Check it Out!

For those of you who may not have gotten an email from me about this.... I have started a new business venture to try and earn some money for our surgery/therapy costs. I have just become a consultant for Usborne books! These books are amazing! They are so fun for the kids and so educational too. You name the topic, there is a book about it! Check it out! My website is www.booksfromchrystal.com There are books for babies all the way up to high school. I can sell directly from my website or I can do home shows. So if you are interested in either check out the website above. I can host an e-show for you too and all you do is share the invite with all your friends through email, little hastle on your part and you earn free books! :-) I am actually most excited about the books (although the money would be nice too). We just get so excited when its time to sit down and read a new book together! Thanks for praying for this venture as well!
love to you!

Its off!

We faxed our appeal off tonight to the insurance company. We gathered some case studies and got letters from Lillie's doctors and a copy of her medical record (I would make a horrible attorney) and sent that off to them asking them to please reconsider granting Lillie more coverage for PT b/c if she does not get sufficient PT now then it will require more surgeries down the road (which will in turn cost them more). we are hoping that is a good approach to take with them! :-)
Please pray for the panel that will review it, that they will have compassion and will grant us more coverage. We also applied yesterday for a grant that helps cover expenses for disabled children that their insurance will not cover all or some of. So you can pray for that as well.
Brad also found out this week that his company can consider changing the policy on their end on April 1st. so we were excited to hear that but they could make no promises until they look at what that would cost the company. If they change the policy, they would have to change it company wide and they would only be doing it on our part, so they will have to strongly consider the cost. We are praying that they will be moved with compassion and not a dollar amount and that they will make these amends (it would not take place until after Lillie's surgery but it would take affect as soon as changes are made).
It means so much to us to know that you are praying alongside of us! thank you! we are so grateful for the body of Christ and we cannot wait to see how God provides b/c we know He promises to do so! I will let you know when we hear!
we love you!

"how do you steam"

We have been ATTEMPTING to teach the girls some old hymns of the faith (which I have come to love so much through the PCA!). Our latest one we have been teaching them is "Dearly we're bought". Well, we caught the girls having a little concert on their bed with their "air mics" and singing at the top of the lungs..... "dearly um-ba, how do you steam"
if you don't know the hymn its "dearly we're bought, highly esteemed!" :-)
even though we continue to correct them, they continue to sing it this way. I can't help but smile every time I hear it. I'm sure God is pleased with their little hearts singing to Him, even if they are singing about steam rather than being esteemed! :-)

Also, we just sent off our application for financial assistance to the hospital up in Baltimore. A review panel will look this over and determine if the hospital can offer us any financial assistance on our therapy expenses. Please pray that God would work in the hearts of these people reviewing it and that will grant us financial assistance.
thank you for praying along side of us for these things pertaining to sweet Lillie!
we are very grateful!
love to you!

Prayer answered by trials....... brings a STEADFAT love for our Father!

I was so challenged by the sermon last night at church. It was from Psalm 57 where David was fleeing from Saul and hiding in a cave. He wrote the psalm while hiding in the cave. He spoke of finding his refuge in the Lord and being rescued by the Lord. Our pastor challenged us to not always look at our trials and seek a way to just "get out of them and have them end" but to rest in God's love for us and trust that He brings all trials into our lives ultimately for our good and to rescue us to Himself. So that we will learn to no longer seek "our own plans and desires" but His. We sang the Hymn "I asked the Lord" that was from the poem John newton (author of amazing grace) wrote in 1779. I thought it was so good I found the poem online and wanted to post it here. Newton speaks of asking the Lord to give him a greater love for the Lord but instead the Lord sent crosses (trials) - which in the end really produced this great steadfast love that He was asking the Lord for.



Prayer Answered by Crosses
by John Newton (1779)
1 I ask'd the Lord, that I might grow In faith, and love, and ev'ry grace, Might more of his salvation know, And seek more earnestly his face.
2 'Twas he who taught me thus to pray, And he, I trust has answer'd pray'r; But it has been in such a way, As almost drove me to despair.
3 I hop'd that in some favour'd hour, At once he'd answer my request: And by his love's constraining pow'r, Subdue my sins, and give me rest.
4 Instead of this. he made me feel The hidden evils of my heart; And let the angry pow'rs of hell Assault my soul in ev'ry part.
5 Yea more, with his own hand he seem'd Intent to aggravate my woe; Cross'd all the fair designs I schem'd, Blasted my gourds, and laid me low.
6 Lord, why is this, I trembling cry'd, Wilt thou pursue thy worm to death? "'Tis in this way," the Lord reply'd, "I answer pray'r for grace and faith.
7 "These inward trials I employ, "From self and pride to set thee free; "And break thy schemes of earthly joy, "That thou mayst seek thy all in me."

