Mary's decision

Forwarded from Mary:


First, I want to thank all of you for your thoughts and prayers over the past few days. There were times during the decision-making process when I got really tense and nervous, but God would always remind me that you guys were praying for me. That means a lot.Yes, I have made my final decision. I will not be accepting the invitation to Russia. There are a lot of important things happening in my family this summer, beside the fact that my grandparent's are in poor health and I want to spend as much time as possible with them. Plus, the general conclusion in my family was that moving to Russia was probably just a little drastic for my first trip out of the country. Basically, my parents and pastor (as well as I) were just very uncomfortable with the idea of me traveling alone in a communist country.So I want to thank you all again for your prayers while I made this very difficult decision, but you don't have to worry any more - God willing, I won't be missing any H2Os this summer!
By His grace and for His glory,
Mary

EXCITING POSSIBILITIES

If you haven't heard...here's the latest from Mary...

I could really use a lot of prayer right now. Some of you might know the Ketel family - they're missionaries to Siberia. A couple of years ago while they were on furlow I traveled with them a little bit as a nanny for their baby, Kaleb. Well, they now have two babies, Kaleb and Ethan, they're now on the field, and they want me to move to Russia with them to be a nanny while they're in language school. (Yes, I'm freaked out completely) I have not made my final decision yet. My parents have told me that they're okay with whatever decision I make as long as I'm sure I'm doing the Lord's will. If I decide to accept Allen and Michelle's offer, here is some significant info:1.) They want me to come a soon as possible. They have a large 3-bedroom house until August, so I'll probably be staying until then. (the standard visa is 3 months)2.)The biggest obstacle will be getting my visa. Allen and Michelle are talking with their teacher about it, and will let me know as soon as they can. (needless to say, a 12-hour timezone difference makes communication somewhat slow)3.)The next major obstacle will be getting me to Russia. Flying over will cost me about $1500 (I'm not sure yet how much money the visa will cost). So I'll have to find a way to raise that money.4.) The scariest part of the whole thing will be the layover in Moscow - I'll be alone, the Russians will probably see the word "AMERICAN" stamped on my forehead, and I don't speak a word of Russian. (Although Michelle told me via email that all I need to do to fit in is wear tall high-heeled boots and a mini skirt and don't smile) Plus, I've never flown anywhere before, so I have no idea how to find my way around an airport. (The unsocialized homeschooler thing, I guess) I've got to be honest, guys, living in Russia with Allen and Michelle is no big deal - a layover in Moscow is terrifying.I'm going to discuss this with my parents some more, and hopefully arrive at a decision sometime this weekend. Really, the layover thing is scary, but I'm still really excited. I want to do whatever God's will is, and if He wants me to go to Russia I'm all for it! I hope He can use me to minister to the Ketel family.So, if you all could pray really, really hard for me, I will greatly appreciate it. If any of you have questions, you can email me at <singingcreekranch@peoplepc.com>

FYI

I have put a link to JP's "Christmas Dance" video on the blog side bar. Thank you JP for making us laugh, and JT for recording it so that we can enjoy it anytime! :)

Nyiad

TODAY IS THE DAY-PRAY FOR KATE

Dear friends,
Today is the day that Kate has her permanency hearing. This will decide who she will live with unless the judge decides to put it off and give the birth mother more time to prove herself. This has been a very painful time for our dear friends (Zack's family) and a continual giving up of their will to the will of the Father. Please pray for the judge (Bob Lawson) the attorney for Kate (Linda Thomas) and Kate's case worker (Angela Wead). Pray that truth will be revealed, that Kate's saftey will be foremost, and that this will not drag on and on over weeks of uncertainty. I believe the hearing is set for 2:30-I don't know if they "run on time" or not, but our friends need to feel the power of prayer sustaining them today, all day.


I wanted to mention a few other prayer requests,

Jake and Ashton's grandfather has been hospitalized since last week. He is in a more stable condition, but they have found cancer in his lymph system and have started chemo. This was very unexpected by the family. Please be praying for Mr Glenn to be healed and for the family as they are making medical decisions.

