Merry Christmas!!!

 Tonight, I am 33 years old in Christ.

Christmas Eve 1989- I was 5 years old. My dad was my pastor, and I had been in church since before I was born. We had a rule in our house, once in bed, no coming back downstairs. That night, I could feel the conviction of God, although I didn't know what it was at that time. I afraid. I knew that sin was all the bad things I had done like lying, fighting, disobeying..., and I knew that there was punishment for sin, death in Hell. My dad may have preached about Hell in church on that night. All I know is I couldn't sleep because I kept thinking about my sin.

 

I quietly slipped downstairs and stood at the doorway to the living room watching my dad as he sat in the light of the Christmas tree. He finally looked up and said, "What do you need?" I didn't say anything, I just went and crawled into his lap. He then started asking me questions, and I told him I needed to get saved. He explained everything I knew by heart from church. he then asked me if I understood I was a sinner. I shook my head yes. He asked if I believed Jesus died for my sin, and I said yes. He then told me that if I wanted to ask Jesus to forgive my sin and save me, I could pray and tell Jesus. I bowed my head and prayed. I don't remember what I said, but I do remember that my heart felt light, and I wasn't afraid to go to sleep.

 

Today, I passed out 75 loaves of gingerbread to our neighborhood. Everyone who accepted the breads, which was all but one person, were so happy and thankful. The one who didn't accept the read was a lady who lost her husband in October. She told me she wasn't doing anything Christmasy because she didn't want to think about it without her husband. Please pray that I can be blessing to her and win her to Christ. Each loaf of bread had a tract and a short Christmas story and plan of salvation with it.

 

Tomorrow, we will have a carol sing at our church. Please pray we have a good attendance, and that we have visitors.

Tis the Season to be Jolly

I hope everyone is having a lovely Christmas season even through difficulties they may be facing. So far, we have had two light snows, but we may be getting a heavier snow this weekend. While I am not a fan of the usually extremely long, cold winters of Maine, I do like snow. This year, I decorated our porches and tree outside with lights and garland. I will be putting up a manger scene banner when it arrives. We have had our Christmas tree decorated since October, but that was so my mom could celebrate with my brother's family while they were here.

We held our annual children's Christmas play this past Sunday. Each year, I choose a theme for the play even though it is always the same, simple story of Christ's birth taken from Scripture. This year's theme was Have You Any Room For Jesus. There were mishaps for me and interruptions, but the kids did fabulous as always. We had 12 visitors, and 9 of those were first timers. The spirit was great among the people. Please pray that some of these visitors will return for other services. 6 of the visitors were from group homes for people with disabilities. While some of our regular members were missing, God sent us the ones we compelled from the hedges, the halt and hurting.

Mom held our annual Ladies' Christmas party last night, and we had 12 ladies attend. The spirit was great, and the night was full of laughter. At the end, some shared testimonies. It was a nice time of fellowship. 

The 20th is fast approaching, and on that day, we need everyone who will to pray for God to work some mighty miracles. Satan is working overtime to destroy families because he knows his time is short. Pray that truth will be upheld and for Satan to be bound.

If all continues to go well, I should be in Puerto Rico starting in March. I will finish out the last 9 weeks of school for a friend who is getting married. After that, I hope to begin preparing for trips to England and Europe. Again, if all goes well, I hope to be headed there by the end of next year.

Baby Joel continues to do well. He had another heart cath today, and he had a stent put in to the artery which was narrow. He is just about to walking stage, and knows quite a few words including my name. :-) Yep, this aunt was pretty proud that he said my name before Mimi or Grandpa.

Blessings to all who support me and pray for me.

Thanksgiving Vacay

 My parents and I finally got away to see baby Colton, my parents 22nd grandchild. He is 9 months old already and is full of life and smiles. He started walking holding on to things, and he has so far said Mama, grandpa, and I love you. I'm trying to teach him to say coffee, one of the most important words in the English language. :-) It's been fun being with my sister, Jacqueline, and her husband, Phil. We have stayed up late every night playing games and talking. Tonight Phil deep fried a turkey which turned out amazing. My aunt and her son came, and we enjoyed a good time of fellowship and food. Thursday, we will spend Thanksgiving with my aunt and her family, and then we fly out of Nashville on Thursday night. 

