Nothing but the Blood of Jesus

*Update on the update: Please continue to pray for Laura. Today was not good. 1 step forward, 2 steps back. Pray she will be calm and not have to be sedated!*

Wonderful update on Laura, from her mama (Sunday): [but please continue praying for all of them!!]

At 10:00 this morning, the nurse taking care of Laura called me saying, "I've got good news." She said, "I think you're going to like what I have to tell you." She said that on her way in to work this morning she had prayed all the way for Laura and that when she got there Laura had taken a shower, gotten dressed, put on her make-up, and fixed her hair. She said that Laura had told her that she wanted strawberries, bananas, grapefruit, wheat triscuit and a marble cake with whipped chocolate icing like she had on her birthday. I said, "You've got to be kidding!" "You've got to be kidding!" She said, "No, I'm not." "Would you like to talk to Laura?" I said, "No way." She said, "Here she is." Then I said, "Laura Ellen!!!" She said, "Hi mom." I could not believe it. She proceeded to tell me what the nurse had told me she had said she wanted. This is a very long story I'm giving you the abridged version to but I just had to tell you at least this much.

Clinton and I were in disbelief--reluctantly optimistic. So at 2:00 Clinton went to see for himself. He says she is leaps and bounds improved. Even the nurses are amazed. He said he thanked them for letting her "put them through hell." They have been unbelievably patient with her. Never have I heard them complain--not even once. They just say this is what we do. Some of them have done it for over twenty years and they want to.

My sisters yesterday at 5:00 three of us went to pray over Laura. At 2:00 a.m. I called and Laura was violently screaming to the top of her lungs and had had to be moved to another room because she was so violent she pulled the shower head out of the wall. Sometime around that same time I started writing a message, and my friend woke up to find Jeremiah 40:4 which says, "But today I am freeing you from the chains on your wrists." She believed LAURA (THE CAPTIVE) HAD BEEN SET FREE!!! and my sisters she had. As we were praying over Laura I sang the song, "What Can Wash Away My Sins? Nothing But the Blood of Jesus." "What can make me whole again? Nothing but the Blood of Jesus." Today my sisters, the song Wes led during communion was "What Can Wash Away My Sins?" "Nothing but the blood of Jesus." I looked at clinton and he just looked back at me.

Praise God! Here's another part of a message from Teresa:

If Laura could only comprehend just a fraction of the good her illness has caused she would be in disbelief. I can't imagine what she would do if she knew the rest of the story.

Through all of this, God has been glorified and that is important to me--more important than my prayer being answered just the way I want. Even if I disagree with His answer and my situation, the important thing is God being glorified. Years ago while in the throes of depression I realized what Hebrews 11:6 meant. "But without faith it is impossible to please God: for anyone who comes to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him." After really "getting" this verse I gave God permission to do nothing. I realized that He could do anything He wanted, whether I agreed with him or not. Basically, He could do anything, even though I had given him permission to do nothing. I simply had to believe that He existed and that He would reward me if I diligently sought him. Period. It was at that moment that I gave God permission to be God. My job was to glorify Him. That is what I hope I have done thus far and what I will continue to do in the future. My heart's only desire is to glorify God.

"God does not require of us to have able bodies" is a quote I memorized long ago. It was significant to me, beause I didn't have one. I still don't. If I had to wait to glorify God until my body was able I would never glorify Him. That is why glorifying Him regardless of the situation is so significant to me. Even though Laura's body has been shackled her ability to glorify God has not. Even in her deepest hour, God through Laura brought me the verse that comforted me in my deepest hour. She glorified Him. I pray that by fleshing out the verse "Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions are new every morning; great is your faithfulness" I glorified Him also. [Just before being hospitalized, Laura chose this verse for our group's weekly meditation, not knowing what a strength it would be to her mom and all of the rest of us while she was going through all of this.]

God is in control. His timing is perfect. He never makes a mistake. God is good all the time. All the time God is good.

P.S. If you are on Facebook, join us on "The Titus 2 Group". It's a women's group led by Teresa. We are doing weekly meditations, in addition to other devotions. Jump right in!

Praying for Laura

I'm sorry, dear blog, that I have neglected you. Facebook has been taking up most of my computer time, but I am determined to get back to writing and recording here.

Much of the rest of my time has been spent praying for a friend, Laura, who is very ill and hospitalized, suffering from hypermania. She is literally fighting for her life, and her husband {of less than two years--he could use some extra prayers} and parents are seeking guidance in getting her the best care possible so that she can "turn the corner" and come out of this. She has not slept in thirteen plus days, except for a few short bursts, and her mind will not slow down. She is a danger to herself and has had to be shackled once. The nurses are on guard at all times.

