Sunday, January 31, 2010

Wanna Smile...





Today, as I look outside my windows, these pictures show what I see. This says to me... God is with me, God is all around me, God loves me and shows his power and his love in so many ways. This morning the sun is shining, it's very cold, but the sun makes the trees just glisten from their ice coated branches. Everything is white and pure. God's love is pure. Even the blue in the sky seems more of a vibrant blue today against the white blanket on the ground. In the south, this beauty and this picture is not to common. When we are blessed with these beautiful pictures, it is usually here today and gone tomorrow. We just enjoy it and take pictures when we can to help up remember it. Unlike the snow, God's love for us is here today, and it will be here tomorrow. I want to share some words from Max Lucado, "Mark it down: God loves you with an unearthly love You can't win it by being winsome. You can't lose it by being a loser. God will not let you go. He has handcuffed himself to you in love. And he owns the only key. You need not win his love. You already have it. And, since you can't win it, you can't lose it. Others demote you. God claims you. Let the definitive voice of the universe say, "You're still a part of my plan."

I think, that so many times in life we get down. We get down on ourselves and we get down from the things happening around us. This is normal. Some are going through illness, some have recently had surgeries, some have recently lost loved ones...these things make our hearts hurt and some can get us down to the point that we feel we can't "do this" or can't "take anymore of this". I remind you, God is here with each one of us. With Him, we can get through ANYTHING!!! Look around you, you may not be looking at a beautiful snow fall out of your window today, but you are looking at God and His works. Stay strong, cherish God's love and His power to heal your body and your soul. Don't ignore Him or push HIm away. HE WILL LIFT YOU UP, always has and always will. His love is unconditional for us. Love those around you with that same unconditional love.

Today is ^Mallerie's^ 18th birthday. She is celebrating it in heaven with all of our sweet St Jude angels. I was talking to her mom earlier today and she said "Mallerie is really shining down on her Birthday and sparkling with the snow!" I agree with her 100%! I actually told her that I thought Mal had sent us the snow. Please say a prayer for Brad, Tina, Heath and the rest of the family today as they celebrate this day for Mal.




How can this sweet face not bring a HUGE smile to your face????

This is Jack, playing in the ice/snow at Target house earlier today. He is showing off his New York hat we brought back to him from NY. This child is totally amazing and will keep you in stitches!!! His treatments are working, so your prayers are being heard and answered. Keep the prayers going up, praying for a cancer free Jack for many many years to come!!!

Praying for all the kiddo's fighting the beast today. There are several traveling to St Jude this week for check ups and treatments. Keep them in your hearts and in your prayers. Remember to keep praying for good pathology reports for Ariel. They hope to have these results back in the next day or two. Keep this sweet family in your prayers this week and also pray for the doctors to make the best decisions regarding her treatment to ensure this beast stays away from her body forever.

I love you all with the love of the Lord!

BELIEVE PRAYER WORKS~

Friday, January 29, 2010

Seeing God's Beauty Today All Around Us

Good evening! Memphis has been hit with a beautiful yet messy winter storm. Early this morning, the big bridge over the river out of Memphis was closed down as was two of the main interstates that take you out of the city. I live out in the country, we had a thin layer of ice, then a couple inches of snow, then a couple of inches of sleet on top of the snow. They are still calling for another one to three inches of snow on top of the mess we already have. The city is rather in shut down mode tonight. I feel bad for a couple of the St Jude families, they had planned to go home for the weekend, but this weather has changed their plans.

I personally have loved it! It's been quite a cozy, comfy, very lazy day at our house. I have chatted with Jack's mom a few times and they were disappointed not to get to go home for the weekend before Jack checks back in inpatient on Tuesday for his next round of chemo. I did tell her that if they did not get the snow like we have out here, they can bring Jack out to the house to build a snowman. They mainly have ice in the city. Please keep Jack man in your prayers. He has radiation every morning, and he still has three more rounds of chemo to go. Check his CB site. He is doing really good so far. He looks great and has certainly not lost his love of life and humor! He is the funniest little guy I have met!!! Keep praying for him and the family.

