From Reva

Dear Lord,

The grieving process has begun as You are making Your will clear to us, even though we don't want to believe it (is this really Your last word on this matter?) and would greatly prefer Your making another decision, full healing, instead. This is our hope still, and we know we must set this hope aside (aside Lord, but never put away), and work through what You have placed before us.

Rachel's Departure is close at hand. Only You know the exact date and time, as You know for all of us, but it seems a good bet that Rachel will depart for Your Home before the rest of us. So how do we handle this Lord?

We take our lead once again, from Warrior Princess Rachel, who is using her RTOE (remaining time on earth) to pray for salvation for those who do not know You, that her life and example will touch someone who doesn't know You, who thinks all of this is crazy.

How can she know, really know where she is going?

How can her family be so sure, really, really sure they will see her again?

"I told you and you believeth not: the works that I do in my Father's Name, they bear witness of me." John 10:25

The works Rachel and the Arnold Family have done bear witness that Jesus is real. The words they speak, the desires of the their heart, the actions they do, everything aimed at attracting, convincing, cajoling the unsaved to come forth for salvation, for hell to decrease and heaven to increase, they do in Your Name.

And You are pleased. Rachel's reward is prepared and her Mansion is waiting.

So now that we know that Rachel's Departure is imminent, we are in awe that Your family chose this time, even in their deep grief, to extend the call of salvation. Warrior Princess Rachel is using her last moments to lead the rest of us in the call for souls. What a leader! Rachel is rallying us not to give up, that this journey has been a Soul Call all along, and it's time to get busy in bringing in the harvest.

We can't help but think of Paul at this time and now we know what Rachel is looking forward to.

"For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord, the Righteous Judge shall give me at that day and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing."

2 Tim 4:6-8.

And so Lord, with grieving hearts, but strengthened by Rachel's leadership and the example bravely set forth by the entire Arnold family, we know what we must do.

1. We will pray for lost souls, that those who have witnessed The-Story-of-Rachel from a distance these past two years may be brought to You through her courage and bravery in the Fight. We pray that those online, who read the blogs, will come to salvation. We pray that those nearby, who kept an emotional distance from all of this, will drop their defenses, and cry out, "What must I do to be saved?" And we will be ready to lead them to You.

2. We pray for Husband-of-Rachel and Sons-of-Rachel, that You will embrace them, hold them tenderly, and let them know that You will tend to the hurt they feel from giving up their beloved Wife and Mom. We pray You will guide them day by day, minute by minute, second by second, until they see Wife and Mom again. As Mom Barbara has stated, Rachel is going on ahead on a long vacation. She will be waiting for their arrival.

3. We pray for Rachel's Family, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, neices and nephews, grandparents, and dear friends, that You strengthen and comfort them as Rachel prepares for her departure. We thank You again for Betty Ann's honesty and transparency in keeping the window shade up on the family's struggle for Rachel, and in doing so, kept the prayer wheels turning.

4. We pray for Mom Barbara and Dad Ed, who have wept, struggled, and grieved over the affliction You chose to bring to their precious one Rachel. We pray their comfort and safekeeping in the days ahead.

5. We will pray on, rowing, soldiering, and watching through this journey and after Rachel's departure, for Your family,Your beloved Arnold family, and for the souls to come to You as a result of their mighty witness.

It is our privilege to be a part of this journey You called us to and we continue in prayer to You, our Ancient of Days, Captain of the Host, God-Hero, Prince of Peace, Mighty Counselor, Everlasting Father, the Big Breasted One, Chief Shepherd, Lifter of Heads, Grief Allayer, Strong Tower, Mighty Fortress, Shelter In the Time of Storm, Deliverer.

Amen

From Julie

I wrote down my thoughts about last night and wanted to share them with you. Betty might be posting it on the blog later.

Weeping Endures for a Night, But Joy Comes in the Morning (Psalm 30:5)


Yesterday I was so excited when I got that phone call from Rachel and she told me the good news that she would be going home that day! I started rejoicing for her and then she hit me with the news, “but in my scan they found another very large tumor in my abdomen and stomach areas”. Whoosh and all the air left me – I couldn’t breath, I had no idea what to say. This was not the news I was expecting to hear. “The doctors don’t think it will be much longer” she told me. “Are you afraid?” I asked her. “I am not afraid of dying, because I know I will be with the Lord, I am afraid of being in pain”.  This was hard to hear, see Rachel and I have had many conversations, even before she was sick, about how excited we were to spend eternity with the Lord and finally be in our glorious state with no more selfishness, sickness, or pain. However, I DO NOT want to see my cousin suffer.

