Up and Running ~ And Some Prayer Requests

PTL, our PC is fixed!!  We finally have our home computer up and running again. No more using hubby's work laptop to check on my favorite blogs and FB friends.  We were able to recover most of our important files and photos (Praise the Lord!!!) but we did lose some.  I've [hopefully] learned my lesson about backing things up in the future!  Still working on getting some of the software loaded back on, including my photo software, but hopefully will be working this week so I can catch up on the last month and post those WAY past due photos of Khloe's birthday celebration(s.)  Let's just say she was soaking in every moment of them!! ;)

I would like to take this moment to also ask for prayer for a couple of people who are near and dear to my heart.  First off is for my BFF, Rhonda.  Just over a week ago, she was admitted to the hospital after experiencing some unusual and painful cramping.  She was pregnant with their 3rd baby and was very excited to become a family of five this summer.  Unfortunately, the cramping led to a miscarriage and she delivered her precious baby boy in the hospital.  The loss left her very broken, and I know time will help her heal.  She and her husband were able to hold their little baby Zach in the palm of their hands, and could even count all of his little fingers and toes.  They will take part in a memorial service that the hospital holds for miscarried babies on Mother's Day.  They know that their precious baby is in Heaven now, but there are still broken hearts here on earth that could use some of God's comforting grace.  Please keep them in your prayers, and for both physical and emotional healing for Rhonda, so that they will be able to get pregnant again in God's timing. 

Also, this past weekend my Aunt Laurie passed away.  Some of you have heard the story of my Aunt and Uncle who both have special needs, and how they played a HUGE role in opening up my heart and mind towards SN adoption.  It was because of them and their encouragement that I even began to pray for God's will and open doors if we were even to consider a special needs child when we adopted.  Clearly, you already know where He led us!!  So it is no secret that they both had/have a special love for Khloe.

My Uncle Sherwin was born with CP as a baby, and walks on crutches.  He was blessed to meet his beautiful bride in the early 90's and they would have celebrated their 18th wedding anniversary this summer.  Laurie was born with MD and used a scooter/lark to get around.  She would have turned 50 in May... though she didn't look a day over 40, if even that!  If you know anything about muscular dystrophy, then you already know that the majority of people with this disease often do not live beyond their 20's.  I know with all my heart, that it is because of her servant's heart and love for Jesus that she lived such a long life.  She was very thin and fragile from her disease, and it left her body cripled and unable to fight off the most common seasonal illnesses, the way most of us take for granted. 

Last week, she caught a virus and spent a few days in the hospital when she was struggling to breath due to congestion built up in her chest.  She was unable to cough up any phlegm on her own, so the doctors had to have her lungs pumped clear of the congestion to help her breath.  It also made it complicated for her to eat and sleep.  My uncle said that she didn't get more than a couple of hours sleep each night this past week.  She couldn't lay in bed, so she either slept sitting up in her scooter or in a chair.  It breaks my heart to think of her discomfort.  But she was released from the hospital this past Thursday evening, and it appeared she was making some improvement by Friday evening, as she was given a divise to help her clear her throat at home when the congestion would build up. 

However, around 3:30am on Saturday morning, Laurie met her Jesus.  I received a phone call from my uncle just after 6am that she had passed away just a few hours earlier.  He had awaken in the middle of the night to check on her, but she had already passed in her sleep.  He takes comfort in knowing that she will suffer no more, and that there is no more pain, she is HOME with Jesus now... but it is still very hard.  She will be deeply missed.

It was Laurie's wish for her body to be given to the University of Minnesota for research and study of muscular dystrophy (MD).  It is just like her to give such a selfless donation.  She had so much life inside of her.  Life that we all take for granted, but she did the best she could with what life had delt her, and you rarely heard her complain.  She served and loved on others with all of her heart.  She had a HUGE burden in her heart for those with disabilities and special needs of all kinds.  And she was a vessel that Jesus worked through to touch the lives of others, including my own.  Because she and my Uncle Sherwin were never able to have children of their own, they 'adopted' their neices and nephews and their great-neices and nephews and loved on them and spoiled them as though they were their own!  My children were amongst those who were showered in their special love!!

Needless to say, my uncle is heart broken.  Sherwin and Laurie had the most beautiful love for one another... their relationship was a gift from God, and they set a wonderful example in their marriage.  They served God together, whole-heartedly, and it was obvious to everyone who knew them how much they both loved Jesus and how He was clearly CENTER STAGE in their marriage!  We know that Laurie is now in Heaven, WALKING with Jesus and DANCING with the angels!  But there is still pain in the hearts that are missing her on this earth.  Please pray for my uncle as these next days and weeks unfold.  Pray that God's divine grace will bring him comfort to sustain him, and bring him a peace ~ THE PEACE ~ that surpasses ALL human understanding.  Laurie will be greatly missed by all of us, but we do find comfort in knowing that there is no more pain and that we will meet her again one day, and walk in glory before our Jesus together!  <><

Uncle Sherwin and Aunt Laurie with our kids ~ Christmas 2010

"Blessed are they who mourn,
for they shall be comforted."

~Matthew 5:4