Merry Christmas!!!
I can't thank you enough for all the prayers and support that you keep sending us. The emails that I get are so encouraging and I just want to say that if you think of us please continue to write me and tell me about it. I will never be able to express how amazing and uplifting it is and those little messages always come on the worst days and help me get through it all. Sometimes it is hard to express on the blog how I feel on those days but I always seem to get a message or a phone call at just the right time to get me through it.
Christmas is in two days and I have never felt more blessed. This has been an amazing year with such big battles but such HUGE VICTORIES!!
God blesses us daily with our two beautiful children
Ben is a constant joy. His little tender heart is so sincere and so machure. It made me sad in the beginning because I felt like Cancer made him grow up too fast, too soon. But truthfully God is showing me daily that through his Grace he is protecting Ben in all the right ways and strengthening him in all the right ways too. He is a tough kid with a sweet and gentle spirit. He is filled with such a special compassion and understanding that will only make him a wonderful man someday. My biggest joy this whole year was when Ben made the decision to accept Jesus as his Saviour. Matt and I reinforce this daily for him and I am excited to see what this coming year will bring him. I pray that we will be able to go to church more regularly this year because I want to watch my children grow in the Lord. Ben was dealing with a little bit of a temper, but I am so proud of him because he very quickly has learned to control it even when he is extremely angry. It is very important to him to control it because we have talked about how Jesus feels about that. Ben is still madly in love with his trains and can't wait for his birthday because he knows he will be able to start the boy scouts! This is a big deal to him and he asks me everyday "How many days to my Birthday?" (142 hahaha). Please keep faithfully praying for him to continue to stay in remission and Praise the Lord once again that he is now in a safe place with his treatment and being cared for by a wonderful team of medical providers at Cincinnati Children's that care for him and love him.
Olivia is a NUT. She is full of endless energy and a wild spirit. Matt and I are challenged daily into teaching and guiding her into harnessing this wonderful energy and spirit to become a strong woman of God. She is fearless, competitive and confident. I know that as long as Jesus keeps helping us on a daily basis she will grow to be a fabulous light shining for the Lord. Olivia loves her brother with all her heart. She annoys him like crazy, but she loves him dearly. They are best friends and I hope it stays that way. She is a strong influence on her quiet brother and keeps him on his toes and teaches him that he has a voice and can be strong. Ben teaches her to be sensitive and to think before she acts. They are a good team and it is my prayer that God will keep them friends for life so they can lean on each other forever.
Matt and Me
Matt is doing well. He also remains in remission! Praise the Lord!! He is my wonderful friend and I love him dearly. I am excited for the coming year and what it means for Matt. He is in the process of applying for a Fire Department here and the outcome looks great. He is a great strength to our family and keeps me going when I feel like I can't go any farther and he supports me in my hobbies and endeavors. We have begun taking our ballroom dance lessons again. It have been over two years since we have gone and that one night a week that we go is a great time for the two of us to enjoy each other and learn to dance together. We are both enjoying Louisville, but at the same time miss our families. We have made some lifelong friendships, have found a wonderful church that we love and can't wait to be able to go on a more regular basis. We really love our new Pastor and feel that we are growing so much each time we hear him teach. The people at this church took us in, they pray for us and they teach us. We both feel like we have been at this church much longer than we have and we know that the Lord hand-picked it for us.
I finished my quilt this year that was two years in the making. It was recently raffled of to support my favorite non-profit organization Global Health Training
I was blessed that so many people got involved and we were able to raise over $2100.00 for this wonderful organization. As I said above Matt and I started taking dance again and I couldn't be happier. For me it is the best date night we could have. I love the exercise and enjoy the time with my hubby who is a wonderful dancer. I feel that God is doing so many amazing things in my life and is really using this time during Ben's treatment to His purpose. I am in the process of undertaking a giant step towards advocacy of patients rights to expect better treatment and care for the children and families at Ben's previous treatment Center. God is daily opening amazing doors for this to happen. I am regularly meeting all the "right" people in all the "right" positions who can help make positive changes. And on the days when I feel tired or that I just don't know if I can make a difference the Lord sends me someone whether it be another parent who asks me to keep fighting or even the most recent was yet another Doctor who has completely backed me up and is getting me in touch with more physicians who want to bring the head Doctor of this clinic out of the controlling position he has in the Oncology clinic here in Louisville. It is a slow process but at least this process will bring about necessary changes. I can only pray that God will continue to open doors and bring me to the right places to meet people who can make the difference that is so greatly needed.
And with all that I want to say one more time. THANK YOU for making 2011 a great year for us. We never would have had the time we did without all the prayers that you have sent up. Please continue to pray for us and the families that we have met this last year who also have kids battling Leukemia and other forms of Cancer. There is strength in numbers especially in prayer.
Love Jamie
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