As much as I want to selfishly keep her here longer, I pray that the Lord does not allow her to suffer. When I got home last night, my family was all sitting down with Rachel talking about fears, heaven, and love. I immediately started crying as I listened to Rachel talk about her boys and our family and the things she wanted to stay around for, like seeing her boys get their first girlfriends, seeing her niece Izzy become a teenager, and seeing me get married some day. Last night was a time for our family to gather around Rachel and grieve together and bond together. The best part for me was that her boys, Dane (11) and Ethan (9) got to be in on the conversation and hear things their Mother wanted to share with them and we wanted to share with them about their Mom. I told Dane, “I hope you realize how blessed you are to have a Mom like you do – not many people get to have this kind of amazing Mom”.  And he gave Rachel a huge hug at that point, because he knows! Rachel will have a lasting legacy in our family. And if the Lord does tarry to come again (which I hope and pray He does not and instead comes soon!), this legacy will be shared down through many generations. When I think about the kind of Mother I want to be, I think about Rachel – first and foremost striving to please the Lord and further His Kingdom, always caring for her family and showing love to others, even when she is sick with a terminal illness. Now THAT is a lasting legacy – time to add Rachel to the Hebrews Faith Hall of Fame. I do believe Rachel will be a very popular name in our family for generations to come =).

Last night Rachel was asking everyone what they thought Heaven was going to be like. “Think of the best day of your life”, my Aunt Betty said, “then multiply times a million, and that is what Heaven is going to be like”.  I said that I think Heaven is going to be amazing because finally all of our selfishness will be left behind and we will be like God created us to be worshiping Him and loving with a perfect love. My favorite though, was Rachel’s imagery, much like the Elfin Kingdom in Lord of the Rings. And she wants to have the ears like the Elf Queen! I like that. If you read Revelation, there is much imagery about what Heaven will be like, and while we won’t know exactly what it will look like, I believe it will be the most beautiful, amazing place we could ever imagine – better than any fantasy or science fiction book you could ever read.  We talked about if we think we will still have relationships with our friends and families that we have here on earth, and we all agreed that God created us as relational people, and we have such deep love and emotion for the people He has put in our lives here on earth, that we will definitely still have those relationships in Heaven. The only difference? It will be a perfect love, no more hurting and abuse, no more broken families, no more divorce. All of that selfishness will go away.

Last night held a lot of crying for our family, but I will NEVER give up hope that God will heal my Rachel. Our God is a God of miracles and I continually come before Him boldly requesting that He heals Rachel’s body completely. There is so much I selfishly want her to be around for, to memorize scripture with, to ride to Bible Study with, to give me advice about guys and tell me to never give up hope because God has the most amazing Christian man in store for me, and (if the Lord ever blesses me with a husband and children), to stand next to me and rejoice with me on my wedding day and to be in the delivery room (even though I know she would hate it haha) as we celebrate the most amazing and precious little gift from God. But above all of this, I know His plan is perfect and whatever He has for Rachel is exactly where she is supposed to be! 

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts”. Isaiah 55:8-9

From mom

I wish you all could have been in Rachel's living room today to overhear our conversation about heaven.  We were discussing with Dane what it will be like when mommy goes there soon.  Rachel is looking forward to seeing Jesus face to face.  She is also grieving about leaving her husband and two boys.  For a little while we talked of the pleasures of heaven: no more pain, no more tears, no more death... 
Ra was told today that the cancer has spread throughout her abdominal area.  She has very little time to say good-bye to us.  Perhaps two or more months.  We have a great physician.  And we have faith, hope and love.  Barbara

Grieving

Today we were delivered some seriously bad news. Rachel's cancer is now a large mass in her abdomen. We are all grieving over this news and spent a lot of time with Rachel this afternoon. There was a lot of crying, screaming and pleading with God for healing!! There was a lot of talk about what we all thought Heaven would be like.

One thing that did stick out to all of us is that even though we are grieving over the news and the thoughts of not having Rachel around, we could not get past how someone who did not know the Lord would handle this type of news. I know for sure that if Rachel were to die anytime soon I would see her again in Heaven. Rachel and I are both Christians.

