BUMGARNER'S BLOG

A PRAYER TO PRAY

2008-09-28T11:04:00.002-04:00

The prayer:

Father,Thank you for each and every day you have blessed us here on earth. Thank you for your tender mercies. Thank you for giving us friends and family to share these joys with. I ask You to bless my friends, relatives and those I care deeply for who are reading this right now. Where there is joy, give them continued joy, Where there is pain; give them your peace and mercy. Where there is self-doubt, release a renewed confidence. Where there is need, fulfill their needs. Bless their homes, families, finances, their goings and their comings In Jesus' name Amen.

ANNOUCING A TRUE MIRACLE FROM GOD

2008-09-27T08:15:00.002-04:00

I received word yesterday that a few of our local church members and some other pastors from the district visited Rick Spell (my former pastor) in the hospital. They all gathered, laid hands and anointed Rick with Holy Water and began to pray. He responded and awoke from his coma.

The doctors are amazed. He is doing well, has been moved from ICU to a intermediate caare room and is gaining his strength back quickly.........GLORY TO GOD.

On another note, my sister Janet's mother-in-law, who has just completed her year long chemo treatments for breast cancer; has now been diagnosed with colon cancer. Please put the Lentz family on your prayer lists.

More prayers needed

2008-09-25T07:29:00.002-04:00

I just received word, that my former Pastor Rick Spell has slipped into a coma. I do not know the details of his illness, but God knows and he can reverse the problems. Please add him & his family to your prayers.

PRAYERS, PRAYERS AND MORE PRAYERS NEEDED

2008-09-21T07:51:00.003-04:00

Let me begin this post with " WE SERVE AN AWESOME GOD"

I want everyone to pray for our entire family. We have two members of our family going through some really tough medical battles.

On September 16th we were once again devastated at the results of Dale's MRI scans. He now has metastatic bone cancer involving his entire spine, pelvis (both hips, the right being fully involved) and his femurs. Dale has been has been having some severe pain in his right hip for the past 2 months, this prompting the MRI. He is beginning radiation to his pelvic area, this is mainly for pain management. We visit his oncologist tomorrow for what we hope is news of how they plan to treat with chemotherapy. We are asking for EVERYONE that prays to add our family to your prayer lists.

We do not know what lies ahead.............but we know God is with us and will give us strength, grace and his abiding love through all we face.

Dale is once again being strong, he has never given up and continues to be the strong person he has always been. He knows God has a plan for his life, and he wants to be a testimony for whoever God puts in his path.

Our other prayer request is for my dad, he is facing some challenges with his health and needs our prayers.

Please visit Dale's Caring Bridge website http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/dalebumgarner

We appreciate all your prayers and thoughts.

Love in our Jesus Christ.

Susan

WHIRLWIND

2008-07-20T08:10:00.006-04:00

YES I KNOW IT HAS BEEN OVER 5 MONTHS SINCE MY LAST POST.

I think the main reason for my absence is due to the fact that since obtaining an added work load at my office, (I am now managing our Huntsville AL office remotely) the last thing I want to do is sit and type on the computer.

But there have been so many changes in our lives recently that I thought I would share some and also put in a very much needed prayer request.

FIRST THE GOOD :

Dale has had 3 CT & Bone scans in the past 4 months and all have been great..........no new tumors or cancer. THANK YOU LORD JESUS.

Little Macie is getting to be quite the little character,she will soon be 7 months old. She is almost crawling, cutting teeth, rolling, rolling and did I say rolling on the floor. She loves all men (OH NO!!) she has the sweetest smile and those flirty eyes when her daddy, papa and any other male enters the room. GOD IS SO GOOD.

Keeley my oldest daughter has finally decided to seek the answers to her fertility issues. She was scared to go to a fertility doctor for fear of the dreaded, "you will never be able to bear a child". She is now in the first stages of treatment, seems the diabetic drug Glucophage can aid in becoming pregnant, this is treating her ploy cystic ovarian syndrome, they seem to think is the main culprit to infertility. If this is not successful then more testing and more treatments. PLEASE PRAY FOR KEELEY AND DEWEY.

NOW FOR SOME NOT SO GREAT NEWS

My youngest daughter Sarah and her husband are in the process of divorcing. This is a very shocking and disappointing (to say the least) event in our lives and family. There are so many "bad" issues involved with this.................we all need every ones prayers, God knows all the details of this life changing event and he can fix it all..........PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR FAMILY.

As you can read there are many things that have changed and are changing, and the only solution to them is PRAYER, PRAYER AND PRAYER.

Until next time (who knows how long) please remember us all in your prayers.

UP DATES AND SUCH

2008-02-23T07:26:00.009-05:00

First let me apologize in advance for the lengthy post. So much to say and give updates on.

