Thanks so much for all the prayers and calls and emails and everythign really. We are so grateful for this gift of healing that God handed us. He hold no ill will towards his local cardiologist or for the years thinking it was HCM. We understand the biology of the beast and how it presented itself like that. I am grateful that he has had such fabulous care ofr so many years and that this is our outcome. I am also grateful to have a Doctor and Nurse that we call friends. Thanks to all the people at UAB who made this experience possible and less stressful then it could have been. They were all great.

We’ve had a slow end to our summer because of the recovery. It was too hot really for him to go outside much other then for our walks in the mornings and evenings. So the 3 kids and i just hung out and watched movies and played indoors when we weren’t out and about.

School startted back and I decided not to homeschool this year. I might next year and it may just be Amanda for now until Gracie is old enough. With Kollin being in gifted he may need the extra work they give and are able to challenge him with. Plus he is so smart in math and I’d hate for himt o fall behind in that area simply because it is not easy for me to teach and he will surpass what I can teach in just a few years. They both love their teachers and are ok with public school for 1 more year. Gracie and I have adjusted to being just us again in the house. Those first few days she’d crawl and then walk around looking for them and waving at their pictures. Now we just play and have nap time and then play some more and before she knows it it’s time to go pick up.

It seems that my lovely endo has returned rearing it’s ugly head. I thought it was coming back a few months ago but it showed up and showed off last week. Soooo it appears that my Dr.s words hold true. I will be heading in sometime over the next couple of months for a partial hysterectomy. I am going to beg for the ovaries to stay. I just don’t need any more hormonal craziness right now. The PPD has been bad enough. I have no desire to go any further off the deep end thank you very much. )

And then the celebration of all is tomorrow!!! Gracie will be 1. I can not believe it has already been a year. After all we went through just have this beautiful baby girl and the first year flys by. So a quick update of the first year. She was rolling well from back to front and over again by 4 months. She said momma at 5 1/2 months. She was crawling everywhere at 6 1/2 months. She pulled up at 7 1/2 months and could walk well along furniture by 9 months. June 14th was our first tooth(bottom right) and then July 10th while at the hospital with her big brother was tooth number 2 (bottom left). Once we were home again she decided to be lazy and resumed crawling like speed baby everywhere and gave up on walking for another month. Then about the same time tooth 3 and 4 showed up (August 11th top 2) she decided to stand up and do what we have now dubbed the baby Frankenstein lurch. ) She can really get up and go now and moves quit quickly in her lurch mode when she wants. She’d rather walk then crawl now as long as she isn’t too tired and she will follow us all over the house and will even explore down the hallway on her own. This is why we keep bedroom and bathroom doors shut. She’s also transitioning from bottle to cup slowly. She will take her juice and water and milk from a cup but her Next Step and the little formula she is still on has to be in a bottle. And did I mention she is stubborn and smart so trying to outwit her in a battle of wills over the cup/bottle thing is not working. I’m hoping the Dr. has some tips next week because it has been 9 almost 10 years since my last child and I don’t remember how we transitioned him.

Anywho~ That is our update for now. I will try (no promises) to update more reguarly but it’s all about my time and priorities.

Take care and God Bless,

Misty

 Especially with the baby going through serious separation anxiety /teething. We finally have a tooth though. YAY! She was 9 months and 9 days when the first one cut. Bottom left. I am so proud…and SOOOO tired..lol. She is in the process of the bottom right cutting. Gracie has been standing all by herself for weeks now and we are eagerly and not so eagerly anticipating those first baby steps. Not so much because she is my last baby I am able to have so I will have to wait patiently for grand babies or friends to have more babies. ( but I’ve enjoyed my little baby time with herand love watching her little personality and accomplishments develop. She is thinking about taking steps but you can tell she is scared. We have a little while yet because she’s not pulling along the furniture yet or anything sooooo….