Ariel was doing really well when I went to visit yesterday. She was up and walking around, opening what looked like Christmas in her hospital room. It is so wonderful to see some of these kids being remembered by people from back home in such awesome ways. I love to see the smiles on their faces as they open up care packages from back home. Ariel has been doing her own posting on her CB site, that is great that she is able to do that now. From what she said, they will stay in Memphis over the weekend at the Griz house, then move to the Ronald McDonald house on Monday. Her twin Amber, had 7 moles removed this week too, so she has been pretty sore from that. It's like they have two patients to recover this week. Both are very sore, but doing well. Kevin (dad) said they were somewhat better today. Keep praying for them to recover from their surgeries and also prayers for good pathology reports for Ariel.

Allison is still in the hospital, I have not been able to talk to her, so I am not positive on how she is doing. I think she is doing ok, but having a really tough time. Let's keep her in our prayers for a good recovery. Pray for her to have the strength to do what she has to do to get back on her feet and back to normal.

Ryan Madrid was in this week for his check up and I am happy to report he got another good check up with another all clear. He looks great!!! His hair has all come back and he certainly has a thick full head of beautiful dark hair! I think he has grown a few feet since I last saw him too! He really does seem to be doing very well!

Big Trevor and Little Trevor both are supposed to be here this next week. Big T for his check up and follow up with his tummy issues and Little T for his bi-weekly chemo treatment. I hope we all get to go to Chili's while they are here. Keep them in your prayers for good check ups and safe travels.

Jordan comes back the second week in February for his 2 year post transplant check up and scans. This is the big one that takes all week. Can you say... Mardecia is excited to have him here for a whole week!!!!!! I can't wait to get to spend some time with him. Keep him in your prayers, pray for a great check up and another ALL CLEAR at the end! Another prayer request, Chancelly (mommy) graduated from the university this past December, she has applied for a job in her field at St Jude. This is something that she said she wanted to do back when Jordan was inpatient going through transplant. I am asking for you to please pray about this job opportunity and if this is where she is supposed to be that God will open the doors for her. I have promised her free babysitting if she comes to Memphis!!!!!! My fingers are crossed and it's on my prayer list!!!! Call her St Jude, please call her!!!!

Enjoy your weekend, say a prayer for all of those in the path of this winter storm. Many are without power, pray for them to have a safe place to go until it can be restored.

If you did not see the letter that was written to Barbara (Reagan's grandmother) by the mother of the young lady who collapsed and died after crossing the finish line during the half marathon here at St Jude this year, please go back a few days and read that letter. It is really a wonderful letter allowing you to get to know more about Molly.

Prayers for all the kiddo's fighting the battle!!! Prayers for all the parents and families missing their babies!

BELIEVE PRAYER WORKS~

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

We Serve An Awesome God

Wanted to let you know that both Allison and Ariel had successful surgeries today. We give God all of the glory for the great things He has done today.

Allison is in a lot of pain from the surgery, but according to reports she is feeling relief from the pain she was having that needed to be fixed. Pray for her to have a restful night and be on the quick road to recovery.

Ariel's surgery was successful in getting the remaining cancerous tissue around her mole site, removing other moles on her back, removing the lymph nodes in question and placing a port for the doctors to access for her future treatment. It took about 6 hours, but she did great. I spent the day with her family, a very sweet and loving family, and I know Ariel will be just fine with all of the love and support from her friends and family. She now has a CB page set up and I have posted he link to it under the list of "Our Friends" on the left side of this page. At this time, they are playing the wait and see game. They will be waiting for the pathology reports to come back to determine what treatment they will be doing. Pray that she has a restful night too and that she will get good results from the pathology reports.

Gonna be short and sweet tonight.... I'm tired :)

Oh.... I do have to tell you, I saw Molly and Garrett Hearn today. Garrett is a family member of Grannycad from our prayer room. He has been undergoing treatment for leukemia for 3 years and Molly told me today that he has ONE MORE TREATMENT TO GO!!! He is doing great, his treatment has been a success and he will be DONE this time next week. They are looking forward to a huge "NO MOE CHEMO" party next week. We pray a prayer of thanksgiving and praise to God for this successful journey for Garrett!!

Ok... I hope each of you have a wonderful night and a great day tomorrow!

