When life seems hard . . . PRAY

When we look around at what others are going through, doesn’t it seem like our problems seem so much less. Please remember to keep these families in your prayers . . .

“Pour out your heart like water in thepresence of the Lord…


Recovering from her 13th surgery.

…Lift up your hands to Him for the lives of your children.”
Lamentations 2:19

Please keep Emily in prayer as she goes into the hospital at 5:30 am TODAY, Tuesday. Her surgery (for thyroid cancer) is scheduled for 7:30 am (central time zone). If you are willing to commit to a specific time to pray, please visit DANDELION SEEDS to commit to the time you will be praying. Stop by Crystal’s blog and let her know that you’re praying for the family as well and watch for updates there.

Continue praying for Luke, who drowned over a year ago and is going through major rehabilitation and has a very weary mommy. He is quite sick again.

CANDACE – 13th Surgery Changed to Sunday

Candace will be having her 13th surgery in 18 days tomorrow (Sunday) which was previously planned for today (Saturday). Please visit their updated webpage along with new pictures and updates about her condition and be sure to pray for this trying time for the whole family and for Candace to be able to get through this surgery well.

Choking Game in our Local News

There was an article on the front page of our local paper today about the choking game in our area. You can read it here: Grand Rapids Press Article

Another group, The Choking Game Association of Appleton, Wisconsin, is trying to bring awareness regarding this “game” and has a brochure going to print. They will be trying to distribute this into the hands of parents, teachers, doctors, etc. They have included on the front page of this brochure 21 kids who have died from this game, including our son. We knew this brochure was being made, and we had to approve of it as well, and when it we saw the first copy, it hit both Norm & I pretty hard. Matthew’s picture is right in the middle. We are thankful that we can be apart of bring awareness, yet it’s certainly nothing we ever anticipated of. This was not the dream we had for our son. The inside of the brochure gives information of awareness, and what to watch for. One statement surprised us that says:

“75% of kids already know about this game
and how to play it.”

Talk to your children – TODAY.

The brochure links above can be printed from that webpage OR you can e-mail me and I can send you a copy in PDF format or JPG format. Feel free to print them up to share with your friends, teachers, doctor’s office, etc.

Hold Them A Little Closer

I’ve been trying to do more of my scrapbooking pages, and have been “talking” scrapbooking with some friends, and came across this picture that I want to share. This is my oldest 5 from about 13 years ago. It’s a precious picture to me. All the innocence. Oh how I wish I could go back to those days, and savor them more. I am so thankful for the memories, and precious pictures, like this. Below is a poem a friend wrote when she lost a son. Little did I know when she shared it with me many years ago, how much I would be able to relate to it. I thought it fit this picture as well.

Picture is of (left to right) Heather, Jayson, Heidi, Stephen & Matthew – and our then lab puppy Shadow)

HOLD THEM A LITTLE CLOSER

I pray you never walk through
The agony I’ve known
I pray that all your little ones
Will stay until they’ve grown.
I pray that you can really hear
My brokenhearted cries
So you will know the anguish
When a child dies.

I pray it makes you hold them
Closer to your breast
And savor every moment
As if it were the best.
For none of us can ever know
How soon they will be gone
And all we’ll have are memories
To hold us in the dawn.

Oh dear and tired mother
Of rambunctious little lambs
Do not grow weary of washing
And helping little hands.
Remember that these precious ones
May not be with us long
And we will have to suffer
Such pain when they are gone
So when you cry at one more day
Of toys spread on the floor
Think of if they weren’t there
To mess up anymore.
Think of all the precious things
You’ll miss and wish you had
You’ll see those things that irked you so
They weren’t all that bad.

Hold them closer for awhile
And stroke their silky hair
And touch them gently once for me
I wish that I were there.
For as I cry out for my son
Who cannot feel my touch
My heart cries out to tell you all
You can never love too much.

© Copyright 1997 Vickilynn Haycraft
August 1, 1997
11 months after her son Benjamin died

Homeschoolers, Can You Relate?!?!

From Mommy Brain:

How many of us will say something like that this week?!?!?!

LATEST UPDATES ON CANDACE – Still Critical

I can hear the deseprate cry in this mom’s heart as she cries out for her daughter’s sake. Please continue praying for Candace AND the family. They are very weary and don’t know God’s plan at this time, and it’s so hard to watch their precious daughter go through all this.

