The Pile is Gone!!

Over a year and a half ago I started the process of trying to find someone to help me with the removal of the garbage in front of my house. A few weeks ago a "beautiful" tractor and truck came and removed the eyesore! Many thanks goes to Natasha and her husband Alyosha for being the instruments in making this happen!

God's Favor

Thank you again to all who have been praying for my nephew Trevor. He went in for another CAT Scan a few weeks ago and the doctors were amazed at what they DIDN'T find. There was no evidence at all that anything was ever wrong and where there should have been scar tissue there wasn't any!! Thank-you Father!!! Trevor is still undergoing chemo treatment and is almost half-way through. Thanks again for your continued prayers and encouraging e-mails!

Moles

Moles, I have moles. Not the kind on your body but the kind that leave nice little piles of dirt all throughout your yard. This got me thinking about my Grandma and Grandpa. Not that they look like moles. =) I was just missing them and knew that if they were still on this earth I could have called them and asked them what I should do about these pests. Even though they have been gone for a while now, I found tears in my eyes. My Grandpa was a great example of Christ and what it meant to love and my Grandma always had a hot cup of tea or coffee and a plateful of goodies ready to serve whenever anyone stopped by for a visit. Their door and hearts were always open. Very thankful for examples like that in my life!

A New Creation

These past few months I have been reminded again and again of how important it is to remember that we are new creations in Christ! The old is gone and the new has come! I was reading 2 Peter 1 this morning and was reminded of the following illustration. “Before his transformation into a butterfly, the caterpillar spends all his time crawling slowing along. When he comes out of his cocoon what happens if he doesn’t discover that he has wings? He will continue to inch along thinking he is still a caterpillar. The fact is, he is a butterfly and has at his disposal the capability of soaring to new heights. What used to take hours to cover a certain distance could now take seconds, if only he knew that he is a butterfly!”

Transportation

When I first took my new wheels out for a spin I got some very curious looks, then some smiles and then some comments of - "Cool car!" =) It gets pretty good mileage and I don't need a huge parking space! Feeling very blessed and my back and arms are definitely thanking me! =)

Horses, Plows and Mobiles

I have been getting my backyard ready to seed with grass. It has been a lot of work but when I imagine what it could look like it gives me a bursts of energy to keep working at it. Last Tuesday morning at 5:40 am, a man with a horse and plow came and worked up the ground. It's great!! Saved me a tonne of work!!!!!!!! Very thankful for that. It was amusing though while he was here. I really do enjoy talking with people and getting to know them even if it is just a little bit so I opened up the subject of family. He in turn asked if I had a family. I think I need to come up with a better response than what I gave him today - mention more about my family back in America! Instead he zeroed in on that I was not married and that it was not good for someone my age to be alone. =) He asked me why I didn't have a husband and I said "God knows." Kids? No. Age? 36. Well that was all the information he needed and he immediately took out his phone and called this guy in Kiev. It was 6:30 am!!!! A few thoughts crossed my mind - tackle the man to the ground and take his mobile away (he is bigger than me though so that wouldn't have worked) or just stand back, wave my arms wildly and yell "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING??!!!", or just let it play out. I ended up saying, "Don't do that." with the intonation of "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING??!!!" =) After the call he preceded to tell me that this guy is 32, doesn't drink and keeps his house clean. I said, thank you but no thank you and that if I were to get married some day, the man would definitely have to love Jesus!! The point was taken but as he left he said, "Think about it. Really think about it. When he has time he will come and meet you." Oh great!! I told him that if he wanted to come down, he was more than welcome to come to church on Sunday at 5:00 pm! Before I could do anything, he gave me a big wet one on the cheek and hopped up into his wagon and went on his way. I really liked the horse though - very nice. =)

Kids' Festival

Last week I had the privilege of helping out with a kids' festival in town that was sponsored by a Baptist Church from Tennessee. Throughout the week there was on average about 65 children who attended every day. It was great fun making new "little friends" and seeing God work in some of their hearts. Please pray that we would be able to continue to share the gospel with some of these children through our Sunday School program.

