Praying for Abby

Please read this...it is amazing. This family is in the midst of every family's worst nightmare...their precious daughter is battling a rare and horrible form of Leukemia, yet their faith is never shaken, not even one iota. I've been following their story...along with thousands of people around the world, and I hope that you will not only read Brent's post that I have copied here, but please pray for them and let them pray for you too. (yes, they really want to). Hug your children tight and focus on your joys, but please read this...and you would also be blessed to start reading their blog www.riggsfamilyblog.com



Saturday, February 7, 2009

New Every Morning For Abby, Us & You
I was at the hospital with Michelle and Abby until about 5.30am this morning, then came home for a little while so SpideyLandis and the other kids wouldn't wake up parentless.
Pic: Abby usually talks MeeMaw into making cookies when we are at her house. MeeMaw makes the best cookies, and someone has to learn to carry on the tradition.
The nurses were in and out all night every few minutes. If you've never enjoyed that experience, it is a little maddening getting woke up over and over and over and over all night long. I am a light sleeper, and wake up frequently anyway but Michelle is a sound sleeper, and it is hard on her. She stays at the hospital every single night that Abby is there, so she doesn't get alot of sleep. I run back and forth between the hospital and the house. That's the pattern we've settled into since Abby got sick.
This morning, Abby is about the same. Her little tummy is so swollen, she looks like she is going to explode. The infection area on her stomach around her feeding tube covers about the area of a dollar bill... red, blistered, inflamed. Just touching Abby's feeding tube sends her into a tailspin. The sores have not begun to improve yet and she can barely tolerate even wearing a soft diaper or panties. Going to the bathroom is torture.
Michelle is really tired but patiently tends to every need Abby has... taking her to potty, changing her clothes and bedding, feeding her, putting medicine and cremes on her, monitoring her I.V.'s, getting her drinks, keeping her distracted... watching the same video over and over 50 fifty times because that is what Abby wants to watch. (when Abby is done with chemo, I'm burning "Lion King" and "Beauty and the Beast")
Michelle is the epitome of a mother willing to give up every comfort, all her time and ignore her own needs... to take care of her child. For those who hold the opinion that "adopted" kids are "not as much your child" as biological kids... well, I don't have to make any comments about that. Everyone who has ever adopted knows how absurd that is.
New Every Morning
How do we do this? How do we keep going? How can we be joyful, thankful, content and happy living the "life of cancer" month after month? People ask this on a daily basis.
Answer: the same way YOU can keep going. The same way YOU can be joyful, thankful, content and happy day after day no matter what life throws at you.
The same way that guy I just saw on TV keeps going every day. He fell asleep driving, hit a truck head-on, destroyed his spleen and liver, broke all his ribs and had to have his leg cut off. When they cut him open to operate after the wreck, they found out he had liver cancer too. How's that for a "bad deal" in life?
How do you keep going? How do you keep going with joy, hope and thankfulness? The answer is the same whether you're a parent of a child with Leukemia, a guy with one leg and cancer, a cheated-on spouse, an unfairly fired employee, or just someone dealing with the typical life struggles that conspire to rob us of joy and contentment.
The answer is the same for the couple about to lose their house to foreclosure, or the parents who are finding out how hard parenting really is. The answer is the same for healthy, active folks who don't feel loved or at peace... or the older couple with seemingly-never-ending health problems.
The answer is the same for Americans who take for granted unparalleled personal freedom and an unprecedented level of affluent lifestyle, or the multitudes of people across the globe who are hungry, poor, cold, imprisoned for their faith or beliefs, persecuted and largely ignored by the world. The answer is the same...
The answer to "how do you keep going?" and "how do you have joy and hope?" is the same for every single person in ANY situation, and here it is, my favorite passage, Lamentations 3: 20-25:
I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me.
Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:
Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him."
The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him;
