Our Cousin... from the UKRAINE!

We (on my side - Katie) have a new cousin: Mr. Ivan Kramer! He was born in the Ukraine and has been in an orphanage since his birth. He is now 2 and in the past few days, has met his new mama and daddy - my cousin, Karen, and her sweet husband, Derek. Karen and Derek are in Tennessee with their other 3 children: Emily, Timothy, and baby Stella.

Derek and Karen committed to "love God out loud" and when they learned about baby Ivan, they decided to act. They signed the intent to adopt agreement and will come back to the States, do some final preparations for little Ivan and then will return to the orphanage to bring him "home."

Ivan is 2. He has Down's Syndrome, but unlike every other child on this earth, he deserves to be loved and brought up in God's love from day 1. Ivan spends most of his days in his crib, thus, he doesn't yet sit up on his own, or crawl... or walk. But he will - all because Karen and Derek obeyed God and followed His lead to Russia.

It has been such a blessing to follow the Kramers on their journey to get their boy. We have learned about other special needs/precious babies that need families and have been able to pray for them specifically.

I encourage you all to pray for, follow, and possibly even give to the Kramers and other families as they go "get" their babies from Russia and bring them home.

http://thekramerfamilysite.blogspot.com LOVING GOD OUT LOUD

Just Have to Share...

Brittany's sister has taken over her Facebook page and is posting notes about Brittany and Baby Shep and how they are making it through these first heartbreaking weeks.

I read this one in particular and just wept. I thought I would share with all of you who aren't Facebook friends with Brittany, and now, Brooke.

Please continue to pray for that precious and broken family.


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Sign #7: Monday, March 14, 2011-The 1-week anniversary had arrived, and every minute of every part of that day felt like I was reliving the Monday before so vividly in my mind. Allie had been so sheltered from the devastation of this tragedy the week before, but had been with us all (including Clint) since Saturday. Ryan and I had decided to wait on her lead before we said anything to her about why her baby Shep and BB were not around. I was waiting with anticipation as to when she was going to begin questioning me-I wasn't ready to share the heart-breaking news to her. She had been with her Uncle Nint and never asked us once about BB and Baby Shep. Ryan and I both said it was like she somehow already knew-Finally, on Monday she started to cry, she laid her head on my chest, told me how sad she was and then said, "Momma, BB and Baby Shep aren't coming back are they?" It was like in her little spirit she knew, and it was only after she elaborated more on her dream from the week before about Baby Shep, that Brittany had taken care of letting my Allie know (but more on that tomorrow!!)....Later that evening, we all struggled as the clock turned 5:15, as the pain of what Brittany and Shep experienced at that time rushed over us all-We stayed together like we have every night since the accident until we couldn't anymore. Clint left ahead of us, and we were still with mom and dad at their house. Mom had walked back to Shep's room, and was standing in the doorway when I received a text from Clint. He had gotten back to his mom's house, walked outside only to look up and see the clouds in the shape of a baby with huge angel wings in the night sky. He said he was shaking so badly he could barely text us.....As that text came into me, I was telling everyone-mom heard and came back down the hall crying. She said she had just said, "ok Shep, your momma has been giving us signs all week now, GiGi needs a sign from her sweet baby." At that moment, Shep, our little angel, had given us his first sign.

******

Wow.

Blood of the Lamb

This was shared with me by my mom via email. I encourage all of you (after reading the previous post and the heartbreak that has been caused by the enemy this past week) to read this, print it out and CLAIM IT DAILY over your babies, your spouses and all of those you have authority over - including yourselves.

We stand as one on behalf of our children! The Blood of the Lamb has been applied to the door post of our homes! The spirit of infirmity must pass our homes because of the power of the Blood! No weapon that has been formed against our children will prevail!

