Saturday, December 25, 2010

Happy Holidays!

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM OUR HOME TO YOURS!!!


Goodness, where did the time go? Was the marathon not just a week or so ago? How did I wake up this morning to find it Christmas morning???? Seriously, time has gone by so vey fast, I have been in high gear trying to keep up.

It seems that all of our families are doing very well. Not sure if I mentioned it or not, but over Thanksgiving my family went down to Florida to spend some time with the Dunfords after we had Thanksgiving with my family in Mississippi. We had such a great visit with them. DJ and Michelle are doing great, very happy in Florida and the boys are just wonderful. It was so great to be able to spend time with them. We were blessed again last weekend to get to spend a little time with them as they came through Memphis for the night on their way to Peoria to be with Julie, Austin and new baby Madeline Elizabeth Locke. Michelle is Madeline's Godmother. Her baptism was last Sunday and the Dunford's went up to be with the Locke's for the baptism. Both families are doing really good. Keep them in your prayers as they spend today without Elizabeth and Dax.

Preston as of this writing, is not inpatient for Christmas! Please pray that it stays that way! Bless his little heart, he has just had such a difficult time. Please keep him in your prayers for his complete healing and no more inpatient stays.

Eli and his family were able to go HOME for Christmas!! Hopefully they will get to have a wonderful visit at home and he will be on his way to his complete healing.

Little Trevor was here this past week. He is doing great! It was great to get to visit with them during his chemo on Wednesday. He slept through all of it, but Melinda and I were able to have a great catch-up visit! They are such a wonderful family. Please keep them in your prayers and Trevor continues to fight his battle with his brain tumor.

Please begin to pray for Jack and his upcoming visit for his 3 month check-up. He will be here on the 9th of January for a few days of testing. Pray for him to get another report of NED. NED = No Evidence of Disease I'm not sure if I have shared this with you or not, I had to keep it a secret at first, but it's now out... Jack is going to be a big brother!!! Ryan and Katie AND JACK, are expecting a baby on July 7, 2011. I am just so excited for them. Jack will be the best big brother!

There are so many today that are spending this very special holiday without their sweet child. Please, as you pray today for all of your blessings, please pray for all of those with an empty place in their hearts and homes today. Unfortunately, there are way to many to begin listing. Pray for strength for these families and those of you who have an empty seat at your house. Christmas is always a hard day for me, I miss my daddy but I know he is healed from his disease and getting to spend a beautiful birthday celebration with Jesus.

I pray for each of you and for a wonderful holiday season and Christmas Day with your families. Hug each one an extra time, hold them just a bit tighter. Love them just a bit deeper, appreciate them just a bit more and cherish every single millisecond so much more. Family is the glue that holds us together. It may be blood related family, friend family or a serving prayer warrior family, which ever, show your love today.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO EACH OF YOU! I love you and cherish you for your hearts and your love you share.

Enjoy your day!

BELIEVE PRAYER WORKS~

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

What More Can I Say?



Team Believe is the most awesome and amazing team! Thank you to each team member, each person who donated even a single dollar, and certainly to everyone who offered up prayers on behalf of our team and our efforts to raise this money for St Jude. Your prayers were answered! Just a reminder... our goal was $20,000.00! This is the most we have EVER raised in a single year, and it's not over yet!

BELIEVE PRAYER WORKS~ Here is yet another example of proof!!!

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

A Few Pics to Share....


Our little miracle HERO-Jordan. Sporting his Family Walk Marathon Bib # He was just the most precious little thing.


The force behind the HERO'S program, Christopher Beck, Tyler Sutton, Garrett Sutton, Matt Riley & "Goose". Matt and Goose are a couple of Tyler's teammates from the Hattiesburg BlackSox Baseball team. The organization is now behind our efforts and more of the players plan to join us next year. Notice, Christopher Beck is wearing one of our Team Believe hoodies!


Garrett Sutton, crossed the finish line in the half marathon in 2 hrs 27 min. He did a fantastic job!


Matt, Goose & Tyler right after crossing the finish line.


This years very awesome and adorable FROG TEAM CAKE! Our decorating theme for this year was "Frogs". Jordan loves animals, especially frogs and lizards. This was the most amazing cake and I am very proud to say the sweet cake lady donated it to our team! Thank you very much to Cakes by Diane! Oh, and by the way, even the frog on top was cake and edible.

Everyone did a fantastic job this year. I'm not giving out totals yet, there are more to post. I will say, we have set a team record for our fundraising this year. This team definitely has the respect of the Hero's Program. I am honored to say that this team is a team that is used as an example for other teams to see. I give all of the honor and glory to God for our success. Your prayers for this team has made it the success it is. God is blessing our efforts, and I am truly thankful for this. Please continue to pray for our continued success and also add a prayer of thanksgiving for what He has done so far.

You all are hearing it or reading it for the very first time here.... next year I am very excited and honored to announce that Team Believe will be walking/running in honor of our precious Little Trevor!!! I talked with his family today and they are just thrilled to have Trevor as our Hero to Honor for 2011. Start making your plans for next year. Be a part of this incredible weekend of events and help us honor Little Trevor.

I'll post more pictures and more details in a few days.

BELIEVE PRAYER WORKS~

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Fantastic Weekend!

Well, it rained for forty days and forty nights.... I am wondering right now if one can sleep for forty days and forty nights! It was a wonderful weekend, as always it comes to an end much to soon. I have lot's to share with you, but right now this old gal is going to get some rest. I did want to let you know all the prayers for the success for this weekend were definitely answered. Everyone made it here safe and sound, everyone completed their run/walk successfully, and everyone, as far as I am aware, had a great time together! I think we only had one to draw blood, a few to beat their personal best records and MANY to wake up this morning having a little level of difficulty getting out of bed and moving! Guess that is to be expected when these awesome people push themselves to go above and beyond the normal to participate in an event such as the St Jude Marathon. We had many new people to join us this year. I hope we have hooked them and they will be returning every year.

I'm gonna keep this short for now, however I do want to share that we have an amazing total of OVER $25,000.00 raised so far! Did you catch the "so far" part? Be watching.... there will be a grand total posted soon. If it does not knock your socks off and make you so proud to be a part of this group by either the donations you made to the team, or the prayers you offered up for this team or if you participated as a team member, then NOTHING WILL! Be watching~

I'll post pictures soon too.

A TREMENDOUS THANK YOU to everyone for all of your love and support during this marathon.

BELIEVE PRAYER WORKS~

Friday, December 3, 2010

And Let The Fun Begin

The first team members have arrived, the set up for the team dinner which will be later tonight has begun. Goodie bags are being filled for each team member. Auction items for our silent auction are being set up. Cheesecakes have been delivered, team cake will be delivered later this afternoon, food will arrive from caterer around 6:00pm. The evening will begin with everyone coming to the team dinner at 6:30. It's here! Let the weekend blast begin!! I just can't tell you the thrill of victory here. I wish everyone who reads this, could experience this incredible weekend of events.

The weather is supposed to be close to perfect. There is a 20% chance of rain, but we look at it more like there is an 80% chance of no rain. I like our odds pretty well Please keep each participant in this event in your prayers for safety and no injuries.

I am very happy to share some great news with you. As of late yesterday evening, we have reached and exceeded our team goal of $20,000.00!!!! As of bed time, we were actually well over 23,000.00! This team of awesome people never cease to amaze me. They really kicked it in to high gear when the crunch time came. I am so proud to be a member of TEAM BELIEVE! Here in the last week, our team total has gone up 1,000.00 or more everyday! Ya'll that is just incredibly awesome!

I'll try to post again after the dinner and include some photos. If you do not hear from me, no worries, just busy and I'll post as soon as possible.

Thank you for all of your prayers and support for the events of this weekend.

Keep our kiddo's in your prayers.

GO TEAM BELIEVE

BELIEVE PRAYER WORKS~

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

4 Days to the BIG DAY!

In four more days over 14,000 people will be all suited up, bib numbers pinned on, shoe laces tied up, smiles across their faces just waiting to hear the gunshot sounding the beginning of the ST JUDE MEMPHIS MARATHON! If you have never experienced this event either as a race participant or just a cheering supporter.... you are truly missing an amazing event. There is absolutely no possible way to describe the feelings, emotions, and thrill of this day unless you are a part of it in some way. I read where Mal's mom had made a comment about the feeling when so many thousand people come together at the finish line in the baseball stadium all for one cause, to support this wonderful hospital. She is so correct! Just watching all of the people come in, some with smiles, some in tears, some in lot's of pain, some like they just took an early morning stroll across the beach.... but all for a reason, to support St Jude and the children and families treated there. Very little has touched my heart like this weekend of events does.

