well, I found out today that I cannot take the part-time job because it is a nurse position and they can’t change it for an exercise specialist. Bummer. My supervisor said that when we have a low number of patients, I could work less. But the problem with that is that we are getting ready to be down 3 positions in Cardiac Rehab and so unless they hire someone, it will be a long time before we have too much staff!

So I’m sad but I also know all will come with God’s timing. I trust Him. Please continue to pray with us for other possible opportunities. Thanks so much!

Thanks to all who prayed me through last week. I am feeling much better this week and I can only contribute it to God’s grace. I’m still hoppin’ busy but not anxious so that’s good. Love you guys and can’t wait for Saturday!

Its Wednesday and after 3 days of being back to work and having loads to do after work, I am beginning to think it would have been better if I hadn’t had a Thanksgiving break. Right now I am feeling kinda like I did when I went back to work after maternity leave. Sad and overwhelmed. I miss being with my family during the day and when I get home there is a list of things I need to take care of. You should see the house right now. It looks like our Christmas boxes had a catastrophic fall from the attic and their guts are spilled all over the living room.

I am trying to pray and thank God for all of His blessings. There is so much to be thankful for. Please pray with me because my mentality needs to change alot. Thanks so much and I look forward to Thurs night and seeing some of you!

Yesterday I experienced something that could have been overlooked but I really can only explain it by being a God thing.  I hope I can explain it.

I went to Babies’R'Us and noticed I was missing my major gift card that had $160 on it. I had used it last right before we went to the beach so I asked the lady, Geneva, if they had found it. No. I left thinking maybe I had left it in the bag from my last purchase. I looked in the car, in my wallet, etc.  I kept thinking about it on the way home and prayed I would find it.  Then, I remembered back in the store I had thrown away these coupons that were with all my gift cards. Maybe it had gotten in them. So I called the store and started heading back. Someone looked but said there was no trash can. I went back anyway because I knew I had thrown them away somewhere.  I looked in the trash where I had paid and found the coupons but no gift card.  Geneva was still there and she offered to take my number just in case.  I really thought I had lost it 2 weeks ago but I thought it couldn’t hurt to give her my number. 

Well, I was just getting back on Wendover when she called.  She had found it!!  And the weird part was where she found it.  It was behind her underneath the bins that they put returned merchandise in.  How did my coupons get in the trash can which was right in front of me at the register (and in front of her) and the card get across the desk and way back there?  That is the part that I say is totally God doing something because it just doesn’t make sense otherwise.  It seems for some reason He wanted to answer my prayer and to include Geneva in it as well.

When I left the store I called Geneva’s manager and praised her for how diligent she was, writing down my number and continuing to look for the card after I left. I prayed for her, that God would bless her with His presence and reveal Himself to her in a new way.  And I praised God for finding the gift card plus revealing how good He is to me.  I really felt like I didn’t deserve His blessing because I felt like I had been neglecting Him lately.  But He proved Himself true and good, even when I have done nothing to merit His goodness.  He’s so great!

I wanted to thank ya’ll for your prayers for my mama in Mexico. She is continuing to do great and the cancer apparently is shrinking. She’ll have a fourth chemo treatment in a few weeks and then I think they’ll do surgery to hopefully remove the cancer in her intestines. I’m so proud of her and her strength. My sister was able to finish her thesis and is now a doctor. Her and her husband are continuing to minister to street kids/people there. They have been eager to hear God’s word and truth, even asking for more. Praise the Lord for all of this! Keep lifting them up!

I got an update on my mama in Mexico. She had her first chemo treatment a couple of weeks ago and now it looks like the tumor has shrunk! Plus, she hasn’t been feeling too bad and apparently has a continued positive and joyful spirit, having faith in her Lord! Praise the Lord for answered prayer! Please continue to pray for her with her second chemo treatment. I am really hoping that those of you traveling to Mexico soon will be able to meet with atleast my sister, if not my mama as well.

A little further south, in Nicaragua, my roommate from Mexico, Mary Helen, is serving in a health clinic for a few months (she’s a nurse).  This clinic is in an area that is very rural and poor.  She wrote telling of a 12 year old girl who has to live away from her family in another town so she can work 5 am to 9 pm and only gets off one day a month to see her family. She makes $80/month.  And she is afraid of the husband where she lives.  Pray for this girl.  And pray for Mary Helen as she has the opportunity to bring life to these indigenous people who seem to have no hope right now. What an amazing opportunity. I am so proud of Mary Helen for seeking it out herself.  She has such a tender heart.

I am so excited that we are sending down the team to Mexico. Jealous but excited. I know God has plans to bless them and the people they will be working with. We all need to be lifting them up as they prepare.

I have been troubled this week with the news that my Mexican mama has colon cancer.  She was having surgery on Wed. and I prayed and asked a few others to pray for her.  Seeing a few of these surgeries where they take out the part of the colon that is affected, I thought that she would have the surgery and be ok, maybe with some chemo afterwards.  I have been wondering how it went on Wed.  Today I received an email from her son-in-law who is a missionary there.  I will copy it below because he is very specific with how to pray at this point.

Dear Friends,

  At the beginning of the week we asked you to be praying for Esther, Mei-yit’s mom, who was diagnosed with a malignant tumor…

  She underwent surgery but the doctors were not able remove anything as the cancer had spread too much, so they will give her chemotherapy with the hope of bringing it under control so they can operate in the future.

  Please pray:

*That she will not need another surgery in the next couple days to fix her intestine.

*That the cancer has not spread to her lungs or other vital organs.

*That her body will react to the chemotherapy.

*For Mei-yit, who lost her dad to cancer 5 years ago and doesn’t feel like she can handle   this.

*For Esther’s family, who aren’t Christians, that they would come to know God through this trial.

*For a miracle, the cancer is in an advanced stage and the odds and percentages aren´t good.

This all breaks my heart.  I love this woman dearly.  She fed me, loved me, and accepted me into her family during my time in Mexico.  She is beautiful and it makes me so sad to know that she is so sick.  On top of that, I hurt so much for my sister, Mei-yit.  She has already lost her father to cancer and she is extremely close to her mom.  And she has such a tender and sensitive heart.  Plus she is going through the stress of an internship in medical school.  Please pray for her, for all of them.  Maybe God wants to use all of this to bring their extended family to Him (only mama, Mei-yit and Rob know Him).  That is something they have been praying about for a long time.  I just want to see a miracle.  I know God loves to show Himself powerful and all-mighty.  I pray that that is His will in this situation.  That He will blow all of the doctors and their families minds with His glory.