The Blood saves (rescues). The Blood redeems (exchanges or converts as in a financial transaction; the Blood of Christ paid the price for our sin). The Blood delivers (liberates and frees). The Blood protects (it is a shield that guards, defends and cares for). The Blood provides (grants and supplies). The Blood heals (makes well). The Blood restores (reinstates, refurbishes, repairs and renovates). The Blood transforms (converts and makes over). The Blood provides everlasting life (eternal, ceaseless, perpetual).

We underestimate the power of the Blood. There is NOTHING that the Blood of Christ can not do.

Satan knows exactly what the Blood of Christ can do; therefore He has no choice but to pass over the household that has applied the Blood of the Lamb on its doorpost. He may growl as he passes but he must pass none the less. As he passes he will hear our roar (the roar of the parents that stand guard over their children); our cry declares Christ as our Redeemer! As for me and my house; the line has been drawn and the Blood of the Sacred Lamb has been applied!

To all that are seeking healing of any kind for their children; Father, God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, I know it is Your will, based on Your Word, that the medicine taken or the procedures given by and for our children, will be for their good and not for their harm for blessed is the Healer of the sick, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

I declare that I unite with every mother and father who is interceding for the salvation, redemption, healing and restoration of their children. God has promised strength for the day, rest for the weary, grace for the trials, everlasting and merciful love for our journey and He has promised to hear our cry and answer our prayer! Many are the afflictions of the righteous but the Lord delivers us from them all.

We stand as one; ready to fight, to declare and to receive, May the love of God bless you with everything that is good, may He grant each one of you His supernatural peace and may His favor be upon you and yours.

2 COR 2:14 NOW THANKS BE TO GOD WHO ALWAYS CAUSES US TO TRIUMPH IN CHRIST JESUS

I am learning more and more that we have been given POWER and DOMINION and AUTHORITY by God. To say "God is in control" is a cop out, of sorts. If He was in total control, tragedies (like what happened to Brittany and Baby Shep) wouldn't happen. He has given us the authority, and the total CONTROL, to plead the Blood of the Lamb, His own Son, over all of the earth. And especially over those we have been given authority over. (Reference Matthew 12:29).

Satan comes to "kill, steal, and destroy" (John 10:10). Not God. He does not want us to suffer, nor do I believe he allows bad things to happen to us. But because of the sin of man in the Garden of Eden, Satan has been given a foothold in all of humanity. Thus, the most unbearable and unthinkable things happen to even the strongest of believers. Claim the authority you have been given today.

Brittany and Baby Shep

Most of you who read my blog know about what happened to our friend, Brittany Shepard Pugh, and her sweet boy, Shep, but there are many of you out there who do not.

Dan and I were in Paris and Rome without much communication back home (except for talking to my folks, who had our babies)so it wasn't till we landed in Atlanta on Thursday that I learned.

I grew up with the Pugh boys: Dax, Clint and Tyson and went to college with Brittany. Brittany married Clint 3 years ago and they had Shep 15 months ago. We communicated a LOT about 'mommy issues' and our friendship over the distance grew that way.

Last Monday, Brittany picked up her baby boy from her mom's house and was heading home (in Troy, Alabama - my hometown). Another car crossed the median and struck Brittany's. She was killed immediately and Baby Shep was lifeflighted to Children's. His daddy, Clint, was able to kiss him once more before they put him on the plane. They worked tirelessly to keep him alive but his heart wasn't strong enough for all of the trauma he sustained. He died Monday night a few hours after his mommy.

The lady who struck them also died that night.

Brittany and Shep were buried yesterday in Troy, Alabama: they are in the casket together. She was buried holding her baby boy in her arms.

I canNOT begin to imagine what Clint, her husband, and what her family is going through. Life is not supposed to end like this - babies are not supposed to die so tragically; mommies aren't supposed to be taken from their children - or WITH their children - nor away from their husbands so young.

I share this with you all - near and wide - so you can be praying for the Pugh and Shepard families. Nothing will bring them back, but our prayers for mercy, strength and grace through this time will help in the smallest ways.