I have a letter that I received in the mail yesterday. It was the second such letter that I have received from the same sweet, selfless, giving CHILD! This little boy can teach all of us a BIG lesson on the giving heart. The bible tells us to give from a willing heart, just read his note. He sent me a note with $1.50 in it a few weeks ago. Yesterday, I received the note that I have posted in a photo for all to see. Enclosed with this note was a $5.00 bill. If you go to my personal goal page
www.mystjudeheroes.org/mardecia
you can see where I have proudly deposited that money, a total of $6.50, into the St Jude account. That $6.50 is just as important to St Jude and to God as any $650.00 or more! He gave from his heart and his desire to help others. I will say, this little boy from Oklahoma has certainly been raised in a great home with the love for others and the desire to help being a daily example in his life. His mom, is a team member of Team Believe. She was not going to be able to come this year, but because of another sweet and giving angel, she will be here with us! This event brings out so much more than just the love and heart for St Jude, it extends to so many other acts of random kindness that touch so many lives. I ask each of you today, look around you, do just ONE act of random kindness today toward a perfect stranger or to someone you know needs some help in some way. It is not necessary that it be some huge expensive thing, just a simple act that makes a difference to someone. A simple $6.50 from a giving heart has already touch so many people.





I got to visit with Preston yesterday. Please keep him in your prayers. He is still running a fever. They will be doing several procedures today to try to determine the origin of these fevers. They have already been running a battery of test, with no luck finding the source yet. Please pray that they will be able to determine the cause and get it under control. Pray for him to get out of isolation and out of the hospital before the holidays.

Your prayers worked, (any surprise here?) Leah's ANC went up, she was able to go home for Thanksgiving! Keep her in your prayers, she will begin the next phase of her treatment which will wipe out her ANC again. Let's pray for her to do well and be able to be home for Christmas too!

Ok... I have a very busy week but it's a busy I truly enjoy! I will be checking my list, checking it twice and getting ready for the first plane to arrive bringing in some of our TEAM BELIEVE members! Thursday, the fun begins... we have a group that will be here to help me get set up for our big dinner. Friday, the rest will come pouring in and Friday night we will all be together and enjoying hugs and tears of happiness. Please keep everyone traveling in your travel mercy prayers. Please pray for the success of this weekend. Please keep Molly's family in your prayers. She is the young lady that collapsed at the finish line and passed away last year. Her mother and other family members and friends will be here to participate in the race this year in her memory. It was important to Molly to run the St Jude run, her family will carry on for her. Pray for them, this will certainly be a tough day for them. Pray for all of the families who will be returning without their child to run in memory of their precious child. This is such a difficult thing for them to face, but so inspirational to us to see them do this to support and give back to the hospital for what the hospital gave to them. It's one way to keep the memories alive and in our hearts. I can't wait to see many of our "adopted" families and get me some big hugs!

Heather is here this week for her yearly check-up and battery of test and scans. She had her MRI yesterday. Please be in prayer for her results to be NED... No Evidence of Disease! She looks great, she is doing very well. Thank you St Jude!

HAVE A GREAT DAY! Look into your heart and see what you can do to help us out. We are just a little under $4,000.00 away from reaching our team goal of 20,000.00 I know we can hit this mark! I just know, with God's hand on our efforts, we can do this!
CLICK ON THE LINK ABOVE IN THE TOP OF THIS BLOG PAGE TO DONATE NOW- EVEN $5.00 WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE. Keep our efforts in your prayers, please.

BELIEVE PRAYER WORKS!

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to the best group of prayer warriors in the world! I hope and pray that each of you have safe travel and enjoy your time with your families and friends during this grateful holiday. I give thanks for each one of you!

You know from the very beginning we have always said... BELIEVE PRAYER WORKS. Well, I just wanted to share another testimony showing that prayer really does work. I ask for each of you join in and pray for Leah for her counts to recover so she can go home for Thanksgiving. Well PRAYER WORKED! Leah and Heather WILL BE GOING HOME FOR THANKSGIVING to spend the time with their family. Praise our almighty Father for His answer to this prayer. I hope that this will be the best Thanksgiving ever for Leah and her family.

I will be going to have Thanksgiving lunch tomorrow with my mom, my brother and his family and all of my family. I'm very grateful to be able to be together with them. Later tomorrow afternoon my family and I will be traveling on to Florida to spend the rest of the weekend with the Dunfords. I am so excited to see DJ, Michelle, Andrew and Charlie. The boys have grown so much, they are just young teens now. I can't wait to get to spend some beach time with them! Please include us in your prayers for safe travel. Thank you. We plan to return home on Sunday evening. So unless there is some major happening, you will not hear from me until after we return.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Team Believe is now over $13,000.00 and still climbing! It's not to late.... Help us reach our $20,000.00 goal. Thank you.

BELIEVE PRAYER WORKS~

Monday, November 22, 2010

Team Believe - Night Before, Dinner Information

BELIEVE it or not... only 2 more weeks! Plans for the weekend are going well, a few more things to do, but it's all coming together. The yummy cake has been ordered, food lined up, let the weekend festivities begin!! Plan to arrive for the dinner at 6:30. Colletta's will be cooking for us this year. They will be serving: Spaghetti, Chicken Pasta Primavera, Mac & Cheese, Italian Spinach, Salad and Bread! The cost of the meal will remain the same $10.00 per person. Please bring cash or check. We do not have a credit card machine. I MUST HAVE all RSVP's by this coming Friday, November 26, 2010. For those of you coming straight in and to the dinner, below is the address for the church building where the dinner is held:
Great Oaks Church of Christ
3355 Brunswick Road
Memphis, TN 38133-4121
(901) 372-4449
I hope that each of you have a wonderful and grateful Thanksgiving with your families. Watch the stuffing.... you gotta a marathon to do the next weekend!

GO TEAM BELIEVE!

It's not to late to donate to help support St Jude!

"Be thankful the healthy children in your life and GIVE to those who are not" ~ Marlo Thomas

To Donate: Simply go to stjudeheroes.org
click on sponsor a participant, then click on Find Team
Type in Team Believe
You can donate to the team as a whole or if you want to donate on a particular team members goal page just click on their name and it will take you directly to their personal goal page where you can make a secure online donation to help the children and St Jude. Thank You so much!

Friday, November 19, 2010

Are You Ready To Do Some Praying? Part II

Part II

We need to add Preston to our list. I got a message this morning from Renee that he had spiked a fever this morning of 103.3. I have been at the soccer field all day with my brother and his family for my nieces soccer tournament, so I have not talked to Renee but I would imagine that he is now safely checked into the Penthouse Suite on the BMT floor. Please pray for the fever to go away and for it to not be coming from anything serious.

Also, I would like to ask you to please lift up the Pettit family in your prayers. They are from my hometown, I've known them all my life. I graduated with the parents. Their daughter (a senior in high school) came home on Friday afternoon to find one of her brothers (age 23) had committed suicide in their home. Please keep them in your prayers, it's going to be a very tough road ahead of them. I just don't know how a family copes with such a tragedy... through God I would think would be the only way. Here is another family who will be without a child during the holidays. My heart is just breaking for them.
___________________________




Part I

Calling on all of the Team Believe Prayer Warriors to lift up little Leah in your prayers. Leah is going through a pretty heavy chemo protocol right now and her ANC is at 0. It's been there for quite awhile and they have been waiting for it to come up. The holiday are coming up, she only lives a little over an hour from Memphis, but she can't go home for Thanksgiving for their family to be together unless her ANC is at least at 500. We all know that prayer works... could you join me in waging a prayer campaign lifting Leah up in prayer for her ANC to come up so she can be with her family for Thanksgiving! Thank you!

Let's not forget to lift up all of our St Jude kiddo's and their families in prayer during the holidays. It's so hard for all of them!

Thank you, I always know I can count on you guys!

BELIEVE PRAYER WORKS!!!

Thursday, November 11, 2010

A Look Back....

Thought for the day....