About Mr H2O-
Many of you have asked what we found out in Ohio. Well, the doctor there recommended that Chip have the surgery through the back of his neck that would open up the space for his spinal column. Basically this involves sawing through 7 or 8 vertabrae, inserting a piece of bone to hold them open and screwing that in place. It is a very invasive surgery with an extended recovery time. This should relieve him of some of his symptoms, although there is a possiblity that surgery through the front of his neck would be needed later to correct the bulging disks. The greater issue is the lack of space for his spinal cord. (One plus to doing the surgery through the back of his neck is that he would not lose movement like he would with the surgery through the front.) We are sending his medical records to a doctor in St Louis that the Ohio doctor strongly recommended do the surgery. Afer we find out if his prognosis is the same we will make an appointment with him. We would greatly appreciate your continued prayers for healing and peace. Thank you.

Prayer updates

From Heather T an update on her uncle that we have been praying for:


Hey Everyone,

We got a call on Saturday that Uncle Jim had a stroke and probably wouldn’t make it until Christmas. But we got a call late yesterday evening that he passed away on Sunday. Please pray for the family that they would be comforted and also that they would be able to make plans around Christmas. At least some of us will probably be going for the funeral at the end of this week, but it’s a long round trip. We’ve been praying that Uncle Jim would have a speedy recovery or an easy death, and it appears that he had just that. He never seemed to have any pain (amazing for a cancer patient) and now the family is confident that he is in heaven.

In Christ,
~Heather


From Mr & Mrs H2O:

We will be going to Ohio this week. While there Chip will be seeing a spine reconstruction specialist to get a second opinion. Your continued prayers for healing would be a blessing to us.
Mrs H2O

PRAYER FOR HEALING

Dear Friends,
Many of you know that Chip has been having neck and back pain. After all the tests, MRI's , and visits with specialists the outlook is not good. Yesterday we saw a neck specialist who went over the MRI in detail with us. Basically his words were that there was not anything "normal" in Chip's neck and fixing it would be very major. Chip's spine is curved the wrong way in his neck region, he has 3 disks that have major problems and they are not all in a row in the spine. We were given two options by the Dr-the first was a very invasive surgery. They would basically rebuild/reshape the spine. They would open up the back and the front of Chip's neck and reconstruct the spine and fix the disks. The other option was to fix two of the disks with a surgery through the front of his neck. He was not encouraging or reassuring that either of these would be successful. Because of the unnatural curve in the spine the normal surgery for fixing disks in the neck is highly likely to fail. (This is the second option above.) We really do not feel that either option is a "good" option. We may try to get yet another opinion from Dr's at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, but to be quite frank, we are asking the Lord to heal and straighten Chip's spine. I will be honest with you, we are scared and fear is a constant battle. Please pray for us.
Mrs H2O

Justin the stormchaser needs our prayers

I recieved this from Mrs. T, if you haven't already talked with Justin, he was driving back to school after the Casting Crowns concert the other night, drinking a coke to stay awake, and choked! He coughed so hard he injured his back! Ever since he was little I have tried to instill in him not to drink and drive....(I shouldn't joke about this, however, if you know Justin, you know why I feel a liberty to razz him a bit.) Anyway, from Mrs. T:


Justin might have ruptured a disc in his back this week. He went to a University of Missouri Physician in Columbia today and they want to do a MRI on him next week. He has been placed on some medications to help with the pain. If the H2O group would please pray for him....please pray for his healing and that he would be able to concentrate for his finals. Thank you all so much. The T. Family

PRAYER FOR ZACH AND FAMILY
Hi everyone,
Zach's mom called this morning and asked for all of us to pray for them. Things are not going well with the future adoption of Kate. The social workers and lawyers are granting the birth mother extended visits and seem to be leaning towards the mother eventually taking Kate. Most of you know that she is mentally unstable and has already lost 3 other children to the adoption system. Please pray for Kate to remain safe through her visits and for the social system to choose what is best for Kate's welfare and saftey. One determining factor seems to be that the lawyer for the social system is against homeschoolers and thus is making decisions that are not based on the best interest of Kate. Pray for the family that they will have peace and wisdom as they make decisions regarding Kate's future.
Mrs. H2O

Prayer request from Monica

Hey all you praying friends-here is a need from Monica-

Hello all,

I just got a call from my grandmother. They have recently discovered that my mom’s Uncle Jim has cancer in his lungs. Part of it has migrated to his brain as well. He is having rapid weight loss as a side effect of that. The doctors have only just found it, and are running quite a few tests to find out what if anything can be done.

