Friday!!!!

I have never been so ready for a week to be over! We are heading out to Chattanooga today to visit my brother and my Dad - then taking the kids to my Dad's cabin tomorrow for all of us to work pulling weeds and clearing up some of the property. Coming back Saturday night, hopefully working around the house after church on Sunday and then I am working Monday morning. I am going to TRY and get some pictures this weekend if I can borrow a camera and hopefully post them on Monday.

If you get a chance, please vote your opinion on my poll (to the right). Let's see if we get it right! I bet we do.

If you think of us, please lift our family up in prayer regarding some important work decisions we are in the process of making and also for Chris' upcoming Walk to Emmaus next weekend.

God has been so gracious to us!

Melissa

Quotes for the Day

In matters of style, swim with the current; In matters or principle, stand like a rock

I am a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.


Both quotes by Thomas Jefferson, (1743-1826).

Miss South Carolina Speaks Out

Okay, okay - I apologize. I just couldn't help it. And NO it is not the original video. It is a spoof. (You will not understand this unless you have seen the actual Ms. Teen South Carolina's goof-up on TV).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUE1Cu04Jzo&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Emefeedia%2Ecom%2Fentry%2F3382314%2F


Also if you vote in the poll over to the right I will NOT be able to see who you picked - only the percentage. It is completely anonymous. I am just curious to see who people within my sphere of contacts think will be nominated.

The Paradoxical Commandments

People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.

Love them anyway.



If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.

Do good anyway.



If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.

Succeed anyway.



The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.

Do good anyway.



Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.

Be honest and frank anyway.



The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds. Think big anyway.



People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs. Fight for a few underdogs anyway.



What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway.



People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.

Help people anyway.



Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth.

Give the world the best you have anyway.



© Copyright Kent M. Keith 1968, renewed 2001

Our Utter Dependence on God

I was asking a dear friend to pray for me regarding a stronghold in my life. She quickly brought to my attention that sometimes strongholds are not removed in order to make us realize our utter dependence on God. Not what I wanted to hear - but true all the same!!

Question: "What was Paul's thorn in the flesh?"

Answer: So that Paul would not forget, God allowed him to be inflicted with a constant reminder of his weakness. Countless explanations concerning the nature of his thorn in the flesh have been offered. They range from incessant temptation, dogged opponents, chronic maladies (such as eye problems (Galatians 4:15), malaria, migraine headaches, and epilepsy), to a disability in speech. No one can say for sure what his was, but it probably was a physical affliction (for the work of Satan in this, cf. 1 Corinthians 5:5; 10:10).It is understandable that Paul would consider this thorn a hindrance to wider or more effective ministry (Galatians 5:14-16) and that he would repeatedly petition God for its removal (2 Corinthians 12:8). But he learned from this experience the lesson that dominates this letter: divine power is best displayed against the backdrop of human weakness (2 Corinthians 4:7) so that God alone is praised (2 Corinthians 10:17). Rather than removing the problem God gave him grace and strength in it and through it.

From: Gotquestions.com

Jeff

My brother has been moved to a step-down unit as of this evening. He is doing extraordinarily well! Once again, thanks for your prayers. Love,

Melissa

P.S. Happy Birthday to my sister Melanie who turned 29 today!

P.S.S. - If you click on Comments below each post you can let me know what you think or how you feel or just THAT SOMEONE IS READING MY BLOG! :) Please leave comments with your thoughts or ideas of something I can blog about the next day!

We Have Everything We Need

Some of you may get tired of me posting Scripture, but I just do what I feel the Lord is leading me to do.

As I have grown during the past few months in God's Word, I have noticed that Scripture really speaks to me in some ways now that it never has before. This passage of Scripture is one of those that really spoke to me this morning.

I know that I have spent a good deal of my life thinking that as soon as I get myself straightened out (emotionally, mentally, physically, you name it), then I can be like all those other women who are such good leaders or servants of Christ or seem to just "have it all together". Not so - the Bible tells me so! God has already given me (AND YOU) everything we need to for this life and for godliness. All we have to do is add to what He has given us by studying his Word. We also need to dump all the baggage, let go of the past, confess our sins and GET ON WITH IT. Let's get out of the pit and out of the mire and go be what God wants us to be. Who cares what we have done in the past (God doesn't if we have confessed it to him!) and who cares what other people think of us! Let's study God's Word, pray for direction and go out and serve others in the way we feel God leading us too. :) Love and blessings to all and have a wonderful week!

I Peter 2: 1-11

3 His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.
10 Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, 11 and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Sunday Fun

The kids had so much fun today. They were singing "Our God is an Awesome God" when I took this picture. So sweet!

