For Emily ...

I wanted to take the time to direct you all over to sweet Emily's blog, as she is undergoing current treatment and preparations for a stem cell transplant in hopes of curing her cancer.  She has such a sweet personality and her faith in the Lord is a true inspiration.   I'm sure she would love to hear from you and know that more people are praying!                 

                                *Also*

As I've been following Emily's story for awhile now, I recently heard about a fast that is being held in her honor called OPERATION: COMBAT.  The idea is to have people fasting and praying for Emily's healing during the duration of her treatment and one-month hospital stay in isolation.  It is scheduled to begin on October 15 and last ideally through November 15.  You can click the COMBAT button for more details. :)

To quote the Blogger heading up this challenge: 

"We're praying and fasting to the One True God, who sent His Son to die on a cross for us (Jesus, who was raised up to life after He died). We believe that Jesus can heal Emily and wipe all traces of cancer from her body. We are praying in faith that He will heal her."

If you feel led, please join us as we fast and pray for Emily! :)

"So we fasted and petitioned our God about this,

and he answered our prayer." 

{Ezra 10:23}

Time For Some Catching Up!

Oh, wow...

Has it really been OVER a week since my last post?!? I guess it has! Sorry about that. :) I thought I would spend this post catching up on everything that's been going on.

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Last week... a friend of mine {her name is Emma} came to visit. She lives over an hour away (where we used to live) so she stayed with us the entire week. Every summer we make plans to see each other, and since she already has her license (*chuckle* --still working on mine!) this year it was her turn to come see me! ;) There are at least 4 things we typically do every summer.

#1 - Play cards. California Speed & Nertz are our all-time favorites. ;)

#2 - Go swimming. (In some form or fashion.) In the past we've gone to water parks and even jumped off docks into the lake, but this year we had to settle for something a little less extravagant: the pool in my backyard. :D

#3 - Go to the movie theater. In 2007 we saw Fantastic Four 2. I don't remember what we saw in 2008, but last year we saw Race to Witch Mountain and this year we saw the new movie Inception. (It was pretty good. Except for some unnecessary profanity. Argh!)

And last but not least...

#4 - Make cupcakes!! :D

Emma loved wearing my *fabulous* cupcake apron...

which fit in just perfectly for the occasion! ;)

These are our colorful creations... :)

Anyway, we had a really nice time together. Maybe next summer *I* can drive up to her house for a visit. ;D

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Now onto this week...

Monday I went with my parents to several different appointments for my Dad. In between appts. we made a stop at a nearby Bass Pro Shops store. Mom agreed to take Dad there as long as he would comply to using his wheelchair once inside. Of course, he did. ;) I ended up buying him a new Bass Pro cap, and I even got one for myself. :D

Tuesday there were no appts. scheduled, so Mom decided to use that opportunity to take Sisters #2 and #3 to see a movie with Dad.

They saw Despicable Me.

And of course, my sisters loved it! :)

Wednesday I had to go with my parents to Dad's speech and physical therapy at the rehab center, because I had an appointment with my orthodontist afterwards... Ah, the dreaded dentist.

(Not my picture)

I haven't mentioned this on my blog before, but I finally got braces put on last May. I missed my June and July appointments, but Mom was finally able to call and reschedule. ...I forgot how much I appreciate being able to eat and chew food without any pain! lol Now my mouth is very sore, but it should be feeling better in a couple of days. :)

................................................

Today I stayed home with my little sisters while Sis #1 went with Mom and Dad for more speech and physical therapy at the rehab. Dad is still doing well. His trouble with being able to find the right words when speaking is still a bit of an issue, but he doesn't seem to have a problem with being confused anymore. Praise God! Please keep praying for us as we are about to make a decision on what method of treatment we need to use. We only want to be obedient to the Lord's will and whatever He has planned for Dad--whether that be a certain diet, MS drug, etc. Either way, we know that ultimately his healing will be from the Lord. :)
Alrighty! I think that about sums up these past two weeks for me. I thought I would end this post with a Bible verse of praise to the Lord...

"The nations will fear the name of the LORD, all the kings of the earth will revere your glory... Let this be written for a future generation, that a people not yet created may praise the LORD."
Psalm 102:15, 18

Praise the Lord! :)

I hope you all have been enjoying a lovely week. God bless!

Before I Go...

... I have a few more awards to post! Since there are so many of them and I don't have much time, I think I'm going to do what Lindsay did in her post and skip out on the tag portions that are supposed to be included. ...I hope that's okay with everybody! :) Also, I'm going to "officially" tag anyone who hasn't been awarded with one of these yet!

1.

...........................................................................
The Best of Friends Award

............................................................................


From...

Liz Darcy & Eden!

2.

.............................................................................
The Beautiful Blogger Award

..............................................................................

From...

Leah & Lindsay!

3.

............................................................................
The Sweet Friend Award

............................................................................

From...

Eden & Liz Darcy!

4.

............................................................................
The Faithful Commenter Award

.............................................................................

From...

Lindsay!

5.

............................................................................
The Prolific Blogger Award

............................................................................

From...

Lindsay & Liz Darcy!

6.

..............................................................................

The Lemonade Stand Award

...............................................................................

And lastly,

but certainly not least,

this one is from...

Eden!