In Sickness and in Health

I had the privilege of attending a funeral yesterday to celebrate the life of my great uncle Jack!

He was such a dear man and I was encouraged as I sat and listened to his grandchildren and children stand up and honor him with what they shared. As I listened I was challenged to spend my life in a manner that is is worthy of "that great day".

I was also challenged as I sat remembering this dear man... he had Alzheimer's for 15 years and in recent years his health and mental state had really declined. My dear sweet Aunt "Addie" Kay sat with him day after day at the nursing home being his faithful wife. She never spoke of it as a "bother" or "chore" but she was thankful to still have him in her life and she truly wanted to be with him, in sickness and in health. Towards the end of his life he no longer really knew who she was but she continued to go and sit with him and feed him. She truly honored her covenant of marriage. I can't imagine how difficult it was for her to watch him digress in such a manner, but she was faithful even when it was hard. It was a beautiful thing to watch her honor her commitment even when he unaware of it himself. Thank you Aunt Kay for setting such an example to us all of us who had the privilege of watching such a beautiful thing!

I was also able to see some family that I had not seen in a while (isn't it sad sometimes that it takes a funeral to get family together). We had a fun time catching up on each others lives. My cousin Christopher (who is the closet thing I have to a brother) and his wife and their 2 sweet girls were there. Addie Lane had so much fun playing with her cousins Sophia and Stella.

sweet FUN GIRLS

Last Saturday I had the privilege of getting together in Atlanta with my dear sweet college "roommates", the self proclaimed "fun girls". (all except one, we missed you Becca!).

We always try to get together around Christmas time and we have an "annual ornament exchange" (hence, the random pic with us all holding ornaments) which can get very nasty at times when we all want to steal the same ornament, this year we were rather kind though! We also go together to honor sweet Jenny who is due to have her first baby girl soon! Yay, another fun girl!

These girls have been such a blessing in my life and I am so thankful for their sweet friendships.

They have been constant, loyal, long suffering sisters in the Lord to me... one minute they have me in tears over their sweet friendship and words of truth in my life and the next they have me about to pee my pants from laughing so hard! :-)

I pray we are still having "fun girl events" when we are 90! :-)

I love you my sweet sisters and I thank God for you!

laughing at the days to come

Ok, I feel like I am really having to apply today some of the truths I was challenged with over the weekend! Don't you just love when the Lord does that? :-)

This past weekend I went to Atlanta to spend some time with my sweet college "roommates" (that was such a sweet time, I'll have to post a few pics later) but on the way there and back I had time in the car alone and quiet (rare for a mommy). Well, I listened to this piper sermon on my ipod that I had been wanting to listen to for months... lets just say... it kicked me in the pants. I was so convicted. I will try and see if there is a way I can post a link to it any of you who want to hear it can (it is directed towards marriage and submission but the truth in it applies to any area of our lives with putting our hope in God, as it has mine today, unrelated to marriage). I was so challenged by it in applying it to my marriage (and being so convicted over what a poor job I had done in this area) but then today I have been so challenged by it in a whole new way. I was challenged by it in my marriage b/c it was a call as wives to submit to our husbands and show them respect not b/c they are worthy of it or have earned it but because that is what God calls us to. If we only do when we feel like they deserve it then we will not be consistent at all, b/c we are all so sinful at heart. But when we do it to the glory of God, we are doing it as unto Him and to display the covenant to the world of Christ and His church! wow! you have to listen to it b/c he does such a better job than I ever could. but the part that came for today was he was talking about the part in proverbs where the goldy women of old would "laugh at the days to come" why? not b/c they knew all would be ok and perfect, but b/c their HOPE was in God, not in their husbands or their circumstances... but in God alone! I do not laugh at the days to come, I worry and am full of anxiousness! My hope is not fully in God! well today I have not laughed.. I have worried most of the day. so this why I am posting, one to share these truths with you so hopefully they will challenge you as well but secondly, to ask you to pray along with me for something.

I have been on the phone all day with our insurance company and with the hospital up in Baltimore and i am so frustrated. They are all saying its someone else's fault for the PT coverage. The insurance company is saying that they cannot make any changes b/c Brad's employer chose the dollar limit coverage and Brad's company is saying they can't make changes b/c the contract is not up and the hospital is saying we need to fight the insurance. I am going to try and appeal to the insurance by trying to get up letters from Lillie's doctors and by sending a copy of her medical record. The insurance told me that this will probably not change anything but we serve a big God and I know He can do it. He promises to meet the needs of His children and this is a huge need for Lillie. She has to have PT every day for 3 months while we are up there (and then More at home) and they are saying this coverage will only cover one visit and then the rest we have to pay out of pocket. Lillie's leg will not grow without this PT. Will you pleas pray along with us for God to do a miracle in this and work all the details of this coverage out?