Amanda has a Disciple Now weekend coming up and she is SO excited. We are very excited for her. Our youth group at church is really taking off and we are so grateful for the leaders who’ve stepped up for this age group. They’ve done car washes little things like that but they have ALOT planned for this summer. They do skits and stuff and then small group at youth on Sundays and then have OverFlow on Wed. when they are all joined together. She and a friend of hers have raised almost the total $60 they need by going through the neighborhood offering to wash cars and explaing what they are raising the money for. They are going to finish up in her friends neighborhood this afternoon and should be all set to turn in their money tomorrow. Very proud of their initiative. YAY! So next weekend she will be “Consumed” ( the theme for this years D-Now) with Christ. We’re very proud of the things she has done to turn herself around. She is a wonderful big sister and becoming a better behaved daughter by choice every day. We have to work on the mouthy part of her but she is almost 13 and alot of that comes with the territory. We’d always rather it be her choice then by us disciplining her into it.  

Moving on..the best way to describe what is going on with Kollin and his heart info is GOD is SOOO Good! And thanks so much for all your prayers. I hope all of you are sitting when you read this. He is having open heart surgery July 8. We’ll return home barring complications on the 11th/12th. Within 2-4weeks his skin will heal. Six weeks after that his sternum will be healed 3-4 months after that his heart should be completely reduced to normal size and by December in time for his 10th birthday my baby boy will be COMPLETELY HEALED!!!!! And able to play and do everything a little boy should be able to do for the first time ever!!! PRAISE GOD!!!!! The only possible thing that may happen is a pace maker but they’ve said that it won’t limit him. He’s already said he wants to take Martial Arts and play baseball. So again thank you so much for your prayers. For years we’ve heard ” No cure…no cure ” over and over…only options were heart transplant after several other surgeries as options. To walk into that Dr.’s office and have him say no he does NOT have HCM but instead a sub aortic obstruction that we CAN fix…I wanted to lay down on that office floor an cry. I have never been so grateful and so undeserving of anything in my life. I know it is only the prayers and Kollin’s faith that has delivered us from this.

His daddy is getting remarried July 5th (for those who don’t know I am already remarried but we all have a GREAT relationship) and I am doing their pictures as well as her makeup plus they are using our church for the ceremony and reception.Add to that my brother in law and niece and nephew are coming into to town that weekend for the wedding and to see Kollin before his surgery….*whew* so I am going to be extremely busy over the next 3 weeks or so but don’t think I’ve forgotten to update here. It is just about priorities and while I know there are several of you who try to keep up by reading this you will have a much better chance finding things out by calling. Next would be emailing and then reading this. Just pray I have time to deep sanitize my house like I have to before he comes home and that I actual have time to pack and don’t forget anything…lol. Momnesia has taken over ALOT lately needless to say and sometimes I feel like I’d forget my head if it wasn’t attached. I will be sure to update after we get him settled back in the house.
Anyway~ I just wanted to let all of you know what is going on.
God Bless,
Misty

Kollin and Amanda are enjoying their summer so far. I am getting ready to start Amanda on her catch up of all things Math. She is going to have to work extra hard this summer in Math to be prepared for homeschooling 7th grade this fall. We’re backing way up as I have said before to relearn basics. They are both about to stat geography of the USA plus continents. I think for today though we are just going to be lazy and relax and attempt to drain the pool so we can clean it and start again. My filter got clogged so we have a beautiful shade of green sludge right now. Not very appealing to my babies who were born for water. Gracie even loves the water but she and I have yet to get in our pool. Hopefully we’ll all be in by this weekend. I really want us to take some time together this weekend and just play in the pool. Kollin’s appointment is Monday and we just don’t know what God has planned so we are trying to appreciate these days of summer as they come.

So many people are praying about this appointment and for healing. Of course we’d love to see a miracle and we know it can happen. Erik and I will be taking Kollin and Gracie up Monday morning and making phone calls as soon as we get out. Amanda is going to spend the night with Briana Sunday night after 4/12 so we can just get up and go. I think I’ll be meeting them at Erik’s and then we’ll ride together. The doctor said only room for 2 adults this visit so obviously the birth parents are the ones to go but that leaves the other 2 parents waiting in the wings for a phone call. Please pray for them as they have to hurry up and wait rather impatiently Monday. We know that regardless the outcome God has plans for Kollin. His life and experience will be used to bring glory and show how God works for the good of all things no matter the situation. Please pray for Kollin’s mental well being. He has done well so far but you can imagine being a 9 year old boy and not being able to be a 9 year old boy. That’s enough to test anyone. I am grateful he is as strong in his walk as he is. I wish we all had that childlike faith.