Notice that the Bible does not ignore the "negative" realities of life, or pretend that it should never be talked about or acknowledged. King David, the only person ever labeled "a man after God's own heart" penned dozens of Psalms full of lament, struggle and pouring his heart out about life's hardships. David would not be very popular in much of our modern church or culture. But you know what friends... the honest admission and lament of heartache in the Psalms has spoken deeply to and soothed the heart of legions of hurting souls throughout history.
Acknowledging Is Not the Same As Being Consumed
Acknowledging the hard realities of the human experience is not the same as being consumed by them, or having a "negative" outlook. We are to be positive people who also see the blessings (positive) that come when we depend on God during the "negative". We remember (accept, acknowledge) there are frequent times in life when our "soul is downcast" but that the proper response is:
"... I will call to mind and therefore have hope"... what?
I will call to mind that God's great love is NEVER consumed; it never ends; there is always more
I will call to mind that God's compassions NEVER fail; His compassions always WIN; in other words, if we avail ourselves of God's compassion, it is ALWAYS enough to overcome our sorrows no matter what they are
I will call to mind that God's love and compassion is NEW every morning...
Why does God emphasize "every morning"? Does His compassion wear out by the end of the day and then overnight God gets back in gear and puts out a fresh batch when the sun comes up?
"New every morning" is a point of reference for us. We all live day by day. The sun rises on every person, every day, in every situation. It is a guidepost, a marker, a timestamp that we can all relate to, count on and understand.
So God uses that inescapable reality to give us a common ground that leaves none of us being able to say "I didn't understand, I wasn't aware..." We all understand that the sun rises every day. We all understand that morning comes each day no matter WHAT WE ARE STRUGGLING WITH.
Every morning, for every person, God's love, compassion and mercies are "new" and available. Not "new" in the sense that they got "old" or "worn" the day before but "new" in the sense they are waiting for us, without fail, with the dawn of each new day. They are "new" in that they are totally sufficient for whatever that day holds for us, even when our "soul is downcast"... in fact, I would say ESPECIALLY when our soul is downcast.
When is God's compassion sweetest? When life is great or hard? When does God's mercy seem most real? On the mountain top, or in the valley? When is His love feel the greatest? When we already feel loved by others, or when we feel lonely and abandoned by the world? Mercy, love and compassion are particularly precious when we feel "downcast".
I Will Call To Mind And Say To Myself
God's mercy, love and compassion is there no matter what we do, even if we ignore it. But God calls us to action if we want to benefit from it. We have to get our mind right. We have to deliberately focus on this Truth. We have to "call to mind" the Word of God and tell ourselves:
"God is enough. God is my hope. I will wait on God."
Wait on God? The meaning here is that we will look to God, focus on God, depend on God, keep our eyes on God. It doesn't mean He will delay His love ("wait"); it is the picture of us putting our full attention on God. The Lord God is GOOD to those who seek Him. Isn't that a marvelous truth? Do you truly believe it? If yes, are you daily seeking Him?
I like to summarize things for easy recall, so let me wrap up with this...
Are you downcast? Is life hard? How can you be joyful, hopeful, content and loved despite any hardship?
Focus your mind on God and tell yourself the Truth
God's great love means your troubles will not consume you
God's compassion NEVER fails us
God's love and mercy is waiting for you every morning, every day, every time
The Lord is ENOUGH for ANYTHING you are going through
God is good to everyone who puts their hope in Him
God is good to everyone who seeks Him
Because of all these things you can say...
"Therefore I have hope".
If you have hope, then you can keep going. No matter how hard life is, no matter what dark valley your journey has you in, you can keep going because you have hope.
That is my answer to "how do you keep going?" and it can be your answer too.
Are you encouraged by this message? Do you know someone today who is struggling and could use some hope? Do you know anyone who needs mercy, compassion and love? You have an answer for them now.
Tell your friends, Put this post on your blog. Send it out to your email list Copy and paste the whole thing. I don't care about getting credit for the writing. I care about helping people.
We'll post an update about Abby later today. We have been reminded of God's compassion every day because of YOU. Your notes, comments and prayers are the manifestation of God's love.
What are you hurting about today? How can we be a blessing to you?