BELIEVE PRAYER WORKS~

Monday, January 25, 2010

Big Day Today, Keep Your Prayers Going Up!

This is an early post for tomorrow.... Tuesday is surgery day for Allison (Team Believe member) and Ariel, new patient at St Jude. Remember to keep them in your prayers for successful surgery and for good results from both.
Also, pray for James' family as they go through his funeral mass on Tuesday too. This is just not what parents of young children are supposed to have to go through. Keep them in your prayers and the other St Jude families that have such heavy hearts at this time too.

Back during the St Jude Marathon this past year I posted and told you about a young lady, Molly, who had collapsed and died after crossing the finish line after completing the half marathon. One of our team members, Reagan's grandmother, Barbara Key reached out to Molly's family recently and received a letter back from Molly's mother. Barbara would like to share that letter with all of us. It is so very touching and tells us a lot about this young remarkable lady. I am so touched that Barbara reached out to them the way she did. I must say it does not surprise me that she reached out, she is an amazing lady that we all came to love very much at the marathon this year. No wonder Reagan was so special, look at her family!!! Thank you Barbara for sharing this letter with us.


From: jan trauernicht
Date: January 24, 2010 3:07:06 PM CST
To:
Subject: Molly and Reagan


I received your very nice letter and wanted to let you know how much I appreciated it. You have my greatest sympathy. Reagan was a beautiful little girl and had a great smile. I have two granddaughters her age, one born 5/5/04 and one born 6/29/04. I can't imagine losing either one of them.
I would like to give you a little history about Molly and me and her family. Molly was born 10/25/77, the second of triplets, 2 minutes after her brother, Sam, and one minute before her sister, Katie. She also has a younger brother named Patrick. My husband, Lee, and I feel we have been blessed with such a wonderful family. It was rather unusual to have healthy triplets 32 years ago. Mine had absolutely no problems when they were born. All of my children were in the gifted program at school. Sam is a chemical engineer, Katie is a nurse practitioner, and Patrick is a dentist. I am a pediatric nurse working at Children's Mercy Hospital in KC. My husband is in sales. Molly had her master's in accounting and had a job she loved in St Louis. She never married but was a wonderful aunt to her 4 nieces and one nephew. She always thought she would find a wonderful man to marry and have children. She would not lower her standards just to get married. Because Molly wasn't married, we got to do so many more things together. We rarely went more than a month without seeing each other. We talked on the phone at least 3-4 times a week. Not only was she my daughter, she was one of my best friends. We went to Memphis together, arriving on Friday. It was a very ordinary trip but very enjoyable. We did some sight-seeing, watched the ducks march at the Peobody Hotel, did some shopping, and ate dinner with her friend and her husband. She paid for my dinner because this weekend was supposed to be her birthday present to me (my birthday was 12/1). Molly had a problem with her heart where the top chamber, the atrium, was beating too fast last January. The doctor performed a procedure and corrected the problem. She saw him twice and another cardiologist once after that. She was cleared for all actvity with no restrictions. I was told by her friend, who was with her, that she felt so good that she ran for a short time to cross the finish line. She had her medal and hugged her friend. Then she just collapsed. She had medical care immediately but could not be revived. We are still not sure exactly what caused her heart to stop beating.
Our losses are similar in so many ways and so different in so many others. Both of them were loved dearly. They both died way too soon, yours so much younger than mine. They both had so much more living to do and it is so hard to understand why they were taken when they were. All of us cry every day and hope that at some time, it will hurt less. I see children every day I work with such a variety of health problems ( I work in the recovery room). I cannot imagine the heartache those parents must feel when their children are sick and suffering. The only thing I can think is that God has a plan and, even though it doesn't make sense or seem fair, we must accept what He gives us. You had Reagan for five years so you have five years of memories to sustain you. Luckily, I had Molly for 32 years. Because of Molly's death, I have been in contact with so many wonderful people. It makes me feel good to know how giving and loving people can be.
My family plans to go to Memphis again this year and participate in the races. I walked the 5K last year and may have seen the signs for Reagan. You are so right when you say the people at St Jude are wonderful. I hope that with the continued efforts of the people doing the marathon, half-marathon, and 5K that there will be a cure for so many illnesses and other families will be spared the sorrow.
I know this is long but I really wanted to let you know that I appreciated hearing from you. The pictures you sent of Reagan were beautiful. We both have angels in heaven now. Jan Trauernicht


We have so much to be thankful for today, and so much to pray for too. I will post with updates and reports from both of the surgeries as I hear. Lift them up in prayer. GOD IS IN CONTROL!