We have admitted that we are sinful and that we have a sin nature. We have asked for forgiveness of our sin ( "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." Romans 10:13 )

we Believe that He is our Savior and only way to stand Holy before God in heaven ("To all who receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God." John 1:12)

and We have confessed our sins to Jesus. ("If you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." Romans 10:9)

 We have an assurance of salvation and an eternal place in heaven. I know that I will spend eternity with Rachel in Heaven. She might be gone for a little time like a vacation of sorts but we will spend eternity together in Heaven...AWESOME!!!

Rachel cried over the people who do not have assurance of salvation and who have to live this life without Jesus. I pray that Rachel's life will touch lives in every way and that how she lives the rest of her life will make us all stop to think about our relationship with the Lord.

Please pray for our family because we are going through the grieving process and need to now refocus and plan for the future.

Please pray for anyone reading this blog that does not know the Lord...pray that something about Rachel will touch their life and they will seek after the Lord.

Pray for the boys!! and Rob! 

My prayer for you... that you will see how fragile life is and that you will share more fervently with other about the Lord or that if you don't have a personal relationship with Him, you will start seeking Him.

A prayer from Reva for Rachel

Dear Lord,

We know the prayers of the righteous availeth much, and You hear us when we pray. With heavy hearts, we pray this morning that Rachel's pain be eased. Rachel is in this fight to the end. Now the end can be a Miraculous Healing, which is not above Your Power to do (this is what we absolutely prefer and pray earnestly for), or the end can be that Rachel sees You Face to Face sooner than the rest of us in this prayer circle. We do not guess at this, but pray for Your Care, Strength, Encouragement, Mercy and Grace overflow on Your Family and our Princess Warrior Rachel as You guide this journey.

One thing we do know, that we do not want to see Dearly Beloved Rachel in so much, unrelenting pain. So, Lord intervene quickly and take her pain away. Help her to breathe easier and receive physical peace in You. Speak to unsettled, heavy hearts and give Mom Barbara a fresh anointing in You. Fortify Husband-of-Rachel, Children-of-Rachel, Father-of-Rachel, Siblings-of-Rachel, Friends-and-Family-of-Rachel, as we struggle to be on one accord in You. This is very, very, very, very, very, very hard. When we are at a loss of what to say in our prayers, we take comfort in Your Word.

"Blessed be the Lord, because he hath heard the voice of my supplications. The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusteth in him , and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him." Ps 28:6-7.

This is what we will do, even with downcast hearts, even in such-a-time-as-this. We will lift our eyes and hearts up to the only place they are safe- in You.

1.We will trust in You for care and protection of Warrior Princess Rachel, who even now, is fighting so hard. "What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee." Ps 56:3

2. By Rachel's side we remain, in focused prayer, for her and the entire Arnold Family. "For the Father Himself loveth you, because ye have loved Me, and believed that I came out from God." John 16:27

3. We pray for those whose faith will be quickened and turn into a zeal for You through Rachel's courage in her journey. "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me thrugh their words. That they all may be one, as thou, Father, are in me and I in thee, that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one." John 17:20-22.

We pray and await Your Will in hope that comes from lifting our eyes and hearts to You. You do all things well, and we will say this, even now. You do all things well. Deliverance is right around the corner, on the other side of the vale, and will come soon. Amen

From Rachel

This is from Rachel

They found that I have a bad UTI Wednesday and that they put me in the one antibiotic that DID (NOT) work, Sipro. They (have) taken exrays and ekgs (and) more scans (to be taken) later. I'll be here a few more days and I think that now we know the problem I should be feeling better. My ribs ARE NOT broken praise. God. Feeling better today, hope the rest of the scans (come back normal) (they did find a)  small amount of fluid in the lungs. But everywhere else it GAS:)


The stuff in () was me correcting what Rachel wrote...she is on a lot of drugs right now.

God is good!!

So this morning I could not imagine any good coming out of Rachel's trip to the ER but it actually has turned out to be a blessing:

1. Rachel's ribs are not broken and she is not retaining water. Rachel is retaining a lot of gas though...not really sure why but it does not seem to be a concern for the Dr.'s.
2. Rachel has been on Morphine and that has been affecting very badly lately with the side affects so the Dr.'s are now going to try a different type of pain medication which is awesome!!
3. The Antibiotics that Rachel was on to fight the UTI was not working so they are able to give her a stronger antibiotic to help fight the infection.

This visit so far has been a good thing. I am just praying that it continues to stay this way.

Please pray for Rachel, Robin, Mom and Dad as they take turns staying with Rachel. We are hoping that Rachel will come home sometime tomorrow.

