Two stories about Two very AWESOME couples...

Left to Right....Norried and Doris, Dianne and Pastor Steve

On Friday our Pastor, Steve is going to be having surgery to have a tumor removed from his colon. I had mentioned it about two weeks ago...but now it is surgery time. They do know that the tumor is cancerous, and a fairly good size.

However, he's had very encouraging support from his Dr.'s and I want to again state that they do not have health insurance and as of now...all has been worked out.
Whew!

Please pray that he will do well in the surgery and be back on his feet again soon.

I will update on this as soon as we know what's going on. I haven't said much regarding this the past few days because we have waited to see how things would fall into place...and it all has so far.
We are trusting God for him and for his total well being.

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The other couple in the photo are very GOOD friends of our family. We've known them for years and love them dearly.

They are Missionaries to the South Pacific Island of "NAURU".....

They left the States in June and the last we heard of them was when they were in Hawaii ready to head to their new Island. Then nothing. We hadn't heard a WORD from them until we FINALLY got a letter the other day routed through Australia to here.
Crazy!!!
We've wondered about them like MAD.

First of all....apparently....they sent a newsletter out to everyone the last of 2007and NO ONE recieved them. Once they realized that, they did a new one and stuck in a new copy of the old one to update everybody.

Norried reported this in the newsletter we recieved......

" **The Church has us living in a former phosphate office that they have somewhat converted into a living quarters.

**There is no piped government water supply in Nauru. Everyone must ration water from their own cistern. It has rained only 4 times in the last 3 months. We have one daily bath with one bucket of water. WE save dish water for a small vegatable garden. We infrequently wash our clothes.

**Electricity is on and off in 6 hour shifts.

**It is hotter here than any country we have served in.

**Nauru is extremeely isolated and about 25 miles SOUTH of the Equator.

**Our bedroom averaged 95 in the day and 88 at night. At night when our electricity is off we literally "sweat sleep."

**Our only transport is our legs. Some errands or shopping is as far as 5 miles away.

**The physical state of this nation is 'dilapidated and deserate.'"

**There has not been a bank operating here for over 5 years, a somber handicap and a unique challange.

**There is only one internet cafe here with 6 sometimes operating terminals."

Oh......and on top of all that....they've been ROBBED TWICE.

Yikes!
I can't tell you how dedicated these people are. They are older people than my husband and I and I don't know how they do it especially considering all the hardships they have faced through the years.

Again we have known them for years...they have been working in the South Pacific for a long time....first Norried went over with the Peace Corp...and now they are Missionaries with a major Missions organization.

They have very huge hearts for the people of the Islands...Doris herself is a Marshall Island national.
They both have worked hard to help the people of the South Pacific region for most of their lives.They build buildings, the help the people physically and the work with the people spiriutally.

Norried and Doris have worked in the Marshall Islands, Micronesia (an Island called Chuuk (Truk)), the Solomon Islands for the past 15 years and now they are currently in Nauru.

They have three grown children...that they raised on the Islands. They are close to my older kids ages. Two have gotten married and just this past year while Norried and Doris were home on "furlough" both couples had babies....and one of the couples had UNEXPECTED TWINS...their youngest daughter had a girl and a boy with no prior knowledge!!! They thought they were having one baby. Can you imagine?

So they left three brand new Grandbabies and their three kids (and a daughter-in- law and a son-in-law) when they left the States.

It was very hard for them to leave this time but off they went.
They are the neatest people and some of my heros.

Many things.......

Who doesn't just love sweet little violets? They have no pretenses to them at all.

I couldn't resist using this photo tonight because the violets look so pretty and calm and peaceful and well.....purple.
Purple is good.
Plus the sight of them sort of "carries one away" from where your at and take you to someplace else. I felt that while looking at the photo.

They take me back to my Grandparent's backyard in Missouri. I used to pick them as a child and then run with a tightly squeezed, handfuls of them into the house only to hand them off proudly to my Grandmother.