I know I know, yes it has almost been a month since I posted. I suppose I just have not taken the time to sit and reflect on things that I could or should write about, or maybe I am being plain lazy. Lets see where do I begin.

Let me begin on a good note, our family was very please to celebrate my mom and dad's 50th wedding anniversary a few weeks ago, we were blessed to have my dad's siblings from NC to join us. We had a very nice time and enjoyed the family time. As a result of this gathering and the trip by my Aunt Patricia and Uncle Lindon ; Dale's mom (also from NC) was able to come for a short visit. Trish if you happen to read this post, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for bringing Imogene along for the ride.

Now on to other happenings.

I trust that GOD is taking care of Dale's current cancer, I know God is in control and will bring us through this, but there is also the deep down worry about what lies ahead (I suppose this is human nature).

Dale began his radiation about three weeks ago and finished with his last treatment this past Monday, and then immediately began his Chemotherapy treatment. The type of chemo he is getting this round has fewer side effects and was not suppose to make him nauseated or sick, but like any type of treatment each person responds differently, so being the case Dale has been sick this entire week, he has been so sick he missed several days of work and has not been able to eat very much. And to add to the misery( more my misery than his) I have been away on a business trip, (mind you never again). He does seem to be feeling better and his appetite is slowing returning. I hope that his next treatment does not have this effect on him. We are awaiting the results of his recent MRI, it was recommended that he have an MRI of his brain to have a "baseline" to compare with scans in the future. Once he has had two rounds of this chemo he will be re-evaluated with more MRIs, scans and other tests to see how this recent cancer is responding to treatment.

We are definitely in need of much prayer (which I know we are getting) to get us through this trying time.

On a better note, Macie saw the cardiologist about three weeks ago and her little heart murmur was gone.........GOD is good.

Macie is growing so fast and is becoming more beautiful every day.

Janet (blogging with bully) has taken a new job with a local Radiology clinic and is soooo! glad to be back in the real world of working. I am very glad to have her back on our Sunday family lunches.

Now for me I have taken on an added responsibility at my job, I have been given an additional office to manage, thank goodness this can be done remotely and there will be no travel involved. So for now I go from a very relaxed work load to a very busy non stop work day.....wonder if GOD has this in place to keep my mind occupied, but whatever the reason I hope this means more job security.

As I stated in the beginning of this post I apologize for the length.......but these were things on my mind that needed to be released, and of course there have to be recent pictures added, so please enjoy.

DAD AND MOM WITH DAD'S BROTHER AND SISTER WITH THE SPOUSES

MACIE'S FIRST BLUE JEANS

MAMMAW AND HER FIRST GREAT GRAND DAUGHTER

SLEEP ?????????????

2008-01-27T18:18:00.000-05:00

How soon we forget. (yeah I know it has actually only been 25 yrs). I was telling my mom today, I do not remember being this tired when my girls were babies and not sleeping all night, she quickly reminded me that I was a little younger back then, and that makes all the difference in the world.

Last night was our second time to keep our precious little Macie (all night I might add). 2 weeks ago we were blessed with her on a Saturday night (she was just 2 weeks old), she awoke every hour to two hours all through the night............yippie, but worth every minute.

Last night she "slept" over again with her Nana and Papa, we had a better night, she only woke up every three hours and went quietly back to sleep after her feeding. I thoroughly enjoyed keeping her and hope that this will be a special treat for many years to come.

I am amazed at the difference in my "little" Sarah......how fast she has grown into such a wonderful mom. She cherishes every special moment with her little angel and does not hesitate to share those special feelings with me. Sarah if by chance you read this blog.........please continue to share with me all your special feelings of being a mom.

Now we just hope and pray that God will soon bless Keeley with the pleasure of becoming a mommy, I know she will be exceptional............

Answered Prayer

2008-01-22T07:33:00.000-05:00

God has answered a special prayer request that we had. Dale is going to be able to work during his radiation treatments. He just has to make sure he does not do any heavy lifting; his employer has offered to hire some temporary help for the lifting and materials handling part of his job, all he will be doing is pushing buttons.

God is so awesome.

Also here are a few new pictures of our little Macie

Me and my Papa

I'm so sweet

My cousin Sam loves me so much

AGAIN

2008-01-20T09:48:00.000-05:00

FIRST OF ALL LET ME ADD THIS BEFORE I BEGIN

Ecclesiastes 3.1

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.

We have been very busy the past two weeks going for scans, test and doctor appointments. The results show that Dale's cancer has returned, it is now in his spine (L1), so again he will be having radiation and chemotherapy. Dale and I are trying to be optimistic and leave this in God's hands. We definitely needs prayers from everyone. We need for God to touch this cancer and destroy it for good. I could go on and on about the doctor's prognosis, but that would only take away from the fact that I know GOD is in control.

Please Please Please keep us in the daily prayers.

