One week and counting

Here we are, it's the final day of 2008 and I am thrilled to see this year go!!!!!

I listened to a message yesterday and the pastor asked the congregation; "who has faced something in this last year that could be characterized as the most difficult trial of your life?"

Many many people raised their hands... We feel the same way. 2008 has been a year of our greatest challenge. When the year began they were saying it was the year of new beginnings and in many ways I suppose our year has been marked by great change. The Lord commissioned us to move on from this valley up to Oregon, something we are looking forward to. 

All I can say about starting a new year is BRING IT!

So, Monday I spent a 10 hour day traveling to UCLA and back for extensive blood tests (took 2 1/2 hours) and then my final MRI. Daniel and the boys occupied themselves at Universal City Walk and enjoyed themselves, but when we got home we were all exhausted. 

Tonight is New Year's Eve and I will begin my hibernation. I am quarantining myself so that I don't risk getting sick before surgery next week. I was realizing today that whether the Lord heals me before surgery or we face surgery, no matter what, this battle will be over in just a week!!! That is amazing! I'm really happy about that. 

We have found some new tools that have inspired and encouraged us. One of them is a worship leader named Jonathan David Helser. If you haven't heard of him I would encourage you to get a hold of his CD, google his name, go on my space and get on his... whatever, all I know is that his music is amazingly anointed! I listened to him all day on Monday on my ipod and it was what got me thru. 

Thank you for praying. 

We are ready. 

Here we go.

My Daddy

Today is my Dad's birthday. Thought I'd just brag about him for a few minutes. For those of you who read this and know my dad You will already know much of what I'm going to say. For those of you who have only met my dad there is  good chance that you have had a glimpse of how amazing he is because he is very transparent and easy to know. For those of you who have never met my dad, I feel sorry for you.

His heritage includes an adoring wife of 40+ years. 3 kids and 3 kids in law, 10 grandkids here and 3 in heaven.... and countless friends.

My dad is easily the most amazing man I have ever known. There is only one other man who can come close to comparing to him and that is my husband. When I was a little girl I knew that whomever the Lord had for me to marry he had to be comparable to my dad and if he wasn't, he wouldn't be in the running. When I met Daniel there was so much about him that reminded me of my dad that I knew he could be the one. I'm grateful I was right.

My dad has overcome obstacles that could have stunted a smaller man forever, but my dad has risen above them. One of things that I've been most amazed by is that he doesn't just plan for his future with my mom in his daily decisions, he plans for his children and grand children. He picks a grandchild to pray for each day of the month and spends that day praying for him or her. He truly knows that the decisions he makes will affect generations after him. 

My dad is one of my heroes. He recently battled cancer (which I've mentioned before) and battled with the Word of God. He spends many of his mornings mentoring other men. He is an elder in their church and takes that responsibility very seriously. He prays for his pastors and church family members regularly.

Often times when we talk he tells me he is fasting and praying for me. I know he has fasted for my healing more than I have.... that is true father. He has shown me the heart of Father God in his parenting and has made it very easy for me to relate to Papa God because I have such an amazing example of Him in my dad.

Often times his birthday gets pushed to the side because it's 2 days after Christmas, but in my heart I could never say enough about this man who I have been so blessed to call my daddy.

Happy Birthday Dad! I'm so proud of you. I pray this new year will be full of more revelations of the Father's heart for you than any previous year. 

I love you Daddy.

After Christmas

So here we are. The day after Christmas. Ours was the best we can remember. It was way more simple than ever before, but I am convinced that simple is the best! We relaxed all day just our small family and Daniel's parents. We ate waaayyy too much and slept and played and ate some more.... it was wonderful.

As we were winding down last night from the festivities we were realizing that our next hurdle is surgery. That realization was a bit overwhelming. We have always had that in our projected future, but it has always had several other hurdles in front of it to make it that much less of a reality. Now, it's next and that seems to be sinking in more each day.

In fact the next few weeks are nothing but major work. We have another day at UCLA on Monday the 29th for an MRI, blood test and then chest x-ray to make sure my heart is healthy for surgery... which it is, just preliminary. Then a full week of school with the boys so that the following week we can take off. 

Of course the next week is busy with getting ready for surgery and the actual surgery itself. Daniel has all that week off and the next as well. After the week of the 5th-9th we will have about 3 weeks to pack up our entire house and move!!!!!!!!!!! 

