Hi, Praying People in our Lives!
Where do I begin???? First of all, Mark and I are absolutely blown
away (once again) at the way the body of Christ has stepped up and
overwhelmed us with kind service in the name of Jesus!!! Your rewards
will be in Heaven and there is no earthly way we could ever hope to
repay you.... So, if you don't have time for a lengthy email, maybe
you could just listen to the attached song and let the Lord bless you
through it today.
Little did I know when Lisa (my sister) and I chose to sing "Out of
the Depths" together at Lakeside Bible Church in Montgomery, Texas on
August 2nd, that the lyrics would grow to become an even greater
comfort than they had previously. (Some of you may be aware of my
battle with depression and insomnia in 2008. The end of that battle
came exactly one year to the day (Aug. 3rd 2008) that I went forward
in church and was prayed for so specifically for all that was
tormenting my soul (w/o sharing my need). From that day forward, I was
freed on so many levels and I give God ALL the glory for that! That's
all to say, here I am with the Lord showing Himself so graciously and
being my sustanence in the depths, once again. We all have "stuff"
that we are facing and my prayer for each one of you receiving this is
that you might be comforted in your "stuff" just as I am by my Jesus!
Here's the news as of the doc appt. yesterday:
- Cyst inside the left (and only) is HALF as big as it was on August
11th when we first saw it! :)
- If in 3 weeks, when I go for a recheck, things look the same/better,
there will be no need for surgery!!!! :) (I must confess, many of
you, including my beloved Mark, prayed for this, but I sure did not
have the faith to pray this way. I figured I would just be grateful
to make it to the 12 - 17 week surgery time without the cyst rupturing
and keeping itself "status quo"....THANKS FOR YOUR FAITHFUL
PRAYERS!!!)
- The tear in the placenta is completely healed!
- The extra sac of blood/fluid (doc was never quite sure what it was)
is gone! There is only one mysterious line of blood underneath the
placenta, but he wasn't too concerned about that.
- The baby is 9 and a 1/2 weeks now and looking like a baby! The
heartbeat is strong and "she" (at least a 1/2 dozen of you have told
me you think it's a girl so we'll go with that unless we learn
otherwise...ha! Ha! :) was even "dancing" as Dr. McNeely described
her!
- I have be "released" from complete bed rest, but if the
spotting/bleeding starts again, I have to stay flat until I have had 2
days free from it. I am allowed to walk around "gingerly" as Dr.
McNeely put it and not lift anything too heavy.
Prayer Requests:
- Continued strength and faith for our family as we take each day in
stride, accepting help where we should.
- Pain of the cyst...still there, but not as severe. :)
- Health of baby.
- Tina to know her limits...you all know I have trouble with this.
Congrats to those of you who made it through this! Our family is so
blessed to have you in our lives and we love you all!
Hoping in the Cross,
Tina
PS Here are the lyrics for the attached song, "Out of the Depths"! Be
blessed!!!!
Words and music by Bob Kauflin
As recorded on Psalms
Out of the depths, O Lord, I cry to You
When I am tempted to despair
Though I might fail to trust Your promises
You never fail to hear my prayer
And if You judged my sin
I’d never stand again
But I see mercy in Your hands
So more than watchmen for the morning
I will wait for You, my God
When my fears come with no warning
In Your Word I’ll put my trust
When the harvest time is over and I still see no fruit
I will wait, I will wait for You
The secret mysteries belong to You
We only know what You reveal
And all my questions that are unresolved
Don’t change the wisdom of Your will
In every trial and loss
My hope is in the cross
Where Your compassions never fail
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Friday, August 28, 2009
Our Hope is in the Lord