With the many burdens we have dealt with over the last year, and the many more to deal with when we get home, this vacation has been a respite. Please keep us in prayer as we have some very important things to deal with in the near future. Please pray truth will be known and that God will intervene on behalf of some children. We need some very definite miracles.

We will be holding our children's Christmas play on December 11. Please pray that all the kids will know their lines, and please pray that their parents will attend. We are praying for souls to be saved because of this.

Baby JJ has a heart cath coming up, so please pray all is well. Keep my mom in prayer too as we continue to monitor her health and try to help her heal her hip.

Baby JJ!

 Baby JJ is doing so great! The doctors are still amazed that he came home 11 days after such extensive surgery. He had a post op appointment yesterday, and the doctors were very pleased. He is already standing, and today he said my name. He has a CT scan and heart cath coming up to check on the narrow vein he has to make sure the blood is flowing like it needs to.

Please keep my cousin Charlotte in prayer. She has cancer. She had a good appointment for her second opinion, and the doctor wants her to keep doing chemo without radiation. 

Several other family members are having various surgeries in the next few weeks. Prayers would be appreciated.

I am asking for special prayer for  an extreme unspoken request. Only by God's power can this situation be remedied. If only man's words and wisdom are relied on, the devastation for years to come will be extensive.

Please continue to pray for my mom's health. She is set to begin therapy again in a week or so. She will again be starting over because of not having therapy for  five weeks as she recovered from surgery.

Please pray that the 200+ tracts and flyers that we passed out in our town on Halloween  will bring in much fruit. 

There is much unrest in the world. Violence in Colombia, China threatening Taiwan, N. Korea testing missiles, Russia still fighting in Ukraine, hurricanes and flooding in Belize. Please keep the missionaries in prayer.

Due to all the trials our family has gone and is going through, and because my brother's family visited, my mom decided to start decorating early for Christmas. We usually wait until Thanksgiving. Today I decorated our porch and put some lights in our tree outside. It was nice to do a little something out of our routine. Sometimes a little change can brighten up a day.

Health Updates and Requests

I apologize that I have not posted an update sooner. I thought I had done one right after Joel's surgery, but either it didn't save or I posted it somewhere else and forgot to post here.

 

Update on baby Joel-  Because Joel was thriving so well, the doctors continued to delay his second surgery in hopes that his heart would grow and he would have good weight gain before surgery. They finally scheduled his surgery on October 4. The surgery not only required a partial Glenn procedure for the left hypoplastic heart syndrome, but it also required rerouting a vein which wrapped the heart instead of just entering at the correct point. Joel also had two of the same artery coming from his brain. The spliced those two arteries together, and the second one flows by gravity instead of pumping into the lungs. The bands placed in the first surgery were also removed. Joel did very well through the 9 hour surgery. They kept him open for awhile and did a heart cath to make sure everything was flowing right. The heart cath showed one vein to the lungs that did not reinflate all the way after the bands were removed, so a stent was put in. Joel was then moved to PICU and his chest, though still open, was covered with a large bandage. This was a precaution in case he had any emergencies and needed to go back to surgery. Within a couple of days, Joel's chest was closed. He continued to thrive, and most of his tubes, IVs... were removed within  a week. The doctor's had said a 4-5 week stay was the least amount of time Joel would be in the hospital, but on October 15, just 11 days after surgery, Joel came home! he is doing very well, and other than some precautions about not being on his stomach and not lifting him under the arms, he is able to live a normal life. Thank you for all the prayers. We know it is because of the prayers that Joel is doing so well. Continue to pray he has no setbacks.

My mom was doing better with the therapy for her torn muscles and chipped hip bone, but three weeks ago through strange circumstances, she ended up having an emergency appendectomy. She still has a couple weeks of recovery to go. Please pray that she will heal properly with no complications.

