Prayer Request

Tomorrow morning (Monday) at 7:30, my mom, Kathleen, will undergo a hysterectomy.
She will be in the hospital for a couple of days, and home from work for 6 weeks.
Please keep her in your prayers. I will post an update when I know how it goes.
Thank you!





*I have her permission to ask for your prayers.

Hospice Care

Gertrude went into hospice care yesterday.
Bummer, man.
If she crosses your mind, please pray for her comfort.

Family Ties

BlogFriends, Richard's grandmother is having surgery tomorrow to have her spleen removed. Please, as you think of us, pray for her safety and speedy recovery.

Heavenly Father, I pray that your hand would be on Joyce tomorrow as she heads into surgery. Make your spirit known, Lord, with your peace and grace. I pray that you would allay any fears that Joyce may have and build Dick up in your sovereignty and faithfulness as he cares for his wife. I pray also that you would build up Brenda, Lori and Kevin as they serve their parents in caring for their physical and emotional needs. I pray, too, that Your peace will be palpable to our family.

In Jesus' name, amen.

p.s. THIS IS MY NEPHEW!!! Is he not the most beautiful creature you've ever laid eyes on???

Creative Cooking

In the same vein as my friend Kara Jo, I have been trying to be wise with our money and plan our meals ahead of time. (Thankfully, Shirley Jean is easy to please, as you can tell by the photo.) I've been praying that God would help me be creative and thrifty. He has honored my prayer requests...and we've eaten some pretty weird things lately, that all turned out delicious.
Tonight? Grilled chicken breasts and caesar salad along with stale hamburger buns grilled with EVOO and garlic salt. (I know, right?!) Not that weird, I know, but it gets better.
Last week? Homemade hasbrowns: two Russett potatoes, one sweet potato, one parsnip (again, I KNOW!!), grated and fried with sausage and eggs.
The next night? Stromboli made from packaged pizza dough, salami and cheese.
I know none of this proves I'm a genius or even a fantastic cook, but it's a small victory for me as a new SAHM.

Silent No More

On this day in 1973, Roe v Wade was passed, making abortion legal in the United States.

On Saturday morning I had the privilege and profound joy of going to listen to Carla give her testimony with Silent No More Minnesota at the State Capital in St. Paul. I was stunned to learn many statistics about abortion, all of which led me to some very important realizations:
Women DO regret their abortions.
Women ARE hurt emotionally and physically by abortion.
Men DO regret abortions.
Men ARE hurt emotionally by abortion.

I will join Carla today in praying that hearts and minds will be changed about abortion. I will also continue to pray for Carla as she honors God by reaching out in love with her story and without judgement to both pregnant and post-abortive women.

Ice Sculptures

This was the view from our back door this morning at 1am.
I guess it's a good thing that the storm door got stuck / frozen open, otherwise Pedro would be a very sad little dog.
Saturday's project: ice removal in a vain attempt to save our roof.
Please pray for us on this--the weight of the ice and the water backup can not be a good thing, and we aren't eager to replace the roof this summer.
Here's praying for some sun to aid in the removal of these pretty ice sculptures!

Don't you just wanna put your tongue on them?
A little?

Aaahhhh...Ehhhh...Owww...

The chiropractor helped tremendously.
He spent quite a while with me and about half way through the appointment I felt my body relax and go, "Ahhhh."
I actually feel a little hungover from the pain. Sort of drowsy and dazed now that I'm not in as much pain anymore. He sent me home with a couple trial packets of bio freeze (which will stay at my desk since I'm getting the real deal from Cara tonight). I felt a lot better on my way back to work, but I can feel myself tensing up again. I'm at about a 3 or 4 for pain right now, though, which is a heckuvalot better than a 9!
Thanks for your prayers. I think they really helped. If it comes across your mind, please pray that we will be able to get this under control soon.
Word to the wise--biofreeze under your wedding band is slightly uncomfortable.

Perfect 10

At the risk of sounding like a whiner, my pain level is at a 9 this morning.
I'd say I reached a perfect 10 on Saturday night somewhere around 3am.
I made it through yesterday with ice packs and Tylenol. I have a chiropractor appointment at 11 today.
I think I really hit rock bottom standing in the shower last night crying.
A simple formula:
Intense neck pain + hormones + exhaustion = discouragement and uncontrollable weeping.
(I just fought the urge to write "= priceless," but the truth is that I'm not really in the mood for jokes.)
Please keep me in your prayers today. I'm trying not to be too discouraged about my neck (it's as if I've thrown out my back, but only my neck...make sense?), but. But, what if it's like this when the baby is born? What if I can't pick up my baby? What if I feel this way for the rest of my pregnancy? What if it NEVER goes away?
Anyhow, like I said, at the risk of sounding like a whiner, please keep me in your prayers today.

Prayer Request

My brother is meeting with a Navy recruiter today at 4:30 (right now!), and taking the ASVAB on Saturday.
This is the most exciting news since I heard about Eva Prathiba.
Please, if you are so moved, join me in praying that God's message would be revealed to McClain at his meeting today.
I love him so much--I just can't WAIT to see what God's plan for him is.