Update on Aaron

A big hug to Christy Rose from 'The Secret Life of an American Wife and Mom' for this very sweet blog award! I'm passing it on to Jennifer at 'More Than Just Adam's Rib' and Jaime at 'For His Glory.' These ladies' blogs inspire me and bring me closer to God.

Some more good news - I won! I won! I won a signed copy of "Behold the Dawn" by K.M. Weiland at 'Faith Imagined.' Thank you Alisa! I will treasure this book for years to come.

And finally, the best news of all...Aaron just had his follow-up doctor visit. Remember the doctor said he would have a permanent dent below his eye? Everything is healing nicely, and there will be no visible scars or dents! His beautiful face is looking good as ever! Thank you all for your powerful prayers. We have a God in heaven who is moved by compassion to heal and restore... praise God!

For The Children

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." (James 1:27)

1 Please continue to pray for Emma to come home by Christmas. You can click on the sidebar button for the story, or go here: Waiting for Emma. This family has been waiting over 3 years to adopt their baby girl from China. It's been one delay after another. How anguishing! I know that if we all just raise our voices, God will hear, and He will dispatch His angels to speed up the paperwork and bring Emma home soon!

2 Please pray for Jeremiah to come home, and if you're able, to chip in on the cost of some medical needs Jeremiah has. You can either click the button in the sidebar, or go here: Till God brings them home.

3 Operation Giggle has received many donated Christmas gifts for the orphans in China and Africa, but they still are in need of funds to ship the gifts. Click on the 'Operation Giggle' button on the sidebar, or go here: Operation Giggle.

The minute I completed my transaction on Paypal for Operation Giggle, God showed up something powerful. I can't even put it into words, the power of God hit here pretty hard, and the tears started flowing. Please know that everytime you help an orphan, you touch the very Heart of God.

I leave you with a quote from the Compassion website:

"Jesus doesn’t have any good news for those who serve the poor. Jesus didn’t come to bring good news of the Kingdom to those who serve the poor; he brought Good News to the poor." (Claudio Oliver, Brazil)

LOOK WHAT YOUR PRAYERS DID!

Yesterday the doctor had a plan all mapped out for Aaron's surgery. He was going to make three incisions to fix all the fractures. At the last minute another doctor came into the picture, and he said they could take care of everything with one incision, through the gums. (Wisdom!) When he reached up for the first bone, all the other bones came together on their own, and came into perfect alignment! The doctors didn't quite know what to make of this, but I do... (GOD!) The surgery was an obvious success, thanks to God! In fact, everything went so well, they sent Aaron home a few hours later!

The chaplain came to see Aaron. He talked for some length about the two men who did this, and he prayed with Aaron that what the enemy meant for evil, God will turn for good. He said "Who knows, maybe these two men will come to know Jesus because of this!"

I hope you don't mind if I brag about you a little. This past week as I was blog hopping, I came across several sites with Aaron's picture posted, and a prayer request for him. Thank you! But wait, that's not all. Sandra from Thistle Cove Farm in the beautiful Appalachian mountians, invited us to stay overnight there in case we made the drive to Virginia. I warned her that if I showed up on her doorstep, she would never be able to get rid of me.

Larie from 'Mine Heart Speaks' said she will be in Virginia over Thanksgiving, and offered to check in on Aaron and help him with whatever he might need! My heart is just bursting with joy because of all you beautiful bloggers!

Aaron asked me to thank all of you, he knows that all of your prayers carried him through this with flying colors! Know this - I am here for all of you. I will pray for you, bake you a cake, stand on my head, or do whatever I can to bless your socks off!
And last but not least...THANK YOU GOD!

PS...I had a dr. appt yesterday. The x-rays looked great, the doctor was very happy about it. He said that had any other doctor operated on me, they would have put in a second plate and more than just 11 pins, but he said when you start adding all that hardware, there's a good chance arthritis will set in later. He used a bare minimum so that I wouldn't have more problems down the road (Wisdom!). He also said this was the worst kind of breakage you could have, and the way my ankle healed so completely is amazing. Then he said: "THANK GOD!" Believe me...I did!

My Beautiful Boy

Could you please pray for my son, Aaron? He was attacked by two men over the weekend. He ended up in the hospital. His face was fractured in four places, and the nerve endings were damaged. His lower eyelid blew up, and the doctor said he will have a permanent dent there. He is having difficulty eating, as his jaw is now misaligned. He is going in for plastic surgery this Friday.

