Encouraging Update on Michael :)

Just a note to let everyone know the latest on my cousin Michael!   I will copy and paste the email from my Aunt Dianne below!   Thanks so much for praying for him and the family as well!  Like she said, cancer affects the entire family.  Pray for strength and grace for each day, and for the LORD to heal him and get the glory! :)  Romans 8:28

Big hugs and many thanks!  Thanks also to those of you who have left sweet comments and sent personal emails to me!  These have been a source of refreshing encouragement to my heart!!  <3  Big hugs!!! :)
Tammi

Hello, Michael's Team!

We are amazed at how well things went yesterday for Michael. We give the glory and praise to God. Every where we go with Michael and his team of doctors and nurses in Charlottesville ,we see God's hand at work for Michael. In the beginning someone told me that God was using Michael as a witness for others and I believe it. Sometimes we have to walk in the valley to be able to be on the mountain when God needs us for his service. As we have always heard from the televisions that cancer doesn't just affect the person, but the whole family. How true.

We arrived at Charlottesville at 8:30 yesterday. Our older son went with us and to drive us "old people "right up to the door. We were getting out of the car at the Emily Couric Cancer Center and this nice gentleman walked up and wanted to help us get our things from the car and be on the way to our appointments. I guess my son told him about Michael and to our surprise , this nice man whom we have never seen was a Liver Cancer survivor. He came inside and asked if he could talk with Michael. Of course, he wanted to share his story with Michael who was there for his first chemo treatment. This man did not know us and we didn't know him, except for the fact that he worked for UVA and he was the first person we saw at the cancer center. Back in 1996, he battled liver cancer and survived. He was telling Michael that it was hard , but worth all that you go through. He has been cancer free 14 years. What a blessing and uplifting to Michael.

 

We saw the cancer doctor and she had good news for Michael. She told him that the only differences in his Cat Scan from the 4th of November was the lymph node in the middle of his chest has grown a little, still not worried , chemo will take care of it. The tumor hasn't grown and therefore a slow growing tumor will be a slow shrinking tumor. We were told the pros and cons of his treatment and one thing that the doctor and nurse pushed was that right away, he would not be able to eat or drink anything cold, even to the fact of cold wind blowing in his face would feel like cracked glass. So far as of today, Wednesday the 18th at 1:30 p.m., he has not had this to happen. He is feeling great for now and seems to be in a good mood.

 

He ate breakfast this morning and everything has stayed down. He wants to go to Walmart, guess this is another good sign. Don't know what tomorrow will bring. For now , we are thankful for what has happened.

 

Also Michael's blood work was super. it has stayed the same as when he left the hospital on the 2nd of January.

 

Michael had a wonderful nurse and upbeat people in his circle of patients yesterday that were getting chemo treatments. The ladies who volunteer were always coming around and asking him if he wanted anything to eat or drink, a warm blanket, anything they could do for him. After five hours of treatment and watching T.V. or being on facebook, he got up out of his chair and danced and smiled his way out of the cancer center.

Thanks for all of the prayers and concern for Michael and his family. We will be returning on the 1st of February for his second treatment.

T.R.Y. God

             

      
Hey Everyone!  Just had to say a quick, "I MADE IT THROUGH THE WEEK!!"  LOL   Yes, tis a very difficult program!  But, with God's help, I'll survive. :)  

Just wanted to post a quick lesson I've been thinking about as I face mounds of work already.  The demands of this program at first glance look to be too much for one person.  But whenever I've felt  overwhelmed, the Lord reminds me that I am to not "TRY" to do this in my own effort. . .  but rather:  T.R.Y. God by going forward, each day:
Trusting in
Relying on (and)
Yielding to

God! 

So....that takes a lot of pressure off of me.  "Lord, I am choosing to TRY You!!!"   This could be a much longer post, fully loaded with lots of thoughts to chew on.  But for now...this week, everyone, let's TRY God!   

OH!!!  How will YOU "T.R.Y. God" this week!?? 

Love and hugs and miss you all! 

Oh, BTW, T.R.Y. --- that's my initials!  LOL

The Long GoodBye

Well, it's been a while...and I just wanted to do a "final post" for what may seem like eternity. . . .(for me that is.)  :)    Anyway....my ultrasound program starts Monday....I've been looking at the syllabi's for each of the classes, and it's obvious that I will be swimming up to my ears in homework and reading. . . so if you ever think of me, please whisper a prayer!   thanks so much... I trust God has brought me this far and will take me as far as He wants me to go in this..which will hopefully be to the finish line.  :) 

A few of my thoughts before I go:

• God's timing is PERFECT!  He led me to start this blog back in Feb 2010 .. I had no idea WHY!  I just knew He was urging me to do it. . .And He led you all to this blog for multi-reasons:  Hopefully to be a blessing to your hearts....but I do know for sure that YOU ALL have been a blessing to ME!  And even though I've been AWOL in the blogging world lately, there are still some of you sweet friends who check in on me. ..and I get your emails usually when I'm on the run or most recently when I was in between a break and class time. . . and it cheers my heart....even if I'm unable to respond right away.  T-H-A-N-K Y-O-U!
• I absolutely need to depend upon God each and every day...ASK HIM to be the Source of my Energy and Strength.
• God wants me to PRAISE HIM OUT LOUD each morning even before my toes hit the floor!  WHY!?  Because That shuts the enemy up....He has to stop and listen!  PRAISE IS A WEAPON!  Why don't we USE IT MORE OFTEN!!!!!????? (I think because our enemy KNOWS it's a weapon and his "goal" is to keep us UNDER the weather, down in the dumps, and doubting God instead of PRAISING GOD!  So, let's all right now OUT LOUD say PRAISE THE LORD for HE IS WORTHY!   Praise His Holy NAME!  Whoooo! 
• God sets the boundaries of the ocean and sky, the universe, even though He is limitless, infinite!  So I trust Him to take me to the limits of what He has called me to do...and when I reach the end of a particular chapter, He will lead me to the next phase in my journey.
• God is not interested in my ultimate OUTCOME and comfort nearly as much as He is INTERESTED in me TRUSTING HIM in "my NOW!" 
• There is POWER in the cleansing blood of Christ.  Name it! CLAIM IT!  Plunge deep into the cleansing fountain of LIFE!   It is foolish and futile to depend upon anything LESS THAN the POWER OF CHRIST!    
• GOD wants us to succeed!  Once we place our hearts and lives in His hands by accepting His gift of Salvation through Jesus, HE IS ALL ABOUT OUR SUCCESS :  Spiritually!  HE HAS PROMISED if we SEEK HIM FIRST, His RIGHTEOUSNESS---that is JESUS!   SEEK HIS DEAR SON JESUS, FIRST, then HE WILL MEET OUR EVERY SINGLE NEED GLORIOUSLY!!!  JUST SIMPLY TRUST AND SEEK JESUS!  (And no, I'm not "yelling" by typing in all caps.. . just wanted to stress this lesson to my eyes as I am typing this. )   :)

Okay....I will miss each of you. . .and think of you...and do hope and pray to be back. . .this is not the "end" but just "I'll be back as soon as I can, Lord willing."   I know He's not done with this blog because He's not done teaching me!! LOL  (Remember: this blog is a place for me to journal those lessons.)  

Also:  I am posting the music videos (You Tube) that He has allowed me to put together and some were done at my concert in October. . . I've struggled with "letting go"---of what my IDEAS were ... It seemed "obvious" or "logical" that music was how God had "wired me" to serve Him...But He is causing me to release my grip on the music once again. . .possibly pruning this part of my life...maybe, hopefully, Lord willing, the music will come back stronger and more powerful through His Divine enabling, for His glory.  We shall see, in His time.  However, for now, the dust cover's going over the Korg (Keyboard) and the music will be "out there" for all that He leads to YouTube. . .may it be a source of refreshment to the hearts of His children.

ONE FINAL NOTE:  I have a promise card box with cards of verses...the other day I drew a card saying "I need to hear from You, Father..." And two cards were drawn at the same time.  Here is what they said,

 

AS I WAS WITH MOSES, SO will I be with you..I will not fail you nor forsake you.  Josh. 1:5

ASK and it shall be given, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you.  Matt. 7:7

SO....as Moses had an idea of God's calling on his life, but yet was sent to the desert for 40 years for training first, so I too am going. . . to a dry and thirsty land, where no water is. (Psalm 63:1)  Funny how I turned 40 last March!  ??   hee hee  And, no, I didn't get sent out because of a murder.  :)  Actually, it is sort of:  the Death of the Flesh of Tammi. . .Egypt represented the world, and flesh. . . Moses killed an Egyptian. . Well, the death in my situation is the death of the Egyptian represented by Tammi's flesh.  I am surrendering to God's will, and depending not on ME, but on GOD! 

Anyway....I'm off...."and I know not where."  BUT I do know this:  I'm in GOD's HANDS...and He is leading me, "in a way that I don't know."   Just as He promised.

God bless you all and Keep in touch . .  .my homework load for this semester is an average of 4-5 hours a night.  ooomph.  ouch. . . yikes !   hee hee.  .. (that's a sort-of laugh!)  HA  Anyway, I hope you have a wonderful New Year....and we shall see what GOD is going to do!

REMEMBER PRAISE HIM OUT LOUD! 

Tis our weapon!!!

Love and hugs!
Dear Father, I'm off....to where YOU are leading me. . .trusting YOU ... thanking You for this opportunity. .  looking only to YOU..Begging You to afford me the time to keep myself rightly related to you.  RxR like the railroad crossing....Rightly Related to You....by  looking to the CROSS....the finished work on the cross by Your Son, Jesus. . . I can not succeed in any area of life without YOU..and it's just silly and foolish to even try.  My initials are T.R.Y.  But I'm not going to TRY in my own strength.   I will most certainly T.R.Y.  Trust, Rely and Yield to YOUR PERFECT WILL!    Thank You for this blog, for leading me to start it 2 years ago, and for the special friends You have given me. . . bless them this year....and may You bring me back in Your time, only stronger, and in the center of Your perfect will. . In Jesus' Name!!  amen.