Scott received some cool books from some friends of ours for his birthday. I am eager to apply one of them. It just looks like a fun book. It is Love Talk Starters. 275 questions to get your conversations going. We don’t have problems talking ( especially not me *big cheesy grin*) but by the end of the day when we are unwound and kids are finally in bed ( Gracie for the 2nd or 3rd time) we’re just tired. This is a fun book to just get us talking and giggling even when we’re wiped out. I appreciate the thought that went into this book for us.

Erik and Wendy are getting married July 5th YAY! At our church bigger YAY!….They’ve been so stressed trying to handle all this while facing the upcoming appointments with Kollin. It is nice to know it is only a few weeks away. We’re going to go up Saturday after the church yard-sale….or she may just meet me up there. I’ll be there for the yard-sale. But that way she can get a feel for what she wants to do. What she can do easily and what ideas need to be put on the backburner. I am going to do some re-arranging of some little kid rooms to make them more age appropriate. I pray that our yard-sale goes well. The kids are going to do a car wash again and possibly a dog wash. I am thinking a dog wash would be hilarious and I MUST bring my camera. I’m not certain that the dog wash is still happening but it will be fun if it does. VBS is getting lined up for 2 days from 9-1 and I can’t wait. I think it is going to be a blast. I hope Timothy and Beth get to join us. I can’t wait till they get back….I know how Wendy feels. I miss Kollin when he is gone to Maryland. I know he has fun and is in good hands but I am still the momma.  So yea I relate to how she feels.

Anywho~ That is all for now. I hope everyone is well. God Bless!

Listening to James MacDonald this morning I discovered that I may be that “religious” person whose blog you read. That disturbed me. I know for many people I speak with I may be the only person they know that speaks openly about Christ and how He has affected my life and will affect yours if given the chance.

Let me say this clearly and openly.

I DO NOT apologize for that.

 However, I am not a “religious” person. I am a bold Christ follower. I do not believe that I have to compromise my beliefs to not step on your toes. My bible is the truth and in many areas of our lives we don’t and would never question the truth. Would you question that 2+2= 4? Would you question that Force= Mass X Acceleration? Would you go to your math professor as James MacDonald says and say instead of answers to the math questions on the test let’s just give impressions? No you wouldn’t! Absolutely not! You would not question those simple truths. Well let me say this. Truth is intolerant. So if I seem intolerant and “religious” to you I will not apologize. I do not believe I bring my beliefs across in a forceful, pushy, or full of self manner. I believe I simply speak the truth. I am sure there have been times early in my walk that I did so. I do and will openly apologize for that.

Am I perfect? No, nor do I claim to be. God loves me anyway. Just as Jesus loved his disciples who denied knowing him or doubted him. I am so grateful to my God for loving me with my imperfections. More important is that he also loves you with yours. No matter what you do or have done.

God tells us not only to be concerned about what we do but HOW we do it.  We are told numerous times throughout the bible to bring the truth and the word of God boldly to the people. That is what I do in sharing my heart with you.

Does this make me a “religious” person? Let me say this clearly as well.

I abhor religion.

“Religion is mans attempt to get to God”. So many different religions. So many different rules. Who is right? None of them. Who is wrong? All of them. The religious people of Jesus’ time are the ones who condemned him to death for speaking the truth. He went against their laws and “guidelines” for the church and spoke boldly about God and the truth.

Of course all religions have some truths. They apply rules to bits and pieces of the bible and use them as doctrines for their specific purpose.  This is why I choose to be a non denominational Christ follower. Am I saying that people of denomination are wrong and NOT Christ followers. No! Not all of them. There are however, lots who will look at other religions convinced that their rules are the right way and the only way to go to heaven. Therefore the other religion is going to Hell. Last I checked God’s word is the only truth. This put simply means, if your religion is compromising on the word of God then by following those beliefs you are compromising on your salvation.
Let’s read Acts 4:12 again

Acts 4:12 NIV
12Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” (Emphasis mine)

James MacDonald said something very profound that you may have to read a few times to understand….forgive me if I am botch it a little but I am trying to remember

“Words that are spoken without the word of truth are just words.”
Meaning, if you are listening and following something that is not stated in the bible or specifically contradicts what the bible says….well…the truth speaks for itself.

