend while I was in Oklahoma City. They are such sweet children, a real joy to be with. Please keep them and mom & dad in your prayers.

I'll go ahead and start posting this... on April 21st we will have a prayer night in the chat room for Salena, for her successful transplant. I'll post more on this as it approaches but please go ahead and mark your calendars so you can be here with us for this prayer night. LaDonna is hoping to work it out to be able to be here too.


I want to repeat the plans for this years Marathon for anyone who may not have seen this post yet:

For all of the marathon team members there are some updates on the organization of the team. Those of us that have worked on it to organize it are getting geared up to get it kicked off again. At this time, the only info I have is that registration will begin in late spring. As some of you found out last year...THERE IS A LIMIT AND IT DOES FILL UP. It is predicted, due to the way it filled up last year, that people will not wait this year to register but will register as soon as possible to ensure they get in. So I suggest that if you want to participate that you do not hesitate to get registered as soon as it opens.

There will be a few changes this year... Our team was formed and we were all brought together because of Ethan. We know that we have honored him and his memory by being Team Ethan. He will always be a part of this team but we would like to include other patients too. Not everyone has the opportunity to organize their own personal team. We want to share and include others in this opportunity to give back to St Jude. We will be using the name TEAM BELIEVE now. Our goal is to honor a different patient each year. We will have a design on our shirt where we will add a new name each year. Names from the past will remain as part of the design. So therefore, Ethan will always be a part of us.

This year we will be running for Mary Kate Rushing. When I first ask her if we could have our team run in her name, she was so excited. I wish you could have seen her face and her eyes when she was asked. I ask her if she would come up with a design that she wanted on her shirt, this too excited her very much. As most of you know, Mary Kate lost her battle to leukemia recently. She was working on her design for the shirt, her mom will proudly finish it for her, she knows what Mary Kate wanted. We will proudly walk in loving memory of Mary Kate. Regina, her mom, and her sister Alyson will be joining us along with other family members too. If you are not familiar with Mary Kate you can read her caringbridge site at caringbridge.org/visit/marykaterushing or click on her link under "Our Friends".

The plans for now are to keep with our tradition of events from the past two years. I will set up hotel accommodations for everyone needing a room, we will have our dinner on Friday evening the night before the big day, then participate in the events of the morning downtown. Again on Saturday evening after the marathon, everyone is invited out to my house to hang out, comfort our aching feet, and eat some good ole Memphis BBQ! This has proved to be one of the highlights of the weekend. We can just sit around and really get to know each other and visit. I am not sure at this point if there will be another tour of the hospital or not.


I want to thank SMSTexas (Susan) for volunteering to take on putting together the goodie bags for this years marathon team. This is a huge help to me!! She has already been working very diligently on this task. THANK YOU SUSAN!

Okay, enough from me. I hear some weeds in the flowerbeds calling my name, I told them to "hush" but they are still calling... Enjoy your weekend, spend some quality time with your family. Join us in the chat room anytime, it's all a family of friends!

Believe-Prayer Works

Team Believe