Family | Sometimes I Write

Archive for the ‘Family’ Category

A Princess Story – Part 3

Posted in Family, Humor, Joy in the Journey, thinking things through on September 15, 2007| 5 Comments »

The big day arrived and after much hassle, the Princess boarded her flying coach and made her way towards the royal family and her fears. With a stop off to see one of her favorite Princes and Mall of America, she was feeling strong and ready to handle whatever might happen at the royal wedding.

The tension in the King’s palace was evident though everyone was glad to see the Princess again. There was much to do and the Princess enjoyed the last minute preparations with the King. The wedding day arrived…and it was raining. The bride-to-be was frantic, but the Princess was able to reassure her that there were several hours before the wedding and plenty of time for the grass to dry at the country club for the pictures. Which it did. (Thank God!) The wedding was beautiful as was the bride and all of her maidens. (Two of the four were the Princess’ sisters-in-law.) The Princess sang her heart out and made the bride cry. The princes served in their roles well, and the King beamed as he watched his last child be married off. The wonderful step-queen was gracious and loving to all.

(Princess Cara, Princess Teresa, and Princess Marcia – The lovely bride)

Then came the tension. Pictures. The royal photographer was a jovial man and he allowed the Princess to take some of her own pictures as well telling her which angles were best, etc. The evil-ex-step queen made a big deal out of getting pictures with HER children only with the bride and groom. She was standing right next to the Princess while she said it. 😦 The Princess ignored her and tried not to explode. There were other tense moments throughout the day, but the Princess smiled on and did her best to support her beautiful bride little sister. Here are a few pictures of the royal family – not taken by the photographer. He’s a professional afterall!

(From L-R: Princess Angie, Prince Jason, Princess Niki, Prince Chris, Princess Teresa, Prince Eric, and Princess Cara. Three of the Princess’ brothers and their lovely wives.)

All in all, the Princess’ time with the royal family went well. The evil-ex-step-queen turned out to be less of a threat than the Princess had worried about. She deserves her name, but no more than a passing mention in the story of this Princess. 🙂

The Royal Family including King Don and his wonderful Queen Shari, The Bride and Groom – Princess Marcia and Prince Sam, and the sweetest little princess of all…Katelyn. Princess Sarah (3), Princess Kerstin (8), and Prince Gage (5) were off playing somewhere when this was taken . 😉 And of course the Princess’ family was in Colorado and missed the whole thing.

The cutest little princess – Princess Katelyn.

The Princess Story is far from over, but this is the close of this chapter. There were experiences both painful and exhilarating while the Princess was in the kingdom of her youth. It has been a lot to process and is too much to share here. The Princess would be happy to share more details with anyone interested. Thanks to all who read this story and prayed for the ending to be a happy one!

Read Full Post »

Mom’s Miracle

Posted in Big Announcements, Family, Growing Faith, Prayer Requests on August 28, 2007| 4 Comments »

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 1^st 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.

Read Full Post »

Our Family Miracle

Posted in Big Announcements, Family, Growing Faith, Joy in the Journey, Miracles, Parenting on August 21, 2007| 24 Comments »

I was raised in a church that taught me that miracles died with the Apostles. It was said that those who practiced these things were out of God’s will and they were frauds. Then last week my son was healed of a life altering allergy. Now I’m standing in my faith taking baby steps towards whatever God has planned for my family through all of this. (Click on the pictures to enlarge them)

Last week Benny went to a healing conference with our friend Zack. He learned some amazing things and we are now pursuing God in new and powerful ways. Among them, believing in God’s power and what He’s doing in the world, and discarding what we were taught by people who decided what God can and can’t do. Or is it what God does and doesn’t do? Do we really think we can tell God what He can and can’t do? How arrogant is that??