If your microwave, dishwasher, washing machine is messing up do you not look at the owner’s manual? Or at least pull it up online? ) If you are unable to fix it do you not call on someone who can? Why can we apply these things to material items that will turn to dust and fall away? Yet when it comes to our lives, families, relationships, etc. we turn selfish and refuse to look at the owner’s manual? God tell’s us plainly He can and will fix our problems. All we have to do is call on Him to be our repair man. 

But Misty, He doesn’t always answer right away. No He doesn’t. But let me say this , God’s timing is the right timing. When we try to fix things on our timeline in our way things only get further messed up. Wait for God’s timing to fix your problem. I can speak personally on several things in my life where I tried to fix it my way only to have God wait patiently through my suffering for me to turn back to Him. My suffering came from me and my attempt to control the situation. If I had simply listened to the truth of His word and done things His way in His time I would have avoided unmistakable amounts of suffering.

I am glad for those valleys though. They have taught me to speak openly and boldly about my faith. My prayer for you is that when God take’s whatever you are suffering in your life and uses it for His glory that you will not be worried about who is offended when you boldly share His good and honest truth. I pray that you will have someone placed in your path as God has placed in mine who is not afraid of offending you when you are told boldly to “step out of the boat” or “get back on the horse”. Instead of being offended be grateful that you are loved enough to be loved tough.

Why the soapbox today? Because being viewed as the “religious” one struck a nerve. Not that I mind being tested about my faith. We all will be so it is ok.

Moving along:
Kollin had a heart appt. on Wednesday. His new medicine Norpace seems to be working well for him. It has slowed his pulse points within his heart. This in laymen’s terms means his heart is doing less damage to itself when working as hard as it does to pump. PRAISE GOD! We are so pleased.

Flip side of this: the medicine was until yesterday helping him to feel better so that he could walk around some with his buddies when they are all outside. Yesterday though, he got extremely overheated and sick feeling very quickly and was simply walking around and sitting on the bleachers at the ball field. Of course for his parents this is another blow but you can imagine being the 9 year old boy who now will not even be able to walk around outside with his friends now that school is FINALLY out. Please pray for strength and endurance for Kollin. For him to continue to fight the good fight and use this time of his life as his testimony.

Things have been going ok. There are some struggles still but who doesn’t have them. Amanda is SO excited to be out of school so she can spend time with her friends. I will be home schooling her starting in June to get her caught up to where she needs to be. I am still uncertain how she was allowed to pass with good grades when she thinks Africa is in the United States. How do I know to ask these questions when she is passing subjects with flying colors? Math is different.  I know to ask questions and study with her in that subject because she doesn’t get it. However, when I am seeing A’s and B’s in a subject yet she is still not certain what hemisphere the United States is in this is a problem. Therefore we will be backing up to 4th grade in several subjects to re-master what should have already been mastered. She is glad about this because she is tired of feeling like there is something wrong with her. There is nothing wrong with her. There is something wrong with how she has been taught. I have tried and tried to stay in communication with her teachers. To no avail. So I have reached the home schooling decision and she is very excited and I believe will learn better in a comfortable learning environment. 

 Gracie is getting bigger and bigger everyday. Her hair has come in so thick and pretty and dark and her curls in the back remind me of my sister’s hair when I saw baby pictures of her.  She still looks like Scott spit her out but she is starting to have more of mommy in her. Her eyes have the dark ring of navy blue around the iris that mine does. She definitely has my bold super extrovert personality. ) She is trying desperately to figure everything out or should I say desperately trying to figure her way OUT OF everything. From diaper to highchair if she can get out of it she is going to so we all have to be on top of our game when she is awake. 