My oldest brother, Josh, rides a motorcycle for funeral processions for vets. About two weeks ago, he was riding, and something flew up from the road and hit his hand. He assumed it was a wasp or something because his hand swelled. Within a few days it was very infected. He finally went to the hospital when his entire arm was inflamed and he lost feeling in the hand. The doctor had to cut the finger that was hit and part of the hand to release the infection. After sending the infected tissue off for analysis and putting Josh on strong antibiotics, the results of the tissue analysis revealed that Josh had a staph infection and MRSA. The antibiotics the doctor put Josh on had already begun working on the MRSA, and Josh's body began to respond to them. The doctor kept him for observation a few days, and sent him home with strong antibiotics and careful cleansing instructions. He will be off work for a month. Please pray he continues to heal and that God provides for his family during this time.

Now that Joel has come through surgery, I am just watching to see how my mom's health is doing before beginning flight bookings for some missions trips. There is a possibility I will end up in Puerto Rico for the end of the school year if my mom's health improves and a few other things fall into place. Please pray that the world stays open and travel remains possible.

I have an extremely important unspoken request. Continuous prayer would be appreciated as the answer may take a  lengthy amount of time to come.

 

Prayers Needed

 My mom has suffered another health setback. On Sunday, September 25, she had an emergency appendectomy. It is a long recovery process. Please pray the pain will ease, and that she will have no complications.

My 8 month old nephew, Joel, will be having his second open heart surgery on Tuesday, October 4. He has left hypoplastic syndrome which will be repaired along with extra veins that will be rerouted, veins that wrap the heart that will be rerouted, and a narrow aortic arch which will be expanded. Please pray all goes well with no complications during surgery, and please pray his recovery is quick.

My sister Joy had a miscarriage a few days ago. Please pray for her in regards to this and some unspoken things.

Please continue to pray that I can begin traveling again. Mom's health is the main reason I have not begun traveling.

Fall Is Upon Us.

Where does the time go? I cannot believe it has been over a month since I posted an update. Life seems to happen and move too quickly these days. During the last week of August, we began to see a bit of color in the leaves. Soon the countryside will be covered with the colors of fall. We have already had cold enough temperatures in the night and early mornings that I am sleeping with blankets. I believe we are going to have a long cold winter.

Last Sunday, we began our kids program Anchor Adventures again. We are working hard to regain some of the kids we have lost since the program was closed down for the winter and because I was staying with my sister most of the spring. Please pray that our kids will again become faithful, and that they will get a burden to reach their friends and family with the Gospel.

We finally took out a wall which was hindering growth in our downstairs auditorium. I am praying that the empty chairs will push our members to get out and bring in people to fill them. It is sad that so many Christians allowed their practices of faithful church attendance and soulwinning to slacken because of covid. If anything there should have been an urge to tell others about Christ because of the fear of death being on everyone's minds.

My sister's baby has been doing pretty well, but weight gain has been a huge hurdle. After trying several formulas and finally finding one that seemed to work, the government control on the formula has caused her issues in being able to always get what he needs. Please pray he continues to gain weight and do well. They still haven't met about his second surgery, and my prayer is that by the time they do, his heart will have grown what he needs. God is a God of miracles, and I believe this could happen if God allows it to.

A month or so ago, my 18 year old cousin Charlotte was diagnosed with lymphoma. Please pray that her treatments work and for wisdom and strength for her and her family.

My mom's health is still the same. Please pray that her heart rate and blood pressure will even out. Pray also that her hip will heal so that she can regain strength and mobility.

Please pray for me as I look to possible heading out on a series of trips in either the spring or summer. I am waiting for answers and healing for my mom and nephew before heading out.

August-The Last Month of Summer

 It is hard to believe we are nearing the end of summer. The last two and half years have been very different from what I expected. Covid brought me home, and my mom's health has kept me home. This year baby j was born with a heart condition, and is expected to have a second surgery in the near future. 

The Bible talks about seasons, and just like we have seasons in nature, we have seasons in life. The last two and half years have felt like a long bleak winter. It has been hard for me to not be traveling and helping missionary families. I see the needs of so many around the world, and I wish I could clone myself. My mom needs my help, and my sisters need help, and again I wish I could clone myself. I have never been a very patient person, so this period of waiting for God to bring healing... in my family has been difficult. Please keep my family in your prayers, especially my mom.