SNOW!!!!!!!!

Finally, we got a little snow in East Tennessee! It's always so pretty...another great reminder of God's glorious creation. For the kids, it meant a day off from school and fun outside! Poor L was still recovering from pneumonia, so she could only watch.

My angels...ha ha ha. Only in the snow!

Then, it was inside for a little hot chocolate with a neighbor friend. It was fun while it lasted...only about half the day.

Christmas de Chaos....or not.

Wow...I can't believe it's been two months since I've posted anything! What a slacker!...or maybe a busy, full-time working Mom of three? : )

Christmas was really a fun time at our house this year...low stress, time off from work, not too much cooking or overplanning. We just really enjoyed the season with the kids. They, or course, were just happy to get to make cookies and open presents with Grandma!

J1 got a digital camera and loves to take pics! L and Mommy had a tea party!

J2 got a very cool Roboraptor...I was worried that L might be scared of it...but my girl ain't askeerd of nothing! :) She actually walked right over and kissed it.

We were very blessed to have Uncle David and Aunt Cheryl home for a few days...and they brought their new puppy, Kaiah. The kids just loved her! The boys had so much fun getting her to chase them around. They loved having

Dave and Cheryl here too!



Aunt Kimmie and Cousing Jennie came for Christmas day...hooray! And, they brought brand new electric guitars for the boys! (I'll get you back for this someday). Check out my little rockstars...they were so funny!


A belated Merry Christmas to everyone!

Tagged!

Ok, I've been photo tagged. I'm supposed to pull the fourth picture from the fourth file on my computer, so here it is. These are J1's sweet little fat toddler feet when he was only 17 months old. We took a trip to California to see Grandma B and Grandpa M. This was J1's first time to ever see the beach and he loved it! It's hard to believe that little boy is going to be seven years old this year! I'm going to tag Lorri, Kelly C., and Dani.

My Baby is 2!

Today is "L's" 2nd birthday! Happy Birthday to my sweet pea! Mommy loves you more than you can possibly imagine.

This is one of the first pictures we ever got of her...she was just 4 months old. She was 5 months when she came home and she's already two...it's hard to believe how quickly the time has gone by. We actually celebrated this past Saturday with just a few close friends and of course, LOTS of Elmo! This girl just loves her some Elmo.




She also got a tickle-me cookie monster, which she loves...but I think the "adults" had more fun playing with it : )


L had a blast opening her presents (with a little help from her friends, Abby and Sky.) She really didn't have a clue about the whole "birthday thing", but loved eating pizza and playing with her friends and her brothers.

She got a really pretty blue outfit and some ELMO books from Grandma Marie (plus lots of smooches)

And a great baby doll stroller from Grandma Bonnie in California...(long distance smooches to you too!) She didn't get the whole "doll" stroller idea at first either, but when she caught on she had so much fun pushing around her baby...and then, not long after that, ELMO got the prize spot in the new stroller : )

Special thanks to all our Aunts and Uncles too for sending "flat presents"...we can't wait to go shopping! Much love to all of you. We are just so blessed to be this little girl's family!

Spooktacular Halloween!

We had a great time Halloween night. First we got the kids dressed in their costumes...

L was Minnie Mouse (the hair puffs were perfect ears), J1 was Batman (with muscles of course) and J2 was a ninja...or as he says it "inja".

My dear friend, K, had a Harvest Party at her house and as usual, K went all out and made the night really special for all the kids and their families. She had

little pumpkins for the kids to paint.

This is K's daughter "M" with "L", she is just the sweetest girl and is always so wonderful with the younger kids.

Then the kids played a game called "apple shmear" where you basically bat rotten apples with a tennis racket...it was hilarious! Then we all went out trick or treating. I would guess there were about 40 or more kids, so the neighborhood was really hopping with all of our little "goblins" out running from door to door. The kids had a blast and so did we. Thank you so much K and D for having us all over and allowing us to leave your house an absolute mess : ) Hope you all had a blessed night!

Wine-ing about Sonoma!!!

Okay, So I was sent to Sonoma California last weekend for work. I know, I know...it's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it : ) The shoot was awesome...the crew was fantastic, our talent couldn't have been more accomodating and the weather was amazing. Here are a few pictures from our shoot out there...we were shooting promo wraps for the Dream Home that my company gives away every year. I can't show pictures of the home, but here are some of the shoot. People are always asking me what I do for work...well, I gotta tell you, I am blessed with an awesome job! I write and produce for a major cable network and it really is a blast sometimes.

We shot at two gorgeous wineries in Sonoma and did a little wine-tasting after work with the crew.

This was our director and our producer in Sonoma...

they were fantastic...and lots of fun. The best part of the weekend though, was that one of my best and dearest friends, Donna, was able to fly down from Oregon to meet me and hang out for the weekend! That's her on the right.

It was sooooooooo great getting to spend time with Donna and catch up. I miss her and her family terribly since they moved away. She is truly an amazing woman and friend and I'm so glad that we got to spend time together this weekend.

Thanks so much for coming, Donna! I love you girl!!!!!

And thanks too to my amazing husband and Mom who took awesome care of our kids while I was gone. I love you both so much!!!