ER visit

Please pray for Rachel!! The water retention last night went into her ribs and Rachel went to the ER with pain in her ribs and problems breathing. I just got the call from Mom that the X-ray showed only fluid around her ribs that may have cause her ribs to break...PRAISE THE LORD if that is the case. Our fear had been that it might have been the growth of  a tumor that broke the rib.

Yesterday afternoon was so hard for us to see Rachel in so much pain! As we looked into the symptoms we realized that a lot of her discomfort was caused, in part, by the side affects of her pain medication. I am praying that she will be switched on pain medication and maybe get back into the groove of things. However, her being in the hospital is not a good thing.

Please pray for the family...
Rachel needs prayers of comfort because she has been in so much pain! Also that she has peace with all that is going on and not consumed by fear.
The Doctors need prayers for wisdom.
Mom and Dad need prayers for peace and strength. They are going into the hospital now to be with Rob and Rachel.
Rob needs prayers just to be able to think clearly.
I need prayers because I am taking Ethan and Izzy to VBS and then taking care of all the kids in the afternoon.

Better

Just a short update:

Rachel started feeling better yesterday and was able to eat without throwing it up afterward...HUGE praise since she had not been able to keep anything down for a couple of days. She also went for a couple walks and jumped on her rebounder a couple of times because she was retaining water.

Please pray about the water retention because it has been a lot and started putting pressure on her lungs.

Mom is doing better and the hives are fading which is another praise!

Thank you for all your prayers and for the notes you have sent! They are so encouraging and we go back and read them when we need a "pick me up".

Run Away

The last couple of days I have had a strong desire to just run away!!! I know, its so wrong to even say such a thing but seriously...that is how I have felt!! Why??!! Because of the following...

On Wednesday afternoon I was thinking about blogging about how easy the last week was going and how we were just waiting for the next thing to happen but thank goodness it had not happened...and then the phone rang:-( Rachel had a fever. Do you ever have pain in your heart so badly that your little toe hurts? that's what it felt like... the pain that never seems to go away and feels like an elephant just sat right down on you. The pain went all the way down to my little toe.  Rachel had a fever. The cause was believed to be another UTI. Medication was sent for and Rachel chose to ride out the fever because there is a lot of talk about how a fever can actually kick the body into high gear towards fighting anything that is wrong with the body...ie cancer. Rachel has had a fever off and on since Wednesday and has felt terrible!!

On Wednesday Mom started talking about how she had hives all over her body. They continued to get worse and on Thursday she was totally covered and looked ...well...gross!!! I took Dane blueberry picking with my Mother-In-Law and my three kids. When I brought Dane home I talked with Mom and grew increasingly concerned about her hives. Call me an "alarmist" (named by Dad) but I insisted Mom go to the ER because it was so bad and her hand with the infection had started to swell up. Good move. At the ER they gave her steroids and Benadryl for the Hives.

So, even today Rachel continues to fight the fever and infection and my Mom's hives are worse then yesterday. Can I please have a life that is not in crisis mode right now. Go ahead... read this and judge me! How can I be so selfish?? thinking only about myself when my family is going through Hell. Yup! I am selfish...but most of my pain and desire to run away is because I LOVE them so much that it makes the news of their pain feel so much more painful to me.

 I get the prayer list from church all the time about people who are in pain...but my little toe does  not hurt when I hear about their pain. My little toe hurts when I hear my sisters voice ... not her normal voice but the voice that carries with it the pain she is in. My little toe hurts when I see her walking around the house doubled over in pain. It hurts when I see my Mom covered in hives and her finger black from the infection. yes, I want to run away because the pain is so intense!! It hurts! I can't handle it sometimes...and I believe here I am suppose to insert something Godly here...it will come but right now I believe I need to feel this pain to soften me to God's voice whispering quietly to me. I am still here and I am still going to stay strong to the belief that there is a purpose and God has not forgotten us. We are loved and cherished by Him and He knows about my little toe!!

A thought

I am pretty sure it is impossible to read the Word of God without it touching your heart. Here is what I have read today and pray for my family :

Colossians 1:10-14
And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God being straightened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

No matter what we all face in life...life is just hard!!! I can't say that my family is having a more difficult experience in this life then your family... this was written to all of us and we need to be reminded to have great endurance and patience and JOYFULLY (love that word!!) giving thanks to the Father! Today, I am going to purposefully live my day out so that it may please Him in every way!!

Beautiful Things

I am encouraged by this song a friend posted on facebook this morning because I needed to hear it!!!