Please pray for our church. Satan is using everyone and everything he can to defeat spiritual of our members and physical growth in numbers. Some may say numbers aren't. Important, but then they would have to reject the entire book of Acts which lists numbers added to the church daily. Every number is a soul, and while having the largest church in the world isn't the most important thing, striving to have the largest church in the world is important because it means you are working to move ahead, to grow, to push harder to reach more people for Christ. The biggest needs we have are someone to help with the kids ministry, and someone to help with music. The next big need is a larger vehicle to pick up people. 

Thank you for your prayers and for those who continue to support me. The continued support has allowed me to care for my health as I cared for my mom, and the bulk of the support goes into an missions account which will be used to fund future trips. Please pray that God continues to open and keep open the nations I am planning to visit. 

Life Continues

 I have been home a couple of weeks now, and most of that time has been spent caring for my mom and buying furniture for my room and trying to get the house settled. Sometimes moving feels like starting all over. Hopefully we will be settled in totally by next week.

Mom is working on getting rid of three blood clots in her leg. She is also still trying to heal her torn hip muscles. Because of these issues, her heart rate and blood pressure have been giving her trouble. Prayers are appreciated.

Our church did an outreach program to pass out tracts and John and Romans. The people participated and really enjoyed the opportunity. We had several visitors come over the last few weeks. Please pray that God will continue to bring people in and that our people will continue to have a burden to reach out.

My sister's baby has a cat scan coming up next week for his heart. Please pray that the doctors will see everything they need to. Surgery is possible in August.

Until the baby has surgery and my mom's health is better, I am waiting to begin traveling again. Please pray that God will open the doors for the places He wants me to go.

Baby J Updates

 I had been waiting to see what the doctors would say regarding baby Js surgery... which is why there has been a month of no updates. baby J was supposed to have two different procedures near the beginning of June. A false positive covid test kept him from having these. The good thing that came from the false test is that he doesn't need another test for 180 days. He had the heart cath last Thursday. The doctors will meet and then schedule an appointment  to discuss the next steps. The CT scan has been pushed to July. Please pray that the longer time may allow for more growth which will make his next surgery a better scenario. 

Due to still not having housing, and due to mom hurting her hip again, she and I will be staying in Iowa for a bit while dad returns to Maine to hopefully find housing. Please pray that God shows plainly what we need to do.

Continue to pray as I try to work towards getting back to missions traveling. Baby Js situation and my mom's health are two things that I am waiting for improvement in. Please pray that travel remains unhampered by any more health measures.

Moving Week

 Well this is the last week to be out of the house my parents have been renting. We still aren't sure of the truth of who owns it...,but no matter what we will be out. We still have no leads to a new residence.

My mom and I are flying to Iowa so she can spend time with baby Joel before his next surgery. Please pray as he has a heart Cath on June 10, and surgery will be scheduled soon after. We are still praying for some miracles of healing in his heart, but no matter what the bands put on to decrease oxygen to the lungs and spread it through the body will have to be taken off  pray for God to protect Joel and guide the doctors hands, and pray for peace for my sister and her family.

This week is Memorial Day, and I think about my uncle who gave his life in Vietnam to save his fellow soldiers.  I think of the millions who have sacrificed their lives, the lives of their family members, the childhood years of their children, the early years of their marriages, their wealth and lands... Since this nation began. As I watch the current government try to steal away our rights, vote away our rights, give power over our lives to a killing machine, remove the power of our money, remove the will power to work and provide for families... I pray that God will cause Americans to rise up one more time and throw tyranny to the winds. 

Jesus is coming soon, and I see time slipping by that should be used to reach others for Christ. Instead, the time is being used to bash ministries who are giving the true Gospel, it is being used to remove the truths of God's Word and give people a false sense of security in a "Christian" rock and roll culture, and so much more that is displeasing to God. My prayer is that revival will take place in the hearts of those who claim to be Christians. You can't revive something that is dead. A result of revival is souls saved, but revival is for the saved to return to the truth of God's Word, surrender to God's will...

Quick update

 Update 1- Baby Joel will have a heart cath either June 1 or June 10. Within a couple weeks of this test, his doctors will set a surgery date. Please pray that God will allow this surgery to go as well as the first with no complications. He will have several things done during this surgery.