BELIVE PRAYER WORKS~
Sorry for posting this so late in the day, but our electricity has been off most of the day after an auto accident took out a light pole with the transformer to our area on top it. We are back in business now!

Prayer night tonight in the room at 9:00 for Allison before her surgery tomorrow morning. She will be having a procedure done that hopefully will repair the damage in her back and she will be back on her feet and her normal self soon. She is very nervous and so is Brenna. Let's join in together to pray them through this.

Heaven got another precious baby yesterday. James passed away around 9 am. Visitation is today and service is tomorrow. Please keep his family in your thoughts and prayers and leave them a msg to let them know you are lifting them up in prayer.


Ariel will be having her surgery tomorrow around 10:00. Please be in prayer for her and her family. Our specific prayer can be for them to be able to remove all cancerous cells and tissue and for there to be no sign of cancer in her lymph nodes. I will let you know as soon as I hear about results.

Keep praying for Jack. He seems to be doing so well and is responding very well to the chemo. Praise God for that, keep the prayers going up, they are working!!!

Jordan will be coming in a week or so for his two year post transplant check up. Start praying for their safe trip and for him to get another all clear on his scans and test. Specific prayer request, pray for another CANCER FREE report.

I know we keep the kiddo's and families in our prayers at all time, but let's remember to do so at this specific time as they all hurt so much and hearts are opened again each time another child goes "home". Please keep all of the ones who have been touched by this pain in your thoughts and prayers even more so at this time.

BELIEVE PRAYER WORKS!!!

Friday, January 22, 2010

We had a wonderful prayer evening this past Wednesday. We had some new prayer warriors to join us, we are very grateful to you for joining in, I hope you will join us each Wednesday at 9:00 (Central Time) for group prayer. Everyone is welcome.

I got to visit with Mr. All Smiles Jack yesterday. He is just the cutest thing, I could just totally squeeze his cheeks and eat him up!!! He is such a cutie. He was sleeping when I got there, so I got to visit with Katie for a little while before he woke up. At first it looked as if he might not be in such a great mood when waking up, but after just a few minutes he was all smiles and seemed to be in a great mood when I left. Go to his CB page and leave them so some notes of encouragement that you all are so good about doing. These messages mean alot to them.

I was able to speak to Ariel's dad by phone a few times yesterday. They finished up some preliminary appointments late yesterday and were able to go home for the weekend. They will return on Sunday for more appointments on Monday and her surgery is scheduled for Tuesday morning. It appears at this time that it will be a lengthy surgery. They will be removing more of the area around the mole and also taking some lymph nodes from underneath both arms. After the pathology reports comes back on these, they will decide on a protocol for her treatment. I plan to be with them during her surgery and I will find out if they have had a chance to set up a CB page yet or not. I will let you know. Please be praying for Ariel, her twin sister and her parents. I am not sure if there are other siblings or not. They are in the whirlwind of mass confusion right now and need your prayers for peace, comfort and specifically that this cancer has not spread to the lymph nodes.

Please be praying for James and his family. He is getting weaker and it appears that he may be getting close to his journey's end. Please keep them and the St Jude families that all love him so much in your prayers.

Please keep the people of Haiti in your thoughts and prayers. If there is a relief effort going on in your area, please try to be a part of it. If there is not one and you want to contribute in some way, contact me. We have direct contact with a lady by the name of Roberta who has about 30 children in her home that she takes care of on a daily basis in Haiti. Some have already been to check on her and the children and make sure they are okay. She did have one little boy that lived with her to lose his life when a wall surrounding their home fell on him. Everyone else is okay and trying to help others as best they can. The Haiti relief team here will be sending necessary items and money directly to her for her to help get to others and take care of the children in her home. Please keep this situation in your prayers.

