Please Pray for these Families

I know that the bloggy community is full of praying people so I am asking you to take a moment to say a prayer for two families this week. The first family is a friend of mine through our adoptions. Diana and her family are currently in China adopting their second daughter, Sienna, she is 4 1/2 years old. After receiving vaccinations in China the other day Sienna has spiked very high fevers and has been ill. They have only had her for a week, I cannot imagine what this little girl is going through. Long story short, they have received an expedited Visa so that they may fly home to the US today, a week earlier than planned.That was an answer to prayers in itself. Please pray for Sienna's health and strength to take the 15 hour flight home and pray for Diana, Jeff and big sister Ainsley as they travel with her.

Secondly, my heart goes out to the family of James B. Many of you know that I am married to a police Lt., my second family is the police community, they are a brotherhood like nothing I have seen before. I have been in this family for 20 years now and nothing is worse than being notified that another officer has died in the line of duty. Yesterday James was shot and killed in a nearby community, he was just 26 years old. We do not personally know James but he grew up in the community where my husband is a Lt. Mark was informed yesterday that he will share in the distinct honor of planning James' funeral. This is a huge undertaking, we know this because one of our friends and co-workers was killed in the line of duty 6 years ago and Mark was in charge of planning his arrangements as well. These funerals are huge, thousands of police officers come from all over to show their respect to the officer and their brother in blue. Please join us in praying for this family as they lay their son to rest and deal with this senseless tragedy.
This hits so close to home, my Mark was involved in a fatal shooting 5 years ago this past month. I will never forget the confusion of that day, the unknowns, the sadness, the fears and frustrations. Friends, family and clergy visited our home that day, it was such a blur. Watching the television and seeing the story plastered all over was difficult, but I was so thankful at the end of the day for the outcome. I almost lost Mark that day, believe me, I never take for granted that he is here with me. As difficult as it has been and always will be for Mark and I to live with the fact that he took another man's life, we know that the Lord was watching over him that day, he gave Mark the strength and confidence to do what he has trained to do and not become the victim himself. I know that James will always be a hero, his life was taken for a reason that we do not understand, but that is not for us to try to figure out, he is in God's hands. I ask that you pray for his family and for his co workers, it is going to be a very difficult time for them. Thank you !!!!

Wind beneath my Wings

I love this picture, we were cleaning up the hall at my cousin Kortney's grad party and my mom put the girls on this cart and Grandma sang and clapped her hands while mom danced the little girls around. This is just "so them".

Grandma modeling her new hat at Christmas.

On July 4th, my mom and Grandma on the pontoon. Grandma loves silly hats!

I need some prayers for my sweet Grandma Verna. For the past 3 weeks (since Myah started school) I have been visiting the hospital on a regular basis. For starters my Uncle Mike had prostate cancer and had the surgery to remove the cancer and is slowly but surely getting better. My Grandma lives with my aunt and uncle so while he was in the hospital she was on her own at home. In the past that would not be a deal. But this year has posed some problems for Grandma. She went to Florida over spring break and got sunburned on her ankle area, she started getting some pretty bad scabs on her sunburned area and since she is a diabetic and has poor circulation in her feet these scabs have become her worst enemy. So much so that she will not walk. The sores on her feet have spread and are very painful, she has had skin grafts, goes in weekly to a wound specialist to have her feet/ankles re wrapped and cannot sleep very well because they are so painful. After Uncle Mike came home from the hospital Grandma fell a few times and could not get herself back up. My aunt called me one morning and asked if I could come help because we need to take Grandma to the hospital, 2 days after my uncle had left. We got her in and they named off many things wrong with her, they told us had we waited another day she would have been dead. That was almost 2 weeks ago.

She has been getting better it seemed and was going to be moved to a rehab floor to get her walking, her feet are still in much pain but they told her she can't go home until she can walk. Bless her heart she is a fighter! Yesterday afternoon my aunt called and said that while they were sitting with Grandma she fell backwards in the bed, apparantly she died at that moment and the nurse came running in with a crash cart and they were able to bring her back and put her on a respirator. They determined she had a heart attack and would most likely have another one in 24-48 hours. We knew Grandma never wanted to live on a machine, she was fighting them, trying to take it out. The family decided to ask Grandma what to do, she made a gesture of "pray for me" and take it out. So we did just that, and we waited to see what would happen. The nurse came out and said she was doing well and was talking. We all had said our goodbyes to her beforehand so it was a gift to go back and have a conversation with her and hear her voice again. She would not stop talking! She was very coherent and amazed us with her memory. We do not know what today, tomorrow or forever will bring for Grandma but I am praying that she can come out of this. I know she is ready to die, she has told us so but we aren't ready yet. I don't know how I would handle losing my dad and my grandma within 9 months of each other. We have been through this before, losing Mark's dad, grandma and my grandma all within 9 weeks. It is not fun.