When was the last time you had a spiritual checkup? When was the last time you read the instruction manual? Just like in our physical lives, exercise, work, proper diet, and self-control are essential to keeping ourselves physically fit. The same concepts also apply to our Spiritual lives. Taking a daily spiritual checkup and following a few key instructions from God's Word will help us maintain our spiritual health.

Our Father in heaven, I honor and glorify Your name. I thank You for the power of prayer and I am comforted to know that You hear me when I pray. I thank You that my physical health allows me to enjoy the beauty of Your creation. I thank You for the Holy Spirit that comforts us and Your sacred word that guides us. May we always be spiritually fit and ready to defend he truth in any of life's circumstances. In Jesus Name, Amen.

BELIEVE PRAYER WORKS~


First I want to ask for a special prayer request for the Lutrell family. Rachel Lutrell was a freshman (age 14) at Bolton High School where my youngest son, Garrett, is a student. Tuesday afternoon after school, Rachel and 3 other teens were involved in a vehicle accident about a mile from the school on their way home from school. No parent expects to send their child out the door in the morning and not have them make it back home. However, Rachel did not make it to her earthly home on Tuesday, but she did reach her heavenly home. The other three teens are fighting for life at The Med. Please keep these families in your prayers. No family is prepared for this, just as no parent expects to take a child to the doctor and hear the words "cancer". Life is hard, and we just never know what tomorrow brings. Also, I ask that you lift up the staff and students at Bolton HS. It has been very difficult for the students to cope with this tragedy.

Preston is still inpatient. Please pray for his healing. She keeps his CB page updated.


Ok, I have posted some more pictures from the past... LOOK BACK and enjoy. Be a part of this years events!

Time is running out, but you can still make a donation. Go to the link at the top of this page (to the left) and click on the team page. If you would like to make a donation on a particular team members page, you can do so by simply clicking on their name from our team page and it will take you directly to their goal page and you can make a secure donation directly online. Even a $5.00 donation makes a hugh difference. Prayerfully, please consider any amount that you can do to help support St Jude.

Look back and enjoy....







I can't wait to make more pictures and more memories from this years events!

Team Believe is looking forward to joining "Henderson Helping St Jude in Memory of Mallerie", "Alex's Warriors", "Remembering Reagan", "Team Trevor" and Sully's Scuttlers" this year to raise the roof on the fundraising for St Jude!!! Good luck to each of the teams, I personally can't wait for them all to get here so we can all have a HUGE REUNION!! It's going to be a wonderful weekend! COME AND BE A PART OF IT!

Take care, say a prayer for all of our efforts.

GO TEAM BELIEVE

BELIEVE PRAYER WORKS~

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

BELIEVE

"And Jesus said to him, 'If You Can? All things are possible to him who believes.; Immediately the boy's father cried out and said, 'I do believe; help my unbelief.'" - Mark 9:23-24

Let us not settle for mediocre faith. Let us decide today, that with God's help we are going to build a stronger faith in ourselves and in God.

God, I believe, but help my unbelief. Don't let me settle for who I am today, but show me who I should be and give me the courage to desire and pursue that goal. I pray that You will build in me a faith that can move mountains for You, a faith that will overflow into those around me. In Jesus Name. Amen

BELIEVE IN PRAYER~

I trust that everyone's week has gotten off to a great start. Those of you getting ready for the trip to Memphis, I trust you are as excited about the big weekend as I am.

This past weekend I had the honor of hosting a family/friend gathering for Joseph. He has really been fighting, at times his prognosis has not been what the family wanted to hear. They have continued to have faith that God has a different plan for Joseph. Yesterday, they got a report from the doctor that the secondary cancer "lymphoma" was no longer detected! Wow! The power of prayer!!! Please continue to pray for Joseph, pray for his healing. Pray for his family. We did one smile from him at his party. He is a big Ole Miss fan, a friend of mine at ALSAC was able to get a baseball signed by some of the baseball players at Ole Miss for Joseph. That brought a big smile! I must also tell you, that was one fun day for me, I got to be surrounded by loving Ole Miss fans! Keep the prayers going up for Joseph.




Big Trevor will be traveling today to come for his check up. Let's lift Pam and Trevor up in prayer for safe travel to Memphis and also for great reports.

Ariel was here last Thursday and Friday. She had good reports. Bless her heart, it was probably not one of her more fun trips, she had to get the flu shot and take the ACT test! She was feeling great, but by Sunday she began to feel a little puny, most likely from the flu shot. Pray that she is feeling much better soon. She really showed her spirit and drive to raise money for Team Believe this past weekend! They took a set of tickets for the IPad fundraiser back to Hattiesburg with them Friday night. Ariel took them out to a fall festival on Saturday morning and completely sold out of all her tickets by lunch time!!! She may have a future in sales! We are so proud of Ariel. She and her family are members of Team Believe this year, they will be with us at our team dinner. I look forward to everyone getting to meet this wonderful family. Beware.... there will be two sets of St Jude twins with us!!!!

Ok, since we are back to the topic of marathon weekend... I thought I would maybe begin to post a few pics to start that walk down memory lane to get everyone really geared up and ready for this years BIG WEEKEND! I went back and picked a few pictures to post. If you have not realized yet, IT'S ALMOST HERE!!! YEA!!!!




Mardecia, Marcella, Lisa & Brenda



Svetlana



Ben, Mardecia & Cindy



Nicole, Sandy, Natalie, Mardecia & Cindy



Susan, Brenda & Allison

Be watching... more blast from the past to come!

Things are going great! Plans are all coming together. Funds are beginning to come in. I want to send out a few "shout-outs".
Brenda and Lenzy had a successful Arkansas Angels Beauty Pageant this past weekend, with all proceeds going to St Jude for our team! Congratulations to you ladies for your success and thank you for your hard work.

Svetlana is rocking!!! She is our top fundraiser at this point! Way to go girl! Not sure what she is doing down there in Atlanta to raise all of that money, but we could take a lesson from her :) Keep it up!

We do have 3 team members who have each raised over 1,000.00!! Wow, just think, if all 50+ of us raised just half of that, we would exceed our goal! Here in the last few weeks, I ask each person to try to reach a personal goal of $500.00 to put our team over our team goal. We are a team, we can pull together and show our love to St Jude and the children being treated there.Send out your letters asking for support, post you team page on Facebook, give your friends a chance to support your efforts. Just try those two things and see what happens.

Please keep our silent auction in mind. This was a very fun way of raising some money for our team and some lucky people got to go home with some pretty cool goodies. Be creative, bring an item, or a themed basket, anything you want to donate will be WONDERFUL!

Ok, go out today and show your faith to those around you! Make today a day that brings a smile to you and to those around you.

GO TEAM BELIEVE!

BELIEVE PRAYER WORKS~

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Good Morning!

Good morning. Did you start your day with a prayer for all your blessing this morning? I bet your friends said a prayer of thanks for the blessing that you are in their lives. Relationships and friends are some of our greatest blessings.

Everything is going well with the St Jude kiddo's. Preston is still inpatient, still struggling with that GVH rash, but hopefully getting it under control and getting to go out to Target House soon. Keep praying for him to clear of that rash.

The new guy I mentioned to you, has left the hospital and now at Ronald McDonald house. He seems to be doing well. Keep praying for his successful treatment.

Little Trevor was able to have his chemo treatment this week. He did see the kidney specialist, she was not to concerned at this point about his kidney functions, so they will continue on with his chemo treatments. They will be back on the 10th of November for his next visit and treatment. Keep him and his family in your prayers.

Big Trevor comes back on Friday for his check-up. Be praying for good reports for him, and safe travel. When Pam is driving, they need prayers! LOL




One year ago yesterday, our sweet precious prom queen traded in her crown for her wings. Mal is missed by so many people. She was a very special daughter, sister, niece, cousin and friend. She was so loved by all of her friends because she was a friend to them. I think Mal taught a lesson on how to be strong, how to fight and how to love. Please keep her family in your prayers at this time. Anniversaries are so hard. Prayers for Brad, Tina and Heath. We love you.

Welcome to Madeline Elizabeth Locke. ^Dax^ is a big brother now! Julie and Austin had their baby, a beautiful little girl with a very special name. They chose Elizabeth to honor sweet ^Elizabeth Dunford^. Prayers for this sweet family as they begin a new life with Madeline.