WHAT CAN I SAY

2008-01-05T11:52:00.000-05:00

I know, I know........I am getting less and less frequent with my blogs. But there just does not seem to be much to speak about, yeah I know I have a new beautiful grand daughter, but with all that has transpired the past 2 weeks I am just slightly overwhelmed. There have been some really high emotions floating around our households and to that I say Lord please help us cope with all our different personalities, calm our fears and bring comfort and peace to each of us.

My wish and prayer for 2008 is for HEALTH, we begin this New Year with a heavy heart, anticipating the outcome of Dale's biopsy he will have this next Tuesday.

Little Macie is scheduled for a EKG on Tuesday to determine if she has a murmur or not.

We do start of the New Year with the return of my sister Janet, she has been working very long weekend hours for the past 7 months or so; she will begin a new job in about two weeks that will bring her back to the family weekend gatherings. YIPPIE........I have surely missed her.

Hopefully before many more days all will have settled down and we can begin a somewhat "normal" life again.

Just for the fun of it I am adding a few of my recent photos............oh of course they are of Macie.

Enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!

ME AND MY PAPA

MALYNA CAN TEACH ME TO BE SMART

MY GREAT UNCLE DAVID

WHAT A DAY

2007-12-25T12:57:00.000-05:00

Words cannot describe the feelings of watching your first grandchild being born. I was not fortunate enough to have my daughters (both were planned c-sections). But God blessed me with the opportunity to be present during Macie's birth.

All I can say is wow how awesome...........I truly felt GOD during the entire process, and I especially thank God for the wonderful labor and delivery nurses that took care of Sarah. Karen the nurse that actually help deliver little Macie was exceptionally special. When it came time to push, she stopped and asked Sarah and Jeremy if she could pray, she prayed the sweetest prayer for mom, dad, baby and all those helping. WOW that was the most precious moment.

I am amazed at the entire process of child birth, not to mention the reminder of How awesome God's creation of life is.

I will treasure these memories for ever.

Now I pray that God will bless my wonderful Daughter Keeley with the

the chance to be come a mother.

KAREN (L&D NURSE)

WELCOME MACIE NOEL

2007-12-25T12:49:00.000-05:00

MACIE NOEL WAS BORN ON DECEMBER 24TH 2007 @ 4:02 PM

SHE WEIGHS 5 LB 7.5 OZ AND IS 18.5 INCHES LONG.

MOMMY, BABY AND DADDY ARE DOING VERY WELL.

WE WAIT

2007-12-23T07:01:00.000-05:00

Well within the next 24 hours or so I will be a Nana, Little Macie is on her way into the world. Sarah has been in the hospital since Thursday due to pre-eclampsia. Her labor will be induced this morning, and hopefully Macie will decide to appear today, but if not the doctor plans on taking her if labor has not progressed significantly tomorrow morning.

So we will definitely have a Baby by Christmas eve.

The delivery (by the doctor's calculations) will be 5 weeks early, but they are confident that Macie is ready for the world and they do not foresee any complications.

I will definitely have some pictures to post within the next few days.

so stay tuned.

love to all

Please remember our family in your prayers.

2007-11-28T23:21:00.000-05:00

Thursday again...............wow how fast the weeks are going by

I am so thankful that finally (after a year of waiting) my company is finally going to remodel my office.

I am so thankful for a daughter that is a good cook......she had us over for dinner last night.

I am so thankful for PINK.......there are so many adorable baby clothes in this color.

I am so thankful for a son-in-law that is in the pest control business (don't ask)

I am so thankful for the amazing strength that God gives us......

MACIE NOEL

2007-11-22T09:38:00.000-05:00

MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY IS AWESOME

THIS IS OUR MACIE NOEL

APPROXIMATELY 30 WEEKS IN UTERO

2007-11-22T09:19:00.000-05:00

It has been a very long time since I posted.

But I could not let today go by without doing a Thankful Thursday on Thanksgiving.

God knows how extremely thankful I am for his healing hand and strength this past year during Dale's cancer treatments.

I am thankful for all my family who have been there for us.

I thank God for the wonderful people he has placed in different medical positions, that truly care and acknowledge the wonderful spirit of God.

On of the most important things I am thankful for are all the many many family & friends that prayed continue to pray for us.

I am thankful God has blessed us with the soon arrival of our first grandchild, Macie Noel, she will be arriving soon........about two months (I think sooner).

I am thankful that my dad's last scope showed no bladder tumors.

I am thankful for much much more..........God knows my heart.

I am just so humbled how he has worked in our lives this past year.

I hope all who may read this blog remembers to take time to be Thankful today.

Happy Thanksgiving.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SARAH

2007-10-24T23:19:00.000-04:00

Today is my "baby's" 25th birthday, so in honor of her day here are 25 facts about my youngest daughter.