All this pain
I wonder if I’ll ever find my way
I wonder if my life could really change at all
All this earth
Could all that is lost ever be found
Could a garden come up from this ground at all

You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of the dust
You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of us

All around
Hope is springing up from this old ground
Out of chaos life is being found in You

You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of the dust
You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of us

You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of the dust
You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of us

You make me new, You are making me new
You make me new, You are making me new

You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of the dust
You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of us

Awesome song!!

This weekend I felt like Satan was really trying to get my family down! it started like this:
Friday was Ethan's birthday party with his homeschool friends at a park. Rachel had planned the details and everything was going to be so much fun. When I drove up I took one look at Rachel and just wanted to cry because she was sitting down leaning on the picnic bench with one arm leaning on the table part and the other hand clenched in pain... she was getting sick with a UTI(sorry rae.. let me know if you want this part out) Not a big deal unless you have cancer:-( any type of illness when you have cancer is not good. I watched her all day knowing she was in pain.

While I watched my sister in pain, I also was on the phone with my Mom concerning her "posion Ivy" which turned out to be something else. She went to the dr.'s and he was very concerned that it was not posion ivy but a very bad spider bite! In the office her gave her a cortizone shot and two different types of medication. Mom was sent home with the very strict instructions that if the swelling got any worse she was to go right away to the ER.

Saturday morning I woke up and got ready for my Yard Sale morning with the kids. I talked with Mom on the phone and she said that the swelling had gotten worse but she would wait until the afternoon to go to the ER. I went over to Mom's house to pick up my cousin Julie for Yard Sales but after Julie and I took one look at Mom's hand, we told her I was taking her to the ER!  Once at the ER, the dr.'s became very concerned about Mom's hand and admitted her for an overnight stay. I stayed with Mom for the morning and then went home once she was in her hospital room.

That afternoon I was talking with my brother Wayne on Skype. Wayne is in Africa teaching ESL. My poor brother's luggage was lost in the trip over to Aftrica and so were his malaria pills that he was to take to prevent contracting malaria. And so, Wayne let me know that he had malaria. It was hard for me to see him on Skype and know that he was not feeling well and to be so far away! I wanted to comfort Wayne and to make him feel better but he is in Africa and not here:-(

Talk about feeling so helpless!!!

Mom came home on Sunday feeling better but still having trouble with her hand which resulted in another call to the doctor and more anitbiotics.

Rachel was also on antibiotics which made her feel depressed, lack of an appetite and nauseous. The weekend was just such a strain on our family.

On top of all that, Izzy went with her two wonderful cousins to a park in Delaware. When she came home Julie let me know that I needed to check her for ticks... I found 4 that night, 2 were the really small deer ticks and 1 more deer tick the next morning. So, I am watching for signs of Lyme's.

Rachel and Mom are recovering very well but Wayne is still sick and this morning Izzy came down stairs limping (not sure if it is caused by the Lyme's since that is a much later symptom). Our family needs your prayers! I need your prayers!!

On a bright note, Rachel went to see Dr. Sara yesterday and dr. Sara said that physically, Rachel shows no signs of having cancer. This is wonderful news because her body is responding well to all the healthy foods Rachel is trying to eat.

Mom has been able to go out and teach a friend about the Bible. This brings life to Mom!! She comes back shinning because she was able to share the Word with someone else. I am so glad that Mom can get back into teaching a bit because she needs that time away.

Out of chaos life is being found in You

Really, I can't imagine trying to live through this without knowing that God/Holy Spirit see's and hears our growning!! God is continually forming our family to reflect Him and this weekend was just another example of us falling to our knee's in understanding that we can not continue without having our focus completely on Him. I have the security of knowing that God loves me!! I have put my complete trust in what Christ did on the cross for me and that nothing in my life is by accident. I am a child of the King! I will continue to run to Him for my strength and so will my family. Rachel will look to God for strength. She has the security that what is happening in her life right now is not an accendent but is part of God's perfect plan for her life.

Transparent

Another week has gone by and this new normal is sinking in. I find it hard not to be continually in "crisis mode" as I had been for so long. Every time the phone rang I thought it would be my Mom or sister calling to talk about another thing that went wrong but for the most part everything is "normal"

Mom and I continue to juice for Rachel almost everyday and I love spending that time with Mom. It makes me feel like I am actually doing something to help Rachel. The kids normally find something to do and I hold Abby for the most part because she has been teething or just having a bad day. It's amazing what you can learn to do while holding a baby in your arms. I am sure I will have many stories to tell Izzy, Noah and Abby when they grow up about how we would go over there everyday and help Rae Rae (what Rachel's nieces  and nephews call her). We have a good system going now and the juicing gets done very quickly which helps us focus on other things now.

