Prayer Request

As most of you know my mother-in-law Cathy is living with cancer. She has done so well with all of her treatments. The Lord has blessed her with good reports and great doctors.

I do have a request for prayer regarding her though. Until recently she has felt God's presence in everything. She has felt His comfort, feed off His strength and heard His calling in her life. Lately she has really felt lost and confused as to where God is...she doesn't doubt He's there but she just doesn't know where to start looking again.

She has asked that people pray for her...to find His strength for her, to feel His peace and to hear His sweet voice telling her "well done".

Cathy is a wonderful person and we do love her so much, it is sad to listen to her pain. I know I have struggled with hearing God and finding God...I can only imagine how she feels. Please join me in praying for her to regain comfort and peace. I know all of you love her and that your thoughts and prayers are heard by the Lord. When I asked her if I could post this request she said, "Of course, you can never have too many people praying".

You are prayer warriors and for that I am grateful. I have learned in the last months since I started this blog that when I ask for prayer the Lord listens...He makes mountains move in this family. All of the praise goes to HIM!!!

Thank you for your love, prayers and support.

Camping with a 2 yr old

Well - we are home from camping. Actually we have been home since Tuesday night. That was by far the LONGEST 36 hrs EVER!!!

We learned a few things... (1) don't buy a tent from Cabelas (2) small 4 person tents (the back up tent) don't make good homes (3) make sure the electricity at your site works AS SOON as you get there & (4) 2 yr olds with OR without Autism don't love camping as much as you think they might :)

The first day of our trip was stressful to say the least...just one thing after the next happened. The second day we checked out early (luckily they gave us a refund for the 3 nights we didn't stay) and headed down to South Haven for a day at the beach. If you haven't been to Van Buren State Park I highly recommend it. The beach is awesome, clean and has a really nice sand bar in the lake...we love it there :) After our day at the beach we headed into town to do some shopping and grab a bite to eat. Madison fell asleep within minutes of being in the car so we just decided to forgo downtown and head home. We were home by 8:30 and I was completely unpacked with 2 loads of laundry done by midnight :)

We did enjoy our time as a family but we certainly were glad to be home! We were gone for such a short time I didn't even take any pics...sorry.

Well things picked right back up at home. Eric is working very hard to get our sun room done - I can't wait to have our first game night in it :) Get ready Aline, Andrew, Mom & Dad...the trophy is up for grabs this time...TRIVIA TIME!!!!

Time to get the day going. I love you all and hope to see you soon!
Sara

Just catching ya'll up

I am SOOO sorry I have not posted the events of last week. I thought I had called everyone but I found out I did not. I DO NOT HAVE CANCER!!! In fact I don't have anything - just translucent mucus glands - gross :P Thank you all for your prayers - the Lord was watching over me and my family that day.

My mother-in-law Cathy got a great report from her doctor that day as well...the cancer has NOT grown - PRAISE HIM!!!!! He is working wonders in her life. Yes she still has down days and not feeling great days but He is keeping her strong and her eyes are focused on Him! Again I say PRAISE HIM!!!

Well this week is Eric's last week of work. He is off for a guaranteed 5 weeks with the possibility of it turning into 8-9 weeks. We are starting his time off with a FAMILY VACATION!!! We are going camping at Muskegon State Park (sorry Nikki but we have a pretty packed trip and we won't be able to stop by)...Eric and I went camping together last year alone - this year we are a little bit braver...we are taking Madison. She just got this really cool new portable tent crib thing (technical terms I know LOL ) It looks just like a dome tent and it has a built in blow-up mattress...we are excited to try it out. No more lugging around a heavy & uncomfortable porta crib! We plan on going to Michigan Adventure while we are gone and then doing some beaches that we discovered last year on our family vacation...and a trip out west isn't complete without a trip to the John Ball Zoo :)

I will update everyone on our trip when we return. I will have Internet access (I still have to work while I'm out of town) and we will have our cells on at all times (except while we are going down the FUNNEL OF FEAR!!!!). We will be gone Monday 23rd - Thursday 26th...but we may have so much fun we might stay an extra night or two.

I hope everyone is enjoying the cool weather - I'm sure Aunt Alice is :) Love to all and I will blog again soon!

Cancer...a word you think you will never hear

For those that do not know...I saw my dentist this past weekend and there are/were concerns of me having oral cancer. There are a lot of factors involved that I won't bore you with details of BUT I do have some glimmers of hope today...

I saw my dentist today and he is referring me to an Oral Surgeon. I will see him on Wednesday (the 11th) and he will biopsy both sides of my tongue. There are tumors on both sides but the dentist said it just looks like PRE-cancer displasia (I know I just spelled that REALLY wrong). He said that he would be very surprised that this was in fact cancer but wants to take a look anyway. He also said at this point it is still possible that they will remove the cells anyway.

I was very relieved to hear all of this from him. I have called a few of you for prayer and I thank you all for your prayer. I am trying to remain calm and not over plan (Nikki :P) but at the same time I am living with the knowledge and thoughts that this could be a bus that hits my family head on. The Lord has blessed me with a wonderful supportive family & an extremely anal retentive planning capabilities :) There are parts of our family that I "run" and Eric really doesn't know the in's & out's of it all...I will spend the next few days getting everything ready...heck I could really be hit by a bus tomorrow - ya never know ;)

This really has put a perspective on my life...all these years I have hated my double chin - now I just want to keep my chin :) Gotta laugh right?!?!?!

I will keep you all updated, I will also send this in a mass email so I know everyone sees it. Thanks again and I would appreciate prayer until we have an answer :) Love you all!!!

My little out of tune singer - too cute not to share!!!