Please continue to pray for Ryan, pray for his miracle, pray for him to not suffer from all of this pain. Pray for peace. Prayers go out to Ryan and his family.

Time is getting closer for our big marathon weekend. Please pray for the success of this weekend for our team as well as the success of the entire St Jude Marathon. Many of our kiddo's families have teams who are working hard to raise money to help give back to St Jude for the time and treatment, love and care they received while at St Jude. Pray for each team. I am looking forward to seeing everyone as we all gather back in Memphis for this wonderful weekend. I am like a kid waiting for Christmas for all of TEAM BELIEVE to get here! I'm ready for some sweet and special hugs! This group of people are so special to me, they are a wonderful example of selfless people. I encourage each of you who have not been a part of this group and this experience to consider becoming involved with this team of wonderful prayer warriors and St Jude Heroes! I pray a prayer of praise for each one of you.

Last on my mind today... It's election day! Please choose to exercise your right to be a part in the process of selecting those people who will be representing you and making decisions that directly effect your life. As one friend of mine put it.... get out and go earn your right to complain if you are not happy with your government. If you are happy, then go out and cast your vote to keep things the way they are. I will be leaving when I close this post and going to cast my vote. I am truly excited about this privilege today. I have not really felt this way before, but I think it is going to feel so good to hit that CAST VOTE button.

I hope each of you have a wonderful day! Rain is in our forecast, but that will not keep us from enjoying our day.

GO TEAM BELIEVE

BELIEVE PRAYER WORKS~

Friday, October 29, 2010

TODAY - LAST DAY

TODAY IS THE LAST DAY TO ORDER YOUR TEAM SHIRT FOR THIS YEAR'S ST JUDE MARATHON.

ALSO, WE DID GET THE IPAD FOR A TEAM RAFFLE TO HELP US RAISE OUR $20,000.00!!! IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO (DONATE) $5 FOR EACH TICKET, I WILL BE MORE THAN HAPPY TO SEND YOU SOME IN THE MAIL. JUST EMAIL ME WITH THE NUMBER OF TICKETS YOU WANT AND A MAILING ADDRESS TO SEND THEM.

TEAM MEMBERS, IF EACH OF YOU WILL SELL JUST 10 TICKETS, WE CAN SELL ALL 500 TICKETS BEING SOLD AND TURN THIS INTO $2,500.00 FOR ST JUDE. IT'S EASY. OF COURSE, YOU ARE WELCOME TO SELL MORE. THEY ARE ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVE BASIS.

TOP SALES PERSON (SELLING THE MOST TICKETS) WILL RECEIVE ONE NIGHT FREE IN THE HOTEL DURING THE MARATHON WEEKEND. IF THE TOP SELLING PERSON IS NOT COMING THAT WEEKEND, THE PRIZE WILL BE OF EQUAL VALUE TO THAT ROOM.
THE PERSON WHO SELLS THE WINNING TICKET WILL RECEIVE A CASH PRIZE OF $25.00!!

ALSO, ANY AND ALL DONATIONS WELCOME, WE ARE IN THE CLOSING WEEKS OF THIS YEAR'S BIG EVENT, YOU STILL HAVE TIME TO BE A PART AND HELP US HELP ST JUDE AND ALL OF OUR PRECIOUS KIDDO'S WE SUPPORT.

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!!!

BELIEVE PRAYER WORKS~

rebelmom528@aol.com

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Good Morning!

Good morning! I hope each of you will have a wonderful and blessed day! As you go through today, look around you and take the opportunity to do one random act of kindness toward someone else today. Just watch the smile come across their face when they realize what was just done for them! It's contagious!

I had a pretty full day yesterday at the Jude. I had the opportunity to meet a new family that arrived over the weekend. They are a very sweet and precious family and came to my attention by several different friends of mine from different times and places in my life. It was pretty amazing how small our world and circle of friends can really be at times. This family has a precious little 4 year old boy who has just been diagnosed with leukemia. They do not have a CB page set up at this time, they are just very busy getting adjusted to the journey they now find themselves on. Please keep them in your prayers, I'll post more as I have more opportunities to visit with them and have an opportunity to talk with them regarding sharing his info.

Also, big prayer request... Please keep Joseph and his family in your prayers. Joseph has left the hospital and gone to Target House on hospice care. A few weeks ago, the doctors told the family there were no more options for him and his time was very short. Over the past few weeks, his counts have begun to come up and look better. He needs all of he prayers you can send up on his behalf. His family is a very strong spiritual family and know that God is in control. Pray for Joseph's miracle of healing and for his family to have peace during this time. I got to spend some time with them last night, they have ask me to help them arrange a party for Joseph so that his friends and family will have an opportunity to come and spend some time with him. I am very honored to help them with this and extremely excited because he is a BIG Ole Miss fan like myself. They want an Ole Miss cake!!! I'm REALLY honored and excited to pull this one off!!! Please keep them in your constant prayers.

I got to spend some time with Preston yesterday too! He was hyped up on steroids and was absolutely adorable and full of himself! He was bouncing all over the place. He is just so cute! Please continue to pray for him to continue to improve from the GVH complications. His counts are all great, just dealing with the GVH now. Hopefully he will get to get out of the hospital in the next couple of weeks.

BIG NEWS: A brand new IPad has been donated to our team to be used as a fundraiser for Team Believe. We will have the opportunity to sell chances to win the IPad. The chances "tickets" "donations" will be $5 per donation with ALL proceeds going to St Jude. If you are a team member and want to participate in this, email me and I will mail you the amount of tickets you think you can sell or if you are not a team member and want to donate for tickets for yourself, email me. We will only be selling 500 tickets, and they are already going fast. We will have the drawing for the winner at our team dinner on Friday night December 3, 2010. Anyone anywhere can participate in this opportunity. I can ship the IPad via FedEx to anyone who is the lucky winner! Support our team, get your tickets today. They WILL NOT last long.

ALSO....TOMORROW IS THE LAST DAY TO ORDER TEAM APPAREL. TEAM T-SHIRTS, SWEATS, HOODIES AND HATS. DO NOT MISS OUT the pay pal buttons will come down tomorrow night and all sales will be over. While it is not required, we would love for all team members to wear their team shirt on race day. We want everyone to see us coming and know who Team Believe is!

Keep up the great work! Please be in prayer for a few of the fundraisers that some of our team is doing. Pray for the ones working to put them together and pray for their success. Arkansas Chapter (Brenda and Lenzy) are working on their beauty pageant. It is coming up in another week or so. Pray for lot's of pretty little girls to participate in this and for them to all have a great time and feel so special.

Jordan's family is hosting a big dinner and festival type event at the end of November. Be praying for them as they are working very hard to make this happen.

Order your team shirts and ask someone to make a donation today! Just one a day will add up :)

BELIEVE PRAYER WORKS~

rebelmom528@aol.com

Monday, October 25, 2010

Counting Down...

I'm home and playing catch up. I hope to get some time to get to the hospital tomorrow or Wednesday to see Preston and Leah. Also, I received word today of a new little guy who has come while I was gone. He has been diagnosed with leukemia. That is really all I know at this time. Please be praying for him and his family as they are trying to grasp the new world they have just found themselves in the middle of. I'll give more details after I visit with them.

Please be in prayer for precious little Ryan and his family. Ryan, as you know, come to St Jude for a second transplant last year but relapsed again. He has been waiting on a donor for a third transplant for awhile now. He has been back home in Texas. He has been in and out of the hospital with fevers and infections quite a bit in the past few months. He was sent home from the hospital at the end of last week to be with his family. Short of a miracle, Ryan is losing his battle. Please keep him, his mom Kim, and his father and other siblings in your prayers. I still just do not know how you face knowing the time is very short. Kim has been very strong the whole time she was in Memphis and has remained strong after going back home to Texas. Please pray for them.

THIS FRIDAY IS THE LAST DAY TO ORDER A TEAM T-SHIRT AND THE SWEATS. PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU GET YOUR ORDER IN BY MIDNIGHT ON FRIDAY NIGHT OCTOBER 29, 2010. THE ORDER BUTTONS WILL COME OFF THE PAGE AT MIDNIGHT, THERE WILL NOT BE A CHANCE FOR LATE ORDERS. I HAVE TO HAVE THE ORDER IN TO THE PRINT SHOP MONDAY MORNING IN ORDER TO GET THE PRINTED AND IN THE MAIL BACK TO YOU. PLEASE DON'T MISS OUT, IT'S AWESOME TO LET OTHERS SEE OUR TEAM! I AM VERY PROUD OF EACH AND EVERY ONE OF OUR TEAM MEMBERS.