So that is where we are. I am sorry it has taken me so long to update. I have discussed it with Scott and he is going to help me to make more time to keep this blog updated. We have lots of new rules for the summer. Like no TV unless it is family time or the TV does not go on until after dark. We have literally tons of board games, card games, puzzles, word search books, cross word books and crafts for the kids to do. There is no reason to be vegged out in front of something being entertained all day long. Of course we will watch movies and have popcorn and movie days. We will go to the library and the park. We’ll just have to limit these things because Kollin won’t be able to do much outside this summer unless he lives in the pool. So we will have fun without overwhelming him and without relying on something beyond our imaginations to entertain us.

For those who have prayed and called wanting to help. I am so appreciative. It has been a difficult journey for me this last month or so. Sometimes when in crisis we learn that we may have relationships where we are unequally yoked. People who do not believe as we do…. and these things can hinder our walk and deter us from seeking God. Initially when faced with this I was feeling isolated and alone. I was not handling it well at all. However, God in his infinite wisdom and timing has placed people in my path who do believe as I do and have remained persistent in offering support and encouragement. I know there are those who want desperately to do so and have not been given the words yet. That is ok. This situation has affected so many and really…what do you say to a parent who is facing their child’s mortality? Not an easy one to tackle no matter the level of friendship.
I am pleased to say that even though I am a super E personality and would talk to tree if it would talk back ) (and maybe just talk to it if it won’t). I have learned to appreciate the solitude and have furthered my relationship with God (which should come first anyway) and have learned that while the people I “expect” to be there may not always be it does not have to be a devastating blow because He places people in my path who will be. Sometimes from the least likely of sources and you know who you are. For you I am grateful. And to the people who I haven’t been as close to as we were. I am not upset. To everything there is a season. And like I said, words don’t always come easily. I understand that.

To you ladies who’ve been calling, emailing etc. trying to help. I can use a little help now in one area. If you want to email me or call me I can discuss it further.

I hope everyone who reads this is well and if not that you will turn to the only one who can bring you true peace at heart.

Thanks and God Bless
 

Kollin Update~OK so Erik is marrying the coolest person ever and I can share that publicly now that the kids have been told. Kollin is so excited and so am I. Her name is Wendy and she is the next best thing to my family and …well the butt-paste. ) Ok, ok if I am to be honest she is WAY above the butt-paste and may as well be family herself. I refer to her as my wife in law or wifey ..yes we have a very odd relationship but we are very blessed to have such a good relationship considering we’ve now been divorced way longer then we were even together. Yes we’ve heard how cool it is for others to watch our relatioship from the ouside looking in. Like when we are at the doctor’s office and “Uncle Erik” is playing with Gracie. Anywho~ If I could have picked Wendy for him way back and still had Kollin I would have….ANYWHO~ moving along…Wendy and some mutual friends of ours Kelly and Dennis have surprised us by putting together a Benefit Softball Tournament for Kollin in May. They have several sponsors already and want approximately 16 teams signed up and all of the proceeds are going into a fund for us to use when Kollin is in the hospital for however long he may have to stay. It will cover our gas and hotel and food and ect. They have raised a phenomenal amount just in sponsors already and they hope more people plan on coming out and donating what they raise. They are having T-shirts made up and other stuff. This is all they will tell us but apparently they have more stuff planned. I was floored when they came in on Saturday to tell us. Saturday was mine and Scott’s 5th anniversary and trust me..we’ve been through the ringer (both our doing) and needed to celebrate how far we’ve come. However, he’s missed 2 of the last 3 weeks of work with the Kollin situation and then going in the hospital himself so it has been hard financially. Needless to say we aren’t much for going out without the kids because we really enjoy being around them. But us not being able to do much had us bummed. When they showed up and told us about this it was a literal answer to prayer. Just Friday night we’d been talking about how on earth we were going to afford to do all this when the hospital issues hit. Then they bee bop through the door and were like “oh by the way…we’ve got this planned to help y’all and Erik out”….I cried…and Kelly fussed at me cause I was gonna make her cry so I had to stop. Talk about the spirit with skin on. They did this on their own time with their own stuff going on and believe me they have serious stuff going on too. So for them to put all of this together is nothing short of a miracle and true blessing. Shortly after Amanda went to spend the night with Kelly’s daughter and Kollin went to eat with Erik and Wendy before he went TDY so Scott ran and got us pizza and rented movies for us to watch with Kollin when he came back home. We had a blast and The Waterhorse is an excellent movie. They like Beowulf but I didn’t stay awake for it. Cloverfield was pretty good actually and we all enjoyed that last night. His appt. is scheduled for June 16th as of now. However they said I could call daily and trust me I am to see if there is a cancellation so we can move the appt up. His meds. had to be adjusted because the old ones needed to be lowered but overall he is still doing really well under the circumstances.