Please pray that God would give the doctors wisdom, Uncle Jim comfort and confidence, and ultimately, healing from this cancer. I do not know if he is a Christian, so please pray that the Lord would use this time to draw him close and show him the truth.

Thank you all!

In Him,
Monica

A NOTE FROM JUSTIN

Dearest Friends,
Thank you all for your prayers, thoughts, tears, and hugs. Today started as a rough day and only got rougher in the afternoon, your love and the love of our Father in Heaven soothed our hearts. Your encouragement has meant so much to me and my family through these hard times.

I also wanted to thank you for the overwhelming amount of food you gave us, we didn’t fully realize the volume until we opened the five coolers at home. They were full of homemade breads, cookies, cheesecakes, casseroles, cookies, casseroles, the biggest ham I’ve ever seen that wasn’t walking around, chili, and cookies, enough food for a long time. They say that the freezer is most efficient when full, ours must be running pretty efficiently right now. Your loving gifts will, and already have, really helped, Mom needs a lot of rest and it is a great blessing for her not to need to worry about making sure we have meals.
When unpacking your coolers tonight I told Mom, “We have the most awesome friends ever”, and not just for the food, for your love to and from each other and the amazing Christian friendship you radiate.
Love you all,
JIT for the Titus family

Prayer for the Titus family

I wanted to let everyone know that Tammy has gone into labor and they are expecting the arrival of Isabella sometime today. Please lift the family in your prayers today. I do not know if Justin has made it home from college yet, I know it was important for him to be here as they do not know the length of time they will have with little Belle before she goes to be with our Lord.
You can send messages to them through this site if you want, I will be sure to post them or send them through the Caringbridge site the family has set up. http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/isabellahopetitus

Mrs. H2O

urgent prayer request from Joy

Hi Everyone,
I received the following e-mail from Joy, I know her family would appreciate your prayers.

Hey everyone, I'm sending this out in request of asking prayer for an Aunt and Uncle of mine. My Uncle Terry Bangart, my Mom's brother, has been fighting an incureable cancer for the last two years, and it's finally to the point he's going to try for surgery. The bad news is that he only has a 10% chance of living though the surgery. He's going in for the opperation on Friday. And, to top off the worst of the news, their youngest son, who was only about two years older than I am, was found shot in his appartment this morning. I cannot even begin to fathom what my Aunt Holly is going through right now, trying to cope with her son's death and the possiblity that her husband may be gone as well in another few days. Please, keep them in your prayers in the days to come, and if I hear anything more I'll let you know. thanks so much, Joy

See you Sat

Hey everyone,
Can't wait for Sat, looks like the weather is going to be wonderful!! See that crazy tornado chaser's forecast in the comments section on the last post. (I am sure he will update us if anything changes!) The vote was a landslide on the side of water balloon wars-so come prepared, figure out your strategy, and see if you can stay dry. I suppose in order to avoid a revolution we will have to make time for frisbee....
See you tomorrow,
Mrs. H2O

Sat H2O

Anybody want to do a post on the Sat H2O? I had a great time and we have been using some of the one liners from the skits already today. However, I'm not sure I will ever get over spandex togas....way too much visual there!!!! Who remembers the answer to "This animal is white and uses a shrill voice while dealing with it's mate?" What was your favorite line?
Mrs. H2O

Plan B

I'm trying to reach all of you by phone....the plan is to move the H2O to Mt Comfort Church. Call if you need directions. 376-2892 or 830-3583.
See you there.

anybody out there??