Brittany loved Jesus, so we can be certain that she is holding her sweet Shep in her arms in heaven and dancing with her Savior.

What happened to them is so tragic and so heartbreaking. I encourage us all to love on our children a little more, kiss our husbands a little longer, and be certain - like Brittany was - that we will spend eternity with Jesus when that uncertain moment comes for us too.

And Yet Another...

... Prayer request.

I just got an email from one of my best friends, Amy Hall, and she's begging us "prayer warriors" to pray for a dear friend of hers. Here is the email that Amy sent out:

"I am sending out a Prayer Need for your hearts. Our neighbor at our old house lost a sweet baby girl 39 weeks into her pregnancy. They named her Anna. Since then Sara has been having some pain in her abdomen so she went to the hospital. They found out she has stage 4 colon cancer that has spread to her liver and lymph nodes. She has two sons, one older than Ava and one younger. SHE IS 33! They are starting a very aggressive chemo treatment plan Monday and they need prayer. Her Caringbridge site is www.caringbridge.org/visit/sarawalker ! Please pray passionately for her and her husband Brian and their two sons! "

Let's join together to pray for this precious mommy who is already suffering the loss of her baby girl and who is so needed by her sons and her husband. I will keep you all posted as I hear more updates on Sara.

Blood Clot Update

I am asking for prayer. Tomorrow (Friday) morning, I have the 'big' CAT scan to determine if the blood clot in my lung has dissolved. This is a big deal - I have been on multiple miligrams of blood thinners for 6 months now in the hopes of making this clot dissolve.

I cannot believe that it has been 6 months and 6 days since Ellyotte entered the world... And I cannot believe that it has been 6 months TODAY since I re-entered the hospital with a pulmonary embolism.

To date, 27 July 2010 was the worst day of my life. I will never, ever, never forget the loneliness and fear that I felt as they wheeled me into the heart unit into an empty hospital room and having to say goodbye to my newborn baby girl and my husband. In those first hours, we honestly didn't know if I would survive the clot and I was petrified that I wouldn't see them again. I wept openly on the phone with one of my best friends, Amy Henderson Hall, as she prayed for me and passed out updates to our friends and families. The memories of those hours spent alone in that hospital room are still as fresh and as raw as if the event happened yesterday.

But God is good and has a mighty plan for my life and for the lives of my children. We heard time and again that Ellyotte should NOT be alive - that due to the uterine damage I had (didn't know about till Ellyotte's c-section) and due to the fact that the blood clot likely developed while I was pregnant - she is by every meaning of the word, an absolute "MIRACLE."

Had my mom not been with me on 27 July 2010 and had she not lived through the same thing with her brother, my Uncle George, and known to send me right to the hospital, I wouldn't be here typing this today. My Uncle passed away following surgery from a pulmonary embolism so my mom was familiar with the symptoms - Dan and I were not.

I am anxious for tomorrow's procedure because we want nothing more than for this clot to be gone. I want to return to normal life: no more blood thinners everyday at 4:00 pm, no more trips to the hospital to get my blood tested every 10 days, no more visits with an internist I don't really like, and no more fear that this clot is dwelling in my lung and that any minute, I could "throw" it and drop dead. I am sick of the drama that has come with this clot and am ready to hear the words "It is gone."

Sometime within the next week, I will stop my thinner regimen long enough to be seen by a hematologist. He will do full blood testing to determine if this is a clotting condition or a one-time occurrence. Please join us in praying that this was a one time thing and that we never have to worry about this happening again.

I will let you know the results of the scan as soon as possible tomorrow. Thanks, everyone.

Venting

I do apologize for the massive amount of blogging I have done lately. I go through phases when I am really verbal and then others when I am sort of a recluse with my communication. It annoys even me.