The other miracle that might not seem like one to you, dear reader, but is to us is : We have WINDOW UNITS!!!! Our a/c has been out for a month and it has gotten hotter and hotter to the point where we were all miserable trying to sleep. No I can’t open the windows because the people who were here ahead of us were kind enough to mess up all but 4 screens. One each in the kids rooms and 1 in the living room. I don’t dig mosquito’s very much so windows were out. Scott had bought a fan the equivalent of a Tornado and even that didn’t help plus it sounded like a jet was taking off at all times. So my Uncle and my dad combined efforts and bought us 2 really nice window units to use until our land lady can get the a/c fixed. She has her own personal stuff going on and is trying very hard to get financed because the whole unit has to be replaced. She is replacing it with what we want because we plan on buying this house and expanding it. So sometime in the next few weeks we’ll have a new 3 ton unit completely electric with a heat pump for energy conservation. YAY! The appraisal guy was out today and everything should start rolling from here. Not too much longer but until then we have cool air. Of course the next few nights is supposed to be cool anyways. And when we’re done with these and Scott encloses the garage he can use them for that.

So we’ve been blessed with good news. We are waiting for results from some blood work Kollin had done last week but other then that things are momentarily settled down on the medical front.

I got a cool website sent to me that I want to share

Birth Verse is a cool place. I will share ours with you.

Mine: Zephaniah 3:17 NIV
The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.

Scott’s: Galatians 6:9 NIV
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

Amanda’s:  Ephesians 2:6 NIV
And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,

Kollin’s: Hebrews 12:1 NIV
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

Gracie’s: Nehemiah 9:5 NIV
…“Stand up and praise the LORD your God, who is from everlasting to everlasting.” “Blessed be your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise.

I think it is cool how all of our’s are appropriately us. Pay close attention to Kollin’s. “run the race”…interesting….

That is our chaotic life for now. I am happy to share good news and show how God works and answers our prayers. I am blessed to have the family and friends who are family that he has placed in my path. I love them all very much. Thanks for taking the time to read my slice of life and for the prayers.

God Bless, Misty

The Blessing by John Waller

Let it be said of us
While we walked among the living.
Let it be said of us
By the ones we leave behind.
Let it be said of us
That we lived to be a blessing for life.

Let it be said of us
That we gave to reach the dying.
Let it be said of us
By the fruit we leave behind.
Let it be said of us
That our legacy is blessing for life.

This day
You set life, you set death right before us,
This day
Every blessing and curse is a choice now,
And we will choose to be a blessing for life.

Let it be said of us
That our hearts belonged to Jesus. Let it be said of us
That we spoke the words of life.
Let it be said of us
That our heritage is blessing for life.

This day
You set life, you set death right before us,
This day
Every blessing and curse is a choice now,
And we will choose to be a blessing for life.
we will choose to be a blessing for life.

*Blessings and Curses are choices,
‘Cause blessings and curses are choices.
Will we build up, tear down?
The moment of truth is now.*

This day
You set life, you set death right before us,
This day
Every blessing and curse is a choice now,
And we will choose to be a blessing for life.
we will choose to be a blessing for life.

For your Kingdom, for our Children
For the sake of every nation
For your Kingdom, for our Children
For the sake of every nation

*We will choose to be a blessing for life.

none of these are anyone’s fault and none are likely to change or happen like I need them to but it’d be ok with me if they did. I haven’t gotten a full straight hour of sleep in almost 2 weeks. I am getting bits and pieces and it is seriously making me nuts. I’d like to be able to curl up in a long hot bath and just chill but that isn’t going to happen either…

so I guess what I need more then anything is prayer…in addition to Kollin I need prayer for continued strength or a renewing of strength….patience…I dunno…my mind is so frazzled it is hard to think what I need prayer for…but if you are reading this you can probably tell better then I.