Last night while I was in the room with her the nurse came in and wanted to take her temperature, she said, "I am not going to take it in your mouth, I am going to take it under your wing" Grandma then replied "the wind beneath my wings". She is a huge music lover, I had to laugh that she would quote a song that has meant so much to our family through the years. She is a hip Grandma and always bougth the presents that we really wanted for Christmas, always had a swimming pool and baby kitties running around, as a little girl I loved that part! Grandma always had a stash of sweets that we loved too! Like my mom says Grandma always had the coolest hippest music playing, she still does. One day she told me she likes the new P-diddy song, I said "who?" she says "you know Puff Daddy, the one who sings Every Breath You Take". She loves to sing, especially "you are my sunshine". My mom and Aunt Katie sang it to her last night even. She is the sunshine of our family and I am praying that this is not the final chapter of her life. We need her, we love her and we would miss her terribly. Please pray for her, for all of us, we are having a difficult time, pray for my Uncle Mike, he has not been able to recooperate properly at all after having major surgery, pray for my mom, who is still grieving over losing my dad, pray for me, I am running around like a mad woman most days. This weekend is Dayton's first homecoming and I am really wanting it to be special for him. I want to enjoy it with him as well. On top of everything else going on , Mark's mom has a broken vertebrae and is in severe pain. She needs prayer too.

Sorry this post is all over the place, but that is how my mind is processing things lately, I am all over the place!!!

Morgan Is In Heaven Now

I received this message from our Pastor this afternoon and thought I would pass it along to all of you who took such great interest and gave many prayers for Morgan and her family. I can't imagine losing my child at just 15 years of age. Please keep their family in your prayers.

Fellow followers of Jesus,It is with great sadness and joy that I bring you this news: Morgan has gone home to be with Jesus at about 1pm this afternoon. Her suffering is ended and she is with God in perfection! For this we rejoice. But those of us still on earth are left to mourn. Especially her mom and dad and brother and sister. Please be in prayer for the C. family - and stay tuned for specific ways that we can be the church to support these wonderful people through this horrible experience. Remember this simple truth - we all who follow Jesus are all going to be with God in heaven - some simply go before others. The earth is not our home. We are only here for a short time.God, I pray you will bless the C. family with peace.

Say a little Prayer

My poor Dayton was at the ER twice yesterday with severe stomach pain. Both Doctors determined that Cooperstown was not kind to his intestines and bowels. He was in so much pain last night I felt horrible for him. I have never seen him like this ever! The doctor looked at the x-ray and really seemed concerned but there is not much she can do for him except give him some meds and wait it out. Please say a prayer for him, my heart is just breaking for him. He was supposed to attend his golf tournament this morning after taking lessons all summer and all he can do is lay on his bedroom floor in pain. He is sleeping finally, he needs his strength that is for sure. Please pray for me as well, I am going to have to force him to eat some things he isn't going to like very well. Thanks everybody!

Morgan needs our prayers now more than ever

Live every moment God has given you~ With Love, Morgan
Morgan with Jenny and Christina, Val's daughters.
Lifting our hopes and dreams to the Heavens

I know some of you remember the post I did back in December about a special girl named Morgan who had a rare form of brain cancer. (I don't know how to link to my past post but it was Dec. 4th 2007 if you want to go back). I just received a prayer request from Pastor Kelly asking us to stop what we are doing and say a prayer for Morgan and her family. Hospice has informed them that it won't be long now, just a matter of days. My heart is breaking for everyone who knows this special young lady. Her mother has been updating her caringbridge page and I leave with tears every time. Morgan just amazes me, her faith and courage are unheard of in a child her age. I don't know her personally but my good friend Val ( who watched Myah for us) and her daughters are very close to Morgan and my heart is breaking for her and the girls as well. I just ask that you pray for Morgan and her family today. I took these images and the next paragraph from her Caring Bridge site, this was written by her mother on the 20th of June.

Someday I'll wish upon a star~ And wake up where the clouds are far behind me...