1. She is carrying our first grandchild, Macie is due January.

2. Sarah is a clean freak. (she did not get that trait from her mother).

3. Sarah has a gift of helping others.

4. Sarah is very beautiful.

5. She is very outspoken.

6. Sarah is very much in love with her husband Jeremy.

7. Sarah is a very good best friend to have. (she has three very close friends that have (yes all three) just given birth in the last two weeks, guess who was there with each of them through the long hours of labor) she said she was practicing for her on labor (she is so funny).

8. Sarah loves her new job, as a physician's assistant in pediatric orthopedic clinic.

9. Sarah loves her first baby Buster (her Yorkie).

10. She is a very good bowler, (if you know our family, I bet your are really shocked about that one LOL).

11. Sarah is definitely a DADDY'S girl. (still has him wrapped around her little pinkie).

12. (I just found this out) but Sarah is a big baseball fan, and she wants the ROCKIE'S to win the world series.

13. Sarah loves her big sister Keeley, they are so very close.

14. Sarah loves and admires her Aunt Janet so much.

15. Sarah was such a sweet little girl and so funny too.

16. Her worst trait as a young girl was of course the eye roll and the foot stomp. ( I think she still does the eye roll thing)

17. Sarah's first boyfriend was David Beard, she bowled with him in her "PEEWEE" league days (age 4 thru age 8)

18. Sarah loves to KARAOKE, she does the best with Gretchen Wilson's REDNECK WOMAN song, or a lot of Shania's songs.

19. Sarah would love to be a Doctor, probably a surgeon, I remember her helping her "paw paw" gut and clean a deer, when she saw the heart she said "wow I want to be a heart doctor, so I can cut out their hearts. (she was about 9 at the time). She enjoys watching surgeries, she loves the discovery health channel surgery shows and loves to go to surgery with the orthopedic Dr. she works with.

20. I am so proud of Sarah, she works very hard to learn everything she can, despite her learning challenges.

21. Jeremy continues to spoil Sarah, he had to take over where mom and dad left off.

22. she may be spoiled, but she is not rotten.

23. Sarah was diagnosed with epilepsy at age 2. She is seizure free as long as she takes her meds. (we have tried to wean her from her meds on 3 different occasions, each time she had break through seizures (each time they were more severe than the previous ones) so she will probably always have to take anti seizure meds.

24. Sarah is going to make a very wonderful mother, she gets so excited when we talk about Macie and she loves for all of us to rub her belly and make Macie move and kick.

25. Sarah is a wonderful gift from God, he has put her here to comfort and soothe those in pain and sickness, When Sarah was a Nurses aid in the nursing home and intermediate care floor at the hospital, she comforted a lot of patients during their last days of life, she always has told me she treated them as they were her family members, she was well loved by all her patients.

THANK YOU GOD FOR PUTTING THAT KIND OF LOVE IN HER HEART.

I HOPE I MADE IN TIME

2007-10-04T06:58:00.000-04:00

I HAVE BEEN A LITTLE BEHIND ON CHECKING MY FELLOW BLOGGERS POSTS.....BUT I DID GET A CHANCE TO SEE ONE ABOUT A TEMPLATE CONTEST.........I HOPE I HAVE MADE THE DEADLINE OF TODAY 10-4-07

I DEFINITELY NEED A NEW LOOK.

p>

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

2007-10-03T06:00:00.000-04:00

YOUR SEASON??

2007-10-02T19:06:00.000-04:00

Deidre at Such A Time As This had this on her last post.

I just thought I would share and tag.

You Belong in Spring

Optimistic, lively, and almost always happy with the world...

You can truly appreciate the blooming nature of spring.

Whether you're planting flowers or dyeing Easter eggs, spring is definitely your season!

What Season Are You?

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

2007-09-28T06:51:00.000-04:00

Dale and I are leaving this morning, for another trip to NC; this will be our third family reunion this year. This time it is on my side of the family, (my mom's). Actually is the 100th anniversary of the church my mom grew up in; and seeing as most of her 7 siblings still live in their hometown, I suppose we can count this as a reunion, her other two siblings that do not live there are also going to be there, so we will get to visit with all my aunts and my uncles. I am sure we will have a fun filled weekend.

I will not have access to my laptop...........yes I am leaving it home for this trip, this is kinda like leaving my security blanket, I usually do not make an out of town trip without it, so I will not be blogging (oh I know everyone will miss my posts, ha ha) really I am leaving the computer in the hands of my daughter Keeley, so she can download her music to her new "IPOD".
So until sometime next week.......happy blogging.