I sincerely appreciate all the emails, prayers, phone calls, offers of help…everything that has pored in. UAB called Erik today but he didn’t get the call till tonight so we have to wait till Monday. We will know when they want to see Kollin then.

Love you all and God Bless

We all hung out and watched movies together tonight. Well we are kinda sorta in the middle of watching. Scott and Kollin did an ice cream run. We watched Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium and we are about towatch The Seeker which won 3 seperate family awards including The Dove Award. That is always a good thing. Our lives have all shifted drastically this week. I know that is a well DUH but we’ve just REALLY slowed down and taken time to appreciate things.

We are glad his meds are working WITHOUT side affects. It will only work to make him feel better BUT it is working and his doctor worked on his personal time to find something he could take that won’t mask symptoms. This makes life much easier and we can all just take a breath and relax a little until we get more results. This might not be what we wanted but this our life for now. We are rising to the occasion.

We thanks each of you for your prayers. Without you we would not be as lifted as we are.

God Bless!

This is one of those times where we have to let God work out the details and remain faithful to His word. I want to publicly ask for prayer for Kollin’s doctor and nurse. I can not imagine doing their jobs. Being a parent and facing your childs mortality is obviously not easy. I can not imagine being the one to deliver the message. THAT is also a serious cross to bear. Often times the professionals get lost in the shuffle and we forget they are people too with emotions and feelings. Lots of time this is because so many carry a “God complex” around with them. We are very fortunate that this is NOT the case with his cardiologist or nurse. They are real people, they have familes and life beyond the doors of the office. These kids are their “kids” too. This isn’t just general practice ( not taking anything from them) but specialized treatment. They see far less kids then a normal practioner and I’m sure even though they maintain professional distance that it becomes difficult when facing one of “their” babies worsening disease. It is my understanding that both his doctor and nurse are pretty upset that this turn for the worse has happened so rapidly. What should have taken years has progressed within 6 months. So my prayer is that they too find encouragement and strength while helping us deal with this trial. I know both of them believe and even with that I do not know that I could tell a parent that their child is now at significant risk for sudden death. While we struggle with our own emotions and feelings and our desperate need to understand I pray that they find some source of comfort.

Casting Crowns ~ Love Them Like Jesus

You’re holding her hand, you’re straining for words
You’re trying to make sense of it all
They’re desperate for hope, darkness clouding their view
They’re looking to youJust love them like Jesus, carry them to Him
His yoke is easy, His burden is light
You don’t need the answers to all of life’s questions
Just know that He loves them and stay by their side
Love them like JesusLord of all creation holds our lives in His hands
The God of all the nations holds our lives in His hands
The Rock of our salvation holds our lives in His hands
He cares for them just as He cares for you

and “we’re asking why this happens to us who have died to live..it’s unfair”

This truly is What It Means to Be Held. We are held and will be carried through. I thank you for you prayers

Love in Christ and God Bless,

Misty

So I am sitting here pondering. I am in desperate need of sleep and I KNOW I should go to bed but my mind is reeling. Kollin’s heart appt. did not go well today at all. To save myself from typing it all over again I am just going to paste the prayer request email we sent out.

request
Date: 04/07/08 16:15

Scott and I want you  to know how blessed we are the have you guys to turn to when we are in need of prayer. We do believe in the power of prayer in numbers so we thank you in advance.

Kollin had his cardiologist check up today. He will be wearing his holter monitor for the next 24 hours which is something he does at least once a year. Our initial prayer is that it won’t drive him nuts like it normally does and that he won’t have any difficulties wearing it to school tomorrow.

There is no easy way to explain what is happening so I will just say it the way we were told. His blockage has increased by 24mm which is a HUGE amount. The last time was difficult because they were very concerned about a 4mm increase so 24mm is extremely scary to us. His doctor is extremely concerned and stated that this moves him up to the “significant risk category”. He will look over these results and then he is sending them to 2 of his collegues at UAB. It is a probability that he will require at least a heart cath. if not actual open heart surgery. The other obstacle we are facing is that it is now not just one specific area of his heart that is thickening to create the blockage. His entire heart has now started to thicken. The doctor told us he “wants to tell us medicine will work but at this point it will only make him “feel” better.” And he is on such a maxed out dosage now it would only make him even more tired then the blockage already is as well as mask symptoms.

