I Come to the Garden...

sheila888

Faith...i saw all the pictures on FB since they are your DD's I cant comment on them.

I love seeing the little ones. They are absolutely adorable.

♥

lynniea

Hi Ladies thanks for the prayer I saw the visiting nurse today and Thursday I see the Oncologist.  I hope I can get rid of this drain.

lynniea

I mean the surgeon

jbagley

Thank you.

barbe1958

Lynniea, you mean you want to get rid of the surgeon? I would have thought you wanted to get rid of the drains!

KAJDerby

Wow, so much to catch up on!!  It was neat to see how the Lord worked through so many situations. 

I am praying for your brother, Faith. 

Praying for Matt and the mountain of red tape he has to go through.  I was so disappointed when I read about the surgery not working.  I LOVED the beautiful picture of you holding Matt!  I am also praying for your CT scan results.

Lynniea - I have been praying for you even though I have been on "vacation".

Mum-distraction is good and very theraputic sometimes!!  Praying for you and that this turns out to me just a scare.

We had a wonderful time visiting churches in the UP of Michigan that have been supporting and praying for us.  We did some camping and one week we had a loon come by several times a day fishing just 20 feet from our campsite on the shore!  Loons are my favorite bird and the Lord blessed me so much this trip.  I see my onc. tomorrow and have an MRI on Monday.  Please be in prayer for this.  My hair is growing back fast and furious, but ohhhhhhhh so curly!!!

I wanted to share this young woman's story and one of her final posts.  It was such a blessing to my heart and such a clear testimony of what the Lord has done in her life.

http://amycaldwellbixby.blogspot.com/2011/07/valley-of-shadow-of-death.html?spref=fb

lynniea

I put I am seeing oncologist put it is the surgeon I am seeing

barbe1958

That was beautiful Grace....

We know Lynniea.....

kcl65

Grace ~ I have no words! Thank you for sharing, my heart is touched!

Eph3_12

Grace, do you know Amy Caldwell Bixby?  What a testimony.  Has she gone to see Jesus?

Faithroad

Grace - 
Powerful.  I will never be the same after reading that.

2Hands4me

What an inspiring testimony! Thank-you for sharing!

faithandfifty

I'm so glad that the butterfly picture proved to be uplifting.

I loved the quotes...... and I'd never heard the little song. The little pip whose hand is in the picture above is very sick tonight. She's been taken to Urgent Care with a very high fever, but returned to home after being checked. I feel better knowing she's having an extra prayer or two.

Gardners. I have such exciting news!!!!!

This afternoon I received the news that I have received a national award for my picture book project. Several of you know that I've been working on the illustrations (which I made from fabric as small quilts) for the entire length of my journey with BC..... both of my dx.  

There were so many times when I totally lost heart that I would ever be able to get the work done. Last summer I could barely lift the iron to keep the fabric in line. I was so often dishearted in the process. It kept taking f-o-r-e-v-e-r to see any progress.

So many people here prayed for me in general, and prayed for me specifically around this work.

To receive a national award is beyond amazing. It is indeed the work of heaven. I give credit to my friend saint for pulling some strings on my behalf.

In any case, I wanted to give a praise report of joy!!!!

Here's the link: http://www.rainbowswithinreach.blogspot.com/

Here's the award:

I have been blessed beyond all understanding. If this award can bring one more book to a teacher looking for a resource for the commemoration of 9-11, I will be grateful.

Thank you for your prayers.

barbe1958

Faith, you pulled a lot of those strings yourself with your hard work and dedication. The award is so validating of your efforts!! Congrats!!

kcl65

Faith ~ That is absolutely fantastic!! CoNgRaTuLaTiOnS!!!!!!!!!

faithandfifty

Thanks so much for the congrats team.

Validation is a lovely gift!!!

Yesterday's blog post was specific to my expressing gratitude to the BC/BCO community for the long-term support:

Here's that link: http://rainbowswithinreach.blogspot.com/2011/08/indie-award-reflections.html

Again, I am so grateful to have the opportunity to work at what I love and work at sharing it with a wider audience!!

