A Collective "Amen!"

So I'm a dork. (Before any of you smile and say "Uh, yeah, Kelli, we knew that...", I will just say "Shut your face!") as I have a point to make. :-)

This past summer, I started a blog. I love to write, so it seemed the thing to do. (Actually, my husband seemed really surprised and pleased when he found out that our friend Ashly was blogging, so my decision was made because I wanted to impress him...) Anywho, I found out that my friend Jennifer had a blog, and one day, she added a link to MckMama's blog. Jennifer briefly summarized the story, so I linked over to MckMama's blog to see what all the fuss was about. And from then on, I was hooked. This is a Godly woman who has (as of now!!) four kids ages 3 and under! Holy cow!! I'm sure you mothers out there can appreciate this challenge.

Several months into her fourth pregnancy, MckMama's doctors told her that her unborn child, Stellan, had a terminal condition relating to his heart. He would most certainly be either stillborn or die shortly after being born. While the doctors were certain that this baby would not live, they devised a treatment plan. The medication that MckMama began to take (Flecinade, I believe) caused her heart to race, and soon she was in a battle for her own life. Doctors suggested that she consider terminating the pregnancy as she was now putting herself at risk, and after all, they knew that Stellan would not survive.

And it was here that she made a choice. **Disclaimer- I am pro-life. I am a Christian, and believing in God, my choice is life.** To be perfectly truthful with you, I don't know that I would have been able to easily make the choice she did. MckMama had uncomprehensible faith when she chose to leave Stellan growing in her womb. She would continue to take the medication regardless of how it made her feel. (Doctors stabalized the dosage of medication, but it still had really nasty side effects.) MckMama's heart still raced on a daily basis, making her out of breath and tired almost all the time. Oh yeah, she was still raising THREE kids ages 3, 2 and 1.

I've followed her blog without fail for the last 4 or so months as Stellan continued to grow in her womb. You know how sometimes when you pull back from something, or maybe you're really not that close to a situation, you can see the "big" picture? There is a big- no, HUGE- picture here. God has hand-picked this woman and her family to be front and center for a miracle. I'm not kidding. When you visit her blog, look in the right column at the counter of visitors: 1,437,700 as of this blog post. Look at the world map showing where all the visitors are from. And look at this:



This is from Stellan's name gallery. These women are from the Ivory Coast in West Africa and have been praying for Stellan. Are you kidding me??

Here's where the collective "Amen!" comes in. Stellan was born Wednesday. Healthy. Alive. Well. I get shivers thinking about it. The NICU attended the birth, "knowing" that Stellan would need their care and services. The doctors cannot find a THING wrong with this child.

Here's what I have to say. God is real. God is here. NOTHING is too big for God. God has worked a miracle for this family, and while that's amazing, that's not even really the point. God used this family to bring ALL 1,437,700 people to a place where they could read about how He was working in their lives. Where there was undeniable proof that He exists. And while there's not a "counter" for this statistic, how many people do you think have been brought to know the Lord through this faithful woman and her healthy child Stellan?

Amen!

Jeanette

This is a very difficult day for one of my very best friends, Melissa. Today is the one-year anniversary of her mother, Jeanette, going to be with her Lord and Savior. Jeanette was taken from her family after a battle with breast cancer. Although I did not have the privilege to know this women, I do know Melissa. And I know that Jeanette must have been a wonderful women, because she raised a wonderful daughter. And while Melissa mourns the time that she's lost with her mother, we also celebrate, because one year ago today, the Lord our God welcomed Jeanette into his open arms. And for that, we are eternally grateful.

From LubbockOnline.com:

Jeanette Lester



Jeanette Lester, 61 of Lubbock, Texas went home to be with her Lord Monday, Oct. 22, 2007. Services will be 2 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 25th, at Bethany Baptist Church in Lubbock. Burial will follow at Resthaven Memorial Park under the direction of Resthaven Funeral Home. Visitation will be 6-8 p.m. on Wednesday.

Jeanette was born April 17, 1946, in Bryan, Texas to R.L. and Marguerite Laxson. She graduated from Lubbock High School in 1964 and later attended Draughn Business School. Jeanette loved her life and impacted each and every person she met in a very special way; whether it was a co-worker at Agnew Associates, or Hobby Lobby, or her next door neighbor, everyone was considered family to Jeanette. Jeanette's life was her children, Tiger and Melissa, and all their great accomplishments. Aunt Nette loved her nieces and nephews, always attending their soccer and t-ball games as their # 1 fan. In Jeanette's spare time, she enjoyed making afghans for each family member and playing tug-of-war with her chihuahua Sassie. Jeanette will always be remembered for the joy and happiness she brought to our lives.

She is survived by her son Tiger and wife Lindsay Lester of Lubbock, Texas; daughter Melissa Lester of Plano, Texas; brother Robert Laxson of Lubbock; sister Wanda Balle of Bartlesville, Oklahoma; and sister Doris and husband Jerry Force of Wichita Falls, Texas. She is also survived by many beloved nieces and nephews.

Jeanette will be remembered for her true dedication to the Lord. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to either Bethany Baptist Church or the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

Thank you, Lord, for your promise that one glorious day, those who have chosen to accept you as their Lord and Savior will join you in Heaven. It is because of this promise that we rejoice today, through tears, knowing that Jeanette is with you. Amen.

43 to 25

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO TECH!!!!

While I can't say I'm particularly impressed with the way our Texas Tech Red Raider football season has gone so far, (especially with all the national attention on our "new and improved" defense), the fact remains that we are 7-0 this season!!