More to come...

BELIEVE PRAYER WORKS~

BELIEVE IN TEAM BELIEVE!!!!

Saturday, October 16, 2010

There is Power in Prayer

"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you, who, if his son shall ask him for a loaf, will give him a stone: or if he shall ask for a fish, will give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? All things therefore whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, even so do ye also unto them: for this is the law and the prophets." Matt. 7:7-12

Prayer is such an important part of the Christian's walk with God. I cannot fathom living life without such an option! Prayer grants believers not only the privilege of being able to personally evoke God's name in praise and gratitude, but also the right to petition Him for things of concern. In prayer, the Christian can essentially ask God to intervene in their life. It is an incredible thing if you really think about it - in prayer the Christian may actually be praying for something to happen that may not have taken place had he or she not prayed about it. AMAZING!

Our God is not only a loving father, He is one who stands ready to give. Scripture says He is the giver of "good gifts" and "perfect gifts." Your needs are neither unknown, nor are they unimportant to your God. Your God is right beside you essentially saying, "Just trust me. Everything will be alright." What a comfort!

BELIEVE PRAYER WORKS!

I just want to leave you with that thought for the week. I will be "out of pocket" this coming week. I will be enjoying a long awaited vacation cruise with my husband and all four of our boys this next week. I would like to ask for your prayers for safe travel for us. We will fly out of Memphis to Ft Lauderdale early Monday morning, board ship that afternoon and return home the next weekend. We have been looking forward to this trip, at this stage of our lives and the ages of our guys, it becomes very difficult to find a time when all of us can get away together. God has blessed us with this time.

I have another prayer request for you too. Little Trevor really needs some prayers going his way to help him adjust to the new life of school structure. He is really having a difficult time adjusting and it's been very tough on him and his parents. Please pray for him to have a great week at school this next week. Healthy wise, he is doing really well!

Please keep praying for Preston as he continues to remain in the transplant unit waiting for his cells to engraft. His hair is just about all out now, he is still just as cute as can be! I just love a shinny slick chemo head!!! He is doing well, he has his good days and his not so good ones... that is just how it goes following transplant. Pray specifically for no side effects affecting his organs and NO GVHD! Pray for his ANC and others counts to keep going up!

That's about it as for the SJ kiddo's! Everyone else seems to be doing very well.

TEAM BELIEVE: Don't forget to get your hotel confirmations in. Last day to order t-shirts and sweats is OCTOBER 29TH.
Plan your trip to Memphis... Team Dinner on Friday evening beginning at 6:30; allow time to go downtown to pick up your packets. Do not forget... THERE IS NO PACKET PICKUP ON RACE DAY THIS YEAR.

PLEASE TAKE THE TIME THIS WEEK TO ASK JUST 5 PEOPLE TO PLEASE DONATE TO YOUR GOAL TOWARD RAISING MONEY FOR ST JUDE. If each one of our 50 members can get just $100.00 in donations, that would put us way up toward reaching our goal.
Remember: You DO NOT have to be on the team to donate, please if you are reading this page, please go to our team goal page and click on DONATE NOW and give what you can to this wonderful hospital. It is people like you and I that keep the doors open for these children to continue being treated to fight this ugly beast! If it is $5.00 or $500.00... it does not matter! Every penny is so important! Please help us reach our goal of $20,000.00.

Pray for our success as a team.

BELIEVE PRAYER WORKS~

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Fun Faces to Share


Trevor at the Bolton Night For St Jude Spaghetti Dinner- we raised $350.00 for St Jude!! Trevor had a blast and was the star of the night!


Yes... that is our sweet Beauty Queen Ariel at a photo shoot at her high school Homecoming! That girl is one awesome girl! She was the Senior Maid for the Homecoming Court this year. Congrats Ariel


You know you just have to smile when you see this little face! Jack says..."Look at me now guys!" He is doing great and you should see the head of hair under that hard hat! He was helping with a family building project over the past weekend.

TEAM BELIEVE - A Team page has been set up on Facebook. It also has closed group chat availability. I have tried to add everyone to it that is on our marathon team, if you would like to join it, you may send a join request through facebook to join.

IMPORTANT... ONLY ABOUT 2 MORE WEEKS TO ORDER YOUR TEAM BELIEVE MARATHON TSHIRT. Orders will only be taken until October 29, 2010.

HOTEL CONFIRMATION/RESERVATIONS NEED TO BE MADE ASAP.

Hope you all have a great day. Say a little prayer for the success of our Memphis group's Chili's Give Back Day that will be held tomorrow. If you know anyone in Memphis, give me a call and let them know to go eat at either the Millington or the Wolfchase Chili's tomorrow anytime from 11 - 11. Tell them you are there for the St Jude Give Back Day when you go in and 10% of the profit will come to TEAM BELIEVE for St Jude!

BELIEVE PRAYER WORKS~

Sunday, October 3, 2010

St Jude Fun Day

What a beautiful weekend God has given to us! The weather in West Tennessee has been just perfect. I had a wonderful day yesterday at a small town BBQ Fest in Henderson, TN. Mallerie's family had a booth at the BBQ Fest to raise money for their St Jude Marathon team. It was a huge success and a fantastic day. It was a blessing to get to spend some time with them. Heath has grown up so much and is such a handsome and sweet young man. Brad and Tina look great, they are staying busy keeping up with Heath and doing wonderful things for St Jude. Keep them in your prayers.




Mallerie's booth at the Chester Country BBQ Fest - NP Jen, Tina, Mardecia, Shelia (Tina's sister)


Update more later.... I'm at Pickwick now.

BELIEVE PRAYER WORKS~

Friday, October 1, 2010

Get Your Order In...

It's time to start getting our orders in for shirts, sweats, hoodies, & hats! The team t-shirt will have the photo of Dr. Scott and Jordan on the back and our Team Believe logo on the front. The logo is the same as was on the front of our team shirt last year. We will be adding a few names this year. We will be adding Ariel as they have joined our team this year, LIttle Trevor, and Natalie. All will be with us this year! Also, ^Mary Kate's^ name will be added.

We will also be offering a hoodie/sweat pants set or you can purchase them separately if you only want one or the other. The is a small price break if you order the set. You will have a choice on the hoodie, you can either order one with the team logo on the center front or the words "TEAM BELIEVE" on the center front. The pants will have TEAM BELIEVE down the leg. The set will be $40.00. Hoodie alone is $25.00 - pants alone will be $20.00. We have a baseball style cap that will have TEAM BELIEVE on the front center, cost on the cap is $12.00.

The pay pal order will be open on our blog page through this month. The orders will close on Friday October 29,2010. I MUST have the order turned in to the print shop by Monday November 1, 2010 in order for us to have it all back in time to get them shipped out to everyone. If you want to just pick yours up when you get to Memphis, just let me know.

I'm excited about our silent auction again this year. We did very well with that last year. Remember, please try to bring at least one item to put in the silent auction with you. Either a themed basket, or an individual item , either is perfect!

Our Memphis group of Team Believe is all organized and ready for NOT ONE BUT TWO Chili's Give Back Nights on October 13th! We have met with the managers and two different locations will be hosting the Give Back night for us on the same night. They will actually be hosting it from 11am to 11pm at both locations. We are very thankful and grateful to Chili's for all of the support they give to St Jude. I LOVE CHILI'S!!! I wish you could all come to Memphis on the 13th and join us!

Do you have your hotel room confirmed? Have you asked someone to donate to your goal this week? Are you ready to come to Memphis????

Please be in specific prayer for a few of our kiddo's. First Preston had his transplant on Wednesday, please keep him in prayer for a uneventful and successful transplant. Also, Morgan is on her way to St Jude today to get a few things checked out, please be praying for her today that all is well. Big Trevor had his surgery on Monday and has returned home. Pray for his surgery to be successful. I know many of you have followed Devon Lore, he went home to be with Jesus and his other St Jude buddies who have fought the battle and earned their wings before him. Please keep his family in your prayers. Little Trevor is doing well as for his cancer, however he is having some difficulties adjusting to school. He started kindergarten this year and it's a huge change for him. Please keep him in your prayers and his family as they are trying to help him with all of these adjustments. Jordan has started full time school in the past month too, he is loving it! He has some mornings where he cries when they drop him off, but it's over by the time they get out of the parking lot and he is loving it! Boy, I can't wait to get my hands on him in December! This is the longest I have gone without seeing him!