Have a wonderful and blessed weekend!

BELIEVE PRAYER WORKS!

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Put Your Prayer Caps On...

Just a quick prayer request and a note or two...


First of all, Prayer Night in the prayer/chat room tomorrow Jan 20th beginning at 9:00 pm. We have several new ones that really need our prayers and others that we need to be praying for as well.

Allison, one of our Team Believe members is having a great deal of back pain and is awaiting back surgery. We will have a special night of prayer for her before her surgery, I will let you know about this date and time. Please keep her in your prayers for relief from this pain.

I have had two phone calls this evening regarding two new patients to St Jude. I am going to try to meet up with them tomorrow. One is a 16 year old girl from Hattisburg, MS. She will be having surgery in the next day or so. I do not have alot of information regarding her diagnosis yet.

The other is an 8 year old from Malvern, AR. She is friends with our Team Believe members Lenzy and Brenda. She will be having test and scans run tomorrow to try to get a definite diagnosis.

Please keep both of these girls in your prayers. I will meet up with them and talk with the parents regarding posting more info on them for you. I do not know if either has a CB page at this time. Please keep them and their families covered in prayer.

If anyone else has any prayer request, please either leave them as a comment on this post or you may email them to me at
rebelmom528@aol.com

Join us for a prayer session tomorrow night at 9


BELIEVE PRAYER WORKS!

Hello Again...

Hello! Thank you Marcella for updating for me on our trip. We had a wonderful time in New York City and we were so blessed to get to visit with Marcella and her mom while there. Marcella has been one of St Jude kids prayer warriors since the beginning of this group. The trip was great, I was traveling with one of our other St Jude Kiddo's ( all grown up now) Natalie and her twin and their mom. Busy city, but just awesome. I will say, New Yorkers ARE some of the sweetest and nicest people.

I returned home late Sunday evening just in time to watch my youngest son play in a basketball game in a tournament that his baseball team was hosting over the weekend. They were short one team, so the baseball players formed a team to fill in. That was quite interesting to see him playing basketball again!! Yesterday, on Monday we had the conclusion of the tournament. The day of championship games and I had to do my part of work for the tournament. So I put in an 11 hour day yesterday at the basketball gym working the tournament. Needless to say, I am just now joining the ranks of the living real world today!!!!

I will get busy tomorrow and get caught up with visits and what has been going on with all our kiddo's while I have been gone.

I pray that each of you has had a good week and holiday weekend this past week. I will get back to business now!

Prayers for each of you and for all our St Jude families.

BELIEVE PRAYER WORKS!

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Pass the message along...

Hello everyone this is Marcella. Mardecia is stranded with no internet. Although it's pretty chilly out there they are enjoying themselves very much. I've never seen anyone so excited to take the subway. In their two days being here I think those 4 know more about how to get around the city than I do! Infact they were more like MY tourguide today. Thanks you guys!

My theory is that after a few days in NY Mardecia will realize that it's her with the accent and not me (glad she has no internet and can't read that).

Mardecia mentioned that they saw a huge billboard of St. Jude kids at the airport and little Jack was one of them. How cool is that?

She also asked me to remind you all to keep checking Big Trevors caringbridge page for updates.

And of course don't forget to send prayers to all the families. Believe!! Prayer works!!

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Good Things Come to Those That Love The Lord

Hello from the deep freeze in Memphis, Tennessee! It is not supposed to be this cold in the south!! I do not mind the cold, but if we are gonna be this cold, then bring on the snow. It either snows but is to warm to stick or it's cold and there is no precipitation to go with it. This was kinda like a Christmas morning... when Santa does really come, but he just does not leave much of anything. The predicted arctic blast came, the predicted snow came.... just not enough to even cover the ground good :( So disappointing for us southerners.

I have not posted very much the last week or so. I was out of town for Dax's service last weekend, and then came home to a "sick" computer. After several trips to the Apple Store, I seem to be back up and running better than ever. I did not realize how slow my computer had gotten until I just got it back and it's on top of it's game again. I would like to say that I will do better now about regular post, however I am leaving on Tuesday to go to New York City with Natalie (one of our St Jude gals) and her twin and mom. I am looking so forward to this trip with them. At this time, I do not plan to take my computer with me. However, if I know of anything that I feel needs to be passed on quickly, I will find a way to get it to you. Just check each caringbridge site and you will know what is going on.