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

2007-09-25T22:16:00.001-04:00

AUBREY GRACE MELLER
ONE OF GOD'S MIRACLES
http://www.caringbridge.org/tn/aubreygrace/

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

2007-09-18T22:53:00.000-04:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KEELEY

2007-09-15T07:45:00.001-04:00

Keeley's 29th (oh my lord I am old) is today so I wanted to do my list of 29 things about my oldest daughter.

1. KEELEY WAS MY FIRST BORN.

2. Keeley was the first grandchild on both mine and Dale's family. (did I say spoiled).

3. Keeley is a tomboy.

4. Keeley's first word was "ball" (go figure)

5 When she was 4 she started crying when I made her wear dresses.

6 She played basketball in the 5 th grade

7 Keeley swallowed a quarter when she was 9 years old.

8 Her first movie she saw at a theater was ET.

9. When Keeley was 10 she was among the Nation's top 10 youth bowlers.

10.. Her nickname is "KEEKEE"

11.Even though she was (and is) a tomboy she loved her baby dolls.

12. She played volleyball in middle school.

13. Her best friend in middle and high school was Shannon Sanders.

14 Her first job was at Central Park Hamburgers

15. Her second job was at Taco Bell. (she loved that job)

16.. She was robbed at gun point and pistol whipped while at Taco Bell.

17. She quit Taco Bell.

18. Keeley's GOD given gift and talent is HELPING OTHERS.

19.. She went to Trinidad/Tobago on a mission trip.

20. All of her jobs so far in her life have been CUSTOMER SERVICE based jobs.

21.. Keeley and I planned her wedding in 3 weeks.

22 . She loves and adores her husband Dewey.

23.. Keeley has totaled 2 vehicles in her 13 years of driving.

24.. She is very fluent in American Sign Language (mostly self taught)

25. Keeley can sing just like Reba McEntire (ha ha ha) so she thinks.

26. Keeley has another man in her life MR. TUG

27. Keeley is so excited about becoming an AUNT in January.

28. Keeley loves MUSIC

29. KEELEY has been a very special blessing to me and her dad, since the day she was conceived. We love you girl.

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

2007-09-12T00:00:00.000-04:00

FAMILY TIME

2007-09-09T19:58:00.000-04:00

Wow.........Can't believe this picture captured almost the entire family...only one or two missing........

Today is Dad's birthday........# 68..............these are just a few photos
of our family gathering. We actually get together every Sunday at MAW AND PAW'S

This is the Birthday boy!!! "PAW"

This is the "MAW" and David our Angel

2007-09-06T06:34:00.000-04:00

I am thankful for

Dale is finished with his chemo treatments.

I have such a wonderful husband.

I am so thankful that he is not interesting in watching Football.

I love the fact that Dale loves to watch HGTV with me.

That GOD forgives.

I am especially thankful for organ donors and God's miracles. I have a very special angel in my life that is now approaching 5, and she was not expected to live past 6 months, thanks to God's touch and her organ donor.

For more TT please visit Iris

2007-08-30T06:00:00.000-04:00

THINGS THAT I AM THANKFUL FOR THIS THURSDAY

Rain........we have had two days with some good showers.

My husband's strength.

A happy family.

The up coming long weekend.

Sunday dinners with my family.

Peace from God.

Becky, Lenise, Debra, Dorothy, Sara, Carla, Michelle, (Dale's oncology nurses, that take such good care of their chemo patients).

Medical technology.

Faith based hospitals.

Thoughts and prayers.

JUST TWO MORE

2007-08-29T18:06:00.000-04:00

It is finally here.............Dale began his last round of chemo today. Just two more treatments; six long hours tomorrow and 3 hours on Friday and we are finished. I know there are many many cancer patients that will have to undergo their chemo regiments for a very long time (some patients continue treatments for years), and I will be praying for all of these people. During the entire "cancer" process this summer, Dale and I have had to stop many times and say thank you Dear Lord for so many blessings. We have met and come in contact with some pretty sick people. I know that God has used Dale's cancer to open my eyes, and hopefully some other's around us also.

I am so thankful to God for giving us our faith and our strength to make it this far.

I am sure I will have some good pictures after Friday, the nurses where Dale is treated has a last treatment party for patients on their last day of treatment (funny hats and wigs are welcome). I will have to sit and blog about these wonderful nurses some day, they are truly amazing.

When you pray, please just say a quick prayer for all cancer patients, and say a thank you for our blessings.

PHOTO SHOOT

2007-08-26T08:40:00.001-04:00

I wanted to share a few of Dale's photos he has taken this week.......yes he has a "NEW" camera. ANTIQUE, BUT WE CALL IT HOME

My favorite area in our backyard

Dale Loves nature

IT'S FRIDAY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2007-08-24T07:05:00.000-04:00

WHEW........what a week..........I am so tired.

I am always tired the week after one of our short weekend trips, ( our family reunion in NC) and then having to work all week; but it was definitely worth it.

I really hope to get some much needed down time tomorrow.