Please be in prayer for our team. For us to be successful and reach or surpass our goal of $20,000.00, for everyone to have safe training and safe travel here. Pray for an overall successful marathon for St Jude.

Enjoy your family and friends this weekend. I hope the weather forecast for where ever you are is as perfect as the one we have for Memphis! This is the most beautiful weather we have had in quite sometime.

Ok, I just got a text from Regina Rushing, her other daughter Alison just finished up at the doctor. She has been having trouble with her knee for quite some time now and they are finally going to do surgery this coming Wednesday. They have tried all measures to see if it would get better without having to go to surgery, but seems surgery is the only way now. Please pray for Alison and Regina. Pray the doctors will be able to find the problem and fix it right up!

Have a great weekend!

BELIEVE PRAYER WORKS~

Monday, September 27, 2010

T-Shirt Time!

I've been patiently waiting for the t-shirt design artwork to come back.... IT'S HERE!! This is the design that will be on the back of our 2010 St Jude Marathon t-shirts. Our team logo will be on the front. The team logo will have a few names add ed this year to the circle of stars but other than a change in the date, it will remain the same as we created last year. I am also very excited to share with you that we will be offering a few new "TEAM BELIEVE" items. We will have our team t-shirt in both short and long sleeves. It will be a white shirt with light royal blue print. The company doing the shirts this year is only one of two print shops in Memphis that have a new process to do full color, yet it is still screen print and not a photo transfer, so it will hold up just like screen print. They can take a four color design and mix the four colors and make 16 colors. Pretty neat process! Along with the short and long sleeve T, we will be offering a light grey hoodie with your choice of our team logo or the words "Team Believe" in the center front, a pair of light grey sweats to match and a baseball style running cap with "Team Believe" on the front. Allison will get our pay pal button back up on the blog for you to order your shirts and sweats and hat. I know you will want it ALL! As always in the past, the sale of our team clothing is a fundraiser for our team and 100% of the profit goes directly to St Jude. This is another way you can help us out and get something really nice in return too. Remember, you do not have to be on the team in order to wear the team clothing and show your support for Childhood Cancer Awareness and St Jude. Order away and show your support!





For those who may not know, this is our Hero for this year that we will be honoring by running for him... Jordan James. I took this picture when he was here for his very healthy 2 year post transplant check-up. He and his family will be here to run with us again this year. They are so excited and working so hard down in Louisiana raising money for our team. Jordan is with Dr. Scott in this picture. Dr. Scott is our Hero too, he was Jordan's primary doctor during his treatment and transplant.
On a side note, I have a shirt for Jordan to wear that says "Thank You St Jude, You Saved MY Life"! I can't wait for him to put it on and hits the streets of Memphis in December.

As soon as Allison is able to get our pay pal button up we will begin to take orders. We will take orders until Friday October 29,2010. I have to get the order in to the print company on Monday November 1, 2010 in order to have it processed and ready to mail out for those who will be coming to Memphis for the marathon weekend. I will not be able to accept any late orders, it will go to print only one time.

Have you confirmed your hotel room? They are filling up, so don't wait and miss out on our half price discount for the rooms I have blocked off for us. Hopefully you all are coming up with some great items for our silent auction. You can either bring them with you or ship them to me ahead of time if you do not want to travel with them. Again, even if you are not on the team and traveling to Memphis, if you want to donate an item for our silent auction to help our team reach our goal, you may send them to me.

News on our kiddo's... Little Trevor was here this past week for his scans and chemo. His MRI show that his tumor remains "stable". So he continues his chemo. He is doing very well, looks great and has more energy than the energizer bunny! Praises of thanks for how well he is doing.

Big Trevor had knee surgery today. Pam explains what they did on Trevor's CB page, I'll let you get the info from there. It is a totally new process to me, one that I am not familiar with at all. The chances of it's success are less than 50%, so I ask you to be in prayer for it to be successful for him. He looks good and was feeling good (probably from pain meds) when he came out of surgery. I hope he will have a quick and successful recovery, He will have tomorrow off, then has some appointments at the Jude on Wednesday.

Preston is on his way to transplant. He is set to receive his transplant on Wednesday. His donor will be harvesting tomorrow, so I ask you to please be in prayer that all goes well for his donor. Pray for a speedy recovery for his donor. Pray a prayer of praise for the loving giving spirit of the donor. Pray for a successful transplant for Preston.

I have had so much going on the past few weeks. I apologize for such a long delay in posting. My "extra" time has been very short. It's late and I'm going to turn in for tonight but I did want to get the design up so you could see it. I hope you all love it as much as I do. I think Jordan's family did a great job, they knew exactly what they wanted. Dr. Scott and Jordan!

Sleep well, pray hard and love those around you with all of your heart.

BELIEVE PRAYER WORKS~

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Marathon and Fundraising Info



79 Days 7 Hours and 21 Minutes

Yes, in about 77 days members of Team Believe will begin to make their way to Memphis. Others will make their way to Memphis in 78 days. We hit the streets of downtown Memphis to begin the event in 79 days!!! I wish you could feel just a tiny bit of the excitement that I feel just thinking about this! This is ALMOST as good as Christmas. When I stop to think about it, it's BETTER than Christmas for many many families who depend on St Jude to save their child's life. Just to think about what a wonderful gift this team of people and all of those of you who donate to this team are able to give. Not just any old Christmas gift but the GIFT OF A CHANCE TO LIVE TO BE AN ADULT! I consider that the best gift I can EVER give to anyone other than the gift of dedicating and giving myself to God.

Plans are coming together. I have talked to many of the team members from all over and many fundraising ideas and events are beginning to come together. Our Arkansas Chapter (Brenda & Lenzy) are preparing for their second annual Beauty Pageant. Last year was very successful and they are looking forward to an even bigger event this year. Be in prayer for their hard work to be a huge success.

Our Southern Mississippi Chapter (Ariel & Amber) are working on their County Wide Capture The Flag fundraising event. Their mom and dad are preparing for a Chicken Plate Dinner sale. Prayers for their success are requested also.

Our Northern Mississippi Chapter ( Hope and Beth) are working on some things through their businesses... top secret cant share yet :) Please keep them and their efforts in your prayers.

Our Louisiana Chapter (Patricia, Chance, Jordan and their family) are working on several different things. They have a Jordan Day Fall Festival and a Dinner (2 separate events) in the works so far, with more things in the works. They are really getting so excited about all of this. They call about every other day with questions and excitement for everything going on.

Our Houston Chapter (Allison & Susan) will be working in combination with our North Mississippi Chapter to do a fundraiser with Willow House (Hope's business). They will be hosting a home Willow House party and catalog sales with all of the profit going to St Jude.

Our Memphis Chapter has alot going on. We have 3 Give Back Nights at our Wolfchase Chili's with 10% of the profit on those nights coming to our team. We will be selling Spaghetti plates and Smoked Chicken plates during two different evenings at the concessions for a double header baseball game. All proceeds to St Jude (Team Believe).

These are the ones that I am aware of at this time. If you have any ideas or have anything going on that I am missing here, please let me know so I can share with others.

Lot's of great things going on to help our team and exceed our goal. Thank you to everyone for all your doing. I can not wait to give our gift of $20,000.00 + to St Jude this year!!!

Also, I will have our artwork for our team shirt ready to post hopefully in the next day or so. I have been playing phone tag with the guy from the t-shirt print shop today. He has it all, I just need for him to email it to me so I can post it and we can begin taking orders. This year, as in the past, we will offer our "official" team shirt to anyone who wants to have one. It's an awesome way for each one of you, team member or not, to bring awareness to Childhood Cancer and to St Jude. So please, order yours and wear it proudly to promote this very worthy cause and hospital. In purchasing a shirt, you are also supporting our team. All of the profit from the shirts go to our team donation to St Jude. This year in addition to our t-shirt, we plan to offer a team logo hoodie and sweats and a baseball style cap.

