Joel's Journey: Mercy Doing Good

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Mercy Doing Good

Thank the Lord that Mercy is doing really well, pretty much back to normal play with her wrist. Thank you for praying for this little precious! Last night at the table Elijah ask her,"did you have a miracle?" She said, "yeah!" But you just had to hear her voice, so cute!

Today, the 23rd, 13 months since Joel went to his heavenly home. Seems like so long ago that I held him, had him, loved on him.....I miss you! What a joy to have you for 3 years 4 months and 10 days. You are forever my little boy. In heaven I will love on you and hold you forever!!

Grocery day went fairly well, unusual happenings keep occuring to me on these shopping days,(remember I ran out of gas) when up to a month or so ago nothing happened. It was the jar of pickles.... in Sam's that I proceeded to take off the shelf but did not make it to my buggy but was dropped on my toes.....OUCH!!!!! Major pain.... wondering if I would be able to continue my shopping expedition. After standing there and praying the Lord's mercy on my foot, I decided not to get the pickles and pushed the cart trying to aid my foot of the pain. All continued to go well until I made my last stop at a thrift store near where we live. As I returned to the van I searched for my keys, but not to be found, so I go around the other side and peek in and they are hanging where they should be in order to start the vehicle. Called Terry, he's not in town but said Elijah was and he would call him for me. I went to ask for a hanger which at least I was at a good place to recieve one. Went over to the side window that opens out and jammed the hanger in with the crook I had made in it, wiggled it and I could not believe it caught hold of the lock! I pulled up and it really opened! I do not think I have ever done that before. I was able to call Terry back and tell him of my success! Later Anna wondered why I was taking so long to get home as I talked to her previously and said I would be there soon. I guess I will have to make sure and tell the Lord thank you for letting get back home!!

The guys are helping a family that lives a few hours away with some outside projects so we have been busy with preparations for church meeting in our home tomorrow. We meet with several other families and enjoy the teaching and fellowship. Anna has been in the kitchen most of the day. She made the lunch for tomorrow, BBQ meatballs and Duo Tater Bake plus the dessert. After that she made breakfast for in the morning and made some dessert for the younger ones tonight. Josiah was helping "lick." You are probably wondering what I do..... well I did manage to make a new dish for supper, Spiral Pepperoni Pizza Bake, cleaned one bathroom, started vacuming but did not finish, dusted,and some other cleaning. Andrew and Joshua helped outside to make it ready for church. Bethany is knee deep in goat maintance and care. We have had 4 more babies, plus she is having to feed some of these puppies goat milk with a bottle. Were getting it done and our big helpers are gone! In all labor there is profit!!

Not much else..... have a wonderful Lord's Day!

Cindy

1 comment:

Cheryl said...: Hey, Anna,
I noticed y'all made the Duo Tater Bake....how did y'all like it??? :)

Hannah; February 25, 2008 at 10:06 AM

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Joel's Story

Joel, our 11th of 13 and a twin of Josiah, at age 3 was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma, a childhood cancer, on December 6th, 2006. Joel had three perfect years of health and he and Josiah celebrated their 3rd birthday Sept. 13th, 2006. The first of Oct. Joel started having unexplained fevers for a few days and would return to active play. After the fourth round of fevers we took him to our family Dr. which they said his iron was low, so we treated that for a few weeks and took him back only to have his hemo. showing lower than before. We were referred to a hematologists and saw him a few weeks with blood checks twice a week. At a visit on Dec. 4th we showed the Dr. the bumps, (which were tumors but we did not know at the time) on Joel's head and he was very concerned and we were told we needed to admit him immediately and start extensive tests the following day. Joel went through rigorous testing and then the dreaded results were given. Joel was at a stage IV the most extensive stage, but we were hopeful that the Lord would use the means of Chemotherapy treatments to restore Joel's body. Joel endured 8 1/2 days in the hospital, came home for Christmas, and returned for his second round of chemo Jan. 3, 2007. Joel had a seizure that night after midnight and went into a coma due to a tumor bleeding in his head area and causing his brain to swell. After tests the following days, the Dr. declared Joel "brain dead" and took us to court to force us to take Joel off life support, as we did not agree with the medical field's definition of death. Our family sought to stand with the scripture, "life is in the blood,"and until Joel's heart quit beating naturally, he was living. We were making arrangements to bring him home and on January 23, 2007 his little heart stopped beating and he went to be with the Lord Jesus in heaven. Our lives are changed forever. God is faithful in the midst of this trial and we look with great hope to be with him someday.