Princess Bri

The Bible says that our thoughts are not God's thoughts and our ways are not God's ways.  I know that my finite mind cannot comprehend the ways of God.  I don't know why God heals some people here on earth and others receive their healing when they go to heaven. 

A few years ago I had the privilege of coaching an adorable, sassy, sweet, princess named Brianna and her spunky, fun, athletic sister Tori in Upward Basketball.  My favorite moment of the season was in one of our last games when she scored her first basket, ever!  She was so proud of herself--and so were her parents, the team and her coach:) 

Their family became so important to me.  Fifteen months ago they found a tumor in her brain and since that time, Bri fought hard to beat it!  She endured radiation and chemo, hospital stays...much more than any child should have to.  Every time I visited, Bri would smile or laugh--she was still the same sassy, adorable, sweet princess Bri.  When she became unable to swallow or even speak, she still captured my heart.  I prayed so hard for her healing.  Our entire community rallied around their family and prayed for her healing...

Yesterday afternoon Bri finally got her healing, although not in the way I selfishly wanted.  She is now with her King--living like a real Princess!  She is no longer suffering and her body is made whole and perfect.  She will never struggle to communicate again.  She will never feel pain or frustration...ever again. 

Now I pray for comfort, peace and strength for everyone left behind to continue through life without Bri.  Pray for her parents- Steve and Angie, her sisters- Tori and Rachelle, her brother- Derek, her niece- Jaelynn and the rest of the family.  Pray for her classmates, friends, neighbors...everyone that will miss her.  She was a truly special girl and she brought our community together. 

Princess Bri is now with her King, and that is the joy that comes through the trials.

Panthers

These are my little guys, the Panthers! Sometimes we change our name to the Crazy Panthers...I guess that's just what you do with 5 and 6 year old boys:)

Brianna

Tori and her younger sister Brianna were on my basketball team 3 years ago.  It is hard to believe it has been that long, but they were in Kindergarten and 1st grade!

They found a tumor on Bri's brain stem a few days before Christmas, 2010.  She has been going through chemo and radiation and to the doctor's surprise, the tumor had been shrinking.  Many people have been praying for Bri and her family has drawn near to God.  There is beauty through the pain. 

Over the past months, there has been a calcium build up around the tumor and it has caused her to be unable to speak or swallow.  Bri is an intelligent little girl and it has been frustrating for her to not be able to communicate what she wants to tell people and it is hard for her family becuase they don't know what she needs/wants.  

On Tuesday, January 24th, Bri's 9th birthday, they went to the children's hospital to get the results from her recent MRI and were informed that there are 3 new tumors --a different kind of tumor than her other one--on the top of her brain and that the old tumor didn't change.  The doctor's haven't seen anything like this before either and aren't sure there are any treatment options that would be beneficial.

Our community and churches have been praying for God to miraculously heal Bri and I believe now is the time.  When the doctor's don't know what to do, God has still got it under control.  Please pray with me that Bri would be healed and the tumors would be gone. 

Isn't she beautiful:)

God Cares

I was driving back to Indiana from Ohio on Sunday night.  I left my mom's at around 3:30 that afternoon and it was rainy, cloudy, dreary...I'm sure you remember the nasty weather.  Anyways, as I was getting close to Columbus, I felt the urge to pray.  I prayed that God would give me safe travels, that I would not get in an accident and that I would make good time.  

When I was going South on 270 in Columbus right by the Easton exit I was driving in the left lane and there was a big pickup truck in the center lane. My exit was coming up so I was getting ready to merge into the center lane when all of the sudden this BIG white thing flew out of the truck and was coming towards me!  I quickly swerved back completely into the left lane and the thing hit the front passenger side of my car.  I was literally freaking out cause it made a loud bang.  My car continued running fine and my lights were working so I didn't pull off the road--and the truck didn't stop either.  I finally calmed down and continued my drive.  When I stopped to get gas 2 hours later, I forgot about checking out my car...so I didn't get to check it until I got home.  When I opened my passenger door, it made a loud crack!  It was too dark to really assess the damage, so it wasn't until Monday morning that I got to get a good look at it.  It hit at the edge of my fender--about 1 inch from my tire.  If it would have hit my tire, it would have busted it and I most likely would have gotten into a serious accident because I was driving about 65 MPH.  God protected me!  I also realized that if I would have been in the center lane or had not swerved back into the left lane, it most likely would have hit my windshield.  It made a large dent in my car, I can't imagine what would have happened to me if it had hit my windshield.  God protected me.  I was truly thankful that God put it on my heart to pray for His protection so He could answer that prayer.  

