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Archive for the ‘Big Announcements’ Category

In addition to Friday Family Movie Night, we also watch Extreme Makeover: Home Edition as a family on Sunday nights.  It is by far the best show on television (Yeah ABC) and I’m looking forward to the airing of the episode that will feature my friend Kim and her family!  THEY WERE CHOSEN!!!

I waited and waited this morning, hoping my phone would ring before I had to shut it off when I got to church.  I prayed.  I told several of my friends that I was waiting to hear if the Woodhouses had been chosen or not.  After services I went outside and turned my phone back on and had a message from Kim’s best friend letting me know the bus had arrived this morning! I laughed and cried and jumped up and down a bit, then told my friends who were still hanging around.  I was am so excited!  I want to know a thousand little details that I don’t have yet.  Obviously Kim’s going to be unavailable for awhile, so we’re trusting her friends and family to keep all of us locals apprised of the plans for the build and the reveal so we can be there in the crowd to scream, “MOVE THAT BUS!”

Thank you to all who prayed and are going to continue to pray for the Woodhouses throughout this process.  This is a HUGE blessing and I couldn’t be more excited for them!  This sweet family is such a gift to so many people and I’m just thrilled to know that some of their dreams are coming true.  Personally, I’m praying for healing for Kayla as well.  I hate the thought of her living with these medical conditions her whole life and I want God to heal her young body!  He just provided a new home and numerous other miracles for their family and I know He can heal her too, so I’m asking for it.

I’ll let everyone know when the reveal is and when the show will air as soon as I know!

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Congratulations Michelle!

She is the lucky winner of a signed copy of The Restitution!  Thanks to all who played.  I’ll be doing more give aways in the next few weeks on my blogs, so check back often for more free stuff!

It’s Family Movie Night at the Nowell’s, so Zoe and I are off to Redbox to pick up our flick.  We’re going to use our coupons for free pizza, and a new friend from Friday school told us to try a new popcorn topping : Equal parts coconut oil and agave, with a sprinkle of sea salt.  Sounds yummy!

Friday Family Movie Night is a big deal at our house.  We were invited to a family game night at a friend’s church tonight and the kids voted to stay home and carry on with our tradition instead. 😉  Here’s how it works.  Each week we take turns picking a movie and choosing what’s for supper.  After a light supper we all get in our pajamas, make popcorn, get our fuzzy blankets ready, gather in the livingroom and stake out our territory and settle in for the night with the chosen movie.  After the movie we end up cuddling on the couches and/or wrestling around.  Bedtime is a little later on Fridays, but usually Benny and I watch another movie after the kids go to bed.  It’s a great way to wind down from the activities of the week.

Tonight’s movie is Barbie as the Island Princess.  Guess whose turn it was to pick? 🙂

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My friend Kim Woodhouse is an amazing woman!  We’re still getting to know each other, but we already have several things in common – besides being amazing. 😉

I met Kim last Spring at a writer’s group.  She was super friendly and very welcoming to me.  Heather and I had met Kim and another friend, Mary, for supper at Bennigan’s before the writer’s group.  It didn’t take long for the laughter to begin and we all hit it off really well.  That night was life changing for me and I’m glad Kim was there and part of it all.  I learned that Kim is a pastor’s wife, a mom, a musician, and a writer.  Ahhhh Common ground.  She also makes the best truffles I’ve ever had!  She promised to teach me how to make them someday, and I’ll hold her to that!

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Jeremy, Kim, Josh, and Kayla Woodhouse

I’m blogging about Kim today because my friend and her family need your prayers.  I’m linking you to one of her blogs so you can read the full story, but I’ll give you the short version here.  Kim’s daughter Kayla has a disorder so rare that she is the only child exactly like her in the entire world with her particular form of the disorder. This rare nerve disorder is called Hereditary Sensory Autonomic Neuropathy (HSAN). Her body does not signal her brain to regulate her body temperature and she cannot feel pain unless it is extremely intense.  Most recently, Kayla was diagnosed with another rare problem completely unrelated to her HSAN. In March 2006, after over a year of severe headaches, doctors found a malformation in the lower portion of Kayla’s brain. As a result, her brain was growing into her spinal column and to avoid long-term damage and paralysis in September of 2006, Kayla had brain decompression surgery.  Click here to read the rest of the story.