Update 2- My parents housing situation is still a mystery as far as who owns the property and where they will move. The church is considering how they will be able to help. Please pray that God will give clear direction for my parents.

Home

 I finally made it home last Saturday. Due to the mask mandates still being in place, I had a cousin get me from Indiana, and I spent two days with her. Then my uncle came from NY and picked me up. My parents met me in NY. It was a tiring trip, but I'm glad I'm home.

We are in the process of trying to find a home. The house we were living in is in limbo, and we don't even know who owns it anymore. Please pray that if it is God's will, the house, my parents are getting paperwork done for, will remain available and at a price range my parents can afford and a good percentage rate. The housing market here is outrageous. Gas is now $4.21. Since my parents moved into this house three years ago, their power bill has jumped four times. Please pray that some of these costs change for the better.

I am still working out whether I will be able to travel for missions helps soon. One judge has ruled the mandates illegal, and another rules they are legal. Please pray that the Supreme Court will keep them illegal and make it impossible for anything like this to happen again. 

Please pray as I get involved in our church ministries again. There are several needs that we have. We need a youth pastor. We need a building which doesn't cost so much to maintain and with enough space for our kids ministry to be able to continue even during the winter. We have 20 regular kids attending, and we have 4 more lines up for Sunday. We also need a larger bus. Right now it takes 4 trips on a 12 passenger van to get the adults and kids. Please pray that our people will get a vision to bring in more people. We had a lot of visitors on Easter Sunday.

Please continue to pray for my sister's baby Joel. He is doing well overall, but his next heart surgery will be coming in a couple of months. Please pray for my sister Janna and her family as they continually battle health issues. Pray for sister Jacqueline with health issues and her husband Phil who was burned by gas spraying on him. Pray for my sister Joy and her family and my brother Josh's family in unspoken ways. Pray for my brother Justin as he continues to work with horses. He has had several injuries lately. I don't usually list out all my siblings, but they all seem to have a lot of needs right now.  

Heading Slowly Home

 I left my sister's house last Friday. Baby Joel is doing very well. Although there has been a little growth to his left ventricle in his heart, the doctors do not think he will have enough growth to function properly. He is expected to have surgery sometime this summer to repair this as well as few other issues in the heart. 

I am staying with my sister in Indiana for a few weeks. Please pray that the FTMM will be lifted so I can fly home instead of needing to drive with various family... It took two years, but finally the states and Congress are taking a stand against the unConstituional procedures the president allowed the CDC to implement. Please pray for those fighting these battles.

Continue to pray for Ukraine. I am in touch with missionaries who are taking in refugees, and the stories they have to tell are sad. Pray for those in Russia who have been warned to leave that God will give them peace in their decisions of whether to stay or go.

Please pray that I can begin planning trips to the places I had promised to be in the summer of 2020. Pray also for my parents as their housing situation is about to change again. Pray for their health.

Praise and Prayers

Another month gone, I didn't even realize it. Caring for six kids can definitely keep a person's mind busy. It is hard to believe that in a week, I will be heading home to Maine, and it is harder to believe that I have been in Iowa for almost four months. 

Baby Joel is doing very well. He has grown so much in the last few weeks, he is getting to be much more sociable and tries to talk quite a bit. He has learned to reach for his toys, hands, hair and anything else he takes a fancy to. His next appointment is on March 31, so please pray everything still looks good, and please pray that his heart has grown so he doesn't have to have  all the extensive surgeries. Pray for my sister as she continues to care for him and his six siblings.

Please pray for my parents as their housing situation is a little crazy right now. More than likely, they will be having to move again in the next few months. Continue to pray for their health, and for an unspoken request.

Continue to pray for my ministry. It has of course been on hold while I cared for my mom and now my sister's family, but countries are opening up now, and I may be able to begin traveling again soon. I am hoping to help those I had lined up in England and Europe, so please pray since I will possibly be helping Ukrainian refugees.

Please pray for Ukraine and Russia. While our media, including conservative news, are spinning their various tales, missionaries in both countries are sharing what is truly happening. Pray that the Gospel can be given to the people. Pray for those who are leaving the countries. The US has warned Americans to leave Russia.