IF ANYONE OUT THERE HAS ANY ITEM (NEW) THAT YOU ARE WILLING TO DONATE TO OUR TEAM FOR OUR SILENT AUCTION TO BE HELD THE NIGHT OF OUR TEAM DINNER (12-3-10) PLEASE CONTACT ME BY EMAIL. We had a great success with our Silent Auction last year and it added some fun and excitement to our evening. I'll list some examples of some of our items: handmade quilt, several really nice "goodie" baskets ( A pamper basket filled with a luxury robe, bubble bath, bath salts, lotions, etc.) A Gentlemans St Jude themed basket with a Man's St Jude logo watch, tie, pen/pencil set and more. A Ladie's themed basket. A St Jude Bubble Gum Machine, gift certificates and lot's more. It does not have to be St Jude logo. Any item you can get to Memphis is welcome. This year, I hope to have more items and some really nice items that anyone would be proud to be taking home. All proceeds from the donated items for the silent auction go to St Jude.

Our team dinner will be at the same place again, we will be serving up a night of Pasta! Be making your plans to attend the dinner. As it gets closer to time, I will begin to ask for RSVP's so I can plan for the proper amount of food. YES, we will have our coveted Team Cake with the raspberry filling too.

Wanted to remind you of a few very important things. One, when making your travel plans, make sure you allow time to go to pick up your race packet. This is held at the Cook Convention Center downtown, so you will need to allow time to go get it before our dinner starts at 6:30. This year they WILL NOT BE DOING MORNING OF RUN PICK UP. This is always a great time to shop for items that are normally carried in the St Jude Gift Shop. They do have booths set up at the Packet Pick Up.

Also, if you have not already confirmed your room at our "Official" team hotel, please get this done as soon as possible. I want to make sure I have blocked enough rooms for everyone. Our special price (half price) is 89.00 per night.
Here is a copy of a past post regarding hotel info:

Our block of rooms are set up and they are ready to begin taking your calls to confirm your room accommodations for the Marathon Weekend. The hotel is the same as last year, Holiday Inn & Suites * 2751 New Brunswick Rd. * Memphis, TN 38133. When you call to confirm your room on your credit card, you must ask to speak with Sybil Sides or Gina Porter. These are the only ladies who can make sure you are getting in the right block of rooms and getting our very special team rate. Tell them you are a member of Team Believe for the St Jude Marathon. Call them diectly at 901-266-1952. I have a limited number of rooms that I can block at this time, so there again, I would not wait on this. When you call in to confirm your room, you will give them your credit card information, but you will not be billed until after your stay the weekend of the marathon. They will be forwarding me a list of the team members who have reserved a room, so I will keep an eye on it and do the best I can to make sure everyone gets a room.

One last thing for now... If anyone is interested in a private team tour of St Jude, please let me know by email. I will set this up again this year if there is enough interest. We have done this on Friday early afternoon in the past. No one under the age of 16 is allowed to participate in the tours. St Jude rule.

Rock On.... Keep praying and keep believing. It's going to be a wonderful year!!! Looking so forward to Reagan's family being with us again. I love to sit and talk to Barbara, she keeps us all in stitches laughing so hard!!! Natalie and Nicole and their family will be with us again. Of course, Jordan and his family will be here! You just never know who is gonna show up....

BELIEVE PRAYER WORKS~

Mardecia
rebelmom528@aol.com

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Good Morning...

Good Morning, what a GREAT day God has made! It's a little early to be enjoying it already. It's been rather busy around our house this past week and weekend, but it's been really nice. A weekend full of baseball, surprising?

hummmmm.. I have been typing away here and covering the last part of last week and Monday and all of the sudden.... POOF!! It was just gone! I must still be asleep and not hitting the proper keys.

Let me try to remember what all I had just shared with you. The boys last week, Trevor & Jack both had great appointments with great news. Then on Friday, it was girls day. Ariel and Morgan were both in for their check ups and (Ariel) treatment. Morgan had another wonderful check up, her labs looks the best she has had. Praise God for this wonderful report! She looks absolutely beautiful and healthy as can be. She had her very sweet boyfriend with her. He was a very nice young man. Preston had to go inpatient last week for fever, so Morgan and Theresa were able to see him through the bubble window, but were able to meet and talk with his mom and his Ma. I know this was good for all of them. Theresa will be a wonderful friend to Renee. I know that she will always be there to help answer questions or just let her know some of the things they are going through are "normal". Please continue to pray for Preston, he is supposed to begin his process for Transplant today. With the fever he was running, I am not sure if it has changed any of the plans or not.

Ariel had a good visit, she looks beautiful too. I was so happy to see all of the Reynolds women! Mom brought them, Amber got to miss a day of school and come to! I wanted to share with you the BIG PLAN that Ariel and Amber are organizing on their own. With the support of their parents of course. I love these girl, I wish you could see their faces as they shared their plan with me. As you know, they are seniors in high school this year and truly enjoying their year. They have come up with the idea and have a very detailed and laid out plan to host a county wide "CAPTURE THE FLAG" game between the different schools in their area. There will be an entry fee, each school will have their own t-shirts to identify their team which will be part of their fundraiser, concessions, prizes and lot's of fun. They have their plan worked out for signs and advertising. It's a pretty huge undertaking, but they have done their research and have a very laid out plan. I think it will be a very successful fundraiser for St Jude and a total blast for the kids who participate. What a way to help support Team Believe and St Jude. Their parents are also planning a Chicken Plate sale coming up pretty soon. That will be another fundraiser for the team. WAY TO GO REYNOLDS FAMILY!!!

Natalie came in yesterday for her 4 month check up! She got the ALL CLEAR too!!! Goodness, can we ask for a better week for our kiddo's at the Jude? I did not get to go down to see Nat, I was tied up with Booster Club bookwork, and was hoping to meet up for lunch after their appointments, but with her now a college student, they stay on the run and busy, so they had to get back for an event on campus. I am just not to sure about "my" kiddo's growing up and getting so busy they don't have time to slow down. Honestly, I am just so thankful they are healthy and able to live their lives to the fullest and just like every other teen who has not had to fight the same battle they have. I am so very happy for all of the kiddo's.

I also got to visit with Heather and Leah on Friday. She was in for her weekly visit and treatment. She is doing well. She had been through a LP so she was trying to wake up from sedation and was a bit nauseated but after taking some meds she was beginning to perk up. She is just so adorable! I got to play Strawberry Shortcake with her :) You must keep in mine, I have all boys so playing with Strawberry Shortcake and brushing hair with teeny tiny little brushes was just not in my daily activities. I was loving every minute of it! Keep praying for her success. She has one more "big" round of chemo to go. At the time, she will have approximately 2 more years of treatment to go.

I plan to visit with another new face around the Jude. I was able to meet her mom last week, but she was in ICU following surgery. She is another teen and I hope to meet her and get her connected with another teen who happens to live in our area and fought the same diagnosed battle. I LOVE match making!!! When things settle a bit more with them and I get to visit with them, I will ask about permission to post her CB site and name. You can still be praying for her, God will know who you are talking about.

As you can see, so many are fighting and being affected by THE BEAST! I will ask you again, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE consider a donation to St Jude through our Team Believe. It is so easy to do. Just go to the top of this blog and look over to the right, double click on the "Donate to St Jude" link and it will take you straight to the online donation page. THANK YOU!

TEAM BELIEVE: Hotel rooms are filling up, make sure you get your room in our block of team rooms confirmed. I am working on the t-shirts and the design is almost complete and we will begin taking orders for the shirts soon. Anyone can order a team shirt, you do not have to be a team member to proudly wear and support our kiddo's and St Jude! I hope your training is going great! Our fundraising could really use a boost! This is the slowest we have ever been. Please be praying for our success in meeting our goal.

Have a GREAT day! Always remember....

BELIEVE PRAYER WORKS~

Friday, September 10, 2010

Second Post For Today... see WooHoo right before this one

The week just keeps getting better! Just found out tonight that Ariel and Amber got here tonight for a quick checkup in the morning, then a quick trip back home tomorrow for a big rival football game at school! These girls stay sooo on the go busy! I am so thankful that they are able to do so! I'll try to get some pics of them and Morgan so I can update you.

Wanted to post a few pics so you can see how well little Trevor and Jack are doing. I forgot to take my camera, so these were made with my cell phone. Not the best quality, but you can see their sweet faces!





