Shirts and blessings

First of all, I wanted to let you know that the T-shirts have been opened up again.  They are only open for 5 more days for those of you who never got around to ordering a t-shirt.  You can click the link to the top right of this page.  Thanks!


I have thoroughly enjoyed seeing all the pictures you all have sent out of your GODSTRONG shirts.  Jon is so uplifted by the support you all have shown to him.  This picture today touched me in a profound way!  This is Andrea Hartley.  She is the daughter of my pastor when I was growing up.  I used to babysit her, then I coached her, then I taught WITH her and coached WITH her.  And I also wore her wedding dress on my wedding day!  She is SO special and I ask that you join us in praying for complete healing in her body.  She has a husband and 4 young children and lives in Texas.  I love the verse she included on here.  The outlook that her and her husband have had through this process have been such a blessing to me!  Their total dependence on God has really struck a chord in me.  But most of all that she would be going through this great trial herself and put this GODSTRONG shirt on in support of Jon is selfless and AWESOME!  Doesn't she look beautiful?  She is INSIDE and OUT!

I feel like I've really let Satan get a hold of me in the area of dwelling on the negative.  So I am going to re-focus my thoughts on some of the blessings God has provided for us during this time.

1.  People in Indy through friends of friends have reached out to us in magnificent ways.  A family today had us over to their house.  HUGE blessing for my kids.  We have not been in a "home" since we got here.  My kids had the BEST time!  Kathy and Jen were the nicest people and we completely connected with them.  Another person hosted us at the Children's Museum one night which was absolutely amazing!  These people are perfect "strangers" but all part of the body of Christ and allowing God to use them!

2.  Jon got a surprise this morning when he showed up at the clinic and they dismissed him without even giving him fluids!  His blood work looked great.  He will go back Thursday for more blood work.

3.  FAMILY:  Our family has rallied around us and left jobs, homes, and friends to come join us in taking care of our kids and us!

4.  Jon has stayed mentally strong during this time--like stronger than me!  He has really focused on staying GODSTRONG!

5.  Our kids have adjusted so well!  They have stayed positive and haven't really asked to go home which is amazing.  They "get" it.

6.  Emily has been a huge blessing and such a "constant" for the kids which is what I wanted.  She knows all their activities and routines.

7.  Jon had minimal side effects during this 1st round.  HUGE answer to prayer!

8.  We have gotten plugged into a church from the second we got here.  They have been amazing and such a blessing.  The kids LOVE it.  And we have a "pastor" that comes and prays with Jon weekly.  He is a former high school classmate of mine and lives in Indy and works on the IU campus.  His church is the one we attend.

9.  Apartments have been a blessing and the location is AMAZING!

10.  Jon gets lots of "fan mail" everyday because of YOU!



Another precious Luke story:

We were at our friends house today having a play date.  We were all sitting eating our lunch, Luke was beside me.  Kathy asked me what the hardest thing about this journey has been.  So as I was struggling to answer the question Luke taps me on the shoulder and says, "We need to pray for daddy."  It totally caught me off guard.  So I said, "OK, right now?"  "YES"  he said,  "RIGHT NOW."  I said, "OK, are you wanting me to pray, or are you going to pray?"  He said, "I"M GOING TO PRAY!"  So, we all bowed our heads and his prayer went something like this:

"Dear God, bless us and thank you for this day.
Please help daddy get better and help his doodles go away.
Help him to eat his oatmeal again.
AMEN."

Of course, most of us were crying.  And that was that.  He was done and we went along continuing to eat and talk.  He is one amazing 4 year old!  His heart for the Lord and his care and concern for others blows me away.  This is the heart that God has given him.  It is nothing that he has been "taught", it is nothing that we have done as parents. Just to clarify, the doodle the kids refer to are Jon's catheter where they administer the fluids, meds, chemo and stem cells.  The kids see his "doodles" as a sign that he is sick and they want them gone because for them this will signify Jon being WELL.  Also, Jon started this round in Indy by coming up to the kids apartment every morning eating oatmeal.  As the days went on, eating oatmeal became more difficult until one day he ate eggs instead of oatmeal.  Then after a few days of eggs Jon stopped showing up at all.  We have never talked about this with the kids.  They observed this on their own, and they drew the conclusion that if Jon is not eating his oatmeal he is SICK.  When he starts eating his oatmeal again, he will be WELL!  Precious, precious children of faith who pray for their daddy every night and we do our family cheer, "STREBE'S ARE GODSTRONG."

One last blessing and I will stop here:

Jon and I received a personal note handwritten by Coach K (Duke University) inviting our WHOLE family to Cameron to a game!  WAHOOOO!!!  We got it the day before Jon got out of the hospital.  He was SOO excited!  Pretty cool and Jon is SO looking forward to this at the end of his journey.  Coach K also sent Jon a signed hat and a signed poster that said he was on his side, and a Duke shirt.  God blesses us even with little blessings.

Strebe's continue to be...

GODSTRONG