It's so amazing what God has given us all who have entered with Morgan a time that marks the end of her journey here on earth. I pray daily that our Lord will keep my mind and heart open to all that is around me. I try despartly to a peace in all of this, so that in any small way I may be of comfort to Morgan. My heart tells me we are in the last few weeks or so, as we try to soak all that she is into our souls and beings. She is truly THE MOST couragous young woman I feel I may ever know. As we hold each other, she consouls me that there is nothing to be afraid of, and that God must need her home. I have had many conversations with God too. I need my baby home here with me~ and then regretfully remind my heart that this is not her home. It is not listening. Morgan continues her fight daily. Her breathing is slow and has developed a musus cough. It is so hard for her to speak as it requires to many breaths in between. She eats~ and eats.. which is so funny, as it is from the ton of steriods she is on daily. Although it takes her maybe 30 minutes or so to finish something small. Her sense of humor is still wildly funny, she will break into dance on our way to the bathrrom which sends us all to the floor laughing. She is our Hero.

I will return!

****see below for Myah's dental update:
I am typing this from a borrowed laptop, wouldn't you know it that when you really need your computer, it needs a nap! We are taking mine in today to hopefully get fixed. We are rushing around like mad these last and next few days in order to get prepared for Mark's eye surgery on Wednesday, and it is like going one step forward and two steps back. We need to do our taxes on line before he can't see very well for 3 weeks, so that is on the agenda today. In addition to turning our van in (lease), and Myah's dreaded dentist appointment today. Please pray that she cooperates! I am so excited that tomorrow I get to see my adoption buddies! Myah and I can't wait! Then my mom comes down for a few days!! Yeah, I love having her visit! Bless her heart for helping me out with the kiddos. I went to a local Chinese store yesterday and purchased some items to decorate the house for Chinese New Year, and bought a few traditional "foods" to try. I went to the same place last year and they are just so sweet, I will have to post pictures of my dining room later, I decorated it for the holiday and Myah is just loving it!
Please say a prayer for my Mark, I know he isn't looking forward to having this done again, but I have seen a huge decline in his eyes over the past few weeks so I know it is time. It will help and it will be worth it in the end.
I also have to please ask that you say an extra special prayer for a family friend Jason who was just diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor last week, ( we just learned it is stage 4 cancer). He is 29 years old, has two little children, his daughter is in my niece Annabelle's ballet class. Jason's big sister Dawn was my sister Melanie's best friend growing up and Jason is a very good friend of my brother in law Eric. In a small town, everyone knows each other! When Jason's mom Darlene was pregnant with him, my sister was in Kindergarten with Dawn. My mom went to conferences and the teacher congratulated my mom on the "good news", evidently my sister Melanie wanted our mom to be pregnant as well and spread the rumor that my mom was pregnant too!! We still laugh about that! It does not sound very good for Jason right now, they did a biopsy last Thursday and the tumor is the worst that the Dr. has ever seen, very entangled around his brain. It is just heartwrenching to see this family experience such pain. Jason was just telling my sister about the headaches/migraines he was having, never expecting this kind of outcome. Please pray for a miracle at this point. He was very excited about being the new head coach of the baseball team this spring, he was always on Eric's teams growing up, they were even on the state runner up baseball team together, he is very athletic and talented! Thanks so much for your prayers!!!!
*we just arrived home from the pediatric dentist, Myah did very well! Behavior wise that is, her teeth aren't so great. She has dental hypoplacia, her teeth were not formed correctly in utero probably due to improper prenatal care, ( see my tears), and she has to go back in a few weeks to have a crown put on her decayed tooth and 3 fillings put on her other teeth. I am so thankful that we found this awesome dentist, he was wonderful and so were all of his staff, they fell in love with Myah and I know that she is in good hands. We will do the fillings on the one side one week and then the crown and other filling the next week. The dentist himself was adopted and was so informative and compassionate. I told Mark on the way home that I am so glad that we are able to get her the care she needs. The dentist also agreed that her tonsils were huge and was glad to hear that we were going to an ENT , we told him his name and he told us he really likes him. So that is next on our agenda. Myah was very proud of her little bag of loot today, she came carrying it out like she had just won the lottery! Other than that they said that we have been taking very good care of her teeth and to keep up the good work! The hygenist thanked us for sharing Myah with her today, she said Myah was just "yummy!" I thought that was soooo sweet!