I want to laugh at these days ahead as I sit with my full hope in our loving Father!

last nights sermon was so encouraging as well from Psalm 56

"when I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid! what can man do to me!"

thanks for loving us well and praying along with us for these things!

I know God cares about Lillie and her little leg and I am trusting He will take care of her!

love to you!

ok... lets see if I can post the link to the sermon too...

(ok I found it and you can click on this and just read it or it will take you to the link where you can hear/watch it).

http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Sermons/ByDate/2007/2088_The_Beautiful_Faith_of_Fearless_Submission/

request

OK, well here we go with the first entry of this becoming a "medical update blog" for Lillie.
I have a huge prayer request for you. I just got off the phone with our new insurance through Brad's new job and they said that we are covered for Lillie's surgery (praise the Lord) but we are not covered for PT hardly at all. They said that this plan Brad's employer has chosen only allows a $1,000 limit for PT per year. When I called the hospital in Baltimore they said that will get us one visit up there. So when I talked to insurance today she told me that we cannot even appeal that or anything b/c it is a dollar amount limit and that the only way to get more coverage is for the employer to add more coverage and I can't imagine the company doing that just for us.
I don't know what we will do if this doesn't change.
We will be up there for at least 3 months and they say we need PT every day or her leg will not grow fully. so this is crucial.
Please pray that somehow this coverage will get extended and that we will get better PT coverage. I can't even imagine what that bill would look like if we had to pay for PT out of pocket!
We have really seen the Lord provide in some amazing ways, I am praying He will do the same here!
thanks so much for praying!
I will keep you posted if we get any updates!
love to you!

need some motivation?

ok and even though I LOVE a good laugh, I will share something that is even more encouraging to our hearts!
If you are having a morning like me this morning you may need some encouaragment to get motivated. I read this yesterday and I have been thinking about it all morning as I go from one room to the next cleaning up toys only to come back to that room just a few minutes later to find it destroyed again with a "toy bomb".
I hope this encourages you as it did me.. if you are not a mommy then apply it what God has called you to at this point in life that may not seem "significant". may we all work as "unto the Lord" in what He has called us to!
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A Coronary Mom
These days you’ll find me at home changing diapers, picking up toys, helping Jack make pb&j’s (I do the peanut butter and he does the jelly), wiping spit-up off my clothes—and, here’s where it gets exciting—going to Wal Mart to purchase more diapers. (Hot Tip: I’ve found the White Cloud brand to be the best of the cheapest.)
My home is a long way from the community college campus where I used to serve as a ministry intern on behalf of my church—sharing the gospel and discipling girls every day. It’s a long way from the offices of Covenant Life Church where I organized women’s meetings and retreats for hundreds. It’s a very long way from Hungary and India where I traveled on short-term mission trips.
I love my life now, even if it doesn’t always seem as “exciting” or “significant” as what I used to do. Maybe that’s why this thought from John Piper—from his book The Roots of Endurance resonated with me:
“As I write this Preface I have just preached to my people several messages in which I pleaded with them to be ‘coronary Christians,’ not ‘adrenal Christians.’ Not that adrenaline is bad, I said; it gets me through lots of Sundays. But it lets you down on Mondays. The heart is another kind of friend. It just keeps on serving—very quietly, through good days and bad days, happy and sad, high and low, appreciated and unappreciated. It never says, ‘I don’t like your attitude, Piper, I’m taking a day off.’ It just keeps humbly lub-dubbing along. It endures the way adrenaline doesn’t. Coronary Christians are like the heart in the causes they serve. Adrenal Christians are like adrenaline—a spurt of energy and then fatigue. What we need in the cause of... [motherhood] is not spurts of energy, but people who endure for the long haul. Marathoners, not sprinters.”
Being a wife and mother—or doing any other long-term kingdom work—requires us to be “coronary Christians.” It requires faithfulness even when we don’t see the fruit. It requires joy in the mundane, unglamorous tasks. It calls for confidence that God will bless our gospel-motivated labors.
So if you are weary, discouraged, or even bored with the work God is calling you to today, join me in asking for God’s grace to be a “coronary Christian.”
http://girltalk.blogs.com/girltalk/2007/12/year-in-revie-1.html

anyone need a laugh?

I may have emailed this to a few of you but every time I think about it I laugh. I saw this on a friends blog and I laughed so hard. (I think its passed around now all over the country probably, who knows who the story originally belonged to)

so if you need a good laugh this morning here ya go.....

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We had a "going away" party yesterday for a lady at our claims office. One of the supervisors called a Wal-Mart and ordered the cake. He told them to write: "Best Wishes Suzanne" and underneath that write "We will miss you." As the picture shows, it didn't quite turn out right. It was too funny not to keep it.