Standing in the Need of Prayer

     I am asking you to stand with me in the need of prayer.  16 year old Tara is in great need of prayer. On July 9, 2011 she was diagnosed with NK Leukemia.  It is very rare with around 100 diagnoses worldwide.  It was a sudden onset.  Doctors said that she maybe only had it for around 2 weeks but it is extremely aggressive.  She is taking 2 different types of chemo.  One is every Tuesday for 3 weeks into her spinal column.  The other is into her blood 3 days in a row every 21 days.  Once the Leukemia is gone Doctors say she will need a bone marrow transplant.  This has been a total shock to her, her whole family, friends, and the community.  I am asking for you to take her request to the Lord in prayer often.  My mind can not imagine what her parents must be going thru.  I know families get these kind of diagnoses all the time but for some reason when it is someone we know then we have a face to put with that request and tend to pray more often.
     My husband and I have watched Tara grow up.  When we got married we moved in across the street from Tara and her family.  Tara was only 7 months old and they moved only a couple of years ago.  We live in a small rural town where you don't just "know of your" neighbors but you "truly know" them.  They were GREAT neighbors.  Tara would play in the yard with our kids.  If no one was home at her house she would come to our house when she got off the school bus.  We went to their house for shelter during a bad storm.  They even brought us supper during busy schedules.  We miss having them across the street. 
     They have had a less than a fun summer. Tara's Grandma died on Memorial Day, her dad had surgery on June 21 and then another one on July 6. When Tara was in the hospital on July 8 her Dad had to go downstairs to the ER because he had developed blood clots in his legs.  The next day Tara was diagnosed.
     If you are like me and have been blessed with a healthy family, PLEASE PRAY!  If you have children that are not in a hospital, PLEASE PRAY! If you have children that have been in the hospital, PLEASE PRAY!  If you have neighbors, PLEASE PRAY!  If God has done a miracle in your life or the life of someone you know PLEASE PRAY!  If you believe in the power of prayer PLEASE PRAY!
     When I spoke with Tara's Dad last night his only request was that we pray and ask people to pray.  He said that with this being so rare prayer is the only thing they have.
     One of the wonderful thing about being a Christian is that we have been given the powerful tool of prayer.  I know that prayer changes things!  What a blessing to intercede on the behalf of someone else even if we don't know that person.
     God was not surprised by Tara's diagnoses and he knows the outcome of it all.  He allows us to be involved by prayer.  I am reminded that Jesus took the stripes for our healing and that what the devil intended for evil God uses for good....TO GOD BE THE ALL GLORY!!!!! 
    
Investing in Eternity,
Jenny

No Passing Zone.

I had a very "eye opening" experience and I knew immediately that I was to share this with you all.

I was driving today and saw a car passing another car.  The car that was passing was going VERY fast. Both cars were coming at me.  The fast car got back in it's lane very quickly.  The car that was being passed turned off just a few hundred feet after it was passed so you know that it wasn't going very fast at all.  God showed me how there have been times that I was that fast car, in a hurry, and the slow car was the "obstacle in my life" that God had not moved.. I tried to get ahead of God all because I was not patient and willing to wait on Him.  Instead, I was willing to risk an accident, even a great tragedy.  All the while, God was moving the "slow car" out of my way if only I would just be patient and wait on Him.  God gave me a visual of how close we get to that place where He all but has that obstacle out of our path.  I saw just how close we get to having an "open lane".  If that car would have just waited mere seconds; but no, we just don't wait. We try to hurry and, in the meantime, are a distraction to others and risk their well being.  Since we can't see what is ahead, we should lean on and trust the only One Who can.

I love when God shows me things in the middle of my day when I least expect it.  He is always teaching me if I stay teachable.

Investing in Eternity,
Jenny