Trevor, all smiles and feeling great!



Me getting some sweeeeet sugar off of the Trev!!! I love this little guy!



Sweet Jack! Just out of recovery following his MRI. Still a little groggy, but all smiles!! So thankful for the blessing of another ALL CLEAR FOR JACK!!! Love me some Jack!


I'll fill you in on the girls tomorrow. All boys today all girls tomorrow!!! Got a new family I have met, they are actually friends of one of the new couples on Team Believe. At this time since I have not yet ask permission to post anything about her, I am just going to ask for you to please keep her and her family in your prayers. She had surgery at The Jude on Tuesday evening and was taken to ICU. Pray for a full recovery for her. As soon as I have a chance to get permission to post name and CB site, I will do so. God will know who you are praying for :)

I'll be taking Preston his handmade quilt tomorrow that was made for him by my sweet friends. I am anxious to give it to him. I will also be introducing him and his family to Morgan and her family. They share the same diagnosis. Hopefully this will be a great benefit to Preston and family as they begin the same journey that Morgan has been through.

Hope you have a great day! I have had a wonderful full past few days at The Jude! So many hugs, smiles and thanksgiving!

Bless this hospital and all of those who are employed there who do their part to fight and save these precious children.

DONATE... BE A PART OF THE CURE!!!

BELIEVE PRAYER WORKS~

Thursday, September 9, 2010

WooHoo!

A quick update! I just got home and am about to have to run out again. I have had two very fun days at The Jude with Jack, Little Trevor and Preston's family. Morgan will be here tomorrow for her check-up, I'm looking forward to seeing her. It's been awhile since she has been here.

On the news front...

JACK IS ALL CLEAR AGAIN!!! Thank you, praise to our AWESOME God for another NED for Jack! He was so adorable! I have a few pics from the past two days that I will post in the next day or so.

Trevor did not make it in on Tuesday due to the weather in Texas, his flight was cancelled. He did make it in late last night, was held up today awaiting EKG results, so he did not get to begin chemo until late this afternoon, so he will not make his flight home tonight. They will return home tomorrow. He will be back on the 21st and have his big scans and test on the 22nd that he did not get to do this week because of the flight cancellation. So keep praying for good results for him on his big scans.

Preston is back. He has been very busy the past two days with scans and port/line removal/replacement. He should have everything done and be ready to check in to the transplant unit on Tuesday of next week to begin actually transplant process. Keep him and his family in your prayers for successful transplant. They are such a sweet family, just like all of our other families.

Pray for safe travel for Morgan and mom tomorrow and for excellent results for her.

I'll have a more detailed update including pictures as soon as I can SLOW DOWN!! Between marathon plans, hospital visits, and baseball booster club activities I am hopping pretty good right now.

We do have some new team members that have signed up in the past few days. I will recognize all of our new members in an upcoming update soon. I CAN NOT TELL YOU HOW EXCITED I AM WITH HOW OUR TEAM IN GROWING!!! Let's get the money coming in now!!!

Love to each of you! Thank you for being such wonderful and awesome prayer warriors.

BELIEVE PRAYER WORKS~

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

A Few Changes In This Weeks Schedule

Good evening. I just wanted to let you know about a couple of things. First, Jack is here for his big scans and check-up. He is supposed to get started in the morning. Remember to keep Katie, Ryan and the other family members back home waiting to hear the reports in your prayers. Pray specifically for their peace as they await the results. Pray specifically for the results to show Jack remains CANCER FREE.

Trevor was to get in to Memphis tonight, however due to a flight cancellation, he will not arrive until tomorrow afternoon. So his MRI and other scans have be rescheduled for the 22nd. He will come in tomorrow and will have his treatment on Thursday and return home Thursday evening. Pray for their safe travel. Pray for their peace as they now will have to wait a couple of weeks longer for his scans to see if the current treatment is still being effective.

Preston will be in (I just realized what time it is now, so it is now today instead of tomorrow :)) today, to begin his process of transplant. Prayer specifics for him are for him to handle the treatment he will have to take to receive his transplant, and for the transplant to be successful. Pray for an easy journey for him.

Big Trevor now has a surgery date for his knee scope. It will be on Monday September 27th. Does this date sound familiar to you? It should :) It is the 100% Profit Day for Chili's! Keep those two things in mind and let one be a reminder for you of the other one. Plan now to eat a Chili's on the 27th. That is a way that you can help support St Jude from where ever you are.

I am very excited about a fundraiser opportunity to raise some money for Team Believe. My favorite Wolfchase Chili's has agreed to do one "Give Back" night each month during October, November and December. THIS IS HUGE! If you are not familiar with this program, Chili's will create a flyer for our team, we are responsible for passing it out to everyone we can to let them know if they eat at Chili's on that specific night AND present the flyer to their server, Chili's will donate a percentage of all meals served that night where the ticket is attached to our flyer. This can really add up depending on how many people show up to eat and turn in our flyer. They will do this one night each month through December for us!!! Have I told you how much I appreciate this particular Chili's location? I love what they do for our kiddo's! Guess what, Team Believe members, I bet you have a pretty good chance of getting your local Chili's to do the same for you where ever you live. It does not hurt to ask. Our first one is set for October 5th I believe.

I pray that each of you are enjoying your week and looking forward to a blessed weekend.

Keep those prayers going up!

DONATE TODAY - Any amount is WONDERFUL!

BELIEVE PRAYER WORKS~

Monday, September 6, 2010

Big Week



The Hero's Program has a new button this year! I LOVE it! I have a supply of them for our team members. If you would like one, send me an email with your address to send it to you. Show your HERO pride!
www.rebelmom528@aol.com


Happy Labor Day! I hope that each of you are enjoying the same type of beautiful weather that we are having here in Memphis. It is absolutely perfect! After all of the extreme heat and lack of rain we have had all summer, this is such a welcome relief! I could just stay outside all day and into the evening. God's nature and beauty at it absolute best!

This week is a big week around the Jude. Join me in prayer for safe travel for all of the families who will be coming in for scans and check ups this week. Also, our little new guy, Preston will be returning on Wednesday to begin his transplant process. I'm excited to see them again. My "quilt lady" friend and her husband have a beautiful hand quilted quilt all ready for him. I picked it up this week, it is so beauitful! Preston loves Thomas the Train and this quilt is all about trucks, trains and planes! I think he will really love it. For anyone new to this blog, I have a precious and dear friend and her husband who hand quilt a quilt for each of the kiddo's that I have the pleasure of "adopting". They have a label they put on each one with the child's name on it and a little message. They are just priceless. Last year, they did one that we placed in the Silent Auction at our Team Dinner the night before the marathon. I can tell you, it was a big hit and we have folks really bidding to get it. Well, for those of you that will be back this year, they are doing another one for us for our Silent Auction!!! Their love for St Jude is amazing, and their dedication to our team and our St Jude kiddo's is awesome. I want to give a thank you and shout out to them. Thank you, we appreciate you so much... Mike and Pru McBride.

Prayers for great reports from scans and test this week, for little Trevor and Jack. They will both be back here tomorrow. Prayers for Preston as he begins transplant.

Prayers for TEAM BELIEVE as each one is preparing to come to Memphis and run/walk to help fight the beast these kiddo's are fighting. Prayers for our team as each one is working to raise funds to help us reach our goal. Again, if you can not be here to be apart of this, please consider making a donation of ANY amount to the team to help us in that way. That is just as important to St Jude as you being able to be here. For anyone new, the cost to operate St Jude Children's Research Hospital for JUST ONE SINGLE DAY is OVER $1.4 MILLION DOLLARS. That is A LOT of money, and it comes from people like YOU. Thank you so much for your consideration to help these doctors, the kiddo's and their families. I am so blessed and thankful for the four healthy children I have, but I do realize this could effect ME just as quickly and easily as it has effected the families of Jack, Preston, Trevor, Alex, Elizabeth, Mary Kate, Reagan, Mallerie... and the many others that you have all come to know and love through this blog. Please help TEAM BELIEVE make our goal a reality so that we can proudly present the funds that we can raise this year to help keep St Jude going.

I will be spending most of the rest of the week at The Jude, so I will keep you posted on everyones test and progress. Please keep them and their families in your constant daily prayers.

GO TEAM BELIEVE!!!

BELIEVE PRAYER WORKS~