Hang in there

This is an audio clip from Beth Moore that I thought someone might find encoouraging today.

http://swn.edgeboss.net/download/swn/saved/oneplace/mp3/2411424/qwb20070823.mp3?siteid=register

TGIF!

Even though I have to work tomorrow, I am definitely glad it is FRIDAY! Quick update:

My brother is doing wonderful (saw him last night). I don't want to go into a huge amount of detail - but the Lord has answered your many prayers and the amount of recovery he has made in just one week is amazing. Thanks to everyone who has lifted him up in prayer.

I have a 7th grader in full blows of puberty - Pray for me and my household!!! :)

We are getting ready to crank up on all our Fall activities, i.e. soccer, basketball try-outs, full fledge homework and tests, youth group, teaching Sunday school, etc. and although I am excited, I am already tired just thinking about it!

Have a great weekend!

Love and Blessings,

P.S. This is a picture of Jacob at Horseshoe Bend in Arizona last Summer. I can't even begin to describe to you how beautiful this is in person. Absolutely will take your breath away. I wish I were there now.

Wonderful News

Chris went be to see my brother last night while he was in Chattanooga and the nurse said that they took him off of dialysis at 11:00 a.m. yesterday and that his kidneys appeared to be functioning on their own. They will know by 11:00 a.m. today whether or not they are functioning for sure. They are trying to wean him off the ventilator and he is in good spirits. The nurse who was working with him yesterday told Chris that she had Jeff when he first came in the hospital in June and that she couldn't believe the complete full circle he had made - she thought he wouldn't have made it.

I know without a doubt that this is completely the power of prayer and the awesome power of God!

Love,

Melissa

WOW!

Check out this video. This child is 9 years old and was asked by the Manchester United Football Team to move to Britain to train and join their team. He is originally from Australia. A parent sent in the video to the Manc. United and based on the video alone they asked him to join. Check it out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hG47FDenyXw

Update on Jeff

Jeff was taken completely off of blood pressure medication yesterday and is still on low ventilator settings. He is making good, but slow progress. It will be awhile before they are able to tell if his kidneys will be able to function on their own again. But, for right now the dialysis is definitely working and he is following commands and in fairly good spirits. God is good.

Melissa

Inviting God To Change You

Sometimes as Christians and just as humans, we have the tendency to think that we don't need to change and that we have it all together in our lives and our Christian walk. My devotion this morning was on being teachable, the way God wants us to be.

None of us have it all together. None of us are sinless. We should all be in the process of asking God to change us to be more like him. Let us all go before the Lord today and ask him where we need to change. Whether it be pride, feelings of self-doubt, addiction, etc., the Lord will give you the strength to change by just going before his Throne in humility and asking Him to help change you to be more like Christ.

TEACHABLE
by Gail Rodgers

The little boy was like a sponge, eager to learn with no pretense yet of having it all together. He was completely teachable. I once heard that the true characteristic of humility is to have a teachable spirit. It makes sense.

It's interesting that, as adults, it's easy to be teachable in the presence of some. Yet at other times we feel being teachable will create a vulnerability that we just don't want to face. So, we put on the pretense of having it all together. Having a teachable spirit means having a spirit that is open to change. We know God's desire is to transform us ... by renewing our thoughts... so we can live in line with His will for us. (Romans 12:2) We want to live in victory in our Christian lives yet at the same time we resist changing our thinking. We deeply desire to walk in the strength and the power of the Holy Spirit but at times, we wonder why our lives feel powerless as Christians. All the while we hang on to the familiar ruts that run through our thoughts and we resist changing.

"Jesus said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven"(Matthew 18: 3, 4). "Like this child." Trusting. Teachable. And yes, changeable. God desires to bring us to wholeness and we all want that. Why then do we hang on so tightly to the familiar, common thinking patterns that run in our minds and are contrary to God's word? This is where defeat can enter. Check your thoughts. Ask God to reveal where your thinking needs transforming. Let His Spirit change you and lead you out of defeat.

Do you choose to hold your anxiety in your own hands when God asks you to cast it on to Him and leave it at the foot of the cross? Pour them out to Him in prayer.

Do you nurse thoughts that feed your feelings of inadequacy when God asks you to allow Him to be your strength where you are weak? Ask for His strength.

Do you hold tightly to your pretense that you are better than "them" when God asks you to show love? Invite Him to love through you.

Are you entertaining doubt in God and dulling your faith? Read the stories of the Old Testament and see the power of God in the lives of ordinary people.

