Bring the Rain

We are praising the Lord tonight for the protection that He provided for little PeyPey's body. If you didn't get our e-mail updates, allow me to fill you in.

We were able to see Peyton's regular pediatrician today. Although the misdiagnosis of a mass on her lymph node & subsequent CT scan caused unnecessary panic, the test showed that Peyton has a very serious infection in her sinuses, ears, & throat. She has been put on a strong antibiotic for the next 12 days. Her doctor wants to see her again in 3 weeks. If the infection does not clear up, we will have to move on to antibiotic shots & be referred to a pediatric ear, nose, & throat specialist. We are monitoring 2 things that could be affected by an infection this severe: her lungs & her hearing development. The doctor examined Peyton's swelling & is 99.9% sure that it is swollen glands due to the infection & we should see the swelling go down as she gets better. Although the infection is nothing to take lightly, it is much better & far more manageable than the worst that we were imagining!

We are so grateful for all of your prayers. We know there are so many of you who love our family & Peyton & were storming the gates of Heaven on our behalf.

Someone approached my dad this week & commented on how terrible it was that this trial was happening to our family. My dad didn't see it that way. He said that it's to be expected. Jason & I are answering a call to full-time ministry & we are being refined . . . funny, that's what we thought, too.

Jason discovered a new song by MercyMe this week as we were in the midst of all this uncertainty. When he shared it with me, I knew I had to share it with all of you:

"Bring the Rain"

I can count a million times
People asking me how I
Can praise You with all that I've gone through.
The question just amazes me
Can circumstances possibly
Change who I forever am in You?
Maybe since my life was changed
Long before these rainy days
It's never really ever crossed my mind
To turn my back on You, oh Lord,
My only shelter from the storm
But instead, I draw closer through these times
So I pray . . .

Bring me joy, bring me peace,
Bring the chance to be free,
Bring me anything that brings You glory.
And I know there'll be days
When this life brings me pain,
But if that's what it takes to praise You . . .
Jesus, bring the rain.

I am Yours regardless of
The clouds that may loom above
Because You are much greater than my pain.
You who made a way for me
By suffering Your destiny.
So tell me, what's a little rain?
So I pray . . .

Bring me joy, bring me peace,
Bring the chance to be free,
Bring me anything that brings You glory.
And I know there'll be days
When this life brings me pain,
But if that's what it takes to praise You . . .
Jesus, bring the rain.

Sifted Wheat

I have fallen in love with a verse. And I am claiming it as my own today & perhaps for many more days.

"Simon, Simon,

Satan has asked to sift you as wheat.

But I have prayed for you,

Simon,

that your faith may not fail."

I must confess, I am feeling a bit like sifted wheat lately. You know the old expression, "When it rains, it pours." Well, it's flooding here. If you've read the earlier post, you know that Peyton is having some medical problems. We are scheduled to have a CT scan done tomorrow morning. We are also in the middle of home repairs that need to be done so that we can put our house on the market within the next week or so. Well, here are just a few (there are so many more) curveballs that have been thrown our way.

Saturday was set aside for laying carpet & putting furniture into storage. We had purchased a 12 x 18 piece of carpeting. When Jason unrolled it on Saturday morning, the carpet only measured 12 x 15 . . . not enough to cover the room. We had to return the carpet to Ollie's (where all sales are not so final), pick out a new carpet at the Ollie's in Pottstown, pick that one up, & take it home to install it.

Yesterday was a difficult, yet encouraging day. Lots of friends prayed over Peyton & hugged & cried with us. When I came home from grocery shopping in the evening, I soon realized that the box of diapers that I bought for Peyton were still under my shopping cart back at the store. And once I stepped in the house, I saw that the dog had peed on the brand new carpet!!!!!!

Jason & I have been assured that this is normal. Our pastor looks back with a smirk on the months before he entered seminary as some of the hardest, yet more rewarding months he can remember. He brought this verse to our congregation's attention on Maundy Thursday. What most captivated me was the power in the 3rd, 4th, & 5th word of this verse: Satan has asked. I can rest assured that Satan can do nothing that the Lord does not allow.

I have re~discovered something else amazing about the battle between God & Satan ~~ Satan is always trying to have the last word & God never lets him. Even with the snags that we've been hitting, God just keeps smiling at us! For example, Ollie's is going out of business & all sales are final, but when Jason explained the situation, they were willing to give us our money back. Not only that, but when I went to get the 2nd carpet, they gave me 10% off because of our trouble. And when I called the manager at Walmart about the diapers I had left on my cart, he told me to bring in the receipt & they would give me a new box!!!

And here's the kicker to all of this ~ as I was sitting here typing up this post, Jason called. He had just gotten off the phone with the Dean of Admissions at Evangelical School of Theology. HE'S IN!!!!!! With no extra restrictions or requirements!!!!!! And they have a townhouse for us!!!!!!!!!

Satan has asked . . . . BUT I HAVE PRAYED FOR YOU!!!!!!!