Another praise...I called my insurance agent on Monday morning and explained what happened and it is covered under my comprehensive insurance.  He instructed me about which body shop to take my car to and that the body shop would arrange for my rental car.  I took the car in Monday afternoon and the estimate was $711 and would take 3-4 days.  The best part is that I have a zero deductible and 80/20 rental insurance.  I don't have to pay anything for my car to get fixed and the rental car is costing me $6.18/day.  

This whole experience was a nice reminder that God is our protecter, provider and that He cares about what happens each day!  God is good!

My Apartment

I decided to rearrange my apartment and I got rid of some things at a garage sale and got some new furniture at Ikea. I also finally found a place to display all my souvenirs from across the world.  I wish I would have taken some before pictures, but I didn't think about it until after I had moved out my big furniture...oh well:)  Here are some pictures of my "new" place.

My new lamp and a mat that was made by this wonderful family in Africa!

My new bookshelf

My new kitchen cart--I LOVE that I can fit all my baking stuff on it--including my cookbooks.

My New desk and chair.

I am not completely finished, but it does feel like a whole new apartment--which is nice!

Dog-Sitting

So I'm currently dog-sitting for my co-worker, Kara and I thought I would share a little story of what happened last time I was here:)  The dogs, Emerson (boxer) and Izzy (lab-mix) are very active!  Izzy makes Emerson do what she wants and one evening while they were out in the backyard, I noticed that Emerson's collar was off.  It was already dark outside, but I went out anyways and tried to find his collar.  I gave up after a pass through the yard and decided I would find it the next morning when I let the dogs out. 

The next morning (Sunday) the dogs woke me up at 6am to be let outside, so I came downstairs and let them out.  I remembered that I needed to find Emerson's collar, so I went upstairs and got my shoes then as I was going out, the dogs were ready to be let in.  I went out, the dogs came in.  I searched the yard for about 10-15 minutes and finally found Emerson's collar, Izzy had actually broke it!  I went back to the door and the door was LOCKED!  The dogs had somehow locked the door!  I tried to get them to unlock the door by following my hand up, but it didn't work.  It was at that moment that I realized that my key and cell phone were inside on the kitchen island.  I had no way to contact anyone and no way in the house.  Kara's parent's (my boss) live about 15 minutes away, but they were out of town together! 

I walked around the house trying to find a way inside and I saw the garage door opener and got excited!  I didn't know their code, but I do know their number...so all I needed was a phone.  I decided to just wake up their neighbor, who is hispanic and doesn't really speak english.  I was able to ask her to borrow her phone quite easily, thank you high school spanish:)...I called and asked the garage code to find out that it didn't work!  I started freaking out thinking that I would have to break a window or something to get in!  I found out that Kara's mom had a spare key at her house, so I just needed to find a way there!  It was looking good.  I got off the phone with them and then I was ready to call a friend to take me to get the key. 

Then I hit the next roadblock...I don't have anyone's phone number memorized!  I asked to use a phone book, but who has a land line anymore!?!  The neighbor had woke up her daughter by this time and she spoke perfect english, so we no longer had a language barrier.  After a few minutes of me searching frantically for someone's phone number, they offered to drive me!  So these people that I woke up at 6am on a Sunday morning saved me by letting me use their phone and taking me to get the key. 

Thankfully when I got back, the dogs hadn't gotten into much--there was just a few pieces of paper shredded on the floor and a rug from one room in another room. 

This time, I have not gone anywhere without my phone and the house keys!  Oh and Kara mentioned after they got back that the dogs had done that to her husband, Jeremiah...it would have been nice to know before it happened:) 

Ethiopia

Today I had the honor of joining a family at the airport as they welcomed their two new children/siblings home!  A wonderful family from church has 3 biological children and now 5 adopted children--and it was so fun to be able to welcome them back!  The new kids are from Ethiopia and are a beautiful brother and sister and I know they have a lot of adjusting to do, but they couldn't have found a better family to join:)  I'm just glad I could be a part of it and see the joy on their faces!