They could use your prayer and support as this battle will be a lifelong one for Kayla.  But that’s not all.  Kim’s family has been selected as a finalist for the hit T.V. show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.  Kim emailed all of her friends today asking for prayer as the next few days are going to be crazy for them.  Their producer arrives today.  Then on Sunday they will find out if they were chosen or not…if the bus shows up.  If you’ve seen the show, you know the drill.  This has been in the works for over a year and this will be a huge deal whether or not they’re chosen.  Emotions are running high and if they are chosen, they will be blessed with a new house – one that is safe for Kayla and will make life so much easier for them all.  Just the stresses of the traveling to a vacation destination hold dangers which take many extra precautions.  If another family is chosen, the disappointment will be great and they will need your prayers as they regroup and decide how to move forward from here.  They live most of their life IN their home – it’s the safest and easiest way to regulate Kayla’s temperature – so this would be a tremendous blessing for their family to be chosen!

Please pray for my friend and her family, and I’ll give you an update as soon as I can.  In the meantime, go read Kayla’s story, and check out Kim and her many talents!  She has links to her music ministry website and her other blog from this link below.

http://www.kimberleywrites.blogspot.com/ 

 

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Cynthia Hinkle!

Congratulations Cynthia, and welcome to MY Journey!

 

Thank you to all who stopped by to read my review of ONE LITTLE SECRET, and who emailed me for a chance to win the book. It is available for purchase on Amazon.com, and at your local bookstore. Be sure to check out the website for all things Allison Bottke.

 

I’ll be back later today.

Until then…Live life to the fullest friends!

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We interrupt this book week for another miracle story. My mom called today to share an amazing story which I now have the privilege to share with you here.

Last Tuesday my Mom went in for her yearly mammogram. Having a vice grip on your breasts is no fun. Add to that the fear of the tech finding something, having to do further invasive testing, and everything else that a woman feels during that time. She was nervous, to say the least. Last year’s test had revealed a small ½ inch mass, so she was curious to see what had happened with that and what was going to show up this time. On Wednesday morning she got a call saying she needed to come back in right away for another one because her test had shown the mass had grown to 1 ½ inches. She was unable to do so because she had my niece and nephew at her house for the week. So she was rescheduled for today.

When she arrived they did a mammogram, then the tech came in and said she needed to have an ultrasound. My mom was getting more and more nervous and she began to pray for healing. She asked God to forgive the selfish prayer – we’ll have to talk about that one – but she wanted the mass to be gone. She asked God to take away the mass, and when the doctor and tech walked back in the room, she told them not to worry, that she had prayed it away, and they both chuckled. Meanwhile Virgil (my step-dad) was in the waiting room getting worried because things were taking so long. He started praying hard as well.

The ultrasound usually takes five minutes or so, but this one lasted almost a half hour. The doctor looked puzzled and ordered that a 3 view mammogram be done. Ouch! When all was said and done, the doctor showed Mom the results of all the tests. The test she had done last year showing the ½ in. mass. The test from last week showing the 1 ½ in. mass. The 1st test from today showing the 1 ½ in. mass, and the last test showing NOTHING. The mass disappeared sometime between the two tests today. The doctor said he didn’t understand it and that it must have just been breast tissue. Yeah…uh huh…I choose to believe in the power of prayer. There isn’t always proof for others to see, but this time there was and I thank God that Mom got to see it with her own eyes. I’m thankful for the doctor and tech seeing it as well. And I thank God for bringing healing to my Mom’s body.

Now about this “selfish prayer” business. God loves us and wants us to bring our requests to Him in prayer. He says we do not receive because we do not ask in faith. He says what parent would give their child a stone when they ask for bread? Does all of this sound familiar? Friends, we need to remember that because of the work of Christ we can come boldly before the throne. God is our Father and He wants to give us good things. He wants to heal and He wants us to have faith. I know this poses lots of questions. One of my uncles doesn’t believe in prayer. He thinks that every time someone prays for my aunt (who has had multiple health issues), something bad happens. That sounds spiritual in nature to me. Sometimes healing happens instantly, and sometimes it happens over time. We are told time and again in scripture to be persistent in our prayers. When we ask for healing for ourselves, it is not selfish. We need to ask in faith, hoping (which means confident expectation) to hear or see His response. This is not a lecture, it is a reminder. Come to the Father and present your requests. Thank Him for all that He has done and focus on that, not on what you see He hasn’t done yet. He’s waiting for you…

And by all means SHARE YOUR STORIES OF FAITH with others. What a wonderful way to grow, challenge, and encourage each other.

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