Aaron is the most bestest boy a mother could have. He volunteers on the weekend for the 'Angel Food' program, distributing food to the needy. He also works the sound board at his church, and has put in many hours there. He recently volunteered to work the phones for PBS, and he also ran in a race for a local community care program.

Thank you in advance for your prayers...it means the world to me.

Update: Right after the two assailants attacked Aaron, they got into a cab and drove off. Today Aaron made contact with the cab driver. Though the driver didn't see the assault, he said he heard the two guys talking and laughing in the back seat about the guy they just 'beat up.' The cab driver is willing to give his testimony if necessary. Praise God!

We are in the process of trying to find a way to get to Aaron in time for the surgery. He lives in Virginia Beach, and we're in Wisconsin. But just in case we can't get there, Aaron has a very special friend who has been like family to him, and she will take him to the hospital in case we can't make it.

How on earth can I properly thank all of you! I am overwhelmed by all the saints gathered here to pray, some of you I have never met before today! For those who are posting your own prayer request for Aaron on your blog, bless your hearts! I just really don't know what to say. I pray God showers so many blessings over all of you, that you just can't contain it! I don't think I have ever felt so loved before...

Roughing it out

Thank you all so much for praying and believing that Emma will be home by Christmas! God loves to answer our prayers, I can't wait to see this one answered!

On Thursday we drove 2 hours to the airport, had a long flight from Wisconsin to Virginia during which time my leg was cramped and hurting terribly. Aaron picked us up at the airport, and he brought a wheelchair with him! He's been taking such good care of us.

Friday we left for Washington DC at 4am. We had originally planned to do this before I broke my ankle, and I insisted we still go through with it. It was a 3 hour drive from Virginia to DC, and to add to my misery, all the sidewalks in DC are cobblestone, so it was extremely painful to be wheeled around there. We visited the Holocaust Museum, Union Station and the Capital, as well as a few other places. My pain meds starting causing problems, so I had to make it on just Tylenol. By time we made the 3 hour drive back home, I was extremely exhausted and in more pain than I could handle.

We found out last week that 50,000 Muslims are gathering to pray to their god at the Capital on Sept 25th, in the exact same place where our Presidents are inaugurated! I decided that we were going to go there before their gathering to pray to our God. So the three of us prayed on that very same spot. We repented for the sins of our nations, including all the abortions, and mistreatment of the Native Americans and African Americans, among many other sins, some of which have been from the hands of our government. We also prayed that the prayers of the Muslims would be null and void, and crumble into dust beneath our feet.

Soooo, if you wondered why this crazy women with the injury went through all this to get to the Capital, now you have the inside story. And now.....I'm going to rest and enjoy this vacation, if that's even possible (ouch!) Mark and Aaron have been such good sports about all this. They guarded my cast while we were in public like it was the Mona Lisa, making sure no one even got near it. And this morning while I was washing my hair in the sink, Aaron starts yelling "Outstanding, outstanding! You're a winner!" He reads a lot of motivational stuff, can you tell?

We're taking a cruise this afternoon, and tomorrow we're meeting with Aaron's friends at a local bar to watch the Packer game (Aaron can't get the game on his TV). When he asked if we wanted to meet his friends, Mark asked if they were real friends or facebook friends! I laughed until my stomach hurt! Mark explained to Aaron that I've got friends on facebook that he never even heard of, so he was wondering if Aaron's friends were real or 'fake.' Haha!

Aaron's apartment is so awesome! He's in a brand new building, it's really top-notch. I noticed there's some bamboo stickers or wallpaper in the bathroom that looks so real, like they are really growing in there. When I came back into the living room I did my Jay Leno doing Arnold Schwartzenegger impression and said " Who put da bamboos in da batroom to look cool such as dat?" Well, it cracked me up, but it went way over Aaron's head. He asked if I had overdosed on my meds.

Anyway...thanks again for all your prayers. You guys are the best!

Prayer

Could you keep me in your prayers? Yesterday I fell on a rock, broke my ankle in three places and dislocated it. Tomorrow we're supposed to visit our son in Virginia. I got the okay from the doc to go, but I'm in extreme pain, relying on Jesus and narcotics to get me through this. I think the airplane (yes, the dreaded airplane, lol) will be the hardest part.

Also, can you please pray for Sherri and Todd at:

www.thejolivanafamily.blogspot.com

They've been waiting for several years for their little girl they're adopting from China to come home. Would you join me and believe for a miracle? I'm believing God will bring Emma home by Christmas. Also, could you please stop in at their blog to read their story and let them know you're praying for them? It's truly heartbreaking. I'm sure it would mean the world to them.

Blessings!