Wars and rumors of wars: I am not worried about the future since I know that this is just one more sign that Jesus is coming soon.

Miracles

 I apologize for not having posted in over a month. I have been caring for my 6 nieces and nephews while my sister and her husband stayed at the hospital with baby 7 after his heart surgery. We prayed for miracles with all the complications baby Joel was born with.

The first miracle was that his first surgery was not the typical first surgery for the heart defect he has. He stayed in the hospital a month simply to make sure the surgery had gone well, and so he could get strong enough to stay home and not need to be readmitted for any reason.

The second miracle is that the surgery, which was expected to be very difficult due to veins that run in abnormal directions around the heart, was actually textbook according to the doctor.

The third miracle was that his mom's milk is so far enough to sustain his weight without needing any formula. The formulas they used to fortify his milk while he was in the hospital did not sit well in his tummy. Thankfully, mommy's milk seems to be working well. 

 The miracle we are praying for now is that the heart will grow and the typical first surgery will not be needed. He is still expected to have surgery at 6 months old, but we are praying that God will allow the heart to grow and remove the need for any future surgeries.

My parents returned home after they knew the baby had come through the surgery and was doing well. My mom has been dealing with stress related heart issues, so prayers for her would be much appreciated. my dad has been running the kids program for our church, so please pray that we can get someone to come in and be a help in that area. Thankfully, we have a faithful lady who plays accordian, and she has been doing the music while I have been away.

Things are moving in the judicial world in regards to the continued mandates for air and public transportation travel. The first win for some to fly who cannot mask has happened for a 4 year old boy who was being denied a mask exemption by numerous airlines which caused him to have trouble getting to medical appointments in Boston. Please pray that God will use this case as well as several others in the courts to cause Congress to step in and say enough is enough in regards to the unnecessary measures.

The Canada truck convoy sparked a worldwide convoy protest on top of the continued protest marches around the world. People who have survived communism and socialism in Europe... are standing up against all the mandates. Some countries have already ended the mandates because of these protests. Please pray that God will continue to open doors for me to travel again.

I know that God brought me home and kept me home in order for me to care for my mom and now my sister's family. Although it has not been easy, I continue to wait to see what God will have me to do for the future.

My plans when I return home are to spend time with some of our kids who made professions of faith just before and during the Christmas season. I want to talk with them in depth about baptism and make sure they fully understand what it means to be baptized.

A New Year, A New Nephew!

 Because of Christmas, New Year's and the expected birth of my nephew, I decided to wait to do an update.

My parents and I traveled to Iowa for Christmas this year to be with my sister Julie and her family. Christmas was a fun time spent with my nieces and nephews and my sister and her husband. We played games, made cookies, watched movies, and just enjoyed each other's company. Julie was expecting baby number seven, and he was having some complications in the womb. The doctors thought he would come before Christmas, but he decided to wait. On January 6, Julie went to an ultrasound appointment, and the baby seemed to be in distress. The plan was, if the baby wasn't born by the 10th, then labor would be induced. With the signs of distress, the doctors decided to induce that night. Joel Jirah was born around 11:15-11:30 weighing 8lbs. 14oz. he came out face up and screaming which was a good sign. Julie was able to hold him for a short time before he was moved to NICU. The doctors are keeping him still due to the heart issues he has. He will require surgery in the near future. Please pray for Julie and Andy and baby Joel.

The New Year was spent indoors due to an ice storm. The weather has remained cold since, and we did get a bit of snow, but the temps have been so cold, that the kids could only play outside for a short time. We had nights of heavy winds and extremely low temps the last couple of days. Hopefully we can get a bit warmed up before the snow melts away.

With the issues my new nephew has, he will probably be in the hospital for awhile even without surgery, so I will remain in Iowa for a few weeks or so to help with the other six kids. Please pray for my parents as they will head home in a few days. Pray especially for my mom as she is still struggling with her own heart issues, and I will not be at home to help her.

Please continue to pray that countries and airlines end their mandates. I heard that England is relaxing a bit, which means I may be able to complete my scheduled trip there if the aairlines relax some of their measures.