Do you neglect fellowship with other believers because you don't like the way they do things? Make an effort to get to church with expectation in your heart to meet God there.

This is the pathway out of defeat. This is the invitation to let the Spirit change you.

Still stable

My brother is still in stable condition and the dialysis appears to be working. He is almost completely weaned off of the blood pressure medication and he is currently on the lowest ventilator settings possible. Miracles do happen. Keep him in your prayers.

I had a wonderful visit with my sister, Dad, and nieces this weekend. After everything that happened last week, it was good to be able to relax and spend some time with them.

Hope everyone has a great week!

Melissa

Good News

I am very hesitant to post this, but I just talked to Jeff's nurse and his dialysis seems to be working according to his recent lab values! He also is down from 100% ventilator to 35% ventilator settings. His blood pressure is still a big issue, but things are looking better. I know that this could just be another "up" before a "down" but I wanted to let those of you know who are praying that he isn't as critical as he was yesterday.

Some Comic Relifef - Boy Do I Need It

Friday - 5:26 a.m.

As of this morning, they THINK based on his first laboratory values, that they might see a trend towards fluid being pulled off. One lab is good, the other is not great, but they will know more in 6 hours. His vitals are fine. The only problem now is that he has become very dependent on the Dopamin. They are wanting to wean him off of it today, but everytime the nurse tried to last night, his blood pressure dropped extremely fast and dropped very low. Just a quick post before I work.

Melissa

The Longest Day Ever

Here is what happened today:

When we got to the hospital he was in kidney failure (4:30 a.m.). He is on Dopamin to keep his blood pressure up and another medication to keep his heart rate up. He had told the night shift nurse, myself and my father (who is not bearing up at all during this) that he did not want to go on the ventilator and he did not want dialysis. They put him on Dopamin to keep his blood pressure up until we could all get there. The nurses changed shifts at 7 am and we had to wait for the doctor's to make their rounds and also to talk to the new attending doctor on duty. He brought us in and explained that our option was to stop treatment based on what my brother had said or to go ahead with dialysis anyways despite my brothers' wishes. We said we wanted our brothers' wishes to be upheld and then we made a BUNCH of very HARD decisions regarding a DNR - codes, CPR, shocking, antibiotics, Dopamin turned off, etc. The doctor went in to explain to my brother that he would be kept on the ventilator, but no other treatment would be given (IVs, feeding tube feedings, etc.) based on his wishes and my brother at this point changed his mind and asked them to start dialysis if there was any chance it would save him. A complete change of events. So when we left, they were inserting a Swan-Ganz catheter, an ATR (?) and starting a type of dialysis that might start his kidneys working again (50-50% chance). I went ahead and brought the kids back home. The emotional drama and the lack of no sleep is just too much right now.

IF the treatment works, they will know by tomorrow, but honestly I will be AMAZED if it does. He is swollen up SO large, that he is barely recognizable. At that point if his kidneys are not receptive, we will most likely have to go through all of this again. He is on 100% oxygen (full ventilator settings) and his lungs are failing as well. PLEASE be in prayer for my brother's salvation and also for my father. It was horrendous to go through this and I don't think he can go through it again emotionally.

Philippians 4 verses 6-7:

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Jeff

Just received a call from my brother's nurse saying that they were transferring him up to Trauma Intensive Care Unit because his blood pressure was down to 71 today. He is grossly swollen and his kidneys are not working. They are wanting to put him on dialysis tomorrow. It is not looking good at all. He is in the process tonight of telling nurses what he wants and they are writing it down. I will have to go down tomorrow and read what he has written, try to talk to him and then sign papers indicating what he wants done. Please be in prayer for our family. This is a very hard place to be in. Love,

Melissa

My brother's "cardioversion" went great and his heart rate is back to normal at 82 and completely back in rhythm. Just wanted to let everyone know real quickly that things went well!

Melissa

Prayer for Jeff

Please pray for my brother today. He is going to have a procedure called "cardioversion" at 1:00 p.m. today. They will shock his heart to try to get it back in rhythm. The kids and I will be going down this afternoon after the procedure to visit with him.

Also, Chris and I are going to be going to an event called "Walk To Emmaus" in September. We are really looking forward to it. If you would like to read about it, you can go to the website upperroom.com to read about it. We are asking our friends and families to pray for us during these weeks leading up to our Walk and that we will learn and grow during the weekends that we attend.

I just had a few minutes to post and I hope this post finds everyone doing well. FYI - I am going to try to post in the next few days about our experience last week drywalling our upstairs. Let's just say it was full of excitement (arguments) and a great learning experience (we had NO idea what we were getting into!) :)

Love,

Melissa