~

Wow, thank you so much to every

one of you girls for thinking of me!
I love the awards and I really do

appreciate all the sweet things you

mentioned about me in your posts.
Thank you! :)

~

Now...

It's time for me to go! I won't be posting here or using the Internet again for an entire month. I'm going to miss you all! But, I have to admit I'm looking forward to all the time that my family will be spending together as we read and study God's word. :)

I pray that you all have a wonderful

and blessed start to Summer! =)

May the Lord bless you and keep you!

Photo credit: Taken & edited by me. :)

Come Join the Fun!!

Hannah over at Aspire is hosting the LAST week of her four-week Planting Chums event. There are a lot of exciting giveaways involved... So you really might want to check it out. =)

This week we're supposed to post "Four Fun Facts" about ourselves. So, here I go...

***

#1 Alright. This is kind of embarrassing... but I actually had to go to WWW.Merriam-Webster.Com and look up the definition of the word "chum". Haha! I just couldn't resist sharing that as my first "fun fact"! ;D I already had an idea of what it meant and Sis #1 did tell me herself, but I guess it's just one of those things you have to see for yourself! lol

#2 I'm 17 years old and still like to sit in my daddy's lap. :)

#3 I love thunderstorms, but only during the daytime. If they happen in the middle of the night I can't stand it and I end up staying awake until it passes!

#4 Okay, now this one might seem kind of weird, but... I'm afraid of the movies "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" & "Alice in Wonderland". lol ...Silly, I know! :D

***

Well, that was fun!

Just --> click here <-- to join up.

( You know you want to! )

***

"A friends loves at all times..." Proverbs 17:17

"If one falls down, his friend can help him up." Ecclesiastes 4:10

.

: Chum : a close friend.

Pronunciation: \ˈchəm\
Function: noun
Etymology: perhaps by shortening & alteration from chamber fellow roommate
Date: 1684 -- No wonder I was clueless! :D

SOURCE

~ Have a blessed Friday, everyone! :)

"A Friend Loves at All Times..."

Proverbs 17:17

I have some very sweet news to share. :)

Stephanie has tagged me with the "Friendship Tag"!

Thank you so much, Stephanie. I really appreciate the

sweet paragraph you wrote about me on your blog

and I love being your friend! It's been fun getting to
know you and follow you on your blog as well!!
...

Here are the rules to this tag:

• Choose any amount of friends, blog friends or real life friends, and say at least two things (Or more!) you admire or like about them.

• Tag the friends that you wrote about.

• If those friends have blogs, be sure to link to them!

First I would like to tag my friend Lindsay.

She has been a very dear friend of mine for a few

years now. Wow, it's hard to believe time has passed

by so quickly! One of my favorite things about her is her

big smile and kind heart. We share a lot of things in common

but--most of all--I love having a friendship with her that is

based on true faith in Jesus Christ! What a blessing!!

Thank you so much for your wonderful friendship,

Lindsay! I love you, dear friend!! :)

~

Next, I want to tag Allison. I met her not too long

ago through Blogger and I have really enjoyed

getting to know her more and more through her posts!

She always has something to share about what she's

been learning from God's word and it's encouraging to

read. Not to mention... I love seeing her pictures

and hearing about what all's been going on with her recently.

I appreciate her kindness and her friendship!

Thank you so much, Allison! :)

~

I'd also like to give this one to Eden, who I met not very

long ago either! I love seeing each of her wonderful blog

posts and it seems we have quite a few things in common

as well. ;) It's always nice meeting other young ladies who

share some of the same interests and desires as yourself!
Thank you, Eden, for being such a wonderful

encouragement and friend in Christ to me! :)

~

Now, I also want to tag Leah. She has been such a sweet

influence to me through her blog, and I appreciate

her kindness as well! God has gifted her with the wonderful

ability to sew beautifully, (as he has with quite a few of you ;),

and I love hearing about the things she's been working

on during the week. It's always exciting to see some of

her new creations! Also, I love her sweet fervor for the Lord!

Thank you for being such a lovely friend, Leah!

~

And lastly, I would like to tag Chloe. When I first met

her through Blogger, I could tell we were a lot alike. ;) I

always enjoy and appreciate her thought-provoking
posts filled with encouragement and Scripture! It has been

a great blessing to meet her and follow her on her

blog. I always love getting to read what she has to say!

Thank you, Chloe, for your friendship as well! :)

Wow, it's so hard choosing only a few!

I've met a lot of very sweet, Christian young

ladies since I started my blog and I've really

enjoyed getting to know EACH and EVERY one!

I appreciate greatly all the kind and thoughtful

comments I've received from everyone as well.

I pray a special blessing upon you all today!

Thank you for your friendship!! :)

Picture credits: Google Images

Quick News

This last week has been very busy! Our family went on a short vacation last Thursday through Saturday and during that trip I got to meet my penpal! We've been writing each other for almost four years now (we have over 100 letters!) It was wonderful to finally meet her and her family. We all really enjoyed visiting with them and we're hoping to see each other again sometime soon!! We had a really great trip!

Anyway, since we got back home we've had non-stop "busyness"! So since I haven't really had a chance to post anything new, I thought I'd give this quick little update. I know it's not really much! Oh well. Have a blessed week everyone!

Me, Sis #1, Sis #2, & Sis #3