And here's a shot of gratitude for my fave angel:

lynniea

Hi ladies No cancer found Praise God.  I still have to see the radiation oncologist on the 10th.  They found a .32mm cancer cell in 1 of 13 lymph nodes they took out. 

kcl65

Faith ~ That was beautiful, very touching! You are a very talented and by the looks of it a super fun person! God has blessed your faithfulness and we rejoice with you!!! Woohoo!!

Lynniea ~ Thanking God with you and continueing to pray!

lynniea

I thank you all for the continue prayer.

barbe1958

We live on a golf course community, so I expected our grass to be glorious as it is tended by the condo board. I was SO disappointed to see weeds in the spring and then thought the final insult was a clover patch just outside the window where I sit at the computer....

How blessed was I when I looked out one morning and saw a bunny munching away at the clover!!!! Interesting how God can change our opinion about something....

KAJDerby

Yeah Lynniea!!!

Yeah Faith!!  My mother wrote children's books back in the late 70's and early 80's.  She went to Heaven in 1985 just before her last book was published.  Congratulations!!!!

Meece

Grace, thank you for sharing Amy's story.  I could hardly speak after reading it.  She is so clear in her thoughts and her faith and lack of fear of dying should be a blessing to her children.

It has been hard having Matt home for the past two weeks.  That sounds so bad, I know.  He is an adult who has been living on his own for 6 years, but he is living in MY home.  It is complicated, but to condense things, he spent much of his first weeks home with a "friend of the family" who does not exemplefy a Christian life.  He is a disabled vet and has been helping Matt navigate throught the VA and AF red tape.  For that we are grateful, but there are aspects of this man I worry about.  

Matt and I have had a couple of very difficult conversations, but things between us are going well.  He has not been released by his Japan Dr. so he still has not had his Cumadin checked.  I pray that his health will not suffer during this tranistion.

He attended church with us Sunday and he was very judgemental of how our church worked.  It is a large church and he isn't used to that, so it appears he shut his mind to the message.  In particular he was unhappy of the translation of the Bible that was used.  Please join with me in prayer that Matt will be able to find a church teach the Word which will encourage him and stimulate his growth in Christ.

barbe1958

Wow, who would have thought that his hardest culture shock coming home would be church issues!! I pray he finds the House that gives him the most peace.

Meece

It could have also been because one of our difficult conversations was the night before.  He still wasn't thrilled with me.

barbe1958

It's hard to be back under a parent's roof. I did it with my Dad at one point. Very humbling....

Meece

I know this whole thing is hard for him.  I am trying to be of encouragement to him.

kcl65

Meece ~ Prayers are being sent!! It is hard to have an adult chid come back home. My oldest returned because he has student loans up to his ears. It took a little bit of an adjustment as he left as our kid, went to school, lived on his own for a couple of years, and returned as an adult. I can't imagine throwing in the mix him not feeling well and out of sorts. God loves Matt and they will get it figured out! I will definitely be praying for you all Meece! (((((((Meece)))))))

Barbe ~ A great lemons into lemonade story with the bunny!

barbe1958

Oh, I'm sure you're trying to be an encouragement, but you're still 'Mom'. When he connects with more of his peers and not just the old vet, he'll probably start to be the Matt you remember. Right now he's a patient.

I had 2 boys come back for about a year when they were in their early 20's. It was nice to have the company, but they slept in late and ate a TON!!!!!! They were there for 9/11 and I'm so glad we were able to process it together. It really helped heal. I had called my Dad crying on 9/11 and he said very angrily "It's not YOUR crisis!!" I know he was just trying to give me perspective, but I kept saying "They just went to work!" My boys understood it all better.

Eph3_12

Morning gals, Meece-I'm glad Matt is home!  Things will work I'm sure.

For those of you not on FB or at least not on my friend's list (and if that's the case, why?) our town has 2 children 8 & 9 suffering from terminal cancer.  There are tons of fundraisers etc. going on.  I only "know" them in round about ways, such as walking in the survivor lap @ Relay for Life the last 2 years with both of them & I know the little girl's grandma in one of those 6 degrees of separation things.  Anyway, this AM the following video is on the little boy's FB.  I post it here in an effort to get more prayers, but mostly for the song.  We must all remember it!

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvU4o6GbJN0&feature=share

Eph3_12

Please copy & paste if it won't let you click.