There are horrible, horrible things going on in the world - even in our own back yards. In fact, a girl I went to high school with (a football coach's daughter) was far along in her pregnancy and the victim of a shooting. She was sitting in the safety of someone's home when a stray bullet came through the window and killed her unborn baby. I heard she passed away yesterday from her wounds but haven't been able to confirm that yet.

And along the coasts of Louisiana, there are thousands suffering because they have lost their jobs due to the oil situation and our federal government is doing NOTHING despite our wonderful Governor Jindal's hourly pleas for help.

Despite what's going on in the world, I can't help but still get bogged down by the "hardships" I find myself facing lately. I won't go into all of the little details but things continue to be a struggle for me emotionally and now - obviously - physically. It is when the "chips are down" that you need your friends and it has been pretty barren around here lately.

One lesson I am trying to remember constantly is that you need to be willing to repay kindness when you've been shown kindness. I do my best to be sensitive to others and make phone calls or provide encouragement when needed. So, why do I feel that it isn't always repaid? I am not talking about anyone specifically or any certain situation, but lately my feelings have been wounded because I feel like I have given and given emotionally to others yet now I need encouragement and uplifting and it isn't available.

Again, this is just a venue for me to vent. Heck, I have to vent somewhere! So thank you for letting this be it. Please pray for me/us. Specifically that these next few weeks get a bit easier for me. I want to enjoy this pregnancy and it has been next to IMPOSSIBLE to do that in the past month or two. With Dan gone and Noah doing absolutely everything possible to challenge me, my body and spirit have been exhausted.

Just today, one of my close girlfriends and I took our kids to see "Toy Story 3" and after the movie, Noah ran into oncoming traffic despite my screaming for him to stop. A car was within 10 feet of hitting him.

I obviously had to chase after him (the temp was 102, by the way) and when I caught him, I had to spank him. But instead of crying over the spanking or how upset he made me, he cried for his friend Addison. I literally thought my water would break - it took a good 30-45 minutes for the contractions to subside after that. The rest of the day was shot... I had such a meltdown due to Noah's continued defiance that I even called Dan to beg him to come home just to help me get Noah to bed. He said 'No.' He couldn't. Man, did I feel alone at that point. I just wept and that caused Noah to cry and tell me he was "scary" (that means he was scared due to my crying). I felt so helpless and that is the last thing a parent wants to feel.

So please pray that I receive supernatural strength and patience in these next weeks ahead of us. We have a new human that is about to enter our lives and I am so far from ready emotionally for her that it frightens me. I want to focus on HER and all I can do is focus on Noah and his defiance.

Prayers are greatly needed - and encouragement.

Beach Fun

Noah and I made a last minute flight "home" to Panama City Beach, Florida this past week. As I said in my earlier posting, my doctor gave me approval to travel and my Aunt Mamie's doctor gave her some time off between her experimental treatments (she's fighting bone and brain cancer) to go to the beach for our annual Beach Week trip with our family from Nashville. Kelly, Mom and Dad were there and we stayed in our condo in PCB and the Nashville clan (the Masons) stayed in their places in Destin.

On Saturday, we all got together and had a wonderful time. It was my cousin Leigh Ann's birthday so I knew we were going to throw her a little party. But what I didn't know was that my family had planned a surprise shower for Ellyotte! She got so many beautiful and PINK things - I was overwhelmed by everyone's generosity. I got tons of smocked outfits, blankets, a pink tub, towels - everything I wanted for my baby girl. Our suitcase was overweight coming back home!

Seeing Aunt Mamie was really great. She's had cancer for many, many years. It started as breast cancer and she fought that valiantly. But after a while, it invaded her bones and now her brain. She's a fighter - no doubt - but this is not what you want a loved one to have to suffer through. So being together as a family was a very special event - it is always so hard to get everyone together in the same place, at the same time.

If you could be praying for her, I would appreciate it. She's been undergoing experimental treatments following long chemo and radiation treatments that didn't work like the doctors had hoped. And this last experimental treatment didn't "take" either - the spots on her rib cage grew and the spots on her brain stayed the same.