This past weekend, we whooped up on the Aggies, and man, did it feel good!! (I know I've got some Aggie readers out there, and truly, I mean no offense.) I'm only trying to put a bee in my mom's bonnet, so to speak!! I know, a little spiteful, but here's the deal- every year when we WIN, my mom (who is an Aggie, as you might have guessed) says something along the lines of "Well, my money goes to Tech, so technically, I win either way!" Yeah, right. THIS coming from a women who cries when the Core marches onto the field during half time. I'm not kidding. She actually tears up. So believe me when I say that every win against the Aggies is sweet victory!! The score this Saturday, in case you're interested, was 43 to 25.



Now, I eluded to the idea that I haven't been incredibly impressed with the way Tech's been playing this season (hello, how hard is it to kick a friggin' field goal, or extra point for that matter??!?!?) So my trash talk will most likely be short-lived, as the rest of our season is filled with high-ranking Big 12 teams (except for the last game... Sorry, Baylor.) We've got Kansas this coming Saturday, and they've been playing pretty well. Then Texas, Oklahoma St., and Oklahoma. Ick.

So, three cheers for Tech!!! Hallabalu THAT, Mom!! Here's to hoping we can keep the streak alive!! "....And the victory bells will ring out!!"

This past week-ish UPDATED

Update 10/17: Linda met with her surgeon yesterday and got the all-clear for her scans!! Yeah!! We had thought this would mean no more surgery, but in fact, they still need to go in and take a look at the lymph nodes nearest to the lump she had removed. They will actually put her under, biopsy the lymph nodes while she's under, and remove any affected lymph nodes at that time if needed. The surgery is scheduled for October 27. After that, we will know what kind of radiation we need to move forward with. It will either be a quick, 5-day round, or a long 5-week round. We are, of course, hoping for the shorter one-- what's found in the lymph node procedure will determine how long she needs to undergo radiation. So, at this point, no mastectomy!! (The surgeon did inform her, however, that she could opt for a mastectomy for safety's sake, but the doc's recommended course of action right now is radiation.) Our prayers are reaching God's ears- we've gotten the best diagnoses (sp?) possible thus far. Please keep sending up prayers for peace!

Update 10/15: Linda went in for her scans today. She said that they actually weren't that bad, so that's good. Tomorrow she'll go in and speak with the surgeon. From what she heard today, she's afraid that they're going to recommend a mastectomy, which we weren't expecting at all. Please pray for strength for Linda tomorrow as she faces the surgeon. Also pray that the surgeon won't pressure her into making a hasty decision. Thank you for your prayers- keep 'em coming!! K.

Haven't posted in a while so I thought I'd spend this post catching you up on what's been going on for the last week or so.

Last Saturday, (as in 10/4), I got a call from Brian's mom. She'd been to the doctor for a regularly scheduled mammogram. The doc saw something she didn't like, and scheduled a diagnostic mammogram. The doc then scheduled an MRI. Still not happy with what she saw, the doc then scheduled a biopsy.

Linda went in for the biopsy on Tuesday (10/8), and much to our surprise, the surgeon didn't do the biopsy. She (the surgeon) told Linda that she instead wanted to perform a lumpectomy that Friday (10/10). Now here's where we swerve wildly off the "Barrow" track. My family is full of chiefs (versus Indians) and all want to be in charge ALL THE TIME. We ask a lot of questions. We DEMAND answers. We INSIST that you PAY ATTENTION to us. (This, FYI, applies to everything, not just medical stuff.) Linda, one of the sweetest women I know, is very good at accepting the information she's provided with and moving forward. So when she came home sans biopsy on Tuesday, we (as in me) started asking all sorts of questions that no one knew the answer to.

I tried very hard to take a HUGE "faith step" (Holler, Life Group!!) last week and not force myself into Linda's situation. I REALLY wanted to fly to Lubbock, go to the doctor's office, and insist that the surgeon give us the full and complete run down again so I could hear it. I resisted and waited until Friday for the lumpectomy.

It's cancer. Stage 1, which of course is the best diagnosis (besides no cancer) that we could have hoped for. The surgeon believes she got it all with Friday's procedure, but we'll know for sure tomorrow (10/15) when they do a full body scan. I just got an email from Linda, and here's tomorrow's schedule according to her:

" Here is what Wed. looks like (I have already taken 1 bottle of barium tonight) 7:30 Admit Covenant Lakeside 8:00 Breast MRI Drink bottle barium 9:30 CAT SCAN chest, abdomen, pelvis region 10:00 Bone scan injection Blood work, EKG Apprx 12:00 Bone scan Can eat after Cat Scan After 2:00 Margarita and chocolate Thur: Dr. Ronaghan 10:15 to discuss tests and surgery options Anytime after that: Margarita or wine and chocolate"

Sounds like fun to me!! So on Thursday, we'll talk about moving forward.

Turns out Mom and Daddy got us tickets to the Tech vs. Nebraska game this past weekend, so we went to Lubbock anyways. :) We got to lay eyes, hands and prayers on Linda, which was good for everyone. Also got to see a kick-butt game (as in we won, not that we played that great.) Go Tech!! I also got to see my baby brother for the first time since he left for school, and also got to see my old friend Holly again!! Some pics from Saturday night:



Brad and me having our first drinks together- he turned 21 this past June!!




Holly and me being the sassy ladies that we are... What, what!!

So you're up to speed. That's all we've been dealing with this past week. Well, that and work. Linda and the fam really need your prayers for these next few days. We're of course praying for complete healing, but we know that God's totally in control, and that whatever happens, it will be to His Glory.

Thank you for being such an amazing support system for me and Brian- we love you guys!