…you are loved and appreciated!  Not everyone wants to leave a public comment on my blog, (although it’s always valued SO BLAB TO YOUR HEART’S CONTENT! ) so instead – they (you?) email me! Some have visited regularly for a year, but you’d never know…it’s quite common in fact.  I thought you’d like to know you’re in good company – there could be millions of you out there!  I’m always blessed by your generous and kind words of encouragement when you take a few moments to share your hearts with me.  One very long and thoughtful email popped into my inbox this morning and I think I’ll feed on it for a week or so…sigh…I LOVE CYBERHUGS!

…at our house today.  I got a text last night during a meeting that he felt terrible and was going straight to bed.  I rushed to get home to comfort him and tuck him in and he had suddenly come down with a fever and sore throat – something that seems to be making the rounds here.  We hosted some kids in our home throughout the week who had it running through their families and it looks like it jumped on him   Poor thing – he has 2 playoff games tomorrow for his currently undefeated basketball team and unless he has a major turnaround tonight, he won’t be at either!  Then today he had to miss a really great opportunity to practice music with some other kids…sickness is such a robber.  Along with praying for the little patient, I picked him up some popsicles, made him some chicken soup and fixed him up a cozy bed on the couch.  He’s been watching Planet Earth – a really great documentary made by the BBC on God’s creation to pass the time and keep him from going stir-crazy.  Tonight I’ll give him a hot ginger bath and pray for a breakthrough for him…

Recently my husband and I purchased something.  It’s not important ‘what’ but what is important is that a significant, verbal promise was made during the negotiation that strongly influenced our decision to finalize the ‘deal’.  Suddenly, several weeks after the purchase, we found out through the grapevine that the company revoked their verbal promise to us without notice.  Hmm.  As you can imagine, we were more than a little disturbed. 

I put this annoying issue on my checklist of things to do…my computerized, ever-growing, seemingly infinite, painfully long, to-do-list .  Then, I phoned to confirm that this troubling policy change had indeed occurred (just in case I had received wrong information-please, please, fingers crossed…I dialed the number.).  Sigh. Yep.  Policy changed.  The ‘bad economy’ was cited as the instigator.  Bad answer. 

I began to write a letter.  A kind, detailed, somewhat trial-lawyer-style appeal.  I worked it.  I wanted it to be gracious but hefty, if you know what I mean.  I must say, it packed a punch.  But then my Dad called and urged me to go meet with the Boss, rather than write a letter.  ARGH!  I knew he was right, because that had been my first instinct, but the coward in me wanted to hide behind a letter instead. (Now I’m laughing out loud!)  It took a couple of weeks to find my strength to follow through on what could be a somewhat unpleasant occasion….

(to be continued…)

Can you believe it?!  If you spend as much on postage a year as I do – WHEW! – you’re feeling it, too!  I love my country and I’m so glad I’m an American but it seems to me that most anything the United States Government manages is rarely cost effective or administratively sound. Think ‘education’…:)

Update today…

My c-section today went great and Evelyn came out screaming – a very good thing! They did the echocardiogram on her already but we don’t have any results yet….

Evelyn Hope Nelson
7lbs 8oz 19.5 inches long

Lots of love!
Steph and Chris 

For further updates on Chris and Steph’s journey with little Evelyn Hope, visit their blog…….wholehearted4life.blogspot.com…and as the Lord brings them to mind, please pray!

This was sent in to me on Tuesday:

We had our echocardiogram today and they didn’t find anything different from before. Meaning our baby still has hypoplastic left heart syndrome. Not the best news but we aren’t giving up believing for a miracle. We don’t know God’s timing so our job will be to just believe until we see the healing.

Thank you for your prayers! Will let you know if anything new comes up.

Blessings!
Steph Nelson

This was sent in to me on Friday:

Thank you so much, Denise! We found out she will be born on Monday. We are very excited to meet her and still believing for miraculous healing before surgery. (They will want to do surgery 2-7 days after birth – plenty of time for a miracle!)

Bless you!  Steph Nelson

Friends, that’s tomorrow!  Please pray right this moment for this precious family as they’re facing this situation…pray also for their little girl, Clara, who is in Boise in the care of family. Peace, grace, healing, miracles!

Hubby got home from his ministry trip last night and he’s been busy as a bee catching up, handling mail and bills and all the other stuff that needs doing.  He ran over to the neighbor lady’s house to give her a hand with an errand.  She’s a widow and needed a chair exchanged at a local store.  (Imagine being elderly without the capability of doing such small things-it must be so frustrating.) He had to run back and forth, measuring, etc.  It’s been raining like crazy here and I looked down at the entryway, groaned and exclaimed, “oh boy, Daddy tracked mud all over the tile…” when suddenly it occurred to me how glad I was to have Daddy home to track mud through the house!  Just a little reminder not to moan about the things we should be most grateful for.  Women can be such nags.  I have a friend who would give anything for Daddy to come back home for good, mud and all….

I just saw this post on my blog and my heart was moved with compassion for this precious couple who are facing such a huge circumstance, far away from home.  Since she posted it, I’m sure she wouldn’t mind me posting it too and asking you to pray AND BELIEVE! for a miracle for their little unborn infant girl…

Denise,
I have to comment because we drove through Sacramento yesterday on our way to Stanford and I was thinking of you!…My husband and I are down here to deliver our second baby this week. She’s been diagnosed with a fatal heart defect that requires open heart surgery right after birth. They don’t do the surgery in Boise so here we are!… we are believing for total healing and no surgery for baby. We have an echocardiogram on Tues. Anyway, bless you for the inspiration that you are. Please come visit us at Church of the Harvest again soon!

Love Steph Nelson

^{Psalm 139:13} For you created my inmost being;
       you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
       your works are wonderful,
       I know that full well.

¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from you
       when I was made in the secret place.
       When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

¹⁶ your eyes saw my unformed body.
       All the days ordained for me
       were written in your book
       before one of them came to be.

¹⁷ How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
       How vast is the sum of them!

THANK YOU FRIENDS!  LET’S WAIT FOR A GOOD REPORT!