Now we’ve known this was a possibility since day 1 over 5 years ago. We are all a little shaken but we know that God has a plan through all of this. Please join us in praying that we will find the strength we need to face this trial and that Kollin especially will not lose faith but will remain as positive as he has. He knows that God has a plan in everything and that a total healing would only happen if it is God’s will. He understands there is a reason for everything whether we ever know what it is or not. Kollin is extremely strong in his prayer life for his age and he is very others focused. I pray that he doesn’t (for lack of a better term) lose heart because this is quite a blow. He is now allowed to do NO physical activity of any kind. No throwing the ball..nothing. This has him down right now because he wants to be able to do SOMETHING and he is also afraid he is going to get picked on worse. Please pray for him specifically in these areas.

Again, we are grateful for all of you and we know that whatever the outcome God will show His plan and be victorious yet again.

Love in Christ,
Misty and Scott

“The fact that I am a woman does not make me a different kind of Christian,
but the fact that I am a Christian does make me a different kind of woman.
For I have accepted God’s idea of me, and my whole life is an offering back
to Him of all that I am and all that He wants me to be. ” Elisabeth Elliot

 I am trying to process all of that. I think i am shell shocked and so busy trying to handle his reaction to what is going on with his heart that I have not fully caught up to my emotions. Kollin is obviously upset. Amanda is hysterical. And Scott and I and Kollin’s dad Erik are all kind of shell shocked…yea I know I said it but that is the only way I can describe it. I am stronger now then before when he was first diagnosed. My walk has led me closer to handling this well as opposed to simply off emotion. I KNOW God’s got this but….and that but isn’t doubt…it just simply is…BUT..I am HIS MOTHER! I know it is ok to scream and be angry and all of these things but I have cried minimally and I am just …I dunno I feel locked up inside. I dunno…I am just going to keep on keeping on….I am going to keep praying and keep living like i am supposed to and not let emotions rule….I am going to keep going anyway

Sometimes it feels like life is flying by. I’ve been dealing with some issues over the past couple of weeks. I’m upset and hurt and frustrated. We’re having an amazing sermon series right now at church and it is helping me immensely. God laid on our pastor’s heart to preach the beatitudes. His whole thing is Are you your attitude? Meaning what is on the inside and in your heart truly comes out in times of trial. Presently mine doesn’t looks so hot. I’m trying to not be angry but it is hard and it hurts. I remind myself that people let you down. I also know that God is who to turn to in times of dispair and heartache and well anytime actually but you get what I mean. However, he also tells us to have fellowship and right now I’m not having any. Sunday’s are such a HUGE blessing to me. It does not matter what mood I am in I can go a be with my church family and by the time I leave I feel 1000 times better then when I got there. It is true that when you are doing things for someone other then yourself you truly do feel blessed.

We taught today but I don’t feel like we “teach” as per say. It is more like mentoring. It makes me feel blessed to know that the kids actually enjoy being with us when we are teaching. These things help me in the great big scheme of things. Like I said. People let you down and it hurts. There is nothing on this earth that can make you happy. Make money….lots of it…take trips…buy things..have the newest hair style, clothes, car…all of these things are momentary pleasures and will rot in time. Nothing and I mean NOTHING will fulfill you like God. Nothing will bring pleasure to your heart or pick up the pieces when it is broken like God. It kills me when I stop and think of all the things i’ve done in my life…all the hurts I’ve caused. All the wrongs I can NEVER right. Jesus forgave me so I MUST..even when it is hard and I don’t want to have that same kind of forgiveness with others. That is why these things that hurt me are being let go with this entry. I have learned how to BE my atittude..now if I can apply it daily. I want to leave that crawling baby , and that smart witty boy, and that artistic almost teen a legacy. A legacy that teaches them how life can be when you walk according to God’s word and in His will.

Faithfully Serving Him through the trials