Rachel has many adventures that she goes on throughout the week and she has plans for the future. She is planning a family vacation with Rob and the boys to Aruba in August (JEALOUS!!!). Rachel is also talking about adding on to the house next year for a large family room and a new master bedroom and bath.

Even with all the planning, the cancer is still causing her pain. She takes pain medication a couple times a day because one of the tumors is pressing on a nerve in her lower back. But looking at Rachel you really would never know she has cancer, let alone stage 4 cancer... she looks amazing!!

Rachel is always encouraged by the letters, phone calls, texts, facebook posts and so forth! It lifts her spirits to know that everyone is praying for her. If you get a chance, just send her a message letting her know that you are praying! It has been Rachel's desire through this whole process to be transparent with everything going on so that she can be used by God to touch lives around her.

This is not just Rachel's journey alone but something that we are all taking part in, we are all affect by the cancer in Rachel. God is using this time in her life to reach out and grab each of us. To show us that life is precious and that we need to have the correct relationship with God because if we don't, we will not be able to handle this horrible time in Rachel's life the way that God wants us.

I know, how can I take away from what Rachel is going through by saying this journey involves us all...this is her journey... she should have the privacy that she "deserves"... really? Tell us, how is God using Rachel's journey in your life?? no really...TELL US!!! because it would be so meaningless for Rachel to suffer in pain like this if it was just her journey and did not concern anyone else. God is using this to touch all of us!! Don't let this opportunity pass you by! Don't waste what Rachel is going through... Let God reach in and touch your through this because He is always there and always willing to touch your life.  I know that Rachel wants this cancer to have meaning, that it is used by God to glorify God!

God loves to weave His story through our lives. Rachel's life is like a big puzzle and each puzzle piece by itself is small and almost meaningless. However, when you start putting all the pieces together, you see the big picture that God has designed. Rachel's puzzle is beautiful because she is allowing God to use her and she is continually seeking Him through this time.

Prayer requests:
Please pray for Rachel's pain in her back and this is what is causing her the most pain right now. She is also starting to retain fluid which is a concern.

Pray for Mom. Apparently she was bitten by a very poisonous spider about a week ago. mom thought it was just poison ivy but her fingers continued to swell up. Today her hand was completely swollen and she was in a lot of pain. mom went to the doctor who informed her t hat it was a spider bit and a very serious one! The dr. gave more a steroid shot and a lot of medication with the strict orders to go to the ER if the hand got any worse. As of right now Mom seems to be out of the woods but she could use prayer that it continues to go away.

A New "Normal"

This week has been filled with adjustments as we have seen Rachel break free and want life to go back to "normal". This has been awesome on so many levels. I am hoping that "Crisis Mode" can be part of the past...for a little bit!!

First, Rachel is getting her spunk back!! She went "couponing" last week with me and was able to score some awesome deals...from there she has sprung wings and taken off with her old fire and determination to concur everything that she sets her mind to and so, the couponing begins again:-) This is awesome for me too because Rachel and I feed off each other and encourage each other with our deals that we find at the stores. Then we gather together and bless others with all of our "free" or "Money Makers" that we get through couponing!! Want to bless us and bless others...bring us coupons!!! You should see what we can do with them and who we can bless.

Lunch dates filled Rachel calendar this week and it helped lift her spirits to get out and have fun with friends!! I was so glad that she could have that time out.

Rachel is also venturing into a more Vegetarian diet since it has been 6 months on a vegan diet and according to Gerson she can go back to eating (in small amounts) cheeses, eggs, and other dairy items. I am sure she is going to be in heaven!!! Her taste buds really have been craving these foods.

As for me, Rachel has asked that I relax a little on all the cooking. She wants me to get back to normal too and I have to admit that I am glad to have a little break. I am enjoying extra time with my kids and naps!!! I actually got 2 in this week. I will continue to juice for Rachel almost everyday but not have to stress so much about what she is eating.

Mom has been asked to relax a little too and so Mom has gone out to eat with friends, had friends visit, taught a little and I think is just feeling the pressure of everything roll off her shoulders.

Today Rachel went to a bunch of yard sales with Julie, Aunt Betty, myself and my three kids:-) We all had a great time!!

Rachel is still in need of prayer!! She is still in a lot of pain and has no idea what is causing the pain.
Mom needs prayer for strength and patience while dealing with the boys! They can be a bit of a handful and like to test boundaries.