Praise and glory to God for the work He is doing in little Jack!! From his test and scans, there is no evidence of his cancer!!! THANK YOU LORD!!! He will be continuing with his treatment, we continue to pray for a CANCER FREE JACK FOREVER!!!

Mikey got a good report to. His tumors are responding to the treatment, he will be able to continue his treatment and our prayers are that he too will be CANCER FREE again really soon.

James continues to do okay, but is getting weaker. Please keep him and his parents in your prayers. This is such a difficult time. I honestly do not know how a parent copes with this other than with God's hands holding them up. Pray for God's arms to be around each of them.

I have a prayer request to share with you. Andi Webb is a 19 year old college girl from Mississippi who was in a car accident about 2 weeks ago. She is the niece of a friend of mine from my hometown in Tupelo. Andi's prognosis is not very good, but there are signs that God is working on Andi. Our prayer is that God will heal her brain injuries. Her mom is a very strong person in faith and has some most inspiring posts. I would like to ask for your prayers for Andi and her family. I think you will be blessed by following her mom's post too. caringbridge.org/visit/andiwebb

God has been so good to each of us. He blesses us over and over again. Just take a few minutes to look around you and your world and see where there is a place that you can make a difference in someone else's life. Some of the most simple, silent, unknown to others, acts of kindness can make such a huge difference in the lives of those around us. It's actually fun to be sneaky!!! If you are living in an area effected by this frigid cold weather, look around and see if there is something you can do to help out. I saw on the news yesterday that a lady in the Memphis area took it upon herself to try to get some people to help collect sleeping bags for those with little or no heat.... she got the word out to a few of her family and friends and collected hundreds of brand new sleeping bags from several different states in a matter of 2 or 3 days. They were all delivered to one of the temporary homeless shelters and some families with homes, but insufficient heat. A simple idea, with a few calls to friends and hundreds have been able to stay warmer during this bitter cold. Good things come to those who love the Lord and follow His example.

Little Trevor will be in this week for his chemo. Keep him and his family in your prayers as they travel and also that this chemo will continue to show that it is working against his tumors. God is an AWESOME God!

Have a great week!

BELIEVE PRAYER WORKS~

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

A Week of Beautiful Rainbows From Heaven

Our Father, How Great Thou Art!

Several of our kiddo's have been given good reports this week. To God be the glory, great work he is doing. His love and His power are evident to us.

Natalie got the all clear - Cancer free again! Thank You Lord.

Morgan got all good reports and has been cleared to resume some more of her nornal activities in life as a teenage girl.

Jack's MRI showed NO TRACE of the tumor in his arm!!!!! They are still awaiting the results regarding the lymph nodes, but everything so far looks great! Continue to pray for the lymph nodes to be clear as well.

In the storms, at times we see beautiful rainbows. Thank You Lord for these rainbows.

I received a package of beautiful pictures and memories of Reagan from her Mameow (Barbara) today. One of the things included was a beautiful Christmas Poem that she wanted to share with me. I am going to share this with you...

"My First Christmas In Heaven"

I see countless Christmas trees
Around the world below
With tiny lights, like heaven's stars
Reflecting in the snow.

The sight is so spectacular,
Please wipe away the tears.
For I am spending Christmas
With Jesus this year.

I hear the many Christmas songs
That people hold so dear,
But the sounds of music can't compare
With the Christmas Choir up here.

I have no words to tell you,
The joy their voices bring.
For it is beyond description
To hear the angels sing.

I know how much you miss me,
I see the pain inside your heart;
But I'm not so far away.
We really aren't apart.

So be happy for me, dear ones.
You know I hold you dear
And be glad I'm spending Christmas
With Jesus Christ this year.

I sent you each a special gift,
From my heavenly home above.
I sent you each a memory
Of my undying love.

After all, love is a precious gift
More precious than pure gold;
It was always most important
In the stories Jesus told.

Please love and keep each other,
As my Father said to do.
For I can't count the blessings
Or love he has for each of you.