Hey everyone,
This is a test!! Anyone out there still reading this blog? We have been so lame at writing and keeping up with it-we have had a few good excuses!! Anyway, we will get busy with it again if anyone is interested-just send us a word or two!! Looking forward to hearing from some of you. Don't forget to rsvp for the H2O this Sat-I think there might be a vicious kickball game in the works.
Mrs H2O

pray for our friends who are grieving

Most of you know that Josiah H's grandfather died a few days ago, his funeral is Wed morning. Please keep his family, grandmother, and extended family in your prayers.


Also, we found out this morning that Molly and Sam B's grandmother passed away Monday night. Their family and Zach's (who were friends with her) could really use your prayers through their time of grief.

more

From Josiah H:

I just wanted to let you know about my Grandpa (dad's dad). He's in the hospital in ElDorado Springs. He had a massive heart attack on Friday, and has developed double pneumonia. His kidney's are failing. The doctor gave him 1-2 days to live, with a slight chance of pulling through. He's getting a ton of oxygen, and plenty of fluids, but not a lot of food. It's kind of a delicate balance of things right now. We'll probably have a better idea of what's going on in the morning, when my Dad talks to the doctor.

So if you could pray for my Grandma, that she'd be able to handle this well. For my dad, as he tries to make decisions while staying at the hospital. For the rest of the extended family, for peace of mind.

prayer seems to be the word of the month

Hi Everyone,
We received this e-mail from Jacey D, some of you may remember her from track. (She is trying to make it to an H2O soon) She asked the following:
I was wondering if you could send a prayer request to some of the H20 people. My sunday school teachers son, Jackson, has a lump on his stomach and they have not found out if it is cancerous or not. He is about 2 years old and cute as can be. Please pray for healing, wisdom for his doctors, and that his parents would submit to the will of the lord. Thank you so much.

Also, things have taken a turn for the worse with James and Mary's grandmother-please intercede for her health and for the family as some family decisions need to be made concerning relatives that are living with the grandmother. Thanks
Mrs. H2O

call to prayer

Hi Everyone,
Ever since the last H2O, my heart has really been burdened to pray for each of you, for the struggles you are facing, for the strength to stand strong, and for the plan God has for your lives. I am not saying this in a generic way-our family is praying for each of you by name. We are also praying for the group as a whole, that our times together would be uplifting and encouraging, that our prayer time would be a time of calling out to God, that our worship would be glorifying to the King of Kings, the Creator of the Universe. I want to encourage you to join us in our prayers this week before the H2O-to lift up those that come to mind and to pray for our time together. If you have something specific for us to pray for this week for you, send a comment so we can intercede. Below are a few that I currently know of:

James P is seeking God's Will on what area of interest to pursue as his life's call and how to pursue it.

Aaron G-is home on a short leave, loves jumping out of planes with the military, will have one more training camp and then will be shipped out.

Heather and Josh S-the house building is going well, continue to pray for them as they help their parents. Pray for safety and patience!! They have waited a long time for this!

David S-college life!! :)

Luke N-college life!! :)

Josh & Justin T-college life!! :)

Heidi M-College life!! :)

Charlie W-College life!! :)
Pray for these students as they are away from home, traveling back and forth, trying to balance study time and fun time, pray for their friendships, and for their witness to those around them.

Candace E and her FAMILY-Candance eloped a couple of weeks ago, knowing that her family had grave and justified concerns, it has been very hard on everyone involved. Pray that each of them would know how to adjust their relationship with her.

Colin C-his witness at work and that he would be able to encourage those that are struggling.

Mary P-her job (I think she might also be looking for something else? Let me know Mary)

Priscilla E- whether or not to go to college next year and where. She is also working on the illustrations for the next book in the series.

Joy H- pray for her work, for safety and for her witness.

Elizabeth S-the next step God has for her.

These are the specific ones I know of, keep me updated on anything in your lives you want prayer for. You all are on my heart.
Mrs. H2O