( I really need to do some house work............and them maybe not).

Hope everyone has a good Friday.

One more thing...........I need everyone to pray for Dale, his last chemo treatment is scheduled for next week, but his white blood count is extremely low......please pray that his count will increase by 3 points, he wants to get this over with ASAP.

Thanks for your prayers.

2007-08-23T23:43:00.000-04:00

I AM THANKFUL FOR:

JESUS MY SAVIOR

AN EMPLOYER THAT UNDERSTANDS THE VALUE OF "FAMILY"

"MACIE NOEL" MY DEVELOPING GRANDAUGHTER

(SHE IS DUE IN JANUARY)

AIR CONDITIONING

COLD BOTTLED WATER

HUGS AND KISSES

LOVE

FOR MORE THANKFUL THURSDAY GO TO STING MY HEART

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

2007-08-22T07:14:00.001-04:00

FAMILY

MANY THANKS

2007-08-20T22:27:00.000-04:00

She's going to shoot me for this.....you know I love you Deidre

I will be posting about our trip to NC for the Bumgarner reunion at a later date, but for now I need to say a very heartfelt THANK YOU............Deidre for the wonderful BABY items you so graciously gave to Sarah and (now that we know) little Macie.

We had a great time visiting with all of you........your girls are just absolutely the most precious little girls. I was amazed by O's vocabulary........wow.....are you sure she is only 2?

E is such a lovely young lady. God surely has blessed you and Eric with two wonderful little miracles, and we know that these two angles are MIRACLES.

Thanks again for everything.

EXCITMENT

2007-08-18T09:59:00.000-04:00

We are in Hickory NC....for a family reunion with my hubby's family; I also have family here.....so I have made plans to visit with them later this evening. I am so excited, I have not seen my cousin Deidre http://raisingfutureesthers.blogspot.com/idre) in a very long time, I know it has been several years, as I have not officially met her youngest daughter and she is
2 yrs old I am looking forward to catching up and visiting with them, It is so sad that we do not see each more often, I miss spending time with my Aunt Trisha (Deidre's mom) and her family. We were so close for so many years........Aunt Trisha practically raised me......I spent many summers with her and the family......so I kinda grew up with Deidre and her brother Todd. I even lived with them for almost a year after I graduated high school. Wow those were some good ole days. I could write a book on my adventures with my aunt........we had so much fun. But I will have to post an entire blog about those good ole days.

I will definitely have a special post on this visit, and YES; Deidre there will be a camera involved.

Until later
Hope everyone has something exciting to look forward to this weekend.

SOMEONE SPECIAL

2007-08-17T06:39:00.000-04:00

I want to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO SOMEONE REALLY SPECIAL IN MY LIFE

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JANET......

MY AWESOME, BEAUTIFUL AND WONDERFUL SISTER.

LOVE YA SIS.........THANKS FOR BEING THERE FOR ME, ALL THE TIME.

I KNOW SHE IS GOING TO HATE ME NOW FOR POSTING HER PICTURE......

OH WELL

2007-08-16T17:58:00.000-04:00

Seems as my plans have changed........Due to the fact that hubby cannot take the day off tomorrow.....I gave in and decided to work myself...why waste a vacation day just to sit at home alone. (what am I thinking)...anyway we will have to wait to leave for our trip until after work on Friday......like I posted before....and genuinely believe EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR A REASON.

At least it will be cooler driving after the sun goes down.

If I do not get a chance to post this weekend, everyone have a great weekend

2007-08-16T07:01:00.000-04:00

I am Thankful for my family and friends.

I am Thankful for a very casual work place, ( I do not feel like putting on my pretty face today).

I am Thankful for having two very special daughters, who took after their dad.

I am Thankful God led me to blogging. I have read some very inspiring posts in my first two weeks.

I am especially Thankful for Danielle B (http://musingsofamiddleagedwoman.blogspot.com/index.html)
I need her blog of knowledge and inspiration.

I am thankful for Deidre (http://raisingfutureesthers.blogspot.com/)
and Janet (http://bloggingwithbully.blogspot.com/) for getting me started on my blog.

I am Thankful this is my Friday.....I am off tomorrow for a trip to see family in NC.

I am definitely thankful for spell check.

To learn more about Thankful Thursday or to read more posts visit Iris at Sting My Heart.

WHAT DID I DO THIS SUMMER AND WHAT DID I LEARN

2007-08-13T23:00:00.000-04:00

I am answering a question from a fellow blogger
Danielle B
(http://musingsofamiddleagedwoman.blogspot.com/index.html )
What did you do this summer and what did you learn?

I have spent a lot of time this summer talking with God.

I have spent most of this summer (actually began in the spring) loving, loving and loving some more.

I have spent this summer believing that God is in full control.