I am embarrassingly naive about spiritual warfare, but I cannot help but believe {as does her mother, at the least} that there is a war going on in her. Maybe not for her soul, because I do know that the Bible says we are "sealed with the Holy Spirit", but for her mind and body. And it seems that the more fiercely she is prayed for, and there are thousands praying for her, the more desperate Satan becomes and the more he throws her way. We are trusting that God has the victory! But that saying about "waiting is the hardest part"? Totally true.

So please join me in praying {for Laura, for her husband Clinton, for her parents, and family} for healing, for guidance, for peace, for patience. However you are led. God is already receiving glory through this situation as SO many are united in prayer and seeking Him more than we had been before. Lord, we know YOU CAN, and we believe You when you say, "I AM".

prayers appreciated

I've hesitated to ask for prayers for some reason, but I'm asking now. My precious father-in-law, Gerald, is in the hospital for (I think) the 3rd time in about as many weeks. Some of you know, he had lung cancer last year (a small tumor removed surgically and 4 rounds of chemo), but seemed to be doing pretty well. He started having pain a couple of months ago and no real explanation could be found. It did not appear at that time that the cancer had returned. As new symptoms starting piling on, more tests were done which led one of his doctors to think it was cancer, but his oncologist did not believe it was. So he came to Nashville for a 2nd (3rd?) opinion a couple of weeks ago. Plans were made for a PET scan to be done today in Nashville to determine whether the cancer is back and if so, to what extent. At one of his trips to the hospital in BG, a scan showed the possibility that it is also in his liver. In any case, he had to go to the emergency room in BG yesterday (Wednesday) and they believe he has pneumonia, and he is having a very difficult time breathing, even on oxygen. He was transferred last night to Nashville (Thanks, Dana!!!!!), we thought so that he could have the scheduled scan and appointment with his oncologist here today, but now it looks as though they may not be able to do the scan.


In any case, he needs your prayers. For healing, for peace, for understanding, for strength, for the doctors and medical personnel who tend to him, for Shirley and Jared as they care for him and make decisions, for the kids as they process that Grandaddy is not the same as he's always been to them. For whatever God lays on your heart. We KNOW He is in control, and, as Jared said just a couple of days ago, these are the times when we either believe it or we don't. It feels like it's been a tough couple of years in our family, though obviously there are many, many others who have had it worse, and we have had some major blessings in those times as well. One of those blessings has been feeling so intensely the support of the prayers of others. God has been good. He has given us more than we deserve. We are forever grateful to Him for His great mercy. Our greatest prayer is that His will be done. We hope we are a part of that, and hope you are, too.



**Several people have asked, but right now I don't know of anything the family needs besides prayers, although cards would be nice, too. If you don't have their address, email me and I will get it to you. I'm not sure about visitors yet, or food, or anything like that. I will try to post again if I find out more.**

Unimaginable

My heart and prayers go out to the Chapman family. Maria was in preschool with several friends' children, one in particular whose daughter was one of her best friends. Please pray for the Chapman family in this unimaginable time. You can go here to let them know you are praying for them.

In memory...

Jared's aunt, Mildred "Poodle" Houchens, passed away last weekend. Her funeral was Wednesday in Glasgow. She shared her birthday with Noah, March 17. The sisters (Jared's mom Shirley, Mildred, Lou and Mary Nell) were often referred to by Mary Nell's daughter, Tonya, as "The Golden Girls", with Mildred being Sophia. She always carried her purse on her arm, and someone would notice, after about 30 minutes of being somewhere, that she was still holding it, and of course they'd all have a good laugh about it. Aunt Mildred, as well as her daughter, Judy, have both been widowed for over 10 years. Because of this, she and Judy have been inseparable for many years. Please keep Judy especially in your prayers, as she adjusts to life without her mother, companion and best friend.

(L-R) Gerald (Jared's dad), Judy,

Tonya, and Mildred

The Hunt siblings: (L-R) Trigger, Bill, Lou, Mary Nell, Mildred & Shirley

Mildred was blessed to live to enjoy her two great-granddaughters, Kaylyn (8) and Khloe (almost 3). Below is a picture of my Madeline with sweet Kaylyn.

We will miss you, Aunt Mildred, but we are thankful that your pain and sickness are over forever. Please keep her children Jimmy (wife Sheila) and Judy, granddaughters, Melissa (husband Keith, daughters Kaylyn & Khloe) and Ashlea, and siblings Trigger (wife Sue), Lou, Shirley (husband Gerald), Bill (wife Kitty), and Mary Nell, in your prayers as they grieve.

