Thank You, Jolene

In the position of pastor's wife, there is nothing quite as nice as having church members who love my children. Fellow blogger, Jolene, is such a person. She always treats my children kindly and compliments their every spiritual endeavor. Her most recent posts brags on my son and another young lady in the church. This is the kind of encouragement young people need. Jolene, thanks for loving my kids. You will never know how much it means to me.

Big Joey's Miracle

Prior to this past Sunday evening service, my husband felt the Lord speak to him saying there would be miracles of healing and salvation. When Brian stepped to the pulpit, he told our congregation he would not be preaching and what the Lord had said to him. He then requested everyone to begin to pray. Of course, my husband had no idea Big Joey would be in service. Now, let me tell you a bit about Big Joey. We first met him several years ago when Brian and I taught ACTS (Alcohol Chemical Treatment Series) at the local continuation high school. He is about 6'6", American Indian, and everyone called him Big Joey. Joey came to church, was baptized and received salvation. A few years passed and Big Joey left the church overwhelmed with some personal/family issues. On occasion he would drop by the church and always remained loving and kind to the congregation. In the past couple years, his body has been ravaged with sugar diabetes and he takes four insulin shots per day. He had some trouble with a foot which required surgery and it would not heal. The infection became so great there was talk of amputation. When Joey came into the church this past Sunday night, his foot was bandaged and he was moving very slowly aided by a cane. He stood at the back row and began to cry while listening to the praise and worship. Slowly, he made his way to the front and sat on the altar. many gathered around him and began to pray. One man knelt at Big Joey's foot and put his arm around the injured foot while he prayed for healing. Joey stood, lifted his arms, and with tears streaming down his face he began to speak in a heavenly language. We all felt confident God had performed a miracle as we left service that night. Then, on Wednesday, Brian received a text message saying, "I just left the doctor - he can't find anything wrong with my foot - see you on Sunday morning - Big Joey."

Bittersweet - Part II

Just two weeks ago, I posted about a woman whose dying wish was to be married. The link below is Part II of this story.

http://www.bakersfield.com/hourly_news/story/696723.html

This Past Weekend

The death of Gunther also affected Sparkles. She went outside Friday night and could not find Gunther. Her and Gunther had their own "conversations" each time Sparkles went outside. This night, Sparkles came back into the house looking sad and she went straight to Bryce and started licking his face. It seemed as if she understoond his grief and wanted to comfort him. Pets are amazing. After what seemed like a long week-end, Sunday came with blessings of wonderful services which included miraculous healings, people being saved, and a baptism. Then, Monday arrived and pushed us into more work.

This year, I have been assigned the job of master coordinator for the Western District Ladies Conference. This conference is quickly approaching (March 12-14) and I have much work to complete. Please be patient if I am not posting as frequently. Hopefully, I will soon return to my usual schedule. If you have not visited our website, please feel free to peruse at www.wdladiesministries.com.

R.I.P. Gunther 02.20.09

Gunther, named after the renowned animal trainer Gunther Gebel, is a beautiful shepherd who was from a bloodline of working K-9's. Today, the vet said if it was his dog, he would let him sleep. Gunther was struggling to get up and down because of hip dysplasia, could barely walk because of a tumor on his front paw, had severe skin allergies, an entire body yeast infection, and was deaf. Whenever he shook his head, you could hear fluid swishing. He was nearly 13 years old and Bryce's best friend. Bryce held him until he took his last breath. We have all cried.

WARNING!!!

Darin & his darling wife, Duana

If you revisit my friend Darin's blog about his new iLimb, please have a box of Kleenex before you view the fourth video of Day #3. "Walk With My Girls." (See below post for link to his blog.)

Congratulations, Darin!

Our family has a long-time friend, Darin Sargent, who was born missing his left arm from just below the elbow down and, even though he has accomplished much, he is now the proud recipient of the iLimb. I thought you might enjoy seeing some pictures and reading about Darin at his new blog http://theadventuresoftheilimb.wordpress.com/ On the right side of the blog page, there is a link to "The iLimb" that shows a short video of how the arm works. Nothing short of amazing!

