This and That

Thank you for praying for our friends.  Ada will be airlifted today, it should be underway already, to Cincinnati Children's Hospital.  The transport companies are not government funded, but work with your private insurance.  The one company was not accepting of what the insurance would cover and wouldn't negotiate.  Angel Flight for the win, then.

I'll keep you updated, but I wanted to share what Oakley shared on her Instagram - 

"I can't thank everyone enough.  I'm speechless by the love and support and encouragement we have received.  You see, I as just getting to that point where I couldn't see God in this anymore...I was so sad and then so angry at Him and then felt so abandoned.  And, it's hard to describe, but all you amazing people came alongside us and served as a tangible representation of His love for me.  Deep sigh and happy tears here....thank you.  Thank you so much."

You've all had a part in being Jesus to my sweet friend.  Keep praying.  For the first time the cultures came back with out one of the bacteria growing, so that is hopeful news!

My sciatica is so much better.  It really hurt for a time last night when I got into bed.  So I as I worked to relax the muscles that were tight, too,  I listened to a podcast by Sally Clarkson and Michael Ward.  They were speaking about C.S. Lewis and how his  life was challenging for most of his life.  His mother died when he was young, his father sent him to England to boarding school and it was a bad one, then he went to one with a sports emphasis and he was bookish.  Then WWI came along and he fought in the trenches.  He made a deal with a friend during the war that whoever survived would look out for the other's family.  Lewis survived and took this fellows' mother and sister in to his home.  The mother could be difficult.  His brother Warnie lived with them, too.  Warnie drank too much, so that posed challenges.  The friend' mother lived with Lewis for 30 years, and after she died, he met Joy Davidman, who we went on to marry, and not long after they married they discovered that she had cancer.

I could go on and on, but the jist is that God used all those things in Lewis' life, and out of his challenges and pain he wrote his books.  Those books are still helping people today.

I also was reminded that we can choose, as Lewis did, to build a home life of peace and love, to build friendships to help you in your walk through life, to keep looking to Jesus in spite of circumstances.  You can find Sally's podcast {here}.

I've got several projects going, that I am attempting to get done by the end of the month.  The main one is the kitchen door replacement.  We're going to put the exact same door in, and we may change out the front door, too.  I'd like to bring some light into that corner of the living room.  Here is the door I'd like to put in -

 

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Here is the door for the kitchen -

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I'm planning to change out the hardware, too.  

The kitchen door is the priority, and it looks as if we may have to have some transmission work done on the van, so that front door may have to wait.  That's okay, that's life.  But the kitchen door is in serious need.

I also wanted to say that we all have challenges in our lives.  No one's life is perfect.  Our struggles are all different, but it is a truth universally acknowledged, we all struggle.  Let's pray for one another.  Feel free to share you requests in the comments.  I'm still having email issues with blogger, so it may seem as if I have abandoned you at your blogs, I have not!  You may think that your struggles are nothing compared to what others are dealing with, but that's not true either.  I'd love to pray for you if you'd like to share.

My current struggle, besides the sciatica, is finances.  We are doing fine with the business, but we had some bigger business purchases, and that means that Tim gets uncomfortable spending on things like doors.  Now the van had an issue this morning, too. Pray that the van's issue will be an easy fix, and one Tim can do himself.

Thanks!