Monkeys in a tree

Could these brothers be cuter?? It's moments like this that I get excited about another BOY. And then I remember what life is USUALLY like! They annoy each other, but then they just have a good knock-down, drag-out and it's done. Jack is about to catch up with Noah size-wise (we're praying for a growth spurt for Noah-boy!) and is also just naturally more agressive. There are days when all I hear all day long is "Mom, Jack's trying to hurt me", which means anything from "Jack is SAYING he's going to hit me" to "Jack came within 10 feet of me and *I* interpret that to be aggression". Noah plays the victim well. I feel like I spend lots of my time investigating "potential" incidences. Usually, after a long day of worrying, Noah's fears come to nothing. Sometimes, though, his predictions come true, and Captain Jack DOES attack (usually with a hanger, used as his "hook"), Noah tackles him to the ground, Jack realizes he is NOT yet the alpha male, and things return to calm. Sometimes I think it would be easier if I just stripped 'em down and let 'em have it out first thing in the morning so we could side-step the whole "wanna fight?" scenario. Am I ready for MORE of this???

By the way, thank you for your prayers for me and our family. Please keep them coming. Things are going well and this little buddy won't give me a break from the kicking...a constant reassurance that he's in there doing fine, so I'm grateful for that. I try to keep the blog positive (for the most part) because it would be so easy to just vent here and dig myself into self-pity. I guess positive self-centeredness (as if my kids are the only cute ones in the world) is better than negative self-centeredness. Maybe I should work on focusing on others altogether...but not today. I have so much to be thankful for and find that when I reflect on that, and rejoice in the many blessings in my life, including Ruby's short little life, and this new little life, too, I feel less self-pity. And that is ALWAYS a good thing. Really, you have no idea how much your prayers lift us and keep us going. It's almost like God knew what He was doing when He told us to bear one another's burdens! Praise Him!

A selfish prayer request

You can see from the Blueberry (I'm calling him Little Boy Blue now, although I don't think "Blue" is going to make it as a name...we'll see) ticker, I'm about 21ish weeks along. Although we had a great ultrasound, and I'm feeling lots of kicking, I was also in exactly this position at 21 weeks with Ruby. So, needless to say, these next few weeks are a little uncertain for me. I try to remind myself of all the truths I know...and also that I successfully carried 3 previous babies to full term plus some. So odds are that everything will be normal, but getting past 24 weeks will be a relief, I hope.

I'm doing alright most of the time, but if you think of it, I'd appreciate your prayers for our strength of mind to not give in to worry and fear, which I know are how Satan wants me to spend these next few weeks. I'm not a worrier by nature, THANK GOD, but I can see it trying to creep in. And I know I'm more stressed than I realize right now because I've been taking it out in lack of patience (read: yelling and general ugliness) with my family (husband and kids) and probably been more needy than normal with my friends. Not to mention the normal pregnancy hormone roller coaster. I'm so grateful for this pregnancy, though my sweet Ruby is never far from my thoughts. Thanks for thinking of me.

Well, it's...

...another stinkin' boy! He is healthy and growing just as he should be. Of course, Ruby was at this stage, too, but that's for another more serious post. For now, we're just thankful and excited! Madeline has recovered from her 5 minute meltdown (Mom, we were wrong, she was mad!) and Noah is so excited. He'd planned for us to name the baby Hannah Montana (for Madeline) if it was a girl or Luke Skywalker if it's a boy. He also wanted to name Ruby that if she'd been a boy...or Stick. It was a toss-up. Now he's got Jack saying we should name the baby Stick. But Noah is very sure this baby should be Luke, preferably Luke Skywalker, but he'll take Luke. So that may be in the running (the Luke part, not the Skywalker part...)...other than that we have nothing. We could always go Jared, Jr, but Jared's never been big on that. But he does like the name Jed, which could be a contraction for Jared...but we were so careful with Jack to just name him Jack so he would be named and called the same thing. Who knows. We're out of ideas at this point, so we welcome the suggestions! Thank you for your prayers...keep 'em coming!

Thank you for your prayers

Gerald's first chemo treatment went fairly well. He is tired and had a couple of days of feeling sick. Of course his immune system is weak, so he's got a cold on top of things. But overall he is doing well, it's just a long, slow process. Please continue to remember him as he goes for the 2nd treatment before Christmas. We love you, Grandaddy!

Prayers for Aunt Mildred

Aunt Mildred is in Louisville today where the doctors continue testing to find out where her cancer is. She is tired and frustrated and just in need of some answers. Pray this procedure will reveal the source and that it will be treatable. Thank you!

The Hunt siblings, L-R: Trigger, Shirley*, Mildred, Lou, Mary Nell, & Bill

*my sweet mom-in-law

Prayer requests updates

I haven't updated the prayer requests in a while. Baby Bennett was able to go home with his parents about a month or so ago and is doing very well. Thank you for your prayers for him. Last week, our brother Mike Matheny went to his eternal home. Please continue to pray for his wife, Sharon, and his sons, Markus and Thomas, as they grieve their loss of husband and dad. It is a celebration for him, but nonetheless difficult for those left to grieve, especially this time of year.

