Away for a while

I don't know why I haven't been on this blog for a while, or if anyone checks it anymore. I guess life happens. I have still kept up with prayers, just not blogging about them. We've done a lot of priority shuffling over the past year with our family and our faith at the top of the list. A member of the family asked for a prayer request and it has jogged me back to this blog. As usual I will cut and past in her own words.

I ask that you add Jacob Rowland to your prayer sight. He is the son of our counselor at school. He is 9 months old and they are not sure what is wrong, but he has some form of cystic fibrosis and is not absorbing food. They are considering a G-tube and of course I thought of all you have gone through. Their family could sure use some extra prayers.


I have a few prayers to add to that, some confidential. I know someone struggling in faith and finances - pray for them please. I pray that they will see becoming bogged down in what is of the world is a distraction. I pray that they will be able to return to God and turn over their worry to Him. We have found in the past that when we are honestly able to do this, answers come. Somehow, they come. That which seems impossible is possible. Help us pray for this person. On another completely different topic - some of you may have seen on the news the story of the young Florida wife and mother who was kidnapped, raped and murdered. This is a tragic story, even if it stops there, but it doesn't. Another motorist was on the phone with 911 dispatchers, following the suspect as the young woman beat on the windows of the back seat. The other motorist gave dispatchers the street name and direction the car turned off on and this information was never relayed to authorities who were searching for the car. Losing someone in this way must be devestating, but also knowing how close this tragedy came to being averted and a young woman saved...well I can't imagine. This story has stayed on my mind and hasn't left me. I have prayed for the young husband and his young boys. I am sure he can't pray for himself right now. That's all.

Our dear friends and module mates, the Hufty's, had some big news on their own blog today. Jack, born with a tracheoesophageal fistula, Jack will get surgery to connect his esophagus and stomach on December 21st. The family has been waiting for news that Jack was ready for this next step for some time now, so this is exciting news. It will be difficult, I am sure, to be back in the hospital over the holidays, but good to get it done and behind them. Mike (Jack's Dad) will also be off for Christmas, so that will help with logistics and big brother Logan - Justin and Kendrick's buddy. Their site is http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/jackhufty

Here is an excerpt from their blog with their prayer request:
Thank you for all of the prayers you have said up to this point. We would like to ask for your prayers again during the next several weeks for our own Christmas miracle. We specifically ask that you pray for Jack to remain healthy leading up to the surgery, for Jack's lungs to be strong enough to handle the surgery, that the surgery goes well, and that his recovery goes well. Please also pray for the doctors, nurses, RT's, anesthiesiologists(sp?), and others who will be working with Jack. We have seen how powerful prayer can be and appreciate even the smallest prayers.

This week a teacher that use to work in my building found out that her 7 year old son Gunner has brain tumor that can not be operated on. This little guy is amazing. He was born premature (at 26 weeks) and he only weighed a pound. He survived that obstacle and has grown into a sweet little boy with little health problems but a few learning problems. He was a miracle and now he faces another huge mountain. I am asking that you keep Gunner and his family in your prayers. His family has set up a care page that you can view and see what a neat boy he is! www.caringbridge.org The page name is gunnergillespie

This posting is from Jessie (Beltz) Engledow, a friend from college and my sorority days.

Please add the following to your prayer lists.

Cooper family as they cope with the death of their daughter Naomi.

Gabe's Godmother, Jennifer, and her family as they face her father's cancer and his upcoming surgery. She also has an uncle with a fast growing brain tumor - the whole family desperately needs prayers and support.

Another friend who is facing appendix surgery and a dilemma about the holidays in the face of medical issues and job issues.

Everyone else listed in other postings as they continue their struggles.

Thanks.