She would in turn, put them in some water in a tiny vase and proudly set them on the table or some other very visual place.

That's a fun memory on a chilly January day. It's good to think back at times and smile. :~)

Many things have been happening. Not just for me but for many people I know personally and "know of."

I'm going to update you all on a few items and push some of my cheesy photos off on you as well at the end of this writing.

Let me state several updates first.
My good friend Nora......firstly....thanks so much to everyone who has prayed.
It has made a difference and it really helped her today.

She went to her Oncologist today.
The report was as we knew it would be....Cancer is back. That is definite.
However, she was told it was probably a "new type" of cancer last week.

It isn't. It's the same one she had previously. She was clear of all cancer in October, now it has "metasticized" and is in some new parts of her body.

She feels "really good" about her report. She told me FIRST thing on the phone when she called me today....."it's the BEST report I could have hoped for."
I feel good that SHE feels good and we will continue to pray for her.

It's still not all roses but you know what.....we are looking at the cup HALF FULL!
Not half empty.
I think that is the biggest part of a battle in most cases of anything.
How you look at it.

It's still "Stage 4"...it's still a "rare" cancer that creates tumors and it is agressive.
Her two Dr.'s (she saw her other Dr. next) told her......
"Your going to be fine."

So...She's pressing onward already!
They will know in two months....what's happening as far as growth and if the going back on the chemo pills are helping or not and if not they will switch things up a bit.
They did not order radiation nor intravenous chemo. They don't treat this particular cancer that way.

They treat it with the pill form of chemo. She already started her new chemo pills today.

Tonight we received word that the Pastor of our church and good friend, is having a consultation with a special "Dr." on Wednesday.
I can't go into great detail right now as you can probably understand, but it is a serious situation and he needs prayer.

Deena. Continue to pray for her she's got a very good disposition in a hard situation as well. I think she's doing great actually!
Check out her blog.
And I don't think I have mentioned to you all of the
"Two Ethan's" that we have been lifting up in prayer.

They are both children.

One "Ethan" is a baby in Arkansas....many people have learned of him or know of him.
He's at St. Jude's right now. Please pray for this family and for Ethan.

The second "Ethan" is a young boy who lives in Iowa in my sister's neighborhood....I think he's 15 years old. He's in a huge battle as well.

These things are ALL very serious.

But we must keep our spirits UP so as not to come under the load of them. That way......we stay "on top"....and that is important.

Sooooo....."Cheesy photos" coming right up now......

Cheesy photo number one is my hick version of some of the very cool photos I see online. It's what I like to call my...."computer desk setting 'Valentine's Extraordinaire.
Ummm......cool tee towels I got for the kitchen for Valentine's....ummm....cool cupid canvas artwork painting that I had...resting on a cute Bettina "Fleur Des Leis" easel that I bought in St. Francisville.

Glitter "Love" banner I found at Target in the "Dollar bargain bin" thing that is in the front of the store.

"Very pretty" glitter gift bag I bought about 4 years ago and had shoved somewhere in a hall closet.....and just found the other day purely by accident....just in TIME for this Valentines Day. Because I've forgotten all these other years.

And here are some other tossed in pink or red items that I thought would match.

Little teapot with red detailing....tissue paper, some shoe "wallies"... silk roses in a tiny vase. Woodwick candle I just had purchased too. They are supposed to "Crackle" when you burn them. Interesting.

Sorry......no fluffy boarders for that shot either.

Next...Gumbo shots.....made it yesterday. Should have done it FRIDAY or SATURDAY when it was sooooo freezing here. But I didn't feel good and was crabby so....I made it yesterday when I felt better and wasn't crabby.

Well.......your going to love this.
I didn't download the "gumbo and cabinet" shots like I thought I had and now my wretched camera is dead so....it won't download.

Guess we will show those photos tomorrow once I check the batteries in the camera.

Please stay tuned.