I have spent this summer appreciating and loving my family in a entirely different aspect.

I have spent this summer being blessed with the most loving and supportive family ( my two daughters, their spouses, my wonderful parents and my awesome sister).

I spent this summer learning what I take for granted.

I spent my summer thanking God for my health and for taking care of Dale (hubby)

Dale was diagnosed with a malignant tumor in his neck, so we spent most of our summer, seeing doctors, getting CTs, MRIs and biopsies.

I could preach a whole sermon on this summer, but the long and short of it is, we took what God gave us, turned it back over to him, prayed for guidance and STRENGTH and went on with the plans he put into place.

Dale and I spent our summer with surgery, radiation and chemo, We slowed down a lot and had a lot of good quality time together, laughing, crying, sharing, and learning a lot of things we really had not taken time to know about each other (that is really strange, we have been married for 29 years), God has a way of slowing you down to make you see things with new eyes.

I suppose in a nut shell, I grew up during this summer, learning the true meaning of love, happiness and that God is there to make it all wonderful.

So..............what did you learn this summer?

Thank You

2007-08-09T19:43:00.000-04:00

Life is great, and I am not complaining about anything happening in my life right now. I live by one of my favorite bible versus
( I actually like the entire 3rd chapter)

Ecclesiastes 3.1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.

I know God has a plan and reason for everything in my life,

God puts many things in our lives that we may not fully understand, but no matter what the circumstance, he will use this to show us something special.

I have always had a lot of faith, knowing that God will bring me through whatever trial I am facing. I have been fortunate in witnessing several absolute medical miracles, I know the power of prayer and healing.

God has blessed me in the last few months and allowed me to be a direct recipient of such wonderful power. I have always been a true believer in turning everything over to God, (but being human I do not always practice what I preach), and having faith God will take care of the situation.

I have learned a very valuable lesson in listening to the spirit and letting him guide you through your prayers.

Dale, my husband was diagnosed with cancer this past March, his tumor was in his neck. ( I could elaborate more on this, but will share that at a later time) Our entire family immediately prayed and added his name to their prayer chains, we had so many prayers going out to God. I prayed and prayed for God's healing.........one night during my prayer time I once again was praying for the cancer to be healed, as I prayed I suddenly felt a real sense of selfishness.........maybe God did not intend on healing this neck cancer.......and that is exactly how my prayer changed, I told God that I was praying a selfish prayer and that I trusted him to do what he chose to do, and that I needed his strength to get through this and to be strong for Dale. Immediately I felt a peace. I shared this with Dale sometime later in the week, and he told me that all would be fine, he shared with me his initial prayer to God, " This is what it is, God you gave this to me and now I am giving it back to you".

I can only say two words to my Lord and Savior........THANK YOU, I have never in my life had such a peace about something as I have this cancer. God does bring things to our lives to make us stronger, better believers.

We may never know all the reasons for the cancer, but we believe God is using this for his glory.

FLYING TIME

2007-08-09T19:15:00.001-04:00

I have sat here several times this week, coming to add a post, but never really had anything to write about......I have such an exciting life, oh well. I have been keeping my eye on the postings from my sister and my cousin, they both are such wonderful moms and are so dedicated to raising their children in a Godly home.

Especially today, I got a little teary eyed reading, I was remembering my girls when they were young. Just seems like yesterday I was taking them to school, worrying about them and trying to protect them from the school bully. Now they both are wonderful adults, I am so proud, I know Deidre and Janet both realize that these wonderful years with their young babes will soon be past...as time sure does fly.

What a week

2007-08-04T08:18:00.000-04:00

This week has been one of those weeks when nothing goes as planned,
made me realize just how much I assume all will be as expected.

This is how my week has gone, all just minor interruptions, but how it can mess with your head and attitude.

Monday was not so unusual, we did have a nice visit from our Pastor. after our visit we delivered my nephew (Sam) his belated birthday gift. We are a close family so I delivered the gift to my mom and dad's home, where you can find my sister and Sam most evenings; anyhow...
As we were sitting there chatting. Let's go to Walmart some suggested .................being the shoppers that we are, here we go, mom, Janet and myself. Now I know you are thinking why is this so special I think this was my first trip to the Wally World that I have not purchased anything (ok I did buy trash bags for the office), but that did not count, it was not my money I spent. Yes that has to be one of the strangest parts of my week.

Tuesday is ok nothing out of the ordinary, other than this being month end day, just a strange day, my traveling boss is in the office and that makes for day with many interruptions, she is working on an important
project that must meet a deadline for month end.......so here I am in the middle of her project; luckily I am done with my month end work. Not really a bad day............just a little extra work for me.