Jarrett Kiesel

Today I ask that we pray for my baby, Jarrett. Jarrett has a severe and challenging diagnosis... the unknown. Jarrett was born 6/20/07. He had seizures inutero for months before his birth. Ten hours after he was born, he experienced a life threatening seizure, and continued to have seizures for months after he was born. Thanks to modern medicine the seizures are now controlled. He however does not have a diagnosis. It seems that the blood tests, urine tests, genetic screens, spinal fluids, MRI's, EEG's,EKG's and a whole slew of other testing should be able to come up with a"cause" for the "effect." However in our case, it does not. All of the pain that our little boy goes through on a daily basis is gutrenching, but he only shows us that with a smile. He is the happiest, most loving littleboy that any family can ask for. He has touched our lives in a way that no other person can even come close to. Today I ask for prayers for Jarrett, not for his diagnosis. A diagnosis is a word usually with a negative perspective, and that doesn't accurately describe Jarrett. Pray that his happiness and fun loving personality will continue, and pray that he will continue to help strengthen our family and our faith.

I love to keep up on the Riley families that I met. I think they are all extraordinary stories. I really think parents could learn a lot by just being involved with a sick child. One of the babies that I met at Riley passed away Sun. He was in my same module, and I talked with his mother occasionally. This little boy, Evan, is in the best place possible, Heaven. He was a true fighter, but after so long he lost the fight. Pray for his mother and family. They have had a tremendous loss. Darla Kiesel

Jarrett and his family were at Riley at the same time we were, and I remember vividly the day I met them. We were veterans by that point and my heart went out to them. It is never easy needing to be there, but as time passes it does get easier as you fall into a new routine - or maybe you fall into a blessed numbness of acceptance in the new day-to-day. The numbness is frequently shocked back to reality either through your own setbacks and changes in routine - or by experiencing it through another family you have become close to. I mentioned that in a previous blog that we all seem to go through a period of "aloneness" during the coping process, well at least it was true for me and for other families I have talked to. Sometimes you cling to others and sometimes you cling to yourself - if you are really fortunate you realize that even during those times you have to draw into yourself, you are still not alone but carried in His embrace. It is important to remember we are never truly alone and that our friends and family are there for us to reach out to, but I also think it is ok to accept those times when you just can't. As you pray for these Riley Families, take a moment to thank God for Riley, but more importantly for the nurses, doctors, social workers, maintenance/cleaning staff, RTs, PTs, OTs, SLPs, Audiologists and more people than I can list who make the care of these babies possible. The building is a structure, but it is the people who make the difference to those who need to be there.

Just thinking...

I have been thinking about the families of those who have lost their babies recently. Those mentioned here on this sight and those at Riley, those we did get to know and those we didn't. I don't know why they have been on my mind so much lately, except they continue to serve as a reminder of how close we came to that sort of unimagineable grief. We are so grateful for Gabe and still so heartsick for those who didn't receive the miracle they were praying for. Their courage and strength in the face of such a trial amazes me and reminds me to cherish those I love and strive not to take them for granted. My ipod helped me so many times when I felt overwhelmed. There were so many songs I listened to over and over, but there was one from Allison Krauss that keeps coming to mind. When we are scared or grieving, we feel alone at times, no matter how much support we have in place. This song carried me through those times when I felt isolated in my fear and worry. I never had to experience the grief.

A Living Prayer
Allison Krauss

In this world I walk alone.
With no place to call my home
But there's one who holds my hand
The rugged road through barren lands

The way is dark, the road is steep
But He's become my eyes to see
The strength to climb, my griefs to bear
The Savior lives inside me there

In Your love I find release
A haven from my unbelief
Take my life and let me be
A living prayer, my God to Thee

In these trials of life I find
Another voice inside my mind
He comforts me and bids me live
Inside the love the Father gives

In Your love I find release
A haven from my unbelief
Take my life and let me be
A living prayer, my God to Thee
Take my life and let me be
A living prayer, my God to Thee

Sorry for the lack of posting, I have been praying for everyone on this sight, and others as well, just haven't made the time to post anything. If any of you are following the Farland Family blog page, then you may have seen that another Trisomy 18 family delivered, and lost, their third child Sunday. I visited the Farland and Edwards' family pages today and read the sad news. I don't know any of them personally, but continue to pray for them. I hope you will as well.

I have another prayer request to add. My parents are helping friends of theirs sail their boat from North Carolina to the Bahamas. I pray that they have good weather and safe seas for their travels.