We have a lot of things that need to fall into place before we can move. Moving in the winter to a place that gets a lot of snow is insane, to move there and not have a place to live or a job in this economy is unbelievable.... thankfully the Lord miracles and we have received the instructions to "put our feet in the water".... the Lord ministered to us thru the story of the Children of Israel as they crossed the Jordan river, the priests put their feet on the banks of the river and that is when the water stopped and they crossed on dry land. 

Please pray : 1- that we would have peace (especially the boys) in the next few weeks. 2- that we would receive provision, job, home, finances for moving. 3- that surgery would go smoothly, specifically for Dr. Bergschneider and Dr. Wang, the two surgeons. 4- that we would make the transition quickly and easily and 5- that I would recover faster than expected.

Thank you all. We are so excited for a new phase in our lives!! 

New life is always good.

By the way

By the way... 

The word "trust" in the Proverbs 3:5 scripture from the last post actually doesn't just mean "trust" it also means "reckless"! We truly are recklessly trusting the Lord! Nice to feel a confirmation.

Also FYI: We are baking gingerbread cookies, it's a cold rainy day and my husband has the day off. I love Christmas!

Dec. 11th update

I've had such a hard time getting a few minutes away to get this update posted. The boys get so wired this time of year, I love the excitement. Thankfully my sweet husband had compassion on me this morning and took both boys with him to church early so I could get ready by myself and not have to turn on a video game or movie or meet the "boredom" plea.

Anyway, update time. 

On Wednesday night (the night before my Dr. appt.) I was sound asleep when a little one came in needing help. As I got up to put him back to bed a scripture was running thru my head. Proverbs 3:5 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding."

It had been so long since I had read that scripture that I didn't even know where to find it the next morning.... I knew it was the Lord. 

I got to drive to UCLA by myself in my cute convertible and that was so wonderful (except for the hideous traffic). I enjoyed it so much. I had to leave at about 5:45 am so it was still dark, but as I drove over the pass and reached the top of the hill, I was left breathless... I could see the sun rising over the ocean as I looked into the valley of Santa Barbara and there was no fog, no clouds just a pink sky and a still sleepy city. It was amazing. I had my worship music on and I just knew it was my gift from the Lord. I love watching the sunrise! I got to stop and get my special treat of a peppermint mocha from Starbucks, and I drove into the sunrise just worshipping the Lord for the next hour (until I reached traffic). I kept proclaiming that scripture over my heart, preparing myself for more Dr. information.

As I got to UCLA I saw the first Dr. She is the other surgeon who will do the initial work of getting the primary surgeon into the area where the tumor is. She was very kind and did an initial exam on me. She said I have a deviated septum, thus the horrible snoring and said she would take care of all that while she was in there.... I'm getting a nose job! ;O)

Then I headed down the hall to the endocrinologists office. He talked to me about the medicine part of all this.... Since my surgery is only 3 1/2 week's away he didn't recommend any medication (good news) but he did say that he wanted to have another MRI report before surgery! I'm thrilled about this... another chance to peek inside just in case there is no surgery needed. I want to give the Lord every opportunity to take it away before surgery. I didn't think I would get another one, but since he offered I was thrilled to accept. It means another trip to UCLA before surgery, but it is what it is....

I had to guard myself from fear. They have a lot of "what if's" and "maybe's" that could possibly happen and I had to remind myself of what the Lord has said so I didn't go into fear. One thing they said was that there is a possibility that the chance to have children is gone..... I have had so many words spoken over me to the contrary that I "armed" myself with those as they spoke. Then when they were done I went out to the waiting room to wait for another piece of paper and as I was waiting I looked at the time on my phone. It said Dec. 11 11:11 am. I thought that was cool and immediately the Lord said "Hebrews". So I turned to Hebrews 11:11 and I knew it was the Lord's confirmation to my spirit. It says:

"By faith Abraham, even though he was past age - and Sarah herself was barren - was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who made the promise." 

The Lord just said "remember, they don't know the beginning from the end, I do, and I am faithful." So I took my two scriptures and I just proclaimed them over myself the rest of the day and by the time I got home I was so encouraged.

It was an unusually warm day and so when I reached Santa Barbara I put the top down and drove over the pass with the sunshine and the warm wind and I just sang those scriptures back to the Lord. As I was putting the top down in my convertible the Lord reminded me of what Ethan had said when we got the convertible..... 

"If God can give us a convertible, He can definitely answer out tumor prayer and our baby prayer"

No doubt.