Wednesday the fun begins, I arrive at work only to discover I have no internet connection, well this just stops my work dead in the tracks, we are networked through a server and without internet I cannot do anything.( is it not sad we have to rely on machines and phone lines to get things done). After several phones calls ( total time on the phone 2. 5 hours) to our
DSL provider and our IT tech in Nashville, we still had no resolve, After getting my sanity in check and resting; not only was I trapped on the phone for several hours, I also had many trips back and forth to our equipment room, checking connections, resetting all the networking gear ( which was a whole different story, as I am only 5 ft short, and hate ladders, I was atop the ladder during most of this time). OK........well the good part is I was only working 1/2 day.......Dale was to begin his 3 rd round of Chem0.
We arrived at the Cancer Center for a visit with the Dr., lab work and a 2-3 hour chemo drip; so here we go..........the dr was at least 45 minutes, if not a hour behind schedule, so here we wait, the lab tech brought in Dale's lab results...........oh no a low white blood cell count.......meaning no chemo this week, we see the Doc, all is well he is pleased with the treatment progress. We go to the scheduling desk to reschedule chemo for the next week, and of course we get the most dingy of schedulers, I am sorry, (glad I do not have the complaint bracelet) She always has to redo and redo the schedule, she never understands, what time's we need and how the treatments are to be set up...now after the third time of scheduling we get it right. Oh did I mention I had put a ham in the oven...........ok well usually this is no problem, I was cooking it at a low temp and we were only going to be gone for 3 hours. We arrived home, opened the front door and there it is........that burnt food odor, I rush to the oven and discover my nice brown dried up ham.......what went wrong.........that is to come later.
Ok for dinner we have some salvaged ham & mac and cheese. I know not very nutritious. Ok so now it is time for the sofa.............end of this day.

Thursday is here........get to work internet is still down......oh yeah during all the computer stuff we found out that our DSL provider has decided to change our IP address, thus causing all the problems, anyway they can seem to change this bit of technology at the drop of a hat, but getting it back to the original state will take possibly several days.........ok now what is the deal.........anyway a very angry IT person spoke with a prominent phone rep and the problem was taken care of in hmmmmmmmmmmm 3o mins. Ok so now a somewhat normal day approaches. Finally 5:00 I'm off to the house. Nothing much going on, just hubby out at the grill whipping up a couple of T-Bones.....I am doing the microbaked taters, and of course the homemade bagged salad oh and did I mention the nice garlic bread......hmmmmmm remember the burnt ham earlier in the week. Well, I was simply baking my garlic bread at 400 degrees, I hear a sizzling noise, not typical for bread......open oven to check it out, sparks coming from the oven element......not good.....then a pop and much more sparkling.......ok lets get hubby.......smart man, he turns off the oven and all is well. DUH !!!
Dinner is served minus the well toasted bread. 2 hours later just curious lets try the oven, temp set at 300, about 1o mins later, check oven, no heat..........ok will deal with this later.....I'm off to bed.

FRIDAY Whole new appreciation for TGIF...........work is good, nothing much going on (we are having some really slow sales, so I am looking for something to do).......what is that mountain ..............oh filing.......so my entire day is spent putting pieces of paper in drawers overfilled with other pieces of paper. 5:00 LETS GO HOME. Home now.........discussing the oven deal with hubby, he wants to try and find a new element for this 30 year old range (yes no kidding I said 30), I want a new range...........trip to Lowes............yippe I have a new stove...........I have to interject one point here..........THANK YOU LORD FOR PROVIDING THE MONEY TO PURCHASE THIS NEEDED ITEM..........another story another day.
I do have to mention the stress level in my home this week has been tremendous and thus hubby and I both have had short tempers and said not so kind words to each other (thank you Dale for your forgiving heart)

Too bad I must finish, hubby is needing me to help install the new air conditioner for our bedroom, wow two major purchases in the same day...Thank you God one more time.

HAVE A GOOD WEEKEND :)

Susan

My first day of posting

2007-08-01T06:47:00.000-04:00

Ok people, this is my first, so bear with me.

I am off to my wonderful job in approximately 1 hour, so this will be short and sweet.

I pray this days goes well, my husband Dale begins his third round of chemo treatments today; after this three days of treatment he will only have one round left. We cannot complain, because he has done absolutely, amazingly, incredibly (ok through with the adjectives) well throughout his entire treatment (radiation everyday for six weeks and two previous chemo rounds), and he and I give God all the praise for this. I am so thankful for the blessings that have resulted in Dale's short illenss, we have ground so much closer (even though we were very close beforehand), we shared thoughts and feelings that really made us realize just how much we loved each other, God really does work in mysterious ways. There are so many things I can praise God for in this whole situation, (that will have to be another day). I will also have to admit there are some things that God has taught me about myself during the past 5 months, some good and some not so good. I will definietly post about that later also.
Please anyone reading this blog, who is a believer and a prayer please send a prayer up for us today and the remainder of the week.