Sweet PeyPey ~ Prayers Please

Please pray for Peyton. Earlier this week I had noticed some swelling at the base of her skull. I chalked it up to teething & didn't think much more about it. Late this morning, as we were playing in the playroom, she came crawling up to me. When I rubbed her head with my hand, my attention was immediately drawn to a lump the size of a quarter. I took her to the doctor this afternoon & he found what he believes to be a mass on her lymphnode. We need to have a CT scan done within the week, as well as some bloodwork.

Please keep PeyPey in your prayers, as well as the rest of our family. We'll keep you posted. Thanks.

Easter Pics

Caleigh enjoys some of her Easter candy (she has a sweet tooth . . . just like her Mommy)

Whatcha lookin' at??

Daddy & PeyPey lookin' snazzy!

Yes, this is really the best picture I got of Caleigh in her Easter dress.

Caleigh enjoying the egg hunt

Caleigh enjoying the benefits of the egg hunt :)


PeyPey's Easter basket loot

Christ is Risen, He is Risen Indeed!!!

I do realize that this blog is being posted 2 days after the fact, but I still hope you all had a wonderful Easter! I know our family certainly did.

The festivities began on Thursday evening with our Maundy Thursday worship service. We had an amazing service of remembering Jesus' last night with His disciples where He commanded them to love one another & to wash one another's feet. We then shared a special time of communion & washing each other's feet.

On Good Friday, Jason & I decided to babysit some of our favorite kiddos so that mom & dad could go & enjoy the Good Friday service together . . . in peace. Once everything died down for the evening, we settled in & watched "The Passion." Rough stuff ~~ this was my 5th time seeing it & it doesn't get any easier.

Saturday was a busy day (I'll fill in those details in a moment ~~ let's just say it involved paint brushes & carpeting).

Sunday morning was an awesome celebration at our church! This is our 2nd Easter at our church & I just love it!! It truly is the happiest morning of the year! The worship was so hyped up!!!!! The girls looked gorgeous in their Easter duds (courtesy of Nana). After church we headed over to MomMom & PopPop's for lunch, Easter egg hunts, & games. Good times!!!!

As for your weekly Evangelical update ~~ no new news yet. I think Jason's going to call tomorrow to make sure the committee isn't waiting on any missing piece of information.

However, the realtor was here on Wednesday. Things went very well, but we do have a few minor home repairs to do & he would like us to have them done in the next 2 weeks. Yes, I said 2 weeks!!!!!!! We need to repaint the bathroom & put up all new curtains, repaint the livingroom-diningroom-hallway area, repaint the kitchen, get rid of some furniture, & carpet the diningroom . . . in 2 WEEKS!!!! It is quite the undertaking, especially with Jason working full 8-hour days & me having children underfoot all day! So we've divided up all the work & have come up with a semi-manageable game plan. Saturday was devoted to the bathroom & I am happy to report that it is DONE!!!!!!! We were even able to purchase some carpeting at Ollies (ours is going out of business, so we got it for a steal!). We've been right on schedule with the renovations so far, so pray that that continues! Tonight we are edging the livingroom-diningroom-hallway, (as soon as the hubby gets home with the carpeting we bought at Ollies . . . good stuff cheap!!!!) so I'm off to put on my painting clothes!!!!!

Heartfelt Thanks!

I would like to send out a public thank you to Mimi (my sister, Alicia) for the huge bins of clothes she gave us for Caleigh on Saturday. She doesn't know it, but she was a gigantic answer to prayer this weekend.

I've noticed lately that the girls have been outgrowing their clothes ~~ particularly Caleigh. On the first nice day of this spring season, I immediately got Caleigh ready to go outside to play. When I put her sweatshirt on, the sleeves were up to her elbows & most of her shirt was sticking out the bottom!! The next day, I grabbed a short~sleeved shirt for her to wear & it was more like a belly shirt!!!! So on Friday night, I headed up to the attic to get out the bins of the next size of clothing for each girl. Pey~Pey's were easy to find & there was tons of stuff for her. But I couldn't find anything for Caleigh. Now, I could have sworn that I had picked up all the 2T & 3T clothing from my sister already, but I couldn't find anything for spring or summer. Nothing!!!

I headed downstairs & told Jason what I had discovered. We have committed to not charging anything to the credit card, so we gathered our cash together (including the birthday money his parents had given him). Trust me, it didn't amount to much. But I was planning on heading over to Goodwill to see how far it would get me. Something (God) compelled me to call my sister. I said, "I hate to assume, but did I pick up all the clothes you had for Caleigh or did you have more for us that Lauryn has outgrown?" To which she said, "Yeah, I have 2 bins full of stuff for you!" Praise the Lord!!!!!!

I picked the bins up on Saturday morning & was blown away by what I found . . . dresses, sweatshirts, lightweight jackets, pants, jeans, long & short~sleeved shirts, shorts, long & short~sleeved jammies, bathing suits, shoes . . . everything & anything we needed!! And some things still had tags!!!! It felt like Christmas!!

So, Mimi, thank you so much for everything. You will never know how much it was appreciated . . . and enjoy the picture of Caleigh in one of her "new" outfits!!