Dear Friends and Family, First of all, thank you so much for your faithful prayers for our family during this trying time. We don't know how we would get through this without all of you surrounding us with love, prayer, care, meals, etc. Truly we are so blessed to have you in our lives! Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is being honored because of your selflessness and sacrifice in His name! Thank you!!! If you are squeamish, don't like medical details, just ate dinner, etc....just stop reading and pray! :) Otherwise, feel free to read on Here's the update from the OB/GYN appt. today: - We are 7 weeks pregnant and saw the baby! The heart beat is strong and for that we are praising the Lord! - There is an extra sac of blood/fluid next to the placenta and I have been spotting off and on for a week. It also looks like there is a tear in the placenta which could mean a possible miscarriage or God could choose to heal it. (He healed my sister a little over a year ago when she had a tear at both ends of the placenta. :) - The cyst looks like is shrinking!!!* The large amount of progesterone that it holds could be serving to sustain the baby! Only God knows, but if He continues to shrink it, there may not be a need for surgery in 5ish weeks! :) - If the cyst doesn't shrink, then Dr. McNeely will remove it around week 12 or so. If he does this while the uterus is fairly small, it can be done laparoscopically. If the uterus is too big, it will be like a regular C-Section surgery. Prayer Requests: - Spotting would stop and the baby would live. - Our family would be sustained by God's grace as things look very different than "normal" around here since I have to be in bed 80-90% of the time. - God's hand would be on the cyst and continue to shrink it! Such a blessing that it has not yet ruptured like the other one when it was this size! - Hope would fill us and faith that God's best will happen no matter what! Mostly, thank you all for your prayers and begging the Lord for mercy on our behalf. We are so blessed and see God's grace all around us in His body who have stepped up to the challenge (once again...)! THANK YOU!!! Psalm 42:5-6a "Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God." Confident in our Hope, Tina (Mark, too :) PS Feel free to forward to any other prayer warriors! :) *There are many types of cysts, but mine is a Cystadenoma. This cyst forms within the outer lining of the ovary. This kind of cyst has a one in eight chance of being cancerous, according to Women's College Hospital in Canada, but most are not malignant before menopause. -- "When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, Your consolations delight my soul." - Psalm 94:19 -- "When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, Your consolations delight my soul." - Psalm 94:19
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Mediterranean Cruise 2009
Mark & I were blessed by Grandma Anderson to join her on a 10 day Med cruise....Italy, Greece, Croatia, and Turkey...so fabulous!
We saw amazing sights...Ephesus, Corinth, Corfu, Santorini, Dubrovnik, Mt. Etna, and many more....
We did fun things like sea kayaking, swimming in hot springs at the foot of a volcano, donkey riding to the top of Santorini, four wheeling to a black sand beach in Santorini,
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Friday, May 29, 2009
Monday, May 11, 2009
Praise the Lord!
Dear Praying People...from all over the world :),
God heard and answered your prayers in amazing ways. Let's go...
- From Chinese herbs to Shaklee to mangosteen juice to cow colostrum to grapefruit seed extract, God used yo (those who brought these
treasures to my bedside) to blow what was confirmed to be Strep Throat out of the water! Praise be to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. A patient left w/o "treatment" for strep all weekend should not have been able to have surgery today w NO fever and NO throat pain or swollen glands!!! The doctors and nurses were astounded! Again, to God be the glory!
- When Dr. McNeely got in there to take a look at was supposed to be an ovary on the right side...well, for those a bi more squeemish, let's just say there pretty much wasn't one. That "little" grapefruit sized mother of all cysts ruptured that little ovary like it was coming after her babies...or something like that. Ha! :) So, once again God took care of that. No decision to be made to make Dr. McNeely feel badly about taking the "little" ovary....it was all done. Doc just tidied up a bit in there...yes a big mess, but again I'll spare you more than that (Although, I must say Danny Frese thoroughly enjoyed the pictures the surgeon brought out to the waiting room for Mark and him to see....No surprise if you know Danny. :) and take the fallopian tube.
- On the left side, the cyst that Dr. McNeely had previously considered removing looked "okay" by his estimation and if God wanted to use that ovary for more kids, he thought he would just leave that for God to take care of...yay God! :)
- Did I forget to mention, NO CANCER!!!! Yes, Jehovah Rafa spared me! I am so overjoyed and giving Him the praise He is do. Thank you for praying and praying and praying to HIM!!!
So there you have it....well, almost!