Candace needs your prayers today!
Sunday 02/19/06 Eleventh day in pediatric intensive care 10:00 a.m.
Candace had a hard night recovering from yesterday and the infection that she is still very much battling. Just when we felt we were going forward in getting her in a reclining wheelchair and starting to sip gatorade she has seemed to have a setback. She has been running high fevers of 102 + and has a very high white blood count. Also her hemocrit was way low and she is currently getting another blood transfusion. Please pray ferverently on this Lords day as things seem to go up and down rather dramatically. We really would like to avoid the stomach tube but with the fevers she has not regained an appetite. In the scope of things that last part is probably very trivial but is a mom kind of concern. Please pass this prayer burden on to others who you know will take this before the throne of our Lord.

Cathy for all

Sunday 02/19/06 Candace Update 9:50 p.m.
Candaces’ condition will necessitate a surgery tomorrow to check on the advancing of the infection. Because of her weakened condition and total lack of appetite since her arrival eleven days ago she will also have to have a stomach tube inserted during tomorrows surgery. Pray for her to regain some strength and for her constant ongoing fevers to subside. Also please pray for Gods mercy on our situation.

In gratitude for you,
Cathy

A Peek Out Our Front Door

A couple of bloggers asked this (Intent & Quiet Life) “Why not post a picture of what is out your front door?” Here’s a peek out our front door – after our ice storm here:

Snow covered driveway – kids swing and football.

Straight out front of our house – farmland & stateland beyond.

To the left – our garden fenced in and our neighbors golfcourse to far left.

Close-up of ice-covered tree. It looks like sparkling diamonds in real-life.

To the far right – ice covered trees above our house.

Oregano – a Fascinating Herb

One of my girls is planning to grow an herb garden starting this spring, and has been researching various herbs, and even starting some in her bedroom. One of the herbs she did some research on has fascinated us all is oregano. Now this oregano is not the type you put on your pizza, so in showing you the great health results from it, does not mean if you eat more pizza, you will be healthier! (That’s what my children were hoping!).

One of the books that our daughter’s research came from was The Cure is in the Cupboard – How to use Oregano for Better Health, by Dr. Cass Ingram’s. The type of orgeno we are talking about is an herb that is actually grown in the Mediterranean. When you read of Hyssop in the Bible, this is actually Oregano. In our reading we have found that the best way to use it is using Oil of Oregano which is an essential oil derived from the leaves of wild oregano plants. We specifically got from our local health store “Oreganol”. It costs approx. $30 for a small bottle. The oil has powerful antiseptic qualities, so it kills germs and bacteria on contact. The book will show you how to use oil of oregano to treat or reverse some common health problems including, colds, flu, rashes, nail fungus, gingivitis, yeast infections, acne, etc. We personally have found it works great for cancer sores. It is VERY strong – you only use a drop at a time. For the cancer sores I just put one drop on the sore. Water or juice needs to be used shortly afterwards because of the strong sting to it. But now our kids ask for it, because they know just a few times of using it, their canker sores are gone. We have also used it on some cuts the kids have had, and it too worked great as an infection fighter.

The author also has a webpage and one of his statements is: “I call wild Oregano Oil a ‘Medicine Chest in a Bottle,’ and every medicine chest is incomplete without this versatile essential oil.”

Candace Update

CANDACE OUT OF SURGERY 2/18/06 2:30 p.m.

Todays surgery has taken longer than many of our previous seven surgeries. Some infection was found at the open site on the right leg. This is a eight inch opening that was the original site of the pain Candace had beenexperiencing. Please pray for this stubborn flesh eating organism to be eradicated from her body. Of the four other open sites, one small one on her abdomen was able to be closed today. We are very grateful for this. Candace is in quite a bit of pain right now as she has built up a resistance to all these narcotics. Pray for a release from pain also. We will see the bone specialist on Monday to explore the explanation for the bone damage to the thigh and hip. There is a caution with a biopsy because of the possibility of entering infection to that area. God bless you all for your continued faithfulness to stay with us during this lengthy hardship. Also Candace has not eaten since our arrival as her intestense is quite bloated. If I can not get her to eat something today they will insert a stomach feeding tube. I really pray we could avoid this.

Love Cathy for all

Please pray for a mother who lost her six day old baby Katlin yesterday. She was by our room and the child was recovering from open heart surgery.

SNOW – ICE STORM

I don’t know how it happened, but it seems everyone around us is without electricity after a major snow ice storm here. We had tornado warnings, wind warnings, and an ice storm. Our electricity flickered a few times, but never went out. In our area it was said on the news 65% of the area is without electricity. Our phone service is out though but were told it should be on by 8 p.m. Saturday night. It looks beautiful outside with icicles hanging from all the trees. But, along with this a LOT of branches are down, and several large ones just missed our vehicles. When we walk outside it sounds almost like gun-shot with the ice crackling and you can hear the branches cracking from the woods.

We are safe and warm. We are thankful!