A Special Girl

Morgan and ChristinaHer dream come true
In her hospital room
Morgan and her mother Dawn

Well, I have been thinking about posting this for a while but I wasn't sure if this was the right place to or not. However, I feel an urgency in my heart now and I figured I have nothing to lose and everything to gain. My good friend Val brought to all of our attention a young lady in our community who has a rare and very aggressive brain tumor. Her name is Morgan and she is a best friend to Val's oldest daughter Christina. I believe that Morgan is 15 years old and was diagnosed in April. Val keeps us all updated through emails and today she shared the caring page/blog from the hospital with me. I am moved beyond words. Lately Val and others have organized a few events to help with their financial situation. The father is in need of surgery on his back and is unable to work, he just went back to work in order to have insurance for his family despite the pain that he is in. They are in a serious financial situation. Val has set up a bank account at a local bank for donations. They are also doing gift wrapping at a local mall to raise money for the family. They are in a gazebo in the freezing cold, but have warm hearts that is for sure. A few weeks ago they were featured in the newspaper because Val organized an outdoor Christmas decorating party at Morgan's house. That was something that Morgan was hoping for, her house to be decorated for Christmas. Morgan was rushed to the hospital yesterday with fevers and seizures, and trouble seeing. Please pray that the tumor is not growing. She is going through chemo and radiation. Six months ago she was just a normal teenage girl, now she is facing so much uncertainy. I am asking you to please pray for Morgan and her family right now, they are dealing with so much. If you would like to donate to the family please email me privately and I can get the information to you. Lets rally around this precious girl! Here are a few words that Morgan had posted herself after 30 people were at her house decorating. "There weren't just people there in the present. God was there, and he was there with me giving me the gift that i always wanted a house that is full with lights and joy and the Lord gave me a yard of warm hearted Angles last night and i really want to Thank all that have worked SO hard just to make my house look gorgegous. & I Thank My God also..... I'm so blessed.. and i don't know if i ever take it for granted but if i ever did God please forgive me. i've become another person learning from all these great Angels that surround me. Thank you everyone. You make my days get filled with joy and shine with light. " Wow at 15 years old, we could all learn so much from her.

Please say a prayer....

My heart is heavy tonight and I feel the need to ask for your prayers for a few situations that have taken place this evening. First and foremost, please pray for little Jude's family. One of my blogger friends is a friend of a friend to his family. I have followed their journal all week long as they clung to hope that little Jude would receive a miracle after his drowning last week in a pool. He was revived and his family held the vigil all week praying for his recovery. Tonight he is in the arms of his Heavenly Father. The family has 3 other small children, the youngest just 2 months old. I can't imagine their pain, if you would like to visit their journal please email me and I will get you the information. Please keep this family in your prayers as they deal with this tragedy.
Secondly, tonight as I was driving home with Myah (Mark and Dayton are at Taylor's game), I once again had to drive through a terrible storm. As I sat down tonight to enjoy my peace and quiet, all of my news channels were talking about the devastating storms in our area. A little town just north of here called Fenton was hit very hard. This is where my sister and I love to go when we have a day to ourselves, there are a few shops in the quaint little downtown that we visit where we have got to know the owners personally. Tonight, all reports are that the downtown area is destroyed by a tornado. My heart is breaking for those little shop owners, the economy here has been so bad lately and the little stores are struggling to survive and now to deal with something like this, I pray that they can stay afloat. My brother in law works for security at Target and he was called to the new Fenton store tonight because the roof has been blown off. This gave me shivers because just Saturday I met my sister in Fenton to pick Dayton up, in that Target parking lot, we shopped in that very Target not even a week ago. We are being told that we have not had storms like this in several years. Just last month when the storms ripped through our area, I was in Target during the storm with the kids. I think I need to quit shopping at Target, what do you think?One of my adoption buddies lives out in that area and I am anxious to make sure that they are alright. I have to drive through that area tomorrow as we head up north for Annabelle's party, the Target is right off of the expressway so I am sure that we will see the damage. Many homes are destroyed, severe damage is done to businesses, please keep all of these people in your prayers.

Bad Storms....

The little Baptist Church by our house had alot of trees damaged
The cemetery by our house was just littered with huge trees like this.

Thursday afternoon we had a horrible storm. People claim it was a tornado. Whatever it was it was very damaging to our little town. Amazingly, I had just left with the kids to go to Target and I had just got inside when the storm kicked up. Our neighbor called my cell phone and told me that a bad storm came through and power was out. It was so bad that I could barely get back home due to the trees, power lines and debris. I had to take a dirt road that everyone else was using too. We stayed at a hotel that night and luckily had power the next day. The scary part is that two huge trees fell in my neighbor Pam's garden. She has the most beautiful garden and I was going to take Myah's pictures after they got home from going into town. The trees fell in my favorite part of her garden, where I would have been with Myah. We had a mess to clean up, Mark found pieces of our patio furniture at the front of our subdivision. Luckily everyone was ok. It was so strange because just the night before a tornado ripped through my hometown up north where my parents live. It went over the lake where all of our pictures were taken on our boat. Isn't that weird!? Here are a few pictures that I took while in the car, they aren't very good.