- Ok, so they come to the "pre-pre-op" room...yes there is such a thing. :) They nurse who wheeled me back and forth on Friday was there once again to do the same and so sweet and delighted to see that I was feeling better and up for surgery! However, before she got to me, I heard her ask Mark (outside the curtain) does Tina have a friend having surgery today, too? He laughed and said, "No, I don't think so." The nurse pondered aloud in her beautiful Romanian accent, "Hmmm, that's funny because the lady next to where I am going to take you said to me, 'Oh, that must be my Tina!' and I said, 'You know her?' and she said she did [pronounced: "deed"]!" Then the sweet nurse started to worry and asked if it would be awkward if we were placed next to someone we knew and we said we'll just have a party and she laughed and continued on the journey to meet this mystery person. When we arrived we were greeted with big hugs from my dear friend and former Community Bible Study cor leader, Michele Mascolo-Brown. (Some of you may know her or met her at a shower at Diana's house years ago.) So there we were waiting together for her husband's herniated disc surgery and my whatever...God was so gracious to encourage us this way!!!
- Everywhere I seemed to turn, there were nurses and staff who knew Jesus! How does this "just happen"? After Mark prayed with me and said, "Goodbye." The male nurse said, "You are in good hands, not only ours, but His. You will be just fine. God will take care of you, but you already know that, right?" I said, "Amen!" to that and was so joyful going in.
{Alright, I know you need this short novel to be done so you can take care of your home, eat dinner, bathe your children, mow your lawn, clean the garage, or just get off your computer, right...well, feel free and thanks for sticking it out this far. :) For the rest of you,
really, I'm almost done! :) }
- In the recovery room, Nurse Carol Miller, goes to The Rock and has a son named Kevin who sounds like a godly guy who's a pre-med student. (All that info is for you, Rochel. :) Anyway, she shared her infertility journey very openly. She had 2 miscarriages, was in the hospital with Kevin for 3 months before he was born, then had one miscarriage after, and that was it for her. She desperately wanted to adopt, but shared how her husband wasn't on board so that's where it ended for them. She told me I HAVE to adopt a little Hispanic girl to complete our family for Seth...Hispanic bookends in her mind I guess....OOPS, is it bad that Mark will receive this news via email to the world. Well, it's all about grace, right, Babe! :)
In closing, today has been one of the best days of my life! I feel our Savior's and your love and prayers enveloping me...oh and my door is about to be beaten down...kids r home...I'll finish more soon! :)
I'm back and Mark is finishing the tucking in/bedtime routine that Diana so graciously started a little bit ago. So thank you to all of you who helped today w/ kids! Thanks, Angela for taking Seth to school! Thanks, Chris, for feeding Noah breakfast and taking him to school! Thanks, Bucky, for letting Chloe and Abby play and delivering Chloe to Diana. Diana, thanks for picking up Noah from school and having all the kids hang out, have dinner, baths, etc., and bringing them home tonight! Thanks, Rob & Cheryl, for picking up Seth from school and doing whatever fun stuff you all did to wear out that boy!
;) God has so richly blessed us with friends such as you!
Here's the deal for the week..ish...
Tomorrow, Tuesday, May 12th:
- 8 a.m - 12:30ish p.m. Kathy Locke picks up Seth for home school and
playing and drops him off at Diana's for a nap. (Diana Menne: 839
Pinecrest St., Esc. 92025, 760.745.2698)
- 8 a.m. - 1ish p.m. Kirsi Turbedsky picks up Noah & Chloe and drops
them off at Diana's. (See above info for Diana.)
- 3:30ish p.m. Chris Detrich picks up kids from Diana
- 5:30ish p.m. Chris brings kids home for dinner
Wednesday, May 13th:
- 7:15 a.m. Seth is dropped off to ride to school w/ McGlassons
- 7:20 a.m. Noah is dropped off to ride to school w/ Detrichs
- 8 a.m. Chloe is picked up by Jamie Wheeler and may or may not be
back for a nap.
- 11:30 a.m. Noah is picked up from Calvin Christian Preschool by
Jamie Wheeler and may or may not be back for a nap
- 2:30 p.m. Lauri Thomas plays "mom" for Seth and gets him from Mrs.
Dereck's class to baseball
- 3:45 p.m. Betsy Yphantides will be picking up Seth and bringing him
home by bedtime.
Thursday, May 14th:
- All Day... Kristen Kitabjian will pick up all 3! Go, Kristen!!!!
Whew! Once again, if you got all the way here, you get the "super
duper friend award"!
If you can open the attachment, feel free to do a jig to the Lord!
Let Everything Praise the Lord
Psalm 150
Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens!
Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent
greatness!
Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp!
Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe!
Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals!
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!
Love & praise to our Savior Jesus Christ,
Tina
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