Praise Report

Since the wreck, Bryce seemed to get worse instead of better. He has been unusually quiet, moving slowly, and having difficulty answering simple questions. The doctor was suspicious of a small bleed in the brain and referred Bryce to a CT Scan. Whenever Bryce would try to concentrate or focus, he experienced excruciating pain and, his memory was affected. He said, "It feels like someone is squeezing my head tight." On Saturday night while at Central Valley Singles Conference, Bro. Stoneking walked over to Bryce before preaching and cupped his hand around the back of Bryce's head and began to pray for him. Later, as the presence of God moved in a mighty way, Karen Harding walked over to Bryce and put her hands on each side of his head and began to pray. This is what Bryce said after we got home - "Bro. Stoneking had no idea where my head was hurt and he put his hand on the exact spot where I have been having the worst pain. While he prayed, I felt all the pressure leave my head. The sides of my head were still hurting and Karen came and put her hands exactly where it was hurting and prayed. The pain left. For the first time since the wreck, I think I will be able to sleep tonight." The next morning, Bryce woke up for Sunday School and said he felt rested and did not have any pain. God is amazing and He deserves all the glory for this miracle and you, my friends, deserve thanks for your continued prayers on behalf of Bryce.

Happy Valentine's Day

Here's hoping your Valentine's Day brings you lots of

hugs, kisses, lovin' and,

of course,

chocolate!

Bryn and Blake's Valentine Cards

Again this year, I let Bryn and Blake order Valentine cards from Costco and they chose what pictures they wanted on their cards. (I took snapshots of the cards and they aren't very clear.) I want to give a shout out to fellow blogger Mervi for taking the picture of Bryn's face with her hair in her eyes. He snapped this picture while we were at camp this summer and that is the picture Bryn chose as the large picture on her card. I snapped the other two of Bryn at her birthday party. Blake chose a picture from photographer Kim Lancaster who also photographed freeWAY and myself for our respective CD's. The other two pictures of Blake were snaps I took of him. The last picture is of a jumbo cookie. The kids received, by special delivery, large, heart cookies from their Grandma and Grandpa Allard. It has become a tradition for grandma and grandpa's church to make these large, decorated, heart cookies as a fundraiser each year. Each one is personalized. The best part is they taste good, too. :)

High And Heroic Temper

The beauty of the soul shines out when a man bears with composure one heavy mischance after another, not because he does not feel them, but because he is a man of high and heroic temper.
- Aristotle

This could easily represent my dear husband right now. Yesterday he received good news and bad news. Bad news first - he has three cracked teeth because of the accident. Good news - the California Highway Patrol completed their investigation of the wreck and determined that Brian was within legal speed limits and all fault is on the tire.

Keith is doing much better and is wanting to return to work. Bryce is not fairing well. He is having excruciating headaches when he concentrates, dizziness, hot flashes/sweats, and is having difficulty with his memory. Today, the doctor ordered a CT scan of his brain and instructed Bryce to avoid any vigorous activity until they can determine if he has a small bleed in the brain. Please continue to pray for him.

Bittersweet

The below link is the epitome of bittersweet. I decided to just give you the link so you can read it for yourself and see the pictures. My heart is saddened for this beautiful girl.
http://www.bakersfield.com/hourly_news/story/685559.html

Miracle On The Hudson Interpretation

???

The original intent of my blog was a place where I could write devotions, share happenings in my life, brag on my kids, etc. I never imagined what a powerful tool a blog could be when I was in need of prayer. With just a few moments of typing, I can solicit prayers from around the world. Now we all know that God does not need multiple prayers to touch someone, and at the mere mention of His name miracles happen. So why do we ask one another to pray for the same situation? I am sure we can all offer an answer, but I think there is something about uniting our prayers that causes our faith to rise. If you wish to offer your thoughts, I would enjoy hearing them.

Anyway, all of this came to my mind tonight when I decided to post a prayer request for Jolene, our fellow blogger. She had surgery yesterday, it was successful, and now she needs a speedy recovery.

Yes, I Like Living

I like living. I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow, but through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing.

- Agatha Christie

I'm Still Kickin'

Please accept my apologies in the delay of posting! Keith was released from the hospital after a ten day stay of which eight days were in ICU. Brian brought him to our house and he was here until Saturday. During the time Keith was here, I also had to help organize a funeral and plan a menu for the family reception. Following the funeral that was at our church on Saturday, we drove Keith home to San Diego. We stopped frequently so Keith could move and to help keep him comfortable. Bryce drove Keith's car home for him. By the time we got home Saturday night (really Sunday morning about 2:00 am), we just fell into bed. It was very tempting to sleep in, but I went to Sunday morning service and was glad I did. The presence of God met me there. Today, I have tried to catch up laundry, office work, and seemingly a gazillion other things. Keith has not taken any pain meds for several days and he is steadily improving. There is so much to tell but I am weary and it will have to wait. Tonight, my bed is more inviting than blogging. Thanks, again, for all the prayers you have lifted towards heaven on behalf of Keith, Brian, Bryce, and our family.