I'm adding my father-in-law, Gerald Smalling, because he had the first of 4 chemo treatments today (Tue). His doctors are just doing this as a precaution, and so far he has not felt too bad, but we appreciate the prayers anyway.

I'm also adding Aunt Mildred (Shirley's oldest living sister), who has been back and forth to Louisville seeing oncologists, but still has no answers as to what is wrong with her. They initially told her she had cancer in 3 or 4 organs of her body, but further tests cannot find it. Anyway, she has symptoms that haven't been explained, so although their inability to find the cancer is good news, it doesn't make sense based on other tests and symptoms. She just feels like they must be missing something huge and that any day now, the other shoe will drop. Thank you for your prayers for all of these loved ones. I know each of you has many, many other things or people on your mind, so I appreciate you taking the time to read and pray.

Prayer request

I'd like to ask for prayers for a precious friend of mine who lost a baby a couple of weeks ago. Please pray for peace and comfort for her, as well as the strength to continue being wife and mommy to 2 young kids, as well as working. She is also dealing with some family members who are making her grief even more difficult by their words and actions. Please pray she will be surrounded by those who can love and comfort her and that God will use this difficult and painful time to draw her closer to Himself and to His family. Thank you so much.

Ruby's 1st "heaven" birthday

I know it's weird to most people that we would celebrate Ruby's birth into heaven, but it's one of those things you don't "get" until you've been there (so I hope none of you ever "get it"). Madeline asked, soon after Ruby died, if we could celebrate her 1st "birthday" with balloons, flowers and cupcakes. Well, who's going to say no to the grieving 7 year old sister?! So that's what we planned. As the day actually got closer, it didn't seem like such a good idea, but it's something that was special for our family. Even though it doesn't serve any practical purpose, it feels good to do something for her.

The cemetery is behind a church and is a huge area with beautiful hills (as you can see below), but there aren't many graves there. There are lots of wide-open spaces and for the most part you feel like you're in the middle of nowhere, right in the middle of town. So, we actually love to be there. There are months where the kids ask to go once a week or more and months that nothing is mentioned. Most of our time there is spent climbing the hill, but it's a special place for us, our little private retreat just down the road. Thanks, Ruby, for reminding us to take a deep breath, step back from the craziness that is our life, and really enjoy our blessings.

From my husband

It was one year ago today that many of you stood (literally) with Melanie and I as we buried our daughter. I wasn’t certain what the future would hold for our family after such a terrible loss. One year later, even though sad, we are whole. The Lord has been faithful to us through your hands and your prayers.

Each of us has and will suffer as long as we’re in this world. Some of you are suffering as you read this note. But I tell you to hang on to God and the hope of a better place not so long from now. Don’t rely on me, but rely on God and perhaps He’ll choose me to help you. He chose many of you to help me.

Please say a prayer for Melanie and me this week and remember this scripture from Philippians 3:20-21.

“But our homeland is in heaven, and we are waiting for our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, to come from heaven. By his power to rule all things, he will change our humble bodies and make them like his own glorious body.”

God bless you.

Jared

Hurricane Felix updates

This link is to Baxter Institute where my dad, Steve White, works and is right now (mom is in the States, which explains her picking up my kids this weekend!). They appreciate your prayers always, but especially as they minister to some who were affected by recent Hurricane Felix and related storms.

http://amicus.faithsite.com/content.asp?SID=1331&CID=101293

Thanks!

Update on baby Bennett

Here's the latest update I have from our church. Please continue to pray for him!

Bennett Mitchell Speck, son of Travis and Kelly, and grandson of Steve and Cilla, remains in critical condition at Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, DC, however, is showing improvement. Continue to pray for complete healing for his lungs, heart, for his oxygen and Co2 levels and for protection from seizure activity.

(Updates at http://www.totsites.com/tot/bennettmitchell/journal/)

Prayers for baby Bennett

I'd like to ask all of you to pray for baby Bennett Mitchell Speck. He is the grandson of a family we go to church with at Brentwood Hills (Steve & Cilla Speck). He's a week old and fighting for his life at Georgetown NICU in Washington, DC. You can find updates for him at http://prayingforbennett.blogspot.com/, including instructions for a Prayer Pager to let his parents know he's been prayed for, which I think is an awesome idea. We could all use one of those!! I know personally how the prayers of others LITERALLY sustained Jared and I when we lost Ruby. I can't imagine the mental, physical, emotional and spiritual exhaustion of having your own child in NICU on a heart-lung machine fighting for his life. Thank you for praying for this family.