Radiation

This past Wednesday we found out that Trevor's blood count is very low. This is not a good thing because his body won't be able to fight any infections. Please pray that his counts would go up. He also started his radiation treatments on June 25th. These will continue 5 days a week for the next month. Thank you for your continued prayers for safety as they travel and for continued healing for Trevor.

Trevor has had two blood counts since starting chemo and, thank you Lord, they have been high enough to continue treatments. Next week they will have an overnight stay at the hospital for his 2nd large dose of chemo. At this time, Kathy, my sister-in-law, will be meeting with a nutritionist to get some ideas on what food to prepare for Trevor. He continues to lose weight but as of now, the doctors aren't concerned. My dad will be flying down to Maryland on Wednesday to be with Daryl and his family for a few weeks. Please pray for this time. Praising God for His greatness!

Update

In my last e-mail I mentioned that Trevor went for a second CAT scan last
Wednesday. When the results came in, the "spot" was gone!! Praise God!

Since the tests for both the bone marrow and CAT scan came back negative,
Trevor was able to start his first chemo treatment this past Friday. He had
three separate injections through the port in his chest. On Sunday morning
he felt a little nauseous but his medicine got it under control. Apparently
after 5 - 7 days after the treatment is when he'll start feeling really
sick. His treatments are scheduled for every three weeks. After the fourth
chemo treatment Trevor will begin radiation treatments. They will drive into
Baltimore every day for a month for this.

As long as his blood count stays up, these treatments will be able to
continue. If they fall, then the treatments will have to stop until they can
be brought up again. Please continue to pray that the counts stay up. He
will have his first count done on Thursday, April 10th.

One of the important things during this time is that Trevor does not get
sick. As a precaution he will have to wear a mask for the next year until he
has finished his treatments. Daryl said that Trevor is a real trooper and
puts the mask on by himself. He has seen a lot of that during his stay in
the hospital. He must also not lose weight so the doctors have put him on a
strict high calorie diet.

The Lord works in ways that sometimes we don't always understand. Daryl and
Kathy have been to share with the other families in the hospital why they
can still have a smile on their face during this time. The Lord is their
strength!

For awhile there was question whether or not they would be covered with
insurance as Daryl started a new job this past Monday. Praise the Lord that
in the state of Maryland, your insurance can't be dropped. As it turns out
Daryl's new job has better coverage than his old one. Just another way that
the Lord has supplied!

In three weeks or so, my Dad will fly down to spend a couple of weeks with
Daryl and his family.

Please also remember Siglinda as her world has also been turned upside down.
Thank you for your continued prayers!

Trevor

Trevor has had more tests done and on Monday they found another spot on the back of his abdomen close to his spine. It does not appear to be attached to the spine but it is large enough that they need to go back in and remove it. He was scheduled to have an operation this morning but the doctors have decided to perform another CT scan to have another look. Thank you for your continued prayers!

Please Pray

This is my twin brother Daryl and his family. Just two days ago, Trevor, my 3 year old nephew was diagnosed with a form of cancer that affects the muscles. It is called Rhabdomyosarcoma. The doctors feel that they were able to remove the tumor that was growing in his abdomen. There are more tests that Trevor will need to go through though to determine if it has spread and what stage it is in. One of the tests will be taking bone marrow. He will also have to go through chemotherapy for almost a year. Please join us in praying that it has not spread and that it was truly caught early. What a comfort it is to know that God is in control!

8th of March

The 8th of March just isn't any ordinary day on the calendar here in Ukraine - it's one of the biggest holidays of the year! Rightly so - it's Women's Day!!

This year a bunch of us gathered together at the home of Masha and Sveta's to celebrate. We had a wonderful time sharing a meal together and of course there was a lot of laughter happening as our girls shared their acting skills.

A while back I was given a bunch of scarves so last night we were able to share them with each of the girls. We managed to have some fun with them too!

All in all we had a wonderful evening together!