Christen really wanted to go to church today and God blessed her with the strength to do it. She really enjoyed the worship and fellowship with God's people. The picture was taken today of her with a couple of her friends. She is the one in the pink shirt. I think she was surrounded with friends the whole time she was there. After church a number of friends came home with her and enjoyed time together. Also, her cousins Tyler and Whitney stopped by and she was very glad to get to visit with them. By the time early evening rolled around, her energy was spent and she went to bed for the night. She still has to be careful, but I know that she was very blessed to be with her friends and cousins and that is so good for her. She received a lot of "heart" medicine again today.Jesus is carrying us. We are so glad that we don't have to go through this alone. He gives us regular reminders that He is right there with us. What an awesome feeling that is! He gives joy in the midst of pain.
We are hearing stories of many people and churches whom we have never met who are reading the blog and praying for Christen . We can't thank you enough for extending your hearts in love to our family through your prayers to God on Christen's behalf. May God greatly bless each of you for it!!
Our pastor preached a great sermon on Heaven today that was an encouraging reminder. This life with its pains and sorrows is not the end of the story. May we all remember that, even in the hard times. Thank you, Jack, for the reminder. And thank you Jesus that we can have this great hope!
Also, one of our dear friends Becky came up with the idea of extending Christmas for our children by giving them a collection of Christmas cookies, and getting them gifts to celebrate "3 Kings Day" which is January 6th. She wanted to do this since Christmas was overshadowed with other things. The church members got each of our children a number of gifts. The idea is that each child puts a shoe box of grass beside their bed tonight, and the 3 Kings will come along, the camels will eat the grass, and the kings put gifts in its place. The kids are very excited about this -- they've never had camels in their bedrooms before. :-) Probably not kings either!
With much gratefulness and thanks,
Steve & Debbie for the family
BTW, I changed the blog settings so that anyone can post a comment without requiring a google account. So comment away please!! They are very encouraging to us.
6 comments:
love you guys...
It was good "heart" medicine for us to see Christen at church today. We were sitting directly in front of Christen and her friends. To hear their sweet voices singing during the communion song brought me to tears. Kurt and I were trying to think of a good name for Christen and her faithful friends...something clever that encompasses the idea of strong, loving, caring, loyal, steadfast, energetic and joyful, and lifting Christen up in prayer every single time they think of her...which is all the time. Since I have heard much football talk, all I can think of is "Christen's front line." I am depending upon Kurt to really improve on that. Or, maybe someone reading this has some ideas.
We love you Steve and Debbie, as well as Louie, Christen, Hannah, Rebekah, Issac, Lori, Jordan and William!
Kurt, Jennifer and Katie
Please make sure to post a photo of the camels and kings in the bedroom. Can't wait to see it.
Praising God with you!
Praying for continued strength, peace, comfort, and that these lovely reminders of God's love for Christen and for you will continue over the next year - and on and on and on... I pray there will be much that is beautiful and encouraging even this side of Heaven.:o) Thank you for sharing this journey with us.
Hello to all. I am so sorry to hear about Christen. My prayers are with her. I am glad she was able to get to church yesterday. Christen is such a sweet girl, as all of your family is. All of my friends are also praying for her. I hope I can see you all soon.
Love and prayers,
Aunt Doris
Hi Jennifer,
My name is Paula Walberer and I am director of prayer ministries at Open Door. It is great to hear from you, and wonderful to hear your heart of love for Christen and her family, but hard to hear all she is going through. We will be praying for the Lord's peace and healing, and please feel free to update us on how things are going.
It is a privilege to be praying alongside your fellowship for this dear girl.
His, Paula
Paula Walberer
Open Door Fellowship Prayer Ministry
odfprays@aol.com
www.odfprays.blogspot.com
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