So have a Merry Christmas
And wipe away the tears
Remember I'm spending Christmas
With Jesus Christ this year!

This was written by Ben, who, on December 14, 1997 at the age of 13, died after a 4 year battle with a brain tumor. He wrote this and gave it to his Mom before he passed away.

Barbara wrote to me "I felt compelled to send this to persons who loved Reagan so dearly, from her for Christmas, hopefully to make us all feel a little Christmas Spirit sent from our "Angel Reagan's Love". This is just so special to me. I want to thank Barbara for sharing this. I can just hear Reagan's sweet little voice repeating these words in this poem. On our trip up to Peoria, we talked about the kids who have passed this year and are spending their first Christmas with Jesus. What a Christmas celebration that must have been. I just can't imagine how beautiful.

Thank you to all who joined in the evening of prayer tonight for all of the children and families and for the hospital and staff at St Jude. I will post when the next prayer night will be, but remember, you can join in the room and ask for prayer request and prayers at any time.

God bless each of you and keep you in His loving care.

BELIEVE PRAYER WORKS!

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Hope your New Year is off to a good start

Sorry for the delay in updates. I am truly hoping that things will slow down just a tab bit.

It's been a little busy around St Jude this week already. A few updates as I am aware of them:

Natalie had her 3 months scans and test and I am so very happy to say she remains CANCER FREE!!! The spot that was on her lung at her last visit, is no longer there!!! We praise God and give Him the glory for this news! She does not have to go back for 4 months now! This is just the best news to start off the New Year with.

Morgan is having her scans and test this week also, so far, from what I have read, everything is going well. I plan to go over to the hospital tomorrow, so hopefully I will be able to visit with her and get the full report. Keep praying that everything is just great for her too.


Please keep little Jack in your prayers this week. The test they are running this week are very big test. They will determine if he will continue the current trial chemo that he is taking now after his relapse. Our prayer needs to be that the test will show reduction or even better yet, that the tumor is GONE! Also, be praying for clear lymph nodes.

Mikey has not been feeling the best recently, please pray for him to feel better and stronger and continue the fight that he is now fighting. He has test and scans coming up that will show if his treatment is working. Please pray for his test to show he is heading into remission.

James needs our prayers for his miracle. This is our simple prayer.... A MIRACLE FOR JAMES. Keep his parents and his family in prayer too.

Please continue to pray for Austin and Julie Locke. Dax's service was so beautiful and meaningful. I am not going to elaborate on his service, you can go directly to the funeral home site and view the webcast of his service. Go go
deitersfuneralhome.com
Once there, click on Dax Locke - view details. This will take you to his obit page where you can select to view the webcast. I think they said it would be up for about 60 days. There were seven of us who were able to go up and be with Austin, Julie and their family during this time. Everything was just perfect for a perfect little sweet angel. I am so thankful that I was able to travel up with the Dunford family, Regina, Mary Kate's mom and Jennifer, Alex Denton's mom. I know that each of these parents of our sweet angels was able to bring some comfort to Austin and Julie. Please be praying for comfort and safe travel for Austin and Julie, they left this morning to spend a couple of weeks in Italy and a few other places. I pray this time away will be some healing time and that they are able to be together and seek comfort in each other and share with each other all of their precious memories of their sweet ^Dax^.

Prayer night has been set up for our prayer/chat room again tomorrow night, January 6,2010 beginning again at 9 Memphis time. That is Central Time Zone. Please sign in and join us. This is always such an uplifting time. These kids and their families need all of the prayers they can get and this is just one of the ways we can be a part of doing something to help these kids and also pray for St Jude and the doctors and staff who are treating the kids.

I have a special prayer request for one of my very good friends who is a very special lady to many of our Team Believe members. She is an employee of ALSAC at St Jude, and does a great deal to help our group and friends out. She is a true blessing to so many. She is having some medical issues and undergoing test to determine what the problem is. Please keep her in your prayers and pray that the doctors will be able to pinpoint what is going on with her and know exactly what needs to be done to get her back to her healthy state of being. Thank You. Prayers for Melba.

I look forward to Prayer Night with you tomorrow evening.

BELIEVE PRAYER WORKS~