So when she gets back to Nashville, she will begin another experimental treatment and as her husband of 50+ years, Uncle Bob (who married us) said "be a guinea pig again."

Please pray for her. She's an incredible woman of God and says daily that the "doctors' reports haven't yet caught up with God's report." Yet while her spirits are strong, her little body is not and it is painful to watch someone you love so much suffer at all. I will keep you posted but I ask that you remember her.

She's my mom's oldest living sister. My mom was the youngest of 6 and Mamie was the 3rd of the 6. She is who Noah got his gorgeous red hair from - and we are so thankful for that gene she passed down! Noah wouldn't be the same without that incredible hair color. Maybe it is that hair color that gives Aunt Mamie AND our Noah their awesome feisty attitudes and fighting spirits.

We flew back into Louisiana last night and I am WIPED OUT. But my sweet husband has been good to make me take naps and rest. I can't believe that we are about 7 weeks from Ellyotte's c-section. On one hand, it is going fast. Yet on the other, this 100 degree Louisiana heat and humidity is dreadful! I am soooo bloated. And the heat only exhausts you further. But, babies are worth it, right?!

Our home has flooded.... You read it right. So Dan stayed behind this past week to deal with that. The dishwasher repairman (4 times over) didn't reconnect it correctly when we called in service on the machine time and again. So when we noticed wetness in our guestroom, we called the plumber through our home warranty service.

Yep... half of our entire home is flooded from the foundation up. We are waiting for the insurance adjustor to come on Tuesday following the long holiday and give us an estimate. But ServPro came on Saturday to begin drying out our home and left 4 dryers and one de-humidifier (at the cost of $250 A DAY) and will come back tomorrow to check on things. They said to get ready for some costly repairs. Our deductible in $1000 and we have already far exceeded that.

Moral of the story: Do NOT ever rely on Sears service... Our home is flooded because of their carelessness! And what a frustration - carpet, tile in kitchen, cabinets, baseboards, and possible furniture have to be replaced and we are having a baby in a month and a half. Another prayer request: pray that our home is repaired in time for Ellyotte's arrival! I couldn't bring myself to bring her home to this should she decide to come early. However, I have to add that we are still incredibly blessed. A home flooding is nothing compared to what some people are dealing with in their lives so for us to complain over this water damage isn't something we want to be guilty of. So, Dan and I have chosen to be THANKFUL that our home was not destroyed and that the damage is fixable. Annoying, yes. Devestating to our lives, NO.

Dear Billy

Years ago when I was a middle schooler in Troy, Alabama, I met a guy named Billy Atchinson. He was an active member in the college ministry at First Baptist Church where I was an active member in the youth group. Billy was always part of our Disciple Nows and was a great mime (facepaint included!). He is so theatrical, funny, creative and on fire for Christ. I am not sure when it was that I first met Billy but he quickly endeared himself to my family somehow! He is a hilarious guy. Full of life and love for the Lord. We always knew that Billy would marry a great girl and have many fun kids.

I lost touch with him through the years but recently crossed paths with him and his family when I discovered their blog through other friends' blogs. I have spent the last few nights reading back to last July 2008 when their lives changed forever and have shed many tears for them. They were blessed with 4 beautiful babies and their oldest daughter, Alaina (4), contracted meningitis and within 24 hours and without any warning, she went on to Heaven. Her mom, Hope (Billy's wife), was the one who found her the next morning and had to perform CPR.

Reading back on their blog and seeing how God has been leading them on the journey through the valley of grief is heartwrenching. I have been reminded through their story that life is SO short and every minute with our babies and with our husbands and families are so important and precious.

I encourgage you to read through their blog if you want to be inspired to love God even more through the storms of life; theirs is a story to be admired and it is incredibly inspiring.

http://billyandhopeatchison.blogspot.com/

Their blog is also on my blog roll on the left side under "Along the Road."