A little history:

Almost since birth, Pete has suffered from food allergies – dairy being the most severe. Nursing him resulted in projectile vomiting and we didn’t know why. When solid foods were introduced, certain foods (like eggs, wheat, soy, and many more) made him break out all over. As a mom, I felt sorry for him and myself that I could do nothing to help him. His little body was covered in raw patches that he couldn’t stop scratching – causing him to bleed. I prayed all the time that God would take away his eczema. We tried everything and our doctor was stumped too. He recommended a dermatologist and the guy we saw was a cocky jerk. His expensive creams didn’t help at all. He was almost 1 when it was finally diagnosed as food allergies. While in the middle of trying an elimination diet, we moved to Colorado and began looking for a church. I got a small glimpse of what leprosy must be like as we were kicked out of nurseries when the workers saw his skin and feared for the safety and health of the other children. My explanation of his eczema went unheard. Then we visited the church Heather (my good friend now) goes to and she was the one in the nursery. Instead of shunning me, she told me she thought she could help us. Pete was 2. Between Heather and our friend Dr. Brian, they were able to heal most of Pete’s allergies through allergy desensitization, but dairy still remained a serious problem. Fast forward a year and a half to the healing conference…

On Friday night the kids and I drove to Castle Rock to attend the evening worship service. Hundreds of people had been healed the night before and Benny and I wanted healing for Pete. I was skeptical, but extremely hopeful. Throwing off theological baggage is hard work and I wasn’t there yet. I was the parent in the Mark 9:24 statement, “I do believe, help me in my unbelief”.

I felt a little out-of-place as we stood in the back, but I could not deny the energy in the room. The Holy Spirit was poured out on this place! Sometime I’ll share some of the other healings that took place that weekend, but this is Pete’s story. The kids were getting antsy so we took them out in the lobby for a bit. A woman saw our energetic 3-year-old running around and asked Benny if her family could pray for him. They went to a quiet room away from the crowd and began praying healing over Pete. Suddenly Pete said, “Popa! What’s that singing?” Benny told him that no one was singing, but Pete insisted that someone was singing even though no one else in the room could hear it. Angels singing over my little boy? Wow. Were they praising God for His wonders? Were they ministering to Pete’s spirit? I don’t have an answer for that.

Later when our family surrounded Pete in prayer again, Max put his hand on Pete and looked like he was concentrating hard. Then he said, “Popa, I think God just gave me a message in my heart…He said Pete is going to be healed by midnight.” Was this my 7-year old prophesying??? I was stunned. He is a baptized believer, but this was new to me and strange. Throughout the night we received confirmation in so many ways that we chose to believe what the Holy Spirit was doing and embraced the promise that Pete was healed. I was so incredibly tired as we drove back to Denver that night that I prayed the whole way home. “Please God, keep me awake and get us home safely. Please God, heal my little boy! Please God, help me believe in healing. Please God, show me what to do. Please God, let this be real.”

We all woke up on Saturday morning and it was time to test the healing out. The kids had cereal for breakfast and I put regular milk in Pete’s bowl instead of the rice milk he usually drinks. His only reaction was “Mommy, rice milk tastes better than this.” Nothing physical happened. His reactions usually occur within seconds of coming into physical contact with dairy products. I immediately thanked God for the healing and continued to wrestle with this new-found step of faith. For lunch, Pete had a cheeseburger. He picked the cheese slice off and asked me, “Can I eat this?” “Yes Pete, God healed you.” So he ate the cheese first. Still no reaction. Well, being the giant of faith that I am, we had cheese pizza for supper. 😉 No reaction. Sure, we ate unhealthy food all day, but I was testing God’s promise. I wanted to believe so badly and yet there was still a small part of me that was bracing myself for a let down. But here’s the truth of our situation:

My son, who has never been able to touch let alone ingest dairy products,

is now completely healed of his dairy allergy.

I wish I could say that I’m not stunned, that I knew it would happen all along, but I can’t. Here’s what I know now – I’m believing the promise and proclaiming God’s power! I’m so incredibly grateful for what God has done and is continuing to do in my heart and head. I can’t wait to see what He’s going to do next…